by Beverly Rae
As though he wasn’t certain I’d heard him the first time, he repeated his words. “Jenn, honey, I’m a demon.”
Liar, Liar, Horns on Fire
The low growl of the voice coming from the creature standing before me was not the voice of my lover. Instead of Blake, a disgusting creature stood before me holding the shot glass. “Jenn.”
“Blake?” I wanted my husband, not this demon. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t reconcile the man and the demon as being the same person.
A sound resembling a groan came from him and he dropped the glass to the floor. “I know I’m grotesque. But it’s still me. Inside this monstrous exterior, I’m still the person I always was.”
Could his personality have stayed the same even though his body had altered beyond recognition? I’d never thought of a demon as being a person. The Society told Protectors the human part, the good caring part of the person, left the body once the demon had taken possession. Yet I had to wonder…could they be wrong?
“Jenn? Do you believe me?”
“But how? Why isn’t the demon inside you controlling you?”
Blake shook his head. “I can feel its presence, but I don’t let it take over. Not completely, anyway. It’s like there’s a battle raging inside me for supremacy and I have to fight to remain in control.” The triumphant light in his eyes dimmed. “I’m winning. At least for now.”
I guess demons are more like people than I’d ever thought. The demon who’d taken over Blake’s body wasn’t as strong as he was. Could other people conquer the demon inside them?
He took a step in my direction and I fought against the instinctive urge to toss the holy water on him. Letting out a small cry of despair, I lost the battle and lifted my arm to throw it on him—until I looked into his eyes.
I could see the torment in those beautiful eyes. Even if everything else about him had changed, the look in his eyes had remained the same. Behind the terrible pain lay the undeniable truth of Blake’s love. Whatever he was, no matter how gruesome he appeared, the essence of the man I’d fallen in love with existed, fighting to survive in a body not solely his own.
I could barely breathe, yet I somehow managed to whisper the words, “Oh, Blake.” I plugged the lid into the top of the vial and took my first step toward him. His gaze drifted to the bottle in my hand and I pocketed it. I took another step and held out my arms. “Blake.”
His ghastly body shook as if I’d lifted a great weight from him. A spark lit in his eyes, dampening the ache there, and he moved into my arms. Yet although the stench of him was awful, I pulled him against me.
“I’m sorry, Jenn. I know I should’ve told you.” His body shivered as if freezing from the pain of his guilt. “I just couldn’t bear the thought of losing you.”
“It’s all right. We’ll make it all right.” I broke the connection with him although I knew he wanted to keep his body next to mine. “I understand. I lied, too.” Tears sprang to my eyes and I hurriedly wiped them away. My sniff brought my finger under my nose—to stop my nose from dripping as well as to try and stifle his rank aroma. Unfortunately, it didn’t work and love can only handle a certain amount of stench. Ask any mother of a ten-year-old boy. “I’m sorry, Blake, but could you revert to your human form?” I grinned, knowing he would understand. “Seriously, dude. No offense, but you reek.”
Blake shifted, returning to the gorgeous male I loved. Thankfully, once he’d changed, his foul body odor also dissipated. “I know. Even I have trouble standing the smell sometimes.”
I coughed a short laugh. “Damn, we’re a pair, aren’t we? Kind of like the Beauty and the Beast of Suburbia, huh?”
He attempted a weak smile and we fell into an uncomfortable silence. After pouring another drink, he asked one of the many questions racing through my mind. “Would you have married me? If I’d told you during our whirlwind romance, would you have stayed with me?” He cast a glimpse at my pocket where I’d stashed the vial. “Or would you have done what any other Protector would’ve done? Would you have exterminated me?”
I didn’t want to, yet I had to answer him truthfully. “I don’t know.”
He laughed a sour, humorless sound and nodded. “Gee. Not the answer I wanted.”
Two could play at the What If game. “Would you have married me if you’d known I worked for the Society?” After all, turnabout is fair play, although I really didn’t care about playing fair at this point.
Blake’s face dropped. “Do you really need to ask?”
“I guess I do. Besides, you did.” Straightening, I fought to keep hold of my emotions. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if I fell apart.
“In a heartbeat.”
I gazed at my husband of a few weeks and saw the sincerity etched on his face. “Oh.” Blake waited for more of a reaction, his features hopeful, but I couldn’t give him what he wanted to hear. He would’ve married me, but I couldn’t give him the same reassurance. Sorry, no can do, Blake.
His shoulders slumped when he realized what my silence meant. “What do we do now?” He sank to the couch and ran a hand through his hair.
I joined him on the couch, my mind a blur of images and questions, and flopped against the cushions. Even after his revelation, I didn’t fear him. If I couldn’t count on his love for me, then I was lost anyway. “I guess it depends on your explanation.”
“My explanation of what?”
“Bla-ake.” Warning, warning. “Don’t act ignorant again.”
“I’m not. I’ve told you what I am. What else is there?”
I sat up, anger giving me a new burst of energy. “Blake, I know about your brother. I know he’s a ghoul.”
He didn’t hide his surprise very well. “You do?” His eyes took on a faraway look. “Yeah, he’s a ghoul and he’s also my brother. How did you find out?”
“Never mind.” We could deal with the subject of Michael later on. Right now, I needed to know about the more important characters in this weird reality show called our life. “How about telling me what you’re doing with Demogorgon?”
The features of his handsome face fell at my words. “Demogorgon? How do you know about him?”
“I saw you, Blake. I saw you talking with him.”
Another conflict waged war inside Blake. I could see it in his tense body language and in the way he avoided my gaze. “Every demon has a demon lord. Do you expect me to be any different?” He leaned forward and covered his face with his hands.
“No. But I saw you together. I heard you talking about the Bracelet.”
Blake jerked upward to glare at me. “What do you know about the Bracelet? Tell me you don’t have it.”
Suddenly, our adversarial sides came out and I wasn’t happy to see the flash of red in his eyes. “What if I do? What then, Blake? Are you going to kill me to get it for your master?”
He rose and strode to the other side of the room as if he couldn’t get far enough away from me. “Don’t be crazy, Jenn. I’d never harm you, no matter what. But some Otherworlders believe you have it. I’ve told them you don’t to keep them from harming you.”
“Well, it didn’t work.”
The red in his eyes disappeared and he stared at me in shock. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I’ve had a couple of near misses.” I couldn’t help myself, I had to gloat. “Obviously, they failed and I didn’t.”
“I swear I didn’t know.”
Could I believe the relief I saw on his face? I considered the question, coming up with the answer in a second. “I believe you and thanks for looking out for me. But isn’t watching over me and trying to give Demogorgon what he wants a conflict of interest?” Would he choose me over his master if he had to make a choice? I thought he would, but I didn’t want to test my assumption, either. “Didn’t Demogorgon order you to kill me?”
“He did, and I told him I hadn’t found the Bracelet yet. I made him think I needed to keep you around awhile longer.”
“Gee, I appreciate th
e help. What happens to you if he figures out you lied to him?”
“I don’t care. I’m not helping him.” He moved with demon speed to sit beside me again. “However, I do need to find the Bracelet. Not for Demogorgon, but for me. For Michael. For us.”
I tried to twist my mind around this new development and couldn’t. “For us? Sorry. I don’t get it.”
He took my hand between his two. “Demogorgon wants me to find the Bracelet, kill you, and give the Bracelet to him. Not necessarily in that order. In exchange, he’s promised to make Michael and me mortals again.”
“I didn’t realize demon lords made deals with their lowly subjects.” The heat from his touch traveled up my arm and into my heart. The truth of my feelings washed over me. I didn’t care what he was as long as he stayed my husband.
“They don’t. Of course, I know he won’t keep his end of the bargain, which is why I don’t plan on giving him the Bracelet—or killing you.”
I feigned a relieved expression. “Whew! That’s a relief.”
“No. I want the Bracelet for myself.”
Having seen a lot of strange things in my job─both my jobs─I’d have bet my Aunt Hildie’s prize-winning recipe for double fudge cake I couldn’t be surprised. But with his declaration, I would’ve lost and someone else would soon be eating her cake instead of me. “Yourself? Are you out to rule the world, Blake? If you are, we’re going to have a little problem.”
“Rule the world? Not a chance. I’ve got enough problems.” He squeezed my hand to reassure me. “I want the Bracelet to help my brother and myself. I owe Michael.”
“Why? What happened between you two?”
His tortured expression tore my heart out for him. Yet I found I couldn’t extend the same sympathy to his brother.
“I talked Michael into joining me at this new bar. He wanted to stay home, but I pressured him to come along. Later, after the place closed, we ran into trouble.”
“The supernatural kind of trouble?”
“Yeah. We ran into a demon in the alley. I was drunk and picked a fight with him.”
I’d heard similar stories throughout my career. Yet this time the victim was my husband. “And you came up on the losing end of the fight. But what about Michael? Demons don’t have the means to change humans into anything other than another demon.”
“It seems my not-so-friendly demon had a ghoulish friend. He took care of Michael at the same time the demon was taking care of me.” Blake ran a hand through his hair. “Afterward, we faked my death, then his, and separated, disappearing from our old lives. We lost track of each other and I didn’t hear from him until recently.” He looked at me with a tortured glint in his eyes. “It’s my fault Michael was there in the first place. We were both changed by my mistake, and I’m going to reverse the transformation.”
Finally! He’d given me a reason to hope. “How? What do you plan to do?”
I sensed the tension in him before he released my hand to tunnel his fingers through his hair. “If I possess the Bracelet, I can make sure Michael and I return to our normal selves.”
I took in Blake’s idea and my heart began to pound faster. Blake would return to being a normal, beer-drinking, football-loving guy. I wouldn’t be married to a demon any longer, which meant I wouldn’t have to keep his secret from my friends and colleagues. Still, I needed more information before I could pop the cork on any champagne bottles. “Okay, let’s say you get the Bracelet and you change Michael and you back into mortals. What then? What happens to the Bracelet?”
Blake pointed at me. “When I’m through with it, you take it to the Society where it belongs. Hopefully, they’ll do a better job of protecting it the next time.”
I blanched knowing the Society’s screw-up and subsequent loss of the Bracelet had to have supplied a shitload of jokes for the folks in the Otherworld. We must’ve looked like big-time idiots. “Trust me. No way will it happen again.”
“Actually, you’re lucky mortal thieves stumbled on to it before an Otherworlder.”
I nodded, agreeing, but didn’t want to stay on the subject of the Society’s mishandling of such an invaluable piece of weaponry. “I think you nailed it on the head. The security and sensors in place were made to catch Otherworlders, not humans. The humans didn’t set off any alarms when they lucked onto the room.”
“Yeah, yeah. Excuses.” He hugged me to him, giving me exactly what I needed at the moment.
An awful thought clouded my happiness and I pushed away. “Hey, wait a sec. If you use the Bracelet to change Michael and you to mortals, won’t Demogorgon take off your head? I’d hate to think you’d get your wish, only to die soon afterward.”
“I realize it’s a huge risk, but I’m hoping the Bracelet will have enough power in it to both help us and vanquish the big guy. Maybe it’ll have enough time in between to charge up again.”
“We need to find the Bracelet first, you know.”
“We?” He tugged my body to him again, this time hanging on with more determination.
“Yeah. We.” I cocked my head to give him a look. “What? Did you think once I knew about you, I’d throw you to the wolves, er, rather, the big, bad demon lord? Not a chance, bucko.”
“Have you got an idea about how we can do this?”
“I kind of thought you already had a plan.”
He shook his head. “Nothing concrete.”
“O-kay. Not to worry. We’ll come up with one. First things first, though. We need to find that damn piece of jewelry. Until then, I’ll keep you safe.”
His lips brushed my forehead. “Hmm. I think I like having a Protector of my own.”
“And I think living with a demon might not be a bad thing.” Wiggling my eyebrows at him, I broke free and gave him a hard look. “But stay in human form, okay? Your other side is just plain butt-ugly.”
“You got it, sweet cheeks.”
I basked in the Blake-grin I loved. “Sweet cheeks?”
He shrugged. “I thought I’d give it a try. Do you like?”
I scrunched up my nose for emphasis. “Uh, no. Not at all.” Taking his hand in mine, I led him to the bedroom.
Sugar and Spice and Everything Not So Nice
I closed my eyes, enjoying the way Blake slid his hands down my body. We’d already made love twice and here he was knocking on my door (ahem!) for more. Perhaps sexual stamina was a side effect of being a demon. If it was, being married to one definitely had its perks.
The odd thought echoed in my brain and I opened my eyes both literally and figuratively. Wow, had I changed or what? Before meeting and falling for Blake, I’d have checked myself into a psychiatric facility for thinking such an outrageous idea. Now, however, I was content to let my demon hubby—in his human body, of course—lick every inch of me.
Blake pulled my legs apart and discovered yet another area needing his attention. Grasping the rumpled sheets, I moaned with pleasure and wiped every thought from my mind and focused on him.
Enjoy me, Blake. Enjoy me hard.
As if hearing my unspoken command, Blake intensified his attention, slipping my legs over his shoulders for a better position. He nipped and sucked and I squirmed with delight.
His hands explored my stomach and I grabbed them to pull them to my breasts. He complied with my urgency, squeezing them and rubbing his thumbs over my tender nipples. Another wave broke over me and I cried out, a happy and sated woman.
Heaven was here in my own bed.
“Babe, I need you.”
I pretended to not understand. “You do?” Arching my hips up, I demanded he return to his work.
He lapped at me one more time before trying again. “You know what I mean, Jenn. I need you like I’ve needed you all night.”
I started to respond, to tease him a little longer, but he wasn’t into my game. Instead, he dragged me to him.
“Hey!”
“Hey nothing.” Wrapping my legs around him, he thrust into me, primed and ready to go
.
“Blake.”
“Yeah?” He panted, synchronizing his pants to his rapid hip movement.
“Slow down.” I lifted up, keeping him with me, and rested on my elbows. “What’s the hurry?”
In an instant, he slowed, changing his quick, hard jabs into slow, agonizingly wonderful lunges. He paused, leaned over to take my tit in his mouth, and I moaned my approval. Stretching my neck, I lifted my breast and joined my tongue with his. Together we sucked on my raised bud.
He groaned, then began to pound into me with renewed power. “I love you, Jenn.”
My climax exploded with his, but it was several moments before I could answer. “I love you, too, Blake.”
He collapsed on top of me, mixing our sweat together. I held him, thankful to have the man I loved with me. Who cares if he’s a demon? Not me. “Blake?”
“Hmm?” He nuzzled my neck, feathering the hollow at the base of my neck with light kisses.
I struggled to remember the question I wanted to ask him. “Oh, uh, yeah. When was the first time you became a demon? I mean, the first time the demon in you took someone? Oh, crap, you know what I mean. How many people has this demon possessed before he found you?”
He lifted his head to frown at me. “Do you really want to know?”
“Yeah, I do.” I played with the damp curls at the tips of his hair.
“Not long. A couple of decades ago.”
“A couple of decades, meaning two? How many decades exactly?”
“All right. Four decades. The first possession was in 1940, then the demon changed bodies again when he took me in 1974.”
Aw, shit. Bad news. If Blake’s demon was an older demon, he’d have a chance against Demogorgon. Not much of one, but at least a better chance. “Hmm. You’re actually thirty-four years older than you say you are.” I rolled my lips under and acted coy.
“Well, sort of.”
“Which means you’re actually sixty-eight, not the thirty-four you claim you are, right?”
