His gaze traced up and down her then he glanced back and commanded something to his group. The others vanished in a flash of movement. Then he spoke once more.

Her thighs started trembling, and she flexed her thigh to try to keep her leg from giving out. Hot fire started burning in her muscle. It jerked and she grimaced as her muscle rolled and her knee burned tight. It felt a good two sizes bigger than it should be.

The strange man with the bow said something else to her, his eyes intense. Too bad she didn’t speak Demonish.

With a curse, her knee gave out and she couldn’t keep from crying out. She landed on her side, her hands going to her upper thigh to apply pressure there. It helped to ease the pain some but not by much.

The demon came towards her. He had skin like the pale moon and hair as black as Alrik’s. His eyes were what really caught her attention though, they were green. No, that was too plain sounding. It didn’t do them justice. They were the most beautiful green eyes she’d ever seen. Like the green in a photo of a tree in Hawaii that’d been colored and highlighted by some designer’s hand to enhance it. It was brighter than the brightest grass or leaf even down here in the rift where colors were more vibrant. And, they were on a face that stared down at her with such intensity that it stole her breath away.

The demon stopped before her with his hand held out and whispering foreign words. She felt his magic travel over her body an instant before darkness took her.

“What are you going to do with the woman?”

That same question had been plaguing Aidan since he caught her. He and his men didn’t know what to make of her. She wasn’t demon, nor vampire or shapeshifter, yet she traveled with none other than King Alrik Demuzi. That left them with human.

Just what the king wanted of them, they didn’t know. If the king thought he could garner any kind of support from Aiden and his men then he couldn’t wait to show him just how wrong he was. Few were hated more than the king of the shahoulin—a treacherous, evil bastard that deserved no less than a slow, painful death. Aidan just hoped some good might come out of this chance meeting.

His eyes once again fell to the unconscious woman. She was beautiful, captivating. Then again, he hadn’t laid eyes on a woman in a very long time so maybe his sense of what was attractive or not was tainted. Maybe she actually looked more like a hag. His eyes wouldn’t let him believe it. She looked young, fresh, had a mane of shiny brown hair, and a body perfect for loving.

“That’s a good question, Conrad, and one I don’t have the answer to right now.”

Conrad nodded and his gaze, just like the rest of the men’s, fell to the woman. Aidan had ordered her to be laid upon some bedding near the fireplace until she woke. Her demon companion didn’t have it so nicely. A smile tugged at Aidan’s lips.

“How fares the king?” Aidan asked.

Conrad grinned with pleasure. “He’s below in the dungeon bellowing his brains out to be freed. I don’t think he much takes to captivity.”

Aidan ground his jaw. “Now he has a taste of what he’d bestowed upon us.”

“And it feels good,” Conrad said.

Aidan laughed, his chest feeling lighter. “Yes, yes it does.”

Conrad fell silent for a moment, and then hesitantly said, “You don’t plan to let her go, do you?”

He could almost hear the twinge of hope in his fellow soldier’s voice. “No, certainly not.” He and his men had been without a woman for a very, very long time. He wouldn’t let his fortune idly walk away now. The question then was what to do with her. There was only one of her and twenty-one of them. The men might share for a while but it wouldn’t take long for possessiveness to flare. That, Aidan could do without. The last thing he needed amongst his men was rivalry over a single female. It’d be inevitable if he didn’t plan this carefully. “I’m thinking a challenge.”

Conrad’s grin faltered then transformed into a wide smile. “Excellent idea.”

Aidan nodded. “There will still be some problems. Whomever doesn’t win will feel it surely. This will create tension among us.” Especially since Aidan planned to keep her for himself. He wanted to be the first to feel the naked skin of a woman pressed against him, the first to slide hard between her welcoming thighs. His cock hardened at the thought.

Conrad nodded grimly. “True enough. Mayhap if she’s shared at some point, it could give all the men a chance to relieve themselves.”

In thought, the idea worked out wonderfully. However, in Aidan’s past a woman didn’t exactly like to be shared without her approval. The thought of force did not sit well with Aidan. He knew all about being forced to do things he didn’t like, and he wouldn’t do that to a lovely woman.

“We don’t want to lose her favor, Conrad. We do that and she won’t accept any of us. No, we have to find a way around that.” He knew by looking at her that the thought of taking on more than one man at a time wouldn’t appeal to her. She had an innocent sexual allure to her. He wondered if she even realized it.

Conrad sighed and took a seat beside Aidan. “I hadn’t thought of that. What will we do then?”

Aidan thought on it for a long while. His gaze moved from the flames licking at the wood to the prone woman lying in front of the fireplace. “I think we’ll go ahead with the challenge. Whoever wins will keep her but in a few weeks’ time we’ll hold another challenge with the previous winner not participating. This will eventually allow everyone a chance to win her.”

“What if she refuses to accommodate the winner?”

Anger flared in Aidan. “Then we’ll make her.” He wouldn’t physically force her, but there were other ways. An idea struck him—maybe even pleasurable ways. A seduction. The pressure in his groin grew nearly unbearable.

A commotion started around the great hall’s fire jerking Aidan out of his sultry thoughts. He went to his men. They wore expressions ranging from excited to wary. He didn’t blame them. Having a woman here could prove a change for either the better or the worse.

One of his men, Drekk, caught him coming towards and nodded to the woman. “She’s waking, sir.”

A flash of excitement flickered in Aidan. He couldn’t help it; he was just as excited as the rest of them. “Make room,” he ordered. His men parted around the woman and Aidan came through to see her eyelashes fluttering open.

Greed filled him just looking upon her. What he would do to keep her for himself...

The woman sat straight up, her gaze darting around the men hovering around her. She started breathing fast in fear, pushing a pair of gorgeous breasts up tight against the snug, strange shirt she wore.

He stopped in front of her and her gaze flew to his. He watched recognition hit her eyes. Good, she remembered him from before.

“Who are you?”

She spoke strangely and he and his men looked at her in confusion. This wouldn’t do.

Aidan turned to his men. “Get Gabrick here now.”

No sooner than he made the order did Gabrick push his way through the crowd. The older demon had the greatest magical abilities among all of them. It was largely due in part to his abilities that they were able to keep their small castle invisible to the prying eyes of the world. They used to be out in the open, but in the past year idummi attacks had become more frequent. So, they’d pooled their magic and spells together to cast a protective spell over the castle. If all of them left for too long the spell would eventually fade and reveal their home.

“Can you make it so we can understand her and her us, Gabrick?”

The man nodded slowly, his eyes devouring the woman. A spark of possessiveness straightened Aidan’s spine, but he ignored it. It wouldn’t do getting revved up in front of his men over the woman, even though he planned to keep her for himself.