Chapter 6 #2
“Just the one on Friday. I couldn’t help hearing as I approached you at the station. My ears are very sharp. It’s a demon thing.”
Milo didn’t know what to say. At least his tears managed to subside without falling.
Zeke went on. “I’m sorry for following you and causing you stress. I promise it will all be okay.”
“How?” Milo asked desperately. Zeke couldn’t possibly have the answer, but Milo wished someone did.
Zeke stepped closer. “Let me help you, and we can figure it out.”
Milo took a deep breath. “Is there a magic spell to get rid of my father? To fix my life?”
“That isn’t what I meant. You don’t need magic. Why don’t we go do something fun together?”
“We have work.” A heavy weight settled on Milo. “I shouldn’t have stormed off. I need this job.”
“You don’t have to worry about your job. I texted Alice to call in someone to cover. I said you were sick.”
Milo wrapped his arms around himself. “I think avoiding this kind of special treatment was what that training video was talking about.”
Zeke huffed. “I’ve decided I don’t care.
You’re more important. I don’t want to work at the mall.
I’m an immortal. All of these human rules give me a headache, and trying to fit in isn’t helping all that much.
I keep upsetting you, and that’s the last thing I want.
Besides, I think my time in Santa’s Village has served its purpose. ”
Again with the ominous phrasing.
“How will you get better with people if you quit?”
Zeke smiled a tiny, bashful smile. “Maybe you could teach me. That way, I’ll know what bothers you before I do it, and I can… not.”
Milo laughed. “You’re, like, obsessed with me.”
Zeke hummed, smiling wider now. “You’re my mate. Of course I’m obsessed with you.”
Fuck, was Zeke’s smile contagious? Milo’s lips stretched, his cheeks aching as he failed to resist. “Humans have partners, not mates.”
“Well, demons have mates, and you’re mine, little human.” Zeke tangled his hand in Milo’s hair and tipped his head back. “Let’s get out of the mall, hmm?”
He shouldn’t. Logically, Milo shouldn’t go anywhere with someone who admitted to stalking—or following—him. But all the tension leaked from his body as Zeke tugged on his hair, exactly how he liked.
“I’m not anyone’s mate. I don’t belong to you.” Milo meant to snap, but it came out breathy.
Zeke’s eyes flashed. “Not yet. But I’ll claim you sooner or later.”
Milo shivered. Holy shit, he liked that idea.
“You can feel it, can’t you?” Zeke practically purred, melting the last of Milo’s common sense. “Our connection. You can feel how right it is to be close to me. To want me.”
Milo swallowed, throat suddenly dry. He did feel it. “And you want me? That’s what this has all been about?”
“Yes. That’s what it has all been about. More than you know.”
Jesus, he was obsessed. Milo’s grip tightened on Zeke. “I feel something all right.”
Zeke’s lips twisted in an evil grin, and Milo’s core tightened. “Come. I have something for you.” His voice was low and raspy and so damn hot.
Milo went with it. “As long as that something is inappropriate for the mall, then I’m on board.”
A little stress relief was exactly what he needed. Who knew? Maybe a few orgasms would fix all his problems. It was worth a try.
Zeke scooped Milo into his arms. “What I have in mind is very inappropriate for the mall. It wouldn’t fit.”
Milo sputtered and dissolved into laughter, clinging to Zeke’s neck. “Oh my god. I think we’ve lost each other again. If you’re about to tell me your dick is so big it won’t fit—”
Zeke snorted, cutting him off. “My dick will fit wherever it’s required. That’s not what I’m talking about. You’ll see.”
See Zeke’s dick? Or whatever wouldn’t fit in the mall? Maybe both. Milo wanted both.
Without further explanation, Zeke strode toward the exit, carrying Milo along helplessly.
And the helplessness was doing it for him.
Milo felt safe, as irrational as that was. He believed Zeke’s intentions weren’t malicious. After all, Zeke didn’t hate him. He’d been trying to orchestrate a way to get them together without a conflict of interest, not cast him aside.
Zeke’s methods were extremely involved and over the top, and on one hand, that should give Milo pause. But on the other hand, what if he was looking at this all wrong?
Milo didn’t understand demons. For all he knew, stalking was standard, socially acceptable, or even flattering courtship behavior for demonkind. Zeke was doing his best to understand humans. Milo wanted to understand him too.
Zeke threw the service door open and strode into the crisp morning. A man walked right by as if they weren’t there, glancing at the open door in confusion.
“He can’t see us,” Zeke said in answer to Milo’s unasked question.
There was a ripping sound, and Zeke’s wings burst from his back, shredding his Santa’s Little Helper shirt.
Oh. Dear. God. That was hot.
Zeke launched into the air, and Milo’s grip tightened reflexively. At first, he kept his eyes open, but one look at the buildings zipping by below and he shrieked, snapping them shut as he clung on tighter.
“You won’t fall. I’ve got you,” Zeke cooed. It should have been mortifying, but it was pure comfort, and Milo didn’t have the will to fight it.
He let Zeke whisk him away, trusting the feeling of rightness that had settled over him and marveling as it intensified the longer they were pressed together.
Zeke landed on the balcony of a downtown apartment. The door leading inside stood open, and Zeke waltzed right in. “I made this for you. There’s no way it would fit in the mall.”
“Made what?” Milo tore his gaze from Zeke’s proud, smoldering stare—like actually smoldering, his eyes were burning with white flames—and looked around.
“This is our nest,” Zeke purred, his grip tightening on Milo.
“Our nest…?” A sense of awe settled over Milo as he glanced around.
The room was like nothing he’d ever seen.
His insides turned to goo as he took in the piles of pillows and blankets arranged on a huge mattress made up with blue silk sheets.
The bed, or nest, filled the entire sunken living room, surrounded by a sheer teal canopy interwoven with fairy lights hanging from the ceiling.
Milo pried his eyes away, focusing on Zeke… On his mate? “Are nests a demon thing? Tell me more. Is this part of a mating ritual?”
The idea sent a zap of pleasure through Milo. Zeke had put all this together for him. No one had ever done anything like this in Milo’s life.
“The mating ritual is more physical. Nests are old-fashioned, and most demons don’t do them anymore, but I wanted a safe, cozy space for us. I didn’t know how else to show my feelings now that I’ve finally found you.”
“It’s beautiful,” Milo said with total sincerity.
“Thank you.” Zeke’s feathers ruffled. “Our nest is only the beginning. I want to fill the apartment with things you like.”
Milo’s heart clenched. “What about what you like? Having a mate can’t be all about me. Even if that’s a demon thing, for humans, it needs to be about both of us.”
“I know.” Zeke smiled, and Milo swore a flare of heat came off his large body. “I have things for me too.”
He pointed beyond the nest, where a kitchen was tucked into the corner with a café-grade espresso machine on the counter, accompanied by more bottles of flavored syrup than Milo had ever seen in one place.
“I love coffee,” Zeke explained.
Milo laughed. “Me too. Maybe we can have some later, but can we check out the nest first?”
A rumbling growl erupted from Zeke. He descended the steps and tossed Milo onto the mattress.
A squeak of surprise burst from Milo’s lips.
Zeke loomed over him, his tall horns and black feathers shimmering in the fairy lights. He toed off his shoes, his gaze never leaving Milo, his expression hungry.
Milo quickly pulled off his shoes. Before he could decide if he should strip, Zeke stalked toward him and lowered himself onto the mattress.
“I’ve been looking for my mate for thousands of years, and now that fate has brought you to me, I don’t want to hold back any longer.”
Milo’s breath shallowed. “Fate?”
Zeke hummed. “Yes, you’re my fated mate, destined to be mine as I’m destined to be yours.”
Milo’s heart battered a frantic rhythm against his chest. “Are—are you sure?”
Zeke cupped the side of his face. “Positive.”
Milo swallowed, heat pooling in his core. “That’s why you’ve been so intense, staring at me all the time?”
“If I let you out of my sight, I was afraid you’d disappear. Finding you seemed too good to be true. But our connection began forming, and there was no denying it. You smell like mine.” Zeke breathed deep. “Like sugar cookies and home.”
Milo’s whole body burned. “You smell nice too, like fresh summer grass. That’s because we’re mates?”
“Mm-hmm.” Zeke pulled him close and ran his nose along Milo’s neck. “It’s lovely, isn’t it?”
Milo pressed his nose to Zeke’s hairy chest and inhaled. “Yeah, so lovely. Can’t say I’ve ever been into smelling—scenting?—before.”
“That’s because you’ve never had a mate, little human.”
No, Milo had certainly never had a mate.
But Zeke wasn’t done. He tangled his fingers in Milo’s hair, holding him close. “Fate brought us together, and I’m going to keep you. Care for you. Claim you and look after your soul for eternity.”
Well.
Fuck him sideways.
Milo could barely keep up. His heart thumped, adrenaline and excitement coursing through him. This whole situation was overwhelming, but he was done thinking. Done worrying. He wanted to enjoy being Zeke’s and bask in the soft affection filling him instead of focusing on the potential pitfalls.
Maybe changing his perspective was all he needed to do to change his life.
Milo scooted up Zeke’s body until they were nose to nose and pulled the tie from Zeke’s hair, tossing it away and running his hands through the thick, wavy strands. “Let’s start with claiming me.”