"Damn it, Sabine!" he yelled as he ran.
When he reached the campsite, she dropped the emptied bottle with a gasp and took in the sight of him.
His bare chest was heaving, and sweat trickled from his neck. Her eyes followed a bead as it slid down his torso over the ridges of muscle. Magnificent demon.
Then she frowned-he was holding a skinned animal of indeterminate species. Take away the animal carcass, and this would be one of the sexiest sights she'd ever seen.
"Do you know what I went through to get the cork out?" she asked him, turning to muffle a lady-like burp against her shoulder. "Then you expect me to go unrewarded? Besides, I can't face the upcoming trial of ritualistic animal abuse without wine."
He sank down on the opposite side of the fire, spitting the poor creature on a stick.
As he secured the little carcass over the flames, she studiously surveyed the scenery. Rydstrom had made their camp high up on a large jutting cliff. Below them the falls trickled into a pool of the darkest green-the color of his eyes. Other cliffs surrounded the water on three sides, and as the wind rushed in, white blossoms danced on the swirling air.
In minutes the smell of roasting meat was pervasive. After the day's arduous journey, she was starving, and the scent wasn't as bad as she'd thought it would be. In fact, it was . .. appetizing.
"It smells good, doesn't it, sorceress?"
She turned up her nose. "I won't eat it."
"Just look at it."
Before she could stop herself, she did. Her mouth watered at the sight. It was so succulent, it dripped, making the fire hiss. No, I'm more refined than this. I don't eat animals! "You are fully aware that my kind doesn't consume meat."
"You will now."
"Now what? Now that you're the boss?"
His gaze flickered over her belly.
"Ohhh, now that you think I might be carrying your babe. Will you force me to eat it?"
"I didn't cause this situation. Remember that." His tone made her raise her brows. "If your plan worked, and you've gotten yourself pregnant with a demon, you'll need meat to feed it."
"Do you not think that it would make me sick to eat something I never have before? Something I find revolting? Perhaps you should have ascertained if I was high-maintenance before you abducted me."
When her stomach growled again, he rose and snatched up the empty pack. "Do not move, princess. I'll be back with something you might deign to eat."
A short time later, he returned with the pack full, dumping the contents on the blanket. She quirked a brow at a selection of berries. "A male trying to poison me. How . . . novel."
"They aren't poisonous." He scooped up some and popped them into his mouth.
"Not to demons, but they're toxic to me. Because we're not of the same species."
"You make it sound like we come from different planets. We're not that different." • "No?" Her gaze flickered over his horns.
He ran his hand over one, then glowered at her. Strangely, she seemed to be exasperating him-but not angering him.
She gave a nod at a dirt covered root. "I'm not a bunny, Rydstrom. And is that bark?" With a laugh, she said, "Good gods, you brought me bark to gnaw on!"
"How am I supposed to know what you'll eat? You pass up perfectly good food-"
"That animal is not food. The Sorceri are too refined to eat other living things."
"You care about animals more than you do about other people."
"You see, that's the thing-cows never try to steal my sorcery and chickens rarely try to murder me. Why this is so-I do not know, just that it is."
"Is there anything here that you can eat?"
"The other berries aren't poisonous." When she gave a nod to indicate them, he rinsed them off with water from the canteen, then returned to sit beside her.
As he fed them to her, she took her time eating. He should be forced to wait for her, since he wouldn't allow her to feed herself.
But he didn't seem to mind her nibbling one berry from his palm at a time. In fact, he seemed to enjoy it. "My new pet's an herbivore," he said with amusement in his husky voice.
Disconcerted by the hint of a smile on his face, she gazed around her once more. "It's cooler up here. Why did we have to go so high?"
"Because most creatures don't."
"You wouldn't have to worry about that if you freed me-I can talk to animals."
"Uh-huh."
"Demon, I'm being quite honest about that. I can speak to them, and they understand me."
"In any case, you won't need that ability. I'll protect you from any threats."
"Threats." As they'd gone deeper into Grave Realm, she'd caught him inspecting paw prints in the clay. She'd seen him rest his hand on his sword hilt. "We're in danger. Great. You've taken me to the most hazardous place in the entire kingdom-home of R.O.U.S.'s and the like-then bound me so that I can't defend myself."
"Rodents of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist."
Her lips parted- He'd quoted The Princess Bride.
"Don't be so shocked," he said gruffly. "At the local coven of witches, that movie plays twenty-four-seven. They drink every time they hear my darling Westley or something. It's hard to miss."
"Are you often at that coven? Visiting with the witches?." She could just imagine how those little magick mercenaries would fawn over the towering demon king. Sabine disliked witches, was wary of them.
"You sound condescending. Aren't the Sorceri related to the witches?"
"Distantly." Though they might have shared ances-tors and a love of revelry, and some of their powers were interchangeable-and stealable-the Sorceri were a unique culture, far distinct from the earth-worshipping witches. "So answer my question."
"I've been by a few times," he said. "As you might have seen when you were hacking into my brain, my good friend Bowen is wed to Mariketa the Awaited."
Sabine had heard of that female, but then most in the Lore had. She was the most powerful of the witches, so talented with mirrors she'd achieved the status of Queen of Reflections.
To steal her powers would be a coup. But going up against a strong witch or a coven of them was dangerous. A witch could steal a Sorceri's power-if she killed her. "Ah yes, I remember seeing Bowen. He's the one you're jealous of."
"I wasn't jealous of him-I was envious that he'd found his mate."
"But now you have, too."