Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
“I’m so sorry, baby—I got here as soon as I could,” he swore. “I heard you calling me but I couldn’t reach you fast enough. I was so afraid I would be too late!”
He crushed me to him and buried his face in my hair. To my surprise, I thought I felt a few teardrops against my neck. Was the big Incubus crying? Over me?
“You’re here now,” I whispered. “That…that’s what matters.”
“Yes, baby—I’m here now. And I’m never letting you go again!”
I wanted to be held in his arms forever, but at that point my nose detected something more than hair burning. I pulled away from Malik and noticed with horror that Goremouth’s body, which was still draped over the burning hot stove, was going up in flames.
“Come on—let’s get out of here.” Malik took me by the hand and headed for the kitchen door. Luckily he was much taller than me and opened it easily. The two of us rushed out of the haunted mansion just as the flames began to spread.
“The house—it’s burning down!” I panted as tongues of flame began to lick around the doorframe. The fire was spreading with surprising rapidity considering it had only just started a minute ago.
“Let it,” Malik said grimly. “That’s an evil place—a lot of death and pain have happened there. Fire is a cleansing agent.”
He put an arm around me and led me back to the pear tree. The two of us stood among the fragrant branches catching our breath as we watched the haunted mansion burn. It went up fast—almost like the whole place had been sprayed down with gasoline. Before we knew it, there was a raging bonfire where the Ogre’s house had been and soon it would be just an enormous pile of ashes.
Once he was sure the fire wasn’t going to spread, Malik turned to me.
“All right, it should be safe to get out of here now,” he murmured. “Do you want to go home?”
“More than anything,” I said fervently. I had never wanted to be safe inside the walls of the Victorian mansion my Great Aunt had left me more than I did now. “I just want to feel safe,” I told him.
A ghost of his old charming grin came back.
“I think we can manage that.”
Putting both big hands around my waist, he lifted me easily over the hedge. Then he jumped over it himself with demonic grace and landed lightly beside me.
“Come on, baby,” he murmured. “Let’s get out of here.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
When we got home, Malik insisted on taking care of me. I had complained of the awful smells at Goremouth’s house—both of the Ogre himself and then the burning hair. He drew a warm bath in the old-fashioned claw-foot tub and scented the water with something sweet and light. He even undressed me and put me into it. Then he insisted on washing my hair and scrubbing me all over, as though I was a child.
“I’m not a kid, you know,” I told him. “I can wash myself.”
“But I don’t want you to. Please, baby, I almost lost you—just let me take care of you,” he begged softly.
Well, who can resist that kind of talk? I sighed and relaxed against the side of the tub as he gave me a soothing scalp massage. As his fingers caressed my scalp and washed my hair, his tail was busy with other things. It was holding a soapy sponge and washing me, almost as though it had a mind of its own. When it started washing my chest, I reached for it and held the whip-like end in my hand.
“You can certainly do a lot with this,” I murmured as the tail curled around my fingers affectionately. “I can’t believe you used it to kill that…” I trailed off—I didn’t want to think about the awful scene in the haunted mansion—it was still too fresh, too terrible.
Of course, since he was touching me, Malik knew what was going through my head.
“Don’t think about it, baby,” he urged gently. “Just try and relax. Here…maybe I can give you something to take your mind off it.”
The tail slipped out of my hand and curled around my right breast instead. I moaned in surprised pleasure as it gave my tight nipple a swift, painless sting.
“Oh!” I exclaimed as the nipple started to swell with pleasure and got immediately more sensitive.
Before I could say anything more, his tail slid across my chest and stung my left nipple as well.
“Mmm, do you like that?” Malik murmured, still washing my hair. “Does it feel good when I sting your beautiful nipples?”
“It…it does,” I confessed. The warm water lapping against my tender peaks felt like someone licking me. It was sending sparks of pleasure through my whole body and most definitely taking my mind off the harrowing scene I’d just been through.