by Auryn Hadley
"Get what right?"
"Us." His eyes flicked between mine. "You're not like any woman I've met before, on any world, and I'm a demon. I forget and do dumb-ass things. I can barely keep track of the rules you humans live by, and I'm going to make a mistake, but I don't want to lose you, little Muse. I want to keep you safe, make you powerful, and show you all of the wonders I've seen and, for the first time, I think it's possible. I think I've finally found someone who won't expect me to live a lie to make her happy."
"You mean you've never told anyone you're a demon?"
"Not if I could help it, no. Didn't matter if it was a fairy, satyr, or human. My kind are despised on every world." He inhaled deeply. "With good reason. Sia, we haven't always been kind to the inworlders."
"I'm sure they didn't necessarily deserve it, either. Never mind the angels and their lies." I grabbed his hand and laced my fingers through his. "And I don't give up easy, Nick. How about I tell you when you're out of line? I mean, it'll probably be at the top of my lungs as I'm throwing things, but I promise I'll let you know. Ok?"
He laughed. "That is a deal I will take." Then he sighed. "But I really do have things to do this weekend."
"Gonna tell me what?"
"Gather aether, prepare our next identities – including yours – and other rather boring tasks. The angels are coming. Right now, there's more of them than us. That means we need to be ready for anything. We need to build our defenses and make sure this place is locked from every possible plane. The war is coming, Sia. As soon as they realize what you are, we won't have the chance to do anything but keep them away. The moment you start working with aether, they will all know, and you'll be vulnerable until you can step between worlds."
In all of that, there was one thing I heard. "So you weren't ditching me, huh?"
"No, never that." He reached up and traced the line of my jaw. "I may have been a little worried that you'd change your mind, but I figured better now than later. I don't really want to fall in love with you just to end up disappointed when the rush of excitement wore off."
"What?"
He shrugged. "The idea of playing with the bad guys has its allure at the moment. We've seen it so many times, but it's not the kind of thing that lasts."
"No," I corrected. "What did you mean about falling in love with me?"
His hand paused on my cheek. "I'd like to have the chance to try. I've watched you for so long now. I feel like I know you, but I don't really, and I want to. You're the kind of woman I've waited eons to find."
"I wanna try, too."
"Yeah? You're willing to make this a long-term thing?" Smiling, he rolled closer. "I can think of a very good way to start. I do believe I've caught my breath."
I gasped, playfully swatting him away. "I'm not a toy, you big demon."
"Oh, yes you are," he said, dragging his hips across my thigh. He was getting harder very quickly. "A very addictive, beautiful, amazing toy that I plan to entertain me for a very long time. I just have to make sure I give you some very good reasons to keep coming back."
I threw my leg over his hip and pushed him onto his back so I was straddling his pelvis. "There's one that comes to mind. In fact, I think I could get used to this."
"I hope so," he whispered, running his hand down my spine. "I plan to make sure this is a night you will never forget."
Chapter 18
Sam burst into the room only a few hours after we'd finally found sleep, waking both of us quickly.
"Nick, you've got that thing in an hour, get your ass out of bed." He turned to leave then looked back, his eyes settling on me. "Nice. So I guess this means we can keep her. Morning, Sienna."
I grumbled something incomprehensible and pulled the covers tighter around my chest, flopping an arm across my eyes. It was light outside, and it had that murky feel of early morning. That meant it was much too early to consider moving from this bed.
"Fuck," Nick groaned, sitting up slowly.
"Go away, Sam," I croaked, my voice rough from being abused all night.
He laughed. "Yeah. Going. Oh, and I'm brewing coffee." I closed my eyes until I heard the door click shut.
Nick sighed. "Good morning, beautiful. Planning to hang out here today?"
"Yep. I have some suppositions I need clarified."
He pressed me deeper into the bed. "Big words before lunch. I'm impressed."
"Just wait. I can do tricks too." I bit my lip and lifted my chin, daring him to kiss me.
Naturally, he complied. "You ok?" he asked softly.
"Yeah." I kissed him again. "Just a little sore. Not really used to a man who can go all night."
He chuckled and kissed me one more time before dropping back to his side of the bed. "I should probably feel bad, but I really don't."
"Good." I sat up. "Because I plan for that to happen again, but first I need a shower."
His fingers ran slowly up my spine. "It won't be today, little dove. I'm not that ignorant of the female body. Besides, I still have those things I'm supposed to be doing."
I yawned. "Ok, maybe you have a point. Wouldn't be nearly as much fun without you." I shifted to ease the dull ache between my legs. "I still need a shower, some clothes, and a damned coffee."
"Go shower. I'll grab you some clothes, Sam's brewing coffee." He pointed at the door in the back corner of the room. "Get up, or I'll keep you here, and I fully intend to watch you walk across the room."
"Beast," I teased, flopping out of bed.
I could feel his eyes on my ass but didn't mind. Nick clearly liked what he saw, so I had no reason to be embarrassed. I closed the door behind me, finding some massive, soft towels hanging from the rack. I petted one, enjoying the feel, then turned on the hot water while I located everything else I'd need. Soap, shampoo, and he even had conditioner – which wasn't surprising since his hair was almost as long as mine. Then I stepped into the most luxurious shower I'd ever experienced.
I'd only just rinsed my hair when the bathroom door opened. "That looks inviting," Nick said.
"It's hot," I warned him.
The glass door released and a hard, toned, muscular body stepped through. "I like it hot." He moved me from the water, his eyes devouring my body as he took my place. "I also really enjoy the massive amount of water and how frivolously you humans use it."
I grabbed the bar of soap, began lathering my hands, and slowly worked them across his chest. Suds trailed from my fingers as I caressed every symbol on every muscle, working ever lower. "So no hot showers on Daemin?"
"Only for the very elite." He gasped as my hands hit sensitive flesh. "Tease," he hissed.
"Already proved that wrong."
"If you start that, you won't be able to finish," he warned, grabbing my wrists.
I licked the mist from my lips and smiled. "Pretty sure I can finish, Nick. My hands work just fine."
He groaned and leaned back against the wall, his fingers moving over mine, guiding them. He was used to being in control, having things exactly how he wanted, and I didn't stop him from showing me. Pressure urged me to squeeze tighter. His hips thrust forward, and I slid on his wet, slick skin, faster, both hands working him savagely until Nick's eyes closed and he clawed at the tile walls.
But there was a power in giving, too. Being able to make this man, this impossibly gorgeous guy, writhe at my touch was my own dream come true, and I was enjoying this. My hands worked his body, but my eyes watched his face, trying to memorize every single detail.
It didn't take long before he was bracing himself, his dick thick and hard in my palms. The swollen head strained until a low, primal groan burst from his lips. His knees weakened and he spilled himself down my leg, the mess rinsed quickly to the drain.
"Damn," he moaned, lifting his wet lashes as the edges of his lips curled up. "I can get used to this."
With a giggle, I pressed against him, kissing his relaxed mouth. "That's exactly my plan. Now finish on your own."
"You alrea
dy finished me," he pointed out. "Oh, you meant the shower."
I stuck my tongue out at him and turned for the door, gasping when he pulled me back. One tug transported me against him and a rush of shock hit me at his true strength. Nick had always been so gentle. He'd never seemed like anything more than a well-built man until that moment, even though I'd known better. That didn't mean I'd actually wrapped my mind around it. Feeling him move me like that without even the slightest struggle? The reality of his power finally sank in, and I could tell he saw it written on my face.
"Sia, I won't hurt you." His hand pressed against my cheek. "Never, ok?"
"You're just stronger than I expected. I mean, I tried, but... Wow."
His black eyes pleaded with me. "Tell me that's not a bad thing?"
I shook my head, letting a little giggle slip out. "It's not a bad thing, Nick. It's kinda sexy." It was, but I also knew, for the first time, how easily he could break me.
The strange thing was that I honestly didn't care. Oh, he'd shocked me, but it was more because it had been miraculous than any kind of fear for my life. In fact, the more I thought about it, the safer it made me feel. This was my demon. My boyfriend. And Nick wasn't the kind of guy anyone in their right mind would fuck with.
Boyfriend wasn't the right word, but what else could I call him? I was pretty sure this thing between us wasn't love – or maybe it was? I didn't know yet, but at that moment he was mine, and boyfriend was something I could handle with everything else changing so fast. "Boyfriend" made me feel grounded, normal, and gave some weight of reality to all of this.
He might be Death incarnate, but I refused to skip ahead with our relationship. I wanted to date someone seriously enough to call him a boyfriend, have him turn into a lover, and maybe even a fiancée one day. No matter who he was, if he respected me, he'd let me take this at my own pace.
He stood there, letting the water course down his amazing body. "Dove, are you really ok with this?"
"Yeah," I breathed. "I'm probably just going to have moments, ok? Just things that make me realize this isn't some dream, and I'm not really losing my mind. That's not a bad thing. I'm sure you weren't any better when you first stepped into another world."
"That was a long time ago, dove."
"And I'm willing to bet you still remember the awe. Let me enjoy this, Nick."
"I'm trying, it's just..." He sounded almost nervous. "I haven't dated in a few years." He ran his fingers through the wet hair at the back of my neck. "Or so. I'm not good at this, and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."
I stepped closer. "You're supposed to be yourself. That's it. I think courtship and that crap went out in the eighteen hundreds. There aren't any fancy rules to follow. It just takes time."
"Ok, maybe it's more like a few thousand years. I tried to avoid it."
"You trying to give me a hint or something? Well, bad news. You're stuck with me now." I turned to the door again, intending to make it to my towel this time. "I'm going to dry off, so you don't get any ideas, mister."
He chuckled as I closed the glass door between us. "I hope this is the same reaction I get on the next world. I've been told I look like a corpse."
"You mean the blue skin? Whoever said that had probably never seen a dead person. They tend to be more grey and lifeless. You're more like moonlight on a still lake."
"I honestly think it's the horns they hate the most. Or the wings. Maybe the tail." Something in his voice sounded like he was fishing.
"What color are the horns?" I asked.
"Bluish. Like a dark gunmetal blue."
I could hear him scrubbing shampoo into his hair and enjoyed the way his body was silhouetted against the glass. Damn, that boy had a figure to die for, regardless of the color. And his features had that biblical kind of beauty. His skin was this amazing sun-kissed color, but I couldn't be sure if he'd been trying to mimic some ethnicity or if he'd just gone for the perfect tall, dark, and handsome look. Rubbing the water from my skin, I did my best to imagine him with large bat wings, a tail, and a pair of horns jutting from the top of his head.
"Ok, that actually sounds kinda sexy," I admitted. "I'd love to see it."
He chuckled and turned off the water. When he pushed open the door, droplets clung to his skin. "And I don't really want you to. I'm enjoying having you think I'm beautiful, ok? Let me have that for a bit longer before you see the monster?"
"You're not a monster." I grabbed his bare bicep and let my thumb caress one of those strange symbols. "I bet your tail is cute. There's a little diamond on the end, isn't there?"
He grinned and turned into me, pressing me back with a smile. "I am not cute, little girl. I'm grotesque, monstrous, and terrifying."
"And really good in bed."
His smile turned sweet. "You think so?"
"Mhm." I slid my hands up his slick, bare chest. "Absolutely. Honestly the best I've had."
"Good." His eyes dropped to my lips. "It's, um, been a while."
I pulled away to let him dry off, deciding to change the subject before I stopped caring about the ache I was still trying to recover from. "And you really fly?"
"Yeah!" He sounded appalled that I even questioned it.
"How does that work? You have some really massive wings or something?"
"Not made of matter. Well, not like you know it. Rather than just molecules of carbon, the further out you get, the more divergent our chemical structure becomes. Energy equals mass times the speed of light, but those variables change between the planes, and it doesn't account for the presence of aether. That means physics is a bit more complicated in the outer realms."
I was sure he'd just said something meaningful, but to me it was gibberish. "So how much can you carry when flying?"
"Uh." His forehead wrinkled. "Couple hundred pounds easily. I've caught Luke a few times. Why?"
"Will you take me flying one day?" I asked. "Just once?"
He focused on using the towel to dry himself. "I'll make you a deal. When you see my real body, if you still want to go flying, I'll show you what it's like to soar with dragons, ok? It's more work on Vesdar, but still possible. Wings are only good for gliding on Earth, though. It's why we didn't mind giving them up."
"It's a date," I promised. "And if I absolutely hate the way you look over there, I'll just screw you silly on this side of the veil. At least until I get used to it."
It took a moment before my words registered. When they did, he looked up at me, his lips slightly parted, and stepped closer to smother me in his arms. "I promise. I'll never force you to look at that."
"I said 'if,' Nick. Not when, if."
Hearing how much he hated the way he looked hit me harder than it should. I knew that feeling. As a kid, I'd been the carrot-topped mess, always picked on for one thing or another. When Death had asked me for that first kiss? Never before had anyone acted like they wanted me that way. Maybe it's why I latched onto him so hard, but it also made me want to shelter him from ever needing to feel like that again.
"I'm trying," he said softly. "Damn it, Sia, I'm trying. I just never expected this to happen. You're nothing like anyone I've met before."
"I'm a Muse," I reminded him. "I'm not supposed to be, right?"
"Yeah." He leaned back, cradling my face in his hands. "And if you can stand Daemin, maybe we'll craft you a skin with wings of your own. I'll teach you to fly."
"You definitely know the way to a girl's heart." I kissed him quickly and stepped back, reaching up for the circle branded into his chest. "You gonna explain what this is?"
He looked down at my hand, his brow wrinkled, then he laughed. "Yeah. Um, that's my seal. Sam and Luke have one too, and you'll need one eventually. It's like a key for Daemin, and it will show on every skin you make."
I nodded slowly, accepting that. "And the rest of the markings?"
To prove what I meant, I touched one on his ribs, then just over his navel. They weren't as dense on his arms or legs, and he had n
one on his face or neck. That's probably why I'd never noticed them when he was wearing a shirt.
He grabbed his towel and rubbed the water from his skin, refusing to meet my eyes. "I forgot about that. Those are wards."
"On your body?"
He nodded, glancing up at me. "To prevent anyone from removing my aether without consent. I have no urge to lay asleep for thousands of years. There's only a handful of us that have never been drained, and most refuse to leave Daemin." He shrugged. "I didn't exactly plan for last night to happen or I would have told you."
"It's ok!" I assured him. "It's actually pretty cool. I mean, I just thought it was ancient body art or something. Didn't know you were covered in magic."
He nodded. "In more ways than you know. I'm trying not to hide anything from you, but it's going to take years before I can explain it all."
"It's ok, Nick. I've got plenty of time," I promised. "Clothes?"
"On the bed." When I turned for the door, he grabbed my arm, halting me. This time, his fingers were overly gentle. "Are you really ok with this?"
"Yeah." I turned back to him, not even ashamed of the flush on my cheeks. "In case you didn't know, there's nothing wrong with jumping in bed with some nefarious demon that wants to teach me the black arts."
"That's not what I meant."
"I know." I took a deep breath. "I hate that I no longer understand my own world, but that's my only complaint. I want to learn everything right now. Sam's fun, Luke's growing on me, and you?" I looked up at him slowly. "I'm pretty happy with this, even if I might be walking a little funny for the rest of the day."
He chuckled, avoiding my eyes as he wrapped the towel around his waist. "Tell me if I go too fast?"
"I can do that."
"Spend the night with me again tonight?"
"I'd planned on it."
He glanced up and grinned. "Marry me?"
I laughed. "Too fast."
He chuckled. "Ok. Least we settled that."
Then he walked past me to the bedroom, grabbing his clothes and pulling them on without a hint of shame. I looked at what he'd found for me, surprised to see my favorite t-shirt and a pair of jeans, clean socks, underwear, and even my running shoes all laying there, waiting for me.
