Page 93 of A Demon Is Forever

“Someone yelled a warning. That woke me up. I hopped out of mycot, took one step outside my tent and wham! Taken out by a runaway ale wagon.”

“Really?” Kaleb was struggling not to laugh, his eyes sparklingwith humour, his dimple carving a deep groove into his cheek. “That’s how youhurt your knee?”

“Yes.” Shaw smiled wryly in memory. “That is the complete andunvarnished truth of how I came to hurt my knee.”

“That…” Something massive and alien swept through Kaleb, wipingaway all merriment in an instant. His heart pounding a mile a minute, histhroat closing up so that he was unable to catch his breath. What the fuck washappening to him? One moment he’d been listening to Shaw tell him a rather…embarrassing… humiliating… personal tale… Oh, praise Lucifer. She was giftinghim with her trust. She was gifting him with… her. She was claiming him.

Holding her own breath, Shaw watched as Kaleb’s eyes lit up, vividsilver flickering flames in their depths. Next second he was standing in frontof her, hauling her in close, his lips descending upon hers, and something deepinside Shaw clicked, as if a key had been inserted opening an intricate lock.

Breaking the kiss finally, Shaw smiled. “Did I… we do it?”

“You bet that tight gorgeous ass of yours we did. Shaw Bengala, Ilove the fucking hell out of you.”

“You’d better. After what you’ve put me through. And yes, yes,don’t give me that pitiful look, I love you too, Demon.Now I believeit’s your turn to share something personal and highly embarrassing, right?”

“Personal and embarrassing?”

“I should imagine, knowing you, that it must be hard to pick justone tale out of a multitude of possibilities.”

“True. I have led an interesting and adventurous life. Althoughthat was before I met you. Now that we’re mated, I can’t wait to see where lifewill lead us. But you’re right about me being spoilt for choice… thankfully, weboth live very long lives, as there’s quite a few stories I should probably getoff my chest.”

“Lucky you love the sound of your own voice then, isn’t it?”

“I am an excellent story teller as you well know, along with mymany, many other talents.”

“Freyja, what have I done to deserve this fate?” Shaw wasscowling, even as her fingers reached out to tidy those enticing golden curlsof his.

“You can’t take it back now, Valkyrie, you claimed me. And youknow what they say; A Demon Is Forever.”

The End