Kresley Cole: Kiss of a Demon King

Sabine and Lanthe froze midstride, then slowly craned their heads to him.

"I hope you paid for all that."

"Busted," Lanthe muttered. "I'll be in my tower." She scurried out.

Sabine recovered from her surprise and sauntered up to him. "We didn't pay for these with money per se. But we paid back some karma."

"Who did you steal from?"

"This half demon Nïx told us about. A drug lord down in Colombia."

Rydstrom steepled his fingers. "And why would you do this?"

"She said we should 'have at him.' Since I owe her for helping me in a tight spot, I thought I should be accommodating to her. This one time. And we didn't think you'd be mad if we stole from a bad guy."

"I'm not. But I'm furious that you put yourself in danger."

"No one ever saw us! And Lanthe even managed a tiny bit of persuasion, just to make sure we were extra safe."

Rydstrom sighed. "Then let me see what you got." He could never stay cross with her, not when she was so happy here with him and with their new life together.

When she settled on his lap, he wrapped his arms around her, and she proudly showed him a bag of gold coins of an ancient cast.

Of course, this wasn't his little queen's first heist since they'd wed. He knew it wouldn't be her last.

But then, she could get away with anything. All of Lorekind knew that if anyone harmed a hair on her head they'd be dealing with a maddened rage demon out for blood. Sabine took full advantage of that fact.

"This is a respectable take," he said.

"Lanthe and I are exactly like Robin Hood." She nod-

ded winningly with laughing amber eyes. "Except we don't give to the poor."

"You will be now. I'm seizing forty percent of this." When she grumbled, he said, "Or we could use that per­centage for another new road project."

During the days, the sound of hammers, building, and restoration rang out over the kingdom. His people were thriving once more. "Just think, you'll be helping us ease out of medieval times." Into the sixteen hun­dreds. But they were taking it slow. "And we could even name a major thoroughfare after you."

The people certainly wouldn't object to that. They loved their merry and clever queen, who'd helped her king defeat an evil tyrant, and who only wanted a bit of gold.

She nibbled her bottom lip. "And one after Lanthe, too?"

"Of course."

"Do you think I don't know you're managing me?" "I do. But I think you like it." He drew her in closer, savoring the smell of her hair. "By the way, Puck came by just after you'd left this morning."

The boy had been fostered with Durinda and her new husband, but Sabine got to see Puck whenever she liked because he and his new family had returned to Rothkalina-many refugees had, as well as families from other factions of the Lore. "Puck was sad you weren't here, so I showed him the presents you're hav­ing sent to Durinda's."

A full drum set and a year's supply of sugary candies. The demoness was going to love that.

Since Rydstrom and Sabine had officially moved back into the renovated castle, they'd continually had guests. Old friends and trusted allies visited often. Even Mia and Zoe, Rydstrom's younger sisters, were coming to stay with them in the spring.

"And Cadeon dropped by the work site today," Ryd­strom said. "I invited him and Holly to dinner."

"Tonight?" Sabine sighed, though Rydstrom knew she grudgingly liked her in-laws. "Great. I get to watch Holly battle all through dinner to keep her meal down."

Holly's unrelenting queasiness wasn't surprising since they'd learned she was carrying Cadeon's twins. Two warriors of ultimate good.

Sabine continued, "The last time they were here, Cadeon followed her around like she'd break. He car­ried her down a set of three steps. You better not do anything like that once we decide to have a kid."

Rydstrom and Sabine were waiting to have their own son until they'd gotten the kingdom settled. They'd decided the power of the well had gone untapped for eons, so a little while longer wouldn't make a dif­ference. Especially when Rydstrom was savoring the indescribable satisfaction of protecting his little queen, spoiling her.

"Sorceress, you know I'll be worse."

"Then expect me to make fun of you. It won't be

avoidable."

There was another factor in their decision to wait. As Sabine had put it, "We'll be having no firstborns, demon, until that vampire Lothaire is contained." As a surprise castle-warming gift to Rydstrom, Sabine had

used a good deal of her own personal jewelry to pay Cadeon's mercenaries to hunt down the Enemy of Old.

The crew had strong leads already, and it was only a matter of time before they found the cunning vampire. .. .

When Rydstrom dropped Sabine's bag of gold on the floor and turned her in his arms, she said, "Earlier, I was thinking about the first night we met. You'd had no idea what was about to hit you when you saw me on the road that night."

"You wrecked my car, my life as I knew it."

"But now you have me, and your crown. You look very kingly on this throne, by the way."

"I practice in the mirror every day."

She grinned. "No, you don't. You're too busy staring at the scratches running up and down your back." Then she said with a purr, "I could add to them, my liege."

He inhaled sharply-and had her traced to their bed before he'd released that breath. As he began the pleasure of undressing her, the sea winds rushed in over them, and she stretched her arms over her head with a languid smile.

He dipped a kiss to her neck while he unraveled the laces of her top. With approval in his tone, he mur­mured, "This one's complicated."

Sabine sighed, "I'll be worth the wait, demon."

Rydstrom met her gaze, needing her to see all that he was feeling for her.

She did. Her expression grew soft when he grazed the backs of his fingers along her silky cheek. "Cwena, you always are. . . ."