Demons of Desire (17 page)

We’d replied at the same time. Cowboy looked back and forth between us then sat on the bed to wait it out. Irix released my hand. I held back from punching him again since he’d finally stopped laughing.

“Have you not been listening to a thing I’ve said this past month? What I’ve been teaching you? Amber, you are the one who controls the experience. You. Some demons like a strong tie, others prefer a lighter touch. You determine your style. And yes, you can vary it from partner to partner. It’s all you, elf–girl.”

“Oh.”

I was an idiot. I’d been so unnerved out by what I thought I was becoming, and unsettled by Irix’s presence, that I hadn’t done much but fight with him for the last four weeks. I looked up at him, into those golden eyes, and wondered why he hadn’t bailed on me weeks ago.

He sighed. “It’s my fault. I obviously didn’t do a good job at explaining these things. Maybe you’ll do better with a different instructor. Swendal, perhaps.”

A demon apologizing? But it was his suggestion that he should go home and send another in his place that sent my heart racing with panic. He couldn’t leave.

I shook my head. “No. I was too busy freaking out to listen to you. I’ll do better, I promise. Please stay.”

He stared at me, deciding, while I struggled to breathe.

“Please. I don’t want you to leave.” I was begging him, and I was on the verge of tears.

“Another day. Twenty–four hours.” His voice was husky, and something unreadable flashed across his face. I thought maybe he’d hug me, soothe me as he’d done the other night, but he stood as if frozen, with that odd expression. I nodded.

Irix escorted the disappointed cowboy to the door, and the pair left without another word. I felt like my world had been rocked to the core. I could do this — have sex with only the lightest of ties, or perhaps even none at all. It might mean I’d need more partners than most other sex demons, but that was okay. As long as I knew I wasn’t doing any harm, I’d be fine. I always loved sex anyway.

But now … . I glanced at the closed apartment door and felt depressed. I’d find at least one partner, and Irix wouldn’t need to share his energy with me. He wouldn’t need to have sex with me. Irix. The one being in this world that I’d come to realize I simply could not live without.

What had originally been an intense physical attraction was turning into something else. He was a demon, an incubus, but he was so much more. He’d shown me that he could be caring, considerate, even patient. These traits drew me in further. He might break my heart, but I was too far gone to hold back now. I took a deep breath and knew no matter what the future would bring, I was going to jump into this with both feet and no regrets.

I wanted everything he was willing to give to me, no matter what pain I went through afterward. One night might be all we shared, but what a night that would be. I just needed to dig in my heels and be a stubborn, pig–headed, self–destructive elf–girl for another twenty–four hours.

17

I
stretched, feeling decadent to be hogging up Darci’s entire bed. Irix’s texts hadn’t been the only ones I had missed last night. My friend had made good on her plans to head over to Gavin’s, and the last text from her had indicated her intentions of spending the night. Poor guy. He’d be lucky if he could walk by the time Darci got through with him. I needed to take her to sex clubs more often.

Rolling over, I gloried in the soft feel of sheets, the feather pillow cradling my head, and the warm, hard body next to me. My heart froze and exploded into panicked action. There was a man in my bed, and he’d certainly not been there when I retired for the evening. Screaming, I launched myself off the mattress. I had no idea what I planned to do. I was naked with no weapons besides my demonic ones, and some instinctive part of my brain realized it wouldn’t be wise to launch a lightning bolt into Darci’s bed — strange male occupant or not.

My feet hit the ground, but before I could make a run for it, my toga–like attire tangled around my legs, dropping me to the floor in a heap of sheets and pillows. The figure on the bed stirred, and I shrieked again, brandishing a pillow as a naked man rose to his knees.

“Is this the way you wake up every morning? Screaming and rolling around on the floor in the bed linen?”

Irix. Demons have no concept of modesty. I’d seen him in the buff before, but still the sight rendered me speechless. His body was flawless. Silken hair just this side of black was loose from its usual tie and brushed along his sculpted, broad shoulders. His chest was well–defined without being absurdly huge. Toned abs were divided by a faint line of brown hair that led to … Oh my God. I would not look, would not look. Fuck it, I was looking.

Narrow hips, powerful thighs, and between them the most perfect specimen of male sex ever. Thick and long, but not so big that I worried about needing a shoehorn or a gallon of lube. Just right, and I was Goldilocks, eyeing it with intent. As if reading my mind, it twitched, beckoning me.

“If you’re going to look at me like that, then you better get back into this bed.”

This wasn’t how I’d envisioned our first night — or day, together. No, I’d better stay out of the bed. Tearing my eyes away, I hitched the sheet up higher around my chest and tried to think of something to say.

“What are you doing here — in Darci’s apartment, and especially in bed with me? I thought I had another twenty–four–hour extension.”

Irix sighed, and that very intriguing part of his anatomy relaxed. I know, I peeked.

“I came over to take you to breakfast, but you sleep like the dead. Since I had no idea how long you were going to be in that state, I figured I’d get some shut eye myself.”

Breakfast. My stomach rumbled at the idea. Irix climbed off the bed and strode to the closet, completely unselfconscious of his nudity. This afforded me a lovely view of his backside, which was just as pleasing to the eye as the front of him.

“We’ve gotten off to a rocky start, you and I. Part of that is my fault, and part of that is you being a thick–headed, stubborn half–breed. So I’m here, waving the white flag and offering to treat you to pecan French toast as a gesture of good will.”

He pulled a blue sundress out of the closet and carried it over to me. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that these were all Darci’s clothes, and the sundress would probably rip at the seams if I tried to squeeze it over my curvy frame.

“So you want to bury the hatchet?” I took the dress from him. It was very unnerving having him standing naked, scant inches from me while I was sitting on the floor in a sheet. That put me eye level with … well, you–know–what.

“I would so love to bury the hatchet as well as other things, but I’m restraining myself from that impulse. So, French toast and a fresh start?”

He held out his hand, and I took it, purposely letting the sheet drop to the floor as he drew me to my feet. Yeah. Two could play this game.

“Fresh start. Now get out of here and put on some coffee while I shower and get dressed.”

Irix’s gaze wandered appreciatively, and I noticed his eyes weren’t the only part of him that approved of my body.

“I can scrub your back,” he suggested.

I swatted him playfully with Darci’s sundress. “Out. And coffee. I’m going to be very grumpy if I don’t have coffee.”

He bowed and gathered his clothing from the floor. “Yes, my elven princess. Coffee it is.”

***

The French toast was heavenly, smothered in pecans and drenched in a sweet rum sauce. Irix had surprised me with his coffee–making skills, and then further surprised me with light, entertaining breakfast conversation. He asked how I’d met Darci then listened intently as I talked about various college classes and my plans for a senior thesis.

“And this Jordan, she’s also very interested in plants and trees, you said?”

He sipped his coffee, heavily laced with cream and sugar, eyes on me the whole time. For a second I worried that this was part of his whole sex–demon appeal, but Irix had no reason to draw me in with false interest. I went on to tell him about Jordan and her coven, about the ritual last night, feeling a warm, tingling sense of pleasure at our easy conversation.

“Did you use the coven’s energy to repair the trees?” he asked. “You couldn’t have had enough of your own to do such a thing, but witch magic isn’t usually compatible with demon magic.”

I had wondered the same thing last night. “I had energy I siphoned off at a fetish club that I used. The coven’s energy felt odd — scratchy and uncomfortable, but I combined it with mine and used it anyway. I don’t think I would have had enough if I hadn’t been able to do that.”

Irix frowned down into his coffee cup, then looked up at me with a smile. “Ah, I’ll bet it’s the elf part of you that allowed you to use it. That’s why elves enslave humans in Hel. Their magical abilities are compatible, and, in some ways, the humans are actually more powerful.”

More powerful didn’t seem to help them. The elves ruled over their slaves with an iron fist. Still, it was good to know that I could partner with humans. It made me feel less an outsider in this world.

“So? Can I go see it?”

“See what?” I was momentarily confused, still thinking about the elves in Hel — my brethren that I’d never be able to know for fear they’d kill me on sight. Elves didn’t like anyone mixing in their gene pool, and in their eyes, I was an abomination.

“Your trees. The ones you worked your elven magic on. Show me. I want to see them.”

Seriously? He wanted to go look at a bunch of cypress trees in a bayou? Who was this man, and what had he done with Irix the demon?

“It’s a bit out of town. We can’t exactly walk there.”

“No problem.” Irix tossed some money onto the table and stood. “We’ll drive.”

I followed him down the street a block to a black Audi A4. He opened the passenger door and ushered me in with a flourish. It was a sweet ride, kept cool from the morning heat by some type of circulating air system that worked while the car was parked. Irix climbed in beside me, and, with a roar of the engine, we took off. We were leaving the downtown area behind when I realized that there wasn’t a key in the ignition.

“You stole this car,” I accused, turning in my seat to face him. “Some poor guy is going to come out of his house, or from breakfast, and find his car gone.”

Irix’s shrug was nonchalant, but his lips twitched. “Probably. I’ll have it back to him by tonight. Or maybe not. I like this car a lot. I may decide to keep it for the duration of my stay.”

So much for him being a kinder, gentler doppelganger of Irix the demon. “He’ll file a police report. We’ll be pulled over as soon as we return to the city, and they’ll haul you off to jail. Hell, they’ll probably haul me off to jail too.”

And I was just as bad, more worried about us going to jail then some poor guy having his awesome car stolen from in front of his house.

Irix shot me an amused look. This time the smile on his face was unmistakable. “Since when have the police ever hauled you into jail? Come to think of it, since when have they ever even given you a ticket? Tell you what; if we get pulled over, I’ll shut up and let you do all the talking, just to prove my point.”

He was right. I’d never had a speeding ticket, a parking ticket, even a jaywalking citation. His reassurances didn’t make me feel any better; if anything, they made me feel worse.

“Okay, but it’s wrong. You stole someone’s car!”

He nodded pragmatically. “Well, yes. It’s not like I had time to go out and buy one off the lot. Plus you would have probably had a fit over me using stolen credit cards and someone else’s identity to buy it. Jacking one is quicker, and I get the same lecture either way.”

“Wait.” I was suddenly suspicious. “Where did you get the cash for breakfast?”

“The ATM, where else?” His tone was cheerful, but I knew better.

“I’m pretty sure you don’t have a bank account, so you either stole someone’s card and PIN, or hot–wired the machine into giving you the money.”

“The latter. Don’t worry, I changed forms. The police are looking for a short, fat, blond man with a beard.”

“You changed forms. With an angel in the city.” I might not know much about demons, but I did know that changing physical forms took a lot of energy — energy an angel could easily sense and track if one were nearby.

“I did it up in Maryland. I may need to start using one of the credit cards I acquired though. Chasing around after a certain half–elf has really depleted my cash.”

There was no arguing ethics with a demon. Giving up for now, I sat back and navigated to the ritual site, keeping my eyes on the rearview mirror for any police cruisers.

“Here.” I pointed to a pull–off spot, and we got out and picked our way carefully through the scrub toward where the circle had been. The air was thick and heavy under a gray sky, with wind that promised rain. I paused to tie my hair up and let the breeze cool the sweat on the back of my neck while Irix strode ahead through the short, dense brush.

“Are you sure this is the right spot?”

“Yep. Why?” I trotted to catch up with him, suddenly realizing “why”.

Past the solid ground of the ritual site, across the stretch of half–submerged grass and algae–dotted water stood dead cypress as far as I could see. Dead. Not a leaf on the branches, they hunched over, stunted and twisted as if in pain.

“I … what the fuck happened? I
healed
them. They’re … dead. Not just the ones I healed, but all of them. They weren’t that way last night, even before we started.”

Irix turned, his posture tense, as if he were wary of my reaction to anything he might say. “Maybe the result was only temporary. You really didn’t have much energy, and human magic doesn’t mix well with our own.”

I felt on the edge of tears. Temporary? How could that be? Nothing I’d ever done in the past had been temporary. The Live Oak in Audubon Park was still fine. Temporary was bad enough, but these trees were dead — I’d made them worse. I’d killed them. The idea made me want to puke up my French toast all over the grass.

Irix took one look at my face, and his expression hardened. Spinning on his heel, he walked past the edge of the circle and right into the swamp.