Page 28 of My Demon Mate

“The fuck you are,” Mitch barks, clamping a hand around my throat and applying pressure. “You think you can fucking quit on me? I say when you’re done here. You do nothing unless I say you can. That includes fucking quitting.”

“Why?” I grit out around his hand squeezing at my throat.

I’m sure he knows what I’m asking. Why is he such a dick to me? Why does he dislike me?

“Why?” he asks sarcastically, shaking me roughly. “Because you took it. That first time I knocked you around and you came back to work the next day, I knew I could keep doing it. It was such a rush.”

My stomach roils. He beat me because it was a rush? I came back because I was trying to survive. He’s sick.

He’s not done. “Besides that, who else will take the low pay I offered you? No one is as stupid as you are, taking the first offer given to you. You’re not leaving so someone else can get more money out of me.”

He treats me like shit to protect his bottom line? Nothing is expensive in this small town, so it’s just greed. What a cruel, selfish person.

My fear ramps up as he squeezes tighter. “Raven!” I mentally shout. “Mitch, please. I’ll—I’ll—I’ll…” I’m not sure what I want to say, but I don’t want him to kill me for quitting. The unrelenting grip he has on my throat is indicative of someone that doesn’t mind ending a person’s life.

One moment I think I’m going to pass out, dark spots dancing around my vision, the next, the weight around my throat is gone and I see Mitch hoisted in the air, thrashing against the strong hold Raven has around his neck.

I place my hands on my knees, coughing and trying to catch my breath. Hacking and sputtering, I drop to one knee as I drag in lungfuls of air. It takes a few seconds, but I climb to my feet, looking around for Raven and Mitch. When I spot them, my mouth drops open, and my cock stirs in my pants.

Raven is fucking magnificent. He’s in his demon form, his red-and-gold skin reflecting off the street light, his chest bare and his horns on display. His hands are elongated claws, digging into the soft flesh of Mitch’s throat and leaving blood trails down his shoulders and chest.

He’s taller too. Now I see what he means by closer to seven feet. I feel tiny compared to his hulking form. I fucking love it.

My eyes trail over Raven’s body as he continues to choke Mitch. I expect Raven’s voice to be rougher in this form, but it’s still the same. Still sweet when directed at me. “Want him dead now, baby, or shall we wait?”

“Now, please,” I say barely above a whisper, not believing I’m really going through with it. I’ve imagined it so many times, but I finally get the chance to get my revenge. At my word, Raven will end him. Graphic novel be damned, if he can kill Mitch now, I’ll be ecstatic.

With a growl of approval, Raven turns back to Mitch. “You made my sweet Everest’s life a living hell for no other reason but you could. Now I’ll kill you because I can.” Mitch’s eyes grow wide and he thrashes more, but he can’t get out of Raven’s grip. Besides being many feet off the ground, Raven has an iron grip on him.

Mitch looks at me with pleading eyes, begging me to call Raven off, but I ignore him. A look of regret crosses his face, but I ignore that too. It’s too late for him to regret his actions. He’s had years to treat me like a human being and he refused, because I was smaller and weaker than him—and because he’s a cheap fucker.

Not anymore.

I nod once at Raven when he turns to give me another questioning look. It’s now or never. I prefer now.

Raven brings his other hand up, moving the one from around Mitch’s throat to the side of his head, palming it like a basketball. With more force than I think anyone is capable of, Raven simultaneously squeezes Mitch’s head and smashes it against the wall behind him twice. Blood and brains erupt against the wall and after Mitch jerks once, his body hangs limp. He didn’t even get the chance to scream. Raven drops him to the ground in a heap, glaring at his body in disgust.

Like he didn’t just use a lot of strength to basically beat someone’s skull in while squeezing his brain through his ears, Raven’s breathing is normal as he rushes to me, taking my face in his bloody hands. His hands are much bigger in this body, making me feel safe. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner,” he says in a somber tone. “I should have been waiting for you when you got off.”

I smile up at him, not minding the blood at all. “You’re right on time.” I should probably be freaked out because of the blood and brain matter all around me, and there’s a dead body mere feet from us, but I don’t care. Mitch deserved what he got, and I’m glad Raven was the one that punished him.

Mitch is missing the entire back part of his skull. I should be afraid of Raven for causing that kind of damage, but I’m not. Far from it. I’m elated.

Raven protected me like no one else ever has. He made me feel safe, pulling Mitch off me before I passed out. Then how he deferred to me before he killed him? It made my heart flutter. He knew I wanted Mitch taken care of, and he could have done it without hesitation, but he wanted me to make the decision.

A funny feeling swoops through my belly, making me feel lighter than I ever have. What does it mean?

“Come on, baby,” Raven says as he kisses my lips gently. “Let me get you home and in the shower.”

Nodding, I tuck myself close to him, smiling at his form. “You look good like this.” God, I didn’t think he would look so fuckable as a demon. As a human, he’s hot as fuck, but I thought he’d be scary in his true form. Not only is he still handsome, but he also has more of a deadly and dangerous air in his natural form. I’d love to draw him like this.

He looks down at himself and grins at me. “My father told me I would shift involuntarily on this plane if I could not control my emotions. When I heard your shout for help, I got here immediately. I ruined one of the nicer shirts I purchased because it could not hold this body’s bulk. The pants are fine, though a little snug.” His sweatpants are hugging his thighs, close to bursting. I’m reminded of The Incredible Hulk.

I laugh, holding on to his waist as we make our way to his car. It’s on the next block over, parked haphazardly with the driver’s side door wide open. “How did you get here so fast if you didn’t drive?”

“When you called me, I pulled over and ran. I run much faster than humans. It was less than a second before I was there. I am glad I did. He would have tried to hurt you worse if I had waited a moment longer.”

As he’s been doing since the first night he rescued me, Raven opens my car door and settles me inside, buckling my seatbelt. He rounds the hood of the car but waits several moments before he gets into the driver’s seat. He’s back in his human form. I can’t figure out which I like better. Probably his demon form, since that’s who he really is, but this form cuts a pretty picture as well. “Let me get you home, baby. You have blood on you.”

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