Fix Me Up (Unknown Succubus Series book 2)

Fistfull of Insults

I awoke to a hand shaking my shoulder. My eyes peeled open and I shot upright. Luke stood over me with a suspicious smirk. I blinked the sleep out of my eyes. "It's a good thing I'm being a gentleman, otherwise you'd be too tempting to pass up." His words had me looking down at myself. I wasn't wearing a bra and it was extremely obvious.
"Pervert." I hissed under my breath. I got up from the bed grabbed a bra from the wardrobe and locked myself in the bathroom. I put on the bra and brushed my teeth. When I walked back into the bedroom Luke was still there. A small table with two chairs had appeared and breakfast was on it.
"Take a seat, Aspen." Luke eyed my rumpled clothes and exposed legs like a predator sizing up his next meal. With an annoyed huff I crossed the room and plopped onto one of the chairs, already bored. He sat across from me at the table. We ate breakfast in relative silence. Well, I was silent and he asked questions that remained unanswered. I watched the annoyance flicker to life in his purple eyes.
    "You are being completely ridiculous. It is rude to ignore someone when they ask you a question. I understand you were raised human but there is a certain level of etiquette you should know by now." Luke snapped after ten minutes of my pointed silence and his determined questions.
   "If I have nothing nice to say then I won't say anything at all." I responded airily, fingers playing with the end of my braid.
   "You are the most difficult female I have ever met, it is utterly infuriating." He grumbled, finishing the last of the food on his plate. I had nibbled at my own food but my anger had taken away my appetite. I was a seething pot of rage cooking on a low burner. "Your attitude is that of an insolent child and your personality resembles a feral cat." Luke sighed in frustration.
"I'm never going to change so maybe you should just give up and let me go home." I finally spoke up and broke my silence. His eyes slid over my face in a thoughtful manner before he leaned forward to caress my cheek.
"That's not going to happen anytime soon, you're my pretty little challenge and I fully intend to win." I ground my teeth together at his words. Luke stood up from the table gracefully and crossed to the wardrobe. I watched through narrowed eyes as he pulled out a fancy looking dress and tossed it on my bed for me to change into. "We are going to have an eventful day today. Get dressed and meet me in the hallway in ten minutes." Luke gave me a pointed stare before leaving me alone in the bedroom.
   I took one look at the dress and made my way to the wardrobe myself. I yanked on a pair of black leggings and a blue sports bra. I slid on a hoodie but left it unzipped. I couldn't fight in a dress and I certainly wasn't going to let him control what I would wear. It was a small act of defiance that let me exert my own free will.
   I let my hair loose from the braid and it fell in soft curls down my back. Luke gave me an annoyed glower when I opened the door and stepped into the hallway. I slid on a pair of sneakers before following him down the hallway. There was no preparing me for what he had planned for the day. Luke led me into a large section of the castle that consisted of a large living room and entertainment area, multiple bedrooms behind doors. A huge community bathroom with giant tubs and showers. And multiple pampering rooms. Lounging across multiple couches and chairs happened to be all nine of his concubines. They were all breathtakingly beautiful and dressed in exquisite gowns.
"Mira I'll be leaving Aspen under your care for a few hours. Make sure she behaves and doesn't cause any trouble." Luke gave me a crooked smirk before turning and leaving me alone in a room filled with savagely gorgeous women that were completely devoted to serving him.
Mira was a beautiful asian woman with soft almond shaped eyes that were a golden color. Her nose was small and flat and her mouth was delicately pouty. She had angular cheekbones but her beauty was the soft glow of gentle compassion. Her body was willowy and graceful. The woman had an inch or two of height on me. She was dressed in a wrapped gown with extravagant embroidery and colorful butterflies. Mira had long black hair that was twisted intricately atop her head. "Sit." She ordered in a firm but sweet sounding voice.
"So this is Luke's new toy?" Another woman with shiny blonde hair pulled up into a high ponytail bit out skeptically. Her eyes were red and her skin tanned healthily. She was easily identifiable as a fury and I knew to keep my calm around her.
"No, I'm just a challenge he's going to lose. I don't plan on being here for much longer." I replied, sinking into a chair across from most of the women.
"Do you think you are too good for him?" A pale woman with dark hair and sharply intelligent blue eyes snapped in agitation.
"Yes. I have my own kingdom and my own power that he will never be able to control. I refuse to be owned and used." Anger caused my voice to quiver but my words were confident and sure.
"Silly girl, you aren't going to be a concubine. You'll be his queen." Mira laughed and threw her head back in pure amusement.
"His majesty left you with us so that you could see how great life is when you don't fight him. We are well taken care of and given status just for being here when he calls on us. You would be his equal if you just gave in." A quiet voice from a red haired woman piped up.
"He deserves better than this insolent little girl." The fury growled angrily. The room warmed a few degrees as her rage sizzled to the surface.
"That is not your place to say, Delphine. He has chosen her and you will respect that if you wish to stay." The dark haired woman snapped.
"Just because she's a Succubus doesn't mean she deserves him!" The fury screeched.
"I don't want him." I rolled my eyes in exasperation at the dramatic display in front of me.
"Disrespectful wench!"
"Whore."
"Disposable bitch!"
"Childish heathen!" Insults were thrown at me the moment I expressed my disinterest in Luke. After their words proved ineffective three of the woman charged at me. The fury wrapped her hands around my throat to choke me as two woman who hadn't spoken up to say anything other than insults yanked my hair and scratched me. My fist flew out and nailed the fury in her sternum. She jerked backward and struggled to breathe as I tossed my elbow back and broke one of the other girl's nose. I twisted and threw her over my shoulder and onto the floor. The last girl got a solid kick to the solar plexus and went down hard. She hit her head on the marble floor with a solid crack and was rendered unconscious.
"Aspen!" Luke's voice had me frozen for a moment, I was definitely in trouble. I turned to look at him standing in the doorway and the fury took my moment of distraction and struck. She lashed out at me with fire from her powers and my blood boiled inside of my veins. Instincts took control of my body and my own power lashed out of me and coiled around her body. Pure energy jolted into me as I zapped her life away. My eyes slid shut and my limbs trembled violently. I hit the floor on my knees as I fought to contain my energy. There was a pained scream and then silence. My eyes opened to the thud of a body on cold marble. I shook with too much energy and collapsed onto the floor, staring at the shriveled body of the fury. I had killed her. Red eyes lay open and glazed over with death.
She had thrown a fistful of insults at me but I had actually killed her. Arms wrapped around my midriff and lifted me from the ground. I was deaf to my own screaming as I fought out of the painful grip and threw myself on top of the fury. My hands hit her chest and angry red energy shot from my palms like lightning. Her chest lurched and I felt her heart restart. She wasn't dead. I hadn't killed her, I wasn't a monster.
This time when Luke hauled me backwards I went limp and allowed him to pull me away. The last thing I saw before he carried me out of the room was the look of fear in the fury's eyes as they locked onto my own. I was capable of killing someone strictly because I still couldn't control my own powers. "Remove Delphine." Luke was speaking to someone when I finally came back into my senses.
"What are you doing?" I asked, pushing myself free of his arms and standing on my own in the dimly lit hallway.
"She is to be punished for attempting to kill you, Aspen." He brushed my hair behind my ear and had the audacity to look worried for me.
  "No, I actually killed her. That's enough of a punishment." I breathed out shakily, my eyes were wide and wild and my breathing was fast and shallow. I was a mess and I refused to be seen as weak by my captor.
   "She is going to be killed for her behavior, I do not allow disobedience in my concubines." His tone left little room for an argument but I didn't care.
  "Then kill me, I've done nothing but disobey you and challenge your authority the entire time I've been here." I demanded, pushing his hand away from me roughly.
   "You are not a concubine." Luke hugged me close despite my flailing protests. I felt his crimson tendrils slide around me and force a state of calm to settle over my mind. I went limp and he held me closer, as though I was a lover or someone that actually mattered.
   "Then what am I?" I hissed out, only able to express my desperate rage in my voice.
  "You are my little Succubus." He picked me up and carried me into his bedroom. I was set on his bed like a delicate possession and his eyes scanned my body for any visible injuries.
   "I'm not yours." My comment did not go ignored, instead he grabbed my face in a painful grip and forced me to look into his angry purple eyes.
"You are whatever I want you to be and if you continue with this unnecessary attitude I will give you to Sam and let him play with you." Luke didn't realize that was no longer a threat to me. Sam was a better demon and I'd rather be stuck with him. The look of pure dominance and ownership in Luke's eyes scared me far more than Sam's craziness. Because Luke was already falling for me and an Incubus was the most dangerous creature I could anger.
   "You will never own me." I glared up at him as my voice was filled with utter resolution. The anger that lit up his eyes told me those words I would quickly regret.