Page 44 of Lamb

“I’ll take them all.” Lamb caught her just before she escaped.

“Allof them?” The confusion was visible on her face.

“It’s best to have spares,” Lamb explained as the confusion now began to infect my own face and mind. “We’ll be needing to change our sheets often.”

Even her professionalism could not cover the shock of that one. A sharp cough leapt from her throat as my own jaw dropped open. “O-of course, sir. I’ll get themallreadyfor you.” Her rouged cheeks doubled with a natural, flaming blush as she all but ran away into the back.

“Why the hell did you tell her that?” I seethed, trying and failing to pull away from his grasp. He pinned his arm tight to his side, holding my hand in place, and even with my slim wrists, I could not find the strength or dexterity to escape. “Let me go.”

“Absolutely not.” Lamb smirked. “You, mywife, and I, your husband, will be very busy. I told her we were planning to have seven children. Five boys. Two girls.”

“SEVEN CHIL—“ I choked on the words. I could not even think. “You are insane!” I gawked at this man who was proud of his accomplishment. “Someone has infected you with malware or something. Your motherboard is fired. Ka-put. Boom. You understand?”

Lamb raised a brow at me, not all getting what I was saying. But that was to be expected with his broken hardware.

“I will make it simple,” I said, pulling on my trapped hand and leading him away from the stop-sign red bed. “You are malfunctioning. We need to leave before that woman comes back.”

Lamb dug in his heels, and we weren’t moving anymore. For a slender man, he knew how to throw his weight around when he wanted to. Arsehole.

“I’ll make it simpler.” Lamb smirked, reaching forwards and plucking the little, scruffy cat out of my hand. “We’re getting thesheets. And this.” He wagged it in front of my face. “You get to pick something, and so do I. Team effort.”

“We’re no team,” I growled. “We are a kidnapper and his victim.”

He thought about it, his tongue pressing into his cheek like he seemed to do whenever he was thinking deeply about something. And just as I thought he could not spout worse gibberish than he just had, he said, “I prefer the term Master.”

“I will die before that word ever leaves my lips—ever,” I punctuated, just in case he did not get how serious I was. “Comprendo, mi amigo?”

Lamb smiled in response.

Great, now his comprehension skills had become corrupted. How did you hard reset an AI robot in disguise? Did he come with a manual?Sex Bot Reset for Dummies.Because, let us be serious, with a face like his, that wasexactlywhat that man was made for. That or to infuriate poor people just wanting to live their lives. Like myself.

If I had thought my father was petty enough, I would believe he had made Lamb for the sole purpose of slowly torturing me to death. It was cruel, even for a man who had shot me the first five times for fun, trying to kill me only with the sixth.

“Come on, wife.” Lamb began pulling on me again, dragging me from my thoughts. “Let’s get home and get a drink into you.”

It took a second before I realised … “Did you just say that inSpanish?” I blurted out, whipping to him.

Lamb did not stop, heading toward the counter and pulling me along. I saw the woman come rushing up with a couple other shop employees, carrying bags of what I could only guess was every single set of that red duvet.

“Didn’t you?” Lamb countered.

“Yeah, but—You speak Spanish?” I frowned.

“So do you,” Lamb countered.

“Yeah, but it is not fair if you do,” I argued, knowing I sounded like the petulant children I despised. “I had to learn it. Physically. With books. It tookyears.”

“And how do you think I learnt?” Amusement seemed to slip into Lamb’s voice, his tone softening, sending a quick glance my way as we rounded towards the counter.

“A software update.”

Lamb laughed. Like, full-bellied laughed. It was jarring on him, his normally cold, sharp features softened by the soft, animated expression. He almost looked human.

I was so fascinated by him that I missed how much we had travelled in a small moment, and now we had reached the counter. Shaking off his juxtaposition, the only relief I got from this whole experience was that the staff were also looking at the order placed at the checkout like the man before them was crazy. That and some of the younger female staff, and even some of the male staff who had gathered at the counter to watch the bizarre event, were giving him long, lingering stares. Lamb was sex on a stick and no doubt drew attention his way. Hopefully, he was just a bright enough light for me to hide in his dark shadow and not illuminate me like a neon sign right next to him. Regardless of our parading around the mall, it was still best I was not seen, or worse—recognised.

Fortunately, the staff paid me little mind, their eyes transfixed on the hot but eccentric man now buying about twenty sets of the same bedding. I bet they could not wait until they got home to tell their partners, friends, and parents all about what had happened at work today.

Neither could I.

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