A Demon's Wrath (15 page)

Oh, the kisses. Hot and soft. Gentle and
wonderful. The demon king’s hand was touching her moistened valley
now, and Cecelia couldn’t help but cry out. She bit her lip, but
even then she couldn’t stop the groans from escaping her mouth as
Drake’s hand caressed the folds down there and then inserted a
finger into the small, sweet, hot, eager channel between her legs,
relieving her ache that began when he’d kissed her earlier that
evening before she went to bed.

Cecelia arched her lower back, allowing
Drake more access as he played with her. Then he had her completely
naked, and rather than feeling shy, she was pleased to feel the
cool night air against her scalding skin. She was so consumed with
the burning heat of wanting to be filled completely that she didn’t
realize she was caressing him, too. Her inexperience hands
frantically moved about the muscles of his smooth, toned body. Her
cry of pleasure sang loud and clear within the woods.

Drake was pleased to see his midnight lover
responded to his seduction. By God, but she was passionate, and
Drake loved that. He loved her eagerness and he loved her cries. He
loved how her body danced beneath his touches. And he especially
loved her lips as he kissed her now. When he was satisfied with
that, he moved his head down her naked body to her breasts once
again. There, he took a nipple into his mouth and sucked.

She groaned some more, and he chuckled lowly
at her response. His stroked along the length of her thigh, up to
her small waist, and then to her belly. That was when he felt a
scar, long and big, across her right side.

How did she come about this?
he
wondered. An accident? Or something else?
Ah, my poor
Selene,
he thought and moved to kiss the healed wound. When he
was done with that, he sat up straight and lifted her to him. He
surprised her by inserting his hard, erected shaft into her hot,
tight tunnel.

Cecelia gasped. Since he’d started kissing
her, she’d wanted to be filled, though she didn’t know how or with
what. The moment Drake inserted his sex into her, it felt so right
and so good. She smiled and groaned in pleasure, but that didn’t
last as Drake thrust through and broke her maidenhead. She gave out
a little gasp as the sharp pain shot through her being in a hot
burst.

“Demon’s teeth!” Drake swore under his
breath once he realized she was still a virgin. He became still,
knowing he’d committed a grave felony. “Sweetheart, did I hurt you?
I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

Cecelia’s heart pounded madly within her
chest. The demon king had taken her virginity, she knew, as Agnes
had told her since she’d grown of age about the marriage bed. But
Cecelia wasn’t in a marriage bed. She was with a demon king who
thought she was a maid waiting for Gerick.

Oddly enough, however, she didn’t feel any
remorse for this loss, nor any shame. Both Lady Rosanna and Lady
Juliet had lost their virginity long before Cecelia met them. She
herself, come hell or high water, wasn’t going to get married,
regardless if it were arranged or not. Thus, she had nothing to
worry about not being a virgin before the marriage bed.

Cecelia lifted herself and wrapped her arms
around Drake’s muscular neck. She kissed his lips softly and
gently.

Drake smiled in relief, for in her action,
he knew she’d accepted him, allowing him to take her. He started
thrusting, burrowing his root deeper. They both groaned in pleasure
as Drake continued his gentle pounding. Then he moved so Cecelia
lay on her back, and he brought her legs higher around his
waist.

He thrust in harder, pulsating into her as
she cried out in wonderful agony. She bit her lip as Drake
continued his rhythm, thrusting deeper and deeper into her secret
place, her cry of pleasure singing loud into the night. Then she
fell apart in his arms as he came inside her, long and hard.

Drake carried his exhausted weight on his
elbow for fear he might crush her with his body if he were to
collapse on top of her. He stroked her hair from her flushed face
and brushed his lips against her forehead. Then again on the tip of
her nose and finally her lips, where he lingered, licking her flesh
with the tip of his tongue.

Cecelia fluttered her eyes open, still
utterly breathless from the experience. Above her, she could only
see the darkness and the slight shadow of her demon lover. She
gazed up at him long and hard, and then reality hit her and her
stomach lurched. She sat up and hastily grabbed for her
clothing.

She was about to rush off when Drake caught
her by the arm and said, “What’s the rush, my sweet?”

“Please, sire, I must go,” she begged.

Before he let her go, however, he pulled her
into his arms and kissed her on the lips again, hard. When he
reluctantly allowed her to escape him, he said, “I will meet you
again tomorrow night, sweet Selene, here.”

“Please, sire, I must go,” she said
pleadingly.

He held on to her tight, wouldn’t let her
go, until she agreed with a nod of her head.

Cecelia rushed off as Drake chuckled,
watching the shadow of her slender form disappearing from sight. He
rested his head back and gazed up at the dark sky spotted with
countless stars. He wondered what his sweet Selene looked like in
daylight. Did she have blond, red, or dark-brown hair? What was the
color of her eyes? Though he wouldn’t bet on it, he was very sure
she was quite pretty.

Pretty or not, she was his, and he’d make
sure she’d be his alone. That was until the pearl chose him a
bride.

A knot formed within the pit of his stomach,
and Drake cursed fluently. What would he do with his sweet Selene
once the pearl had found him a wife?

He immediately dismissed the thought that
suddenly turned his stomach sour. He dressed himself and then
headed deeper into the woods. There, he found his favorite spot, a
thick, big tree near the lake. Just as soon as he got himself
comfortable amongst the branches that supported his weight, his
mind flipped back to Brian. He sighed. And here he’d thought he’d
forgotten about the lad altogether.

It was a few hours later, after he’d dozed
off a little, when he felt the burning heat rising within his
being, the torrid intensity surging through every nerve of his
body. He was glowing, the bright golden light radiating with
powerful magic that made him almost breathless.

Drake sat up, his heart pounding, and as
this magic slowly receded within him, he knew as if he knew the sun
would rise again, in just a few hours’ time, the pearl had found
him a bride. All of a sudden, Drake didn’t know what to think.
Should he be relieved that he would now be able to sire an heir?
That now the kingdom would be saved if Marcus Arthur managed to
kill him during this upcoming war? And what of his Selene?

He shut his eyes, trying not to think, but
it was impossible. He jumped down from his hard trunk bed and
practiced his fencing with a makeshift wooden blade. He trained
until he was exhausted, his body soaked with sweat. It was only
then that he stripped himself naked again and jumped into the cool
lake for a swim.

It was dawn by the time he headed back into
the castle. He was just walking past the library when he remembered
his night mistress had forgotten her dagger.

He came in and found the blade on the floor.
He picked up the sharp, cool metal, feeling the light weight in his
hands. That was when, in the dimness of the dawn light, he saw the
crest of Rosevalley, a crest he’d seen many years ago when he’d
been a young demon.

He frowned and his mind raced, flipping
through every possibility imaginable. There was only one outsider
who could possibly acquire such a precious weapon. It only belonged
to the royalty of Dardania.
Brian!

He raced out the door in an instant, along
the maze of corridors, and came to Cecelia’s room. He burst in
through the door and found the place empty.

“Demon’s blood!” he swore loudly, his
scowled face dark with wrath.

CECELIA HAD NEVER BEEN THIS miserable in her
life.
Failed.
She had failed in the most spectacular way
imaginable. She couldn’t attain the Pearl of Life. Now still dark,
she stayed in bed, staring up at the tastefully designed ceilings
of fairies and gods. Her stomach kept flipping, her body tingling,
her heart racing, and her woman area sore. It wasn’t so painful
that she couldn’t ignore it and carry on with her life, or better
yet, go in search of the Pearl of Life. It just reminded her of
what had transpired some minutes ago in the woods.

She closed her eyes, and instantly, the
image of Drake McNamara appeared. She cursed. Aye, she was angry
with him that he should come into the library and trap her acting
out her plan. More so, however, she was angry with herself for not
being able to escape him in the first place. Then she remembered
his hot breath against her bare skin, his gentle touches and warm
kisses.

Cecelia caught her breath at the back of her
throat and groaned.

“Oh, Celia, please stop thinking about him,”
she whispered to herself. “He will cause you naught but
trouble.”

She sat up and nodded her head in agreement
with that statement. Aye, for all she knew, he would have already
forgotten about her by now. Perhaps, she thought unhappily but with
relief, to reassure herself of course, that he had always done
that, going out at night to make love to girls. And she was just
one of those girls. Surely, he must have forgotten her by now.

She nodded at that logical reason. Aye, she
needed to concentrate on her mission to find that pearl.

Without further ado, she changed into her
male’s garment. A few minutes later, she poked her head out the
door. Luckily, the corridor was still quiet at this very early hour
of the morning. She silently made her way to the back door where
she sneaked past the guards and then down the stairs. She slipped
out of the palace and ran toward the stables. The stable master was
still not yet up for his duty, and she thanked the Lord for that,
heading straight to the black beast Wildfire. She knew it would be
hard to tame him, to calm him down so she could ride him, but
Cecelia was good with animals. Thus, she closed her eyes and took a
few deep breaths. Then she moved toward the sleeping creature.
Slowly and gently, she touched its nose and whispered soft words
into its ears.

“There, there,” she said. “You’re a
beautiful beast, aren’t you?”

Not unlike your master
, she thought.
Then she started rubbing its nose gently, and before long, the
beast looked at her with curiosity. She smiled. It was working. She
moved around and grabbed onto his long mane.

“Will you let me ride you?” she asked
softly.

As miraculously as it might seem, the beast
nodded its head. Cecelia couldn’t help herself. She kissed the
beast on the nose and then climbed onto its bare back, not without
difficulty, however, as she was quite small next to it.

Once on, she bent down and whispered into
the animal’s ear, “We must be silent, my love. We do not want to
wake anyone. Understand?”

The horse snorted. A moment later, they
silently headed out of the stable.

It didn’t take them long to disappear into
the forest during this time of the night where guards were few and
far between on their rounds. It was as if the steed knew where she
wanted to go, and in only half an hour, she found herself at the
cave once again. Relief swept through her as tears threatened to
pour out of her eyes. She left the animal outside tittering there
near a tree and headed inside with a made-shift torch in her hand.
She remembered her way from the previous time the pirates had taken
her here. She remembered the steps, too, and thus she was able to
reach the clearing without killing herself.

Finally, she came to the pond with pristine
water that sparkled with enchantment. Immediately her eyes darted
to the precious gem, the Pearl of Life that resided in the giant
clam in the middle of an island surrounded by magical water.
Suddenly, she felt as though she were pulled by it, drawing her to
it with an undeniable spell-binding bond.

She shook her head to clear away the
enchantment and proceeded to search a way to get to the small
island. It was then the dark cave oppressed upon her, and she felt
a little dizzy. She turned her eyes back to the pearl to
concentrate. It shone bright against the darkness, illuminating
with power, as if to remind her of the reason she was there. Aye,
her mother would live. A smile formed on her lips at the thought,
and she knew she had to find a way to get the pearl without getting
herself disintegrated by the magical acidic water.

She picked up a small rock and threw it into
the pond. The hard item shriveled and sparks popped about
everywhere, surrounding it like fireworks. In only a matter of
seconds, the thing was eaten and remnants of it disappeared.

She sat down on the bed of rocks, her eyes
on the glistening water as she wondered miserably how she was going
to get through. She was, however, determined not to go back empty
handed. She’d done so much to get this far.

It was when she concentrated on one spot for
a long while, thinking, searching for a way, that she noticed all
the sea creatures living within this water. It was a coral reef
with thousands of polyps everywhere. The harder she looked, the
more she saw. The array of color and sea creatures residing in the
shallow of this pure water took her breath away. There were sea
slugs, clams, starfish, sea urchins, sponges, and many types of sea
fungi. Hope rose within her chest. If living creatures could
survive within this water, why then would it kill her? Thus, to
test the water, she closed her eyes and cleared her mind. Slowly,
with her breath held, she dropped her hand into the water.