Page 30 of The Demon Crown

“Greed?” she asked, and hated how breathless her voice was. “What do you want in return?”

“You,” he growled into her ear. “I only want you, little thief.”

Oh.

Oh, that sounded so nice.

And that was exactly why she had to get out of here or she would make an idiotic mistake. She struck out with her foot, catching him on the thigh again. He made a lovely little grunt in her ear before letting her go.

“That’s enough of that,” she hissed, straightening her shirt and reaching for her bag. “Thank you for saving my life, but I think I’m fine on my own now.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No.”

“I don’t know how you found the Sanctum of the Exiles, anyway.” He meandered away from her, eyeing the distance between them and the next ledge. “Few people know of this kingdom anymore.”

“I don’t know how you found me.” Varya ignored him and surveyed the distance herself. “Neither of us knows everything, it seems.”

He looked down at her with a much too amused expression. “I’m part animal, treasure. Didn’t I make that clear?”

“That doesn’t mean you can sniff me out whenever you want.” He touched her back, and she didn’t want him touching her. Angrily glaring, she looked over at him again to see his arms were crossed over his chest.

Was that...?

Letting out a choked sound, she slapped his tail away. “Stop that.”

“Well? Did you want to investigate the rest of this tomb or not?” he asked.

“I do, but I have to find the right rock to connect my rope to and then I’ll throw it over to the other side. I see nothing to attach it safely to, so I suppose I could start rock climbing.” If only the ceiling was a little lower. This would be an entire day’s worth of figuring if she was lucky.

Greed wrapped his massive hands around her waist and tugged her in close to him. On impulse, she held onto the top of his pants and then shrieked as he... leapt.

He jumped. From one edge to another that was easily fifteen feet wide and far too large a distance for anyone to justjumpover.

But he landed in a crouch, his arm around her as he set her feet back on the ground. Chest puffed out, pride glowing out of his body. He shrugged at her horrified glance. “It’s faster this way. I’d like to get back to the castle by dinner, wouldn’t you?”

She watched him swagger away from her and had the thought to throw her knife into his back. The man just couldn’t... he didn’t have to...

Growling under her breath, she pinched her lips into a thin line and followed him. But if he thought for a second that she would let him take the treasure, she would steal it back from him in a heartbeat.

A quiet voice in her head whispered maybe he wanted her to.

ChapterEleven

It had taken him two weeks to find her. That was ridiculous and longer than it had ever taken for a single one of his hunters to find anything. And they’d hunted magical artifacts, sultans, even assassins that were sent to murder him. They found everyone they tried to find.

Except her.

And as he watched her stomp away from him, swinging that stupid leather backpack over her shoulders, he had to wonder if it was harder to find her because she was... nobody.

She was just a thief. No one knew who she was or where she’d come from. Even his scouts hadn’t been able to get any information about her. Only that she flew with the wind, came home every three months or so for a few nights, and then disappeared again.

He didn’t understand it. He didn’t understandher.

The only thing he knew was that he was painfully hard the moment he touched her. He’d had her dangling over a cliff and she hadn’t cried or begged for mercy. She’d kicked him in the knee so hard he’d felt the bones creak together and then she’d threatened to kill him.

What a thrill. What a woman to have no fear of the terrifying king of their kingdom. He’d never thought he’d find someone like her in his life, and he’d be damned if he didn’t get to keep her.

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