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He bent down to lay her limp body in the sand, then checked her head A knot had risen, but nothing her immortality wouldn&039;t rapidly shake

"A blade," he grated as he untied the cord he&039;d bound her with When Lothaire handed hiths that he tied around her wrists like cuffs, then he secured the two together with another line

Once he&039;d finished, Lothaire tossed Rydstrom a black tunic and the pack "There&039;s a canteen of water and sup&039; plies to camp for a few days" From his waist, he unfas­tened a sword belt "And a weapon-to defend against the beasties," he said, see amused by that

Rydstrom drew on the tunic, then strapped the sword

to his waist

"You&039;ve got a week at the most to locate a portal Strike out due west froees ill know the way"

Rydstrom lifted Sabine once more "What will you ask of aze locked on Rydstro that will be worth what I&039;ve lost here by breaking my pact with Omort"

"When?"

"When the time comes In a week, a decade Maybe a millennium"

"You&039;re still my enemy," Rydstrom said "I could sim­ply hunt you down and kill you"

"I&039;d expect nothing less You&039;re an honest king, but you&039;re still a ruthless one Now go The clock ticks"

When Sabine woke, the reeted by a pounding pain in her head, and since the demon had thrown her over his shoulder, each

of his long strides was increasing that ache Her hands were still bound behind her back Which meant

I&039;h her braids, she could see they were in a different region of Rothkalina-gone from the seaside castle and verdant forest to a desolate plain There was only one region in Rothkalina that wasn&039;t replete with green forest-the aptly nas are

She was out in the middle of a perilous territory with a madman, Lanthe must be out of her head orry, and Sabine had no et back to the castle, to Omort, she truly would be condemned

All of this was because of that traitor Lothaire! And the bastard had traced them to Grave Realm She&039;d stake hiine how O it out on She believed Lanthe would be safe, but she hoped her sister would protect their Inferi

Gradually, one head-pounding stride of his at a tinarled forest of petrified wood Shadows fros scurried in the dirt

More alar her ass in noThe hand he used to pin her to his shoulder now covered her curves co them

What will he do to ain, especially since he was in this agitated state For one thing, her plan was foiled For another,

the pain was too fresh When she&039;d decided to return to his cell, she&039;d had every intention of being on top

Rydstro ht, his crazed eyes held a look of expectation, his lips drawn back fros

Steady Rydstrorabbed a tiger by the tail And she&039;d just beco

"Rydstrom," she whispered

"What?"

She whispered ainst his nose, then launched her steel-toed boot between his legs-

He caught her by the ankle and flipped her onto her back He was on top of her in an instant "You&039;re a vicious little fe "Treacherous"

When he began kissing her neck desperately, she frowned up at the sky-he was kissing her as if he&039;d missed her Just as his loneliness had called to her, now his yearning did

"But you won&039;t be for long"

He was already erect, and when he ground his shaft against her, a shock of pleasure jolted through her She was getting caught up, his excite her own

WaitWhat did heher to his side, changing her? Alanting to changehers

Before she got lost in the frenzy of his kiss, she nipped his bottom lip hard

He hissed a curse as he bolted to his feet Grabbing her by the waist, he hauled her over to a flat boulder When he sank down on it, he laid her across his legs

"What are you doing?" With her hands tied, she could do nothing to prevent hiabout, he shoved her skirt up to her waist

"Rydstroled when he yanked her panties to her ankles "Deht his pal, but it sounded worse than it felt

This was his revenge? Would he ot, demon? Was that punishment or affection? I&039;m confused-"

Whap! She whistled in a breath on that one, writhing over his lap Another slap, followed by stinging pain, then another His other hand was kneading her thigh He was excited by this, heaving his breaths

And sorowing aroused What was it about the demon? Would there ever be a tiht nohen he was spanking her ass and see her?

But she was hyper-attracted to strength, and the deest et hiuards-the ferocity within him

With his next slap, her cry turned to aher Even he hesitated

She was a true daughter of the Sorceri-a hedonist ould take her pleasure where she found it Here she was in the wilds of the real blows-and her illusions of fire were already lighting the night

What a surprise, she thought, with the faintest s her knee to the side, spreading her legs His body grew still His hand hesitated in ed breaths

Then he gave a harsh groan as he leaned back to see between her legs "Touch you "

She nodded At the first contact, she cried out, then ers inside her Had he just freed his shaft? She could feel that he&039;d begun stroking hi finger "Getting so wet" he rasped "Sorceress, you drive memad "

23

Rydstroht between reason and instinct, where nothingcontrol with her and couldn&039;t savor it more

He&039;d escaped with her At last Just thinking of her as his prisoner-his possession-made him want to belloith triu down her back and theher body, she looked as wicked as she acted, taking the slaps-and raising her ass for more And now she needed to co

This is ecstasy

He worked a second finger inside her hungry sheath "So tight Hot" Her flesh glistened, gripping his fingers "And virgin no more"

With his other hand, he worked his fist up and down his shaft, until it throbbed to release its seed He let his fingers slide out of her only long enough to turn her over so he could see her face

There was no shame and no fear With her eyes half-lidded, she lay across his lap, tilting her hips up, wan­tonly using his fingers So beautifulso fierce Mine

That still-unfamiliar pressure within his shaft ainst her ass Pleasure so extreme it&039;s pain

Histo coainst her ass On and on it continued while he yelled, pu uncontrollably beneath her

She gasped, then moaned low The sound of that drew forth fros Even , about to come

But he removed his hand to refasten his pants, then set her on her feet

As she blinked up at him in bewilderment, he ripped the bottom of his tunic to wipe his seed fro?"

"I&039;e hts where you&039;ll knohat I went through Then we&039;ll have par­ity between us"

When he swiped her skin, she bucked against hiht, he could see her ass was bright red How hard did I slap her?

"Very hard, you oaf!" she answered

""Stay out of oddamned head, Sabine!" He tossed the cloth away, then yanked up her scrap of underith so much force she rocked up on her toes

"Or what? You&039;ll spank me? Do you often strike women?"

"Never" Not once in fifteen centuries

"Ah, that&039;s right, you&039;re King Rydstroood now"

"You wouldn&039;t recognize a good thing if it was spank­ing your ass" He wrenched down her skirt so hard, theyou bad, de facade?"

"That could&039;ve beenher forward as they journeyed on "It didn&039;t have to be like this You started us on this path Do you remember the time I asked you to releasebed, with my chest ripped open wide and oddaeon-because of you!"

As if she&039;d heard none of that, she squinted up at his horns "Hey, are you going to be like this for long?"

He released her, confounded by this feotback as he spoke into the night, "You&039;ll follow me now If you don&039;t, you&039;ll be eaten alive out here"

"Where are you takingto do toout your fetish onher crane her head up at him "Woman, ould you possibly pushme because you like it when I lose control"

She gazed away for a split second, then said, "Not likely How else should I act with someone who&039;s taken me prisoner? Pleasant?"

"If you had any sense, you&039;d avoid provoking e, he turned to resu, and the ter­rain was only going to becoered hione

She&039;d complained about the heat of the sun, the furious pace, and his rationing of their dwindling water

supply

Other than to feed her sips frohts in turmoil Part of him felt triumphant He was free, and had Sabine as his captive He&039;d already begun his revenge and had been greatly rewarded, cos had been weak afterward

Another part of hiuilt arose, he would remind himself of all she&039;d done to hi hi to her with his lips drawn back fros

Because of her behavior, he would feel free to do with her whatever he wanted

But how long could he go without clai her? If he hadn&039;t done it already, he didn&039;t want to inate her Yes, he wanted his son, but not yet, not when there was so er Not when he knew Sabine would run back to Oed up a steep incline, she tripped and fell forward onto her front Spitting out sand, she snapped, "I&039;ve put up with this long enough! You&039;ve got to free me, else I can&039;t keep up At least free one of my hands I need both to work illusions Rydstro like this"

He clutched the front of her metal top and yanked her up with it

"Oet aith this"

"Another word, and I&039;ll gag you"

Against his warning, she said, "And Lothaire will be burned to ash " She trailed off when he tore another length of cloth from the bottom of his shirt "Rydstrom! I&039;ll be quiet-"

He wrapped the cloth around her head, tying it tight like a bit to gag her "I know "

For another hour, he left her like that, gagged as they covered lare on his back, but he didn&039;t want to hear any more of her colanced back at her She&039;d straggled farther behind, the journey taking its toll She was sunburned, her knees bloodied, her legs cut Her ass was probably still on fire

He wanted to feel nothing but satisfaction over her suffering-and couldn&039;t It went against his instinct

Damn that sorceress Got me so twisted He cast her a black look over his shoulder

She straightened and assuh he could have

continued for days on end, he obviously had to stop for the night for her

When he found a freshwater lake in a protected canyon pass, he dropped his pack near the shore and crouched down to unpack the contents: a small bottle of wine, bread, chicken, cheese, a knife and flints, bedding