I batted my eyes at him. “I thought you said Ibelonghere. Shouldn’t that mean I get access to all of Hell’s secrets?” I knew I was pushing him, and for a moment I worried he was going to just slap the collar back on me and say forget it, but the corner of his mouth twitched up instead.
“You can see what’s behind all the locked doors after Samhain. Right now, you’re too fragile, and I’ve gone through a great deal of effort to human-proof the manor for you so you can have some freedom.” He brushed my hair over my shoulder and cupped the side of my newly bare neck. “Promise me.”
I nodded. “Fine. I promise. No locked doors.”
He nodded, kissing the tip of my nose. “Good girl. Next rule:no going outside alone. If you want to go outside, let Shem or I know, and we’ll take you.”
I bit my lip, forcing myself to bite my tongue. So much forfreedom.It didn’t feel very free if I had to have an escort the whole damn time.
“Third and final rule: you’re to be back in the room by six each night for dinner.”
I scoffed. “I have acurfew?”
His lip twitched again, but he nodded. “If you want to call it that, yes.”
“Tell her what happens if she’s late.” I glanced over at Shem, who was still shirtless, playing a game of chess against himself.
“You’ll get one spanking for every minute you’re late.”
I rolled my eyes. “Naturally.”
They both gave me saccharine grins, and I sighed. “What about the no-touching rule?” I asked, wondering if I was allowed to try and make friends.
Ramel’s jaw clenched, but Shem cleared his throat. They looked at each other in a way that meant they were silently communicating. Finally, Ramel turned back to me and softened.
“That rule is officially lifted. You can touch other demons without risk. However, there will be no kissing, fucking, hugging, or anything else that I deem inappropriate. Keep it friendly, or people will start losing limbs.”
I nodded, feeling my eyes widen. This was big. I was allowed to touch and talk to other people outside the two of them? I could try and make friends! I leapt up from the bed and wrapped my arms around Ramel’s neck, planting a firm kiss on his mouth. He stiffened in surprise before folding his arms around my waist and kissing me back. To my shock, he kept it brief and chaste before pulling away and smiling down at me.
“Thank you,” I said softly, and he slapped my ass playfully before releasing me.
“You earned it. Now get out of here before I come to my senses and tie you up again.” He sounded like he was kidding, but I wasn’t about to push my luck, so with a squeal, I turned on my heel and darted out the door.
“Don’t forget! Back here by six! That’s in two hours!” Ramel called after me.
“Yeah, yeah! I heard you!” I shouted back over my shoulder before peeling off down the hall. I didn’t care where I was headed. I just loved that I was allowed to go in any direction I wanted.
“Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.”
—OSHO
“She’s going to be fine,” Shem said several minutes after Lilith had darted out of the room. I had been staring after her for a full minute, fighting every instinct to hunt her back down and tell her I changed my mind.
My head snapped to where he sat at the chess table, still playing the same game against himself. “This coming from the demon who gave me shit for feeling bad about chaining her to the bed before the meeting.”
Shem rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat, eyeing me up and down. “That was different. We weren’t here to protect her. The entire manor is charmed to track her; we’ll know where she is every second she’s not in the room with us. Let her run around and make some friends.” For a moment, a pained expression flickered across his face. “For a moment there, I was worried we actually broke her. Submitting to us killed something inside her. She needs this.”
I knew what he meant. I had seen it too. It was as if the light had suddenly been sucked from her eyes, and I truly worried for a minute we may not be able to rekindle it again.
“You’re right,” I sighed. “She’s just so fragile right now; she could get hurt. Even die.” I remembered how close she had wandered to the edge of the Fountainof Death earlier and cringed. Even I wouldn’t have been able to prevent her from dying if she had entered those waters.
“She’ll be fine,” Shem repeated. “Even if she wanders out of bounds, we’ll know about it. Then you’d get to punish her, and we both know how much you love to do that.” He smirked at the board and check-mated himself.
I pursed my lips. The truth was, I wasn’t as interested in punishing her now that I had my memories back. It would be different if she also had her memories back and understood the game. The look in her eyes earlier, when I knew the endorphins had faded and she had been left alone in her own thoughts, had shaken me. I was hesitant to keep pushing her before Samhain.
There was a knock on the door, and Art let himself in, looking perplexed.
“You have a visitor,” he said. Shem frowned.
