My weapon of choice was a sharp poker from the guest room fireplace. The first hiding spot that came to mind was to slip under the bed, hidden by the fabric trim.
Crashing, thumping, and rummaging could be heard nearby. That clicking sound erupted sporadically.
It was all starting to make sense. There was some odd comfort in knowing that my methods were not faulty. I just had not considered that he was inhuman, which I would have called myself hysterical for considering even if I did suspect it.
Species developed mutations often, though I would have never expected so many in one organism, a person least of all. His heavy boots moved slowly into the room, stepping from heel to toe.
Calmly, he approached the curtains, shoving them aside as if he expected to find something besides newly disturbed dust. The closet doors were flung open next, and a long pausefollowed as he stared inside, seemingly distracted by my clothing.
“Your scent is infatuating,” he said aloud. “I suspect you’ll taste like the equivalent of honeysuckle and cayenne when I bite past your cold composure.” He practically moaned, strutting out of view.
I lost sight of the movement, and I could no longer hear him. With what I knew at this point, I wondered if his threats of eating me were to be taken literally.
Hands wrapped around my ankles and swiftly yanked me out into the open.
A scream of pain ripped from my throat before I whipped around, landing a hard blow across his head with the cast-iron poker. The strike was so blunt that his head snapped to the side, giving me a moment of recovery.
As I scrambled to my feet, a sharp crack came from my ankle, rolling it unpleasantly.
I let out another yelp as I was forced back to the ground.
His fingers dug into my leg, flipping me over onto my back as he dragged me across the wooden floor. The wood grated against my skin despite the silk robe.
“That was really good! I amsoproud of you for taking the hit at least,” he mocked, placing a boot on my chest to keep me down. The poker was ripped from my hands and tossed across the room.
My heart sank as it clamored against the floor, far away from my grasp.
As if my heart had not already labored from running, it was pounding under him now.
His black eyes watched me, burning into my own as my nails dug into his leg.
“I am going tokillyou,” I breathed, hitting his leg. My chestheaved up and down as best it could, fighting to keep that steady rise and fall as I struggled underneath the weight of him.
“Are you done?”
“You can’t eat me. People will notice I’m gone and look for me,” I said breathlessly. “I won’t taste good. I’ve had long-term exposure to too many toxins. Look!” I pleaded, extending a hand with my fingers splayed to show the red skin from too many curious touches.
“Oh.” A smug grin crept onto his face. “Did you think I meant that literally? I guess in some sense it will be, but not the way you think.” He shook his head. “Human meat is too stringy. It gets stuck in my teeth,” he said plainly, opening his mouth to point at two sets of long, thin canines on his upper jaw.
I blinked in confusion, attempting to rationalize the image I was seeing. I tried to lean up to get a closer look, but his boot still held me in place.
“Oh? Is that enough to convince the skeptic?” He laughed. His fangs were suddenly gone. He stepped back and picked me up.
“Wait—”
He ignored my plea as he sat on the chair in the corner, pulling me on top of him. His legs spread wide, forcing my own to open wider as I straddled his hips.
“I won fair and square.” He gave me a cocky look.
“How on earth could that havepossiblybeen fair?” I snapped, but I had trouble keeping eye contact in my panicked state.
My mind was still flashing images of the fangs, the tongue, the eyes. Just as I thought I understood things, the less sense it actually made, at least not when I tried to map out the levels of classification for what possible species he could have branched off from.
“Don’t worry. As a reward for a trulyvalianteffort, I’ll makesure you enjoy it,” he purred in my ear. His hands slid up my hips and circled around my waist. His muscular stature made my body feel delicate in his grasp. One squeeze and my spine would snap.
A warm, wet heat trailed across my neck. His split tongue slid over my skin and tickled my earlobe. That all too familiar vocalization of clicks rang in my ear, though I didn’t know if that was a good or bad sign. The noise was so complex when it was directly next to my ear, like two pitches harmonized together.
I shied away from his touches, dizzy from the adrenaline high wearing off.
