Page 42 of Bad Demon

I quickly pressed my hand onto his enormous chest again. It was hot—hotter than your average being—and hard. The hair there was actually soft. I’d expected it to be coarse, but it felt kind of nice.

No one had ever slept in this bed with me before, and as his warmth radiated over me, I could admit, just to myself, that I kind of liked it. I felt the cold; my feet were always like ice. It was nice to feel warm.

As soon as he was asleep, I’d take my hand away.

My eyes drifted closed.

ChapterTen

RELIC

I didn’t fucking move;I was barely fucking breathing because I didn’t want her to wake up. Not yet. As soon as she woke, she’d shove me away and put distance between us, and I needed this. I needed her close in a way that made me feel fucking feral.

But that wasn’t the only reason I didn’t want her to wake up. She’d had a nightmare not long after she fell asleep, and she’d been restless on and off for most of the night. She’d finally stilled in the early hours of the morning. Fern needed rest.

My precious little female, she was fucking terrified of something or someone, even more than she’d been of me. She’d tried to drug me, then claim my soul for protection, for fuck’s sake. And I’d been standing at her door, growling and rattling the door handle like the big bad wolf trying to blow her fucking house down, as out of control as I’d ever been. Still, I’d been the safer bet, the lesser threat than whatever evil was terrifying her.

I was her mate—born to protect her, to take care of her, to give her everything she needed—and she had no fucking clue. I would kill for her without a second thought, protect her with my life, but she didn’t trust me—not yet—and it was near impossible to contain everything I felt blazing inside me. Every time I scented her fear, I wanted to tear the motherfucking walls down. I wanted to drop to my knees in front of her and beg her not to be afraid of me.

I couldn’t do any of those things, not while she was still so skittish.

If I told her the truth now, she’d run. I didn’t doubt that for one second.

I pressed my nose to her hair and breathed her into my lungs. Her scent was deeper in the morning when she was all warm and soft. My hand rested on the small of her back, and I wanted to smooth it over her body, to feel every curve, but I didn’t dare move.

She made a cute little snuffling sound, and I studied her features. She was stunning, like a curvy little pixie. The thought of her being afraid raised my hackles and made me thirst for blood.

When she’d handed me that glass of bourbon, I’d known she was trying to drug me, just not why. I’d scented the herbs and whatever else she’d put in it before she even carried it from the back room. Hounds were not only immortal, but we also had a metabolism that was incredibly fast. I’d gotten a high from it for a few seconds, and then my body had burned it right up.

As for my soul, she didn’t own shit. Fuck knew where she’d gotten that bullshit from, but that wasn’t how soul ownership went down. First, not only had the ritual been all wrong, but you needed to use your true name, and I got the feeling Fern Honeycutt wasn’t it. Second, even if she had gotten the ritual right, I didn’t have a soul for her to claim—no one Hell-born did. Hellhounds had a kind of equivalent created by Lucifer. Some still called it a “soul” because it was an easier way to explain it to others. Instead, we had a kind of life force—an essence, I guessed—something that meant if we died, we weren’t gone forever. It worked in a similar way to a soul, but it wasn’t what Fern was hoping for, and it wasn’t something she could own. There were only two places our life force could go if we died—back to Hell, or if something went wrong or we deserved it, Limbo. Either way you looked at it, you couldn’t claim what didn’t exist.

While I’d sat on her couch, she’d been waiting for her drug to wear off, anticipating when I’d realize what she’d done. I was no actor, but I’d watched enough movies to know she’d expect me to be pissed off, enraged that she’d taken my freedom and made me her guard dog. It wasn’t easy, and at first, I wasn’t sure I was selling it. It was hard when, instead of being angry, I was over the fucking moon. My mate might not realize who I was just yet, but she knew I could protect her. She knew I was the only male strong enough to keep her safe, and the satisfaction I felt was heady as fuck. I’d been fighting not to puff out my fucking chest and howl.

So, yeah, she could believe she owned my soul for as long as she needed to—whatever my Tinker Bell needed to make her feel safe and whatever ensured I could stay close.

I breathed her in again. The name she’d chosen for herself fit her well because her scent was like an open field covered in honeysuckle. Fuck, I wanted it all over me.

She jolted on top of me suddenly, a gasp coming from her before her eyes flew open, and she lifted herself with a jerk. Her eyes widened when she looked down at me.

“You’re okay,” I said, giving in to the need and sliding my hand up her back and down again. Then, I had to choke down my growl and force myself not to grip the back of her neck and tug her down for a hard kiss because her full lips were extra puffy from sleep, like I imagined they’d be after she—

Her hand flew up, and she slapped me across the face. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Did I say you could touch me, hound?”

Cute. She was all flushed and pissed. I liked it when she got all worked up. The scent of her anger made my dick hard. Better that than the bitter scent of her fear.

“If you’re going to hit me, do it like you mean it.” I grinned. “That was just a little love tap, Tinker Bell.”

She growled, but I noted she still hadn’t moved. She stayed draped over me, her body all up on mine. She was also shaking.

My little female was seeking comfort from me, and she didn’t even realize it.

“You have another nightmare, Fern?” I didn’t know how I knew it, but I did. That slap was more about releasing tension than hitting me.

Her gaze darted away from mine. “I’m fine, just … don’t do it again,” she said.

I noted again how she still hadn’t moved.

“Do what?”

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