Page 17 of Devour

“Whatever you say, my betrothed, my espoused, my intended.” He grinned to himself and quickly reminded me, “Been alive a long time. Plenty of titles across many languages I can think to use.”

“No more marriage references.”

“Okay, Daddy.”

And I actually burst out laughing at that one.

“I can do this all night, Daddy. I don’t need to sleep like you do. And you’re sick on top of that.”

“Fine.” I chuckled. “I don’t want to hear what else you might come up with while in public. Better the devil you know.” If he applied the same level of commitment that he had to annoying me over the last year to anything else, I might be impressed.

“See? Hubby’s not so bad. Nor hubs.”

“I suspect that is only because you exhausted both in my presence.”

Enthusiastic nodding.

I reached into the plastic shopping bag he brought and fished out some cold pills from the foil packaging. And whoever on the design team decided it should take all of someone’s upper body strength while ill to open these packets should get fired. After knocking back some with the water bottle on my nightstand, I curled up on my bed once more and pulled my heavy comforter over me.

“Going to sleep, hubs?”

“Yes,” I grumbled.

“Okay.”

After a few minutes of total silence, it dawned on me that Rhory was actually kneeling on the floor of my room still. “You made your point, Rhory. Go home.”

The chains on his pants swished when Rhory rose and stalked over to my bedside. He leaned over and whispered, “See you soon, hubby. And feel better.”

With that, he left.

* * *

RHORY

Well, I called it. My hubby was a bit of a pervert. Only a lil bit, but I still enjoyed being correct in my original assessment of him. To make matters even more interesting, he possessed an undeniable attraction to me, and he hated it. I frustrated him in more ways than one, and the time had come for me to use this to my advantage. It had been a few days since I last tormented him with my presence, so I typed out a quick message.

I’m hungry. Followed by lots of very sad begging emojis. Hubby was not a monster, and I was not above emotional manipulation.

Then eat.

You offering? Was the smirking devil emoji too on the nose? Probably, but it was my favorite and very much applicable in this instance.

You cannot eat me.

I can get full other ways. Very pleasurable and worth your time kinda ways.

No.

Dammit, I would find the one man I couldn’t sway with sex when that was my go-to. I’m so hungryyyyyyyy, hubby, I might die this time. I see a light.

Go into the light, Carol Anne.

This man might be the death of me. Logically, I did not need to ask him. I could go elsewhere and find someone else. But something about hubby’s perceived indifference drove me up a wall. He absolutely wanted me, but he simply wouldn’t let himself. It only made me want to crack that nut even more. Or maybe after a lifetime of being unable to retain relationships, I needed to feel wanted until I decided otherwise. Not going to think too deeply about that, though.

As a last Hail Mary, I took a different approach. I promise I’ll be good.

Define “good.”

---