Friend? Viper turned his head to regard the small, fluttering gargoyle who was attempting to hide in the branches of a nearby tree. He had spotted the demon when he had come from the tiny opening, but he had dismissed him once he had caught sight of Shay.
She managed to drive most things from his mind when she was near.
A rather dangerous realization.
"You mean the gargoyle?" he demanded with a hint of surprise.
"Yes."
"He belongs to Evor?"
"Yes."
He gave a slow lift of his brows. "If you had requested, I would have bought him last night. There was no need to endanger yourself."
She blinked in astonishment at his soft words. Even her muscles relaxed as if she temporarily forgot he was the enemy.
Viper silently savored the feel of her body pressed close against him.
"Evor has never attempted to auction Levet." Remembered pain flashed through her eyes. "He prefers to leave him as a treat for his goons to torture."
His arms loosened their hold enough to allow his fingers to trace a light pattern up her spine. He didn't like seeing that hurt darken her eyes. It made him want to drain someone.
Beginning with the pasty-faced troll.
"For the right price, Evor would sell his own mother" he growled.
It took a moment before she grudgingly met his steady gaze. "I could hardly be expected to know you would be willing to grant your slave such a favor."
His hand shifted to cup the back of her head. "Why are you so determined to consider yourself a slave when I have yet to do so?"
She blinked at his blunt demand. "What else could I be? You bought me from a slave trader. You possess the amulet that keeps me chained to you regardless of my own desires."
"Would you prefer that I return you to Evor? You would rather possess a different master?"
"Does it matter what I want?"
"Answer the question."
Despite the darkness Viper could easily read the emotions rippling over her face.
Confusion. Embarrassment. And at last a reluctant acceptance.
"No," she whispered so softly that if he hadn't been a vampire he would never have heard her. But he was. And he did. And it was enough to make his hand tighten on the back of her head to press her head downward.
Her breath came in a rush as he captured her lips, captured the heat of her, and pulled it deep within him. She tasted of warm honey and life. A taste sweet enough for a vampire to drown in.
Thrusting his fingers into her hair Viper allowed his free hand to sweep down to cup her hip. He wanted her here, now. He wanted her with a raw ache that was nearly frightening in its intensity.
Gently parting her lips with his tongue he searched the moist cavern of her mouth. He groaned deep in his throat as her hands clutched at his arms and for a startling moment she returned his kiss with the same frantic need that pulsed within him.
Heat flared between them, and then with a startled gasp Shay was abruptly wrenching her lips from his own, and regarding him with something perilously close to horror.
"Viper."
He swallowed a curse as his body clenched in protest before he was sternly chastising his unruly passions. What the devil was the matter with him?
He was a centuries-old vampire with endless power and sophistication. He did not indulge in public orgies. No matter what the temptation.