Claiming a Demon (Dallying with Demons Book 3)

Epilogue

“Where are we going again?”

For someone who loved giving gifts and surprising people, my mate wasn’t great when the surprises were about him. He pestered me constantly, and I lost count of the amount of times he’d tried to sneak a peek at my phone. He even asked our friends, but the only one who said anything was Felix, and Zach knew better than to take him seriously. Then again, who would take the idea of a paranormal petting zoo seriously? It sounded like a sex club.

“You’ll see.”

He let out a heavy groan, slumping onto the couch beside me dramatically. I fought back a laugh. I loved how expressive he was, but it wasn’t going to get him what he wanted. He liked surprises. He just didn’t like the part where he had to wait to find out what was happening.

“It’s my birthday. You’re supposed to be nice to me on my birthday,” he pouted.

“Do you really want me to ruin the surprise?” I countered. It made him pause, and he gave another dramatic huff as an answer. I was right. He didn’t actually want to ruin it.

“Can I at least get a hint?”

I hummed, checking my phone again. The guys were setting things up, and I couldn’t fly us there until they were done.

“It’s for your birthday.”

He sat up suddenly and bapped me with the couch pillow. I chuckled, blocking my face to protect myself. He never actually tried to hurt me. And considering our size differences, it’d be hard for him to actually cause injury. But it made him laugh when I played along.

“You big jerk! That’s not a hint!”

Snatching the pillow, I yanked it hard enough to send him toppling into my arms. His laugh still made my heart trip. I nipped at his chin, grinning when he put his hands up to protect himself.

“Mercy! Mercy! Don’t ruin my makeup!”

I asked him once why he wore makeup. I didn’t know any other males who did. He said his dads raised him to do what made him happy. Makeup made him feel good, and he thought it was stupid that only women got to use it. I liked the way he looked with or without it, but I loved the bright smile he got when he came out of the bathroom, all dolled up and ready to go out. He felt beautiful, and that’s all I cared about.

My phone buzzed, and Zach breathed a sigh of relief when I released him to check it. He darted off to ensure his makeup was okay in the bathroom while I looked at my messages. The group chat was busy with everyone setting up tonight, but Callum texted me separately to let me know it was ready, and we could join them.

I tucked the phone away, getting to my feet to find my mate. He was fussing with his hair when I poked my head in. I lifted my eyebrows.

“Ready?”

He sucked in a breath, his eyes wide and excited. “Really?”

I nodded once. “Let’s go.”

With a squeal, he launched himself at me, wrapping his legs around my hips as he smacked a kiss against my mouth. “Okay. I’m ready.”

Pulling a blindfold out of my pocket, I shook my head. “Not quite.”

His nose scrunched, and he bit his lip, giving me a curious look. “I thought we agreed to no public sex.”

I barked out a laugh, setting him back on his feet. “Now I owe Tyler five dollars. He bet you’d say that.”

Zach put his finger to his lip, shushing me mischievously. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

Shaking my head, I spun him around, covering his eyes with the blindfold. “Come on, sweetheart. Time for your surprise.”

After the blindfold was in place, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. Zach was a good mate, and we went on a lot of dates since we started seeing each other, but tonight was special. It was the first time we were celebrating his birthday together. My birthday had been easy, a quiet night playing poker with my friends was all I really wanted. Especially after having to go home and spend the afternoon with all my sisters.

Quiet nights together were nice after a long day, but that wasn’t Zach’s personality. I needed to do something bigger for his birthday. I picked the minds of his friends and mine and came up with something energetic and fun, like him. I just hoped he liked it. I still struggled sometimes with giving my opinions, and I turned down a few suggestions before making the final decision. I had help with the planning, but this night was all my idea, and I really wanted it to go well. Zach was the best mate I could ask for. I wanted him to feel special.

* * *

ZACHARIAH

I was basically crawling out of my skin the last few hours. I was dying to know what Mal had planned, but he wouldn’t give me any clue at all. He even upped his normal stoic mask and refused to give anything away on his face when I started making suggestions. If this was a normal date night, I’d assume we were doing something sweet and quiet. It was his go to for date night and I loved it. A hike and a picnic with an amazing view of the city. Exploring new restaurants in town. A candlelight dinner he made himself that was so decadent, I felt like I died and went to heaven. They were all amazing dates, and if that was what we did on my birthday, I’d be more than happy with what he had planned. But he was being more sneaky than usual, and I felt like maybe he had something different in mind. The curiosity was killing me and when he tied the mask around my face, I couldn’t help but whimper.

“You’re a cruel, cruel demon,” I pouted.

He chuckled, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. I still didn’t love teleporting, it made my stomach flip every time, but the faster we moved, the sooner I’d be put out of my misery.

Tingles swept through my body and my stomach clenched uncomfortably, telling me we teleported. He walked me forward, murmuring something I couldn’t hear. Someone else answered in the same hushed tones, and we kept going. It was quiet, wherever we were, and Mal shuffled me along without a word to give me any hint of where we were going. We teleported again after a minute, and wherever we ended up, it wasn’t what I was expecting. I smelled something like coconut, and the room we teleported into was really warm, almost uncomfortably warm considering I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. Not the cutest outfit I owned, but it was cold outside and I wanted to be prepared for anything. Whoever decided to give me a winter birthday was just mean.

“Ready?” Mal queried softly.

“Baby, I was born ready.”

I heard a few familiar chuckles and my anticipation dialed up another few points. Our friends were here. I held my breath as Mal tugged off the blindfold and when I opened my eyes, my mouth fell open.

“Surprise!”

“Holy crap!”

Selene chuckled as she handed me an actual coconut with a straw and one of those fancy umbrellas sticking out of it. “Happy Birthday, Zach.”

I took the drink, but I was too busy looking around to reply. I had no idea where we were, but it was warm, and we were on a beach, and the waves actually glowed. There were also two moons in the sky, so I assumed we weren’t in the human realm right now.

“Where are we?”

“Azure Beach. It’s like Hawaii, but magical,” Ingrid replied. She had her own coconut drink, and she was wearing an adorable purple and white bikini. Even without the sun in the sky, it was warm enough to be in bathing suits and go swimming. I spun around, giving a wide eyed look to Mal, who shrugged.

“You said you were sick of being cold. I brought your swimsuit, and there’s a DJ so you can dance. I know it’s not at a club or anything, but–”

I cut him off by throwing myself into his arms and slamming my lips onto his. I smothered him with kisses, only stopping once the tension left his shoulders and he laughed.

“You seriously brought me on a tropical vacation for my birthday?”

“You’re my mate. You deserve to be happy. Our friends gave me a lot of ideas, but this was the only one where I thought you’d stay happy all night. I got us a room at the hotel nearby so you can stay warm all weekend.”

He didn’t just get me a tropical birthday. He got me a whole weekend. I felt tears well in my eyes and my chin trembled.

“Told you he’d cry,” Felix crowed.

I ignored him, nuzzling into Mal’s chest. “This is the sweetest, most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me.”

He tipped my chin up with his knuckle, smiling softly down at me. “You’re always taking care of other people. You deserve to be taken care of, too. So you’ve got a beach party, your favorite cake, and a massage scheduled tomorrow.”

“A massage? By who?”

The look that Mal gave me was heated and possessive. I twisted my mouth to hide my laugh.

“Okay, that was a stupid question. But… This is too much. It’s just a day. It doesn’t have to be all about me.”

Even after months of being together and Mal making an effort to make sure I felt cared for, it still felt weird to let other people take care of me. The caretaker in me wanted to swoop into host mode and make sure everyone else was happy. One look at Mal’s face said that wasn’t going to happen this weekend. It really was all about me. My stomach fluttered at the thought.

Dipping his head, Mal silenced my protests with a soft kiss. “I love you, Zach. Let me take care of you.”

A slow smile spread across my face, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Okay. As long as you stay right here next to me.”

He hummed, resting his forehead against mine. “Always.”