Page 28 of Prince of Demons
Georgia blinked. The concern coloring his deep voice was such a startling contrast to his monstrous appearance, it took her a moment to respond. “It… doesn’t, really. I just banged my hip a bit.”
He let out a low rumble, and then slid his other hand down her wet skin to her hip. The squeeze of his fingers on her flesh was gentle and didn’t aggravate the small hurt from her fall—but it did make her very aware that she was entirely naked and sprawled out underneath a giant demon who insisted on calling her Breeder. Goosebumps broke out across her body, peaking her nipples in the process, as her brain flashed another reminder of the morning’s depravities.
“Uh… I’m okay.”
The prince exhaled deeply, eyes roaming over her body as if to confirm her claim. When his gaze lingered at the apex of her thighs, she crossed her legs on instinct, hands flying down to cover herself.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” the demon growled, disgust lacing his voice. Without waiting for a response, he scooped her into his arms and stood, hitting the knob for the shower with an elbow to turn it off.
Georgia blinked up at him, almost as startled that the giant monster cradled her so gently as she was at the uninvited closeness while she was butt naked. “I don’t need you to carry me. Please, I just want to finish my shower.”
“You need to feed,” he rumbled. “You’ve been out for a day and a half—that’s much too long for a human to go without nourishment.”
“A day and a half?” She’d never slept that long before.
“I took too much of your energy.” His voice pitched lower, and if she hadn’t known better, she’d have thought he sounded almost… embarrassed. The idea of an embarrassed demon nearly made her snort out loud, but before she could, the prince stalked out of the shower cubicle and placed her on her feet by the sink, and she was swiftly distracted by having to stay upright.
“Can you stand?” A frown drew down his eye-ridges.
“I’m fine.” ‘Fine’ was definitely a stretch, but she wasn’t about to admit that out loud and risk getting picked up like a kitten again. Not before she could wrap a towel around herself, at least.
The prince looked less than convinced, but much to her relief, he took a step back toward the door.
“I will be back with clothes,” he said, somehow managing to make it sound like a threat.
She had just managed to secure a towel around herself when he returned with a handful of flowing, plum-colored fabric clutched in one hand.
“You’re still wet.” He looked her up and down, the displeasure in his voice painted on his harrowing features, too. “Dry yourself, before you get sick.”
Georgia opened and closed her mouth once. Judging from how he’d tried to force-feed her, and apparently thought she’d catch a cold from a shower, the demon prince didn’t know much about humans and their needs. However, as disturbing as it had been to wake up smeared in demon seed, she much, much preferred it to the alternative. If he’d refrained from penetrating her because he thought her so fragile she might get sick from a bit of water, well… She wasn’t about to argue.
“Okay.” She grabbed another fluffy towel and bent to wrap it around her hair. Only the motion made the world tilt and her vision to turn white.
“Shit.” Strong arms hoisted her back upright, and when her sight returned, the prince was hovering above her, his hands still bracing her shoulders.
“Oops.” She grimaced at the lingering lightheadedness. Seemed he wasn’t entirely wrong about how frail she was, at least not at the minute.
His monstrous features locked in a deep frown, and the worry on them was intense enough to show through his scary appearance. Without a word, he snatched the towel from her and began drying her hair.
Every stroke of fabric through her wet strands was gentle, like a caress. When he reached her face, he dabbed the towel against her cheeks and forehead carefully, and drew it down the back of her neck to dry behind her ears.
Georgia blinked at his care. He was treating her like she was made from spun glass. This nearly eight-foot monster, who’d murdered a man in front of her with no remorse, was being gentler with her than anyone before him.
He sank to a knee in front of her to dry her shoulders, collarbones, arms. Warm fingers wrapped around her wrist and brushed over her palm, setting her skin alight with a weird, tingling sensation before he methodically dried each of her individual fingers, then reached for her other hand. The black-red scales covering his large fingers were surprisingly soft, though the visual contrast between them and her smooth, pale skin was startling.
“Do you have kids?” She blurted the question before she could stop herself, because an insane image of the giant brute packing lunches and singing lullabies flashed through her hazy brain. Possibly because his gentleness reminded her of how her mother had cared for Larry, before Mike left.
The demon paused with her hand in his. Even through the towel, his body heat warmed her skin. “No.” He flashed her a look she couldn’t decipher—probably stunned disbelief she would ask him that. “Do you?”
“No. Just my brother.”
He exhaled a soft breath, but only returned his focus to drying her off.
Georgia frowned as she stared at his horned head. “Would it have mattered? If I did?”
“You mean, would I have let you go?” His tone was oddly flat, but she was quickly distracted from the oddity of that when he brushed the towel back up to her breasts. Her nipples tightened at the first touch of the fabric, and she drew in a sharp breath when he cupped them to dry underneath. Images from their time in his bed flashed uninvited through her mind—of his head between her legs and the feeling of his horns in her hands.
“Your life before you came to me doesn’t matter. No, Breeder, a human child would not circumvent your fate. Nothing will.” He released her breasts and swiped the towel lower, drying her sides and stomach without so much as glancing up at her.
