Page 28 of Delivered to the Devil

Janos grabs a chair and sits in front of me, breaking off a piece of the bread. “Eat,” he orders, prodding it at my lips.

Not having any fight left, I open my mouth even though my stomach churns at the mere thought of food.

“That’s it,” he says as I chew, stroking my cheek like he’s trying to ease the queasy feeling that makes it hard to swallow. And damn him, it helps.

Closing my eyes, I forget about the butt plug and focus on his warm hand. He keeps stroking, up and down my cheek, pushing my hair behind my ear and brushing crumbs off my lips. Hemakes it terrifyingly easy to forget everything and sink into the sensation.

I end up consuming the entire plate with ravenous hunger, then gulp down a large glass of orange juice when Janos holds a straw to my mouth. It’s the most I’ve eaten in an entire day for at least a week. It’s a relief, really, to be rid of the empty pit in my stomach.

But apparently, I’m not done yet. After a quick trip to the kitchen, Janos returns with a tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.

“No, I’ve just eaten all that food,” I say, aiming for outrage but not quite succeeding. When he takes the chair beside the bed, I stare straight at him for the first time since he turned me around, giving him my best glare.

His lips twitch—with amusement, I think. “Gabor is right. You’re like a little kitten when angry.”

His words infuriate the hell out of me. “I’m not eating that,” I say, and this time I actually sound as outraged as I feel.

“I promised you I’d fix this, didn’t I?” he says, gesturing the spoon at my body.

“You can’t just fatten me up like some pig.”

Janos huffs as he digs the spoon into the ice cream. “Do you think I’d waste this stuff on a pig?”

“I don’t care; I’m not eating any more.”

“C’mon, I even got you one of the good flavors.” He turns the tub to show me that it’s the one with chunks of caramel.My favorite.The realization knocks my anger back momentarily, but I manage to press my lips together in firm rejection as he presses the spoon to my mouth. I get a drop of ice cream into my mouth, and the milky cream teases me with the delicious taste of caramel and chocolate. I realize I could easily gobble up the whole scoop despite having eaten a meal for two. But I’ve already chosen the road of refusal, so I can’t give in.

“Open up. I know you want to.” He pulls the spoon back, then moves it toward my mouth with a wobbly motion like you would with a child—sans the vroom of an airplane. It’s kind of funny, this tough man trying to entice me to eat a spoonful of ice cream, and a smile pulls at my lips. When he repeats the motion and adds the vroom-sound, a huge grin splits over my face, my chest shaking with repressed laughter.

But I still refuse to open.

Janos glances down at my tightly sealed lips and cocks a brow. “Do you really think that is going to help?” Leaning in, he pinches my nose, cutting off my only source of oxygen as he holds the spoon to my lips. I try to hold my breath, hoping he will tire and give up. But of course, I can’t hold that long. It barely takes a minute before I’m desperate to fill my lungs. The moment I snap my mouth open to pull in a huge breath, he shoves the spoon right in.

I choke on air and ice cream as I heave to catch my breath. Ice cream drips down my chin and onto the linen. It’s all so silly that I can’t help but laugh, and more ice cream drips from my mouth. If I had my hands free, I’d cover my ice cream-filled grin. But I’m stuck in this hopeless situation, unable to hide anything, so I’ll just have to live with him seeing this silly spectacle. Because I can’t contain my laugh. I desperately need it. It feels good to have this permanent weight on my chest easing up, even if just for a moment.

It doesn’t matter, anyway, if he finds me gross. I don’t need to charm him. In fact, revolting him might work to my advantage.

But when I look into his eyes, he neither seems disgusted nor irritated. He’s almost laughing—well, as much as this controlled man can muster. It’s no more than a smattering of crinkles around his eyes and a small pull at his lips. But it’s there!

Warmth fills the gray orbs, making the color come alive with a myriad of different nuances. I never knew the color gray could look so warm, but on Janos, it does. It’s like a glimpse of the sun on a dark winter’s day.

“Good girl,” he whispers and swipes the pad of his thumb over my chin, wiping off ice cream. I gape at him, frozen in a huge grin as he lifts his thumb to his mouth and licks it clean.

Then he scoops up another spoonful of ice cream and takes it in his own mouth, eyes glittering with some kind of humor that seems wholly misplaced in his hard features. It’s the most charming thing I’ve ever seen. I crack up, laughing and laughing until my eyes water and my stomach hurts.

***

After feeding me ice cream, Janos removes the butt plug, unties me, and leaves.

I feel strangely restless after he’s gone. It’s not the kind of crushing restlessness I’d expect after what he just did to me. It’s more of a nagging feeling like I’m missing something.

Himmaybe.

I shut down the thought immediately. But it keeps rearing its head, refusing to leave me in blissful denial.

An hour before I leave for work, there’s a knock on the door. I freeze like a petrified animal before I tiptoe to the hallway to put my eye to the peephole.

A young man wearing a jacket and cap with a delivery company logo waits outside my door. He looks harmless. He probably just has the wrong apartment, but rationale can’t squash the churning anxiety in my stomach.

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