Page 48 of Bad Demon

“It’s me. You’re okay.” I gently uncurled her fingers from around the hilt and tossed the knife onto the floor. Then I scooped her up in my arms. “Go back to sleep, baby. I got you.”

She shuddered, then collapsed in my arms. Relief. She was feeling relief again. I fucking liked she felt that way while I held her.

Carrying her to my bed, I laid her down, tugged off her boots and socks, then pulled the covers over her. She rolled, dragging the covers up to her nose, breathing deeply before more of that relief made her features relax. Then, she was out cold again.

My scent—it was on my sheets. That was what had soothed her, and she’d been under my jacket for the same reason.

Possessiveness was a fist in my gut. She had been seeking the comfort of her mate and didn’t even fucking know she was doing it.

* * *

FERN

I felt warm, even my feet—and my feet were never warm—and so comfortable. Every muscle in my body was relaxed. I breathed deeply, and something smelled …yummy. Warmth built between my thighs, a nice ache that had me squirming. I ignored that. I didn’t want that. I had to admit it did feel kind of good though. It’d been so long since I had felt like that and wasn’t hit with nausea immediately afterward. I hadn’t felt nausea when Relic held me against the wall either—no, I didn’t want to think about that. Instead, I breathed in deep again.

“Mmm.” The sound left me on my next exhale.

The warmth surrounding me was deep in my bones, and I felt out of it, drowsy. I blinked, trying to wake myself up. It was still kind of dark, early morning maybe. I gave up.

The next time I woke, more light filled the room. I blinked again and stretched. My hand brushed something rough. That was when I became aware of the massive hand on my lower back and the boner digging into my stomach.

I jerked up. “What the fuck, Relic!”

He winced. “Fucking hell. Careful, Tink.”

“Why are you in my bed again?” I bit out.

“Not in your bed, babe. You’re in mine, and I told you, I’m not sleeping on any couch. I will also add—again—I didn’t put you up there; you climbed on me all on your own.”

He dragged a hand down his handsome face, and I realized he looked tired.

I hadn’t really believed him the first time he said I’d done it, but after last night—curling up under his jacket when I’d started to freak out because his scent somehow soothed me—I was starting to. The only explanation for it was that I owned his soul; that had to be the reason for this weird connection I felt growing toward him. I tried to slide off him, and he hissed.

I froze. “What?”

He reached down and covered his dick. “Watch the knee.”

“It’s not exactly polite to get a … to get … like that … when someone is forced to sleep beside you.”

“Polite had fuck all to do with any of this, little demon. Nothing between us has been polite.”

I tried to move, and his hand at my back gave some resistance, stopping me for a split second before he released me and let me slide off his body and to the other side of the bed. He was right, of course; basically stealing someone’s soul was far from polite, but then neither was stalking.

“Still, I’d prefer if you didn’t … do that when you’re with me,” I said. “I think we need to lay down a few ground rules.”

He huffed out a laugh. “My dick doesn’t follow your rules, Fern. I’m sorry if me getting hard while you lie on me offends you, but those curves pressed against me, your body all squirmy, while you made a bunch of sexy little sounds—it got to me. I’ve got no control over that, babe. You’re sexy as fuck and gorgeous, and you smell fucking amazing. My dick’s gonna get hard. And, yes, I’m more beast than man, but I’m not a fucking animal with no control. You’ve got no reason to be afraid of me … or it.”

He was right; his dick did scare me, like everything else fucking scared me. The way it made my body feel—the wayhemade me feel—scared me, and I was so sick of beingfucking scaredall the time.

“You look tired,” I said, desperate to change the subject. “Did I keep you awake?”

He shook his head. “Not you. Something else.”

I didn’t like the look in his eyes. “Did something happen last night while you were out?”

“It’s all good. Nothing for you to worry about.”

The hound was lying, of course. I could see something was bothering him—something other than me stealing his soul, that was. But I guessed what he did—as long as it didn’t affect my safety—was none of my business.

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