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“I fed off you,” he groaned, eyes darting away. “You were being tortured, and I was feeding off you. I don’t deserve you after doing that.”

Dove’s eyes welled up with tears. Shit. He’d been doing so well not thinking about that specific thing. All the while, his demon had been torturing himself with it.

Who knew Melchom could be so sweet?

“My understanding was that you didn’t have a choice.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“No, it does.” Dove gulped. “Because… because you still put a stop to it, right? Well, I suppose I did, but you wanted it to stop, right? I… I know you wanted to get him out of there, and that… that matters.”

Melchom had been shaking with fury, with rage. There were so many things about that evening that were hazy, but Dove remembered that. It couldn’t have been his mind playing tricks. That wasn’t how it worked.

“But I… It still felt good.”

“Why, yes, I’m delicious.”

Melchom shook his head, smiled wryly. “I told you not to joke.”

“Stop being stupid, then.” Dove let out a shaky breath, curling his hand around the demon’s wrist. “I’ll just find a way to force feed you if you don’t start scaring me right about now.”

The demon snorted. Dove didn’t think it was funny. He’d figure it out. Being scared of his own shadow wasn’t precisely hard or something he wasn’t extremely familiar with.

“But you’re my responsibility and I failed you. I need consequences for failing.”

Dove tilted his head to the side. He seemed stuck on that. Dove was going to assume it was a Hell thing.

“You need consequences?” Dove shifted his face slightly so he could place a kiss on the demon’s hand—just because. “Fine. Mark me all over then. Like you did.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You say I’m yours, so mark your territory. Reclaim me.” Dove held off a groan.

It wasn’t fair that his head decided to bombard him with all kinds of images when he was trying to make a point.

The way Melchom’s eyes widened, he saw all the images, all the fantasies where every orifice and inch of skin got drowned in Melchom.

“You really want that.”

It wasn’t a question, so Dove didn’t answer it or treat it as one. Instead he lifted his arms so Melchom could lift him up. It was just weirdly comforting when he was picked up. Maybe because Melchom’s strength was something solid to hold on to.

And seeing all those big muscles in action was hot as fuck.

“My feisty little Dove,” Melchom sounded surprised, and… adoring, which was strange, but touching, too.

It made him feel all warm while Melchom took him to the bathroom. The jacuzzi was a very nice improvement, Dove had to say. It didn’t matter if it made him vain. Dove had always dreamed of having a jacuzzi, or booking a hotel with one, but he’d never gotten to do either.

“I’m innocent.”

“You mean the only human being who’d beg a demon to make him fear for his life.”

When he put it like that…

Dove wrinkled his nose. “It’s not all selfless, you know.”

“I know.”

Because Melchom could read into his every thought. Dove didn’t have to explain that fear made him feel alive, reassured him that he was here and that Melchom was not leaving.