Chapter 22
CHAPTER 22
I t only took a couple of hours to get Ted situated in his new home on the Section 8 grounds, close to Haven’s house. One of Hunter’s vampires at the Council headquarters was able to replicate the warding Carl had put on the basement to make sure he didn’t accidentally burn the place down. And after having been awake and on his feet for hundreds of years, she imagined he planned to sleep for at least a few days before showing up for work.
But he would eventually show up for work, because Harper, having listened to their entire conversation, had hired him on the spot. She’d called in her mother to evaluate him, just to make sure she hadn’t missed anything, but Tina had deemed Ted “a good egg” almost immediately. He should be proud. Not too many demons earned such high praise from the Tina Petrocelli.
Addy agreed to help Ted learn to control his powers. Mischa had volunteered to do it, but Hunter had reminded her that Addy’s bond with Gabriel made her less flammable. But since Addy was a music teacher, she was probably more equipped to teach someone than Mischa was, anyway. After all, Mischa had a great many strengths and virtues, but patience wasn’t necessarily one of them.
Ted had immediately bonded with Benny, who offered to take him bar hopping once he got his powers under control. And once they figured out how to disguise the fact that he was a giant, purple-skinned, horned demon. So, bar hopping might not happen anytime soon. But as far as friends went, Ted could do a lot worse than Benny Scarpelli.
Seven, Lucas, Riddick, Nikolai, and Quinn had all welcomed Ted to the team, and Gabriel took him to the infirmary to apologize to Levi for the whole chest melting incident (which had, in fact, been a total accident.) Levi, who was already healing nicely, had accepted his apology gracefully. Well, as gracefully as anyone who was missing half their chest could, Haven supposed.
Now, Haven was beyond ready to take her super-hot husband home (she was still getting used to calling Roan that) and celebrate her victory in a really spicy, sexy way. But before she could grab him, drag him to her house, and pin him to her bed with her new power, her mom and dad stopped her.
Harper gave her a stern look. “I expect you to be at the meeting on Monday, bright and early.” Her gaze shifted to Roan. “You, too.”
Then she turned on her heel and stalked away. Her father gave her a wink before following her mom toward their house.
Roan frowned as he watched them walk away. “Was that…”
Haven laughed. “Yes. That was my mother’s way of welcoming me back to work and admitting she’d been wrong to keep me on the bench for so long.”
“Subtle,” he said with a smirk.
“Yep. She enjoys being wrong just as much as I do.”
He pulled her into his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Well, I have no problem admitting I was wrong. Look, I can’t promise that I’ll never try to bubble wrap you again, because wanting to protect you is in my DNA. But it’ll never again be because I think you’re reckless.”
She sighed, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Did I ever tell you what a turn on it is to have you tell me I was right and you were wrong?”
He chuckled. “Turned on enough to marry me?”
Record scratch . Haven pulled back to look him in the eye. “I thought we already were married.”
“We are, by demon law. But I kind of forced that on you.” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking adorably nervous. “So, I just thought you’d…maybe…I don’t know…want to do this the traditional, human way.”
It was not the kind of proposal most people dreamed of. But for a Section 8 princess and the demon of her dreams?
Perfect.
Haven used her power to reach up, wrap itself around his throat (gently but firmly like he’d done to her that night in the bar and again on that other night, the crazy hot one), and yank his mouth down to hers to kiss the crap out of him.
When she finally let him go, they were both breathing hard. She rested her forehead against his and whispered, “I’m going to marry the fuck out of you, Roan Malek.”
“And you’re happy?”
She smiled at him, heart nearly bursting with love. “I can’t even imagine being happier than I am right now.”
His answering smile was all kinds of dirty as he kicked her door open and carried her over the threshold bridal style. “Well, let’s see what we can do to improve that imagination of yours.”
And he did. Many, many times.