Two punctures, like he was some vampire or something. His bite had shot a fresh jolt of pleasure through me until all I could do was come apart in his hands, and I had come apart,multipletimes. Still, I couldn’t stop the crushing sense of being trapped those marks brought to me, and being trapped equaleddeath.
“I did.” His voice remained casual, but the muscles in his chest became rigid againstmyback.
“You said…” I swallowed to get some saliva into my parched throat. “You said demons only ever bite theirChosen.”
“Wren—”
“You said demons only produce sperm with theirChosen.”
“Yes, I said thosethings.”
“Weretheylies?”
“No. Do you want them to be?” He didn’t breathe as he waited for myanswer.
“I don’t want to be the Chosen of ademon.”
I felt a slight recoil within him though hedidn’tmove.
“Notademon,myChosen,” he said in a tone that reminded me of a predator waiting topounce.
“I’m not… I won’t beanyone’s!” I cried, and my heart twisted at the possibility ofhurtinghim.
Maybe I more than cared for Corson if I worried about hurting him, but I couldn’t give myself over to anything more thansexbetween us. Immortal or not, he could die, and I’d lost far too many in my life to endure the loss ofanother.
I loved my friends and Randy. I would grieve their passing if it came in my lifetime, but I had a feeling Corson’s death could tear my heart out and leave me a broken mess afterward. I might not survive it if more developed between us and I lost him. My parent’s deaths almost destroyed me, and I’d vowed never to let something like that happen to meagain.
“I belong to myself and no one else,” Istated.
“You do belong to yourself.” He leaned forward to nuzzle my hair with his nose. Before I could stop myself, I melted against him. “But you arealsomine.”
“No!” I jerked away from him and leapt to my feet before my body betrayed meagain. “No!”
Storming around the back of the couch, I snatched up the clothes I’d placed there from where they’d fallen on the ground. I hugged them to my chest as I spun to face him. He remained sprawled on the couch, his long body taking up all of it. His posture was casual, but anger simmered in his eyes, and he didn’t bother to hide the erection sticking out from betweenhislegs.
My gaze went to the bead of liquid forming on the head of his cock. Shaking my head to clear it of my impulse to jump him, I started to dress. They would be a small obstacle for him, especially since I no longer had underwear or a bra, but clothes were still a barrierbetweenus.
“Did you suspect?” I demanded as I yanked my pants up one leg. “You said sometimes demons know or at least suspect another is their Chosen before sex,didyou?”
He hesitated long enough that I knew his answer before he spokeit. “Yes.”
I froze with my foot halfway through my other pants leg. The awkward stop threw me off balance, and I almost toppled over. I caught myself before I hit the ground. I scowled at him as if my clumsiness had been his fault, but awkwardness was another thing I’d never experienced until he enteredmylife.
Regaining control of myself, I jammed my foot the rest of the way into my pants and pulled them up to button them. They were too big for me, and I had to roll the waistband over twice to get them tostayup.
“I started to suspect earlier tonight, but when I look back, I realize I should have guessed it sooner. You’ve been in my head for a while. There isn’t anything I won’t do to protect you. When the ouro and macharah touched you, all I could think about was destroying them. I haven’t been with another woman since I firstmetyou—”
“Liar,” I said as I tugged thesweateron.
One second he was lying on the couch, the next he stood before me. Gasping, I stumbled back before I could stop myself. I’d never seenanythingmove with that kind of speed. I hadn’t known it waspossible.
“I amnotlying.” He advanced on me as he spoke, and I edged further away. “If I were going to lie to you, I would have denied that I suspected you were my Chosen before I claimed you, but I didn’tdenyit.”
Refusing to yield any more to him, I stopped backing away and lifted my chin as I stood my ground against him. His orange eyes darkened to a near red hue as he stared at me, his body looming over me and his chest brushing against mine. I had no idea why I didn’t fear him, considering what I’d seen him do to that macharah, and he appeared more pissed off now, but I had no worries he would put his hands on me inanger.
“I will take many things from you, Wren, but I will not take being called a liar. I willneverlie to you. I never have, and I’m not going to start now. The only woman who has entered my mind since meeting youisyou. And you’ve been on my mind every night as I’ve jerked off to imaginings of you. I’m not a human who can’t get laid; I’m a demon who can go to any tree nymph or most any other female demon at any time to get off. My hand isnotsomething I use. But use it I have, too many times in the past couple ofmonths.
“I should have known what you are to me sooner; I didn’t. But I cannot change what happened between us, and despite the fact you drive me insane, I wouldn’t change having you as my Chosen. I warned you earlier that I might not let you go. I gave you the chance to tell me no. Youdidn’t.”
