works.”
He leans back, arms across the backrest. He wouldn’t look out of place in a bar right now.
“Better if I show you,” he says smoothly. “Get your gorgeous ass over here.”
I raise a brow at him for the order, but get to my feet. I walk over to him. “What now?”
“Get on your knees.”
“Excuse me?” I have a sudden image of him commanding me to suck him off. My sex aches. I remain exactly where I am.
“Get on your knees,” he repeats.
I scrunch my brows. There’s an odd glint in his eyes. He’s making some sort of point.
I keep my hands at my sides, looking at him slantways. “N-noo,” I say slowly.
He gives a nod. His expression takes on a concentrating look. “Get on your knees.”
This time, it sounds like the real him, his voice deeper and growled. There’s a vibration under it, making it sound like it’s coming from the bowels of hell.
The urge to drop to my knees makes my legs feel heavy, my knees begging to fold. My muscles relax, going limp. There is suddenly a tether connecting us, his presence filling my thoughts. If I drop to my knees, he will be pleased. And if he is pleased, life will be perfect.
I go down on my knees right in front of him. My eyes widen. “What the hell?” My heart is pounding fast.
He blinks and the overwhelming pull is gone. It vanishes so swiftly that I sway, light-headed for a second.
Arcayos grips my arm, helping me to my feet.
A horrible sinking feeling swoops in my gut. “Holy shit. What the hell did you do to me?”
“It’s one of the powers male Tae’agul end up with when they become a female’s Gidan.”
He’s talking like a modern human again. The way Haakon should talk.
“Wait a minute. Are you telling me you can make me do whatever you want?”
“Yes.” His tone is soft with regret.
“So if you told me to strip naked and fuck you senseless, I would do it even if the whole squad was here?”
“I promise you, I would never Compel you to have sex with me unless that is what you want, but that is the general idea, yes.”
The formality is back. He’s talking like the real him again, with deliberate, careful speech, as if he’s forgotten to stay in character. It sounds super weird coming out of the blond Adonis’s mouth.
“So it’s kind of like what alpha werewolves have. The way they can compel other members of the pack to do what they’re told.”
“It is something like that, yes. However, this only applies to mating for demons, and only for certain types. I will only ever use it to protect you or when I must keep you in line.”
Alarm jolts up my spine. “Whoa, wait. Keep me in line?”
He sighs. “There is something else you need to know.”
“Oh, there’s more? Great.” My throat is so tight I can barely breathe.
He takes my hands gently in his. “Even when I do not use Compulsion, the need to please me, to be with me, will always be there on some level. And if you go too long without being with me, whether that means just being near me or having me inside you, the same thing will occur as what happened last night.”
“So that’s it. I have to fuck you.” I blink furiously, my eyes stinging. “That’s it. We’re just together forever. You say jump, I say how high.”
He bends and presses his lips to my knuckles. “Do not be frightened. I would never use it to take advantage.”
“But how can I know that? After what you did the other night, using me and my sister that way…”
I pull my hands out of his. It feels as if he’s just become a lot more dangerous. To give him that kind of control, and for the rest of my life?
“I can’t do this, Arcayos. I just can’t. There has to be a way to break this bond or whatever it is.”
He flicks his hand and his real form appears, bare-chested and huge, red eyes gleaming. He rises to his feet. “There is not,” he says gently.
I turn my back to him, suddenly wishing the world would swallow me whole.
Arcayos lays his massive hands on my shoulders. Those hands that could crush bone are suddenly so infinitely gentle, it’s somehow more crushing than if he had been forceful. His voice is warm and soft in my ear. “What is done may not be undone, my love.”
I turn to him,