Chapter Seven
“Jesus Christ! This table is three hundred fifty bucks.”
Trent looks mortified. “Seriously, Perry. Lower your voice.”
“Three hundred fifty fucking dollars!”
“Lower your freaking voice!” He’s doing that whisper-yell thing I love to hear people do. “Just be happy I knew where we would find the table. You have a potty-mouth.”
“So I’ve heard.” I shake my head and pick up the table. “Come on. Let’s get this baby home before Haines gets back. I haven’t gotten a pissed off phone call or text yet so I’m still in the clear.”
The aisles of the furniture store are clean and straight. No pillow out of place, no throw rug out of color order. Trent takes out a notepad and starts jotting down the prices of different items.
“So, Trent. Chaos demon. Interior designer?”
He smiles and continues to write. “Bringing order and making the most of all things messy brings me peace. It calms me down.” He stops and picks up an action figure juice cup. “You can’t imagine how it feels for me, a Chaos demon, to take the most disheveled, misused areas and turn them into efficient, beautiful works of art.”
“Wow.” I reposition the table and shrug. “That makes sense. I’m glad for you. You’re doing what makes you not cause anarchy. I’m trying not to kill men I have sex with.”
We walk to the front of the store, and the cashier is looking at me strangely while I cradle the end table like a newborn. “Umm, Miss? We could have had someone bring that to the front for you. It’s quite heavy, isn’t it?” He clears his throat and takes the credit card I’m practically shoving in his face.
Dang-it, I wasn’t paying attention. This thing probably weighs about seventy-five pounds. “Adrenaline,” I say, shrugging. “I’m just so happy to find this thing! And we’re in a hurry.”
Trent looks at me, eyes wide, and puts the cup in a cart next to the register marked ‘Return to Shelf.’
Cashier-guy smiles uncomfortably and hands me my receipt. Trent and I walk toward the door and when no one is around he starts his whisper-yell again.
“Oh. My. Goddess. What the heck is wrong with you? I hadn’t even realized you picked it up until that guy almost had a stroke. That thing has to be at least sixty pounds. You’re acting like a freaking newbie!”
I shake my head and put the table in the back of his car. “I kinda am. I haven’t even had sex yet and I don’t know what to do with myself! That little bit of energy I took from Haines last night is really something.”
He slams the trunk after I put the table in and gives me an odd look. “You’re still a virgin?”
“Umm, yeah. Not that it’s any of your beeswax.”
“Whoa,” he says smiling. “You must be from the Line. Power is pretty much rolling off you and you’re a virgin. A virgin sex demon.”
“Yup. Powerful me.”
“Oh my goodness.” His face turns serious. “You do know that your kind is being hunted.”
I turn away from him and head toward the passenger side door. “Yup. I know that, too.” I slide in the car and slam the door. Guess it’s time for one of those uncomfortable conversations. I’ve been having a lot of those lately.
Trent slips in beside me and starts the car. “Well, maybe it’s better that you’re a virgin. You don’t have your powers yet.”
Maybe life would be easier if that were the case. Unfortunately, it’s not. I’m so freaking powerful I’ve got angels of the Lord coming to pay me a visit.
“You haven’t been paying attention, have you? I’m strong. Really strong. And after me and Haines do the grown-up, I’ll be super-uber strong and super-uber hunted by that super-uber creepy angel.”
“But Perry, you don’t have to do it.”
“Are you insane? I think I’ll die if I don’t do it soon.”
He laughs and settles in to his seatbelt. “You can’t die from lack of sex. And you can’t miss what you’ve never had.”
“Says who? Let me rephrase that. I think I’ll start killing people if I don’t have sex soon.”
The rest of the drive is in silence. He seems to be genuinely concerned about me dying. Since I was a teenager I never really had friends, but he and Ryan seem to be my new best buds. Well, at least Ryan is. I apprehended Trent so that kind of makes him my friend. He didn’t tell me to get the hell away from him.
We pull into the neighborhood, and I don’t see Haines’ car. I am victorious!
“Dude, thanks for helping me with this. And thanks for your concern about me dying.”
“You’re welcome.” He laughs and hits the button to open the back of the car. “I heard that angel is pretty scary.”
“Pretty freaky is more like it. He looks like a child with the body of a really tall basketball player.”
“I’d like to never meet him.” He touches my hand and gives me a wary smile. “I’ll help you get that in the house and then you can come sit with me and Ryan until your husband gets home. Maybe you could come with me when I go pick up Roman from school.”
I get what he’s saying even if he’s doing me the honor of not saying it. “Thanks, but I’m okay with being alone. I’m not afraid of him. I’m not giving in.”
His voice is low. “I had a friend who said that, too. He’s gone now.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Line of Lilith, remember?” I open the car door and head straight to the trunk for the table.
Trent gets out and helps me bring it in the house. “Well, we must keep up appearances,” he says, helping me carry the table. “We don’t want our neighbors to see your short self pick up that table all by your lonesome.”
He helps me bring it in and we take it upstairs and put it in the place of the original.
“What are you going to do with the broken one?” He picks up the smashed pieces and heads back downstairs.
“Can you take it with you? Put it out with the trash on Friday?” It would be hard to explain the broken table in the backyard when Haines takes out the garbage.
“Sure. No problem.” He still looks a little sad. He’s already mourning me, and I haven’t gone anywhere.
“Trent? Why so glum?”
“You have something about you, did you know that?”
He’s certainly not attracted to me so it can’t be the sex-demon thing I have going on. “It must be my ladylike ways and sense of style that pulls you to me.” I still have on my sweatpants from this morning’s speed walk.
“Yeah, that must be it.” His smile is honest. “You know, there are only about one hundred of you guys left? Like, in the whole world.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah. There are hundreds of thousands of us half-breeds walking around this beautiful rock.”
“Thanks, Trent.”
We walk down the steps toward the garage. I give him a box to put the broken table pieces in. Just in case Haines sneaks up on us, Trent can smuggle the goods out of the house without them being seen.
“I didn’t mean to put a damper on your day, Perry.”
It’s already been dampered. Crazy angels can really damper things. I shrug and sit down on the family room couch. “It’s cool. You’d never know I just found out all this stuff about a murdering angel, and my bloodline all in the last”—I look down at my watchless wrist—“twelve hours. I think I’m taking it pretty good. I still don’t have the whole story.” I give him a sideways glance. “Wanna be part of my investigation crew? There’s chocolate zucchini bread involved.”
He looks thoughtful, and then a huge smile breaks across his face. “I am so in! You can keep that veggie bread crap. Ryan can help, too. He can research stuff like nobody’s business.”
“Ryan knows you’re a demon?”
“Of course. Full disclosure. A partner is someone you can share everything with.” He wrinkles his nose. “Eww. Chocolate covered veggie bread makes me want to vomit.”
“You’ve never tasted my chocolate veggie bread. It’s awesome.”
“Mmm-hmm.” He sits down next to me. “You know. There really is something about you. Demons have a kind of thing, and you don’t have that thing.”
“Is that a good thing?”
Trent puts the box on the floor. “I don’t know. It’s something,” he says, laughing.
“Says the demonic, gay, interior designer. An oxymoron wrapped in cliché.”
He looks around the room and smiles tightly. “I could really work wonders with this place. It’s nice but it’s just so blah.”
I purse my lips. “You know, since your place is so awesome, I could try to convince Haines to let you run loose in here and make it pretty. You could charge him double what you usually charge people.”
Shrugging, Trent takes another look around the room and laughs. It’s a genuine sound that makes me feel calmer. That look of sorrow over whether I will live or die has faded. He’s looking at me like I’m a person now. Not someone to be pitied. He and I will be good friends, but I feel a better connection to his husband. With them I don’t have to hide who I am or worry about getting too emotional and causing them to want me.
The sound of an approaching engine catches my attention. I jump up when I see Haines’ car pull up in the driveway. “Dude, say nothing to Haines. This is just between us.”
He nods his head and picks up the box.
“Oh, and Trent, Operation Investigation Crew is so on!” We can call ourselves the OIC. We’ll get shirts made with an angel in a circle with a line drawn through it, and OIC will be bedazzled on the back of it. That’s if I don’t get murdered first.
We hear the click of Haines unlocking the door and Trent starts jogging in place, his coat billowing around him. “Oh my Goddess. Should I leave out of the back door?”
Crap, the broken table pieces. “No. That would really look suspicious. Just close the lid on the box and keep it short.”
Trent puts the box back on the floor and sits down on the couch.
Haines walks through the door and sees Trent and me sitting uncomfortably on the couch, trying to look normal. He looks back and forth between us and then zeros in on Trent.
“Chaos demon, I suspect?”
I don’t like the way he’s looking at my new buddy. I stand up and walk toward Haines. “You’d suspect right. And he’s my friend, so be nice.”
“Perrian, why must you insist that I am not a nice person?”
“Because you’re giving him the stink-eye.” I make a mistake and kick the box. “He’s my friend.”
“Amazing,” Haines says, looking at the box. “You’ve made two friends today. Using your feminine wiles?”
Trent starts laughing so hard he can’t sit up straight.
“Yup, that’s it.” I smirk and point at Trent. “He and his husband, my other new buddy, are dying to get my goods.”
Trent and I laugh, but the joke seems to have flown right over Haines’ head. I needed this. The past few days have been so tense and stressful. Yes, I had a beautiful wedding but it was to a man I can’t look at without wanting to punch him in the face, and then hop on that same face like an equestrian happily galloping away to the land of Orgasma. My parents have been lying to me my entire life, and I had to take a vacation from work without the proper notification. Yeah, that last part was my fault but I’ll be damned if I will admit it.
It’s all Haines’ fault. Everything is.
Trent stands up and shakes Haines’ hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Trent.”
“Haines,” he says with a devilish smile. “All this time and I didn’t know a demon was living in the neighborhood.”
I interrupt before Haines starts asking questions. “Don’t forget to tell Ryan I’m making brunch later this week.”
“You’ve got it, Perry. Bye you two.” Trent bends down, picks up the box and casually walks out.
Pretty good. I thought he would flinch.
I watch him walk toward his house and then close the door. I have two new friends. All in one day.
“Should I ask what was in the box, Perrian?”
“You can ask.”
He takes the hint and moves on. “Have you talked to your mother?”
“Yes. It didn’t go well. I’m not speaking to her right now.”
“Perrian, I’m sure there is a perfectly good—”
“So, Haines. What have you been up to?” We don’t need to talk about my mother right now. Any information I find out is either going to come from Haines or my Operation Investigation Crew buddies.
He walks toward the closet next to the front door. “I visited my lawyer’s office.”
“Ready for the annulment?” I watch the muscles ripple under his shirt as he takes off his jacket and hangs it in the closet. My eyes make their way up his body as he walks toward me, and my heart rate increases. An unsteady feeling starts in my chest and my skin begins to tingle, like gentle fingers dancing their way across my body. Good God, that man is sexy.
His wide shoulders slope down to beautifully formed arms that look strong and warm. I’m not a small woman but I bet he could pick me up, hold me tight and never break a sweat. Hold me against the shower wall while his cock slid in and out of me, and I’d never worry if I was too much for him to hold.
He smiles but doesn’t say anything as he slips off his brown shoes and puts them by the unlit fireplace. “Not quite. I added you to all of my accounts. You are my wife, and you should have access to everything.” He sits down across from me and chews on his bottom lip. “How are you doing that?”
A warm sensation engulfs my most sensitive areas. The fine hairs along my skin react as if Haines is caressing me, running his hands along the exposed area of my neck and arms. “I’m not doing anything.” My voice is heavy. What the hell just happened? Here I am just sitting on the couch being really annoyed, and now I feel like I’ve had about two glasses of wine. Ardent, loose, and tingly.
“Yes, you are. You’re feeding from me.” He looks confused and intrigued. “May I?” he says, touching my chin and moving his face close to mine. “Do you feel satiated?”
I think it over for a moment and push my face closer to his, rubbing my cheek along his chin. “Yes. Kind of.” A little more wouldn’t hurt.
“You shouldn’t be doing what you’re doing.” He takes his nose and rubs it against mine, and Lilith help me if I’m not on fire for him. “Centuries old succubae and incubi can do this. You weren’t even touching me.”
“Can I? Touch you?”
His pupils double in size, and his breathing increases. He looks hesitant and thrilled. “Please do.”
I reach forward and run my hands up and down his arms. Little sparks of electricity buzz from him to me and back again. This came out of nowhere. I’ve been fighting it, but when I’m around him too long I want to touch him and have him touch me. I’d give anything to have him buried deep inside me. Hands wrapped around my shoulders as he drives himself into me, over and over. I’d welcome the pain of my first time just to have him claim me, make me scream, make me come, make me beg.
He looks at me curiously as I touch him, moving my hands from his arms to his chest, up his neck, raking my fingernails over his scalp. I pinch his hair for a bit of leverage and pull him to me, inhaling his clean scent. I bite his chin. A low hiss flows from his mouth and I smile, feeling his warm breath blow across my cheek.
“Perrian,” he whispers, bringing his lips close to mine. “What are you doing?”
I lick his bottom lip and feel a slight surge of energy, and oh Goddess, it fills me up and urges me on. Haines said that my power must be like electricity, but the energy roiling from him and sating me is volcanic. “I don’t know. It feels right, doesn’t it?”
“Indeed, it does.” He runs his hands up my legs, to my hips, and pulls me closer to him. “Keep feeding.”
“I don’t think I know how to stop.” I let him pull me closer to him. Holy crap. I’m going to take the man’s immortality. “This is bad. I don’t want to take too much. Is this bad?”
“Not for me,” he says. His hands rub soothing circles on my back as light butterfly kisses cover my face and neck, his eyes fixated on me the whole time. “A human would be sprawled out on the floor.”
His lips are close to mine, and his eyelashes tickle my eyelids as he blinks.
“I don’t know what I’m doing, Haines.”
“Keep doing it. It’s all right,” he says, comforting me.
We’ve somehow managed our way to the floor, me sitting on top of him with my legs behind him, his legs crossed and his cock making a tent of his pants. Haines runs his nose along the side of my jaw, up to my ear. He whispers nonsensical words as his power seems to softly pour into me, filling me. If only his cock was filling me too, I’d be the best little wife he’d ever asked for. Anything he required I would give to him. If I could just feel him dancing inside me. Even now I can hear the song that would spur him along. The rapid beats of our hearts and pants of our breaths bringing us closer, making us hate each other just a little less each time we feed.
He slides his hands up my ribs and over my breasts, held close to me by the constricting bra. He kisses the small spot between my lips and my cheek. “I’d like to try something, if you don’t mind.” His hand dips beneath the drawstring of my sweatpants, past the elastic of my panties.
A wave of nerves hits me but my lust pushes it back. I nod my head, giving him permission, fearing the words won’t come out right.
His hand moves between us and continues its descent until his thumb is on my clit. I jump as his fingers part my saturated folds. My breath catches in my throat as he begins delicate, slow circles.
“So wet for me. Only for me,” he says, his voice a deep growl that resonates through me. “I could fuck you right now, here on this floor. Should I let you pass this time? Not make you beg for my cock? Hmm? I bet you would, Perry.” His tongue snakes between my lips as he kisses me. I grind my hips into his hand, trying to add to the pressure that’s already building.
“Keep feeding,” he says, his voice heavy and raspy.
I don’t think I could stop if I tried. A moan escapes my lips as I kiss him, feeling him touching me, claiming my mouth. One of his hands holds me to him, gently gripping the back of my neck as if he’s trying to pull me into him.
“I won’t stop,” he says, almost as an apology for last night. “Don’t stop feeding. Take from me. Give me your orgasm. Feed me, wife.”
“Oh, God.” I sigh, breaking our kiss and wrapping my arms around his neck. I whisper his name and drag my fingers up his back and through his hair.
He pulls away from me and looks me in the eyes. “Kiss me,” he says, breathing hard, a light sheen of sweat appearing across his brow.
Our lips crash into one another and I grind my hips against his hand, wishing he was inside me.
An upward climb begins as the pressure builds in my body.
“You like to fuck my hand, Perry? Will you come for me?” he says, smiling between kisses. “I can feel you coming.”
I nod my head, loving the filthy words that fall from his mouth, and feel a flood begin as his power continues to fill me.
Haines pulls my shirt and bra up over my breasts and the cold air of the room contrasts so deliciously from the heat of his hands. He kneads my breasts, while his other hand continues the relentless circles. I’d like to cry. To scream. But his energy pouring into me quells my voice.
“Come now,” he says, pinching my nipple and biting the column of my neck.
And I fall.
An explosion from within takes hold of me, and I throw my head back, a deep moan flowing from my lips that distort his name, feeling him fill me with a power I never knew was possible.
Upside down. All gravity seems to have left the planet and Haines is the only thing keeping me from flying away. I fall apart as he watches me, tears streaming down my face. A feeling of euphoria that surpasses any carnal craving I’ve ever achieved by myself. I bury my face in his neck pulling him to me as he caresses my back and whispers sweet things to me—you are beautiful, you are powerful, Perrian. My Perrian. My sweet, sweet girl.