“That’s exactly what I did.” He let his hands fall to the duvet covering both of them, giving her a bitter look. “We both know you have no choice in the matter once your ring’s been manipulated. I thought I could claim you without… without giving in to the beast inside, but I couldn’t. I didn’t. I did to you what my father did to my mother over and over and over again, so don’t fucking thank me!”
That light feeling in her chest that’d been present since their mating squeezed uncomfortably. Selma gave him a stern look.
“Look, I wanted what you did—all of it. It’s not just about the stupid ring. Don’t you get it? I was hoping and praying you’d come. And yes, I knew what that would mean. Does it really upset you that much that you liked having sex with me? I liked it too.”
Kain gritted his teeth and looked away from her. “That’s the ring talking, and you know it. We’re both still wrapped up in the post-claiming haze.”
Selma barely avoided rolling her eyes. He had severe issues after what happened to his mother, and she would just have to be patient with him.
“So what did you plan would happen after you claimed me? I mean, you must have had a plan, right? Is it to never touch me again? Because I gotta tell you, you paid an awful lot of money just to keep me around to make your morning coffee.”
His growl made her jump, then wince thanks to the sore muscles in her abdomen and lower back.
“I did not purchase you as a slave. I bid a sufficient amount that none would wish to bid any higher, thus lowering the risk I’d lose you in a fight. And my plan was, and is, to bring you to Colorado.” The demon sent her a glare, then pushed off the bed.
Selma watched him as he walked to the other end of the luxurious room and disappeared behind a door. He left it ajar, and she could hear water running.
To Colorado. He was going to bring her to the sanctuary… was going to give her her freedom despite the money he’d spent and the fight he’d won to keep her as his.
Her chest gave an achy spasm. He was going to give her up.
Perhaps he was right—perhaps she was lost in the afterglow of everything that had happened, because a few weeks ago she would have been over the moon with gratitude. Now… she just felt oddly deflated.
The faucets in the bathroom turned off, and Kain reappeared with a bowl in one hand and a cloth in the other. He was still naked as the day he was born, and Selma found herself suddenly distracted from her more morose thoughts. The aching in her chest traveled south of her navel, turning rather more pleasant, albeit still painful.
Kain was a very attractive man. She wondered briefly what he looked like underneath his human disguise, but then lost interest in pursuing that particular train of thought when he bent to place the bowl by her side of the bed and his abs flexed in the process.
“What are you doing?”
“I am tending to my mate. Can you move on your own?”
Tend to her? Intrigued, she glanced at the bowl. “I can move. What do you have in mind?”
He sent her an admonishing glance. “Swing your legs over the edge, little one.”
Slowly and awkwardly, Selma obeyed, though it could hardly be classified as “swinging” when she finally pushed her legs out from under the duvet to dangle them over the edge of the bed.
Kain knelt in front of her and proceeded to place his large hands on her knees.
The sweet ache between her legs heated further at the contact, and she winced as her tired muscles attempted to clench in anticipation.
Then he spread her legs with a firm press of his knuckles against her inner thighs, and she couldn’t hold back a whimper.
Kain quickly looked up at her with a concerned frown. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.” It wasn’t a lie—what had hurt her was her body’s immediate and overwhelming attempt at welcoming him. Her pussy throbbed, and overworked muscles were forced to tighten as moisture began seeping from her core.
For a moment he looked like he was about to press her further on the matter, but then his nostrils flared and a delicate shiver traveled through his naked body.
“Mm.”
It was his only verbal acknowledgment of her predicament, but when she glanced down, she saw his cock strain thick and pulsing between his thighs, eager to heed her body’s call. She stared at it, marveling at how something so grotesque could feel so good.
Without further comment he grabbed the backs of her knees and slid her closer to the edge of the bed, ensuring that her exposed mound was easily accessible.
Before Selma managed to as much as squeak, he’d released her and dipped the cloth into the bowl.
She watched him in silence as he smoothed the lukewarm cloth through her curls, rinsing off the dried semen with care that seemed impossible for hands his size. Again and again he rubbed the cloth over her pussy, delving into every fold and even circling her ringed clit a few times.
