Unlike the tea, the sake was perfection, so the princess bravely dug into the bread, cheese and oranges laid out on the table for her. In no time at all, her appetite was satisfied, the memory of the repulsive tea had faded somewhat, and she felt a bit more charitable. As her demon host had still not returned, she pulled up her sleeves and tidied up the kitchen the best she could, sheepishly hiding the plates she'd broken in the process.

"Serves him right for leaving his guest to clean up," she justified away her awkward pang of guilt. She carried the last of the offensive tea to the cave entrance and poured it out on the ground with deep satisfaction.

She peered around at the deluge of rain saturating the ground and felt a nervous gnawing sensation in her stomach. She couldn't imagine where the demon might have gone in such a storm. Had he abandoned her there? Ah, love was indeed fleeting, she decided with a smirk.

Perhaps she had been a bit rude, she ventured and chewed her lip. She had been told by every one of her captors that she had a tongue like an adder and was twice as poisonous. She had been proud of that trait until this moment. Honestly, what sort of demon got his feelings hurt?

He amused her endlessly, so it would be a shame if he did not return. He was a most curious fellow. He had rough hands, but soft lips. He produced beautiful music, but killed for money. He had freed her, but expected nothing. At least until now. She wondered if he'd meant to bed her tonight. Ha, let him try! she thought and raised an eyebrow sternly. Her lips tingled at the memory of his kiss, soft, hot, liquid fire, stirring a simmering heat deep in her body. Let him try…

Thunder crackled overhead and she saw lightning flash across the sky, more pronounced now that night had fallen. Torrents of rain pummeled the ground and shook the leaves of the trees surrounding the cave. As she turned back inside, she noticed a black form stir in the tree just outside. She squinted and studied the trunk of the tree where she'd seen the movement and then her gaze was drawn upward. A leg clad in a black boot dangled, kicking back and forth, from a thick branch overhead. Drops of rain coursed down the side of the boot and dripped from the sole. He must be soaked, she surmised and frowned curiously.

"Demon-san," she called up to him above the din of the rain. "Do you hang upside down from the trees at night?"

He didn't answer. She couldn't help baiting him since she wasn't tired enough to sleep and he was infinitely entertaining. If he killed her as a result of her mischief, so much the better, as she would be free all the sooner.

"You know, if you hang upside down in a rainstorm, you might drown," she informed him in her most solicitous voice. She smiled broadly, giggling to herself and listened for his angry response, but none came.

Stubborn, she thought with a determined set of her mouth.

"Demon-san," she called again sweetly, "perhaps you grow fur and fangs in the moonlight, and are ashamed for me to see." Still, no answer. She set her hands on her hips. "I don't mind, you know, as long as you don't have fleas."

She decided he must be quite angry with her and far too full of pride for his own good, since he preferred to soak in a rainstorm than allow a truce. She decided to try a new tactic to lure him down out of the rain. She dragged one of the kitchen chairs to the cave's entrance and sat down, placing her ehru across her lap, resting it against her shoulder.

She positioned her fingers on the strings as he had taught her earlier in her prison cell, and she drew the bow, lightly, deftly, across the strings. She stumbled through the melody, trying to recall the correct placement of her fingers and the way his fingertips had brushed over hers, guiding her. Little by little, as she remembered his gentle touch, pressing here, pulling back there, nudging his fingers against hers in a delicate dance, their love song grew in strength and beauty, slipping fluidly through the steady patter of rain, the music echoing in every raindrop.

She hadn't realized her eyes were closed until she felt cold, wet fingertips touch her cheek. Her eyes opened on the sight of her dark host standing before her, drenched to the bone, droplets of rain falling from strands of his hair and splattering on her lap. The lantern light fell across his face and even in such a dim glow, her breath caught in her lungs at the ruggedly handsome face before her. She watched rivulets of rain slip down his cheek, along the muscled column of his neck, and disappear into the soaking black cowl below his chin.

She swallowed the breath that stalled at her lips and rose from her chair, her silent instrument clutched in her tense fingers.

"Come inside, Demon-san," she leaned toward him and said softly against his cheek. "I'll dry your hair."

The ehru hit the ground with a twang, followed by the clatter of the bow bouncing against it, snapping two of the taut strings. His mouth seized hers in a predatory kiss, pinning her against the arching curve of the cave entrance. Her fingers gripped the cold, wet cloth across his chest, twining her fists in the rough fabric. She whimpered when he caught her bottom lip in his teeth and suckled it between his lips, drawing her heated blood into its reddened fullness. Heat spiraled upward along her spine when he surrendered her mouth only to assault her ivory throat with his ravenous bite.

"Mine," he growled against her prickling skin and flicked his tongue against the spot that had already begun to bruise, branding her as his prey. The word cut through her more sharply than the lightning rending the trees of the forest, and she summoned all her strength to shove him off her, thrusting him roughly against the opposite wall.

"No man owns me," she glared at him. "No man. Ever."

He scowled and moved toward her, which gave her just enough of a chance to run out into the rain and escape into the cold and furious night. Yet, instead, she backed deeper into the cave, her chest heaving under the yellow lantern light. Her warm, brown eyes met the red glare that moved closer out of the darkened entryway. She darted behind the table, putting solid objects between them.

"See what you've done, Demon-san," she accused in a husky voice, a smirk dancing at the corner of her kiss-bruised lips, her eyes riveted to his as he came closer.

"You've soiled my pretty gown. I think it's ruined. See here." She caressed the silken ribbon that bordered the collar of her gown, her fingers lingering against the mark he'd made on her white skin. As she spoke, she backed a half-step for every step he approached. The gap between them closed with each second.

"And here," she brushed her fingers across the fabric stretched tight across her left breast, a rounded nub stirring to life under the silken gown where her fingers caressed. She saw his Adam's apple bob as he shoved a chair out of his way and it clattered to the floor. She blinked and her eyes flashed a little at his sudden violence. A slow smile snaked across her lips.

"How will you take responsibility, Demon-san?" she challenged him, backing into the kitchen basin and bracing her hands behind her as he moved close enough for her to see the firelight reflected in his crimson eyes.

Fiery need seared her from the inside out, tightening every muscle in her body as she waited for, longed for, and simpered for the punishing onslaught of his mouth and hands. She desired it so, expected it so, that she trembled in anticipation as he moved so close to her she could feel the heat from his body through his wet clothes.

Then, as he bent to her, she saw a soft smile curving his lips, and her eyes widened in surprise. So shocked, so unexpectedly moved was she by the kind and loving smile upon the demon's lips that her heart fluttered in her chest, a feeling she had never known before. Her impervious defenses, hard, sharp, unyielding, dissolved when his gentle, reverent kiss pressed to the translucent ribbon that bordered her robes. The soft heat of his tender mouth and warm breath penetrated the thin fabric to her skin, setting off waves of delicious liquid fire lapping at her senses.

"De- Demon…san," she whimpered and felt herself falling into him only to be caught in steel arms against an iron chest. Pulsating surges of light and heat cascaded over her from the deepest center of her being and she gave herself up to its mastery of her. Slowly, immeasurably, achingly, she became aware of the calming sweep of his lips across her cheek, his warm soothing breath sighing on her electrified skin.

"Shouka," he whispered against her trembling mouth. "My name is Shouka."