Page 12 of The Demon Prince's Accidental Mate
“You and I,” the behemoth ground out as if reading my mind, “have something to discuss.”
His voice and the slow, measured approach gave me the feeling of being on a conveyor belt approaching a crusher. I was nothing before the power of that man, or whatever he was, and we both knew it.
I glanced around. Was it just me, or was the shop getting darker? From what little of the window I could still see around his broad shoulders, the sun was still lighting the street. It was going down, but the shop seemed positively dark. Like he was absorbing the light.
“W-we do?” I asked, unable to keep my voice from cracking, forcing me to restart the question several times. “I don’t even know you.”
His eyes burned. Hands the size of my head rested on the counter as he leaned forward.
“D-do I?” I asked, swallowing a giant lump.
The unnamed giant came even closer, like a wave of impending doom sweeping over me and my tiny little bakery, dwarfing us with his presence. My fingers trembled against my side so strongly I could have been playing the piano. He was terrifying and gorgeous all at once. My heart raced against my breastbone, lips dry, eyes wide while I waited for him to respond.
He didn’t. He just leaned over the counter and stared at me in eerie silence. My mouth was open in a tiny O while I struggled with not being a deer frozen in headlights.
Handsome as he was, the terror coursing through me should be enough to tell me I needed to go. Now. Make a run for it, out the back door, and keep going until I was safe enough to call the police. Just get somewhere more public than inside my shop, which had the “Open” sign turned off. Nobody would come to save me.
The door chimed a half second later, sweeping away all my thoughts. Someone else was there.
“The store’s closed,” the man said, not bothering to turn around to see who it was. He only had eyes for me. Thatshouldhave been welcome on a man who looked like him, but it instead held me rooted to the spot. Afraid for my life.
“I just want to—”
“CLOSED!”
The bellow rattled the windows as he turned his fury on the newcomer. I couldn’t see past his upper body, but I heard the shoes scramble, and the door chimed again as they fled without another word before I could signal them for help.
“You know me,” the brute said as he turned back, acting as if nothing had happened. “You know meverywell,Lilith Rowe.”
He knew my name. Heknewmyname. My knees wobbled.
“I do?” I managed to ask, trying to push myself upright with my arms. “I swear I’d remember someone as hot, uh, astallas you,” I said, correcting myself, horrified at what I’d said.
Get a grip. He’s obviously not here to flirt.
That didn’t stop my gaze from roaming across his arms, the sleeves rolled up ever so slightly to show his thick forearms, or the broad swell of very well-defined pecs, unmistakable with a shirt that tight. A shirt he’d chosen to wear. Not to mention the legs. I’d only caught a brief glimpse, but it was clear he didn’t skip leg day, either.
“Yes, you do,” he assured me, his voice rolling over me like the tide, crashing against my very core, lighting it on fire like oil atop the waves. “We met. Or perhaps I should say, ourmindsme.”
“Oh, fuck.”
He grinned, and against my wishes, I melted.
“Oh,yes,” he rumbled in reply. “You tried to bind me.”
“I, uh, I didn’t mean to,” I squeaked, shaking my head, squeezing my hands into fists to still the trembling. “Honestly. I was just—I didn’t mean—but you weren’t supposed to be there! I—you—not how it was supposed to be!”
He stood there as I all but wailed my apologies. I could see the words sliding past him. Nothing was sticking.
“I’m sorry,” I said again. “I didn’t mean to, and I’ll never do it again, okay? I didn’t even mean to try the second time. I was falling asleep. I don’t know how that happened. It should have been impossible!”
He stared at me.
“Please?” I repeated. “I’m sorry. Nothing happened. I’ll never try anything again. That’s enough, isn’t it?”
The skin around his eyes tightened, and I knew I had my answer.
I wasn’t getting out of it that easy.
