Lady Mariel Champlain had been an innocent living in the house of her father who had become a drunkard after losing his fortune. She was completely taken by surprise by the fierce knocking on the door from the Trull, a demon soldier of the dark Lord Valdamer, the warlock who ruled Daeksould. Tossing her father a bag of gold, the Trull had taken her away on his firehorse.

The impoverished Lord Champlain had sold his own daughter to Lord Valdamer as an offering. The demon soldier Behsart had journeyed to fetch her to be sacrificed when they reached Valdamer Castle. But it was a long distance to Valdamer. On the way, the Trull told her, they were on a pilgrimage to the temples of the seven demons who rule Daeksould.

The first temple was the Demon Temple, where Mariel was publicly proclaimed to be the bride of the Demon Sheenigan, the demon of many mouths, and paraded naked on the steps of the temple before the eyes of the public. Inside the temple, she was bathed, dried, chained naked to a stone altar and erotically tortured by the female priestesses and the Trull. The next day they moved on to another temple where she was paraded this time as the bride of the Demon Trihern, the three horned god. This time there were priests instead of priestesses. Afterwards, moving on to the next temple, Behsart said that if she pleased the demons, they might let her keep her body instead of sacrificing her.

Mariel admired the demon Trull’s strength and that of the man he had been; and Behsart explained he had taken the body of Cavan, Lord of Reugal, who was no more. He claimed to have sent his soul away and taken the body. But since demons lie, and Mariel had seen flashes of humanity in Behsart, and she believed that the soul of Cavan was not banished. Mariel was determined to survive any way she could. Could she reach the demon and the man, and find a way to save her life?

This is a sexual fantasy with no holds barred where each demon temple is named appropriately to the torments to be endured therein. The publisher rates Belly of the Beast as no-holds-barred, explicit BDSM erotica, with sexual mastery as well as a subplot of romance—and reader, let me assure you, the publisher is not kidding. That’s an accurate description. Each encounter revisits the fantasy temple of impossible excess. If you are easily offended, this is not the book for you. If you’re looking for an intense read with no carnal limits including pain, you’ll love it.

Reviewed By: Maîtresse
© July 2004