Demon's Kiss by Devereaux, J. (best sci fi novels of all time .TXT) 📗

fromhis forehead, and the sinuous tail that twined like a restless cat’s around hisbody. That tail was smooth except for the end where it flared into a dullpoint. The motion of it was oddly hypnotic, catching the eye as it twined andswayed.

A pair of partially folded wings arched up from his back.

His skin was a deep red color—not copper, but red—arich, dark scarlet, like the guy from that demon movie and yet not. There wereodd patterns of black that shifted and flowed beneath the surface, remindingher of a chameleon. But, unlike a chameleon, his skin appeared to be as smoothand glossy as satin. Those patterns in his skin changed constantly, the shiftof the colors beneath it apparently reflected his agitation—none of whichshowed on his impassive face but was echoed instead in every taut line of hisincredible body.

Beautiful, long-lashed eyes the color of rubies touched withmolten gold met hers and reflected kindness, an ancient, ageless wisdom and ananger so intense it was nearly scorching. The patterns of red and gold withinthose eyes shifted and whirled entrancingly, enticingly and furiously.

That rage was not directed at her.

He had fangs, the faint white tips indenting his lower lipin a way that seemed oddly sexy. Her body responded automatically to the sightof them. She could almost feel them pierce her skin. Warmth flooded her.

Both his hands and feet bore claws the color of polishedjet. Those hands were huge, beautiful, the fingers long but strong.

Rough iron bracelets etched with runes encircled his wrists.Something about them said they were not decoration though.

He also had the biggest cock she had ever seen and everyrampant inch of it was fully erect.

Despite the circumstances, despite what he was, just to lookat all the magnificent masculine glory made Gabriel burning hot and wet. A partof her yearned to touch all that gorgeous, gleaming skin. Something about himmade her want to run her fingers through that silken, ebony hair, to have thosestrong, clawed hands on her flesh and that sinuous tail twining around her bodyas it now twined around his— even though what she saw spotlighted in the middleof the floor was, frankly, incredible and impossible.

Because he was, without a doubt and to all appearances, ademon—horns, forked tail and all.

A beautiful and incredibly sexy demon.

There was only one problem—demons didn’t exist. They weren’treal.

But one clearly stood before her, living and breathing.

Beautiful.

As incredibly beautiful as the fallen angels that demonswere reputed to be.

To her stunned astonishment, she found she wanted him morethan she had ever wanted any man and with an intensity she had neverexperienced. Her pussy throbbed, ached. Even given the daunting size of hiscock, she wanted it, wanted him, inside her.

She’d had lovers, men she had thought she’d loved, even someshe had ached for, but something had always been missing.

Not like this. It had never been like this…this…ragingdesire.

A matching hunger radiated from him like heat from an oven,even at that distance.

Embedded around him in the gleaming, black marble floor ofthe massive, shadowed chamber were concentric circles in iron, copper andsilver. As Gabriel had learned in the course of her career, those were themetals of magic. Between and around each circle, glyphs and symbols, some ofwhich she recognized. Some of them made her skin crawl. They were etched deeplyinto the marble.

She recognized instantly, from her reading, that it was amagic circle—a cage, a trap.

Gabriel was aware of a sense of power in the room, of thedemon’s power—chained, banked. She sensed another powerful presence, orpresences, outside the rings but hidden within the shadows.

It was also clear that, demon or not, he was as captive asshe. A monstrous iron chain led from a shackle around his ankle to a bolt inthe floor.

Proud as he was—that pride was visible in every line of hisstrong body, his stance a study in defiance even in the face of defeat—and asstrong as he was, being chained, being bound to this place, had to be agony,had to be infuriating. In every line of his magnificent body she could see hisrage, see how he longed to be free.

Though he wasn’t supposed to be real, Gabriel couldn’t denywhat she saw before her eyes, and her heart went out to him in his pride andhis defiance. If for no other reason than that she shared it—the rage, the furyand the helplessness—as hard hands held her prisoner too, with her wriststwisted up behind her back, her shoulders screaming in agony that she would notshow.

From the darkness she sensed a signal.

Without fanfare or warning, the men who held her threw heracross the room. They shoved her so hard that she staggered across the marblefloor and stumbled across those circles etched into it. Power of some kindprickled her skin as she passed over each one, like the moment before alightning storm. Alien sounds and smells assaulted her as she passed over thoserings. Her senses reeled with chaotic visions, images. An atavistic shiver ofterror went over her at the thought of what might happen if she stopped betweenthose protective rings.

The demon reached out and caught her. His strong handsclosed around her arms. He seemed to know the damage he could do with them forhis touch was firm but gentle.

Gabriel clasped her hands around powerful forearms that werelike satin-covered steel as he steadied her, her own fair skin almostshockingly white against the deep red of his. In his luminous eyes she saw aflash of helpless fury and despair. She had a powerful sense of a deep hungerand sharp regret, of honor somehow violated.

Something in those glowing eyes called to her, kindredspirit to kindred spirit. Here was strength not just of body but of spirit andcharacter too, a nobility that was ingrained in him, etched in blood and boneand sinew.

It was clear to her that he struggled with himself. It wasthere in the swirling patterns of his eyes, in the shadows that moved beneathhis smooth, smooth skin, and in the tightness of his muscles.

He hungered. It was apparent in every line of him, in that tension.

Even so, looking up into his preternaturally beautiful faceas her hands closed over