Page 68 of Demon Bound

“I cannot say the same.”

“I don’t believe you.” She sat up on her knees, pulled him up to face her, then pressed her lips to his.

He froze. Raiya savored the unexpected softness of his lips. They were hot, not too dry or too damp, not resisting but notparticularly inviting. He waited passively while she kissed him, and she had to wonder if he’d ever been kissed before. Maybe it was not done in the hells.

Chapter 21

Raiya awoke to the sound of gentle birdsong.

Heavy, warm arms enclosed her. She was tucked against Azreth’s body beneath the blanket he normally wore, comfortable and secure. Tilting her head, she blinked up at him sleepily. He was already awake, of course.

“Are you well?” he asked.

She curled her body into a smaller shape against him. He radiated heat, but the air was frigid. She felt a twinge of soreness between her legs. “Yes.”

“You’re cold,” he observed. He got up, wrapping the blanket around her before he left. She shivered, her breath clouding in front of her.

Azreth piled fallen wood together and then lit it with a wave of his hand. Fire burst from his palm and quickly blazed high, eating through the wood and casting out waves of heat.

“Thank you,” Raiya said, moving close to the fire.

He picked up a rather large log and dropped it beside the fire, making the ground shudder beneath her feet, then gestured for her to sit. She did so gratefully, and he sat beside her. She peered over at his bare chest, aghast. There were still dark marks wrapping around his arm and torso where the iron had touchedhim. She put her hand to the marks—slightly raised patches of discolored skin. They were subtle, but they were there.

“Does it hurt?” she asked.

“No.”

That was hard to believe. “What does the iron do to you, exactly?”

“The burns alone cannot kill me.”

“But it weakens you? And causes you pain?”

“Yes,” he admitted.

That was almost worse.

He leaned down. She was surprised when he lowered his mouth to hers and carefully, gently, kissed her. By the uncertain way he moved, she was sure it was the first time he’d kissed someone, but evidently he’d liked it enough when she’d done it to him that he wanted to try it again.

“Thank you for coming back for me,” he said.

She gave him a wobbly smile. “I’m sorry for what they did to you.”

He exhaled softly, glancing at her shoulder again, as if checking how it was healing. His expression darkened. “I should not have done that to you. I will not do it again.”

“I’m not hurt.”

“You screamed in pain.”

She raised an eyebrow, giving him a suggestive glance. “I was… surprised. I told you: I am not weak.”

He gave her a long, thoughtful look.

“I’m curious,” she said. “Is this common among demons? Have you… bitten someone before?” She imagined his previous couplings, and she mentally recoiled. Thinking of his hypothetical previous lovers was unpleasant.

“I think it is common. But I haven’t done it before.”

She frowned. She hadn’t expected that. “Do you only have the urge to bite mortals, then?”