Page 32 of Caught in the Devil’s Hand

“I don’t entirely know,” she admitted. “How do you feel?”

“Drugged,” he answered. He rolled his head around his neck. “Demons cannot feel the effects of medicinal plants, but we can feel the effects of magic.” He looked straight at her. “You have a lot of power. A lot.”

Shumei gulped. “Oh.” Her magic squirmed like a child trying to escape their mother’s arms. She seized her chance and clamped down on it, willing it not to move. It quieted, as easily shushed as Majo had said it would be.

Her lover smiled and his shoulders shook with silent laughter. He brought his hand to his face, rubbing the euphoric expression off as if it were dirt. He was high, she realized, something she’d seen when administering too much kavua. Patients would smile for no reason and giggle at the strangest things.

She watched Vallen closely, and when he lowered his hand, he seemed to be in control again. He sat back to remove the rest of his clothes, and his shoes and pants ended up in the same pile as his jacket. Then he stood, rising gracefully, whereas she could barely coax her limbs in the direction she wanted. Was she still sluggish from sex, or was her lethargy a symptom of being fed upon? She supposed time would tell.

Vallen walked to a corner of the tent where a small case and a few other items sat. The way his muscles rippled was fascinating. His rear was especially good-looking in the candlelight.

Next to the case was a stack of cloths. He grabbed a couple and carried a bowl of water over. She laid her legs flat and helped him clean herself up, but she was more of a hindrance than anything.

This wasn’t the first time he’d cared for her after sex, and they had already done carnal things together—several times—but she grew embarrassed anyway. She crossed her arms over her bare chest and pinched her thighs together. She hadn’t thought ahead to what happened after she’d fed him. Should she get dressed and walk out? See you in a week? Did they need to discuss where to meet next time? And did she know the way back to the clearing? She hadn’t really been paying attention. Should she ask him to take her back?

The only thing she could think of to lessen her embarrassment was talking. “Why didn’t the mist come out? I thought that was how you fed.”

“The energy came with that touch of power you gave me,” he said. “Much faster than the slower absorption of the mist. I suspect my giddy state was because I took in too much too fast.”

Yes, she supposed that made sense. Her magic had woken only recently, some time since she’d last seen him. Did that change how she’d feel afterward, physically? Did that mean she wasn’t a normal human woman anymore, or at least not like most others?

He finished drying her and tossed the towels aside. She began to draw her dress shut, but he stopped her with a light touch on her wrist.

“Please, not yet. A few moments more,” he whispered. The emptiness in his eyes had grown, and though she wanted to be free of his intoxicating presence, she couldn’t deny the plea she saw in them. The loneliness. She pushed her dress open again.

He moved slowly but surely over her, and she couldn’t help covering her breasts. They had been kissing and groping and so much more just moments ago, and yet now the intimacy seemed too much to bear. Why did she feel so self-conscious?

“I wish to hold you,” he murmured. “Let me share in your warmth.”

Why? she wanted to ask, but she couldn’t speak. Her thoughts were a jumble. Was he doing this as part of his pledge to fulfill her fantasy? The forbidden lover, dangerous and passionate but also sweet and dedicated? Or was this his own desire? She couldn’t know which, not when he was so quick to hide behind that emptiness and the cruelty it had bred.

He laid on the pillows beside her and pulled her into his arms. Her heart leapt, and she prayed he couldn’t feel it through the binding. He kept one arm banded around her and drew her against him with his other hand on her bare hip. Though his cock had softened, that she could feel his loins brushing her stomach made her keenly aware of him. The warmth of his firm chest under her hands, the strength in the arm behind her back, and the scent of his skin, still complex but less subtle than before they’d so vigorously enjoyed each other.

“You smell good,” he said. He was also noticing her, it seemed. A smile threatened to curl the corner of her mouth.

“You said this tent was from a place called Kurosa,” she said, matching his low, intimate volume. “I’ve never heard of it. You said it’s the City of Dunes?”

“Kurosa is the largest city in the Black Sands, far to the south. If you traveled nonstop on the fastest horse and had no trouble along the way, you could reach Kurosa in two weeks.”

“Two weeks?” she gasped.

“Kurosa is not exactly in the Black Sands. It occupies a thin strip of land between the desert and the ocean, so it takes two weeks to reach it because you have to travel around the sands to reach Kurosa safely.”

“You can’t go through the desert, even with provisions?”

“You cannot walk through the Black Sands during the day. No matter what footwear you have, the heat of the desert will burn your feet and cook the rest of you. One could ride on a desert creature known as a rakuda, which can withstand the temperature, but the heat waves rising off the desert are still so great you would pass out in minutes.”

“You’ve traveled a great deal, then.”

“I’ve seen most of our continent, yes.”

She tilted her head back to look at him. “Tell me more?”

Though she hadn’t smiled when she’d asked, Vallen could hear the fascination in her voice, much like when she’d asked about all the adult words she’d heard. Hers was an adventurous soul, one yearning for more than what little bit of life her village allowed her. They’d even convinced part of her that such limitations were for her own good. She had been stiff earlier but was now relaxed in his arms. He resisted the urge to stroke her side.

“The continent is shaped like a great ox running north. There are many peoples living very different lives, and they all have different names for themselves and their piece of the world. The mountain range we’re in is most commonly known as the Jagged Peaks. They are the ox’s spine. Your valley is rather isolated, which is why not many merchants come here. The river where you bathe is actually the head of a large branch of rivers that feeds the plains to the west and southwest. Most of the population resides there in dozens of cities and villages. The largest is the capital, Houfu.”

“All the goods that make it here come through Houfu.”