Page 98 of The Female

I continue to ignore the voices, not needing the distraction they’re sure to bring.

“Silas!”

My eyes snap open as I’m yanked out of my chair and thrown across the room. My body slams into and knocks over a bookcase, and I groan in pain and slump over the top of the pile.

Fuck, that hurt.

My body aches as I roll over to face the two men in the room, my head spinning so much that the two have turned into four.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Aziel asks, his face and body unrecognizable behind the thick layer of smeared blood that coats his skin.

I blink up at him, my mind taking a moment to process what’s happening. My head lolls to the side as Aziel grabs my shirt and yanks me upward, and I make brief eye contact with a terrified-looking Gray as I’m lifted and dropped in my chair.

The incubus must have summoned Aziel here, his fear forcing the demon to leave the pits and rescue me from the threat of myself.

“He refused to leave! He’s been slumped in that chair for hours looking like a damned fool,” Gray’s quick to inform Aziel.

Snitch.

Despite his angered words, Gray still tugs off his shirt and wipes the blood seeping from my eyes and nose. I stare at him as he cleans me, my guilt only amplified by the care he takes to keep me safe.

“What were you looking for?” Aziel asks.

I shrug, not wanting to tell them I was on a selfish hunt to figure out who Charlie is to us. Aziel doesn’t seem to like that answer, though, and I feel him forcing his way into my mind and searching for the truth himself only seconds later.

I’m too weak to fight him off as I usually do, and I glare at him as Gray continues his cleaning.

“You’re an idiot,” Aziel eventually mutters, pulling back.

Gray snorts, agreeing wholeheartedly before turning and bringing the dirty rag to Aziel’s chest. He’s practically only smearing the blood around at this point, but Aziel remains still and lets him do his frantic cleaning.

I groan as the incubus finds himself dissatisfied with the absorbency of his shirt and turns to rip mine off my body. He’s not gentle as he pulls it over my head and returns to Aziel.

It’s not the first time Gray’s forced my clothes off so he could clean us with them, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. It’s crucial to Gray to care for us, and despite how weird we found it when we first met him, we’ve grown quite accustomed to it over the years.

It makes me wonder what incubi dens are like behind closed doors.

From the outside, it appears their entire life revolves around sex and feeding, but given Gray’s desperate need to serve us, I imagine they’re licking one another like cats when there are no observers. It would make sense why Asmod’s kingdom never had an issue with females. When they love, they do so wholeheartedly and with many.

“That’s enough, thank you,” Aziel says, gently pushing Gray away when my shirt is rubbed roughly down the front of his face and shoved slightly into his mouth.

We both know the incubus did it on purpose to show his anger about Aziel leaving us for the pits, but neither of us comments on it.

He thrives off these little victories.

Gray holds my ruined shirt to his chest. I have half a mind to take it away before he brings our blood to a mage and tries to make another salve that ties us to him, but as I take in his angered stare, I decide not to do so.

Aziel clears his throat to break Gray’s and my silent stare off, the noise capturing our attention. I drag my eyes to Aziel, my frown deepening as I take in his suspicious grin.

“There’s somebody I want you to meet.”

24

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CHARLOTTE

THE UNMISTAKABLE SOUNDof yelling makes its way to my ears, the voices loud and angry. Rubbing my eyes, I sit up and look around. Gray’s not here, and I frown as I touch the spot where he usually sleeps.