Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
DEUS
I stare at the woman. “Words are easy to say, but actions are the only things that count.”
She’s eyeing me carefully, almost like she’s just discovered that there’s a predator in this room and she’s the prey.
I don’t stop until I’m standing in front of her. “If you hurt Ellison again, I’m going to make you hurt. I’m no good at that emotional manipulation you seem so fond of. Instead, I think I’m going to break your fucking fingers.”
“You’re a psychopath,” Beatrice hisses as she pulls her hands back, like she thinks she could protect them if I wanted to snap every single one of them.
“Am I? What’s so different? Please tell me.
You abuse children until they hide, terrified of facing you.
Until they’re pushed to the limit and start to wonder if anyone would even notice if they were dead.
Your child was injected with a toxic drug that’s been known to kill until he vomited and begged for help, but no one was there to help him.
He was tormented for eighteen years. Between those things that you’ve done and me breaking a finger…
please tell me which sounds worse? You call me a psychopath… what do you call yourself?”
She’s shaking her head, not meeting my eyes. “I never… I didn’t… his father—”
“So it’s okay because you watched it happen?”
“I… I understand.”
“Good. I’m glad. Just know that if you ever forget that you understand…
and you ever make Ellison feel like shit again, I will make your life miserable for the next eighteen years like you did to him.
” I give her face a pat and turn invisible before exiting the room.
I do it because I want her to know that I could be watching her at any point and she’d never see me.
I assume Ellison is heading home, so I get in the car I’d nabbed and drive to his house. I find his car in the driveway and the front door locked, like he thinks a door will stop me. I pick the lock in seconds and head on inside.
I’m still invisible as I walk up to his bedroom and sit on his bed where I watch him pack.
“I can see the indent on the bed,” he mumbles.
“You don’t like my ass print?” I ask. “I happen to think it’s a perfectly fine ass.”
He stops what he’s doing and looks over at me, so I drop the invisibility. I assume he’s going to tell me off. He’s going to ask me to leave.
But instead, he says, “I don’t want to go.”
And those are the words I need to encourage me. “I really care about you, Ellison. I’m going to go wherever you go.”
“He promised to kill you.”
“He can try.”
Ellison rushes over and grabs me by the front of my shirt, hauling me halfway off the bed. “You aren’t fucking indestructible.”
“Yeah? And I don’t think he is either.”
“Of course he is; he can’t be hurt.”
“Hmm… I am a wise demon, and wise demons have their ways.”
“Stop the cryptic shit. Your ridiculous words will get you nowhere.”
“Got me in your bed,” I say.
“You’re not… in my bed… for those reasons.”
“Ooh, who is this behind me?” I ask as I tip my head back and see one of his illusions hovering over me. It’s not the one who wants me dead, which is clear by the lack of a murder weapon.
“I’ll take him if you don’t want him,” the illusion says before he leans down and kisses me. But I guess… is it really an illusion when he has his own thoughts and actions, sharing them only with Ellison? Ah well, it’s easiest to call him an illusion.
I glance over at Ellison. “This isn’t cheating, right? I mean… both he and you are you, right?”
Ellison is glaring at the illusion. “Aspen, I didn’t say you could kiss him.”
“You’re saying I can kiss him back though, right?” I ask.
“Technically, you’re kissing me and Ellison. He can still feel it, and I can feel the way he wants me to kiss you again,” Aspen murmurs before he leans down and kisses me again. It’s a light peck, and I can tell by the smirk on his face that he’s loving what it’s doing to Ellison.
“You know you want to touch him,” Aspen says as he lays me down on my back so only my legs dangle off the bed. “You can’t lie to me. I’m a part of you, Ellison. I know what you’re feeling, even if you refuse to admit it.”
He’s having a stare down with Ellison, who seems to be frozen. Finally, Ellison states, “I’m leaving.”
“Oh, but a little snack before you go won’t hurt… I can snack on him if you want,” Aspen says as his finger catches the bottom of my shirt, tugging it up while Ellison watches.
Last time I had to work so hard to get Ellison to cave, and this time, his illusion is over here trying to make himself cave and I’m here for it.
Aspen pinches my exposed nipple before he lifts my hand up and kisses the palm.
“He was just wounded, and now you’re pestering him.”
“Wounded? I wasn’t wounded. It’s like a scratch. Smaller than a scratch. Never even felt it. Actually enjoyed it a little,” I say.
Ellison looks convinced by absolutely none of that, but when Aspen pops one of my fingers in his mouth and sucks on it, Ellison’s attention wavers a bit.
“If you don’t want to join, then why can I feel you in my mind, Ellison?” Aspen teases.
Ellison’s face turns red. “Because I’m planning on stopping you!”
“No. Because you want to enjoy him yourself, but you’re too caught up in your head to do so.”
“I am prepared to be enjoyed,” I say, holding my hands out to Ellison. He does what he seems to know how to do best: stares at me.
That is until Aspen slides the button of my pants free as he glances up at Ellison, who is fixated on what is happening.
Aspen leans over and kisses my neck while his hand slides down my chest. “You can enjoy him through my mind; I don’t care.
Then you can pretend like you were being good and dutifully packing. Go on now—go pack.”
Aspen’s hand skims down, inside my pants but over my underwear. Ellison’s expression makes me wonder if he’s split his mind between himself and Aspen.
“Join with more than your mind,” I coax as I reach for him.
Aspen’s hand slides over my cock, rubbing the cloth that’s between us.
“You need to learn how to take what you want,” Aspen says, withdrawing his hand from my pants just so he can reach down and pull my pants off. “Look what I get to play with.”
Aspen eyes my hardening cock, easily visible through my underwear, and then lowers his head until his mouth is on me.
“That is mine,” Ellison growls as he shoves Aspen’s head off.
“Oh? Is he finally going to join us? Just when it was getting good,” Aspen whispers in my ear.
Ellison’s hand touches my thigh, and I spread my legs so he can settle between them.
“I want you, but I shouldn’t,” Aspen says, and I can tell the words come from Ellison. He kisses my throat, sucking on it and nipping it while Ellison’s hands settle on my thighs. It’s like he thinks if he does it through Aspen, he’s not caving.
Ellison’s hands hover, but they don’t go any farther. “Asmodeus, this is solving nothing. This is not calling it quits on what we have. This is not me getting away from you. This is… this is making everything worse.”
“I’ve already told you that you’re not getting rid of me, and I mean it,” I say as I hook him with my legs and pull him in.
“So you claim that you’re going to throw yourself in danger. Do you expect me to forgive myself if El kills you?” Ellison asks.
“Maybe El just needs proof that you’re safe with me.”
“That’s not how it works.”
“I made you guys love me; I’ll simply make El love me too.”
“Still positive that’s not how this works,” Ellison says.
“He really can’t be much harder to woo than you.”
The look Ellison is giving me tells me that he’s convinced I am horribly confused, but I respond by reaching out to him.
This time, he finally gives me his hand.
I smile while I pull him down but before I even get him to me, Aspen is already tugging him around as he forces Ellison’s tie and jacket off.
“Who climbs into bed wearing this much shit?” Aspen asks. “The only foreplay you’ll have time for is removing layers.”
“I can make you go away,” Ellison snaps.
Aspen grins at him before kissing my hand. “You won’t because you like feeling me touch him.” His hands slide through my hair while Ellison battles with his clothes that are half off because of Aspen.
“Sexy,” I purr when he gets caught up in his vest.
“Is this sexy?” Ellison asks.
“His balls are going to turn blue and fall off by the time you’re done,” Aspen tells him.
I eye Ellison, pleased that I can start to see skin. “He has to be almost done. He’s already taken seven layers off.”
“It hasn’t been seven!” Ellison protests. “Fine, I will unzip my pants and stick it in. Will that make you both happy?”
“How romantic,” Aspen says.
“You, off with you!” Ellison orders, and Aspen laughs before kissing me again.
“Next time my cock is going in your mouth… that’s Ellison’s idea and I happen to like it,” he says before disappearing.
“What’s this… about his cock in my mouth… Do I get my dream of being spit-roasted by two of you?”
Ellison clamps a hand over my mouth. “Silence is best.”
I beam at him, not quite sure it is but willing to pretend.
I sit up and undo a button he seems to be struggling with before pushing his clothes off so I can finally see some bare skin covered in tattoos.
I can also see the bruises on his throat that’d been hidden by his collar and wish he’d told me what was going on sooner.
But I oddly happen to be just as stubborn as him, so it’s no surprise that he didn’t.
I lean forward and kiss his lips gently while one of my hands roams and the other slips the button on his pants free.
“Does this mean you’re not going to run away from me?
” I ask as I push his pants down. I make sure his underwear goes with them so he’s finally naked in front of me.
My eyes drop to appreciate what I have to look forward to before Ellison pushes my face up, his cheeks red.
“Stop… looking at things.”
“I’m not allowed to look? You can look at mine.”