Epilogue
TALON
The scent of cooking food greeted Talon as he entered the penthouse. Cheese, salt, chicken. He inhaled deeply, hanging his keys up and wandering over to the island. Alex was standing shirtless at the stove, and he cast Talon a fond smile over his shoulder.
“Where’ve you been?” he asked lightly as he stirred something in a skillet.
“I think the bigger question is what’s on your mind,” Talon replied, his gaze lingering on the dimpled muscles of Alex’s shoulder blades. He was such a beautiful man, Talon would never tire of looking at him.
A few days after Alex’s banishment, he’d plucked up the courage to ask Talon to go with him to his apartment for his things. When they arrived, they’d found his apartment broken into. His guild-issued laptop was gone, as well as his car keys and his car from the parking lot. Alex said he’d been expecting it but still likened it to a kick while he was already down. It only reinforced the need to move, though, so Talon counted it as another win for him. Together, they’d grabbed everything Alex wanted to keep—which was mostly clothes and toiletries—loaded it into the trunk of Talon’s car, and carted it to the penthouse.
In the weeks following the move, he’d gone through something of a listless period. He kept up with his old routine for a while, waking early to train and go for a run. Talon found this unacceptable, because he didn’t like waking up and not knowing where Alex was. A few lazy morning fucks broke him of that unnecessary routine easily enough, but then he’d floundered. He’d needed something to focus on, something to apply himself to. Talon tried nudging him in different directions, hobbies that might interest him. They could travel the world, Alex could enroll in a college, whatever he wanted. Alex was loath to spend Talon’s money, which Talon found laughable, but his human was so earnest about it, he stopped offering.
He’d turned to cooking. Before Talon, he lived alone and rarely interacted with anyone from the guild outside of work. He’d never had anyone to cook for, so Alex had applied himself in learning to cook all of the most flavorful and satisfying meals he could get his hands on. He’d become quite adept in the kitchen, and cooking became something of a pastime. Lately, Talon noticed, he cooked when there was something on his mind—when he needed to busy his hands, because his mind was preoccupied.
Alex shot him a scowl. “Maybe I just felt like cooking.”
“Mm-hm.” If he didn’t want to share yet, that was fine. Talon was nothing if not patient.
So he waited, watching the easy shift of muscle in Alex’s back as he worked. It was the best view in the penthouse—well, almost. The best view was when Alex was spread out on the bed for him, naked and helpless. There was just something about black rope around Alex’s golden thighs that really got him going.
“You’re staring at my ass,” Alex said without turning.
“You don’t know that.” It wasn’t his fault that the swell of Alex’s ass was delightfully accentuated by his gray sweatpants.
“I can feel it.”
Talon smirked. “It’s a nice ass.”
The back of his neck pinkened, and Talon considered it a win.
When the food was done, Alex emptied it straight into a container and tucked it into the fridge. Too antsy to sit through a meal, then.
Alex faced him at last, bracing his hands on the island, and said, “Okay, so.”
Talon straightened. Finally.
“You know how I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with myself, because I have zero applicable skills for holding down a real-world job?”
“Yes, I’m familiar, as I’ve told you that you don’t have to worry about getting a job, because I have plenty of money and enjoy spending it on you.”
Alex nodded before he’d even finished speaking. “And I told you that I don’t like feeling like I’m not doing anything with my life.”
“You’re doing me ,” Talon said with a cheeky grin. They’d had this argument many times in the last few weeks.
Alex hung his head. “All right, come here.”
He snagged Talon’s hand and dragged him over to the couch, pushed him down, and climbed on top of him.
“You listen better like this,” he said, and Talon opened his mouth to argue until Alex planted a kiss on him to shut him up. His hands roamed the bare plane of Alex’s back, contentment found.
When they parted, he warned, “That won’t always work, you know.”
“Seems like it does to me,” Alex said. “ Anyway . I figured out what I want to do.”
“Oh?”
“I want to keep fighting.”
Talon cocked his head. “Fighting… demons?”
Alex’s arms slid around his neck. “Yes. I still have my holy blades. I can fight on my own terms. You’ve opened my eyes to the fact that not every demon is evil and deserves to die, but there are still a lot out there that are monsters, like the one that killed my family. I still want to protect innocent people, and since I’m stronger and faster than I was before, thanks to your blood, I’m even better equipped to fight now than I was with the guild.” He angled his head down, entreating. “What do you think?”
He sighed. “This is what you really want to do?”
“It is.”
He sighed again, and Alex’s eyes narrowed. Dropping the charade, he smiled. “I’m fine with it, little bird. It might be nice to have a demon hunter in the area who doesn’t see us all as mindless monsters. Hell, you could take those skills of yours and become a private investigator. You could help all kinds of people with supernatural problems. You might even have some demons for clients. We have supernatural problems, too. Usually in the form of each other.”
Alex wriggled with excitement. “That’s actually a really good idea. And then I’ll have my own income and I won’t feel so much like a kept man.”
Talon dragged him tighter against him. “You don’t have to feel like a kept man so long as I do get to keep you.”
Alex’s hands cradled his face. “Yeah, you’re keeping me. You’re never getting rid of me now.”
“Good.” He slipped his hands into the back of Alex’s sweatpants, groaning when he found nothing but skin underneath. “You’re not wearing anything.”
Alex sniggered. “Oh, I’m wearing something.”
The words didn’t register as Talon kneaded the supple flesh of Alex’s ass. It wasn’t until he slid a finger down his crease and to his entrance that he realized what Alex meant. His finger came into contact with firm silicone, and his lungs filled with a slow, eager gasp.
“Oh, I love it when you open yourself up for me,” he breathed. He grabbed the flared base of the plug and pulled it halfway out, then pushed it back in.
Alex’s mouth dropped open with a moan.
“Are you already wet for me?” Talon asked. “Did you fuck yourself with your fingers thinking about this moment?”
“Yes, yes, I did,” he moaned. “I want you inside me.”
“Or was this to butter me up in case I didn’t like the idea of you hunting demons?”
A bright laugh left Alex. “It might’ve crossed my mind.”
“Am I so easily manipulated?”
Alex just grinned—which he assumed was as good as an affirmative. He stood, kicking his pants off, and reached for Talon’s jeans next.
And then Talon remembered what was in his pocket. Quick as lightning, he grabbed Alex’s wrist. “Wait!”
Alex froze, reading Talon’s urgency.
“Uh.”
Alex reared back in shock. “Uh? You’re never lost for words. What’s going on?”
Talon licked his lips. “Okay, come here.”
He guided Alex back into his lap, hands gripping his hairy thighs. For a moment, sex was forgotten.
“Okay, listen, before you see it, you need to know something.”
“See what? Your cock?” A hysterical laugh bubbled out of Alex.
Talon snorted indelicately. “No, not my—would you shut up and let me talk?”
Alex fought back his grin and gestured magnanimously for him to continue.
“I know what you humans think when you see a box like this, so before you get your hopes up, that’s not what this is.”
“A box like what?” Alex asked blankly.
Talon hesitated for only a moment, and then pulled a small velvet box from his pocket. Alex’s eyes widened, but he remained silent.
“You asked earlier where I’ve been. I was picking this up.”
He opened the box. Inside, nestled in cream-colored satin, sat a white-gold ring. There were two strips of small diamonds along the top, and a very special hidden mechanism in the center.
Talon took it out and set the box aside. “See this tiny little switch on the side?”
“Mm-hm.”
He pressed it, and a tiny blade flipped out of the space between the diamonds. Alex gasped, taking the ring from Talon to inspect it himself.
“That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said gleefully. “I can’t believe you did this.”
Talon smiled. “It’s for me. I mean, for you to use on me.”
Alex’s face flushed prettily. He slid the ring onto his left ring finger—the same one he used to wear the guild ring on. He closed the blade, then carefully slid his middle and ring fingers together, activating the mechanism. The blade popped out, and he turned his fist, angling it toward Talon.
Talon lifted his shirt overhead and tossed it somewhere behind the sofa.
“It’s very small,” Alex said, watching the blade pierce Talon’s chest.
“And very sharp,” Talon said as the pain prickled through him, barely more than a paper-cut but exquisite because it was Alex doing it to him. The little blade slid deeper, and Talon’s head fell back onto the cushion with a heady sigh, sparks of pleasure-pain fizzing down his spine.
“Masochist,” Alex teased.
Talon chuckled, threading his fingers into Alex’s slowly growing hair. He’d decided to grow it out from the military-style cut he’d worn it in for the guild. “Waste not, little bird,” he said, guiding Alex’s mouth to the wound. His tongue flicked against the cut as he sucked, and Talon worked his hips mindlessly, the friction of his jeans not nearly enough.
As though reading his mind, Alex’s hands dropped to his belt. Talon lifted his hips, reaching between Alex’s legs for the plug while Alex worked his jeans down his thighs. The plug went sailing across the couch, and then he was sinking into Alex’s tight, slick hole.
“ Oh , Alex,” he moaned, fucking up into him. “You’re so goddamn perfect. Take my cock so well.”
Alex rolled his hips, throwing his head back in abandon and resting his hands on Talon’s knees, baring his muscular, undulating body. His hard cock bobbed against Talon’s abdomen, and when Talon wrapped him in a firm grip, a shiver went down his spine.
“God, I’ve been hard for so long,” Alex moaned. “You took ages to get home. I’m not gonna last.”
“You don’t have to last, little bird, not this time. Come for me as soon as you want.”
Alex’s face twisted with agonized pleasure. Talon loved watching him take control like this, mindlessly chasing his own release, the flex of his moving body a divine vision for Talon and Talon alone.
Alex leaned forward, turning his fist toward Talon’s pectoral and driving the blade straight into him. It was like completing a circuit, having a part of Alex inside him while he was inside Alex. White-hot lightning shot through him, and pleasure burned under his skin, boiling up his cock as he found his release.
Alex’s mouth opened, and a cry spilled into the air as he came hard, splashing Talon’s stomach and chest.
They both shuddered through the aftershocks, and Alex lapped at the fresh black blood trickling down Talon’s chest. He raised his head with blood on his tongue and thrust it into Talon’s mouth. They both moaned, kissing deep and wet.
Alex parted from him with a smack, smiling. “Mine.” There was such overwhelming fondness in his gaze that there was no mistaking what it truly meant.
Talon’s mouth curled into a smile. His thumb stroked Alex’s jaw. “And mine.”
Alex made no move to extricate himself, which was just fine with Talon. He leaned against Talon’s chest as he inspected the ring, closing the blade and running his fingertip over the small diamonds.
“You say it’s not that kind of ring,” he said, “but this is a diamond ring , you know.”
Talon haltingly said, “I-I know.”
Alex’s smile sharpened at his uncharacteristic stutter, and Talon struggled to recover.
“I can’t exactly go around making grand promises in front of you-know-who,” he drawled.
Alex snorted. “Right. No church weddings in our future. No churches in our future at all. But… it’s still a diamond ring. Given with the intention of spending eternity together.” He met Talon’s eyes. “Right?”
Talon swallowed hard. He’d never done this before, never wanted to make this kind of promise. Forever was a long time, after all. But with Alex, it didn’t seem so bad. Alex had come into his life and filled voids he hadn’t even realized were there. He breathed life into it, and imagining a time where Alex was gone… chilled him. What was the point in being on Earth, in existing at all, if there was no Alex?
“Yes,” he declared. “I don’t have to make any grand promises to anyone but you, because you’re all that matters to me. So I’m offering you eternity… by my side.”
Alex grinned, pressing their chests together. “I thought we’d already basically done that, but I really appreciate the gesture. The ring is beautiful and perfect. You’re beautiful and perfect—and mine. Mine forever. No matter what.”
Talon hugged him tight. “No matter what.”