Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

FERN

“Can I come in now?” Relic asked.

I chewed my lip. “You understand what just happened? You know I own you, and you have to do what I say?”

“I understand what just happened perfectly, Tinker Bell.”

Owning his soul obviously hadn’t stopped him from being a smart-ass.

I tugged at my sleeves, nerves running wild inside me.

You did it. He’s yours. Now, you need to lead. You need to take charge.

I motioned to the stairs. “Let’s go then.”

He stepped over the threshold, and I led him upstairs and into my apartment.

“You can sit down on the couch,” I said, trying to insert as much authority in my voice as I could.

He tilted his head back and scented the air. Then, his eyes darkened when he looked around the small living room and kitchen area, taking in everything before walking to the couch and sitting, doing as I’d said.

I rushed to the window, yanking the curtains closed. Then strode to the small island that separated the lounge from the kitchen, like that would protect me from Relic if this thing hadn’t worked.

“How are you feeling?”

He looked around the room again, this time blinking several times before he frowned. “What did you put in my drink, demon?”

My pulse fluttered wildly. “Nothing that’ll cause any permanent damage.” I straightened my spine. I was a deal maker, a soul collector, and I needed to act like one. “You can growl and yell all you’d like, but you belong to me now.”

His nostrils flared, and he released another of those growls with his next exhale. “That was a fucking devious move, even for you.”

“Make me a cup of tea,” I said, forcing myself to stare him in the eyes.

Yes, I needed to assert my authority—quickly. The sooner he came to terms with his new situation, the better.

He bared his teeth but stood and walked to the kitchen. He filled the kettle, turned it on, then opened cupboards until he found a cup and the tea.

“I take it with milk and sugar.”

His gaze sliced to me, and the muscle in his jaw jumped several times, but he made the tea. When he was done, he handed me my drink, then went back to the couch and sat. “I thought you wanted me here for protection. Not to fetch you fucking tea.”

“Put the tea away,” I said, fighting back the nerves zipping wildly through my belly, but I had to be sure I had control over this male.

He narrowed his eyes, but he stood, stalked back into the kitchen, put the tea back in the cupboard, then turned to me, brow raised.

“Move that pillow.” I pointed to the pink one on the end of the couch. “Put it on the chair.”

“Are you fucking serious?” he said, but he was already moving to do it because he had to, because I had control over him. I had all the control.

When he put the cushion in the chair and sat back on the couch, I walked around the island, my heart pounding, but I was feeling a little bolder now and sat across from him. Placing my cup on the small table beside me, I crossed my legs. “Take off my boots, hound.”

His eyes flashed, but he stood instantly, then dropped to his knees in front of me, taking my foot in his hand.

“You may not hurt me, not in any way.”

“Never had any plans to hurt you, Tinker Bell,” he said as he slid a hand over my ankle and up my calf.

His hand was huge, bigger than my foot. Then he gripped the zipper and slid it down slowly. The heat of his palm radiated through the leather, and I barely suppressed my shiver as he reached the bottom, slipped the boot off carefully, and placed it on the floor. He took the other foot, and as instructed, he dragged one of those big mitts up my leg again, slower this time, and I swore I felt a pull low in my belly when he tugged on the zipper. I actually held my breath as he slid it down slowly and eased it off.

“Anything else?” There was a whole lot more growl to his voice.

He was pissed off, but obviously under my control. Completely.

I was safe, and for the first time in a very long time, I allowed myself to relax, and as soon as I did, I realized how tired I was—no, how utterly exhausted I was.

It’d been a long time since I’d had a proper night’s sleep. I never felt completely safe, and on my worst nights, my memories turned into nightmares. But now, I had a hellhound protector, and no one could touch me.

I stood. “I’m going to bed, hound, and you’re going to protect me while I sleep, understand?”

He bared his teeth in a vicious smile. “As you wish.”

I went to my bedroom and quickly changed. I should have been nervous that he was there, crowding my place, but weirdly, I felt the complete opposite. I owned him; he was mine to command. When he’d said he never planned to harm me, for some reason, my gut had told me to believe him.

I wasn’t sure how this soul-owning, deal-making thing worked, but that feeling—the zaps and tingles—they were still there. This was obviously how it felt to make a deal—this buzz of euphoria, followed by a crash so hard that I could barely keep my eyes open.

After ordering a new phone, because this one was obviously compromised, and ignoring all the missed calls, I drowned my old one in a basin full of water. Try calling me on that, asshole.

The last thing I wanted to do was my bedtime routine, but I had no choice. I didn’t miss a step, even in a daze, then climbed onto my bed, crawled under the covers, and passed out.

* * *

Blinking groggily into the darkness, I reached for my phone to check the time, then remembered I’d destroyed it. Something caught my attention—

A pair of glowing golden eyes, watching me through the shadows.

My heart leaped into my throat. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Protecting you,” he said.

“I never said you could come in here—”

“Sleep, Tinker Bell. You’re safe now.”

My eyes were too heavy to hold open, and his voice, it slid over me, soft and rough, somehow soothing. I should tell him to leave, to get out, but I was too exhausted to say the words.

The next time I woke, I was hot. I kicked off the covers with a groan. It was still dark, and those glowing eyes were closer, right there beside me.

“It’s okay,” he said. “Go back to sleep.”

That low rumble in the dark, it was a soft blanket wrapping around me. How could a voice make you warm? How could that rough-as-gravel voice be comforting? But it was, and unbelievably, I drifted back to sleep.

Yawning, I stretched, and my hand hit hot, bare skin. My eyes flew open, and I shot up, spinning around. Relic was sitting on my bed—no shirt, boots off, pillows propped behind him, leaning against the headboard. He was reading one of my romance books.

“Why are you in my bed, Relic?” I tried to sound confident and in charge, but my voice came out all jittery and breathless.

He turned the page. “You kept tossing the covers off, and I got sick of getting up and down all night to put them back over you, so I sat here to make it easier. Then, when the sun came up, I thought I’d kill time with a little light reading, but I gotta say, Tinker Bell, this shit is hot as fuck. I’m only a quarter of the way in, but it’s good stuff. This male—he knows what he’s doing.” His gaze slid to me. “His female danced with his enemy, so he carried her out of the club, spanked her ass, then finger-banged her.” He looked back at the book. “Respect.”

I snatched it out of his hands. “Put that down and get the hell out of my bed.”

He grinned. “Not in it, babe, on it, and thanks to me, you slept like the dead. Seemed like you needed it.”

I hadn’t slept that deeply in five years. Still, I shoved his shoulder. “Get out of my bed.” The sight of that wide, muscled, tattooed chest was making me feel … funny. “Make me a cup of coffee,” I snapped, desperate to get him out of my room.

“No, I won’t be doing that. I did that shit last night because I could see you were freaking out over what you’d done, but I’m here to protect you, not clean your toilet and do the dishes.”

“We have a deal.” Unease filled me. “You agreed to protect and obey.”

He shook his head. “No, you swindled me out of my soul, and in exchange, you demanded I protect you. That means if someone scares you, I will fuck them up. If you need me to reassure you, soothe you, I’m your hound. When it comes to anything to do with your safety and well-being, I don’t need to be told what to do; I’ll already be doing it. Anything else? You need to say please, like everybody else.”

“No, that’s not what the deal was. I said—”

“You said—and I quote—‘In exchange for your protection, I will allow you to remain by my side.’ You said nothing about obey.”

“Yes, I did.”

He grinned. “That was before. You skipped that bit during the actual ritual.”

Did I? Oh, fuck, I did.

“I still own your soul. You have to do what I say,” I said desperately.

“How many souls do you own, Tink?”

My face heated. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“For future reference, you need to spell that shit out during the ritual; otherwise, you end up with an extremely protective hound on your hands who does whatever the fuck he wants.”

He grabbed my wrist when I tried to scramble out of bed, stopping me. I gasped in a panicked breath, trying to jerk out of his hold, and he quickly released me.

A deep frown rearranged his features. “I have sworn to protect you, Fern, from everything, even from me. Not that I would ever hurt you.”

“Right,” I said.

“Take a breath.” He picked the book back up, but the muscle pulsing in his jaw gave away his unhappiness. “Didn’t hurt you last night, did I? And like I already told you, hounds don’t harm females in any way.” He flicked back to the page he’d been on, and then he glanced over at me. “Go get ready. It’s almost time to open your store.”

He was fucking with me. Pretending he was cool with me swindling him out of his soul when he was actually furious.

“Whatever you have planned, you might as well forget it. You said yourself, you have to protect me, even against you.”

He looked up from the book again. “I know what I said, and I’ve got nothing planned, Tink. I’m yours. Whatever you need, whatever will help you sleep at night, just ask, babe. I got you.”

He sounded so sincere. How did he do that? He had to be a freaking psychopath. He didn’t have me. He was trying to lull me into a false sense of security, and then he’d make his move.

“I think I want you to leave.”

“Can’t do it. I’ve sworn to protect you, and that’s what I’m going to do.” His gaze stayed on me as he placed the book down on the bedside table. “Wherever you go, Fern, I’ll be right there, by your side.”

My swallow was audible. “Is that a threat?”

He shook his head. “Not a threat. I’m just doing what I promised.”

“And what’s that?” I needed him to spell it out because he’d proven that he was good at twisting my words and being tricky as hell.

I might have forced him to be my protector, but he’d been my stalker first.

He licked his lips, and his eyes flashed red the same way mine could. “To make sure nothing and no one ever hurts you.”

My heart jumped in my chest at the look in those intense eyes and the growl in his voice.

“If any fucker even looks at you wrong, Fern, I will make them regret it. If someone does somehow manage to hurt you, I’ll gut them. I’ll make them scream for mercy, and then I’ll tear them to pieces. That clear enough for you?”

I backed up, climbing off the bed. “Crystal.”

He nodded. “Glad we got that straightened out.” He got off the bed. “I’ll let you get ready. You have sugar in your coffee as well?”

I blinked over at him. “Uh … yeah.”

“Cool.” He walked out.