Demon Possession (13 page)

Analia was intrigued by the feelings Sebastian brought out in her,and grateful that he was helping her. Unfortunately the only way she could see to repay his kindness,was to get as far away from him, andMarada, as possible, before Darius realizes Sebastian was aiding her.

The loneliness that had been curbed by today’s events came crashing back on her with the weight of a steel cage.

As soon as Sonya leftfor the night,Analia showered, lingering under the new luxury of fresh, warm water. A bout of anticipation hit her when she exited the bathing chamber, and then, strangely enough disappointment, when she found herself alone. Analia curled up on the couch.

The feeling of anticipation had startled her, the disappointment alarmed her. Did shewantSebastian to be here waiting for her? Looking at her the way he had in the salon, or the night before? Thatcouldn’tbe what she wanted.

Sebastian was more handsome than any male she’d ever seen. With eyes that glowed gold and hair as black as space. Horns that faded from deep magenta at the base to black at the tip, she imagined what they might feel like. Were they hard to the touch? Warm like his skin? Or cool?

He seemed to be bringing out unfamiliardesires in her. At the thought of him her body grew warm and ached with need. What might he have done if she had embraced him the night before?

What was wrong with her?

It was a good thing she wasn’t staying on this ship—with a male that had such a strong effect on her. Every time Sebastian came near her, the attraction grew stronger. With her out of control desire, it was possible he could obtain more control over her than Darius ever had. She suspected Sebastian could make her beg where Darius never could. The thought sobered her and she quel ed her sil y fantasies.

She would take control of herself from this point on. Besides, as he’d said, she wouldn’t be seeing much of him anyway. She told herself she was glad about that. That she would be so busy herself that she would have no time to think of him anyway. She made herself say it over and over again until she believed the convenient lie.

“Dammit Anya!”

Analia’s body jerked away but she kept her eyes closed and clutched the covers to her chin. Sebastian was here again, and angry that she hadn’t heeded his order to use the bed he’d provided for her.

She peeked through squinted eyes.

As she suspected, his were angered and he seemed to be waiting for an explanation. He wore a deep blue short-sleeve shirt that revealed his strong muscular arms, crossed over his chest, and black pants that looked to have been made to fit him perfectly. His hair was tussled in a way that made him look sexy and dangerous at the same time. Fighting her body’s reaction to him she felt her nipples grow hard, and that achy need from last night was slowly returning.

She hadn’t expected him to show up after his declaration about being too busy to deal with her. She’d believed it so much that she dared to wear one of thesmal ersleeping gowns,with the softest material she’d ever felt.Unfortunately,it hugged her body,and clung to her curves. Not good. She needed him to stay in control of himself so she could do the same, and she had the feeling that her tiny outfit would hinder them both.

Why was he here anyway? To make sure she was obeying his orders?Her blood boiled at the thought. Did he think he was her new master? She was done being control ed by males!

“Why are you sleeping on the couch again? I told you to use the bed. I had it brought in for your comfort, and you wil use it.”

His arrogant commanding tone irritated the desire right out of her. The affront that he could order her around, as though she were part of his crew—when he made it crystal clear that she wasn’t—snapped something inside her. Violently throwing the covers aside, she stood on the couch to match his height and chal enged him with a steady gaze. Fists clenched, “I’m done taking orders Sebastian! I’m free of that. I’l sleep where I want, when I want,and I don’t have to explain myself to you. If you don’t like it, then you can do what you original y promised to do and throw me out into space. I’m not one of your crew and I’m no one’s slave!”

Sebastian’s jaw had dropped halfway through her speech. His shocked eyes lowered to her breast, and she painful y became aware once more of the scantily clad way she was dressed. Analia fought the urge to grab for the blanket and cover herself. She needed to stand her ground now or lose both her confidence, and the battle she may have just begun.

Sonya had said demons were ruled by strong emotions. Analia realized she was provoking him with both her body and her sharp tongue. She would have never done that to Darius, she couldn’t even fathom the punishment he would have rendered at her outburst. Analia feared she was about to see a side of Sebastian that would forever change her view of him.

Sebastian dropped his folded arms and took an angry step toward her. Then he stopped just a few feet away. Just when she’d begun to waver in her resolve his lips curled slightly. She cursed her body for being affected once again by that tiny smile. His eyes were stil on her body when he spoke.

“You’re not a slave here Anya, I don’t want you for that.” His piercing gaze flashed to her face. Her breath caught at the mingling of emotions she saw there. Anger, desire, sorrow, and back to anger. “You are however on my ship, il egal y I might add. And as long as you’re here, you wil be treated as though you are under my command.” Analia set her jaw. His smile became mischievous, as though he were enjoying himself.

They stood that way for a moment, his arrogance against her newly found stubbornness. Thenhe said, “You need to get dressed.” Crossing his arms again,he took a step back. “Now.”

She crossed her arms over her chest mimicking his stance. The action caused the material to stretch tighter around her breasts,and for amoment she regretted the move—until Sebastian’s jaw clenched, and a slow almost inaudible groan escaped him. The sound caused the warmth in her to grow hotter, a throbbing pulse flowed through her, and her skin became super sensitive. She could feel every fiber of the soft material rubbing against her flesh. Her heart pounded against her rib cage making her breath hitch.

Like a statue,Sebastian froze. The only indication of his emotion was in his eyes.He explored her body with only his gaze,butit almost felt like a physical touch. As he perused her body, his muscles seemed to grow tighter,and a tic started in his jaw.

Suddenly he dropped his arms,fists clenched, and took another step back, tearing away his gaze. “Get dressed!” He barked.

His tone made her jump, fear quickly replaced desire.

Thank the gods!

She grabbed the clothes she had selected the night before and rushed to the bathroom. The doors swooshed open at her approach and wouldn’t close fast enough once she had entered.

When she was safely inside she leaned wearily against the wal . What had just happened? Before meeting Sebastian she had been docile, obedient and tame. Now? Now she didn’t know what she was.

Analia had expected Sebastian to lose control,as he had the night before. Somewhere inside her she thought maybe she had wanted him too, and she scolded herself for it. But he was nothing like before.

Perhaps, now that he knew she’d been a slave, his opinion of her had dropped. The thought should have made her glad, but it didn’t.

As Analia dressed, she once again thought over her new life and how she was already so changed by it. She found that she liked the racing of her heart, when it was caused by something other than punishment. She had loved the unpredictability of the day before. Even a moment ago with Sebastian had been exciting,as wel as frightening.

For the first time in her life she was eager for more.

The moment Anya entered the bathing chamber Sebastian ran out of there like some sort of deviant. He’d been foolish to come here this morning. Selfish and foolish! Making sure she was fol owing his orders had been just an excuse he had branded into his mind, to al ow himself to see her. Deep down he knew there was another reason. He just hadn’t wanted to admit it.

She’d insinuated that he was treating her like a slave.Preposterous!Now that he was wel away from her, and her delirious scent, he could muster upthe proper amount ofanger at the accusation. If he was treating her as a slave,would she have such luxurious accommodations? Or almost free rein of the ship? Al the food she could eat? Sebastian seethed. He craved her comfort, is al . Again this morning she had looked as though she had only slept a few hours through the night.

The couch was old and overused, the cushions no longer plush. He hadn’t given much thought to the couch at the time the room had been set up for her.

His main concern had been finding a comfortable bed for her to sleep in. He had become furious when he saw that she was again refusing to use it.

Then the chit had stood, revealing herself to him, and his brain had gone dead. Her sleeping garment was a deep maroon tight piece of fabric that cut off at her upper thigh and gripped her breasts the way that he wanted to. For a moment he’d forgotten why he was there in the first place.Something about a bed? Yes that was the perfect thing for a moment like this. Her lightly tussled blond hair spil ed over her shoulders and framed her face in such a way as to make him imagine what she might look like after being thoroughly sated.

Her weight had sunk into the cushion, proving their inequity. She’d been attempting to raise her height to his, coming up short, and her stern face almost made him laugh from the shear kitten like fierceness.

Then she spoke,and it took a while before her words sank in to his thickly aroused skul . She was unhappy with his orders and had put her outrage into her tone. Her glare was fierce, with her iridescent blue eyes flashing to silver and back, and it made him want her al the more. His mouth watered and his shaft strained against his pants.

Obviously she had a strong spirit. A strength deep within her that maybe even she didn’t know existed. Someone had tried very hard to stamp it out of her,and failed miserably.

And Sebastian wanted more.

For a long while, as she held her chal enging gaze, he wrestled with his urge to rip away the flimsy fabric and replace it with his hands. He had imagined how soft and warm she would be, and when the scent of her desire hit him,he knew she would be wet for him.

His tongue craved a taste of her, wanting to lick her between her silky thighs until she came again and again. Then he would replace his tongue with his shaft and take her slow until they were both panting and sweating in ecstasy.

He shook himself and tried to clear his mind.

This was the reason he was supposed to stay away from her. And that’s exactly what he would do. Right after he dealt with her little chal enge.

Analia entered Marik’s gal ey,ready to start another day ful of repetitive questions and uncomfortable stares. She started by putting away the clean dishes that were left overnight to dry.

Today, as she acclimated to the people on the ship,she became the one asking the questions. Analia was curious about everything and everyone, and inquired about as many details as she could think of, eating up the knowledge as quickly as possible. And every time she received an answer,it just spurred another line of questioning.

One of the many things she discovered was that most of the crew members originated on planets, many different kinds of planets. And most of them left home, choosing a life in space. Why did they leave? Why come to space? Why a merchant ship? Whythismerchant ship. She wanted to know everything.

When she asked people to describe their homes,she was surprised at the differences in animal and plant life. Each planet was unique in its ownhabitat.

Analia was enthral ed. It made herwonder what kind of animals had lived on her own home planet.

One person, his name was Kwal, told her he had come from a planet made up almost entirely of water, while anothermanclaimed there was almost no water at al on his home planet.

Someone told her a thril ing story of how he had once escaped abarveka plant. A plant that grew long tendrils,with a sticky substance that oozed from the ends,for grabbing and holding nearby prey, and pul edwhatever was caught into one of its many stomach chambers. The man had no tools with him,and had escaped by biting away thethicktendril that had snagged him. He said he couldn’t taste right for a year after that. Analia was awed by the story,and shiveredatthe idea of being prey to a plant.

A man sitting close by heard the story and offered a similar tale of survival. A giant man-eating bird from his home planet had scooped him up from a field,and deposited him in its huge nest to be food for its young. The man had to fight his way past the sharp squawking beaks to climb over the edge of the nest. With the crying babies above him he climbed down, from a very great height, worrying the whole time that the mother would return for him. He’s hated birds of any size ever since.

Not too shortly after that the eavesdropping crowd broke into a clamor of their own tails of survival and mishap, growing rowdy with excitement, each one trying to top the last with their fantastical stories. Analia thought,no wonder they al chose to come to space,and leave their homes behind. The stories delved between horrific and fanciful. Analia couldn’t get enough.

Though different in nature, there were many similarities between each planet she learned about. Suns warmed the atmospheres. Moons in orbit affected everything from ocean tides, to animal behavior, even the moods of the local inhabitants. Some claimed to have more than fifteen moons.What a sight that would be.

Al this talk gave Analia a spark of remembrance from her own planet; blue skies, two maybe three moons, a couple of vine like plants on a white marble balcony spil ing over the edge. The memory became fuzzy.

She continued listening, enthral ed by each story offered to her. She soaked up every description, wishing she could visit every planet in turn. In a way she supposed she was searching. Searching for her own planet, or a planet she could cal her own one day. She wasn’t sure how far Sebastian was wil ing to travel to find a place to leave her. She feared he might just unload her with the cargo when they reached their destination.