Chapter Ten
Emily
Iwas in shock, I realized. I didn’t remember the entire walk back. Was it even a walk? One minute I was in a side street watching a weird creature explode into blackness, and the next I was being led into an apartment I vaguely recognized as the one on the fourth floor.
The gentleness with which Zelus led me over to a surprisingly soft couch didn’t match the terrifying monster he’d become when he found me in the street.
Shivering and teeth chattering, I stared at nothing and no one. My head was still back in that street where the creature attacked me. I’d suffered a mental break, I was sure of it. What I’d seen was some elaborate illusion my sick brain concocted to ruin my life after I’d only vowed to change it.
“What?” I asked, missing the soft rumble of his voice. He’d said something, but I hadn’t heard a word.
Zelus’s unique reptilian eyes were suddenly in front of me after the giant took a knee, and I stared into them without really seeing them. “We need to get you out of these wet clothes, pet.”
“Convenient,” I heard myself reply, teeth chattering. “You just want to see me naked again.”
That sultry smile of his was oddly calming after everything. “Can’t exactly argue with you there, but I promise most of my motives are innocent.”
“Most,” I said with a shaky huff. “So, am I crazy, or are we crazy together?”
A part of me really hoped he confirmed I’d gone crazy, because the alternative was far scarier.
Asha was the chick who believed in supernatural beings wandering this plane.
I didn’t. But I couldn’t argue with what I’d seen leading up to the weird shadow offender.
Last night, Blue Eyes was something out of a nightmare, too.
Zelus’s soft chuckle calmed my nerves the same way his smile did. “Only those two options, Viper? Feel like there’s probably a third one if you really think about it.”
The third option being supernatural beings who, until now, I’d been totally unaware existed. My pulse thundered, my fear response activated by the mere thought. Turned out, I didn’t have fight or flight. I had the fucking freeze response.
Absolutely fabulous.
Guess I could thank good ol’ Daddy’s friend for that one.
More importantly, had I fucked a demon before? Was Blue Eyes a demon when I tied him to my bed and spanked him with a paddle until his ass turned red? That didn’t feel right, but it fit the theory about demons being pain-loving fiends.
My skin crawled at the thought I might’ve been unintentionally humping demons this whole time. One for absolutely sure…
My eyes dropped to Zelus’s hands, but they’d gone back to the black nail-polished ones I remembered and not the beastly claws I saw in the alley.
I didn’t cope well with fear and panic. I always got extra funny when I was scared. Asha and I had that in common. So, I bundled my desperation neatly into a funny question: “Well then, what else could it be? Are you secretly one of the Winchester brothers out here to rid the city of demons?”
His hands wrapped around mine, and he snickered to himself. “Unfortunately for you, no. But you’re right about one thing, Viper. That was a demon. I guess me and those saucy Supernatural tarts have that in common.”
“Great,” I chattered, unamused and chilled to the bone in ways heat would never resolve. The pang of fear I’d barely dispelled was back. It didn’t take long for it to shred my pulse. “Demons? On a Thursday? What are the chances…”
“Don’t they know hunting is always better on Taco Tuesdays?” he teased back, though his tone was far softer than it should be. The tone someone adopted with a scared child or animal, neither of which I was.
I was a grown-ass woman having an incredibly human response to the discovery of things that went bump in the night. A completely reasonable response.
It took nearly all my control not to hyperventilate on that information alone. Jury was still out on the joint crazy option, but it was getting harder to believe that was true after what I’d seen with my own two eyes.
The smile I gave him was empty. Another shiver wracked my form, and I wrapped my arms tightly around myself in an attempt to assuage the tremors.
I hated feeling weak. It was the whole reason I dominated in the bedroom. Weak moments always brought me back to those years spent under my parents’ thumb, their perfect little doll.
It took me back to the moment when that man—my father’s friend and business partner—stole my childhood and sense of safety. I promised no one would take that from me again, but here we were, safety gone and weakness restored.
A victim.
Zelus stood and stared down at me. My head dropped back to take in the size of him, not sure if I should fear him or thank him. “I have a few things you can wear, or we can go downstairs and grab something from your flat.”
I didn’t want to be alone. I’d vowed never to lean on any man, not after the one who was meant to protect me from the world failed to do even that, but…this was no man. The idea of going back to my apartment and being alone or letting him leave in any sense of the word made panic rise in my throat.
He must’ve picked up on it because he bent down and lifted me into his arms. Without saying another word, he walked us to his bedroom, cradling me close to his chest.
After a moment of hesitation, I put an arm around his neck and buried my face in his throat, fighting the burn in my eyes that threatened tears if I wasn’t careful. His steady pulse lulled me into a freer place inside my head.
I couldn’t say how long he held me. It could’ve been hours before he let loose a sigh and helped me out of my damp clothes. I complied quietly, my movements lazy and somewhat stilted. He didn’t say anything, just pulled one of his shirts over me. It was big enough to be a dress.
Zelus eyed my skinned knee and the place where I’d been grabbed around my neck. Did the hand leave a burn? A bruise? A mark I’d forever carry? My throat seized at the thought of being forever marked as a victim. In truth, a part of me had been marked as one ever since I was thirteen.
The giant redhead raked a hand through his hair, muttering something I couldn’t hear under his breath. His eyes went to my knee. “Let’s get that fixed up, love. I’ll only be a moment. Get under the covers and warm up.”
It was a command that toed the line of dominance, and normally that type of tone had my hackles raising in disgust, but it was exactly what I needed right now.
If I got into his bed voluntarily, would that reaffirm this thing between us? What did a joint delusion mean for us? Did something like that make a relationship more or less likely? Any therapist would argue it was trauma bonding in that case. Not that I ever considered dating an actual monster.
But I did what he wanted. I crawled under the comforter.
His bed was ridiculously soft and welcoming.
The shivers that had taken hold of me after the weird demon attack had subsided some, but the shadowy face with terrifying eyes was always there when I closed my eyes, its hand searing into my throat with the promise of violence.
Strolling back into the room with a little box, Zelus eased his way to my side and only lifted the blanket around my legs, keeping the topmost part on me.
His jaw clenched a few times before he gently moved my leg and started to clean the wound.
I might’ve hissed, but unlike the jokester I met the night before, he never called attention to it.
After applying a band-aid, he got up and set the first-aid box aside. Then his shirt was off and falling to the floor. I tracked it with a sharp rise of my eyebrow.
The glance he gave me was full of mischief. “I might be a lot of things, but an absolute twat who takes advantage of a woman who’s been put through hell isn’t one of them,” he assured me, his raspy voice carrying across the room with all the confidence he owned.
He traded wet denim for grey sweatpants—a few hilarious comments came to mind, but I swallowed them—and then he was getting under the covers with me. After a brief moment of hesitation that was very unlike him, his arm went under my back and he drew me in close.
His heat was the sun on my skin, pushing out the chill that had taken hold of my bones. I couldn’t help the soft sigh of contentment or the little shift closer if I’d tried.
His hand traced the front of my neck in a barely-there caress, as if he was worried it’d hurt me. I didn’t feel anything there, but the creature must’ve left a mark by the way he seemed to trace the same path as the fingers that had previously squeezed around me.
Finding my courage, I finally asked, “What are you?”
His huff of laughter lacked the usual amusement. “Not a demon, if that’s what you were thinking.”
His muscles were tense under my hands. “I didn’t think—well, you do have fangs and claws. It’s an easy conclusion to draw.”
His chuckle was a lot more amused this time. “I can’t argue there, Viper. I am something of a beast. I guess humans would call me a demon or monster.”
It should overwhelm me with panic that he’d essentially admitted to being some sort of supernatural beast, but it didn’t.
Maybe because his hold on me was so gentle, as if I’d come apart in his arms if he put any strength into it.
Maybe because he whispered his pet name for me with such reverence.
Maybe because he was the one who’d come to my rescue.
He might be an arrogant asshole who needed to be dropped down a peg or two, but I didn’t really feel unsafe with him. Or maybe a therapist would argue this was the Suspended Bridge Effect. Bonded through trauma. Either way, I embraced the crazy and his warmth.
My eyes lifted, finally looking at the odd reptilian pupils and studying the pretty fluctuations of light that played in his irises. Beastly eyes like these should be horrifying, but on him they were gorgeous. Fitting, I’d argue.
After the brief spike of caution subsided, I traced his cheek and marveled at the scales that seemed to ripple across before disappearing. “A snake monster, then?”
One side of his mouth hitched up at my whispered comment. “Not a far-off guess. My original form has a lot of similarities to a snake.” As if to prove it, his grin broadened and the fangs from earlier were back. “Does it bother you?”
If I hadn’t known better, I might’ve thought I heard the briefest hitch of apprehension in his question. But it was swept away with another one of his sly grins.
I hummed in my throat, daring to trace one of his fangs, and my eyes flicked up to his. “Do they hurt?”
His reply was a guttural husk. “Not if I don’t want them to.” His knuckles brushed my cheek. “They can bring as much pleasure as they bring pain.”
Heat unfurled between my hips, but I chose to ignore it. Sex was my go-to response for everything, and this situation wasn’t any different, but I didn’t want to lose the chance to ask questions. He’d been cooperative in a way I hadn’t expected, so I pried deeper than I probably should’ve.
Blame the lawyer in me.
“Is that demon the reason you’re hanging around me?” I asked, almost afraid of hearing the answer. “Is it some…you know, big and bad supernatural beasties battle over prey?”
By the way his eyes glinted and his smile faded, I’d struck a nerve. “My interest in you is mine alone, Emily. The rest of them can bugger off.”
“So, what is it that you want with me, then?” I pressed, my fingers stopping on his bottom lip and eyes searing into his with my question. “Are you here to hurt me, too?”
His hand had been brushing my neck, but as if my words had burned him the second they left my throat, it was gone. “Why would I bother saving you if I wanted to hurt you?”
That wasn’t an answer. I studied his face carefully, trapped in an embrace and hating how much I didn’t hate it. “I don’t know how demons work. Maybe it’s a territorial thing.”
His laughter was so loud it nearly sent me clamoring back, but his arm was a steel bar behind me.
I couldn’t go anywhere if I wanted to. I’d seen what he could do to some obscure shadow creature he called a demon.
I didn’t stand a chance against a supernatural beast. Maybe Asha, but definitely not me.
“Guess that’s on me, love. I snarled and fought like a beast, so I can’t expect to be treated as anything but that.” His hand was back, but this time on my face, his thumb swiping across my bottom lip. “It’s complicated.”
Another non-answer. It meant I wasn’t likely to coax the truth out of him this time. He was guarded for some reason, and if I pushed too hard, it could make those walls he’d built ironclad. I had to play this carefully.
I bit my lower lip and pulled away from his touch, gaining what little distance I could inside his arms. “Then at least tell me if I can expect more of what happened today to happen in the future.”
His expression froze over, and I closed my eyes in resignation. I didn’t need an answer. As much as this guy was a supernatural being capable of feats my mind still barely comprehended, his responses showed on his face like any human.
“That’s what I was worried about.” I sighed and pressed my forehead against his chest, thoughts spiraling. “If you were to leave, would that solve my problem?”
I didn’t mean to sound so desperate when I asked, but I couldn’t help it. Control was slipping through my fingers like sand. I needed to get a grasp on it before I lost it completely. Being out of control was a nightmare that rivaled the beast who attacked me today.
Zelus’s hold on me was stone. “No, Emily. They’re not here for me.” I peered up at him, just catching the tail end of a sneer. “They’re here for you, and I plan to find out why.”