“Or what?” he asks, genuinely curious. “Will you stab me?”
I swallow, my knuckles whitening with the strength of my grip. “Yes.”
That same odd laugh-sound rumbles from his throat once more. “You cannot hurt me, little human. Not with that.”
I gaze down at the knife, and he snaps his arm out, snatching the weapon from my palm faster than I can blink. He tosses the blade to the side, and it clatters against the far wall with a heartbreaking echo.
“You see? There’s no use trying to harm me.”
He moves so fast I barely see him. One moment I’m standing upright, the next, an invisible force is slamming into me, knocking me off my feet and sending me flying backward through the air. Just before I slam to the ground, a pair of massive arms wrap around me, shielding my head and body, taking the entirety of the force.
The face of my captor hovers just above mine, his strange eyes beaming with pride. “You’reminenow. My human. My pet.”
“The fuck I am!” I beat my fists against his chest, but he doesn’t so much as blink.
“Don’t fight me.” His brows furrow in a deep frown. “I don’t want to punish you.”
“Punish me?” My eyes widen. “You have no right!”
In response, he lifts me off the ground as if I weigh less than nothing, tossing me over his shoulder so I have a full view of his toned ass.
And… is that atail?
I hadn’t noticed it before, but it’s impossible to ignore now that I’ve seen it. It’s long and thick, ending in a tuft of pink fur that matches the color on his head. If I wasn’t so freaked out by the situation, I might even think it was cute.
But I have no time forcuteright now. “Hey! Put me down!” I pound my fists on his muscular back, gritting my teeth at the sight of his tail swishing back and forth. “I saidput me down!”
In response, he reaches up, smacking my asshard.“Bad. No hitting.”
My face flames as tears sting the corners of my eyes.He… he fucking spanked me! How dare he!
Though, even as I think it, heat pools low in my belly, filling my veins with a powerful desire to feel him touch me that way again.It’s wrong and immoral, but it’s there.
My mind must have broken when he pulled me through that portal. That’s the only explanation that makes sense.
I’m so caught off guard by my newfound feelings I don’t notice he’s walked us across the room. He places me on the ground, keeping one hand curled possessively around the back of my neck, stopping me from trying to bolt. I watch with wide eyes as the demon reaches into a crudely carved chest and pulls out a ring of metal.
It’s made of a material that looks closer to the silver on earth, but it shimmers with that otherworldly energy that is born ofthis strange place. No thicker than my pinky finger, the metal curves to make a perfect circle, connected at the top by an embossed metal clasp.
I don’t understand what it is until he moves the ring toward my neck, clearly meaning for me to wear it.A collar.
Ohhellno.“If you try to put that on me, I’ll bite your damn fingers off.”
He tilts his head, brows furrowing in that disappointed frown from earlier. “Please don’t fight, pet. I don’t like correcting you.”
Correctingwho, now?“Listen here, buddy,” I say, reaching up to jab a finger in his face, “I am no one’spet,and you have no right tocorrectme. I am a grown woman, and I demand you put that thing away and take me home right this instant!”
Instead of anger, the demon drops his head, his shoulders slumping inward as a sad little whine echoes from his throat. “But… I don’t want to. You smell pretty, and your eyes look like trees.” He raises his head, his pink eyes shining with a raw kind of desperation. “You looked so sad. I took you away from whatever was making you sad.” He shakes his head, his whimper turning to a low rumbling growl. “I don’t understand. Why would you want to goback? You belong here, with me.”
“I… I don’t…” All the things I’ve been suppressing since I woke up come flooding back to me at his mention of my sadness. All the betrayal, the hurt and heartache. It’s all too much. I gasp around soundless words, unable to get anything out past the fist tightening around my windpipe. “I… I…”
The demon reaches out, snapping the collar around my neck before I have time to register what’s happening. In the next moment, a long, shimmering chain materializes in his palm, one that he hooks to the back of my collar. I follow the length of the chain, my stomach tightening when I notice the other end is connected to the wall.I’m trapped.
Panic claws up my throat as my fingertips trace the ring of metal, knowing without even trying that this will be nearly impossible to remove.
The demon steps closer, his eyes shining with pride as he takes in his handiwork.
“Much better.” He reaches out to caress my cheek with a small grin, his mood having done a complete one-eighty. “You look so lovely…”
