Page 39 of Boyfriend From Hell
“Come on, you, we need to get up and get you something.” He moved to slide off the bed and part of me wanted to yank him back. “We should get you some clothes and whatever else you may need. Some food, perhaps?” He stretched.
“I only really need another pair of underwear—and something other than a dress would be nice. It’s not like I needclothesclothes.” I looked up at him. “There’s food in Hell?”
He looked surprised by my question. “Gluttony is a sin, baby. We got it all here.” He winked again.
“Come, I’ll show you. You’re in for a treat because if there’s one thing I know about humans, it’s that your idea of hell is outlandishly far from the reality.” He raised an eyebrow playfully. “You’re here to stay, sweet one. That was the deal you made, you’re mine, love. You will get all the same perks I do, my future Queen.”
Something twisted in my stomach at those words—Queen. Maybe living in Hell wouldn’t be so bad.
Wait. “Work—” I blurted out.
“Work?”
“Yeah, work. It’s a thing ushumansdo to survive. I can’t just leave my career…” I waved my hand above my head, causing Raios to sneer.
He knelt on the side of the bed and ran a finger over my chest.
“The mark on your skin is a symbol of our bond. It’s our symbol that we own each other, you own all that I own. You will never have toworkto survive, love,” he said, caressing the raised skin I had forgotten about.
That’s right.Something burned my chest before, but I was too distracted to consider what it had been, let alone inspect it.
“But still, I—I’m a writer. I can’t just give up on my work. I’ve spent my whole life writing and building my reader community—”
He tilted his head to the side.
“Ah, yourpassion. Well, just tell me what you need and I’ll make it happen.” He nodded.
“Also, what do you mean we own each other?” I was beginning to panic. “I don’t really remember ourdeal—”
“A bond… we mate for life down here. You can think of it as me being your boyfriend, if that’s easier.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “It’s not as scary as it sounds, and the scar of the bond is hardly visible to the naked eye. It feels more raised than it is—it’s fresh. After a few days, you’ll barely be able to notice it at all.”
The wordboyfriendstruck a chord in my brain, and suddenly fragments of what initiated the deal flashed through my mind. I couldn’t quite pinpoint the cause, but I could recall the raw feeling of desperation and heartbreak.
“Come on, I’ll explain while we’re at the market. We reallydoneed to get you some new clothes.”
How could I be so daft?
Of course, she would want to carry on with her mundane tasks here. If she wanted to continue to write, I guess that wasn’t so bad. She could easily do that while ruling beside me—granted, her role was more so just her being there for me.
I pondered what roles would be best suited for her—perhaps she could look after a few of the districts? It was hard to say what she’d enjoy doing down here. I supposed this would be a better conversation to have with her, rather than me making meek assumptions. I wanted her to be my equal. I wanted her tofeellike my equal.
She gasped, pulling me out of my stream of thoughts. When I looked down at her, her jaw was nearly on the ground. I followed her surprised stare and spotted a demon just a few paces in front of us and chuckled.
“Don’t worry,” I whispered down to her as I pulled her under my arm. “Nothing and no one will ever hurt you down here.”
She looked up at me with eyes as wide as saucers, the expression in her eyes begged me to sift through her thoughts—but I’d been trying to refrain. She didn’t outwardlyseem bothered by me reading her thoughts so openly, but there was a part of her that found it annoying.
Annoying her was the last thing I wanted to do; I didn’t want to push her away. If anything, I wanted to pull her in as close as she’d allow—which, based on the tidbits Ididhave the pleasure of sneaking out of her mind, she wanted the same.
I couldn’t help but grin at the realization that she actually did like me—which earned me a confused look from her.
“What?” she mused, squinting her eyes at me.
“Nothing!” I grinned wider and laughed.
“No, it’s something. What is it?”
She narrowed her glare, a clear attempt at being intimidating, but I could see the light in her eyes dancing.
