Page 36 of Dormeo
“How many?” I repeat, frustration building inside me at being left in the dark.
While Ash seems more caring than my father, and I’ve certainly enjoyed myself, in reality, I’ve only swapped one gilded cage for another slightly less shiny, privileged one.
“Five.”
The brooding seven-foot demon has the nerve to grunt when I look at him in horror.
“Are you telling me that you’ve murdered six prospective rescuers, and god knows how many of their men?”
He nods, looking less certain that he’s not the bad guy.
“It’s your father’s fault for sending them to get you. He’s trying to get out of his deal on a technicality. If the devil loses his daughter, then he no longer has to fulfil his end of the bargain. Clever really, devious and ballsy. It will probably cost him his life, but it was smart.”
He’s right. I have no doubt my father is trying to wriggle his way out of whatever promise he’s made. And he’s sending these wannabe heroes to their deaths to up my perceived value.
“They deserve it though, Rose. They don’t care about you. They want to own you, possess you, and take from you until there’s nothing left.” He steps into my personal space and loomsover me. “They will hurt you. Lock you up. Dull you spirit. Use your power for their own gain.”
With a humourless laugh, I gesture to my dark, opulent surroundings and then at my red, satin nightdress. “And you don’t?”
Ash’s eyes flare.
“Yes, I want to own you and possess you. I want to keep you here and have you all to myself. But only if you are willing. There is no pleasure in you giving yourself to me if it comes from fear or a desire to merely survive. It has to be an urge so strong you cannot resist.” His gaze lands on my lips. “I want you to crave me as I crave you. But the difference between me and them is I won’t ruin your life to get what I desire.”
19
ROSE
Iknow immediately that it’s true.
Where my father’s chosen suitors will do what they want, Ash will give me what I want. Even if that is to be left as a virgin for the man who would one day control my life. His admission that he’d like me to stay as his is flattering, and strangely appealing, but not something that’s going to happen.
How would I survive?
“My father would never allow me to stay. And what would I do here if I can’t step out the door for fear of being attacked?”
The reality is that even if his offer is genuine, which I’m not convinced it is, I wouldn’t last two seconds here on my own. The ease with which Lily dispatched the best human warriors last night proved how different I am, how weak and pathetic. I’d need protection twenty-four hours a day.
“Your father might not have a choice.” Ash points out. “And if he fails to deliver on his end of the bargain, you’re all mine.”
The way he says it makes me almost hope my father doesn’t pull off whatever scheme he’s working.
“Yours, or the devils? Because if memory serves me correctly, the deal isn’t with you.”
Ash’s expression darkens. “He’ll never get his hands on you. My father is the last person who deserves such power…” Slamming his lips shut, he presses his fingers to his mouth, as though trying to shove his hastily spoken words back in. But it’s too late for that.
“So, you know. What else are you keeping from me, Ash?”
Scrubbing a huge hand across the back of his thick neck, he sighs. “You radiate power when you… when you’re… turned on. All the time really, but when you’re aroused, you’re incandescent. You practically glow.”
I gasp, a hand flying to my chest. My instinct is to immediately reject his words out of utter embarrassment. “No, I do not!”
Ash looks me dead in the eye. “Yes, you do. It’s like nothing I’ve experienced before. It’s incredible. And when you come… It's like an electric shock.”
There’s hunger in his voice once more, and my heart sinks. That’s what he wants. That’s what he’s trying to keep from anyone else. It’s not really me he wants. It’s not money and prestige, like the human men who seek my hand, but a more tangible type of power.
“Does it make you stronger?” I ask, trying to hide how much it hurts to know he’s no different than the others.
He wants to use me for his own selfish reasons, just like the rest of them.
