Guardian of the Abyss Read Online Free Page B

was having a temper tantrum. Sarah stared in awe. It was a wonder to behold. His heavy stomping literally shook the chamber they lived in. More than that, though, he was beautiful. Oh, not in the conventional way, certainly. Most men didn't have skin literally the color of gold, gleaming slightly with its own inner light.
    And for a human man to get muscle bound like that would take a dedication to his body that would exclude all else. Nor did human men run around in gold loincloths. He was bald and had no eyebrows. By all rights he should have looked ridiculous.
    He didn't. He looked masculine, primitive, and magnificent. With a formidable scowl on his face and muscles twitching in his jaw, he made her heart hammer with a mixture of fear and appreciation that defied her understanding.
    Sarah had always been one to flirt with death. She loved that adrenaline that came from free-diving. Dancing on the razor's edge between going home alive or in a body bag had always thrilled her.
    The demon set to see to her punishment was having the wrong effect. He was frightening without a doubt, but that made him that much more alluring to a woman addicted to adrenaline and the rush that came from surviving the terrifying.
    Although aside from the glowing, the black eyes, and the wings, the guy wasn't all that demonic. No wonder he got the crappy details like being stuck in a grotto out of sight, out of mind.
    Then when he huffed and turned his back on her, she stared at him. He sank down into his stone form too quickly for her to follow. One moment he was standing, the next he was stone. The part that bothered her, though, was the question of where his wings were. They seemed to... disappear at will. How bizarre!
    Eagerly, she reached out and grabbed the fish. Fish or not, it was food and her stomach was screaming from hunger. Biting into it, she ate several mouthfuls before her manners won over her hunger. What was she thinking eating when she hadn't even thanked him? What was wrong with her!
    Taking a deep breath, uncertain of how he would react to her overture, she went over with her fish and sat down against the wall in front of him. She wondered how often anyone touched him. Did demons touch each other like humans did? Probably not, unless they were torturing each other. Did demons torture each other? Shaking her curiosity away, she reached up and laid her palm about where she thought his cheek was, or would be.
    "Thank you," she said with as much sincerity as she could infuse into it. She was pretty sure he didn't understand English--or pretended not to, anyway. Something else entirely unexpected.
    For a moment, nothing happened. Then just as she was about to start eating again, he shifted, the glow from his body filling their home, such as it was, with warmth. "Vos es exspetata," he said.
    She had no idea what it meant, but it sounded a bit like Latin to her. Of course he spoke Latin... he was a demon. That was one part of the mystery solved. On the other hand, it sounded as if he was accepting her gesture of truce.
    She offered the fish to him, just to check.
    He made a face and pulled away. "Haud," he grunted.
    Definitely Latin, she knew then. 'Haud' was 'no' in Latin. Well, since they might be in hell together, they just as well get along. At least a little.
    "Sarah," she said, putting her hand on her chest. After all, all the movies and books said that was the way to go about introductions when you don't speak someone's language. Doing it again, she pointed at him, "What's your name?"
    From the squatting position he had been in, he sat back onto the cavern floor. Then he scratched his head. "Eh... Villiam." Then he shook his head. "Haud." He looked at his hands, then heaved a heavy sigh. "Eh...mmm... Abaddon." He got a pleased look. "Etiam, Abaddon." He gestured at her. "Sarah," he said. He gestured to himself, "Abaddon."
    Sarah's fish was forgotten. Holy criminy, she was imprisoned in hell with the demon overlord. She'd tried a