Chapter 21
Prax
The cowardly real-estate-agent-turned-spy cowered against the lamp post as if the construction of steel and concrete could save him. “I said I was sorry,” he wailed. “What more do you want from me?”
“Why did you choose this inn? And why my room?” I hadn’t returned to my regular form, and he still believed he’d broken into the wrong room and walked in on the wrong couple.
“It was a mistake, I swear. I was looking for someone else.”
“You were breaking into someone else’s room?”
“Yes. I mean, no! I thought it was my room.”
I growled and advanced on him, and he scrambled away. “Which one is it? Were you picking the lock to your own room? Or were you looking for someone else?”
He looked around frantically for a way out, but we were on a bridge, and the only escape was to go forward or back. There was nowhere to hide.
“I said I was sorry,” he repeated.
That did it. I was tired of wasting my time. I’d rather be with Penny than deal with this idiot. I picked him up by the throat and dangled him in the air. “Answer my questions. Why this inn? Why my room?”
His eyes went wide, and he started to flail wildly.
“Keep doing that, and I’ll drop you off the bridge,” I warned. Then, I walked with him toward the railing of the bridge, his legs still kicking in the air. “You have ten seconds to tell me everything I want to know, or I’m tossing you over the edge.”
“Oh god, oh god, oh god.”
I shook him hard. “You want to tell god why you were here?”
“Co…co…coordinates.”
Finally! Something useful!
“What coordinates? Where did you get them?”
“Th-th-they sent them to me.”
I didn’t need to ask who they were. Instead, I asked, “And where did they get my location?”
“I wasn’t looking for you. I s-s-swear. It was a mistake.” The stench of urine suddenly filled the air, and a wet patch appeared on the seat of his pants, illuminated by the street light.
“Where did they get the coordinates?”
“I don’t know. I swear to god. I really don’t know.”
“Why my room?”
“I bribed the guy at the front desk. He let me see the guest register. I…I was looking for a Penelope. I must’ve read the room number wrong.”
This inn had one of those old-fashioned books where you had to sign in. Penny had done it since she’d insisted on using her card.
I quickly scanned the area for cameras, and seeing none, decided it was time to let the coward know just what he was dealing with.
I let my face change first to that of the little old lady, then to my own. The man stared, and the acrid scent of his fear increased. He knew what I was now.
“What were you supposed to do when you found Penny?” I pulled him back over the edge and tossed him onto the sidewalk.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” He crab-walked backward down the bridge as I slowly floated toward him.
When he didn’t answer, I stomped hard on his hand, and he howled. “I see you haven’t gone mute. Answer the question, or you’re going to find yourself missing every finger and every toe.”
“I…I was supposed to bring her back.”
“Was it you at the club?”
“What?” He shook his head, confused.
“At Delerium. Was it you who took the photo.”
“N-n-no. What photo?”
I picked him up again and held him by the throat, squeezing until his eyes looked ready to bug out of his head.
“You’d better not be lying to me.” I released him just enough for him to be able to speak.
“I’m not. I swear.” The coward was openly crying now, bawling his eyes out.
“I need you to tell whoever put you up to this that Penny is mine now, and that if they send anyone else, they are going to get a very up close and personal encounter with their worst nightmare.”
He nodded, his head moving up and down so violently that it looked ready to fly right off.
“Good. Now get out of my face, and don’t ever let me see you again.”
He scrambled back to the lot where he had parked his car. I watched until he had driven away, then returned to Penny.
I found her pacing the room.
“Prax!”
I drew her into my arms. “It’s okay. I don’t think he’s going to be back again.”
I didn’t give her the details. I didn’t think she’d appreciate me threatening her parents. But I knew how people like that worked and sometimes it was the only way to send a message.
“What did you do?”
“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. But,” I continued, changing the subject, “I need to see all your electronics. He mentioned something about coordinates. Which means something is giving away your location.”
“Do we know what we’re looking for?”
“No,” I admitted.
“Okay, I’ll send a quick note to Griselda, then turn everything off and put my phone in my clutch. And I’ll remove the batteries from my laptop and tablet for tonight. We’ll get Lily to have a look tomorrow. She’s a lot better than I am with technology.”
That sounded like a good compromise. We managed to shove both her phone and her tablet through the opening in the zippered clutch so they were back in her nightstand drawer. The only thing we had on us now was her laptop.
“Come on, let’s try to get some more sleep. You look exhausted.”
“I am. But I’m also wired. And worried.”
“Don’t be. I will keep watch, just in case.”
“But then you won’t get any rest.”
“Technically, I don’t need any, remember?” I guided her to the bed and pushed her down onto it. “I know just the way to relax you. I’ll give you a back rub.”
I helped her out of her clothes and tossed them to the foot of the bed. Then, with her lying on her front, I straddled her and smoothed my hands over her shoulders.
She let out a low, soft moan as I worked on her muscles, kneading and rubbing the stress and tension of the day away. Her moan had effects on me that weren’t so relaxing, though.
In this position, my cock jutted out right over the crease of her ass. Unable to resist, I moved my hands down her back to grip the round globes. I slid my cock along the crease, enjoying the way my dark reddish member looked against her pale skin.
I grabbed a pillow and shoved it under her hips so that her ass was up and on full display. I grabbed her cheeks, pulling them apart so that the lips of her cunt fanned out in welcome. They glistened with a slight wetness, and I couldn’t stop myself.
I shuffled back so I could bury my face into her crotch. She inhaled sharply when I licked her everywhere, then formed a thick, slippery tongue to fuck her with.
“Oh god. Yes!” she whined into the mattress.
Soon, she was shoving back against my tongue and begging for more, and I moved to position myself at her entrance. I licked my lips as the sharp, ridged head disappeared inside her.
Fuck! That looked so good.
I decided to make my cock bigger and thicker. I added extra veins, ridges, and ribbing—all for her pleasure, of course. When it looked just this side of too big for her to handle, I made it just a bit bigger again. Only the head was in her, but she felt it.
She looked over her shoulder, biting her lower lip. “What are you—oh god.” She started to crawl forward.
I held her in place. “Be a good girl. Take all of me.”
I started to push into her. She was wet and slippery but very tight, and her body resisted me. She whimpered when I gripped her ass, holding her in place as I rocked my hips.
Little by little, my cock disappeared into her. I loved the way she stretched over every ridge and bump. By the time I was fully seated in her, she was digging her nails into the mattress, her toes were curled, and her whole body was shaking.
“That’s a good girl.”
I pulled out until only my head was in her, then in one fluid motion thrust in again until I was buried to the hilt. She screamed, a shrill sound that echoed around the room.
Yes! That sound would never get old. I wanted, no needed, to make her scream like that every night from now until forever.
I fucked her in earnest, hammering into her, relishing each and every scream as they dissolved into sobs. Her silken walls squeezed and milked me as magic swirled around us, and I drank in her sexual energy. I drank until I was full, but she still had more to give. It was raw and addictive. Forget soma: this was the nectar of the gods.
My cock jerked violently as I slammed into her one last time. I emptied into her, jets of my hot seed bathing her channel. I held myself over her, for a moment wondering what it would be like if I chose to be fertile and Penny and I created life together.
I looked heavenward, surprised at the thought. I had made the decision long ago not to leave any progeny. I’d seen what happened to a woman left to raise a half-demon child alone. I would never do that to someone, especially not Penny.
I rolled to the side and tucked her into my arms. She was soft and pliant and very sleepy. That was my goal all along.
I kissed her head as I sent out a long demon limb to turn off the lights. Then I closed my eyes, held her in my arms, and waited for tomorrow.