Page 75 of A Bond in Flames

“You couldn’t handle my meathead, gremlin,” he said and flashed her his fangs.

Okay, we were straying into some other weird freaking territory here that I did not want to be a part of. “So do you have any white snakeroot?” I asked.

“You do realize that gremlins don’t actually exist? They’re a myth.” She pressed her hand to his chest and shoved, but he didn’t move. “It’s pretty cringe that you don’t know that.”

She shoved a second time, and again, Relic didn’t budge; he did release her this time, though. He tilted his head to the side. “You have a very smart mouth for someone so small and annoying.”

“And you have a giant head and ridiculous… muscles.” She flushed. “You look like a deformed Sasquatch.”

“Now I’m embarrassed for you, Gremmy, if we’re talking about things that don’t exist.”

“Don’t call me Gremmy,” she gritted out, her fingers tapping against her thigh again.

“But it suits you”—Relic flashed her that thousand-watt grin—“Gremmy.”

He was enjoying himself.

She crossed her arms tight over her chest. She was pissed, but I also saw the way she trembled. She was scared and doing her best to hide it. She was still a demon, and he was a huge hellhound invading her space. It was like a giant cat toying with an injured mouse. I wasn’t sure Relic noticed.

“Leave,” she said.

“I don’t think so,” he said back, definitely enjoying himself.

She looked down, her lids blinking rapidly, and then she sucked in a breath, teeth clenched, and looked back up. “I want you to leave, you giant pain in the ass. I want you to leave my shop now.” Her voice was raised, pitched high. No, not scared—terrified. She was still desperately trying to be brave in the face of the huge male towering over her, and Relic missed it completely. Honestly, I was surprised.

“If I were in your ass, Gremmy, I promise it would only hurt for a minute, and then I’d make it feel real good.”

She hissed.

“Okay,” I said, stepping forward. “If you could just get the ingredients I need, we’ll leave. Right, Relic?”

He winked down at her. “Sure.”

She spun away, strode down one of the aisles crowded with ingredients, snatched something off the end, then stomped up to me and shoved it in my hands. “Now leave.”

I slid my hand in my pocket for money. “I need to pay you.”

“I don’t care. Just leave.”

I quickly pulled out some cash, more than what it was worth, but after what I’d just witnessed, she deserved a tip. I dropped the money on the counter, then grabbed Relic’s arm and shoved him from the store.

He let me, but not without a little resistance.

The sound of the bolt being thrown behind us came as soon as we walked out. I spun around as the demon flipped the Open sign to Closed, then disappeared out of view, but not before I got a glimpse of exactly how rattled she looked.

“What the hellwas that?” I asked Relic when we started walking.

“What?” He was still grinning.

“You terrified that female, then sexually harassed her,” I said, because looking at him right now, the hound was clueless.

He stopped in his tracks. “No, I didn’t… That’s not what happened.”

“I’ve never heard you speak to a female that way.” Hounds were protective of females, worshipped them in a lot of ways—they did not harass or scare them.

Relic frowned down at me, glanced back at the shop, then back at me. “No… she wasn’t afraid. She was—”

“She was shaking. You’re a hellhound, and she’s a demon. She was trying to hide it, but she was terrified. I thought she was actually going to cry for a moment.” I wasn’t trying to make him feel like shit, but he needed to be aware of what just happened back there.

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