“You were better with that pocketknife.” He pulled me in closer, getting right in my face. Imposing. Dominating. “I am used to disappointing people, yes. Which is why I have no problem locking you in the tower when we get home and keeping you there until the demon king eventually comes for you.”
Anger boiled through me. I moved my lips, as though I were trying to talk and couldn’t. A crease formed between his eyebrows, and he leaned in a little closer so he could hear me, pulling his focus from everything else.
I swung my foot and connected with his already bruised balls.
His left eye squinted, and his face turned red as he wheezed and dropped, letting me go. He landed on his knees and bent over, the muscles rippling across his broad back.
“Do not”—I picked up the sword, thought better of it because it would be embarrassing if he just slapped it away again, and jammed a fist to my hip—“manhandle or threaten me. Look, we fucked. It happened. I enjoyed…most of it. But if you don’t want to do that anymore, fine. I’d rather not deal with all the strings attached with you, either. If I’m going back to the castle, though, we’re going to have to work together. You need to drop this temper-tantrum bullshit, got it? Try acting like a team player. You’re going to need more everlass elixir to help your villages, and I’m here to help. So let’s just be acquaintances without all the drama, yes?”
He lay on his knees and forearms with his head down. “What the fuck were those beasts thinking shoving my dick between your teeth and twisting my ballsack? My cock and balls are on fucking fire. Your kick crippled me, I think. How’s your pussy?”
This guy’s mood could sure pivot.
“Still mostly numb, I think. It’s a little sore but not throbbing yet. It’s also leaking our combined orgasms. So that’s unpleasant for me.”
He groaned and dropped his head a little more. “I enjoyed it, too. I’ve wanted to thrust into you since you left your family to save them and stared me down in the wood. Your fearlessness, your bravery, the feel of your animal, your smell… I wanted to lay you down right there and have my fill.”
He pushed painfully to his feet, holding his junk.
“But it’s not meant to be,” he said.
“I said okay. I hear you.”
He nodded. “I’m also a broody bastard. I don’t make excuses for it. I wasn’t born with charm.”
“That didn’t need to be said.”
“So don’t sass me.” He grinned a little and looked up at the starry sky. “What sort of mess have we gotten ourselves into?”
“A big one?”
He sighed and nodded, finally looking at me again. His eyes and the bond held remorse. “A big one.” He glanced at the sword in my hand. “Why’d you bring that with a demon on your heels if you don’t know how to use it?”
“I stupidly thought a sword wouldn’t be that much different than a dagger. Or that all you really have to do was stick the pointy end in the creature you’re trying to kill.”
“That is all you have to do. It’s just the way in which you do it that matters.”
“Yes, thank you. I hadn’t figured that out when she easily evaded me and then raked her claws down my arm.”
He glanced at the arm in question. “Flesh wound.”
“Yeah. It stings. She could’ve really gored me, but she kept it light.”
“She probably thought she had a prize for the demon king. I wonder what that dead man offered as a trade.”
I wondered the same thing, and it delighted me that he kept referring to Jedrek as a dead man. Any remorse I might have had about unleashing Nyfain on him had dried up after this stunt. The only problem was that I was wary about siccing the beast on someone so popular in the village. The demons would surely hear about it, and they’d probably tattle to those in the castle. It wouldn’t take long before the whole kingdom full of demons knew that Nyfain could now easily slip past the magical barrier and get into the villages. I didn’t want to spoil things for him because of a grudge. I’d have to, annoyingly, tell him to let Jedrek be. It wasn’t like Jedrek could do anything at this point, anyway. As far as the demons were concerned, Nyfain had ownership of me now.
Nyfain hobbled a little until we reached the demon’s lifeless form. He turned her over with his foot and glanced at her face. “I don’t recognize her. She’s low on the hierarchy. She won’t be missed.” He picked her up and threw her deep into the brambles as though she were nothing but a stone. “Come on. Time to fake your death. Your family will know it isn’t real, correct?”