Ruby Shadows Read online

  “What toll?” I shook my head. “You said something about that before but you never explained. I tried to give him the coin but he wouldn’t take it.”

  “It is not in money that you must pay.” Laish was still looking at me intently. “But in deeds. You must pay the Sin Tax to cross from one circle of Hell into the next.”

  “Sin Tax? What are you talking about?” I put a hand on my hip, all out of patience. “Look, Laish, just tell me what I have to do and I’ll do it. Come on—help me out, here!”

  “I will be more than pleased to help you out—though I do not think you will like it,” he said quietly. “You see, Gwendolyn, in order to pass on to another circle, you must commit a sin. A small one at this juncture, as we are still in the upper levels of Hell. But as we pass through each concentric circle, your crime must be greater and greater in order to satisfy the tax. It is the only way that you, as a living human, may pass through.”

  “But…what kind of a sin?” I asked, though I was afraid I already knew.

  “One of lust, I believe will do at this point.” Laish fixed me with those ruby eyes and beckoned to me. “Come to me, Gwendolyn. I can help you pay the tax.”

  At last I understood. This was what he had meant when he said I would have to let him touch me in order to get through Hell. I felt a flush of warmth run through me, though if it was lust or anger I couldn’t tell—maybe it was a mixture of both.

  “You…I…” I had no words. What could I say? “What…what am I supposed to do?” I finally got out.

  “Just come to me,” he murmured. “I will be gentle, I swear.”

  Rather than reassuring me, his words scared the Hell out of me—no pun intended. “What are you planning to do—have sex right here on the river bank?” I demanded, holding my ground. “Because I’m not up for that—not even to get across the river.”

  Laish sighed. “I wish you did not fear my touch so very much. No, mon ange, I will not penetrate you now. As I said, only a little sin is necessary to satisfy at this juncture. If you let me simply touch you, I think we can pay the tax very well.”

  “Touch me how?” I asked, still reluctant to go to him. “What are you going to do? I need to know.”

  “Simply caress you.” His eyes were heavy-lidded with lust and his voice was soft and deep. “Come, Gwendolyn—don’t fear me. I will never hurt you, I swear it.”

  “And if I let you do this—if I let you touch me—we’ll be able to get on the ferry and go across?” I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest.

  He nodded. “Exactly so. Come.”

  At last I came to him and stood in front of him. I couldn’t meet his eyes though—instead, I stared down at my little black shoes.

  “All right, here I am. Go ahead,” I muttered.

  Laish sighed. “May I remind you that you must be a willing participant in this? It is you who are paying the toll—not me.”

  “But I don’t know how to do that.” My heart was pounding but I made myself look up at him anyway. “I don’t know how to…to make myself willing.”

  “I can help you,” Laish pulled me into his arms and nuzzled my neck, pressing a hot, open-mouthed kiss to the sensitive skin of my throat.

  I couldn’t help the shiver that ran through me. Goddess help me, I knew it was wrong but I wanted him to do this. It was scary and dangerous and absolutely sinful but I just couldn’t deny it—his touch felt good.

  I thought he would continue kissing me but then, to my surprise, Laish turned me gently in his arms so that my back was pressed to his front.

  “It’s all right,” he murmured in my ear, running his big, warm hands up and down my shivering bare arms. “I won’t hurt you, Gwendolyn. I wish only to bring you pleasure.”

  He was doing a pretty good job of it already, and he hadn’t even really touched any “sinful” areas yet. I bit my lip as his warm hands moved inward, caressing my belly and sliding up the thin silk dress to cup the under-curves of my breasts.

  “You don’t know how much I wanted to do this as we were riding earlier,” Laish murmured in my ear. I had to bite back a moan as he cupped me more fully and rubbed over the hard bud of one nipple with his thumb.

  “You…you did?” I asked, wishing my voice didn’t sound so breathless.

  “Mmm-hmm.” His voice was a low growl of pleasure and I could feel something hot and hard poking against my lower back. Gently, he plucked at the other nipple, squeezing it between his thumb and finger. I gave a little cry as sparks of pain and pleasure shot through me, then bit my lip, trying to keep back the other sounds that wanted to come out.

  “It’s all right, mon ange,” he murmured in my ear. “You can make noise if you need to. I like to hear it—like to know how I am affecting you.”

  I wished desperately that I could say he wasn’t affecting me at all but Laish would have seen through my lie at once. It was obvious by the way my heart was pounding and my breathing was short and shallow that his hands on me made me react.

  I didn’t know why I felt his touch so keenly. I had let other guys touch my breasts before—mostly back during my reckless, rebellious phase in high school—before I saw what happened to Keisha and decided I didn’t want to end up that way. Since every boy I ever fooled around with had to stop above the waist and couldn’t go any further, it never ended happily. But I had to admit, it had felt damn good while it lasted.

  But no one had ever touched me the way Laish was touching me now. His hands on my body were gentle but incredibly possessive. He stroked over my flesh as though he owned me and intended to do exactly what he wanted with me—which was apparently to make me moan. Because I couldn’t help doing exactly that.

  “Does this feel good, mon ange?” he murmured, pulling down the thin top of the dress to reveal my naked breasts.

  I wanted to protest that we were in public, that we weren’t alone, that I couldn’t let him do that to me. But somehow nothing came out of my mouth but another moan as he touched me.

  “Laish,” I gasped as he cupped my bare breasts, twisting both nipples at the same time and then letting them go and stroking them with feather light caresses.

  “Yes, mon ange?” he growled softly in my ear, his breath hot against my sensitive skin. “Tell me, my little witch—after so many years of enforced virginity—are you hungry to be touched? Hungry for the feel of hands on your body?”

  That, of course, was the real problem. I was hungry to be touched—so hungry that I didn’t even care that it was a demon who was doing the touching.

  “Stop,” I whispered. “Stop, we…we must have paid the tax by now.”

  “Not quite.” Suddenly one of his hands left my breasts and stroked down, sliding over my trembling abdomen and coming to stop between my thighs.

  “Laish!” I protested, squeezing my legs closed as tightly as I could. I was already over stimulated down there from riding on the hard saddle. I was afraid if I let him start touching me when I was already so hot, I wouldn’t want him to stop.

  “Relax, Gwendolyn,” he murmured. “I wish only to feel the heat of your sweet little cunt in my palm. I promised not to penetrate you and that is a promise I intend to keep.”

  I didn’t want to—I told myself I didn’t, anyway—but somehow I found myself spreading my legs for him.

  “That’s good. Good girl,” he growled softly. His large, warm hand slid down my leg and before I knew it, his long fingers were trailing under my dress and up my bare thigh.

  I trembled against him, expecting to feel those fingers slide into my lacy panties at any moment. Instead, he simply cupped me, as he had promised he would, holding my pussy gently but firmly in the palm of his hand.

  “Why, Gwendolyn,” he murmured, tracing the slit of my pussy delicately through the thin lace. “Your panties are positively soaked.”

  I gasped and jumped at his light, teasing touch. “Laish, please…” I pleaded, uncertain what I was begging for.

  “Please, what, mon ange?” His deep