His lips pull back and he flashes fangs. “You want that?”
“I do.”
He murmurs in a language I don’t know, deep and rumbling. Then he says, “Tomorrow night. I’ll summon you.”
I don’t know why I do it, but I turn my head and bite down on the meat right below his thumb. He groans and tugs my hair with his other hand.
“Jiahui,” he whispers, and the use of my true name makes me shudder. “You’re making it incredibly difficult to leave.”
I release him and take a step back. His hand slides off my neck, his talons grazing my throat as I move away. My heart thunders and my body yearns to be back in his arms, but I love how the fiery look in his eyes grows with the distance between us. I never knew being a brat could be so fun.
I bite my lip and twiddle my fingers at him. “Begone, then.”
He adjusts his cock again and then disappears.
Fuck.
I’m dating a demon.
twenty-one
Getting Dolled Up
My reflection leaves me wanting. I mean, it’s fine. The plain black dress hugs in at my waist, but I’m not very curvy. The neckline isn’t doing my smaller breasts any favors, either. At least it comes above my knees and I can show off some thigh. The Doc Martens look pretty cool with it.
“I think it’s cute,” Lacey says.
“First-date-with-my-boyfriend cute or fifteen-year-old goth-girl-wannabe cute?” I ask her reflection in the mirror.
“You don’t look fifteen,” she says with a grimace. “Look at Ace.”
I turn and see my brother waving a broken plastic sword around near the kid’s toy aisle. Yeah, no, I don’t look fifteen. Okay…
The consignment store is small, and this was the only thing on the rack that both fit and looked like date-wear. The boots are just an added bonus for everyday wear. Standing on my feetall afternoon in the coffee shop was an ordeal. I ended up doing sets just to keep my feet from aching.
“Stay here, I have an idea,” Lacey says as she jumps up.
I do as she commands, twisting back and forth in the mirror to see if any of the angles look better than the others. I’ll have to stand sideways with one leg pushed back all evening just to make it look like I’ve got a body going on.
My mind wanders back to yesterday in her absence. I know I should’ve called Armhurts with the information about Lei, but what if he hurts my parents for just that act? I don’t know how he found us, but my mind immediately jumps to the conclusion that there’s a leak in the investigator’s office.
Maybe it was something as simple as cross-referencing business registrations with Grandma’s name, but I need more time to think about what to do before involving them. The Boston police can’t do anything about my parents’ situation, and the Zhaos can…
Lacey comes back and snaps me from my dark thoughts with a presentation of belts. They’re of all various levels of wear, but in good condition. She holds up one that’s just a long gold chain.
“I think this,” she says, pushing it toward me.
I check the price tag first as a habit; three bucks, not bad. I can’t be dropping my entire savings, especially if I’m only going to wear it once. I wrap it around my hips and clip it together. The other end dangles halfway down to the hem.
Lacey smiles. “It’s coming together. I think you need a bracelet.”
She runs off again and I move the chain around on my hips. I twist the end of the belt around my wrist and measure its strength. I give it a tug, and none of the links buckle. Good quality, too. Heat slides over the skin at my neck as I remember the fiery binds Rhaz had used to silence me, and consider how he might use this belt.
“There were so many options,” Lacey says behind me, and I jump.
“Lost in thought?” she asks as she shows me her finds.
Three bangles of various thicknesses and a short necklace with a small red gem, all gold, of course.
