Chapter 23
“Gemma, I’m sorry sweetness, but we can’t do this right now.”
Gemma ignored him, tugging open his pants and attempting to reach inside them. Cal had been lenient so far, but this was too much.
Sliding away from her, he set her back on the floor. “Dammit, woman, enough! I know you’re scared, but this isn’t the time for lovemaking. So knock it off.”
He was expecting her to be crestfallen but to accept his directive, but instead, her face screwed up in anger. Cal again noted how unattractive she seemed to him all of a sudden. She still had the appearance of a beautiful angel, but there was something about her demeanor that had become terribly off-putting.
She wasn’t responding to reason, which was unlike her. Even when she’d been too overwhelmed to string words together, she’d still acted on a chain of logic. But now, she was moody and self-absorbed. The fact that she was doing nothing to help them escape was also uncharacteristic. Not to mention that she’d given up all hope of them ever escaping in the first place.
This isn’t right. Something is all wrong here.
A thread of realization started to snake its way into Cal’s brain, but before he could fully decipher it, Gemma was back in his lap. She grabbed the shackles at his wrist and tapped a button that had been imbedded near the latch. The chains immediately snapped back to the lead in the floor, severely shortening his range of motion. His hands and feet were now pinned to the floor, forcing Cal to slide backward.
Lying on his back on the floor, Cal looked up in disbelief. Gemma straddled his waist and bent over, a triumphant smile on her face. “Relax, baby. I’ll make it feel real good.”
This isn’t Gemma.
Realization broke over him, putting Cal into a cold sweat.This is an illusion, just like these fucking chains. “Get off me, demon,” he growled.
The woman straddling him laughed. “What a terrible thing to call your beloved Gemmaline.”
“You’re not her. You could never be her, you foul bitch. Release me.”
The Seeker smiled and shook her head. “This is just how I like my toys. Bent to my will. Why would I let you go?”
Cal was filled with revulsion when she draped herself over his chest and started to kiss and lick her way lower.Heaven help me, I can’t let this happen.
He knew the demon was doing this on purpose, was trying to break him, to break Gemma, and he couldn’t let that happen. But how did he stop her? He was bound to the floor, helpless underneath her.
Not helpless.Come on, Cal. You have to concentrate. You can break these chains, get out of these shackles. Do it!
Or the worst would happen. Perhaps worse than his planet being exposed and his people in danger. Worse even than losing this whole damn war with the forces of evil. Worse than the end of the universe descending on them all.
If he didn’t manage to escape, then he would betray the woman he loved more than himself, more than his miserable life, more even than a planet that depended on him.
I can’t betray Gemma. I won’t.
He felt the demon’s breath on his belly and he blocked it out. He blocked out her throaty laugh, blocked out her hands when they began to remove his pants.
Concentrate. These chains aren’t real.
He closed his eyes and focused on the chains, how they looked and felt. He focused on them fading, turning transparent, disappearing.
He tugged at his restraints with all his strength but they held fast.
Cal could feel her hands getting closer to his cock and swallowed his fright.One more chance to do this right. To get this revolting creature away from me.
Instead of thinking of the chains, this time, he imagined Gemma. His Gemma, not this abomination seeking to defile him now.
He thought of her sweetness, of the innocence that she’d given him so willingly. He pictured her eyes, so blue, so understanding, so filled with love for him, even though she knew next to nothing about him. The trust, the blind devotion she’d given him, was like nothing he’d ever experienced.
Gemma, I won’t betray you. You’re the only thing that matters to me. The only thing that’s real.
All of a sudden, the weight of the chains at his wrist and ankles was gone.
Cal’s eyes snapped open and he wasted no time. Sitting up, he grabbed the Seeker by her shoulders and lifted her off him as he rose.
