Page 21 of Traps and Gretchen

Handy. She nodded, getting sucked right into his stare which was also full of power, only this one had aheatto it. “Nice to meet you, sir,” she sputtered.Notsir, he’s not a sir.

He gave a slow smile at her, as if knowing she was fighting to escape a full-blown panic attack just from being three seconds in his odd stare. “The pleasure is ours,” he said, flashing a one-sided smile that said he was best friends with mischief.

Wait. Ours?

It suddenly hit her, and his brows rose along with hers as if he knew the connection she’d made. He was the man with two people living inside him! The one Maggie said had donesomething with his powers to her! Is that what he was doing toher?

“Ma Belle Bee-shjoo is hungry,” Neelo said, taking her hand and pulling her to the cooking side of the room and from the man’s eye-snares. “Allow me to fix your supper.” He leaned and kissed her right on the mouth. “I hope that doesn’t make you uncomfortable,” he murmured at her lips. “Because I’m doing it anyway.” He returned to filling a huge bowl with gumbo before angling his quirked brow at her.

She couldn’t believe he was all hers and her smile couldn’t get bigger as she shook her head. “I love it.”

He leaned and kissed her again. “And I love you.”

With that he led her to the table and set the monster sized bowl of food down, opening her chair. He then proceeded to seat her like a queen before putting his mouth at her ear. “You were hungry and there is a very good chance you are carrying your monster’s baby now. So… get to eating.”

Her jaw dropped as he pulled his chair closer and sat while the chatter continued and her mind and stomach spun with his impossible words. She stirred her food, down to begging her nerves to settle down so she didn’t get sick from this level of excitement. She couldn’t remember ever experiencing so much and that had her nervous and without escape plans or coping ideas.

Just keep pretending to be the new you. It’s okay that it feels new. Because it is. Go slowly. You can do this.

The room filled with talk of various forms of training as she took her first bite already knowing how good it would be. He was such an excellent cook. He could teach her she realized. She would love to be the one fixinghisbowls of food and sitting her monster king at their table. She suddenly had visions of her sucking his cock while he ate.

She blew on a steaming spoonful, daring a glance around and getting sucked right into the golden eyes across the table watching her, the half-smile only hinting now.

She blinked her way out of the snare and quickly took a bite, realizing she was using the worst thing for a shield. The last thing she needed was the debilitating stomach cramps she got when under too much stress.

Neelo leaned in. “Good?” he checked.

“So very good,” she whispered. Her stomach nearly gave the bite back to her mouth when Neelo’s hand found hers under the table and grasped it tightly. He did it to comfort her, not realizing he was the biggest wrecking ball to her nerves in that room. The only thing that was powerful enough to calm her was something they couldn’t do in public. She squeezed his fingers anyway, wishing she was in his ropes, bound so very tight and forced to feel what was perfectly wicked and perfectly right. It occurred to her that he was the thing she’d been seeking all her life. The one big enough to crush all her fears and feed all her secret needs.

She forced her ears to the conversation.

“Once she scared off a gang of hooligans harassing an elderly woman with the word of God alone,” Rowan bragged at a blushing Scarlett.

“Did she?” Spar laughed with raised brows.

“Oh yes!” Rowan hurried. “She screamed at the scary lot of ‘em at the tippy top of her lungs, like a lunatic banshee!” Rowan stood then, re-enacting it. “‘You think you can get away with this evil? The Lord will strike you with confusion, madness, and terror! Your flesh will decay while you’re still standing, your eyes will melt in their sockets, and your tongues will rot in your mouths! Run from here or suffer the fire and brimstone. There’ll be no place to hide!” Rowan pointed a finger straight at the invisible enemy before her. “‘You’ll be devoured by wild beasts,burned with fire, and turned to dust. Your blood will spill like water, and your bodies will be left for the scavengers! The hand of the Lord will wipe you out, and no one will remember your name. Run, before it’s too late, before He breaks you like brittle clay in His hands.’”

“She exaggerates!” Scarlett cried.

“I bloody do not!” Rowan assured, sitting back down and getting a very sensual kiss from her husband.

The conversation and laughter continued on, and she stared down at her next bite of food. Her body had reached enemy level and with every second and controlled breath, it turned its back on her.

Suddenly Neelo released her hand under the table and stood, along with the other men. What did she miss? She watched Neelo’s face descend to hers, his lips pressing softly on her mouth. “I’m showing the men the new traps I’ve made out back,” he whispered to her. “Take your time and eat. Make friends.”

She nodded with a smile, setting the spoon in the bowl when it began to shake. “Okay. Have fun.” Hearing the pride in his voice about his traps twisted her guts. She’d wanted many times to ask questions about them but couldn’t. She’d locked herself out of his life with her fear and anger.

He pulled back a little, eyeing her. “You okay?”

She nodded quickly. “Yes. I’m perfect,” she assured, taking hold of his face and pulling his mouth to hers to prove the lie. “So very perfect,” she whispered, getting his sexymmmm.

“You are surely so very perfect.”

She held his hot stare as he pulled up and then pried his eyes from hers before heading for the back entrance.

If these women asked her about this trap, she couldn’t be ignorant. Not because she cared about what they thought of her, she didn’t, and that alone was huge progress. She cared onlyabout protecting him. He deserved a wife that obsessed over everything he touched. And she did.

She didn’t want to use other personas anymore but if it meant helping him or protecting him, she would. With all her talent and might.

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