Chapter 32
thirty-two
MERRICK
I can’t stop staring at her.
It’s been three days since the ordeal with the hunters, our battle in the woods fought on multiple fronts. Three days since the flames receded and I gathered the witch into my arms, carrying her away from the wreckage of blood and bones and burning trees.
And praise the infinite pits of Hell, I’ve finally got her to myself, alone in my cottage at long last.
No sisters padding about the house, barging into rooms in search of phone chargers and borrowed sweaters and laptops. No demons nosing into our business. No hellhounds or literary cats or women who are sometimes bats. No mind-altering substances.
Just me and one brave, beautiful witch, whole and alive, soft and perfect and unbroken.
Also—in the interest of full transparency—naked.
But most importantly, she’s mine. I don’t need the words; I can see it her eyes, in the deep and tender way she regards me.
I can feel it in her touch—a touch that made me brave enough to embrace such intimacy, a touch that continues to heal me with every soothing stroke, every comforting hug, every delicious kiss.
I don’t know what awaits me on the other side of the portal.
The demons and I are now fugitives of Hell, having drawn our battle lines the night of the fires.
Treachery and disloyalty are crimes for which there is no satisfactory penance; should we dare to enter Hell, there will be no end to Matthias’s wrath and retribution.
Nor is remaining in the earthly realm a safe option.
Without a direct assignment from the Council, the demonic magic that allows us to exist outside of Hell will eventually degrade.
Weeks? Months? Unknown. According to the texts I’ve studied on the matter, the degradation is different for every demon, and resultant blowback could include such side effects as memory loss, permanent hallucinations, liquefaction of vital organs, petrification of extremities, asphyxiation, and… hair loss.
But our current state of liminality is—to borrow a colorful euphemism from my favorite witch—a clusterfuck for another day-drink.
Whatever happens, my devotion to Elizabeth shall remain unwavering. Even if my cruelest penance is yet to come—the brutal curse of an immortal falling in love with a mortal woman, a life that lingers long after hers has reached its natural end—I can not possibly regret it.
An eternity of grief is a small price to pay for love, however briefly that candle may be destined to burn.
“Come back to me,” Elizabeth whispers now, stroking my face, and I smile and kiss her palm and the tip of her nose and both eyelids.
“I’m right here, love. Not going anywhere.”
I’m on top of her, propping myself up on my elbows so as not to crush her. Her silken blonde hair is fanned across the pillow and sheets, my hands buried in it, her delicate rose-and-vanilla scent filling me with a pleasure from which I’ll never tire.
In the interest of full transparency, I too am naked.
And hard.
And, I’m not ashamed to admit, trembling.
“It’s okay, Merrick,” she says softly, smiling up at me. “We can go slow. Or fast. Or any way you like. I just… I just want to be with you. I mean, if… if you’re sure that’s what you want?”
A soft chuckle. “Elizabeth, it’s all I’ve wanted for longer than I care to admit.”
“Me too! Yay!” She laughs, her words tumbling out in a breathless rush. “Oh my god, I was so worried. For a minute there I thought you—ohhh… okay, that’s…”
Her words trail off into a sigh of pleasure as I circle my hips, slowly grinding against her clit.
She’s hot and slippery for me, her body arching closer, eyelids fluttering closed.
I draw out this torture for as long as she’ll allow it, until her cheeks are stained crimson and her hands are fisted in the sheets and she lets out a desperate, pleading whimper.
“I need you inside me. Please, Merrick. I can’t… I can’t wait another minute.”
I’m holding my breath, nearly trembling again, but… alas.
Who am I to deny the request of a powerful witch?
I curl a hand around her hip. Lean close, drawing one of her pert nipples into my mouth, teasing her with my tongue and teeth as she slides a hand into my hair, fingernails dragging over my scalp, making me shiver.
Then, in one deep and blissful stroke, I’m inside her. Buried. Enraptured.
She whispers my name, and I slide out slowly, then sink into her once again, relishing every hot, wet sensation, the thrum of her heartbeat, the softness of her skin as I claim her with another devastating stroke.
My own heartbeat thunders like a beast uncaged, but despite this most intimate form of touch, it’s not fear or trepidation setting my pulse to a gallop.
It’s the sheer force of what I feel for her, the wonderment of it all, and touching her like this, being inside her…
it’s as though I’m touching the very sun.
As though it’s only a matter of seconds before I turn to ash.
But oh, what a fiery, spectacular end it would be.
I’ve been with women before. Not many, given my aversion, but a few. In graduate school, I attempted to cure myself through exposure therapy. Every encounter left me empty and bereft, as though I’d given up something far more than my dignity.
Being with Elizabeth now, like this… under no other influence but the spell she’s inadvertently cast upon me… it’s more than intimacy.
It’s like coming home.
Strange magic, this connection between us. Maybe because it’s not magic at all.
It’s real.
I thrust deeper inside her, quickening my pace, blazing a trail of red-hot kisses from one breast to the other, licking and sucking, coaxing soft little moans from her mouth that send ripples of pleasure straight to my balls.
I cradle her face and feather my lips along her throat, her jaw, pressing them to her mouth and drawing a sweet, seductive kiss, my tongue sliding between her lips, tasting her, devouring her as she rolls her hips to meet my every stride, and soon we are utterly lost in each other, falling and spinning, dancing ever so close to that blissful edge…
“Merrick!” she cries out, and I open my eyes to discover not that she’s exploding in blinding-white pleasure, but that my demon form is flickering to life, horns and tail on full display, dark shadows swirling around us.
I still myself abruptly. Attempt to put myself back together.
The tail lingers, refusing to be subjugated, and I duck her amused gaze, my cheeks undoubtedly flushing.
“I’m… so sorry. That shouldn’t have happened. Give me… a moment.” I’m still inside her, mostly human as far as I can tell, her soft laughter undulating through her body, her flesh tightening around me like a fist, pulling me deeper under…
Fucking Hell, that’s good…
My demon form breaks its chains, fully emerging. I hold my breath.
She cradles my face. Waits for me to meet her gaze once more.
“Don’t,” she whispers, running her fingers along one of my horns, making me shudder.
“Don’t what?”
She bites her lower lip. Glances at me with a strange mix of shyness and excitement. “Change.”
“Wait… are you… what?” Now it’s my turn for amusement. I nuzzle her neck, nipping the sensitive skin there, making her squirm. “Does my indomitable witch have an even kinkier side than I imagined?”
“Well, we haven’t been at this whole touching thing long enough for me to become privy to your depraved fantasies about me, but…” She smirks, her eyebrows wriggling. “Maybe?”
“Maybe? Perhaps you’d care to…” I roll my hips again, sinking deeper. “…elucidate?” Then again, harder. Deeper. “Expound upon?” Another hot, wet thrust, and she’s digging her nails into my back.
“Merrick!” she gasps, a sheen of sweat glistening on her chest, her lips swollen from my kiss. “I realize language is more your forte than numbers, but as a scholar of the highest caliber, surely you can do a bit of simple math!”
“Simple math, as in—”
“More! Just give me more of you. All of you… I mean, in whatever way you’re comfortable… No pressure… it’s just that I’m really fucking turned on right now, and you’re… this… it’s just so—holyfuckinghell!”
“Turned on by a monster.” I chuckle softly, drawing slow, delicate circles over her clit with the tip of my tail, my cock plunging into her wet heat. “Now, this is an interesting development.”
“Excellent. Note it in your field journal.”
“Perhaps later. Right now, I’d like to hear more about these… urges of yours.” I call upon my shadows, commanding them to encircle her wrists and ankles, pinning her hands above her head and spreading her thighs wide for me.
“Yes,” she whispers, head lolling, hips arching. “I urge you to keep going.”
“I believe I need more data before I can fully proceed.” I slide out of her, capturing her groan of protest with a deep kiss, then slowly work my way down, nipping and teasing, tasting her silky skin, dragging my claws lightly over her bare flesh as I bring my mouth to the apex of her thighs.
I kiss her inner thigh, dragging my tongue higher, higher still, barely caressing her clit before moving to the other thigh.
Pinned by my shadows, she’s powerless to retaliate. “I hate you right now,” she breathes.
“Now, now.” I flick my tail against her clit, making her moan. “Hate is a strong word, Elizabeth.”
Then, with a sudden urgency, I plunge my tongue inside her, kissing her feverishly, losing myself in her pleasure, in the warm salt of her desire, the rasping breaths of my name whispered over and over as I fuck her with my mouth, my fingers digging into her thighs as I plunder her, deeper, faster, and then—
“Merrick! Yes… oh God… yes!”
Elizabeth comes for me, recklessly and without restraint, a symphony of breathy moans echoing through the cottage, hips bucking wildly against my face as I continue to ravish her, savoring the taste, the scent, the overwhelming intensity of it as wave after wave crashes through her, nearly drowning us both.