Page 55 of The Female

“You can avoid a question by giving me a kiss.”

I laugh, having expected nothing less. “Okay.”

There are a thousand things I’d love to know about Gray and the demons, and I’m not going to pass on such a perfect opportunity to ask them.

“And ifyoudon’t want to answer one of my questions….” I say, thinking over a proper punishment for his avoidance. “I get two more in its place.”

“Fair deal!”

My excitement grows as Gray pulls the balls from the pockets in the green-velvet-covered table and starts a new game. He organizes them in the wooden triangle and sets the leftover white ball on the opposite end of the table.

I hold my stick as he takes the first hit and sinks a solid. It flies into a pocket, and I realize immediately I’ve potentially made a big mistake. Gray wasn’t putting in his full effort the first time.

He smirks as he walks around the table and sets up another shot. “Let’s start with something easy. What’s your favorite thing to eat?”

I hum, thinking it over as he misses his next ball. He hardly seems surprised as it bounces off the wall and rolls to the opposite side of the table.

“Spaghetti,” I decide, my mouth watering at the thought. “With meatballs.”

Gray laughs as I walk around the table searching for the best shot. I’ll be damned if I don’t get any questions in. I have a feeling he’s not going to be taking this game as easy as the last. I find a shot I like and cheer as I knock one striped ball in.

I turn to Gray with a smirk, proud of my achievement. “How did you meet Silas and Aziel?”

The corner of Gray’s lip twitches downward, but he quickly hides the reaction behind a laugh. That’s odd.

“If you get your next ball, I’ll give you the full story,” he says, gesturing to the table.

Bouncing on my heels, I turn and look at the damage. One of my balls is resting directly in front of a pocket, and I grin as I realize I have a clear shot at it. Lucky me.

I can practically feel Gray’s eyes on my butt as I bend and sink the ball.

Spinning, I shoot Gray a cocky smile. It falls when he takes a slow step toward me, his expression unreadable. He grabs my waist, his touch soft before he tightens his grip and lifts me until I’m sitting on the table.

Slotting his hips between my thighs, he grabs the hem of my dress and tugs it higher so I can spread my knees further for him. I scowl but don’t fight him on it.

“Even Gray and Silas don’t know the full story, so you should feel very special,” he says, bending to kiss me. “I’m sure you’ve noticed I’m a bit odd for an incubus, and my differences ostracized me from my den at a young age. The biggest issue has always been my possessiveness.”

I find myself on the edge of my seat as he shares his story.

“There was a woman I fell in love with many years ago. I was eager to introduce her to my family as my female.” Gray’s voice lowers as he speaks, his fingers sliding up my arms and causing goosebumps to pebble along my skin.

“They laughed as I claimed her as my own, arguing that incubi always share. We never bonded, so she was susceptible to their lust. They made me watch as she begged them to take her and pass her around the den.” Gray pauses and clears his throat before continuing. “I thought the lust made her act that way. I wasn’t mad at her. I knew it wasn’t her fault. She, well… It turns out she truly did want it. She wanted to stay in the den.”

Gray lets out a dry laugh and shakes his head. Unsure what to do, I grab his hands.

“You don’t have to tell me this,” I say, regretting asking such a personal question.

I thought he would tell me some goofy story about him stumbling upon them and latching on. Never in a million years did I think he’d share something so painful.

Gray hums before pressing a kiss to my temple.

“It’s okay. I stuck around because I loved her and all that, but it was hard to watch her with others. After a few months, I tried to take her away, but she screamed and alerted the den. She told them I was trying to steal her. They kicked me out of Lust, and I was too young to know how to feed properly, so I wandered around Wrath until Silas and Aziel stumbled upon me.”

Gray’s excitement seems to grow as he gets to this part of the story.

“I’m not sure how I did it, but I accidentally broke through Aziel’s mind and fed.” Gray pauses and laughs, the noise hearty as it bubbles up out of his throat. “He dropped to his knees and cried out like a canary. Sex is what triggers his bond, but somehow, I was able to bond him to me without it. Gray and Silas brought me home, and I’ve been with them ever since.”

I blink, my mind blank as I think of an appropriate response. How does one react to being told something like that? I’m sure Gray doesn’t want my pity, but laughing at the story as he did doesn’t feel right, either.

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