“What I did last night. I don’t know what got into me. I couldn’t stop.” I lick the dry state of my lips, fighting not to apologize again and again. “Are you hurt? Did I hurt you?”
I want with every panicked drop of my soul to touch her. To run my palm across her body and take inventory of my behavior.
To my relief and trauma, she considers my question a long moment. Maybe she’s assessing. Maybe she’s waiting for her body to reveal the true extent of her pain that I caused.
Christ, had I assaulted her?
I can’t remember if she asked me to stop. Had she? Had I not heard her? Had I ignored her?
“Lin?” I plead, desperation choking around the single utterance of her name.
“I’m not hurt,” she murmurs, hesitates and adds with an endearing wrinkle of her nose, “I’m a little sore, but last night was … lovely.”
I blink.
Lovely?
What did that even mean?
“You don’t have to protect me. I take full responsibility for my actions.”
To my dismay, she giggles. While the sound is so reminiscent of how she used to be, I am not amused.
“You are being silly. I enjoyed everything you did. I don’t think I’ve cum that hard or that often … ever. I can still feel it a little. The faint tremors.”
Even while her assurance calms some of the anxiousness in my chest, I’m not ready to let myself off the hook.
“I’m going to start you a bath, okay? You just stay here.”
With all the gentleness I can muster, I extract my dick from her slick, swollen sex. The loss of her warmth makes me want to crawl back beneath the sheets with her and resume where we left off snuggling, my solid, fully erect cock returned to its rightful place, corking all my hard work.
But I force myself off the ruined bed and pad in the direction of the bathroom. Quietly, I shut the door behind me and move to the tub. I plug the drain and start the process of filling it up. But that wasn’t my only reason for coming in here.
I face the wall of mirrors and meet my own reflection’s furious gaze.
“Where are you, you piece of shit? Show yourself.”
Thick, congealing smoke clouds across the glass. It presses and spreads along the corners. From its center, the familiar silhouette of the demon appears with his ridiculous wings and stupid smirk. Smart of him to stay on the other side, though. I can’t be wholly certain I wasn’t prepared to clock him.
“You summoned?”he taunts.
“What the fuck did you do to me last night?”
The vast, black pools of his eyes glint faintly with a humor that only intensifies my fury.
“Do you regret it?”he retorts with a raised eyebrow, like he’s challenging me.
“That isn’t the point, you fucker. I could have hurt her. I could have seriously…” I break off when the very thought squeezesaround my chest. “She is human and delicate. We are the only men she’s been with. What’s more, before a few days ago, she was a virgin, which means she’s probably still tender from that. Last night—”
“I do not need you to lecture me on how to treat my woman.”
“She is not your woman,” I snap before I can stop myself.
All humor vanishes and the mirror across his face ripples like a rock dropping into a still lake. The ringlets spiral out in loops that extend the length. A second later, the asshole is stepping free straight into my bathroom.
“If it were not for her, human, you would already cease to exist, so do not speak to me like I would ever allow you or anyone to harm her.”
I ignore the flare of possessive jealousy that flares through my chest. A sudden urge to prove that Lenora didn’t need him. That I can just as easily solve her problems.
