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He soothingly stroked his hand over her thigh, right where he’d gripped it tight. Her skin was already bruising. He could heal the marks, but he found he liked the sight of his fingerprints on her flesh.
“You’re like a machine or something,” she said, panting. “Not sure if you realized, but you woke me four times through the night.”
“I realized,” he told her. Unlike her, he hadn’t been tired, so he hadn’t slept. He’d sat on the chair and gotten some work done on his laptop. “You sometimes make this soft little hum when you sleep. It’s the same sound you sometimes make when I’m playing with your nipples. It gets me hard every time.”
She snorted. “Don’t blame me for how insatiable you are.”
He gently nipped the back of her shoulder. “Are you complaining about how often I take you?”
“If I didn’t like it, I’d say so, not hint at it.”
“Good.” He slowly slid out of her. “Shower with me.”
After they were clean and dressed, they headed to the main hall to eat breakfast with his lair. He was pouring a second cup of coffee when he felt a slight vibration against his mind and knew that someone had telepathically contacted her.
Dropping her fork, Raini looked up at him, her lips parted. “Demi’s back.”
He stilled, and his demon shot to full alertness. “Back?”
“Yes, but I don’t know if she’s with Dwain or alone or what. All my mom said was Demi’s ‘home’ and that I should come see her.”
They’d be definitely going to see her—Maddox had some questions for the imp. “We’ll go together. Are you ready to leave now?”
Nodding, Raini pushed to her feet. “Whenever you are.”
Entering Demi’s living area with Maddox and Carmen, Raini glanced around the room. Her parents and uncles were gathered there, along with Jolene and Ciaran.
A false smile playing around the edges of her mouth, Evangeline pulled Raini into a hug. “Hey, sweetheart.”
“Thank you for coming so quickly,” said Jolene.
Raini’s gaze darted from person to person, taking in their grim expressions. Her stomach rolled. “What’s wrong? Where’s Demi?”
“She’s upstairs, sleeping. Martina is watching over her.” Evangeline licked her lips and held Raini by her forearms. “We need to prepare you. She looks … she doesn’t look good. Whoever kept her captive doesn’t seemed to have physically hurt her, but they didn’t exactly make an effort to take care of her.”
Raini felt the blood drain from her face. “She was kept captive?”
Her mother swallowed. “I’m afraid so.”
“By who? And where?”
“We don’t yet know,” said Jolene. “She hasn’t woken yet. She was found unconscious this morning on the field not far from Ciaran’s house. By all appearances, it looks as though she was dumped there.”
“Dumped there?”
“Yes. There were tire tracks not far from where she was found, and it appeared as though she’d been dragged along the ground.”
Raini winced. Guilt wrapped around her bones and made her feel like a piece of shit. Her sister had been a prisoner. A victim. And Raini had spent weeks thinking of her as a suspect.
Maddox’s mind brushed hers. That guilt you’re feeling is senseless, baby.
Her demon agreed, urging Raini to shake it off.
Letting her hands slide away from Raini’s arms, Evangeline turned to Maddox. “I know you’ll want to scan Demi’s mind. But I don’t think she’s strong enough to endure something like that.”
“It won’t take any strength on her part,” said Maddox. “I only require her to be awake.”
Lachlan tilted his head. “When you infiltrated Terrence’s mind—”
“I deliberately hurt him,” Maddox finished. “I can make it so that there’s no pain.” Noting that neither Evangeline nor Lachlan seemed any more comfortable with it, he added, “I appreciate that you’re feeling very protective of her right now and that you wish to spare her further trauma, but we need answers.”
“She’ll give them to us willingly,” said Evangeline.
“Perhaps, but I will still scan her mind.” Maddox raised a hand to stay any objections. “If it was Dwain who took her, she might still protect him and lie that he played no part in it—a demon’s loyalty to their anchor runs deep.”
“He’s right,” said Jolene. “Demi loves Dwain enough to make excuses for him in her mind, let alone protect him from what we might do to him if he’s guilty. We have to know what happened. I think everyone in this room can agree with that. So if Demi refuses to talk, Maddox will get the answers for us.”
Evangeline and the imps nodded, though they didn’t look happy about it.
A short time later, Jolene announced she’d received a telepathic heads-up from Martina that Demi was awake.
“Thank God,” breathed Evangeline, making a move toward the stairs, but she paused when Jolene lifted a hand.
“Let’s not all go rushing into the bedroom,” said Jolene. “We have no idea what she has been through. It would be best not to crowd her.”
