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The demon didn’t move, but something in the room shifted, as if the very air tightened around me. His glowing, molten gaze was still locked on mine. Unreadable. Unwavering.

“No.”

My breath hitched at that singular word growled from his grotesque mouth. “W-What do you mean, no?”

He rose to his full, terrifying height, his clawed fingers flexing as if he were trying to rein in something dark and dangerous, his posture impossibly still. “I won’t let you go. You belong to me, little one.”

A chill spread through me, even as fire licked across my skin. My hands curled into fists, my nails pressing into my palms. I shook my head. “I don’t belong to anyone.”

Ifelthis amusement, as if my words were something to laugh at. A non-threat.

“You misunderstand,” he murmured, bending in a single, fluid motion to put his eyes directly in line with my own. It stilled the blood in my veins. “When I say you belong to me, I mean that—until I’m dead and rotting. My kind,” he snarled as he straightened, “we have mates. That one creature born to be ours and ours alone. And you are mine.”

His words sent a shock through me, but underneath that surprise was a thrill of confusion and… pleasure. Because the way he said those preposterous things—they were spoken with sure confidence, such certainty, that it was hard not to believe him.

“Mate? What does that even mean?” I knew, though, and understood what that one word meant.

His hulking frame loomed over me as he took a step closer. His presence was like a heavy weight settling over me. Not uncomfortable and almost soothing. Because as I stared at this creature—this monster conjured up from the very pits of hell—all I felt was his need to keep me close.To keep me safe.

“And now that you have come to me… now that I've found my mate,” he continued, his voice a dark and distorted caress all over my body that made chills race up my spine, “I won’t let you go, little female.”

I gasped and took a step back, my heart hammering, my pulse roaring in my ears. “Geraldine,” I whispered, my name spilling from my parted lips. “Stop calling me mate and female. My name is Geraldine.” I tipped my chin up, feeling defiance rise within me. “And you don’t get to just decide on what happens with my life.”

I turned so suddenly that my head swam. I had no idea where I was going, but I didn’t get far, because his hand shot out, claws grazing my wrist, firm but not painful. The heat from his touchsent a shockwave through me, and I looked over my shoulder to stare up into his skull-like face.

“I can. And I have, Geraldine.”

My breath stuttered at the way he said my name. It was almost sensual, possessive in tone.

I yanked my arm away, or tried to, but he spun me around, so we were face-to-face.

“You don’t own me,” I insisted.

He exhaled slowly, as if reining in his patience once more. “It doesn't matter. You are mine all the same.”

I shook my head, trying to ignore the pull and strange warmth that curled in my chest and speared down to settle right between my legs. This was crazy. I clenched my thighs together, because the longer I looked at him, the wetter I became.

A deep, rumbling sound left his chest, and he inhaled deeply. I bit the inside of my cheek, because I knew he could smell the effect he had on me.

“Soon enough, I’ll haveallof you.” He stepped closer, forcing me to tilt my head up to hold his gaze, refusing to let my wrist go. I was pulled up tight against the beast’s towering body, so much bigger than me that my chest aligned with his two, gigantic cocks, which were now nestled between my breasts. I felt a slight dampness start to soak through my shift, but I didn’t dwell on that too long. I was too frightened and aware that this creature could break me in half with little effort.

“Where am I?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. I knew, logically, that I was in a cave. I wanted to knowwhere.

He didn’t have an expression or the ability to show emotion on his face, but for some strange reason, I felt like if he did, his gaze would have softened just slightly. But his hold on me didn’t waver. “Beneath the earth. Far away from the world you once knew.”

With that, the world crashed down all around me.

“Please,” I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut. “I was running from being a prisoner. I won’t be another one. I’d rather die.”

The feeling of his claw gently placed under my chin had me opening my eyes until I was looking into his glowing ones. “You aren’t my prisoner. You’re my mate. You’re mine to protect, cherish, and pleasure.”

My heart raced even faster, hearing that last part.

He watched me with something dark and possessive brewing behind those glowing orbs. “You belong to me, Geraldine. But I belong to you as well. My kind rarely find their mate. They are rare, but they are absolute when fate gives her to us. And now that you are here, I will never let you go. I can’t, for that would be akin to ripping out my organs and feeding them to the next beast.”

His words should have filled me with terror. Yet, beneath the fear, something else stirred. A dangerous, forbidden curiosity.

Because no matter how much I hated this, hated the permanence of the things he declared to me, being here with this demon also felt so… right.