Page 27 of Boyfriend From Hell
Gracie!
I tried to recall when I had spoken with her, but the more I pushed my mind to find the memory, the murkier and more distant the thoughts became.
Raios snickered beside me—at my expense, I’d wager. I fought against the attraction buzzing through me from the sound of his laughter. His head tilted back as the sound poured out of him, infusing the air with the intoxicating rhythm of humor. I watched, surprised rather than distraught by the sudden outburst of laughter.
“Come—” he wrapped his hand tighter around mine. “I’ll do all the talking, don’t worry, my little nightmare.”
He had been throwing so many pet names at me—it irked me more than it unsettled me, but I’d be lying if I said they didn’t make me feel a certain way. There was a shuffleof feet and a symphony of whispers. I rolled my eyes but followed him to the table where his parents sat.
“My Queen,” Raios said with a smirk as he gave a low, exaggerated bow and pulled a hefty oak chair out for me. The wood scraped against the stone floor awkwardly in the silence.
I glanced at his parents, feeling strange and floored by the audacity of the whole scenario. I could go about this in one of two ways; play along and maybe he’ll somehow be down to let me go, or pick up the fork that gleamed in front of me and start jabbing. I could see Raios biting the inside of his cheek, amusement filling his eyes as he watched me hesitate to sit.
It would be three versus one, I sighed. Might as well play along and play it as safe as possible.
Sliding into the chair I gave a small nod, meeting his eyes as he stood above me while pushing my chair in. His eyes were locked on my chest, suddenly I became aware of the sting that lingered there. I brushed my fingers over that sensitive, mysterious spot on my chest and winced. The skin felt slightly raised—yet another thing to add to my ever-growing“figure it out later”list. “Right, so, let’s get this over with. I don’t have any intentions on acquainting myself with mortals.” His mother sneered at me as I forced myself to calm down and take the situation second by second.
I plastered my sweetest smile on my face as her eyes overflowed with disgust. Raios slid into the chair beside mine, moving it so his armrest was practically touching mine. Keeping my eyes on his mother, I reached across the wood separating us and placed my hand on his thigh, before tracing circles along the black velvet encasing his leg. He tensedbeneath my touch, surely not anticipating the change in my demeanor.
If she was going to play bitch, then so would I.
“We will be leaving after this dismal meal.” She eyed my movements and scoffed, looking at the array of food as if it were piles of shit. “Your father has a meeting in the north with your uncle. If you are serious—which I certainly hope you are not—about this…” Her eyes were on me again. “Hound. Then we will leave it up to you to commence the ritual.”
I coughed out a laugh and tilted my head at Raios, whose face met mine with an amused expression—like he was up for playing this game of chicken with his mother. He raised an eyebrow at me as I kept stroking his thigh, feeling a bit braver fueled by spite.
“Mother dear,” Raios said, his tone dripping with venom, “you’re the only hound present here, as you sograciouslypointed out. What did Father marry you for, again? The noble task of bearing heirs?”
His eyes left mine and locked onto hers, lips curling into a cruel smile.
“And yet, after millennia, you’ve given him just one. What a disappointinghoundyou turned out to be.”
Wood grated sharply against stone as she shot up from her seat, his words hitting their mark.
“You despicable, miserable, waste of seed.” She bristled and I had to fight the smile that was threatening to creep across my lips.
“What a disappointing thing for a mother to say to the only heir she could provide the Underworld. You’re dismissed,Mother.” He waved a hand lazily in front of him, as if swatting at a gnat.
Thiswasentertaining.
See, if Raios had led with this, I probably would have been a little less pissed off and freaked out.
I snuck a glance at his father, who looked like the bickering was draining the life out of him with every word flung across the table. He just sat there, silently rubbing his palms along his forehead—I couldn’t help but wonder if he had horns too.
“Now, my sweet one. Would you prefer to be on top—I’d love to watch you writhe around on my cock, while you curse my name in front of all the Underworlders. Or, perhaps you’d like to be bent over? So you can watch as the crowd pleasures themselves to you being fucked,” Raios purred.
I whipped my head toward him so fast I nearly smacked my head against the back of the chair. “Huh?” I gaped, my heart skipping from his outlandish words.
My hand stalled on his thigh. Plates and glass shattered somewhere across the table, but I couldn’t even look, I was too baffled by what he’d just asked me.
This sweet—debatably twisted, and undeniably hotter than hellfire—man just askedwhat? What shocked me even more was the fact that he asked me something like that right in front of his parents.
Raios’ eyes were intense with an emotion I couldn’t quite pinpoint, but definitely was beginning to feel suspiciously interested in exploring. The butterflies I felt the first time we interacted appeared in my stomach, attraction overriding rationality. Wood hit the floor somewhere within the room with a loud crash, startling my attention away from the heatedmoment. I turned to look toward the sound and found that his parents had vanished. I stared at their empty chairs and swiveled my head around.
“Well done,” Raios praised me.
“Don’t worry, they’re gone and likely will not return for a long time,” he assured me. “I’m sorry you had to meet them. I had no intention of our first date going like this, honest.
My eyes widened. “First date?” I spun toward him.
