“Go put them back on and come back here, don’t do anything else.”
I nodded and hurried away, blinking the tears away from my eyes. I found my shoes and sat down on the floor to wrestle my feet into them. Shoes were stupid. Task completed I anxiously drifted back to Seb’s side. He was talking to a group of restaurant people about numbers. He huffed and then muttered, “How can chocolate cake be so expensive.”
He pulled a leather thing out of his pocket, opened it and gave a restaurant person a small stack of papers that had been inside it. Then he grabbed my arm and pulled me all the way through the restaurant and to the street outside.
He kept walking, fast, with his fingers digging into my arm and pulling me along. He was really mad. Maybe I had accidentally insulted his honor? Or done something terrible in human culture? Was he going to hurt me? With the collar on, I’d be powerless to protect myself. He could do anything he liked to me. One of the first things I had learned in this realm was how cruel humans could be.
Suddenly he stopped walking, and he pulled me around to face him. His blue eyes blazed with anger and magic. I whimpered helplessly before falling to the floor to prostrate myself and beg for his mercy.
“Oh shit! Jinx, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
He bent down and pulled me back up to my feet. His strong fingers were on my chin, pulling it up to meet his gaze. I whimpered again.
“Oh Jinx! It’s okay. I’m so sorry I got mad over something so stupid. It’s just a pompous restaurant. I don’t even know why I care enough to be embarrassed.”
I stared at him dubiously, but there was no anger left in his eyes. Only sorrow and regret.
“I will never hurt you. Ever. I promise,” he whispered. “You trusted me enough to take my collar, I will never betray that. No matter what crazy shit you do.”
His words were full of truth. Seb believed what he was saying. Tentatively I smiled at him. He smiled back. My heart did a little flip-flop.
He leaned forward and kissed me and it tasted of his fondness for me, of how much he cared and how truly sorry he was. It was a wonderful kiss.
It stopped far too soon as he pulled away and ran his gaze all over my body. I shivered.
“Look at you. Now you are covered in alley floor as well as chocolate cake. You’ve even got cake in your hair,” he smiled as he pulled a piece of food out of my hair.
“Come on, let’s get you home. We can swing by a late night deli that I know. It does a much better chocolate cake than that stupidly overpriced restaurant.”
An even better chocolate cake? Was there such a thing? I grinned in delight. Seb laughed and started leading the way.
“You are quite right, chocolate cake and sex probably are the two best things in this realm. I’m sorry I didn’t give you any sooner.”
I skipped along happily by his side. Slipping my arm through his. Chocolate cake and home sounded great. Then a thought struck me and I tugged at him to get his attention.
I patted my ass and gave him an imploring look. His eyes widened and he burst out laughing.
“Fine, I will still spank you.”
I grinned in delight and we continued on our way.
“Chocolate cake, home, shower, spanking, then sex? Does that sound okay?”
I nodded as fast and as hard as I could. He laughed again and the sound tickled my tummy. I loved the human realm and I loved Seb.
Chapter thirteen
Jinxlovedthedeli.Thankfully, he stayed by my side, his arm linked with mine and just stared in excitement at everything. We left with a giant bag of several types of cakes and macaroons. He was going to make himself sick by gorging on them all, I just knew it. But I could not resist the longing in his eyes as he stared at them. I wanted to give him everything he desired.
Strolling through the night-time city streets with him on my arm and a bag of desserts in my other hand, shouldn’t have made me so ridiculously happy, but it did. Jinx was just so lovely.
I was proud to have him on my arm. Even covered in chocolate and alley grime he was stunning and I could tell people were staring for both reasons. They didn’t know all the ways he was mine, but they knew he was. It stirred something deeply primal in me and I liked it.
He looked up at me and flashed a beautiful smile. There was no trace of his earlier fear. He forgave so quickly and so completely it was endearing, if a little alarming. In this cruel world, it made him vulnerable.
I pulled him closer to me. It was fine, I would protect him. But could I protect him from myself? An image flashed of the fear in his eyes just before he flung himself at my feet. I swallowed uncomfortably. Sometimes, I could be such an asshole. I wasn’t sure if I should have absolute power over another person.
I thought of how scared he had been when he first appeared in my room. Then I remembered him crying in my arms after being freed from Rufus’s net. My stomach flipped over. It was going to be fine. I hated seeing him scared, I’d never want to do that to him on purpose. I could be a good person, I was sure of it.
