Contractually Yours Alpha (Riley)

Chapter Two Hundred

Chapter Two Hundred

I shouldn't be thinking about Ash's words, but I was. No matter how many times I tried to shove them out of my mind, they always found their way back.

"Dinner is served. Come eat," Daemon announced. Staring at him, I could almost forget that he was a demon; he just seemed so... human. But when you looked deeper into those dark blue eyes, that's when you noticed something off- something that screamed predator.

"I'm not hungry."

"That's a lie. Come with me," he said. I might be hungry, but I was in no mood to eat, yet I followed him. He had already dished out the food for me and, as usual, none for himself.

"Thank you." I muttered, taking a seat. The smoky scent of spiced grilled meat filled the air. On any other day, it would be enough to make my mouth water and my stomach rumble, but this time, I could barely force myself to eat more than a few small pieces.

"Aliyah," Daemon called, and I looked up at him. "I can make something else if you don't like this."

"It's not that. I'm just not hungry."

He watched me, to himself.

those curious eyes prying into me as if they could read me. "Something is wrong," he muttered

I let out a sharp breath. "You know what? You're right. What are we doing?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... this. Living together, you cooking for me-all of it. What are we doing? Are we like a couple? Is marriage on your list of things to do? What happens next?"

"Marriage?" He pronounced it like he'd never heard the word before.

"It's something couples do."

"I know what it is." He said, and then he carefully studied me. "Where is all this coming from?"

"I-I don't know. I guess with you constantly away, I have enough time to think, andnoveldrama

I don't know what your plans are- did you even have any?"

"The plan I made only covered getting you here and keeping you alive, but you

don't have to worry about all that- we'll take it one step at a time."

"That's the problem; you make it sound like we're just two couples getting to know each other better, but you are the Demon Overlord, and I—I am.....”

Who was I? The blessed, the chosen, the maiden.

Another moment of silence passed between us. I waited for him to say something-anything. But he didn't, and as the silence stretched, my anger only

grew.

"You know, I want to understand you, but it's so hard. I want to understand why you do the things you do, but it is impossible to get into your head."

"What do you want to know?" he asked, finally speaking up, but yet he had avoided all my questions.

"I want to know how you felt about it; I want to understand how you could fall in love with your own mother."

I hadn't realized he'd been leaning in until he withdrew. A scowl on his face.

Chapter Two Hundred

"I told you already-I never saw it as wrong. Not until much later. And I never saw her as my mother either. Damn. I should never have told you about her. You weren't ready. I'm sure you see me as some kind of sicko."

The pain in his eyes knocked me back to my senses. What the hell was I doing?

"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have said all that. I don't know what got into me-

The rest of my words were swallowed up by a sound coming from upstairs.

Somehow, Daemon had already pulled me behind him, shielding me from whoever was bold enough to come here with him present. If I had ever looked at Daemon and thought of him as a 'normal' human, maybe it was time to question my own sanity-because Daemon was anything but normal.

Chapter Two Hundred and One