A to Z Challenge - D is for Demetrius

This is part of a continuing story. Please start from my post A is for Abby.

D IS FOR DEMETRIUS

Run, Abby! Run!

"Did you just call me cookie?" Abby folded her arms and lifted her chin. She felt even more riled when he chuckled softly.

"I did." He stretched out his long legs and ran his hands along them. Then he eased himself up to stand in front of her. He was pure muscled grace. He was about ten inches taller than her five foot six.

Abby found herself staring at his broad chest and his fascinating tattoos. She had a few of her own that weren't visible at the moment, but nothing as big and intricate as his. The ink amplified his natural physique and exotic features, making him even more sexy. Oh man, she could not let herself get taken with a man she saved from monsters. She had no room in her life for relationships.

Damn right you don't. Tawa interrupted her thoughts. I told you to run, but no. I mean, who listens to an old spirit with centuries of wisdom? Maybe if you had a G.I.Joe as a favorite toy when you were a kid, I'd be stuck in a figure you'd actually pay attention to.

"Shut up." Abby hissed at the hippo.

"Are you telling me to shut up?" The stranger blinked.

"No. It's-" Abby grumbled as she cut herself off. "Who are you? How did you get captured by the monsters?"

"Ah yes, proper introductions are in order. My name is Demetrius of the Darkwood clan." He dipped his head, smiling again. He held out his hand to her and raised an eyebrow as she hesitated.

Darkwood. Even worse. Tawa grunted.

"Abigail White." Abby paused again, considering Tawa's comment. Yet shaking his hand couldn't hurt.

She reached out to take his hand, but as her palm almost settled into his larger one, he slid his hand up to clasp her upper forearm. Her immediate reaction was to grip his as well and shift her body back as his moved closer. Abby willed her swords to be at the ready, but her hands didn't even spark with a glow. At least she was reassured he wasn't a threat. Not in the traditional I'm-going-rip-off-your-head-and-eat-you monster kind of way at any rate.

"Well met, Abigail White." His voice had lowered an octave, graveling in her ears in just the right way.

"Yeah, uh, nice to meet you too, Demetrius of the clan Darkwood." Did he see her eyes drop down past his beltline when she said Darkwood? Why did she have to look down there? Pulling her arm free, she took a few steps back. "Tell me how you came to be here."

"Ah, well, unfortunate incident. I tracked this pack of beasts here, and I would have killed them all, but the boys stumbled into the mix. I let myself be captured for the sake of the children, but I didn't expect the beasts to put me into that box." Demetrius shook his head and threw a dirty look over his shoulder at the steamer trunk. "I don't suspect they knew they had me contained quite so well, but that they did."

"But it's just a trunk. You could have kicked through the lid." Abby didn't believe the trunk, no matter how heavy it was, could trap him inside.

He couldn't kick through it. The trunk is ribbed with iron. Tawa pointed out, and when Abby didn't react, she went on. He's one of the Fae. If you remove your eyes from his crotch for a few seconds, you'll see the pointed ears.

"You're a freakin' fairy!" Abby yelped and shook her hands as if she could somehow make her swords come out. Still nothing. She could see the whole of him now. The pointed ears and fine features. His fingers and legs were a little longer than what would be normal for humans. His black pants looked almost leather, but weren't quite anything she recognized. The matching boots went to his knees and then there were the strange tattoos. Black ink and yet something more than regular ink. Something that seemed to subtly flow beneath his skin.

"Well, fairy's not exactly the right term, but human minds are limited. Yet I'm pleased to see you worked it out on your own." Demetrius smirked and then he was down on his knees in front of her. His hands lay on his thighs as he looked up at her. His eyes were the color of twilight so close to night.

"Abigail White, one of the Fearless chosen by the gods, you have saved my life this night. My life is yours until I can repay blood for blood and breath for breath." His tattoos shimmered with his words. "I, Demetrius of the Darkwood clan, will not leave your side until my blood debt is paid. My body and soul are yours."

Abby swallowed. His soul and, oh, his body were hers. Her mind went off on a little erotic adventure with that. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. No way. The Fae were always bad news, especially since he knew what she was.

"I release you from your debt. I don't need you following me around. I've got work to do." She turned and walked to the stairs. She had to get out of there, get away from him. "You go home, or wherever. Whatever. I need to leave."

"It's not that easy to rid yourself of me, baby doll." Demetrius whispered near her ear with a quiet laugh. Abby hadn't even heard him come up behind her.

I did tell you to run. Tawa sighed.