Page 10 of Vampire's Promise
“Because I deem it so.” He growled. “I thought you would be pleased to have a female to sink your cock into. She drinks blood, so I’m sure she won’t be opposed to you taking from her. Do with her whatever you want, just be sure she serves her punishment.”
“Which is?”
Khedeus scratched his chin and Kian didn’t like what he saw in the god’s eyes. “She is a female below even your station.” He grinned. “I will give you a boon. Kill her and freedom is yours.”
“What?” he shouted.
“Yes, that seems rather harsh, but I will give you a choice. Claim her as your concubine and have her do your bidding and I will cut your sentence in half. Kill her and I will free you.”
“Why would I kill her for a simple fight with a valkyrie? That is a rather harsh punishment.”
“As I said, kill her and go free or fuck her for all I care.” His gaze hardened. “But make your choice quickly or I will decide her fate, and it won’t be to the liking of either of you.” Then he vanished.
“What a prick.” Kian scooped the female into his arms and tried not to notice how good her softness felt against him. He remembered her. Had been smitten by her beauty when he’d entered the mortal realm and had planned to speak with her before the bastard of all gods jerked him into this reality. With her now in his arms, he flashed back to his tent. Once inside, he found things had changed slightly. His single cot had turned into a double bed. How convenient. Placing her on their new bed, he realized her clothing was far too hot and constricting for a place that felt like two Hells. Left with either leaving her to swelter, which might delay her healing or stripping her, he opted for the latter. Summoning his power, he tried to change her clothes and got a big fat nothing for his trouble. With a snarl, he began pulling off her tall leather boots. Seemed the jackass Khedeus was going to make him strip this female the old-fashioned way.
Tossing her boots aside, he went to work on the tight-fitting, pink cotton shirt. Once he had it pulled off, he tried not to stare at her naked breasts, but it was asking an awful lot of himself. They were soft, creamy mounds of perfection and already his cock stirred to life.
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath.
He tried to undo her jeans with his eyes closed, but that was only a disaster, so he sucked it up and peeled the garment from her perfect legs all while snarling at himself. Thankfully, she had on underwear, but the thin pink material did little to hide the dark shadow between her thighs. He found his gaze fixed on her and his fangs making an unexpected appearance as he wondered what it might be like to sink them into her thigh.
“Get your shit together,” he whispered to himself and quickly forced his single-minded points back into place while he conjured her a lightweight linen sheath dress adorned with gold threading and beadwork. Breathing a sigh that he could at least clothe her and would not be forced to have her nakednessclose by, he rubbed his chin then smiled. Around her neck he wrapped a gold and turquoise collar and on her right arm he placed a matching band. He finished by lining her eyes with kohl before he added sandals for her walking comfort. Whoever this guardian was, she bore the beauty of the goddesses and, as such, would be clothed like one rather than a slave.
“Why are you staring at me, and where am I?” Her beautiful brown eyes were open and focused on him, causing him to take a step back. His cheeks flamed with embarrassment, but he kept his head high.
“You are in a place called the Skeletal Moon. It is Khedeus’s prison.”
She sat up and looked down at herself. “My clothes are not the same and who the hell is Khedeus?” Her gaze narrowed. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”
“I’ll tell you all I know, which unfortunately isn’t much.”
Gwen staredat a sweat-slicked naked chest and watched small droplets trickle across thick, hard muscles. She licked her lips as she forced her gaze upward to his dark mass of curls that she wanted to tangle her fingers in and wondered if he knew who she was.
“So… I’m waiting.”
“My name is Kian, and yours?”
“Gwen.”
“Well, anyway, Khedeus is the god of judgment or so he tells me, and I’m here simply because I was born.”
She blinked as if that was going to help her understand what he had just said. “Did you say because you were born?”
“That’s what he tells me and nothing more other than I am to serve my punishment by building him a temple.”
“You do realize that sounds ludicrous?”
“Of course, I do.” His gaze narrowed, causing a crease in his forehead. Rather than move the subject to why she was here, she decided to probe more into who he was. She had a sneaking suspicion this Khedeus knew exactly who Kian was. Why else would he take Kian prisoner?
“Who are your parents? Maybe that has something to do with why you’re here?”
He tipped his head back and laughed and gods did she love the creases around his mouth. A sensual mouth that looked very kissable. From the looks of her mate, she had been blessed.
“My mother is the goddess of destruction and my father… Well, hard to say since mother won’t speak his name. Something about him being a cheating bastard.”
“Hmm, interesting.” Maybe he didn’t know who he was? “Okay, back to that later. So, tell me why I am here.”
“Khedeus dropped you here. Something about a fight with a valkyrie.” He fidgeted, and she had to guess that there was more to the reason she was here, but it made him nervous to speak of it.
