Page 28 of The Female

Continuing to stare at the plate in front of me, I nod and beg my tears to reabsorb into my eyes. The demons can probably smell the saltiness. Tears continue to streak down my cheek despite my attempts to stop them, dripping quietly onto my plate.

Aziel stands and leaves the now-silent room with a loud sigh, his footfalls echoing off the floor until they disappear altogether.

They’re going to sell me if I can’t get my emotions under control. I tighten my grip on my fork. I’m merely a pet to these men and unless I want to be placed in an even worse situation, I need to get my shit together.

Gray puts what I think is supposed to be a comforting hand on my thigh as the tense silence in the room grows, the noise only broken when Silas sighs and leans back in his chair.

“Ignore Gray. We’ve all fallen prey to him at some point. It truly isn’t anything to be ashamed of,” Silas explains, his eyebrow raising as Gray huffs.

“She knows it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he snaps.

Silas blinks and cocks his head to the side, confusion written all over his face.

“Are you stupid?” Silas asks. “Why do you think she’s sitting here crying? Not everybody enjoys having the details of their first sexual experience thrown around the dinner table. Especially when it apparently involved the other people present.”

Gray’s posture deflates, and a second later, he removes his hand from my thigh and returns to his food. The atmosphere is practically unbearable as I wait to be excused.

Will Gray take the initiative and do it himself, or am I expected to ask to leave? I don’t want to offend or anger him, and the fear of doing either renders me silent as I work to clear my plate. Gray gave me more food than I can possibly ingest, but I still shove down as much as I physically can.

“Do you like the food?” Gray asks, his voice lacking the excitement it held when I first arrived for dinner.

I nod.

As Gray opens his mouth to respond, I realize I can’t feel their power. My head snaps up, and I look at Silas to confirm his suffocating smell is gone. Nothing is coming from either him or Gray, and when Aziel was here, nothing was seeping from him, either.

Did Gray ask them to hide it? I’m surprised they’d do such a thing for me. I doubt I would’ve been able to sit through this meal if I’d also had to experience the crushing weight of their power. Objectively, I know their power suppression is probably a one-time thing, but I can’t help but hope it stays.

I play with the food on my plate as my stomach grows full, my frown deepening as I think about how lively and exciting family dinners used to be. Dad was an excellent cook, always whipping up something delicious while Mom and I watched. I loved helping him when I was younger, and we’d pretend to be contestants on a baking show.

Even when his arthritis grew painful and he struggled to move around the kitchen as he once did, he still insisted on making most of our meals.

“Why are you so sad?” Gray asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

I shrug, unsure how much I should share with him. Will he grow angry if I talk about my family and home? I can’t think of a good reason why he would, but I don’t want to take the risk.

“Tell me why you’re unhappy. I can smell your pain,” he continues, his sharp tone earning a snort from Silas.

The fate seems to grow tired of the conversation as he stands and leaves, his half-eaten plate long forgotten as he exits the room. I don’t like being alone with Gray, and I feel my pulse spike in response to it.

My lips purse as I debate sharing my feelings. I suppose I don’t have many other options.

“I was thinking about my family,” I say.

I expect Gray to question me further, but instead, he hums and orders me to finish eating. Despite not understanding the cause of his mood change, I don’t comment on it as I force a couple more bites of food down my throat.

I’m pretty sure my stomach is about to explode.

“I’m finished.” I set my fork on my plate and peer up at him.

His black eyes are already staring down at me, the pull of them making me lick my lips and lean in. He’s just so pretty.

I want him to kiss me.

Smirking, Gray gives me what I want and presses his lips to mine. It’s the first time I’ve ever kissed somebody, and I let my eyes shut as a quiet moan emerges from my throat. He feels so good. I shiver as he slips his tongue between my lips, my thighs clenching as I imagine how good it would feel to have it on other parts of my body.

Gray grabs my hips and pulls me onto his lap, his mouth disconnecting from mine and lowering to my neck. He bites at the skin as he did in my dream, the action acting as a shock to my brain and sending me scurrying off.

Fucking incubus.

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