Saved and Savaged

Chapter 11 - Keziah

Everything hurts. Every follicle of hair on my head. Every joint from my head to my toes. Every organ in my abdomen. Everything hurts.

I do as I always do. I ignore the pain.

Someone more innocent, who deserves help more than I, sits somewhere nearby, still in danger. I made Carmi a promise with my actions, showing her I'd do everything in my power to get her to safety.

It hurts to think I deserted her in the desolate mountains, even if I had no say in my disappearance.

The truth of what happened in this cave sits heavy in my chest. A bond unlike anything I knew existed pulses behind my sternum.

Mama and babu love each other. I know they do. They treat each other as cherished trophies, despite the harshness of our world.

This demon caresses me in the same way. His heart aches to replicate the sentiment in my soul, but I can't trust him.

He hurt me. He's a monster. Cold one moment, hot the next.

The warmth of the sun seems cold compared to his heat, loss spearing through me as he unzips his vest, sits up, and places me on my feet. I wobble in place, reaching for the wall to use as balance, only for a massive blue arm to intercept.

He shuffles to his knees, reaches behind me, and raises my ruined clothing for inspection, all with one hand since he keeps me steady with the other. I swallow the lump of emotions in my throat but don't wipe the tears from my chin.

The soles of my feet ache. My inner thighs tingle with a strange numbness, as though the tendons stretched too far but haven't caught up to the fact. Worst of all, my abdomen pulsates between satisfaction and agony. One moment gravity threatens to pull my guts to the floor, the next sweet yearnings flutter through me.

Gric lifts my arms one at a time and pulls the tunic over my shoulders, wrapping the filthy fabric around my body. A sound I've never made before leaves my throat.

"It stinks."

I want to rip it to shreds and burn it. Strange alpha pheromones waft from it, reminding me of everything I endured before my demon arrived.

With more care than a brute should be capable of showing, Gric slides the clothes off my body and drops it to the floor before shoving his vest off his arms. He whips his undershirt over his head and settles it on my shoulders.

The neckline slips down until my left nipple almost pops out, his gigantic size meaning the shirt dwarfs me. I reach across my shoulders to catch the material, but his fingers get there first.

My flesh pebbles as he strokes the exposed swell of my breast. A spark of lust brightens his green irises, making my stomach drop to the cave floor and stealing my breath.

He sweeps his thick fingers under the fabric, teasing my extended nipple with a sensual touch before pinching the fabric and pulling it up to cover more of me. A grimace warps his plump lips, but he pulls a small black metal thing from his belt and fastens the shirt to itself, so the neckline doesn't stoop so low. A quick twist of his wrist and another black clasp holds the excess material over my shoulder and near the center of my back.

He produces my belt from the ground and wraps it around my waist, his gigantic fingers sliding it closed with ease despite how fragile it looks compared to him.

Suddenly the world seems too big. I seem too small. Too fragile and breakable. If someone like him can hold such power, why should the rest of us not bow down and worship him?

Why should one alpha have the strength to crush another so easily?

I ball my hands into fists before relaxing them, trying to dispel the unease coursing through my veins. When my knuckles brush against the hem of the shirt, I look down and try to hide my dismay.