Page 22 of The Female

His mysterious tone piques my interest, but I don’t question it as he leads me forward another couple of feet and stops at the third door.

“This room is yours.” He reaches around me and pushes open the door.

I hesitate, scared of what will happen when we’re alone in a bedroom, before stepping inside. Gray follows, and I hold my breath as I look around.

The room is larger than I expected, with a king-sized bed sitting directly across from the door and a vanity and dresser along the left wall. It’s well-furnished, but the lack of personal items makes it look bare. My bedroom back at home was full of trinkets and small items I collected over the years.

Gray’s heat spreads across my back as he wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me against his bare chest. I refuse to be distracted by it as I eye the red silk sheets on the bed. I bet they would feel soft against my skin as he presses my face into the mattress.

The hand on my hip tightens as he buries his face in my neck and breathes in my scent, a loud groan seeping from his throat as he smells me. Instinctively, I tilt my face away to give him better access, desperate once more for his touch.

No.

It takes everything in me to pull away.Stupid Charlie.Gray is an incubus, a creature desperate for sex and willing to take whatever action necessary to get it. I need to fight harder against his lust.

Gray clears his throat.

“You can try to fight it all you want, but it’s only a matter of time before you’re begging me to take you,” he teases, his playful tone a drastic contradiction to his terrifying words.

“The door next to the dresser is a closet,” he explains, pointing to the cracked-open door along the far left wall. “I’ll buy you all the clothing you need.” That’s good to hear. I was worried I’d be forced to walk around in only his shirt. “The door on the right is a bathroom. It connects to both our bedrooms.”

Taking a small step forward, I reach out and graze my fingertips over the red silky comforter. It’s softer than anything I’ve ever felt before, and as I push down on the mattress, I’m glad to note it’s comfortable. The bed I was given at the facility was as hard as a rock, leaving me with agonizing back pain each morning.

“You’re taking her to bed already?”

I spin toward the new voice, my eyes landing immediately on the two men standing in the doorway. They tilt their heads to the side in an oddly similar manner as they look me over, their expressions unreadable.

They both look like Gray, with black eyes, black hair, and tall frames that could tear me apart in seconds. The one on the left is slightly taller, his head just clearing the doorway, and he expresses outward disgust at the sight of me.

It’s not a good sign, and my pulse races as he fixes his rolled-up sleeves and exchanges silent communication with the demon on the right. That one doesn’t look nearly as angry, and he cocks his head to the side as he regards me.

I assume this one’s the fate.

His expression shifts into a scowl, and I step toward Gray.

This must be Aziel and Silas. The two men exude too much power to be workers in the estate. My head lowers to my chest in submission, my knees clanging together as I nervously tug at the hem of my shirt.

“I wasn’t going to fuck her,” Gray argues, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

I stumble slightly as he pulls me into his side, my feet uncoordinated, but Gray easily absorbs the impact and steadies me.

“I can’t help that my female wants me,” he gloats.

I’m sure my cheeks are beet-red, and if I weren’t so out of my element, I’d argue that I don’t want him. I’d explain it’s his lust that turns me on, and if I could stop my body from reacting to him as it does, I would in a heartbeat.

I don’twantto want him, and I hate every second my body refuses to get the memo.

Of course, though, I would never say that.

The last thing I need is him deciding he doesn’t like me and selling me to another. Demons aren’t my breed of choice for a sexual partner, but there’s much worse out there. It’s known that demons are spiteful, and I wouldn’t put it past Gray to sell me to a nightmare if I made him angry. Assuming he doesn’t kill me instead.

Gray gestures toward the two men.

“This is Aziel and Silas,” he says by way of introduction.

“Aziel,” the one on the left says, gesturing to himself.

The one on the right is quick to chime in. “Silas.”

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