Page 10 of Raising the Sun

Lesson?Interesting. I would have to revisit that later. “You must give me something,” I said as I admired my armoured fingertips, feigning nonchalance. “But not a child.”

“What, then?”

I flicked my gaze to his, lips curling back into the smirk that had wavered during the drivel.Time for therealfun to begin.

“Your seed.”

“Mywhat?! I have to—” He made a crude gesture that may or may not have been an indication of sex as he floundered like a…. well, a virgin. It was delightful. “I’ve changed my mind. You can go back from whence you came or whatever. I don’t need you.”

“I do not please you?” I pouted. I wasn’t familiar with being rejected, though from the way the human’s eyes couldn’t seem to stop roaming over me, that streak, mercifully, wouldn’t be ending now. “Icouldsend for another, but it will cost extra.”

I couldn’t, actually. Not without expending a level of power that I had no possession of right then, especially since he had already piqued my curiosity, but he didn’t need to know that.

In his head, he could be in charge for a little longer.

“Huh?” His eyes snapped up from where they’d been lingering on my legs. “No! I mean, you’re gorgeous, but I don’t want to use you like that.”

“It would be no hardship, I assure you,” I purred, making his pale cheeks flush a pretty pink. “Besides, I am a demon. Morals are not really my forte.”

“Still. If I’d known…”

Persuasion, it seemed, might prove trickier than I had anticipated.Ah, well, I do so relish a challenge.

And I had the time.

“Regardless, you have used a bindingritual. I am to be tethered to your side until the day you die or until your needs are fulfilled.” I released an aggrieved sigh, though it was all for show. “Whichever comes first is entirely your decision.”

“Shitting hell. None of that was in the fine print.”

As he indulged in a momentary malfunction, stuttering about ‘cryptic fucking wizards’ and ‘stupid joke shops,’ I took in more of the room. There wasn’t much of it, or anything truly noteworthy to comment on, but it was enlightening, all the same. Interior design hadn’t improved since my last visit, that was obvious. The human obsession withbeigetruly was a mystery.

“Wait…” he said, and I turned back to him, gesturing for him to carry on. “What if I don’t pay? No transaction, no sex, no binding magic or whatever. You’ll be free to go, right?”

“The ritual is a contract,” I said clearly. “It is asoul bind, but its only purpose is summoning me here and tying me to you until death us do part, or the fulfilment of your greatest desire. Nothing more. We may have been forced together, but that does not mean I am obligated to help you. That part is totally at my discretion.”

I swept out my arms, grinning wide at his confused stare, before adding, “I am a demon, pet. I do not work for free, and I get to choose the price for my time. If you don’t pay, you won’t get the benefits my presence brings, but I’ll still be here—a shadow of no use, hanging over you until you wither away and I’m free to go.”

He frowned. “So, what you’re saying is… the sex isn’t actually a necessity? You’re just taking something for yourself?”

“Exactly! See, I knew you were a clever boy,” I cooed, chuckling at the blank stare he levelled me with in return. “Look, at least I’m offering an alternative. Not many would be so generous. I could just let you die.”Or kill you myself. “Of course there’s the option of helping you without payment—out of the goodness of my heart, as they say—but why should I? You summoned me against my will, and my time is very precious to me.”

The delightful creature visibly reeled at that, opening his mouth, presumably to argue, only to have second thoughts. “Okay, that’s kinda fair, but couldn’t you have picked something else? Like a foot massage. Or… a gift card.”

“My magic is more potent when it’s fed by the fuel it recognises, my dear. And more potency means your dreams will come true quicker and I can leave you on your lonesome.”

“And what? Sex is the onlyfuelit recognises?”

“That or blood,” I responded airily, giving him a second to be horrified. “But a little creature like you? I’d have to drain you dry, so… sex it is.”

“Gee. Thanks.”

While his grumbling huffs were cute, this whole interaction was growing tedious. I loathed explaining myself—it was much more time effective throwing caution to the wind andskipping straight to the fun part, but watching how he recoiled didn’t bode well for that plan.

“I will not force or rush you, human. I’m not a complete heathen,” I assured him, glad when he relaxed somewhat. “But just to be perfectly clear, you will be no further aheaduntilyou give what is required.”

He swallowed thickly, and I traced the action with my gaze. “So, if I sleep with you once, you can leave me in peace and my shop won’t be in ruins?”

Sweet. Tartarus.

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