Page 43 of Demon Food

I knelt beside him on the floor and extended the candle toward his lips. It had to feel like a low blow to have a human provide him—a powerful creature who could summon fire at will—a flame, but he didn’t anger. Rather, a smirk tugged at his lips.

I gulped, presenting the candle a bit closer.

He snatched my wrist so fast I nearly gasped as hot wax splashed onto his chest through the opening in his shirt, but his molten copper gaze never broke with mine. Even as he dipped the tip of his cigarette into the flame and sucked.

He held the smoke at the top of his lungs. Then his gaze fell to my mouth as he exhaled fragrant, spicy smoke into the air between us, my wrist still captured in his huge hand as he forced me to breathe it.

“Are you always so sweet, human?” he asked as I started to jerk my wrist, but he held it effortlessly, like he barely noticed.

“No,” I said, winding my wrist inside his grip. “I’m not sweet.”

“Then what would you call this?”

I tugged harder. “A mistake.”

He let go of my wrist at the same time I pulled extra hard, sending me falling backward onto my ass with a lit candle. He chuckled because, of course, he did. I pushed myself up to a stand, glaring as I yanked my chain from his reach.

I replaced the candle onto its spike. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to heave open his heavy ass armoire door. I needed a shirt that tied or buttoned down the front because of this awful chain. The only one was embroidered with a fancy Novithian crest on the sleeve and heavy embellished silver buttons down the front. There were a few Vultean words stitched around the cuffs that I couldn’t understand.

I’d never worn something so nice. I wasn’t sure I ever even held something so nice in my hands, the fabric so weighty and lovely. I laid the shirt onto the bed, casting him a sidelong glare as I slid the slinky silver tank top down my body.

He smoked, his expression unreadable as I slid my arms through the exquisite shirt, smoothing my hands down the thick material.

“That is my ceremonial chemise, crafted for me by the high priestesses. You like it?” He blew out smoke. “It’s yours.”

I sucked my cheeks, doing my best to ignore him. But I’d likely chosen the most important one. I opened a drawer where black trousers were folded. It smelled like him, the armoire. A little like the earth and a little like herbal ashes, but there was a sweetness, too, that I couldn’t quite name.

I stepped into the trousers. They were far too large for me, even more so than the shirt. He was as muscular as a horse and I…didn’t eat. He’d made sure to point that out. Is there supposed to be something sexy about starving vermin?

Whatever. It was better to be starving and unattractive than something that looked tasty to him.

My chain followed me as I started for the door, fastening the buttons of his trousers, which my hips barely supported.

The door was also heavier than I remembered, or maybe my exhaustion was getting to me, but I hauled it open, just enough to poke my head through.

Four soldiers spun around from their low conversation to gape at me. One of them parted his lips to speak when I shoved the door shut.

“Shit.” I swabbed a hand over my face. “There are four of them. There are four guards.”

He cut his eyes to the side. “Did you have a desired number of guards in mind?”

“Yes. Two I could easily handle. Three would be a challenge, but I could do it.” I swayed a little, hands on my hips. “Four on the other hand…”

His eyebrows lifted. “And when you say handle?”

I blinked hard at him. As if the answer wasn’t obvious.

A grin curled his perfect lips. “So, your plan to escape this room was to seduce up to three of my father’s highly trained soldiers?”

“Do you have a better plan?”

“No, I like yours.” His grin broadened. “Even if you are decisively confident, little human.”

I twisted to face him. It was like the weight of the day was beginning to stack atop me like a hoard of bricks. “I’m not ‘decisively confident’.”

“Absurdly confident then?”

“Or, you have no idea what little effort it takes to manipulate your kind. I can do it in my fucking sleep.”