Page 26 of Bound to Death

He’d insisted, and after two weeks of nothing but out-of-this-world sex, I couldn’t be bothered to argue with him. I was tired. I’d barely slept. Even my dreams were filled with him. I’d never had so much sex in my whole damn life, in or out of dreams. Places I didn't even know existed ached, and I could barely keep up at work these days. Clearly, the asshole cooking us another five-star meal certainly didn’t need to get any shut-eye. He looked perfect and ready for the day every time I caught sight of him.

Must be nice.

Thanatos had stayed over every day since our little chat with Mark. Two weeks had passed where he showed up at the office and bewitched every woman in the building. Despite my worries, he was incredibly knowledgeable about what we did and put on a very convincing performance as the hired consultant.

I’d quickly become a source of salacious gossip on day one because Thanatos rarely left my side. Other women didn’t exist to him. His eyes were always fastened onto me wherever I was in the room, especially since he’d updated my wardrobe without my consent—expensive outfits I couldn’t explain to anyone and were rumored to be gifts from a very rich consultant who’d shown up the day I started to wear them. It didn’t take much for the girls at the office to connect the dots. Now, I wore dresses that never hid anything. I walked around like I spent my days playing arm candy for our resident hottie. But since the asshole got rid of everything I owned, I didn’t have a choice.

Whenever I chose to work at my desk, he’d roll a seat over to oversee everything I did. If he had to be in his office, I was expected to be in there with him. More than once, he’d used the office as a place to steal kisses and slip his hand under the clothes he shamelessly forced me to wear. Unfortunately, I’d hadthe best orgasms of my life sitting on that desk, or in his lap, or pinned to the door, always a room away from discovery. I didn’t think I was much for the thrill of being caught, but I couldn’t get enough of it. Neither could he.

And for a little while, I forgot he was Death. To me, he was the guy who continued to rock my world. I only remembered that he was a supernatural beast capable of stealing souls when a raven would tap on his office window, and he’d proceed to have a full-blown conversation with it like it was totally normal. Or whenever his shadows would wrap around my body and pin me to whatever surface I was pressed up against.

Without those two things, Thanatos was just…Thanatos.

I hadn’t figured out why he’d chosen me. I tried, but it always ended with me pinned underneath him, his monster-sized cock thrusting in and out while his shadows wrapped around my body, imprisoning and teasing in place of his hands and tongue. It wasn’t a secret that he used sex as a distraction, but holy fuck did it work every time. I’d never felt more like an animal until my legs were wrapped around his waist, fingers in his hair and our mouths clashing at different angles, succumbing for the millionth time that day.

I didn’t like how quickly I fell for his charms; how easily he coaxed me into fucking wherever we were—a couple of teenagers in the throes of our first sexual relationship. It was absolutely crazy how many things we’d done that could put me in jail, or at least make me lose my job.

But if there was a trick to saying no to Thanatos, I hadn’t figured it out yet. Doubt Emily would, either. She’d tell me to enjoy it, fuck the consequences. A little part of me had used that as an excuse to ignore my head’s departure from sense since I met the mythical, soul-stealing monster posing as a man.

Today was different, though. He’d taken a weird call earlier, and I couldn’t figure out why he was so on edge since it. Heseemed to be in his head more than usual. Several ravens had shown up over the course of the day, popping a squat on the branches outside our apartment window—the beginning ofThe Birdsmovie, I noted. They didn’t rap on the glass like they did at the office. Guess they knew better, but I’d seen him leave a couple of times to talk to them.

It was silly when I thought about how a terrifying looking man just stood outside my house, talking to a few birds in a tree, and no one cared to notice it. If Emily hadn’t been following him around all day with her eyes glued to his form, I’d be convinced he was invisible to everyone else but me. But obviously, he wasn’t.

After setting our plates down, Thanatos retrieved his buzzing phone from his back pocket. He clicked his tongue the second the screen flashed on. Emily watched him curiously as he bent down, stole a quick kiss from me, and whispered in my ear. “Stay,” was all he said before leaving the two of us in the kitchen and exiting the house.

Emily made eyes at me, taking a little bite of her food and moaning. “I don’t care what you have to do to keep that man, but do it. I can’t go back to our shitty mealtimes after this, and you can’t go back to your shapeless outfits. You’ve looked hot as fuck every damn day since he showed up. I didn’t want to say anything because, you know, fuck men and what they think about how we look and what we choose to wear, but he’s got a knack for dressing you, chick. And it shows how sexy you feel. You walk around like a goddess visiting the mortal realm. If I weren’t so afraid of ruining our friendship, I’d tap that.”

Emily rarely held back, but I was surprised. I hadn’t thought the outfits made that much of a difference. It might’ve been the world-shattering sex too, but I’d only mentioned how it was the best I’d ever had. I couldn’t exactly tell my best friend that I was being fucked by a monster who controlled ravens and shadows—oh, and who could steal our souls if he wanted to. So, I stuck with the simple things. The sex was amazing, because it was, and he was insatiable, because he was.

I glanced over my shoulder to eye the door the devastatingly gorgeous man left through. “Shut up…but, um, really?”

“Whateveryou have to do, girl. That man is a Grade-A everything. Dial up the charm and sink your claws in. For both of our sakes.”

Licking my lips, I leveled tired eyes on my hungry hippo of a best friend, who was currently devouring her steak like they didn’t feed her at that fancy job of hers. We both knew that they did nothing but lunches and dinners. “You don’t even know him. It’s been barely two weeks, Ems.”

“Two weeks where the two of you have been attached at the hip. Just get married already. There’s always divorce if things don’t work out. Just think about all the money you’ll get by ditching his gorgeous ass once you’re done with him,” she proclaimed with bits of food flying out of her mouth.

Gross.

“How romantic of you.”

“I’m just keeping it real. I’ll even get you in touch with a great lawyer who’ll secure most of the money in the split. That chick’s a goddamn shark. I’d never want to be on the other side of her in a courtroom, that’s for damn sure.” She waved her fork around, still gobbling up her steak like she never ate and wasn’t all of twenty pounds.

I opened my mouth to argue that I never wanted to get married and was an independent woman capable of making my own damn money when there was athump, thump, thumpat the door. My body went rigid. I almost didn’t think Emily heard it until she gestured to the door with her fork.

“Since you insist on not eating this decadent meal fit for the gods, why don’t you go and answer the door? It’s probably yourboyfriend, anyway. I don’t mind if you give him a key. Actually, do it. Gives more credibility to your relationship. Just another step in the wedding bells direction.”

“Have I ever told you that you have issues?”

“Plenty of times.”

“Well, now I’m confident you’re a sociopath.”

“Takes one to know one, babes.”

My lips thinned, and I got to my feet. “And he’snotmy boyfriend.”

“He’s been here since that night at the club, Ash. He cooks all your meals. He kisses you any chance he gets. His eyes follow you everywhere you go. It’s honestly gross how into you he is. So, pray tell, oh bitchiest one, what else would you call him?” The twinkle in her eyes told me that I’d be stupid to argue with her. She’d made enough points that it’d be silly to think I could make a case to the contrary.

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