I smiled when I set the broom back in the closet, closing the door seconds later. “Let’s see… dishes are done, food is stored in the fridge. Fridge is alphabetized and wiped clean. The dining room and living room are spotless… and so are the halls.”
I sighed and gazed up. “And it’s only been three minutes.”
I glanced back over down the hall, finding the light under Suki’s door still off.
My smile curled further.
I just turned and made my way back to my bedroom, kicking off my shoes as soon as I entered.
After getting to my closet and setting my shoes on the rack, I slipped off my vest and tie, lightly brushing them off before hanging them in my closet, following with unbuttoning the top half of my shirt and taking the belt off my pants.
I pulled on a pair of shorts and sighed, closing the closet door.
I adjusted the cufflinks of my shirt and then glanced back at the bedroom door.
My smile softened. “Still sound asleep.”
I then padded over to the hall, making my way down it before I met Suki’s bedroom.
I just opened her door, glancing over at the bed.
She was still asleep, curled up in a ball as she breathed softly, the covers drifting up and down gently with her breaths.
My lashes lowered, and I glanced down at my watch. “I guess I have a few minutes.”
I then closed the door behind me and stepped over to the bed, lightly pulling back the covers as she remained asleep.
I got in beside her, setting my cheek on the pillow as I pulled the sheets up to her shoulders.
She was still asleep, breathing softly as her lashes brushed her cheeks.
But I noticed her hair draped over her face, slightly covering her expression.
I just smiled and pulled her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear.
Her face etched in annoyance, and then her lashes parted.
I just watched as her eyes remained droopy and glossy, and she blinked lazily.
“Awh,” I said then, chuckling softly, “you look so tired.” I lightly ran my finger along the bridge of her nose. “Go back to sleep. I’m sorry I woke you.”
She just inhaled a little and stretched her legs out, squeezing her eyes shut as she groaned, and then she dropped her arms, staring back at me.
Her relaxed expression made something inside me warm. “You’re so adorable when your guard is down,” I said then, smirking.
She just opened her mouth, exhaling a yawn as she squeezed her eyes shut.
When she relaxed into the bed, I just scooched forward. “Come here.”
She let out soft breaths when I pulled her against me, and she remained limp as she relaxed into my chest, breathing softly.
“Go back to sleep,” I whispered.
“Kay…” she said then, voice quiet.
When I heard her thoughts silence, I just parted my lashes, smiling gently. “Mine…” I said then, snuggling my face in her hair. “All mine.”
Her breaths were soft in my ear, and I just parted my lashes, feeling my eyes glow a bright red when I gazed down at her.
I just slipped my hand slightly under her shirt and ran my thumb along the scar on her side.
She shifted into me, but I just smiled.
“Rub my back…” she said then.
I gazed down at her in amusement. “Your back?”
She nodded.
I just pushed her face into my neck and lightly ran my fingers up and down her spine.
She just relaxed further.
“Are you giving into me?” I whispered then.
“If you gloat, I’m kicking you out,” she muttered.
I just chuckled, running my fingers through her scalp. “Angel, you still have the ribbon in your hair.”
“I like it,” she said then.
I gazed down at her. “You like it?”
She nodded. “I like tying it into a bow.”
Yes… such a child.
“Mister Rabbit is lonely,” I teased then.
She gazed up curiously.
I just lightly caught the stuffed rabbit I got her and tipped it to the side. “He says ‘why you abandon me?’”
She just snatched the rabbit and hugged it. “His name is Peter.”
I snorted. “You named him Peter?”
“Yes, Peter the rabbit.”
I chuckled then and gazed down at her. “You’re so adorable.”
Her cheeks burned a bright red. “Don’t say that.”
“Why? Are you in denial?” I said then.
She just lowered her lashes and held onto the stuffie tightly. “No.”
“You’re in denial, Sweetheart,” I said then, smirking as she shot me a look. “What I don’t understand,” I said then, “is why you showed your childish giddy side to me when you were playing me, and now you’re so resistant.”
She looked down at my chest. “I don’t have to tell you anything.”
“Indeed,” I said then, pushing more of her hair behind her ear, “you do not.”
She gazed up at me then, lips parting when she stared into my eyes.
I tucked more of her hair behind her ear, and she just blinked.
“How are you feeling?” I whispered then.
“Huh…?” she said as if she was in a daze.
“Did I scare you at all today?” I said then, smiling when I found her watching me curiously. “With the man who came to the door?”
“No,” she said then.
“Ah, I see.” I ran my finger along her nose. “You’ve been staring at me for a minute now. Please, blink, you’re starting to concern me.”
She just stared down at my chest, heat flooding her cheeks.
I chuckled, still watching her.
She continued eyeing my shirt.
“You must’ve loved your sister very much…” I whispered then, “to endure all this for so long.”
Her lips thinned then, and she bowed her head when a sudden pain washed over her expression.
“You must’ve loved her very much,” I continued, “to allow yourself to die after finding her killer.”
Suki then pushed my arm away and sat up, getting off the bed.
I pushed myself up, as well, lashes lowering when she stood awkwardly in the middle of the room with her back to me. “Did I touch a nerve?”
She was silent.
My lashes lowered when I saw her shaking slightly. “Angel, what’s wrong?”
“How can you do this to me?” she said then, voice quiet. “And plan to hurt me?”
My lips thinned.
“I signed with you because I thought you were going to help me investigate…” she whispered, “but… but I didn’t want this. I don’t like this.”
I slipped my legs off the bed. “Don’t like what?”
“Tell me the truth,” she snapped then, “and I’m being serious. I mean it. Tell me the truth. Are you playing with me?”
“I must ask politely,” I said then, watching her, “for you to elaborate.”
Her breath shook. “The snuggling… the caring… the servant-like behavior. You could’ve stayed at home and come to my aid when I needed you. You could’ve worked at work and then when I was being attacked, you could come and save me. I know very well that you could be hundreds of miles away and then magically appear when I’m in danger. But… but you make me food, you clean my messes, you stand up for me when I’m being antagonized at work… you call me endearing words.”
She paused. “Are you playing with me?” she demanded. “Are you toying with my emotions? Does it make your meal tastier? And I mean it, you must tell me the truth without loopholes.”
I just watched her. “No.”
She stiffened slightly, as if she didn’t expect the answer. “Are you being honest?”
“Yes,” I said then.
And I was. I was being very honest.
Her breath shook with an exhalation, but the shaking didn’t subside. “Why are you doing all these things…?”
I just lowered my lashes. “I… I don’t know, my lady.”
“Bullshit,” she snapped.
“I’m not lying,” I said honestly, “I do not know.”
She just held herself tightly, body rattling with tremors.
“You’re afraid,” I said then, lashes lowering, “of me.”
She just let out a shaky breath. “What are you doing to me…?”
I gazed up then, blinking. “Angel?”
She spun around then, and my eyes widened when I saw tears in her eyes.
She’s pissed…
She just caught a pillow and hurled it at me, making me block my face when she wacked me with it.
“You’re a monster!” she screamed, hurling the pillow at me again, and again, and again. “How can you do this to me?! How can you play me like this?!”
“Angel, stop,” I said then, but she continued hitting me.
“You don’t care about me!” she cried then. “How could you?! How could you make me feel these things! You’re a monster! A MONSTER!”
I just shoved the pillow back, eyes glowing a bright red.
She just fell back, clashing with the ground.
I stood then, lashes lowering when I felt my eyes glow a bright red in the darkness of the room.
She gazed up at me from the floor, eyes rounding in horror.
I stepped over to her, and she scrambled backward.
“No,” she said then, continuing back as tears slipped from her eyes, “no, don’t! DON’T!”
My lashes lowered at her sudden fear of me, but I continued forward.
She pressed her back to the door, eyes wide as her entire face grew pale.
I finally stepped to her and just knelt down, making her shrink back against the door.
“Angel…” I whispered, “I’m not going to hurt you. You don’t have to be afraid.”
Her breath shuttered, and I watched her eyes glisten with tears as her whole body shook like a live wire.
“I hurt anyone but you,” I promised her, making tears slip from her eyes. “I hurt those who hurt you. I threaten those who are cruel to you. But I never touch you, don’t you see that?”
She stared into my eyes for a moment as the words sunk in, and she just eased a little, but was still tense.
“You don’t need to be afraid of me,” I whispered then. “I’m your protector.”
“But…” she stuttered, “but don’t you just want food?”
I just thinned my lips. “I don’t know what I want anymore.”
Her brows drew together, and she breathed uneasily. “What…?”
I just gazed up, the smile completely gone. “All these things I do because I want to,” I told her. “I’m not playing with you, alright? I genuinely want to take care of you. And… I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been a demon for so long and so bored, but… I need a role in my life. I enjoy making your meals, helping you dress, taking you to work… I enjoy protecting you. I enjoy it.”
“You don’t… you don’t think I’m a nuisance?” she said then.
I smiled. “No.”
“But I’ve been trying to annoy you,” she said then, making my amusement peek back up, “I’ve been ordering you around to clean messes in a second. I’ve been stomping dirt around so you can clean it up. I’ve been acting like a spoiled child, so you’ll hate me… it isn’t working?”
“You’re very bad at making me hate you,” I stated then, smirking. “Because I can never hate you in the first place.”
She blinked, seeming genuinely confused.
“You’re so interesting,” I said then, tipping my head to the side, “you act all spoiled, but you work so hard, I can see your past haunting you and you ignore it, not only that, but… you have this soft side that likes sweets and stuffies and bows.” I lightly poked her nose. “I like that about you.”
She then stared down at my chest, processing my words.
I just tipped her chin back up, making her look at me.
“I won’t hurt you,” I said again, lashes lowering. “You can toss me in a garbage pit, throw me to the wolves, destroy everything I have and own, and I will not lay a single finger on your head.” I then let go. “And when the time comes… I will make it painless, I promise. I will help you go to sleep first. You will be sleeping peacefully when it happens.”
She just stared down at my chest again, clearly avoiding eye contact. “I don’t understand you.”
I just smiled. “I guess I should put it in simpler terms, huh?” I gazed down at her. “I like you. I care about you.”
She gazed up then, brows drawing together. “You do?”
I nodded. “I do.”
“But in the end…” she said then, gazing over at the bed, “you are daem… so you have to… do it, anyway.”
My eyes softened.
She just sighed and set her head against the wall, closing her eyes.
I could tell by her rushing thoughts that she was conflicted.
“Can you love…?” she said then, voice dark. “Or is this an obsession? A temporary thing? You’re daem… can you love?”
I just smiled, eyes glowing a dark red when I tipped her chin up.
Her gaze snapped to mine.
But I just lowered my lips to hers.
She immediately gave in as if all instincts drowned away into the ocean over her mind, and she leaned closer.
I caught her bottom lip with my teeth, letting it drag out, and I did the same with the top.
She moaned a little, clutching onto my shirt.
I closed my eyes, pulling a little on her lip and lightly suckling it, as well.
As the moment heated further, I twined my fingers through her hair and pulled her against me, devouring her mouth and savoring her strawberry ChapStick.
Oh, so sweet… oh, so tasty.
After a moment, I pulled back, parting our lips and gazing down at her.
Her lashes were lowered, breaths hot as they dusted my cheeks.
“After that,” I said then, smirking when she continued panting, “what do you think?”
She just gazed up at me, and I could hear her thoughts:
I could feel him.
He gave into me.
I could feel his need… he wasn’t hesitating.
If he was playing me… it wouldn’t have felt that way.
I just hovered my face over hers, and she tipped her chin up, staring into my eyes as her lashes remained lowered.
“Are you afraid now?” I whispered, smile sharpening as my eyes glowed in the darkness.
“No,” she whispered, remaining in the same position.
“What are you afraid of?” I said then.
“I—I don’t know.”
“You have nothing to fear,” I whispered then. “I will be with you forever… until the end. You will be mine, my Angel. I will protect you until the end. And…” I said then, smile sharpening, “if you so desire, I will serve you until the end, as well.”
Her lips curled a little. “You do make good waffles, and you clean everything so nicely.”
“I must do as you say,” I responded then, running my fingers through her scalp, “it is your choice of what I should do. I will do it. And I don’t care… I need something to pass the time. And if that means doing your laundry, then so be it.”
She just gazed up at me, staring into my eyes. “Does that mean you are mine, too?”
“If you so wish, then I am.”
She just stared at me, and she closed her eyes.
Her head fell back, and her stance immediately faltered.
I raised my arms when she collapsed onto my chest, body limp like a rag doll.
I just smiled. “As she passes out onto me.”
She breathed softly, sound asleep.
“As I suspected,” I said then, gazing down at her, “you were tired. All that arguing and smacking me armed with a pillow must’ve been draining.”
She just remained asleep.
“To bed we go,” I said then, scooping her up.
Her head dangled off my arm, but I just carried her over until I set her onto the mattress.
After pulling the covers over her, I lightly ran my finger along her nose again in attempt to assure her that I hadn’t left, and I got in the bed beside her, setting my cheek on the pillow as I watched her remain asleep.
“Remember this,” I whispered to her, lightly stroking her hair away from her face, “if you are ever afraid, just call my name.” I smiled. “I will be there to save you from whatever you face. I will protect you; I swore that oath to you, Suki Quinn.” My eyes glowed a soft red. “I promise… I will save you.
“I Will.”
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