“Are you a demon?” I asked him.
“Yes,” he said after a few beats. This was the first moment I was acknowledging he wasn’t just in my head. I wondered if he thought it would change things. But then again, Dark Haven had already changed me, and us, in the process. “Why? You’ve never asked me before.” He sounded almost panicked. I’d never seen Monty anything less than calm and collected even if he was furious.
“Why are you banned from Vane’s office?” I demanded. “I need to know why you didn’t save me if you care.”
“If?” he seethed. “Don’t fucking talk down to me, Harlow. I care more than I ever should.”
“Yet...” I trailed off, letting the silence hang between us. It was full of every unsaid accusation I had. I’d gone through a lot of fucking shit in my life, and he’d only been present for half of it, even if I called.
“My obligations are none of your concern, little human. Again, I ask. Did he touch you?”
“No, I told you. And what does it fucking matter if he did, Monty?!” I screamed back. “You pop in and out on me, including when I was fucking Drake, and now you demand I tell you things while giving me half-assed answers? You don’t own me, Monty.” At the mention of Drake, he froze; clearly, I’d struck a nerve.
His laughter was cruel and grating, creeping down my spine like ice. I backed away from him, swallowing my fear as he stalked forward until I was pinned between him and the bed.
“Youaremine,” he corrected me. “I own every inch of you, Harlow, do not forget that.”
“Fuck you,” I said, my voice trembling.
“Who did you call for when you were scared?” he demanded. We both knew I couldn’t lie my way through this one, it had been him. Always him.
But he was preying on these poor people. Or at least others of his kind were. Would he truly be any different?
The image of that terrified woman still haunted me. She meant nothing to the demon that taunted her.
Did I mean anything to my own personal demon? Was I stupid for how much I cared about him? Even now I was hating myself for possibly hurting him by fucking Drake.
“Stop doubting me, Harlow. I never said I was good for you, or that I could be with you every moment you demand me to be,” he gritted out. “I’m not a fucking guardian angel and even they are less reliable than us demons, we just won’t lie to you about it.”
“I’m not yours, Monty,” I said again, but weaker this time. I was his and we both knew it. He was my constant, my protector, even if not in the most wholesome ways. And he’s right, Monty was always honest, it was me who didn’t ask him the right questions.
Yet, he was a demon.
My heart pounded as he slid his hands up my arms. I couldn’t see his actual arms or legs thanks to the shadows and robes that he wore, but he felt solid.Real.And one touch from him had my body begging for more. Every nerve ending was on fire, my skin heating as lust surged within me.
“I knew you’d be intoxicating, little human, from the moment I decided you’d be mine this way.”
With a tremor in my voice, I asked, “Why haven’t you touched me like this before?” It was probably stupid to ask, and I was going to hurt my own feelings, but I needed to hear it.
“Because you weren’t ready to take me,” he said. “I couldn’t be your first. I’m not the take-care-of-you type, I’m the cause-pain-and-revel-in-it type. Can you handleme,Harlow? Because I want to take you as hard as I possibly can, make you feel like my cock is splitting you in half, and drink down your screams of agony. Then when you feel like you can’t take anymore, only then will I show you mercy.Ifyou’ve earned it.”
My jaw dropped at his crude words. Part of me was terrified, knowing he’d break me in ways I didn’t know I could be broken. But the other side of me, the dark and twisted side, needed to know what it felt like to be taken by him.
I wondered if I was possibly hurting my chances with Drake, Roman, or Hiro. But at the moment, I didn’t care.
“I can take it,” I lied through my teeth, desperately needing to know if I could, and damn the consequences. We’d find out if I could because I had a feeling there weren’t safe words with a demon.
Monty’s skull mask fell away, revealing his true face. Or rather, another face. I couldn’t really call it human, though, at least I could make out features like eyes, a sunken nose, and a wide mouth. His teeth were pointed and gleaming white, stretching across his pale-bluish gray face. It felt like his depthless black eyes were tearing into me, revealing everything I was to the demon who claimed to own me. Even though to most he’d be an abomination, to me he was Monty, and he was terrifying, yet sexy, and I wanted him more than I ever thought possible.
His robes fell away, revealing a muscular body. A tail swayed back and forth behind him, and his horns even seemed bigger, curling upward menacingly now that he stood before me in all his glory. His cock jutted out proudly, twice the size it was last time he taunted me. There was no way it would truly fit, not without literally tearing me apart. Somehow, I don’t think that would be an issue for my demon.
He held up a clawed finger, letting it glint in the soft lighting, before dragging it down my cheek, then my chest, marking a path down my entire body. The sting it caused hurt enough that I cried out as he scratched his way down to my pussy, cutting my clothes in half in the process. He tossed them away like mere rags, but I couldn’t utter a complaint. My words had escaped me. More and more I felt like a buffet for this creature, and I could only hope I’d have something left of myself when he was done.
I was shaking with need the more he studied me, touched me, and was almost to the point of begging for more.
Icy tendrils of shadows trailed over my exposed body. Each touch left a tingling behind. It was hard to focus on one at a time. A shadow teased around my nipple with ghostly cool brushes. Then another was moving lightly over my skin. A third was ghosting over my thighs, touching everywhere but where I needed. Goose bumps erupted before he gave no warning and slammed one of the tendrils into my core. I cried out, knees buckling and falling back on the bed. His cold laughter echoed in the small space as he loomed over me, fucking me with his shadows.
The feeling was almost indescribable. It felt like he was fucking me with ice, almost too cold to bear, but my body arched into each thrust, craving more of what he was willing to give. My fingers tightened in the sheet beside me, and I writhed under the attention.