24. Demons Don’t Wrestle #2
Jason jumped forward and I dodged out of his way, pleased when he didn’t look annoyed, just cautious and considering. His heartbeat was hammering loudly enough that I could hear it and the lust was mostly gone from the air, replaced with his determination and also a wary understanding.
He lunged, aiming lower than before, diving and wrapping his arms around my hips, twisting quickly and trying to take me down in his own fall.
I pulled free mid-landing, shoving him away with a gentled kick and rolling back to my feet.
He huffed and smacked the mat with frustration as I righted myself.
“That was good, actually. I’m smarter and I have better balance than your average hellion. If you had a knife, you could’ve taken the opportunity during the fall to land a blow,” I said.
Jason’s sneer mellowed as he sat up, my praise unexpected. His jaw tightened up at me, ego unavoidably bruised, but he nodded once in acknowledgement.
“You knew from your first attack that she was stronger and faster than you, and you tried something too similar, but she’s right. You got close enough to land a blow,” Kais said, moving to join us, eyeing the rest of the room until bodies returned to their practice positions.
“If I was up against a hellion, they would’ve been armed too,” Jason muttered, standing up from the mat still scowling.
“Some would, others would count on their abilities or their natural defenses,” I offered. I opened my mouth to say more until I felt the slight touch on my back, Kais’ hand resting briefly at the base of my spine as he stepped to my side.
“I saw Deyva take down a demon general while he stood there snarling, totally unprepared,” Kais said.
“A lesser general,” I corrected until Kais gave me one of his perfectly expressive looks . This one said please shut up, Daisy . So I did, sliding back off the mat to join Azariah at the wall.
“Why do I feel like I did something wrong?” I whispered to Azariah.
“I think you just reminded the humans what they’re up against,” Az whispered back. “That even the strongest of them is no match for someone like you.”
“Oh,” I said, frowning.
“But you also reminded them that they have you on their team,” Azariah added with a shrug.
I bit my lip, aware of the stares drifting back in my direction, of the changed flavor in the air. It wasn’t quite pleasant or sweet, but it wasn’t so bitter either, and that was a nice change.
Kais was still with Jason, the two of them talking out some moves, until Kais shifted into place opposite the younger man, the two of them getting ready to spar. For the first time I noticed the bruise on the back of Kais’ shoulder, and the slight tremor in his left leg.
“He’s tired,” I whispered, more to myself.
“Mmm, he patrols more than the others. Works on more projects. Now this.”
Jason was more measured in his movements with Kais, and it was obvious that when he wasn’t being a little douchebag who thought he could take me down just because I had tits and horns, he was a pretty good fighter with some training.
He grappled against Kais, and the two shouldered their weight against one another, surprisingly evenly matched in weight and strength.
Kais changed his angle of pressure, tipping Jason and then flipping him to the mat in a sharp move, but I saw the pause before Kais was ready to stand again.
I wanted to replace Kais on the mat. I had plenty of energy to tackle and train Jason, and Kais was wearing himself out from every possible end. They met in another clash of limbs, bodies straining, Kais’ teeth bared in a snarl. Az hummed from my side, head cocking.
“Am I really this thirsty or is this pretty hot?” Azariah murmured.
“Stop,” I said, huffing a little. It was hot, but it also made me cringe, even as Kais gained the upper hand again, taking Jason down to the floor and pinning him there. “Demons don’t know wrestling moves! Just try to strike or run!”
“Shhh, let me have this,” Az whispered.
Kais ignored me, but Jason actually nodded, the two of them helping each other up before facing off again.
My own body was tense as I watched, wanting to barge in between them, toss Jason away, and gather Kais up.
Also, yeah, Az was right. It was super hot.
Kais was potently attractive as he fought, and he wasn’t a slouch even when he was just slurping at his coffee in the morning.
His skin was flushed and dewy with sweat and I wanted to lick every inch, to feel him flexing as he pinned me to the floor.
Except Jason was a quick learner. He caught Kais by the back of his left leg and it gave out easily, Kais’ eyes went wide with shock as he fell back to the mat, his breath rushing out of him audibly as he landed.
Jason, taking my advice, jumped back as if he were prepared to run, and looked eagerly up at me.
I wanted to hiss and punch him right in his baby face for dropping Kais like that, but I forced a smile on my lips.
“Good,” I said, nodding, swallowing around the lump in my throat of Kais’ bitter defeat and frustration. “Get the humans out,” I added to Az in a whisper.
He grunted and nodded, clapping his hand and putting on that big pompous smile of his that the humans seemed to love so much.
“Incredible work, all of you, Children of God. The Lord would be most impressed with your incredible efforts. But now, I think it’s time for you all to enjoy a moment of respite and slumber. ”
The room followed Azariah’s suggestion eagerly, even the bleacher girls who’d grown increasingly flustered during the match between Jason and Kais. Kais grimaced as he stood, patting Jason on the back and ignoring my approach as the room cleared out.
“You’re pushing yourself too hard,” I said, as quietly as I could.
“I’m doing what needs done,” Kais answered, his words snapping.
“You are, but you aren’t the only one here capable of taking care of those tasks, Kais,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “You’re—you need to sleep, right?”
Kais glared at me, glancing briefly over his shoulder to see the last of his trainees leaving the gym, Az’s wings following their departure, until it was only the two of us left in the room.
“You were about to say I’m only human, right?” Kais asked.
“Well...I mean, you are human,” I said, frowning.
“Yeah, I’m well fucking aware, Deyva. I think about that every day. Every time I walk outside of that gate. I am— we are all outmatched. And your little showdown with Jason didn’t help.”
“I’m sorry. I totally showed off. I just wanted to put him in his place.”
“That’s just it, Deyva! We humans? We fucking know our place! We know it’s only a matter of time!” Kais roared, arms spreading at his sides.
I fought not to flinch. It wasn’t Kais’ anger that affected me, but the strangled grip of terror wrapped around him, like ice cold acid in my throat.
“Kais, I know it’s not—not what you had before the Rising, but this town? These people? It’s an incredible sanctuary, believe me,” I said, reaching out cautiously to rest my hand over Kais’ pounding heart.
Kais frowned down at me, the warmth in his dark eyes going molten as he stepped forward. “And I know how easy it would be for Hell to rip that away, Deyva. Believe me, I’ve seen it.”
“Kais, I promise, I’m not going to let that happen.” His heart was pounding unevenly beneath my palm and I spared a little energy to soothe him, to soften the strain and ache and exhaustion that was weathering away at his body.
“You can’t take on all the legions of Hell,” Kais said flatly.
I grinned up at him, hoping to cut through his ugly mood with a little teasing. “I’m sure I could try.”
Instead, Kais' blood rushed from his face, a low growl rising from his chest. His hand snapped up, wrapping around my wrist, and I gasped as he pulled my hand from his chest, twisting my arm behind my back and then shoving me against him, his face diving down and mouth slanting over mine, tongue searching and stroking, claiming me in the kiss.
“You think I’m gonna feel any better if something happens to you, Daisy?
” he asked, voice ragged, grip on my wrist desperate as he shook me against him.
His forehead pressed to mine, head shaking slowly.
“You show up here and you just raise the stakes. If I lose you…I just can’t.
I won’t let that happen, do you understand? ”
“Kais,” I whispered, wrapping my free arm around him, sneaking it beneath the hem of his tank top to soothe at the cooling, damp skin of his back.
“Honey, you cannot save these people by killing yourself. You need to loosen up on the reins. Teach them how to survive. You can’t carry this town by yourself. ”
“I can’t sleep. I can’t fucking take half a second break without seeing their faces, their eyes empty, all that blood.
Shit, Deyva, I—” Kais made a choking sound, trying to pull away and I held him fast to me, pressed my face into his throat and took a long breath of that sharp pine and sea salt smell of him.
“What do you need?” I asked, shamelessly licking over his pulse just to feel it thrum. His cock twitched and swelled between us, nudging against my thighs. “You want to fight? Fuck? Set something on fire? I can wear you out or I can hold your hand. Whatever it is, I’m here.”
“Daisy,” Kais growled, pulling my arm tighter at my back until my shoulder protested, his free hand sliding down to my ass to pull me into his hips, grinding himself there. “I am not in a fucking mood to be sweet.”
I smiled, nuzzling into his jaw, turning my head, and then taking a great big bite of the muscle of his throat, grinning into the bite as he grew thicker and harder against me, snarling at flare of pain. I pulled away as he started a rhythm of friction against me.
“You know I can take it, Kais. Three tries to put me on my back,” I murmured, arching in his arms and rubbing a little more against his cock, letting him see the flush of my cheeks, the way my eyes grew heavy-lidded as his fingers dug into the swell of my ass.
He looked unsure, even as one of his feet wedged between mine, spreading my legs enough for his sweatpants-covered cock to rock between my thighs.
I twisted out of his grip on my ass, moving to run, but Kais just wrapped that arm around my ribs like a vice, kicking my legs out from under me and then taking me down onto my knees, his body bowed over my back. I arched my spine, giggling at his groan as I nestled my ass against his cock.
One of his hands swept under my t-shirt, eagerly diving for my breast, taking it in a full grip and squeezing roughly.
I sat up, leaning into his chest, turning my head and pouting my lips.
He twisted me in his hold, pinched my nipple between his thumb and forefinger, and moaned as I craned my neck and licked at his lips.
“One,” I said, laughing and pulling away.