Demon Seed Read Online Free PDF Page A

Her blurred gaze coasted to his neck, drawn to the veins cording one side.
    “You liked ice cream, you said.”
    It took a moment before his words registered. She nodded.
    “Okay. We’ll get back to that. How did you meet Emilio?”
    “One of the day girls invited us to her birthday party in Boa Vista. There was a woman there who kept staring at me. The following week, the day girl invited me and three other boarders for dinner. Emilio and the woman who’d been staring at me were there. When he showed me the picture of my mother, everything went turvy-topsy.”
    He chuckled. “Topsy-turvy.”
    “That too. When I was confused about my place in the world in the cloister, I meditated and that restored my balance. I couldn’t concentrate long enough to meditate after seeing the picture. Question after question plagued my every moment. Sleep, which had once been a refuge, escaped me. I thought I would go mad. I wrote a letter to Sister Helen asking that she tell me of how I came to the cloister, who my mother was. Until then I believed my parents were dead.”
    The roar of the engines died away all at once. He placed a finger on her throbbing lips. “Rules are in order.”
    She pressed her face to his chest.
    After they disembarked from the boat, Jacinta tried to keep track of his direction, but he twisted and turned so often and the sounds changed so fast that she grew disoriented. They went through building after building, and he finally placed her in a chair. Uncertain what to do, she peeked sideways. Shoes. Slippers, sandals, all manner of footwear. They were in a shoe store.
    “Boots. What size do you wear?”
    “Five.” She glanced at a pretty pair of multicolored sandals and repressed a sigh. Boots were more practical.
    “Three pairs of boots in size 5.” Demon spoke with an elderly man wearing wire-rimmed spectacles who nodded and then disappeared behind a swinging half door. “Pick out at least three sandals—flats. And get a couple of others, your choice.”
    “One pair of boots will do.” She couldn’t repay him the small fortune such an extravagance would cost.
    He leaned so close his features went out of focus. “That’s an order, Jacinta. Not a suggestion. You have five minutes.”
    From the shoe shop, they went to a clothing store, and then on and on relentlessly until they had visited every shop in the small town. She protested, he purchased, she argued, he glowered and swatted her hands when she tried to return items to shelves.
    Truly the man had a stubborn streak the old mule at the cloister could learn from, and that recalcitrant animal never completed a single task without serious prodding. Sister Helen even had to use the whip on occasion.
    By the time they finished shopping and had arrived at their hotel room, she wanted to brain him. Even if she earned a steady salary for the coming year, every single weekly wage would have to be turned over to him, and she would still owe more.
    “I have a few errands to run.” Demon gave her the hotel room key. “Lock the door when I leave. Don’t open it for anyone but me. Have a shower and change. We’ll go grab dinner when I get back. And Jacinta?”
    The thought of a hot, steamy shower had her salivating. “Yes.”
    “Wear the new white cotton panties. I’ll be listening to hear the lock turn.”
    Tempted to pelt the key at his head, she gritted her teeth and waited until the door closed before jamming the key into the hole. She turned the key and repeated the phrase Sister Helen had drummed into her. “Patience is a virtue.”
    “It certainly is. Now go have your shower.”
    Jacinta shook a fist at the closed door.
    Wear the white panties?
    All the things she’d refused to think about flooded her head, and she had to sit before she fell down. The mattress sank under her weight.
    She’d done what she had to in order to survive. But she’d sinned. Many times. He had proved himself a man of honor. He had rescued her from Emilio. He had