Page 9 of In My Closet

I planned to let her do what she wanted, but I lunged when she backed away and tried to shut the doors on me. "Whoa, hey." My hands grabbed the edges of the door and forced them back open. "What are you doing, my little blessing?"

Gritting her teeth, she grunted, struggling to push the closet doors shut. "Putting you back in the closet to ignore you and pretend you don't exist so I can go on with my merry life." She strained, her feet squeaking against the wooden floor from her struggle.

Tilting my head, I looked down at her with scrunched-up eyebrows. "Why on earth would you want to do that? Have I wronged you somehow?" Okay, stupid question because I have touched her without her permission on numerous occasions.

"Because I don't want a demon in my life. My life is already weird as it is. I don't need it to be more complicated." She strained through her grunting as she pressed her back against the door to lean her weight against it. "I just want to live a normal life. Is that too hard to ask for?"

"And a normal life constitutes what exactly?" I questioned with a growing smirk as I watched her struggle amusingly.

Letting out an angry cry, she sank to the ground and glared up at me. "I don't know, but it doesn't involve you in it." She huffed, crossing her arms.

"I forget how strange you humans are with your life choices," I muttered aloud, chuckling softly as I squatted down beside her.

Reaching out, I stroked the back of my finger along her soft cheek. Shivers pricked along my back as I relished the feeling of being able to touch her for the first time physically. "You're so soft, like fresh snow." My thoughts slipped out before I knew it, but I didn't care. Seeing the way her cheeks pinkened up was too sweet.

"That is so not a sweet thing to say." The temptation to call her out on her lie hung on the tip of my tongue, but I'd let her have this pass for her sake. "And can you please stop touching me? I'm not a dog." She hissed, smacking my hand away and scrambling away from me with a look of disdain on her face.

It was adorable how she tried to deceive herself and me. Guess humans were still as stubborn as ever.

Slowly, she got back up on her shaky legs and wrapped her arms around herself. "Why are you even still here? You're free, so go." She shooed a hand toward the open door.

I won't lie; her words and actions stung me a little. How could she be so cold toward me? I was her mate, so why? Did she know how much she caused my heart to ache? I might not show it, but I was hurt rather deeply.

"I am still bound to this gate. I can enter the physical realm and remain, but I cannot go beyond a few steps of this… Closet." Bound to a closet, how fucking lovely. I bet Kastoron and Levianth were having a field day with the fact.

"Then fix it, free yourself, and go." Gracie insisted, her hands balling into fists and her feet stomping softly with a deepening frown on her face.

"If only it were that simple, my little blessing." My chest sank with my dry chuckle. "Even if it were, I would not leave you once I was to free myself."

Growling softly, she narrowed her sharp, almond eyes at me. "And why the fuck not?" She looked about ready to slap me with the burning fire in her eyes.

Tilting my head at her with a flat expression, I pondered for a moment if she was truly toying with me. "Why, from the high Heavens to the deepest layers of Hell, would I ever leave my mate?"

"YOUR WHAT!?"

Chapter 7

Gracie

~2 weeks later~

"Stop staring at me!" I snapped at Valphan after whipping my head at him.

Seeing his stupid, smug-ass, lovey-dovey smile turned the heat up under my already boiling pot.

"And rob myself of such a beautiful sight? I think not." He remarked with an amused chuckle, leaning back on his hands. "Besides, what are you going to do about it? Hm? Make me go back into the closet? Shut the doors? Put up the pathetic screen between us?"

Okay, now I wanted to march over from my desk and slap him across the face for being a smartass. "Go find a different mate! I never agreed to be your mate in the first place, and if that's your only reason for sticking around because of some destined relationship between us, then sorry to break it to you, buddy, but that's not how that shit happens." Yeah, I'd really like to have a conversation with the man in the sky about this issue right about now.

Hey, God, can I get a fucking refund for something I didn't order? Thanks.

Granted, I'd put it in kinder words, but it'd be something along those lines.

Straightening his legs past the closet entryway, he wiggled his clawed feet back and forth. "That's not how it works, little blessing. We were lucky enough to be destined the moment we were created. One does not 'choose' a mate, not like those silly stories of yours about the werewolves and stuff." His voice held no contempt toward me for my spiteful words, making me feel a little bad for snapping at him.

"It will come to you with time. But I won't rely solely on our mate bond to have you fall for me." I hated how confident he sounded with his grind. "As from the messages I have seen from the human males of this day and age, I got the rizz."

Now, I wanted to dig a hole and bury myself alive from the secondhand embarrassment. Unable to face the embarrassment lounging on the floor a few feet from me, I buried my face into my hands and let out a groan. "No, please don't ever say that ever again. Do not try to use any slang you see, just, don't." Boarding up the closet didn't seem like a bad idea now.

---