Well he may have a point but she didn’t like the idea of another freezing cold night without a blanket. However, now that she thought about it, she woke up warm and comfortable each morning. Strange.

Not to mention she needed new clothes badly. She’d give almost anything to have a pair of fresh jeans, a shirt, and a warm jacket. Scrubbing her clothes in streams and lakes worked only so much.

Alrik was already up and moving around when she got up but she figured he hadn’t been up long. The strange light in the sky, not a sun but a bright enough light that looked as if it always had a hazy fog covering it, just broke into the sky.

Abby stretched the sore muscles in her body. She was getting more of a workout with all the hiking than she’d had in a long time. She could already feel her stomach slimming some. Normally she might be happy that she’d slimmed down, but in this case it made her jeans bag on her and without any replacement clothes it just served to remind her how much she needed to be home.

Alrik set a packet of cooked, dried meat on the ground then announced, “I’ll be back.”

A flicker of panic instantly swept through her. He was leaving her? He’d never said any such thing before. When he started walking into the woods, underneath a high-rise cliff on their left, she hollered out to him.

“Where are you going?”

He kept walking for a few steps then seemed to debate with himself before he stopped and turned back. Her breath squeezed tight in her throat, her entire body caught fire just having him look at her. All because of that kiss. She swore his masculine, sexy taste still filled her mouth. It surprised her, but if he came to her right now and took her mouth she’d gladly give in.

Not once in her whole life had she ever been kissed like that. It was as if kissing her had been the most pleasurable act in his life, as if he couldn’t get enough, and as if it took every ounce of willpower in his entire body not take her body. And she’d felt the same. She hadn’t wanted it to ended, not even for a second.

A shiver quivered down her spine. Her breasts pulled tight and her nipples hardened. She gulped but hoped, and didn’t hope, that he would notice.

His dark eyes caught hers and she swore—he knew. He knew every sensual thought she just had because he’d had it too.

“I’m going to the lake to bathe.” He voice sounded even deeper than normal.

Her eyebrows flew up.

As if sensing where her thoughts were leading her he jabbed a finger in her direction. “You will not follow me, Abbigail. You will stay here and eat until I return. If anything seems amiss, cry out and I’ll be here.”

Abby looked around in dismay. A stream of cool water trickled down over the rocky cliff above and flowed down southwards, bubbling over rocks and crags. He told her it all poured out into the Drego lake, but a thick expanse of forest kept it from view.

This forest looked different from the ones she’d seen before. There were many bushes and shrubs colored dark yellow like mustard, bright yellow like a cheery tulip, and a beautiful dark cherry red. Some were as tall as her waist and others even taller than she was. They fit amidst the thick trunked trees creating a beautiful, earthy juxtaposition. Their leaves were heart shaped but elongated and thinner with the ends coming to a point. They brought a smile to Abby’s face with their earthly beauty.

Alrik followed her gaze and he scowled. “And do not touch anything. Some of these plants are dangerous to the touch.”

Abby’s smile died. The forest just went from a pretty little garden she might explore to something dangerous. She took in the beautiful shrubbery one last time. Looks like she wouldn’t be going in there without her little guide after all. Sighing, she took a seat on a rock that had a smooth flat surface.

“Fine, I’ll wait here.” She popped her chin up on her fist and gave him her bored expression. She was trying to play it bored, but truth be told she didn’t like the idea of being here alone. The crazy demon was all she had in this strange world, and she needed him as much as he did her.

Alrik turned and followed along the cliff before disappearing around the bend.

Abby fidgeted then moved to sit Indian style. When that didn’t bring any comfort, she kicked her legs out in front of her and crossed her ankles. Time seemed to slow after he left. She was never one to idle, always preferred to keep moving.

The peaceful quiet of the woods didn’t help that any. The wind blew by rustling the leaves of the trees creating its own form of music. She sighed with disgust. This was no good. Sitting alone left to her thoughts to fill the silence.

She probably lost her job. If she made it out of this ordeal then she might be able to explain to Stan and get her job back. He was a good teacher but harsh. He’d probably make her redo her entire internship and that’d leave her back at square one working towards her supernatural medical examiner’s certificate. God, she wanted it so badly she could almost taste it.

She wanted that laminated badge with her picture and name on it. The one stamped ME on it by the state. Not her intern’s badge. She wanted to finish her autopsy training and be in there with the victims, finding cause of death, and helping detectives like Mike to find murderers. She wanted to be someone who helped to make things a little better in the world. She didn’t want to stand by as bad things happened. She could do something to help and she wanted it so bad she could taste it.

With a grunt, Abby fell back against the slab of rock and stared up at the strange sky. Out of all the doubts she’d ever entertained about her job, she never once figured she might get her dream job because a sexy demon would kidnap her. Yup, can’t say that ever crossed the mind, she thought.

Maybe not being smart enough for the job or not being able to stomach what she saw—those were legitimate fears she’d had. The thought of a cursed psycho storming into her house and kidnapping her into a dimension filled with different kinds of demons never entered her mind. Not even once.

What that meant for her was almost too scary to think about. Could she really be that powerful? If the queen was as powerful as he said, and if she sent those birds with the deadliest storm ever after them, then she must be. That meant she might be more powerful than the queen and the thought terrified her. What if when she finished harnessing her power to get out of the rift it went to her head? What if it corrupted her or changed her? She didn’t want to change. She was perfectly happy how she was.

Okay, maybe that’s not entirely true. She’d been stuck in a rut, bored when not working, and living without really living life. Her daily routine had consisted of getting in her internship hours and staying at home. Ever since she’d been out of college her relationship with her best friend Jenna had even started to deteriorate. If anything, they should be spending even more time together what with all the free time Abby had.

Well, she was certainly living life now just not in the way she’d ever thought possible. Now she was in a strange world with a strange man. No, a demon, she corrected. Alrik was no man. He was too powerful, too mysterious, too sensual, too dangerous...too everything to be a man.

And, he kissed her like she had always wanted to be kissed. Heck, like any woman would want to be kissed at least once in their lifetime. Like she’d been his air. Once his lips touched hers, something zapped between them, something too powerful to be contained. Her stomach fluttered and she ran her hand over it to settle it. Her lips felt suddenly dry and she darted her tongue out to wet them. She wanted that again. She wanted it so badly it was a physical need telling her to go after him and make him kiss her like that again. She wanted to see what else he was capable of, and discover what other passions existed between them.