Chapter 2

Leah's POV

I let out a long breath.

God, that scared me. I knew it. There's no way that lunatic Ryan would actually show up and let me treat him like a dog.

I pick up my wine glass and take a sip, my mood lifting again.

Glasses clink together in the kitchen.

I smile to myself and call out toward the kitchen. "Add some ice to the water! And put those pink ears back on, don't you dare take them off!"

Fluffy walks out with the ice water, the pink fuzzy ears sitting on his silver hair, and my mind drifts back to two months ago.

The first day I got the golem didn't go smoothly at all.

When they cracked open that huge wooden crate in my living room, I looked at the man inside with his eyes closed, and felt a mix of excitement and nerves, like I was getting away with something.

The resemblance was uncanny. Even the small mole under his left eye matched exactly.

I activated him with mana, following the instructions.

The second he opened his eyes, his gaze was vicious, wild in a way only a werewolf could pull off. It was exactly like the real Ryan.

I actually took a step back, half convinced the real Ryan had come to get revenge on me.

"You... you're Fluffy?" I asked, testing the waters.

He stared me down and forced the words out through gritted teeth. "Yes. Mistress."

He said it like he wanted to eat me alive.

I got mad instantly. I'd paid eighty million gold coins for this. Did I pay all that just to bring home some guy who acts like he's doing me a favor?

"What's with that face?" I frowned at him. "Did I order the model that hates its owner on sight?"

"Sorry, Mistress. The initial settings need time to adjust." He lowered his head stiffly, though his clenched fists and the veins standing out on them said everything about how much he hated this.

"Kneel," I ordered sharply.

He stood there, not moving an inch, fists clenched so tight his knuckles went white.

"Is this how your workshop makes golems? One that won't even follow its owner's orders? I could return you right now, you know." I pulled out the crystal and held it up like a threat.

The word "return" made his whole body go rigid.

Then he took a breath, closed his eyes, and dropped to his knees in front of me, hard.

"Mistress. Your orders."

Satisfaction rushed through me, sharp and impossible to put into words.

Ryan. Look at you now.

That's when I started his training. I made him wear that humiliating maid outfit, put a bell on him and made him walk around the house, made him wash my feet and rub my shoulders.

At first, his face stayed twisted with humiliation the whole time, every movement stiff, like each second was torture. But every time I pulled out the crystal and pretended I was about to file a complaint and send him back, he'd cave instantly and do whatever I said.

Slowly, he seemed to get "used to it."

He stopped fighting me. He even learned to lower his head and apologize the second I got upset, looking up at me with those amber eyes all wet and pleading.

Until a night about a month ago.

I'd gone to some boring party that day and had way too much to drink. By the time I got home, my head was spinning and my whole body felt hot.

"Fluffy..." I collapsed onto the bed, mumbling half-conscious.

He appeared at my bedside instantly, dropped to one knee, and reached to pull off my heels.

Still buzzed, I stared at his face, the same face as Ryan's, and felt that old streak of meanness stir up in me again. I grabbed his tie and yanked him toward me.

"Do you high-end golems come with... an intimate mode?" I asked, staring at his mouth.

His whole body went stiff as stone, his pupils shaking.

"Mistress... you shouldn't do this. I'm just... a household golem." His voice cracked, and there was real panic in it.

"Don't play innocent with me." I laughed under my breath and ran a finger along his cheek. "I paid way too much for you not to have this feature. You're turning it on tonight."

He tried to twist free of my grip, and the strength in him was shocking. "No! Leah... Mistress, you're drunk!"

"Shut up. That's an order."

Figuring he was just a golem, I kissed him without a second thought.

His lips were hot, nothing like what a machine should feel like. The moment we touched, I could feel every muscle in his body pull tight.

He stayed frozen like that for a solid ten seconds.

Right when I thought he was about to push me off, or short-circuit from some kind of "system error," he flipped the whole thing around.

He grabbed the back of my head, flipped me over, and pinned me beneath him. Those eyes that had been so restrained the whole time were suddenly burning with something dangerous, something animal.

"You asked for this, Leah," he said through gritted teeth, his voice wrecked and rough.

I didn't even register that he'd used my name.