Page 25 of Demon Food

Was that…normal? Fuck. I blinked. Fuck. I didn’t know. “When?”

“Right now, my pet. We’ll be taking you tonight.” The king brought the spile to my mouth and rolled it over my bottom lip. It was freezing as he slid it onto my tongue, clinking metal against metal. “Oh, I simply must have you. I do not like to wait.”

I slowly opened my mouth and let him plunge it all the way inside, winding it around for me to lubricate it. It was huge and cold and tasted faintly of fruited perfume.

“And what an honor to be invited to the palace.” The king twisted the plug around my mouth. “Don’t you agree, Neopal?”

I glanced at the commander, whose jaw tightened as he said, “Indeed, Your Grace.”

“Speaking of honors.” Saliva strung from my mouth when he pulled the plug out, grinning as he handed it to his commander. “Would you be so kind as to do them?”

Neopal took the plug with another bow as if it were a formal ceremony, disappearing from sight to position himself behind me. He lifted my robe, exposing my ass to him, and panic seared through me.

It felt too pat, too easy. It felt too reassured. I suddenly couldn’t shake the feeling that not only should I not let them take me anywhere, but I should be fucking running.

“Look at me, pet,” the king said, lifting my chin. “You’ll need to breathe for this.”

Neopal spat onto my hole. The kingdom’s most perfect lubricant was built into their glands like venom to a snake. It hit my hole with a light splat. He swirled his thumb around, pushing a little inside me, then did it once again. I could feel him twitching.

My heart was careening through beats as the king’s dark eyes, so deep and faceted, swayed down to my mouth. If I ran, I wouldn’t get very far. If I bit his hand, it’d be a death sentence.

But I couldn’t ignore a lifetime’s worth of intuition telling me that something wasn’t right. It was all of it. Their presence here. Him choosing me. My invitation to the palace.

The cold metal of the spile shocked me when it pressed against my hole.

“Wait,” I breathed, jolting forward, but the king held me still effortlessly. “Can I have a moment to⁠—?”

“Shhhh,” the king whispered, petting my hair as Neopal began pressing it tighter. And tighter. “The more you relax, the faster it will go⁠—”

“No, no, no. I cannot.” I was able to wiggle from his grip just long enough to spew the first thing that came to mind, “I’m so sorry, but I cannot go to the palace. See, I take care of my brother. His legs do not work, and he is unable to care for himself.”

He held up a hand to cease the commander as his head cocked all the way to one side. “What is his name?”

My heart stopped. Oh. It was possible I’d just made a monumental mistake. “His name?”

“Yes. What is the name of your brother, boy?” The king smiled, but something about it was stilted. “If we are going to also bring him to the palace, we need to know his name, don’t we?”

FUCK.

“Oh, he is not a concubine.” My words were too rushed. “He would be of no use to you.”

“Doesn’t matter. If you do not come without him, then we will find something for him to do.”

“Lennox,” I said, swallowing hard. I hadn’t intended to lie, but it came pouring out. “Lennox is his name. But I just remembered that he is staying at an uncle’s farm for a few weeks.”

The king’s grin slowly grew. “What luck.”

Every muscle in my body wanted to seize. But I forced myself to nod. “What luck, indeed.”

“Continue,” the king said, nodding once at his commander, and cold fear leaked the length of my spine.

Neopal began pressing the spile further. And further. I gasped when I opened to receive the massive plug, but the king was there, leaning down to cup my face in his palms.

“There we go. Watch me.” He lifted my face. “Watch me as you take it.”

I grimaced up at him, and I could almost swear, it made him smile more.

“Oh, I do like this part,” he chuckled, glancing at Neopal. “It’s so big, isn’t it, my pet? So much to handle.”