Page 16 of The Female

The guard grabs the back of my neck as if sensing my thoughts, his grip painful as he shoves my head down and pushes me toward the car.

I hiss as I’m forced forward, but the noise is cut short as the hand is removed and I stumble into a hard chest. The guard screams, and I stare at the torso of the man standing between me and the car as he twists the guard’s wrist back.

“I don’t believe you’re in a position to be touching what’s mine.”

The voice is low, and I feel my body react to it immediately. My thighs clench together, and I hug my arms tighter around myself in horror. What the fuck is wrong with me? My arousal grows as I inhale and the man’s scent fills my lungs.

It takes every bit of courage I have to look up.

The man is tall, and his black hair and black eyes give him away to be a demon. There are many different kinds, but given my body’s unwanted reaction to him, I know he must be an incubus.

I step to the side, not wanting to stand between him and the guard. The man doesn’t look in my direction as he continues to harm the human behind me, and I lock eyes with the driver as I slip into the car.

He closes the door, and I stare at the divider between the front and back seats before looking out the window. The incubus stands just outside it with his hand wrapped around the guard’s throat. He hardly seems to struggle as the human claws at his wrist, trying to pry it off, and I look away before seeing anything more.

Instead, I stare at my thighs, angry when tears fill my eyes and obscure my vision. Now is not the time to be crying. I’ve read that demons thrive off chaos and pain, and I don’t want to excite him with mine.

My fingers dig into the flesh of my sides as I to cover myself with my arms, my fear only growing as I try to ignore the gurgling noises happening outside the car. I don’t want to see it.

When the noises grow silent, I stiffen and peek out the window.

The guard is limp, and the demon drops him before turning toward me. His black eyes meet mine through the closed window before he grins and walks to the other side of the car. Did he kill that man?

His smile grows as he opens the door and slides in beside me. I don’t trust it, and I hate how my body betrays me at the sight of him. Each inhale has me panting, and I struggle to form a complete thought as he trails his eyes down my body.

His nostrils flare, and his hands clench where they rest on his thighs. A second later, to my complete relief, he pulls back on the lust he’s emitting and relaxes into his seat.

“My apologies. I haven’t had to soften my scent in many years and the thought to do so slipped my mind,” he explains, shifting so he faces me entirely.

His voice is like honey, and I swallow past the lump in my throat as he reaches for his shirt and tugs it off. I knew this was a possibility, but I still can’t hide my dread as I stare at his newly exposed skin.

“Calm down. I’m just going to give you my shirt,” he says, no doubt sensing my line of thought. “Unless you’d prefer to walk around naked. I’m not going to complain if that’s the case.”

I blink, my hand visibly shaking as I accept the shirt he holds in my direction and slip it over my head. It covers me to mid-thigh, and I hold the ends tightly to my legs.

His scent clings to the shirt, but I do my best to ignore it as I hide underneath the black fabric. I don’t expect him to hold his scent back for long, and I mentally prepare myself to remain strong when he stops.

“What’s your name?” he asks.

I clear my throat so it doesn’t croak and show my fear. I’m pretty sure demons can smell pheromones, the breed able to detect emotion through scent, but I’d like to preserve what little dignity I have left and try to hide it.

“Charlie,” I respond before thinking better of it and shaking my head. “Charlotte.”

The shortened version of my name feels special, and I don’t want the memory of it tainted by this male.

Besides, I’m not Charlie anymore.

That woman disappeared in the weeks I was forced to live in the facility, and I can only imagine how much further I will stray now that I’ve been purchased. I’d give anything to go back in time and be with my parents again, and I curse myself for all the thoughts I once had about turning myself in.

“Charlie,” he says, speaking the word slowly.

I hold back a grimace as he uses my nickname, internally cursing myself for having offered it up. That was a stupid thing for me to do.

“I’m Gray,” he continues, ignoring my discomfort as he grabs my wrist and brings my hand to his mouth.

I flinch as he kisses the center of my palm, and I draw in a deep breath when he releases it a second later. My body continues to betray me, and I feel nothing short of humiliated as I watch his nostrils flare in response to it.

“I’m assuming you’ve gathered that I’m a demon by now,” he says, waiting for me to nod before continuing. “We’ll use a portal to get home.”

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