by LS Anders
She'd seen the thin veins in his eyes, and the thick veins under his skin glow red throughout the day just before he would rush off to lock himself in the restroom. He was battling some sort of inward struggle that had to do with his attraction to her. Which was an amazing compliment, while also being seriously dangerous if witnessed by a human, so she’d tried to throttle back her flirtatious eyeballing and ignored his stares even though she could feel his eyes on her when he wasn't working.
She’d been unable to stop peeking over his shoulder while he was focused on his work. The male could tattoo like a fiend. His work was freaking amazing, and she couldn’t stop herself from stealing glimpses as he created one masterpiece after another.
Taking the insulated cup when her name was called, she found a window seat and sipped the rich liquid as she pondered more about the delicious demon. Holy crap. What she wouldn't give to have a taste of his heat. Every inch of her feminine flesh was still tingling with erotic curiosity about him.
It was rumored that demons had ridges on the topside of their cocks, perfectly placed to bump against a female’s clit with every stroke. That was only talk coming from a bunch of horny fairies and not from sources that had first-hand knowledge, but it was too exciting a prospect not to indulge her dirty little mind with a fantasy or two.
She could count on one hand the number of demons she’d heard that had been cast out of Netherworld, so she'd never actually met one until Vex, nor had any of the fairies in her coven. But, it was a nice tease to ponder the physical attributes of a male as attractive as him.
Biting the inside of her cheek to hold back her laugh, she could imagine the look he'd have on his fierce face if she were to ask him the truth about the ridges. Would his face burn hot with lust or embarrassment?
Lifting her laptop from her tote, she cracked it open clicking on a fresh word doc. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she emptied out the notes she'd been writing inside her head all day as she got to know the males she now worked for.
They all had desirable traits that would make fabulous heroes for future romances. Human men had never held any interest for her, but Jason Gales was fascinating and totally worthy of a story.
Her curiosity about the new manager had been tweaking all day. She had caught a whisper here and there between Sevin and Lucian. From what she could gather, he'd recently been the recipient of a broken heart. Poor man. He seemed like such a sweet guy, the woman that’d hurt him must be a real bitch. She needed to write him an happily ever after.
Mythical Ink was drenched in intrigue. Such a hodgepodge of unlikely beings all in one place, from the human manager to the angel/demon combo. Now there was a mystery she couldn’t wait to unravel, the how and why of those two friends who’d become business partners. Had they been cast out of the afterlife together? And, where did the shifter, Sevin, come in to play in all this?
Done with her notes, she clicked on her word document, opening her unfinished manuscript. Fueled from the day and the change in her normal routine, the words spilled easily onto the page as she plowed through one new chapter after another. Her thoughts coming faster then she could type them.
Lost in her own head, she jumped when Sevin suddenly appeared in front of her.
“Hey,” he grinned. “I didn't mean to scare you.”
“Oh, that's ok.” She sliced her hand through the air and returned his smile. “You didn't.”
“It's awfully late. Have you been here since you left the shop?”
“Yeah. Really? What time is it?” she asked, glancing at her watch. “Oh wow! I hadn't realized I'd been here this long. So, why are you here?”
“I prowl around at night and saw you through the window. Thought I’d stop and say, hello.” Sevin took the seat in front of her. “I was about to head home, but I can walk you home first if you want. I'd feel weird about you walking the streets this late at night by yourself. Not that you can't take care of yourself or anything.”
His gesture was endearing. She had never had a male ask to walk her home before and even though she was in no danger, she was going to take him up on his kind offer. The expression on his face indicated he was prepared to argue with her if she declined. “Sure, that would be really nice. If it isn't too much trouble.”
“Nope, no trouble at all.” He seemed relieved by her answer.
Packing up her laptop, she’d made serious progress on her novel. A couple more nights like tonight, and she would soon be finished with the piece.
Stepping out into the night air, she huddled into her coat imagining the blasts of heat Vex had washed her in throughout the day. It warmed her a little, but the night had turned colder and quickly obliterated the warmth she carried with her from the coffee shop.
The cold would soon seep into her bones, and she hoped the shower was vacant when she got home. Sharing a bathroom with five other females always involved a fight over who got there first.
Walking along beside Sevin, she noticed him scanning the area around them. Watchful, as if he were on guard, but that would be in his nature as a wolf-shifter. With his youthful appearance, she’d almost forgotten hidden beneath his human-like façade lies the heart of a wolf.
“So, Vex likes you. That's really surprising,” he stated matter-of-factly. Rushing on as he noticed her eyebrows shoot to her hairline. “What I mean is, he doesn't like females. I mean…he doesn't go for males. At least, I don't think he does. He's just never shown any interest in a girl before now.”
“Well, I'm flattered.” A smile took over her face. Grabbing onto the bone he’d inadvertently just thrown her, she asked, “Have you known him long?”
“Nearly my whole life. He and Lu raised me.”
Well now, shit had just gotten more interesting. Her curiosity shifted into overdrive as the questions inside her head began bumping into each other, unsure which one to ask first. “So, the two of them took care of you? Did something happen to your family?”
His brows knitted together as pain crossed his features, so Alea dropped it and moved onto another subject. “How long have they known each other?”
“Forever, I think. Back before they came to this realm.”
“Has that been a long time?”
“Yeah. They’re—"
Sevin stopped short, placing himself in front of her. So caught up in what he was going to say, she didn't notice the other shifters until they stepped out of the alley they'd just passed.
“Well, well, well. Look boys, it's the mutt out for his nightly stroll.”
“Fuck off, Micah.”
The haughty laugh that bubbled out of the male annoyed the shit out of her.
“That's damn brave of you, whelp, to shield that female.” Micah looked around Sevin locking eyes with Alea. She wanted to tear the smile from his face. “Did he bother to tell you what he is, or isn’t in his case?”
Furious that these assholes thought they could screw with her new friend, she stepped out from behind Sevin. Fairies had nasty reputations, and she planned to use the rumors to her advantage as they were outnumbered two against five. “Apparently, you don’t realize what I am. Do you, dog?”
The five shifters stepped back as one unit once they got a good look at her.
“Sevin is my friend, so I advise you to move on down the road before I turn all your brains to mush,” she hissed, lunging towards them.
The fear was comical as the shifters yelped, turning and running back the way they’d come.
“I was supposed to be protecting you, but thanks for that. Those dicks give me hell every chance they get,” he admitted.
“Why? What the hell did you ever do to them?”
Sevin’s feet go to moving, and she could see indecision play across his face before he opened his mouth to speak. “I’m not like them.”
Alea jogged to catch up to his long strides. “You mean an asshole? You’re a wolf just like they are.”
“No. Not like them,” Sevin sneered, pushing an ugly sound from
his throat. “I wish I was.”
“What do you mean, not like them?” Alea grabbed his arm, bringing him to a halt. “Sevin, what’s going on? We’re friends. You can trust me.”
“Are you sure you’d still want to be friends with me if I told you I was only half-shifter?” His head dropped, focusing his silver eyes on the toes of his sneakers. “My mom was human.”
His shame was palatable. Sevin was such a sweet guy, always quick with a smile, it broke her heart to see him hurting. In the short time she’d known him, he’d begun to feel like a little brother to her. “Sevin, of course we’re still friends. I would never judge you based on who your parents were.”
And, where were his parents? He looked so distressed, she was afraid to ask.
Lifting his eyes to meet hers, he kept his head down, shuffling his feet around like a little kid. “Thanks, Alea.”
“You don’t have to thank me, but you’re welcome.”
A goofy grin wobbled onto his face and before she realized what he was doing, he wrapped both arms around her in a rushed hug before stepping back. “Don’t tell Vex I hugged you, or he’ll stab me in the neck with a screwdriver.”
“What?” she laughed. “No, he wouldn’t. Why would he care?”
“All that eyeball glowing tells me he would.” Sevin started walking. “Even Lu was surprised at how Vex was acting around you today.”
“Wow, really?” A ton of scenarios began to play out inside her mind like her own personal erotic cinema between her and Vex as she kept up with Sevin’s pace.
As they rounded the corner, the thumping of the base of the fairies favorite song yanked her away from her private thoughts.
“Damn, someone’s having a party. Is this street always this noisy?”
“Unfortunately.” She stopped to look at the ratty house, not looking forward to going inside. “You should hear it from the inside.”
“Do you live there?”
Her shoulders slumped forward. Nodding, she couldn’t meet his eyes.
“Look, Alea, not to sound forward, but why don't you go grab some of your shit. You can crash at my place tonight. I don’t have a huge apartment, but at least it's quieter than that place.”
“As lovely as that sounds, I could never impose on you.”
“You’re not imposing. Now go get your stuff. Do you want me to go in with you?”
“That’s not necessary.” Her eyes roamed over his face before returning to the home she’d lived in for more than a decade. “Sevin, I don’t know—”
“So, I’ll be waiting here for you,” he interrupted, a look of determination firmly in place.
“Fine, I won’t be long,” Alea huffed, mumbling about pig-headed males as she walked away.
Surprisingly, Sevin didn’t live very far away from where she did, so the walk to his place was a quick journey. Before she knew it, she was lavishing under a hot spray with thick steam billowing up all around her in Sevin’s small corner shower. Her bone marrow was finally beginning to thaw, but she didn’t want to be a hot water hog, so she shut off the spray and toweled off.
Sevin was just smoothing an extra blanket over the bed on the fold out couch when she stepped from the bathroom. “You didn’t have to go to all that trouble for me. Now I feel bad that I stayed in the shower for so long while you were out here making up my bed.”
“Girl, please. It’s the least I could do after you ran off those purebreds. You saved me from a fight. Not that I’m a pussy or anything, but five to one isn’t exactly fair odds.”
“No kidding,” Alea set her overnight bag on the floor next to the sofa bed. “Do they gang up on you a lot?”
“Just every chance they get.”
“That sucks, Sevin.”
“Yeah, well, it is what it is. I just try to stay out of their way.” Tunneling his fingers through the long strands of his silver mohawk, she could tell he was getting uncomfortable with the conversation, so she let it go. “So, goodnight, and I’ll see you in the morning.”
“G’night, and thanks again.”
“Anytime.”
Sevin disappeared behind a screen that divided the living area from his makeshift bedroom. He was set on giving her his bed, but she had managed to talk him into letting her take the sofa.
Slipping under the covers, she reached for the lamp on the table next to her. “Ok if I shut off the light?” she called out.
“Yep. I’m good, thanks.”
Darkness enveloped the room with a click of the switch. Snuggling into the bed, the quiet that surrounded her was heavenly. This was what she had to look forward to when she was finally able to move out on her own. Oh, how she envied Sevin his tiny studio apartment.
A sigh escaped her as she stretched out on the mattress, spreading her limbs out in all directions, she relished the warmth from all the blankets he had layered on. The bed was perfectly comfortable for a pull-out as she couldn’t seem to stop moving, enjoying the feel of the softness beneath her and the weight of the bedding laying upon her.
Rolling over onto her belly, she let her wings pop free and scissored her legs apart. A spear of lust lit up her center as the demon’s face appeared behind her closed lids. Her hips flexing forward from the unexpected wave of desire.
Damn that male for his extreme sexiness.
Tucking her wings along her spine, she rolled back over and wondered what he was doing at this very moment. Was he thinking of her? Was he already asleep?
The last question she could answer. All she’d have to do was fall into a trance and search for his subconscious in the Realm of Dreams. It had been forever since she’d dream walked. She hadn’t had the need to, plus the house she lived in was so loud, she wouldn’t have been able to trance out even if she wanted to.
Concentration was the key. Settling into a comfortable position, she rested her arms close to her sides. Taking a few deep breathes, she focused her energy inward.
As she fell into a blissful calm, her ears began picking up every tiny sound. The sheets on Sevin’s bed rustled as he moved around. A neighbor was walking a little too hard on the floor overhead. A dog howled in the distance answering an ambulance’s siren.
Her body jerked as her essence began to drift up and away. Recalling Vex’s image was necessary in order to find him if he were asleep. Focusing on every nuance of his face was a piece of cake. She’d studied him with a sexually infused intensity that could peel paint from the walls when he hadn’t been looking.
Feeling his energy in the Realm of Dreams had her flesh and bone body grinning, and she soon found her way to him. He was asleep and as deep as his subconscious mind was, he had been that way for a while.
Cautiously, she approached him, not wanting to startle him from the images that his mind was projecting. She was so out of practice that what he was seeing was vague and hazy to her eyes.
The fog that came with dream walking proceeded her, gaining his attention from whatever task he dreamt he was doing. Approaching him slowly, she raised her hand in greeting.
His brows pinched together over his hellish eyes as if he wondered what she was doing there. He lifted his huge palm, the corners of his mouth twitching upward. She supposed that was his version of a grin.
Encouraged that he was going to be respond well to her intrusion, she continued forward until she stood directly in front of him, her head tilted as far back as it would go. Without her high heels, she was miniscule in comparison to him.
“Hi, Vex. Mind if I join you?”
“No, I don’t mind. Just surprised to find you here. Where did all this fog come from?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s my fault.” Reaching out to touch his chest, he flinched from the contact. Her palm looked so small on his pec. “I was thinking about you.”
“You were? How so?”
Lifting up her other hand, she placed it over the opposite pec, then smoothed her palms down over his abs.
He stopped breathing, his eyes searching her face. The network
of veins below his skin began to glow, the red heat in his eyes captivating her. His core temperature was increasing, she could feel the heat building up fast beneath the ridges that defined his rock-hard belly.
He wanted her as much as she wanted him, it was evident in the ever-increasing bulge he didn’t bother to hide.
Lifting up onto her toes, she cupped a hand around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. Anticipation of knowing the feel of his cruel mouth against her own tingled across her skin.
Just as her lips were about to brush against his, he pulled back, a look of uncertainty etched on his fearsome face. “What are you doing?”
Closing the distance between them, her arms barely made it around the width of his chest. “Well, I was going to kiss you.”
“What…why?” he sputtered.
“Because, you look like you want me to,” she said, pushing him backwards until the backs of his legs bumped against the bed she conjured out of the fog.
He sat down with an oof. As short as she was, her head was now only slightly higher than his.
Vex’s eyes locked onto her mouth as she advanced on him again. His lips remained closed when she made the contact, a tremble coursing through him. He didn’t return the kiss, but he didn’t pull away either.
Encouraged, she began brushing her lips against his, maintaining the contact. The usual tension in his mouth relaxing and his lips began to part. Capturing his bottom lip between hers, she swept her tongue across the surprising softness.
The scorching heat of his huge palm came to rest on her waist as his lips moved only the slightest bit against hers. His other hand came up to join the other encircling her waist sending a kick of desire uncoiling low in her belly.
His movements were so tentative, she was afraid to go too fast and scare him away. It was hell moving this slow when what she really wanted to do was tear off his shirt and rip off his pants, to straddle his lap and have him buried deep inside her as she rode him hard to completion. The thought rubberized her knees.
