Duncan's Descent by Marie Harte Page B

faded under the build-up of lust consuming him. Her tongue thrust between his lips, and she shoved her hand between them and down his pants, curling her fingers around his cock. Duncan sighed in her mouth, lost in her touch. To hell with everyone else. He’d never felt so damned happy before, and he didn’t intend to give her up. But between one breath and the next, she was gone.
    â€œRelease her, demon.” Uriel, that cursed, holier-than-thou shithead, had the gall to stand between them. He held Sapphira back by the arm and glared at Duncan with honest rage.
    â€œWhat the fuck are you doing?” Duncan had had enough. They were no longer in the upper realm. And bargain or no bargain, Duncan was going to land Uriel between realms, right into forever-death’s waiting arms…
    â€œNot this time, young one,” a husky voice intruded, and Duncan was thrown back hard enough to nearly break his skull when he landed. The brick wall that added so much authenticity and charm to his megabucks penthouse made for a lousy landing. His head bounced off the brick, making him see double. After he hit, he landed awkwardly on the floor, at an angle that popped his knee with sweat-breaking pain. Someone lifted him again and threw him against an opposite wall with as much force as the first throw. Blood ran down his eyes, blinding him, and he prayed he hadn’t just ruined his Gustave Doré Inferno 34 . Son a bitch, but that damned engraver’s wood block had cost him a fortune.
    He dimly heard, “Mother, don’t you dare! If you kill him, I’ll never talk to you again for the rest of my eternal life .”
    Before “Mother” could answer, a wall of windows shattered and glass fragments filled the room. Dragon roar merged with demon anger, and in seconds his potential defeat changed into a shot at victory.
    Sucking up the pain, Duncan swayed on his good leg and steadied with the help of… “Eve?”
    His vision wavered, and then he was hoisted off his feet by a fire-breathing dragon, Eve’s new husband, Ranton. The dragon stood in human form, his giant wings flexing, and breaking every damned piece of glass within a fifteen-foot range.
    â€œNice place, Duncan,” Ranton grumbled. “But your visitors don’t seem to go with the décor.”
    Eve blazed with blue fire, and Duncan deliberately knocked her off balance, afraid she might hit Sapphira, who continued to struggle against Uriel and her mother for freedom. In doing so, Duncan’s knee hit one of Ranton’s rock-hard legs, and he sucked in a breath as his vision blanked and pain took hold of him.
    â€œNo, don’t hit…” He tried to stay focused, but he couldn’t think around the throbbing in his knee and the agony vibrating through his head. Shouts and ethereal blaze erupted around him. “Sapphira,” he slurred before losing consciousness.

Chapter Six
    After two days spent locked up in Charmeine’s private dwelling in the second sphere, Sapphira felt ready to scale the walls. She constantly worried about Duncan. He hadn’t looked at all well when she’d been forced to leave him, and fear that his body might have been beyond salvaging haunted her. Yes, she loved the spirit within her demon. The way he made her laugh, took pride in his work, and accepted who he was combined to draw her to a strong individual. No, losing him didn’t bear consideration. And she couldn’t deny being fond of his outward trappings. Duncan was hot, and that body of his...
    God willing, he was okay. What an absolute mess. Her mother, Uriel, Duncan wounded, his penthouse destroyed. All of which led Sapphira to thoughts of the strangers who’d entered the fray. That woman and…
    An honest-to-God dragon. For years Sapphira had studied them, reading as much as she could about the dragons, blood elves and mysterious havoc who also dwelled in the lower realm. Of the three races,