"I know Lust, pet…""King of Demons…Devil…Speculative titles.""Brothers."Our conversation looped over and over in my head, but those statements stuck. The sun peeked under the horizon, dipping beneath the vast ocean to my left. I was driving home, set to deal with my own personal demons, but I dreaded every second of it."This isn't what I really look like…"Then what did he really look like? A deep desire, a thirst for knowledge…power…his power…fell over me. Somehow I was brought back to Church, sitting in the pews, crosses, and stained glass coloring the memory.I never liked Church. A pastor dictating what I should or shouldn't do. What I should believe. I didn't like how they ostracized my mother. Calling her a jezebel, me a bastard. Judging us for something that wasn't her fault. People from her church would still cross the street to avoid walking on the same sidewalk as her. It crushed me because I was powerless to help her. I knew my mother loved me and did
A dead silence hung over us. Him staring down at me, dwarfing me as I now barely came up to his chest. His confusion was written all over his face. He didn't understand me. "What?" The question fell from his lips almost before he could stop it. Then his uniquely handsome face pinched together like he tasted something bitter and he reached down, gripping my face in his hands. Harder than he usually did. Forcing me to stare at him and notice how his teeth were extended into fangs. Every part of him was different. Sharper. Rougher. But I still found him alluring. My cheeks grasped in one of his massive mitts, but still gentler than I expected him to be. "Your form pleases me," I whispered, staring deeply into his glowing amber eyes. "I still want you.""You're lying," he hissed out between his teeth, his entire body rigid with seething rage. He didn't believe me. Not for a moment.I couldn't help but wonder how many times it had happened. Revealing his celestial form to someo
TW: Implied sexual assaultThree days. It's been three days since I've seen Asmodeus. I was irritable and in pain. The pesky aches and sore muscles were back. All my limbs felt like lead as I dragged them around behind me during my shift. But I powered through, hating every moment of my existence as I dealt with entitled patrons and Bill's shitty backhanded comments. I'd done my best to avoid him, but ever since I caught him coming onto Sarah, I felt like he's been watching me. No longer a fly on the wall, I had become an active pest buzzing around his ears.Maybe I was paranoid. Or maybe it was the lack of sleep. After I saw Asmodeus's new form, I expected him to visit me the next night to feed. Indulge me. Take my opportunity to understand him. Prove to him I wasn't going to let him go. But he never showed up.Instead, I propelled myself neck-deep into nightmares. The crash over and over again. The horrifying image of my mother dangling over me, her blood everywhere
Blood roared in my ears. My jaw clamped down on my tongue so hard I could taste blood. My chest pounded harder and harder with every step as I climbed the stairs. The elevator was out, like usual. My bag felt heavy, smacking against my side.My hair whipped behind me, a brewing storm raging in the sky above, but even the thunder seemed to pale in comparison to how I felt inside. Everything I had worked so hard for, disintegrating. Destroyed. Like nothing I did ever mattered. It was all temperamental. Nothing was forever. Except for time.You could never get time back.The time I wasted trying to figure out what I did wrong. How to fix what was never broken to begin with, just a shitty relationship.When I made it up to my apartment, the door was open, Nova signing something on the mover's tablet. "You got the new address?" she asked, handing the tablet back.She hadn't seen me yet, dripping and soaked to the bone. "All set, ma'am. We'll head there right away," the ma
Water cascaded over us. The moon was high in the sky, even if I could barely see it around the storm.With how close he was, I could see the dark circles under his eyes. How his cheekbones caved in, his normally handsome face gaunt and exhausted. His eyes blazed, fighting to stay furious with me.Relief settled into my essence. Sagging my shoulders. I'm sure he could feel it too. With the way his face softened ever so slightly. "You put eyes on yourself. More than mine, pet."Pet…my body roared to life. Desire coiling within my bones. One of his hands slid along my face, slick with the rain. "You're in my head, Asmoday," I whispered, barely audible above the crashing of rainfall. "I…I can't get you out."His jaw clenched, audibly grinding his teeth together. "Don't call me that." He paused, looking deep into my eyes. "I'm not your angel, Adira.""Were you ever?"Something different crossed over his expression. I couldn't identify it. This was something different. S
The only reason I woke up in the morning was because I felt a seagull peck at the strings of my hoodie. My eyes flew open and I shooed the bird. It squawked in surprise, cawing as a whole flock of seagulls flew off with it.The fuck?I looked around rapidly, trying to get a grasp of where I was. I felt dazed like the night after a bender. Dizzy and delirious in the head even though my body felt unbelievably satisfied. My scars felt less puckered. My skin was less tight.Relief cascaded through my bones.I was drenched, water lapping at my bare feet.Where were my shoes?My head went from side to side. Where was my purse? Slowly, everything began to come back to me. My manager offered me sex in exchange for my paycheck. Me pushing Nova out a window. Hitting rock bottom. Invoking a demon.Then getting so taken by seeing him again I ended up having sex with him, rolling around in the sand, saturated by rainfall. The grit clustered on my thighs was proof of that. My panties f
Glancing down at the ensemble I threw together, I shrugged. Clashing colors. Tide-dyed flip-flops looked truly ridiculous. Did I care?Not really."You left me on the beach," I said, crossing my arms, maintaining a steely gaze."And?" Asmodeus said, turning to the bar, a tumbler of an amber liquid sitting on the counter. He gracefully lifted the rocks glass to his lips. I watched him take a deep gulp of the bourbon. I tried not to look at him, stay angry, but watching his golden throat bob as he swallowed was making me thirsty. "And? Someone literally stole the shoes off my feet.""I was wondering about those," he replied around the glass, the corner of his mouth ticking into a smirk. I ground my teeth together, irritated by the amusement on his face. "Something could have happened to me. Do you not care? At all?""You bore me, pet." His lips curved downwards and he lowered his glass. "Why are you here? Couldn't be just to chastise me." "I need your help," I muttered
After what seemed like forever under his crushing weight, he propped himself up on his hands, staring down at me with wide, sated eyes. One of his fingertips brushed my hair from my face. Unusual warmth resonated in those honey depths I could never truly see in his human skin.He would have never let me in before.His glossy black hair hung past his shoulders, curved horns extending from between locks of hair. I reached up, caressing his horns, somewhat surprised he was letting me touch them. A beautiful shade of burnt umber. Unique patterns that looked more like carvings on stone than the natural groove of keratin rippling a ram's horns.Stroking the unique patterns, I murmured, "What do these symbols mean?"He hummed, vibrating against me before he answered, "It's a label, a branding of who I am and where I serve. It's in Primordial Speak.""Tell me about it," I asked, taking comfort in the crook of his arm.The corner of his mouth curled up. "Curious? Aren't we, pet?