“Answer me out loud!” I barked.
“Yes, General.”
“Any daemon who disobeys this order will get twenty lashes. If he manages to succeed in rutting her against her will, I will relieve him of his cock. Understood?”
Talus grew pale and swallowed hard. “Yes, sir.”
“You can share this with the others. Wait. Never mind. I will come out to the barracks at dinner and tell them myself.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You’re dismissed.”
Talus didn’t say anything else, just darted out the door of my office.
My molars ground together as I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to storm out of my office and break his neck.
I had no idea how long I sat at my desk, gripping the edge, before the red haze faded from my vision. Satisfied I wouldn’t destroy anyone I came upon, I stood and walked out of my study.
I’d left Leda in my chambers well over an hour ago. By now, she should be done bathing and eating. I only hoped she hadn’t done something stupid like sneak out of the window. I couldn’t protect her if she left the estate.
I shook my head as I walked up the stairs. No, she wouldn’t have left. She might be defiant and frightened, but she was too smart for that. She understood that she was protected as my guest. If she were caught out in the open, she would be considered another runaway slave, and there was no telling where she would end up.
I paused at the door to my room and listened for any movement inside. As a daemon, my senses were better than a human’s. I could hear the soft, steady sound of her breathing and that was it.
Moving slowly, I opened the door, careful not to make a sound. When I stepped inside, I saw that she was wrapped in the blanket from the end of my bed and curled up on the sofa in front of my fireplace. Her delicate, pale features were peaceful as she slept, but I could see the faint bruises on her jaw and throat from where someone, probably an imp, had grabbed her. There were also dark circles beneath her eyes, giving her a fragile appearance.
Without the force of her personality bearing down on me through her gaze, she seemed so… breakable. As though she needed protection.
Again, the once-silent instincts within me stirred. The primal voices that urged me to hunt, claim, possess. To defend her with my life.
Mate.
I shook off the whispers inside me. I did not want a mate. Females made everything far more complicated. And a human female wouldn’t understand the courting rituals of a daemon. Or the instinct to stalk and run down our mate like predator and prey. Even if she allowed me to hunt her, she would never yield as a daemon female would. She would never reach that moment of absolute trust when the female bared her throat to her mate, not in submission, but in acceptance of his claim.
Leda could not be my mate. Even if I wished for her to, which I didn’t, not really, she would never agree.
I would keep my distance and protect her until I replenished my coffers enough to pay a witch to send her home.
That was all I could do.
Still moving silently, I backed out of the room and closed the door behind me. I would go downstairs and tell Masu that the human and I would dine in my chambers tonight. Then, I would go out to the barracks and make sure my men knew exactly what would befall them if they laid a single claw on the human female.
I might not be able to claim her, but I would kill any male who tried to touch her. Even if she invited it.
Chapter
Five
Leda
My search of Bokkan’s bathroom finally turned up a widetooth comb. I winced when it caught in a snarled tangle near the crown of my head. If I hadn’t fallen asleep on his sofa with damp hair, it wouldn't be such a knotted mess.
I bit back the curse on the tip of my tongue. I hadn’t meant to fall asleep. Especially with his bedchamber door unlocked. But the stress of the day had taken its toll, and I hadn’t been able to keep my eyes open once I sat down.
I grimaced as my stomach growled. If the daemon didn’t return to his room soon, I would have to venture out by myself in search of food. Masu had given me a great deal of food earlier, but I’d eaten it all before my nap, hungrier than I’d realized.
When I finished combing my hair, I replaced the comb and found a bowl containing strands of leather like the ones I’d seen in Bokkan’s hair. Assuming that’s what they were for, I braided my thick, wavy hair and tied it off.
