Page 93 of Dancing With Demons

Watching him go, I gave my sentence its real ending. “Male demons give women plenty of reasons to hate them...? Then, I’d have thought you learned your lesson by now.” My nails pierced my tattoo. “A woman scorned is a lot more powerful than you think.”

FOR THE REST OF THE day, I gave Ronin the sweet, pleasing, empty-headed pet he was looking for. I didn’t react when he made me sit on his lap during classes. I called myself his pet and his possession whenever the topic came up. I didn’t look in Nik’s direction, and I didn’t bring up the hallows except to say that I was excited to look for them together after Lucifer gave in to Ronin’s demands.

And all day... Ronin looked pissed as shit.

That night after dinner, I hung out in my room doing homework.

Most of the professors didn’t bother assigning homework because none of the students would do it, but Connard was a particular kind of creep who used the threat of expulsion for literally everything. He demanded a five-page paper on the true history of the Great Invasion, and how it led to the downfall of demon society. He also said we had to use Abaddon Academy and its disgraceful co-species education rule as one of the examples.

So, naturally, I was writing five pages on how supernatural creatures were banished to hell by witches against their will, but ever since, they’ve made demon society better by bringing about awesome fae food, the expert craftwork of the master wolfsmiths, the opportunity to learn the long and fascinating history of mortals through vampire eyewitness accounts, and, most importantly, a new and hopeful future of unity and diversity—and yes, I was adding detailed definitions of what those words meant.

“Let’s see who’s a kiss-ass bitch now,” I muttered.

A knock sounded on my bedroom door. Since Dora was in the shower, there was only one person that could be.

Opening the door, I found Ronin on the other side of it dressed in nothing but a robe. He held a vial I recognized in his palm.

Every muscle in my body went rigid.

Ronin held up the aphrodisiac, face hard and anger dancing in his eyes. “Shall we?”

I didn’t move for a beat, swallowing hard. I knew what this was, and I knew why. The night before, I let Ronin have my body but I didn’t let him have my pleasure. That night, he was taking both. No matter how hurt and enraged I was by what he did. No matter how hard I bit my lips, he would have me screaming his name in five minutes flat.

“Problem?”

I met his eyes, and the challenge in them. “No,” I rasped. “There’s no problem.”

“Then get undressed and get on the bed. I assume I won’t need to tie you up this time?”

I said nothing. I just closed the door behind me and stripped off my dress, bra, and panties. Every part of it was mechanical—no passion, no excitement, no joy. I may as well have been getting undressed for a gynecological exam.

Ronin trailed me as I climbed on the bed and settled on the pillows. Accepting the vial, I unstoppered it, raised it to my lips and—

“Pffttt!”

I froze, eyes rounding on him. Was he... laughing?

Unable to hold back anymore, Ronin let loose—guffawing until he fell over across my legs. “I can’t t-take it anymore,” he wheezed, clutching his stomach. “You were really going to do it! Haha! After all that bitching and moaning about me drugging you, you were actually going to drug yourself!”

Vial still touching my lips, I stared at him—not comprehending what was going on for a second.

“I’m almost impressed with you,” he said, chuckling as he wiped the tears from his eyes. “You know how much your defiance turns me on, so you’ve been this obedient little yes-woman all day because you thought it would turn me off.

“Yeah, I knew what you were doing,” Ronin told my slack jaw and blown brows. “I only played along, acting like I was pissed off because I wanted to see how far you’d take it, and apparently it’s this far.” He pointed at the vial. “Oh, baby girl, you seriously miscalculated on this one...”

A horrible, rancid feeling burned in my gut as he and his smirk came closer.

“...because as much as you tempt me when you buck and bite and snarl”—he pressed a light kiss to my lips—“I love you even more when you’re broken.

“So stay just like this,” Ronin whispered, drowning me in his gaze. “Afraid.”

In that instant, something inside me snapped. “You monster!” Winding back my fist, I swung.

“Stop.”

An icy cold sensation spread from my tattoo and down my arm, stopping it dead in its tracks only millimeters from Ronin’s smirking mouth.

“You’re welcome,” he breezed, dropping kisses on my knuckles. “We both know that would’ve hurt you way more than it would’ve hurt me.”