Page 20 of Taken to the Shadow Realm

“No one will touch you here,” she vowed, her dark eyes never leaving my face. “Tell me you understand, human. If anyone even attempts to hurt you while in my care, all you have to do is tell me.”

Air whooshed from my lungs.

“I understand,” I whispered.

She nodded and just like that, her aura shrunk down in size and she began eating the meat on her plate as if that conversation hadn’t happened.

But it had, and she had no idea just how much it caused my chest to warm.

Yien

Rage boiled in me as I brought Iris into my bedroom for bathing.

Who had dared hurt her? Her own family?

I used to think that I didn’t care much for my family, but as soon as the words were out of her mouth, I was horrified that family could do that to their own blood.

She didn’t want to talk about it, that much was obvious, so I let it slide for now. But I made note of her words and vowed that once she gave me all the information I needed to know, I would go to her family seeking vengeance for what they’d done to her.

“Is helping me bathe normal in this realm?” she asked when we reached the bathroom. Inside there was nothing more than a toilet, a large tub with a window that looked out into my realm, and a sink. It should be enough, given all the research I’d done.

I had no idea what a human might have needed, so I had made all the adjustments I could. Hopefully my human would let me know if she was displeased.

No, my mind said.

“I would like to help,” I said instead.

That delicious pink traveled up her neck and face once more.

She followed me to the tub, looking out the window and to my realm. On this floor, you could see straight over the fog and out into the far reaches of my land. Though the fog had densened in the past few days, hiding the forest that surrounded my property.

“All of that are souls?” she asked.

“They are,” I confirmed before turning on the water.

She let out a hum before letting her eyes fall to the tub.

“I don’t know why I thought you wouldn’t have running water,” she murmured.

“It’s demon magic,” I explained. “Though this property has been here far longer than me, so I wouldn’t know where to begin if anything went wrong with it.”

“So there is something you don’t know,” she said with a giggle.

“Of course,” I confirmed, unable to stop my chest from puffing. “I cannot know everything. If I did, I wouldn’t just be ruler of this realm. I might as well try my luck with the royals.”

Her answer was another light giggle. I opened my mouth to ask what was funny, but she shocked me by slipping off her dress and stepping right out of it.

Lust and hunger hit me all at once at the sight of her body.

Beautiful rosy nipples stood out in contrast to her skin. Her hips flared out just enough that I dreamed of grabbing on to them. And right there, between her legs, was a curly tuft of white hair. But it was trimmed and gave me a look at the pink folds of her cunt.

Stop looking.

I forced my eyes back up to hers, noting the sly smile on her face.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a naked human before,” she said and walked to the tub before dipping her toe in. The sigh she let out was sinful.

When she wobbled slightly, my first instinct was to hold onto her, and one hand went to her arm, the other to her hip. Just an innocent touch, but my entire body heated at it.

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