Page 33 of Controller's Obsession

Peni shifted on his seat, and Merihem eyed the blush coating Peni’s skin. “You aren’t put off by that?”

There was more shifting on his seat, before Peni finally shook his head. “You only kill bad people, right?” Once more, Merihem nodded. “Then why would that ‘put me off’, as you put it? Soyour penance for helping Dakata and not speaking to your king was being sent up here and losing your job?”

“Yeah. That about sums it up.”

“Would what you did be seen as a bad thing by other demons? Black demons, for example?”

About to take a step away from the stove to clean up, Merihem halted. There were only a handful of black demons in their realm. Merihem knew them all, but one in particular, he knew very well. The differing skin color denoted the part of the realm where a demon was born.

His demon growled, and Merihem’s stomach twisted into a painful knot at the sense of foreboding that came at Peni seeing a black demon in the first place. “Why are you asking me that?”

Chapter Eighteen

Peni

“Was that the wrong way to describe a demon? Is it impolite to talk about a demon’s skin color?” Peni couldn’t work out why Merihem’s mood changed so quickly. It was almost like the dark cloud they’d sensed back at the crash site, but this time, Peniknew it wasn’t directed at him. No one who took the time to make a vegetarian meal for him would kill him before it was cooked. And that’s without the mate’s angle.

Merihem seemed to guess he’d overreacted as well when, in a gentler tone, he said, “I’m just surprised you’ve seen another demon. There are other demons in town. You met Scott earlier, and some of Dakata’s siblings work at Dakata’s company, but I didn’t think you’d seen any of them in their shifted form.”

“No. Just this other one apart from you.” Peni fiddled with his glass.

“Was he wearing pants? Were they a he? Or were your eyes subjected to lady parts?”

Now Merihem was teasing him, Peni could tell. “It was a him, and I couldn’t see his bottom half, not in demon form.”

“You still haven’t said where you saw him. Was he lurking around Dakata and Silas’s tree?”

Peni shook his head. “No. Nothing like that. Before I say anything, why did you get upset when I mentioned the black skin? Do you know a demon with black skin?”

“A few of them.”

Well, that wasn’t helpful. “Are you good friends with a demon with black skin and horns?”

“The only demon I’m good friends with is Dakata, and he doesn’t have black skin. Were the horns on the demon black, too?”

“Yes. Why would another demon have a problem with you being with me? How would anyone even know you and I had met?” Peni still felt as though he was only getting half the answers he needed. Merihem was being as evasive again, but Peni wanted some background before he went spouting off what he’d seen.

“Do you remember the lunch you and I enjoyed out together?”

“That was nice.” Peni sniffed appreciatively. “But what you have in the oven smells lovely, too.”

“Thank you, my blissful one.” Merihem’s smile changed the whole outlook of his face. “To answer your question, I thought… got an impression, if you can call it that, that someone was watching us.”

Peni gasped. “Someone from the demon realm? Why didn’t you say something?”

“I got distracted, little one, savoring the fact my blissful one wasn’t running from me and was actually sitting within arm’s reach.” Merihem showed his teeth. “And you are proving to be equally distracting right now, especially when you keep biting that bottom lip of yours. Please tell me when you saw the demon. It’s important. I need you to tell me every detail before you forget.”

Peni hadn’t even realized he was biting his bottom lip. “It’s not likely a face I’ll ever forget.” He looked up at his mate, focusing on the strength he could see in Merihem’s eyes. “The demon was driving the truck that hit us. When I looked out of the window. He looked right at me. He was hunched over the steering wheel like this.” Peni raised his hands into claws, so they were level with his chin.

“His eyes were black orbs, and I could see all of his teeth. He was laughing like a crazy person. The picture was so clear it was almost as though I could hear the cackling. He didn’t stop and wasn’t showing any hesitation at all the spilt second before. Then he slammed into the side of the taxi and just disappeared from out of the truck. Well, I think he did because my head hit the window and then it was lights out.”

Merihem was watching him so intently, but Peni would’ve had to have been blind not to notice the tension in his mate’s shoulders or the way Merihem was grinding his teeth. “I saw him afterward,” he added quickly. “In human form this time. I could tell because of the eyes and the grin. He was in the crowd of people who were watching us.” Peni shivered. “I thought he wanted to eat us, but not in the way you look at me sometimes.”

“That’s why you fainted.”

It wasn’t a question, but Peni nodded anyway. “I thought, if you believed we were in pain or in danger for any reason, then you’d do your zappy thing and get us out of there. It’s not like I could go running up to you with no clothes on. Not with all those people there.”

“No one sees you naked except me.” Merihem’s growl was comforting, letting Peni know some things hadn’t changed.

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