Free Demon Slave by Kiersten Fay Page B

reach. Then he
turned his attention back to the jumble of items, ignoring her
nasty glare.
    He retrieved a carefully wrapped package.
Her stomach grumbled when she caught the sweet scent of roasted
meat. The demon took on a mischievous grin.
    “ Acta ,” she grumbled. If he really did understand the Cyrellian
language, then he should know she’d just called him an
asshole.
    By the disapproving look he gave her, he
did, but his only response was to tear off a piece of meat and pop
it into his mouth, making a show of enjoying himself.
    “ Your men have stopped
looking for you.” He took another bite.
    Nadua rolled her eyes. “You expect me to
believe that? They wouldn’t stop searching after so short a
time.”
    “ They would if they’ve been
told you’re dead.”
    “ And who would tell them
that? I suppose they let you stroll into camp to give them the
news.”
    “ I overheard your friend
Tamir claim to have seen me kill you with his own eyes.”
    “ Whatever you say, demon.”
Tamir wouldn’t betray her like that.
    They sat in silence for a long while. The
demon enjoyed his meal as the fire grew dimmer and dimmer. She
assumed he wasn’t going to give her any food until she called him
by name.
    Ha!
    There was no way she was going to give him
the satisfaction. She wasn’t that hungry, anyway. Her stomach made
a sound in disagreement.
    “ Hungry?” He
smirked.
    “ Not at all.”
    When the fire grew dangerously low, a chill
ran through her. He didn’t look as though he had any intention of
adding logs to the flame and she wondered if he was about to demand
she call him by name or freeze to death.
    Pulling herself off the ground, she reached
for a log, but he stopped her. “Come on, demon, are you really
going to let me freeze?”
    Eyes sparkling with amusement, he teetered
the meat between two fingers. The smell made her stomach grumble.
“Are you sure you don’t want something to eat before bed?”
    “ So you’re going to make me
starve, as well as freeze?”
    “ Food is here for the
taking, if you really wanted it. I’d willingly give it to
you—”
    She reached for it, knowing he would just
snatch it away. She was right.
    “ Do you have something
you’d like to say?”
    “ No.”
    “ Ah, well.” He took another
bite and added, while chewing, “I promise you won’t freeze, but
there will be no fire tonight.”
    “ If there’s no fire then
how...oh, no. There’s no need for that. We have plenty of wood for
a fire to last all night. I...I only allowed that last night out of
necessity. You can’t expect me to cuddle up to you for warmth
again!”
    “ You brought this on
yourself, luv. Fire is just another weapon for your scheming mind
to use against me. And I plan on getting a good night’s sleep.” He
held up the meat in one last attempt, but all he received was an
indignant glare. With a shrug, he wrapped the meat and placed it
with her furs on the high ledge.
    Her stomach rebelled, as if angered by her
refusal to submit. She knew the demon could hear every ireful
grumble. When he turned back to her there was something new in his
grip, but it wasn’t an offering of food.
    Nadua backed away from him. “What do you
think you’re doing?”
    “ I told you.” He caught one
of her wrists and snugly wrapped the rope around it. “I plan on
getting a good night’s sleep tonight.” As he reached for her other
wrist, she jerked it away, along with the rest of her body. He
easily used her captured arm to pull her back and subdue her,
wrapping both wrists tightly together.
    “ You son of a bitch!
Release me!”
    “ I won’t have you slipping
away in the night and bashing me with more rocks.”
    Nadua thrashed her body, trying to land a
kick; she was usually skillful at kicking. In an embarrassingly
easy maneuver, he lifted her entire body off the ground and
deposited it on the pallet. Her back met the soft fur of the
blanket and heavy muscles came on top of her, holding her in
place.
    His