"Yes, I have watched you grow and I knew you were the one I had waited for, but I can guarantee you it was by no means pervy. Instinctually my need was to protect you. I would have never come into your life as a man until you were a fully grown woman. My love for you transcends physical desire. It's far more than a sexual need for you."
"So you're saying I'm not hot?" I teased and scooted closer. I was no longer angry or confused. I was awed and head over heels in love with someone who was in love with me. Fast? Yep, but not really if the pieces were put together.
"Hades," he hissed. "If you were any hotter Hell would cave in on itself. Keeping my hands still at the moment is more challenging that a lone Demon fighting an army of Angels."
His body was taut and his eyes flashed with desire. It took a massive amount of control on both our parts to not attack each other.
"What does bonding mean?" I asked. His quick intake of breath and his immediate move off the couch was exhilarating. The sheer fact that I affected him the same way he affected me was some powerful hoodoo.
"Bonding," he said as he backed farther away. "Means exactly as it sounds."
"I would be yours?"
"Yes. And I would be yours," he replied. "Forever."
The sexual tension in the room made my breath hitch and heat unfurl low in my belly.
"How do you bond?” I whispered as I watched him like prey.
"Sex," he replied just as quietly. "And blood exchange."
That was a little surprising—and gross. We were Demons, not Vampyres.
"At the same time?" That didn't make popping my cherry too appealing. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.
He heaved a sigh and chuckled. "No, but it has to happen within a week or so I'm told."
"So we do the nasty and then bite each other?" I wasn't quite as horny as I had been only moments ago.
"No. Hell no." He laughed and joined me again on the couch. I went willingly into his strong arms and laid my head on his chest. "I suppose if we were into kink we could do it that way, but a simple slice on our hands and a firm handshake will also work."
"Well, that's good to know. I'm not into massive amounts of pain," I muttered as I snuggled closer.
"There's a fine line between pleasure and pain, Dixie," he said in a voice that made my tummy flip with desire. "But biting and drawing blood doesn't really do it for me."
"Good to know," I quipped sarcastically.
"I want to bond with you more than mere words can describe, but I won't until you are ready to commit to what it truly means."
"So we're not doing the nasty today?" I ran my hands over his broad chest and reveled in the tingles that ran up my arms.
"First of all," he said as he gingerly removed my hands. "It will not be nasty when I make love to you. I will make love to you until you don't know your own name and then I will fuck you until you can't see straight. It will be perfect and you won't be able to walk for a week."
I was rendered speechless and the need to tear my clothes off was mindboggling. As I searched for my voice he moved off the couch and walked across the room.
"You're pretty cocky," I choked out. "Shit. No pun intended."
His laugh almost sent me over the edge into the land of not walking for a week. "It's taking all I own at the moment to be this close to you and not make you mine," he said gruffly. "I know that you would come to me willingly right now, but you still have a journey to take and I won't deny you that. I can't."
"My body feels like a heartbeat and I literally ache right now. So unless you have a ginormous bucket of ice water or you can morph into a disgusting troll, you'd better leave," I said in frustration.
"I have a better idea," he said as he held out his hand to me. "Let's fly."
I blew out a huge breath and grinned. "Yes. Let's fly."
Chapter 13
Time had moved far too swiftly and the thought of leaving Hayden made my heart hurt.
"Do you want to play baseball?" Hayden asked as we lounged on my couch in my bungalow. With only a day left before my deportment, we'd spent almost every waking moment together.
"Will baseball help me live?" I asked, confused. Possibly handling a bat?
"Not that kind. Another kind," he said in a voice that woke up all my yet to be used lady parts.
"Um. . .okay," I whispered.
"Now baseball is complicated, but with practice you could be a pro."
"Not really my goal," I murmured as I slid closer to him.
"It's a very handy sport," he said as he pinned me with a stare that made my insides squishy and the need to crawl all over him intense.
"Interesting."
"Right, well the first thing you need to learn is about the bases. Do you know what first base is?" His eyes hooded and I prayed he wouldn't stop this time. I knew he would, but maybe. . .
I gently fingered the feather at my throat and considered my next move. Hayden had taken the feather he'd given me and had it made into a necklace. It now hung on a delicate golden chain. I swore I felt his energy inside me when I wore it. I secretly vowed to wear it for the rest of my life.
"I think it's this," I purred as I crawled on top of him and pressed my lips to his.
My softer, smaller body melted into his harder one and I knew I was where I was supposed to be. The evidence of his need pressed against my stomach and I hissed with delight.
"Baseball," he groaned as I wiggled my body closer, "is very difficult. You have to practice running the bases before you hit a home run."
"Am I doing it wrong?" I asked as I ran my tongue along his full lower lip.
"No, you're doing it right." His breathing was uneven as his tongue tangled with mine.
"If I'm not mistaken," I said as I took his large hand and placed it on my breast. "This is second base."
He closed his eyes and gently massaged my breast until it grew taut and tender under the touch of his hand. A familiar, yet to be fulfilled need coursed through me and I instinctually ground my hips into his.
"Oh God," he hissed as his hips moved in reply in a rhythm that was far more serious than the one I'd teased him with. His mouth captured mine and his teeth nipped at my lips.
I was so freakin' done being a virgin.
I pulled my shirt over my head and frantically tore his from his body. Sometimes having Demon strength rocked. His eyes widened and his grin almost undid me.
"I want you," I said as I took his face in my hands. "I need you."
The light sprinkling of blond hair on his chest that veed into the no-man’s land I was desperate to visit tickled my breasts and stomach as I rubbed against his strong body.
"You are killing me," he said as his hands grabbed my ass.
Heat traveled through me and landed squarely between my legs. I whimpered and tried to crawl inside him. His hands were everywhere and with each touch I climbed higher. . .closer.
Until he pushed me off of him and held me at arm’s length.
"Are you ready to commit to me for the rest of your very long life?" he demanded gruffly. His eyes blazed and his breath came in short spurts.
"Oh my Hell," I shouted. "You're a Demon. You're not supposed to have morals. How did I find a Demon with a conscience?"
"Answer my question."
"Can we at least get to third base before I have to answer?"
"Oh Dixie." His eyes crinkled and I wanted to slap the smirk off of his face. He pressed his lips to mine and I felt the kiss all the way to my toes. "I'll be back in a few hours to say goodbye."
***
Baseball sucked.
Sexually frustrated and ready to scream, I opened my suitcase and began to pack everything I owned. I wasn’t sure how different Earth would be from Hell. I was panicked. I picked my nail polish clean off and started on my cuticles. Blanche hadn’t been around in days, which was highly unusual. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t talk to my family about her absence. They didn’t believe she existed.
“Dixie,” a voiced hi
ssed ominously.
“Grandpa?"
“It's Pee Wee Herman."
Pee Wee Herman wasn't dead. "Show yourself," I yelled. I was in no mood for this and I wasn't a hundred percent sure it was my grandpa.
"I've come to get you," the voice growled.
"Really?" I snapped. "You're not doing a very good job then."
“Dixie.” The voice sighed in exasperation. “Are you really going to have conversations with things that want to kill you?"
"Are you going to kill me?"
"Well, no."
"So your point is?" I asked the empty room.
"My point is that you should have tried to destroy me. What in the Hell are you going to do on Earth when your Uncle God sends the do-gooder winged jackasses down to kill you?”
“Grandpa, PeeWee Herman isn't really scary. I'd suggest you get up to date on pop culture if you want me to try and kill you."
"Point," my grandpa said as he materialized in a cloud of glitter.
My grandpa was the cutest man alive. He was part Sprite and part Demon. I pressed my fists into my sides so I wouldn’t squeeze him. He spent a lot of time in traction because my sisters had squeezed and loved on him too hard.
“You want to hug me and stroke me,” Grandpa informed me with great delight.
“Ewwww.” I groaned. “Do not say stroke. That sounds so wrong.”
“Oh, for the love of Mother Nature's rack, how did my son sire such a prude?” He shook his head and gave me a wink.
“I don’t know, but he did and don't say rack." I grinned and blew him a kiss. "I also happen to know that although you may protest, you love me to pieces.” Damn, I wanted to grab him and squeeze him. “Are your ribs healed?” I asked as I debated if I could at least pick him up and cuddle with him.
My grandpa was a tiny little thing, approximately the size of an Oompa Loompa. He was as irresistible as they come and almost as powerful as my father but not quite. His son was my dad, Satan. Dad and Uncle God were actually half brothers. They shared the same mother—Mother Nature.
“So, are you excited, my sweet?” he asked as he examined the contents of my suitcase.
“Um, no,” I said quietly as I sat down on my bed and shoved my hands under my bottom so I didn’t grab my grandpa and break him.
“You and your cousin Astrid are the only ones that can control yourselves around me,” he muttered as he refolded some of my clothes that I had sloppily thrown in. “The Balance of Chaos is missing and the Rogue Demons are out of control.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I asked, getting a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Grandpa loved dropping time bombs.
“The Rogue Demons on Earth are wreaking havoc and they must be stopped,” he relayed as if he were reciting a laundry list of chores. "Of course the one who should be stopping them is useless."
“Rogue Demons?” I asked, knowing for sure I didn’t really want the answer.
Grandpa clasped his little hands together and bowed his head. “They are Demons who don’t follow our rules." He paused and squinted.
“Don’t you dare sugarcoat.”
“Fine,” Grandpa huffed and rolled his eyes. “They are Demons that roam Earth killing and maiming mortals, Angels, Demons, Vampyres, Fairies. You name it. Basically they’re destroying the Balance of Chaos. They have become uncontrollable and it’s come to our attention they want to destroy your father and supposedly God.”
“That’s not possible,” I replied sharply.
“It’s possible,” he said. “But highly improbable and quite difficult.”
“Is Heaven behind this?” I felt restless, irritable and freaked out.
“Very good guess, my child, but no,” Grandpa sighed. “The Demons have been ravaging Angels in the most heinous ways even in neutral territories. God is definitely not behind this. We need to find the Balance of Chaos.”
"Did you say Fairies?"
"I did," he replied.
"How in the Hell did I not know that Fairies existed?" I moaned and dropped my head into my hands.
"Trust me, they do and they're not sweet and they do not grant wishes easily. I'm not even sure how they got involved in this mess," he mumbled.
“And I’m supposed to fix the shitstorm of a bunch of immortal asswipes, including Fairies that I didn't know existed?”
"You forgot a part."
"Oh right, and find the elusive, stupid, freakin' Balance of Chaos?"
My grandpa raised one eyebrow and stared at me in silence.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I was trembling and furious with my father. “Why would Dad send me into something like that?”
“He doesn’t have a choice. It’s part of the deal he made. In fact, I think he's a couple of years behind on that deal,” he answered.
I waited for more but none came. I’d about had it with my family’s love of cryptic bullshit. “Would you like to tell me what that means?”
“I’d love to.” He smiled and clapped his little hands.
I waited.
“But I can’t,” he said as he produced a wicked-looking dagger out of thin air and placed it in my suitcase.
“What’s that for?” I asked as I tried not to laugh hysterically or scream in frustration and terror. Was I supposed to use that to slice up the Rogue Demons to save the freakin' Fairies? If they thought I was going to cap that problem they were seriously mistaken.
“If I did something repulsive for you, would you honor me by going along with it?” he inquired as he continued to conjure weapons out of the air and pack them carefully in my suitcase.
“Is this a trick question?” I wondered what in the Hell the most adorable man in the world could do that would strike me as repulsive.
“No, Dixie, it’s not a trick.”
Crap. “Um, okay. . ."
My delightfully scrunchy and addictive grandpa produced yet another knife from out of nowhere. This one was different. The handle was encrusted with diamonds. It shimmered and winked at me—a perfect combination of beauty and death. He raised the knife to his neck and sliced.
I screamed.
“Holy Hades, Grandpa,” I screeched, trying to pry the knife from his fingers before he took his head off.
“Dixie, stop,” he commanded. Occasionally his adorable factor made me forget he could level a continent with a flick of his fingers. I froze and watch the blood gush out from his neck. “I want you to drink from me.”
“Like a Vampyre?” I was in shock.
“Yes, like a Vampyre.” Grandpa grinned and used two fingers to pretend they were fangs.
“Oh my Hell.” I gagged as I turned my head away from the sight of my beloved grandpa bleeding all over my favorite down comforter. For Satan’s sake, did he slice into an artery or what? “Can I ask you a question?” I choked out.
“Make it quick. Feeling a little queasy here,” he replied.
“Oookay, drinking your blood seems kinda cannibalistic and beyond disgusting since I'm not a Vampyre. You want me to do this why?” I tried desperately to keep a tight rein on my gag reflex.
"Your cousin Astrid did it," he informed me.
"My cousin is a Vampyre. She likes blood. Why do I have to do it?"
He swayed from blood loss. “Your father isn’t allowed to because of the deal he struck, but no one said anything about me.”
“I am so confused and grossed out I don’t know where to begin.”
“Drink my blood, Dixie. If you want to survive Earth, you must do this. Trust me, I find it as unappealing as you do, but there’s no faster way.”
“Faster way to what?” I felt the bile rising in my throat.
“To give you Black Magic.”
I gasped and grabbed my bedpost to steady my quaking knees. Only the highest level Demons had Black Magic. The only ones I knew for sure that possessed the gift of Black Magic were my father, my grandfather and my cousin Astrid. I suspected some of my dad’s top generals might have a small amount, but me? Why in the wor
ld did they want me to have Black Magic?
“Does Dad know?” I whispered.
“He suspects,” Grandpa muttered. “He would do it himself if he could, but as I told you he can’t. Now drink before I faint,” he insisted.
“I have to?”
I really did not want to do this.
“Do you want to live out the next week?”
I thought about my family and my friends and Hayden's green eyes and soft lips and the ridiculous fact that I still hadn't experienced third base. “Yes, I do.”
“Then drink,” he hissed.
I slowly bent down and pressed my tightly closed lips to my grandpa’s throat. I shut my eyes and hoped that if I couldn’t see what I was doing I could pretend I wasn’t doing it. I’d tasted blood before—my own. The many times I bit down on my lip trying not to laugh at something that wasn’t supposed to be funny and drew blood. Blood tasted like metal, kind of like vitamins. I would pretend I was drinking liquified metal vitamins. It would make me stronger, smarter, possibly make my boobs better than Blanche’s. Not to mention it would give me the ability to destroy cities with the blink of an eye. Crap. I jerked back and my eyes shot open. They locked on my grandpa’s.
“There’s more at stake than just your life,” he told me with a gentle urgency. “The future of Hell will soon rest in your hands. You have to do this.”
“I might throw up,” I told him.
“For the Love of Hatred, please don’t. I have a very active gag reflex, and if you go I’ll go too.”
I started laughing. I’d had many bizarre conversations during my short life in Hell, but this one took the cake. “Okay Grandpa, I’ll do my best not to hurl.” I took a tentative lick. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
“Latch on and drink.” Grandpa grasped the back of my head and forced my lips to the gaping wound on his neck.
I drank.
The second his blood entered my system something strange happened. Bolts of heat ricocheted through my body, down to my toes and out through my fingertips. It was violent. I tried to pull away, but Grandpa held me fast. As much as I wanted to stop drinking, something compelled me to continue. I was losing control, of myself, my mind, my body, my soul.
Hell On Heels Page 9
