Free To Summon a Demon by Lisa Alder Page B

pushing down her sudden uneasiness. She didn’t have anything to hide. She’d been completely honest with him. She hastily pulled a dress over her head and wished she could rewind her clock just a few minutes and savor the intimacy between the two of them.
    Her body was sticky with the combination of his seed and her juices. The musky scent of the two of them intertwined and permeated her senses.
    A soft smile spread through her.
    Whatever happened she would have this past night of ecstasy to keep her warm and happy for the next few years.
    A knock sounded at the door and before Lili could answer, the heavy, locked door swung open.
    Locked door .
    Two very large Demons entered her cottage.
    A blond Demon moved with a lazy sensuality. His hips canted forward, the bulge in his breeches discreet as he sauntered toward them. The Demon exuded sexuality. As he paused at the foot of the bed, his frank and knowing gaze took in the tangled strands of her hair, the loose wrap of her dress and Gaap's bare chest. The rumpled covers and the scent of sex made it obvious what they had been doing.
    The other one was equally large. His skin was swarthy, his head shaved bald, but a shadow of a beard dusted a strong jaw and cruel mouth. “I take it you’re recovered.” He assessed her, then Gaap, then for some odd reason, he stared at the chair over by the stove, before he sat down at her table and frowned at them both.
    Lili sensed his disapproval. And that pissed her off.
    What did it matter if Gaap had sex with her? Demons had sex. All the time, supposedly.
    About to give him a piece of her mind, she cocked her hands on her hips, when Gaap interrupted to introduce them. “Leraye, my security officer,” he nodded toward the dark Demon. “And Zepar.” Gaap jerked his chin toward the blonde.
    Lili wondered what Zepar’s role might be. Before she could ask, Gaap spoke again.
    “She has the mark of the sun on her wrist.”
    Zepar, the blonde, raised an eyebrow. The dark one held preternaturally still.
    The mark of what? “Excuse me?”
    “You didn’t think to mention this last night?” Leraye’s pose was deceptively lazy as he plucked an apple from the wood bowl on her tiny kitchen table and pulled out a small but deadly knife.
    “I didn’t put it together until just a minute ago.”
    “What the hell is the mark of the sun?” she asked.
    “Fae mark.”
    “Well that would make sense, since they attacked me,” she snarled.
    “We should just kill her.” Leraye peeled the apple skin into one long curl. “There is no downside to her death. And if she is a trap, the Fae will be in the dark.”
    His handsome face was set in hard lines and his eyes glittered with menace.
    “I concur.” The sexual being who’d sauntered in had been replaced by a deadly Demon.
    Kill her? They’d said it so casually. Lili gulped as his words to sunk in. A few days ago she would have accepted death, but after the last night, she no longer wished to die.
    “I veto that option.” She backed up slowly until she hit the edge of the nightstand next to her bed. She had another dagger next to the candle she used to read by on her long lonely evenings.
    The hilt was familiar and comforting in her hand.
    No fucking way was she going down without a fight.
    Gaap moved quickly and disarmed her. “Everyone take a moment.” His grip was gentle and yet, absolute. She wouldn’t be able to break free. Lili resisted the urge to melt into the hard safety of his embrace.
    “Fine,” she snapped.
    “We should go back to the clearing,” Gaap said calmly.
    “What?!” Lili's heart thudded painfully.
    “Not a chance.” Leraye, the voice of reason, shoved the chair back from the table and jerked to his feet.
    Zepar took a step toward Gaap and Lili.
    “The only way to find out what is really going on is to attempt contact again.”
    “Attempt death ? No.” Lili’s mouth went dry at the fear coating her tongue. Suddenly she thought perhaps her need for