Demon Untamed (13 page)

His expression displayed a mixture of irritation and amusement.

“I know the concept of a hard day’s work is difficult for you to understand, pirate, and you’re functioning on a damaged moral compass—”

He frowned. “My moral compass may be damaged, but at least I’m not a slave to my baser needs.”

She stilled. “You’re saying I am?”

“You are a demon, after all. Your kind are notorious for their debauchee and barbarous natures.”

She choked out a laugh. “My people are barbarous?”

“You said it.”

She crossed her arms. “And this coming from a pirate.”

“You know nothing of it!” he snapped.

“And you know nothing of me!”

“I know more than you think. And even if I didn’t, I had you pegged purely by the manner in which you dress yourself.” He gave her a disgusted once over.

That gave her pause, and she resisted the urge to look down at herself. Her outfit was no more revealing than any other female on the ship. In fact, compared to some, she could be considered downright modest. Her skirts, she had to admit, were on the short side, but that was only to accommodate her tail. Besides, she liked them. Not that it mattered what anyone else thought of her, especially not some hypocritical pirate.

“Get out of my pub before I smash your face into the wall,” she hissed.

Instead, he took a step closer, goading her with his defiant expression. Her blood fired in a way she’d never felt before, and the pace of her heart increased with a surge of excitement. She was used to people backing down when she issued a threat. They never willingly opened themselves up for attack.

She tilted her head at him with renewed interest.

He seemed to note the change in her, and something like smugness formed behind his eyes.

“Don’t be a moron,” she snapped, suddenly unsure how to proceed. “I wouldn’t want to damage my newly acquired stock. Go speak with Sebastian. I hope he does take you with him. Then I won’t have to suffer through your insolence.”

If she didn’t know any better, she would think his frown showed a hint of disappointment.

Long after he’d left, Sonya was still puzzling over the fact that she hadn’t just dragged him out of her pub and knocked him on his ass. He deserved nothing less. She was also surprised to find that she needed another session in the training room so soon.

Ethan went in search of Sebastian, bewildered by what had happened between him and Sonya. How was it that she hated and desired him at the same time? Her indecisiveness was enough to drive his sanity to the brink.

During their first argument of the night, her contempt had been palpable. Nothing had driven him to anger so quickly. She continued to see him as…what were her words? A despicable pirate. He couldn’t figure out why that bothered him so much.

Yet, just now, she had once more become aroused. He knew this because her resolve had shifted wildly between furious violence and carnal aggression. In the end, she had settled on confused avoidance.

He would have preferred either of the other two.

He found Sebastian and Anya just as they exited the Sanctuary. Sebastian caught the look in Ethan’s eye, and he held up his hands. “No. You are not coming with us.”

“I can’t allow you to go alone.” Ethan glanced between Sebastian and Anya.

“You can, and you will,” Sebastian said. “I’ll not risk losing anyone else, and I can only stand one stubborn Faieara on this expedition. Besides, we need you here translating that book.”

“He’s right.” Anya smiled at Ethan and grabbed hold of Sebastian’s arm. “I sensed the presence of my sister before I was taken by Darius. I’m sure we’ll find her and Marik in no time. Please don’t worry, Ethan.”

His shoulders slumped. He could tell neither of them had any intention of relenting. “What about the cold?” he asked Sebastian. “Anya and I were nearly rendered catatonic by it. How can you take here there a second time?”

To his surprise, Sebastian grinned. “I found a special suit for her to wear. I almost forgot we had it. It’s bulky, but it will protect her from the weather. And if anyone besides me touches her, it will zap them into a coma.”

Ethan’s brow rose.

Sebastian placed a hand on his shoulder and met his gaze. “I will not let her out of my sight.”

Ethan pursed his lips. “If you change your mind, just say the word.”

Sebastian nodded.

As Ethan headed back to his room, his mind once more drifted to the little demon temptress.

She had appeared insulted when he commented on her clothing, but how could she be? Her dress was designed to snare a male’s attention, and snare it she did. The men on this ship constantly looked her way, and she disregarded their attention as though it were to be expected.

Teasing little witch.

There must be some reason behind her unwavering hatred toward him. Either that, or she just enjoyed tormenting him, which was the far more likely scenario.

Well, if she insisted on accusing him of being a despicable pirate, he was more than willing to show her one.

* * *

The next evening, Sonya entered The Demon’s Punchbowl ready to start her shift and make sure Ethan had been respecting her orders. She paused in the doorway to gauge the nearly empty room. A few customers were scattered across the pub, but Ethan was nowhere to be found.

Seeing the stock room door ajar, light shining, she moved in to investigate.

Ethan faced away from her, his head tilted back as he guzzled straight from a bottle.

Fury hit her. “I’ll kill you, pirate!” She lunged.

Without even looking, he managed to sidestep her attack, and her fist almost met with a line of bottles on a shelf.

“Calm yourself, female.” He turned to her, one finger hooked loosely around the bottleneck. “I was just sampling the product to see what would be best to recommend to our clients.”

“
My
clients!” She growled, cursing herself for not taking care of his attitude problem last night.

“I’ll pay for the liquor. It was only a drop.”

“Damn right you’ll pay for it! And that bottle was nearly full till you got your hands on it.”

The bastard had the gall to roll his eyes at her. “Very well, I’ll buy you another bottle. What’s the big deal?” He brushed a hand through his hair and shot her an uncaring smile. Then, with a slur in his voice, he said, “You know, you’re rather attractive when you’re pissed off. You should remain that way all the time.”

She swung her fist at him, but again missed. How could he be so fast, especially drunk? She blamed the confined space. She wasn’t used to fighting in such small quarters and feared trashing her entire stock.

“What’s going on?” Anya called from behind.

“Princess!” Ethan greeted with a smile.

Taking advantage of his temporary distraction, Sonya latched her tail around the almost empty bottle still grasped in his hand and flung it hard into the side of his head. The glass shattered, and a smile spread across her lips as he went down.

Anya shrieked. “What are you doing?” She rushed past Sonya and knelt beside his limp body. “Ethan?”

“His head is far too thick for me to do any real damage.” When Anya gave her a chiding look, Sonya whined, “He was stealing my liquor.”

Anya let out an exasperated sigh. “You two have got to stop fighting. Sebastian and I are leaving for Undewla soon, and you’ll be acting as captain. If you want your pub to stay open, then you need him. Everyone else is occupied with their own jobs. Sebastian had to pull one of the mechanics to work the galley.”

“Yeah, and the food just isn’t the same,” Sonya grumbled.

With worry etched in her features, Anya’s head dropped. Sonya recalled Sebastian saying that she blamed herself for Marik’s situation.

“It’s not your fault Mark was captured,” Sonya said. “And you’ll find him, don’t fret. Marik can take care of himself. I’m sure he’s fine.”

“That was a cheap shot, demon witch.” Ethan sluggishly sat up and gripped his head.

Sonya couldn’t help but smirk. “But I thought I was oh-so pretty when I was angry? Change your mind, did you?

“Indeed.”

He placed his hand over the bloody patch where the bottle had sliced him. Brightness erupted under his palm. Sonya shielded her eyes until the light faded away.

He stood a bit wobbly and pinned Sonya with a dark stare. “That tail of yours is wicked. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on it from now on.”

“You do that!” Wait, had she just given him permission to check out her tail? “Just keep your eyes on my pub, and if I catch you sneaking drinks again, you might not be able to heal after what I’ll do to you.”

Anya pulled her from the room and gave her a serious look that didn’t fit her sweet face. “Promise me you will not kill him while we’re gone.”

Sonya raked both hands down her face and let out a frustrated groan. “Come on, Anya.”

Anya set her chin and crossed her arms, and gave a hard shake of her head.

“What if it’s an accident?”

Ethan stumbled to the door of the stock room and leaned against it, offering a self-satisfied grin in her direction. Sonya couldn’t help but sneer at him.

“Promise me,” Anya repeated, managing to miss Ethan’s half of the exchange.

“Alright. Murder is off the table.” That was as much as she was agreeing to.

Anya nodded, giving them both a stern look before leaving them alone.

Sonya stepped behind the bar to begin work as usual, expecting Ethan to take off now that she was there. Instead, he claimed an empty table across the room and waited…as though she should serve him!

She grabbed a damp rag and began wiping down tables around the bar, purposely avoiding his stare. She smiled at a table of customers near him. “You need anything?”

One of the three males raised his bottle. “I’ll take another one.”

She returned to the bar and popped the lid off a fresh ale before sauntering back. Handing the drink over, she asked, “Anything else?”

The other two shook their heads.

As she headed back toward the bar, Ethan called out, “Paying customer thirsty over here.”

The handful of other patrons glanced at Ethan, with a mixture of dubious expressions. No one ever spoke to her like that.

Sonya inhaled a calming breath, barely able to reign in her anger. “When you’ve paid for what you took, then we’ll talk.”

“Put it on my tab,” he replied.

“This isn’t the kind of shit-hole that you’re used to. You pay or you go.” She pointed to the door.

He didn’t budge.

She resumed ignoring him and focused on cleaning the mess he had left for her. Glasses piled high in the sink and along the counter. It looked as though he hadn’t cleaned a single dish or counter during the whole of his shift. The mats at her feet were disheveled. She leaned down to fix them, then studied her backsplash. Many of the bottles were in disarray. The expensive stock now mingled with the cheap stuff, and vice versa. 

Had he intentionally muddled their order?

As soon as she set to fixing it, she sensed he had relocated to a seat at the bar. Once the last bottle was in its rightful place, she turned to see him studying her.

“You didn’t miss a single one.” He gave her an apprising glance.

Her ire spiked. “So you did do that on purpose?”

He shrugged and continued to look at her curiously.

Trying not to feel self-conscious by his scrutiny, she resumed straightening. She was still pissed, but taking care of her pub helped to relax her a little. She no longer felt murderous, anyway, though the night was young.

“Why do you care so much about this place?” he asked.

She stilled and then glanced back at him. Was he really attempting small talk?

She gauged his expression, which seemed genuinely interested, but chalked it up to the fact that he was inebriated.

Ethan wasn’t sure what had compelled him to engage her in conversation, especially when he had intended to continue to drive her mad.

She remained silent for a long moment, and he assumed she wasn’t going to answer at all.

Then she lifted her shoulder in an uncharacteristically shy manner as she lowered her gaze. “It’s the one thing on this ship that’s all mine.”

“Explain.”

She glared at him, her eyes smoldering with indignation. One thing he’d learned about her was that she despised being ordered around.

“Please,” he added.

She eyed him dubiously, somewhat reserved once more, yet her anger toward him was still bobbing the surface of her emotions.

Finally, she replied, “It’s important for me to pull my own weight. Sebastian captains the ship and makes most of the decisions, Cale is his second in command, and I provide a service to bring in money. I pay a monthly rate for this space which helps us to purchase supplies and maintain
Marada
when jobs are scarce.”

Ethan leaned back in his chair. He hadn’t expected such an honest answer, and without a single insult thrown his way.

“We don’t go around stealing whatever we like, as
others
do.” An accusatory glance followed her words.

Ah, that was more like it.

“Like I said, I wasn’t stealing. I was sampling. If I’m going to work here, I’m going to need to know which flavors mesh well together.”

“Yet you’re clearly drunk.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “A fortunate side effect. And I’m not that bad off. My tolerance is higher than most.”

“Or so you’d like to believe.”

“I’m sure I’d keep up just fine with a demon’s pace.”

Her lips curled into a roguish grin. “Is that a challenge?”

“Take it as you like.”

“Poor decision making is another side effect of being drunk.”

“You just name the time.”

Sonya paused and studied him. “You must be joking.”

“If you lose, I get to drink free for life.”

“And what do I get if
you
lose?”

He shrugged. “I could help extract that insidious metal bar from your ass.”

“Impossible, since you’re the reason it’s there.”

He chuckled. “Fair enough. Then I’ll work for free.”