Chapter 14 #2
The phone clicked, and Sloan was gone, leaving them all staring at one another.
“He’s lost his damn mind,” Isaac said.
“I’m beginning to doubt he was ever in possession of it in the first place,” Shadrach drawled.
Ashmedai wanted to break the phone. This meant Nicolas would have to put himself in more danger.
They would be relying on him to find the children now.
For better or worse, Nicolas was determined to save them.
Ashmedai just wished he could help somehow.
Waiting on the outside while Nicolas was surrounded by enemies set his teeth on edge.
As though his mind was moving down the same path, Talon met his eyes. “It’s up to Nicolas now, Ashmedai. We need him to find us a lead on their location. The sooner he does that, the sooner he can get the fuck out of there.”
Ashmedai bowed his head. “I will tell him.”
“He’s doing a good thing,” Julian said, his young face earnest.
“I know.” Ashmedai huffed out a laugh. “I wish he were less good.”
Daniel’s hand came down on his shoulder, and Ashmedai startled at the touch. Humans so rarely initiated touch with him. Daniel didn’t seem to notice.
“You and me both, buddy,” he said lightly, patting Ashmedai’s shoulder.
“Go and tell him what Sloan said,” Nathan said. “Tell him it’s up to him now.”
“And tell him I’m rooting for him,” Daniel added. “And waiting for him, so he better hurry his ass up.”
It was earlier than he usually went to Nicolas’s, but he wouldn’t spurn the chance to spend more time with him. If they needed him to deliver this message, he would do it gladly.
Nicolas’s apartment was dark. It was always dark these days, and Ashmedai hoped he kept it that way as an unspoken invitation.
The curtains were drawn over the windows, and Nicolas was laying sideways on the sofa, one arm tucked under his head and blinking slowly at the television, his eyelids getting heavier each time. It was early, but his human was tired.
When Ashmedai stepped closer, Nicolas’s eyes landed on him, and he startled, one hand flying to his chest as he raised his head.
“Sorry,” Ashmedai said, moving closer.
“It’s okay. You’re early. Come here.” He tugged Ashmedai by the hand and shifted until Ashmedai was squeezed between his warm body and the back of the sofa.
They barely fit on the cushions like this together, but Ashmedai liked it, pressed up against Nicolas with not a gap between their bodies.
He wrapped his arms around him, one around his middle and one under his head, and tucked his face in Nicolas’s hair, inhaling his scent.
“I have a message,” Ashmedai said with a contented sigh.
“Oh?” Nicolas’s fingers wrapped around one of his wrists, one foot slipping between Ashmedai’s lower legs to tangle them more fully together.
“Nathan called Sloan, told them I was dead. Sloan refused to give back the kids.”
Nicolas turned his head sharply to look at him over his shoulder. “What?”
Ashmedai hummed an affirmative sound. “Called them leverage. Said he might have other uses for them. Even change their names, make them guild members.”
“Christ Almighty,” Nicolas groaned. “You can’t just force children to take up arms and fight for your cause. That’s not how this works.”
“Mm. Up to you now,” he added somberly.
“Yeah. I’m working on it. I’m going patrolling with James’s squad again tomorrow night. They’ve eased up a little during training, too, so at least I’ve passed all their stupid training tests.”
“Don’t like.”
“I know you don’t. I hope this means I’m getting closer, though. Maybe I’ll have something I can take back to the Sentinels soon.”
“Hope,” Ashmedai agreed, nuzzling Nicolas’s short curls. “Tired?”
Nicolas sighed. “Yeah. It’s been a long week.”
“You should sleep, then.”
“I will. Let’s just stay like this a little longer.”
That was fine with Ashmedai. Nicolas was boneless and warm in his arms, his closeness soothing the tangled barbs that started to ache when they were separated.
Good sex was a fine foundation, as Nicolas had said, but moments like this were better.
Moments when everything felt right. Nicolas was in his arms, where he belonged, and nothing else mattered.
“Tell me… Tell me something you want to do together after I leave the guild.”
Ashmedai raised his head to peer down at Nicolas’s profile. “Like what?”
“Anything. Just tell me something you want to do that we can’t do right now. Give me something to look forward to.”
Ashmedai hesitated. Was Nicolas hoping to hear something in particular? He didn’t know anything about what human relationships were like. So he just focused on the truth. That would have to be good enough.
“I want to see you in the light,” he said. “Want to see you smile. Want to watch you eat.”
A surprised chuckle fell from Nicolas. “Watch me eat?”
“Yes. Humans eat so differently than I. Seen the others eat. The way their jaws and throats move. Want to see you do it.”
“Okay, fair enough. Eating, I can do that. You’ll probably see me do that a lot, actually. Humans are supposed to eat at least three meals a day. And paladins eat more, because we’re so active.”
“I know.” He nuzzled Nicolas’s hair. “And you? Something you look forward to?”
Nicolas’s fingers slid between his own. “There’s a lot of stuff you’ve never seen before. Earth stuff. Human stuff. I’d like to show you. Things like swimming in the ocean and the view on a mountaintop. Even silly stuff like television shows and movies.”
“Yes. Want to see everything. With you.” He paused, remembering the tentative feeling of acceptance that had reached him with Daniel’s touch. “Daniel says he’s rooting for you.”
Nicolas turned so suddenly he nearly fell off the couch.
Ashmedai yanked him back, and he let out a choked sound at the squeezing.
“You saw Danny? How is he? Is he okay? He did good, he hasn’t gone back to his apartment.
Sloan asked me about him, and I told him we haven’t spoken.
He even checked my phone to be sure. I’m really glad they gave us those burner phones. ”
“He’s fine. Staying in the Rink for now.
” Daniel could probably get more use out of the apartment above the club than Ashmedai would.
Maybe he should tell them to let Daniel use it.
Ashmedai rarely went there. It was mostly a place to store the spare clothes Shadrach had bought him and occasionally a place to wait out the day.
Nicolas blew out a breath. “I miss him. We used to see each other every day, y’know?
When I was a squad captain, he and Julian were in my squad.
We were all very close. Julian would host dinners at his house, and the whole squad would go over there.
” He sighed. “Sloan divided us long before you came along. Daniel was caught going to meetings with people who didn’t agree with Sloan.
The rest of our squad was loyal to Sloan, so they turned on Danny, and by association Julian and me, too.
Then Julian decided he wanted to leave the guild.
Then Sloan took Danny off my team ‘for our own good,’ and everything’s just been awful ever since.
I don’t blame Jules for leaving when he did.
I’ve held on for longer than I probably should’ve. ”
“Your family,” Ashmedai said, remembering what Nicolas told him about his parents being in the guild.
“Yeah. At some point your legacy stops mattering when real people are getting hurt. I should’ve taken a stand a long time ago instead of letting things go on.
It was up to the captains to bring their concerns up to Sloan.
Too many of us stayed quiet, hoping things would blow over.
You can’t stay quiet when lives are on the line.
Nobody tried to reign Sloan in, and now look what’s happened.
He’s holding children hostage and justifying it how?
Because those kids don’t believe the same as him?
The Sentinels took care of them. Of course that’s who they’re going to be loyal to. ”
Ashmedai slipped his hand under Nicolas’s shirt, pressing his palm flat against his stomach, needing that skin to skin contact. “You’ll find them.”
“I hope so. I feel like I’m running out of time. And nobody’s spoken to the kids. We don’t even know if they’re really okay. What if they’re dead?”
Ashmedai growled. He didn’t know much about human nature, but he did know that it was counterproductive for Nicolas to think that he was doing all of this for nothing. They had no reason to give up hope yet, so Ashmedai wouldn’t let him entertain this.
Nicolas shook himself. “I can’t think like that, I know.”
“You’ll find them,” he said again, firmer.
“You’re right,” Nicolas said, like he was trying to convince himself. “I will find them. I just… have no idea how.”
Ashmedai stayed quiet.
“Someone has to be guarding them. Bringing them food. Checking on them. That means someone won’t be showing up for drills or patrols. So I should be on the lookout for squads with a missing member or two at random times.”
“Yes.” This was good. He could be on to something. “And then?”
“Once I know who’s guarding the kids, I can… follow them. Or have one of the demons follow them.”
“Talon, Shadrach, Valac. They can hide in shadows, teleport. Easily follow a human.”
“Good, that’s good. So once I know someone, anyone, who knows where the kids are, all I have to do is tell the Sentinels who to follow and keep my head down until the kids are free.”
“And then we burn it all down,” Ashmedai said gleefully.
Nicolas sputtered out a laugh. “I’m not saying no. I just may not want to be the one lighting the match. After all of this is over, I’d like a break. I want to spend time with you and Danny and remember what it’s like to not be a piece of shit.”
Ashmedai pulled back with an offended growl. “You are not!”
“But I’m spending all my time acting like one,” he said.
“Not real. Not you.” He leaned in, peppering Nicolas’s pouting face with kisses. “Never. Beautiful, my light. Not shit.”
Nicolas’s sigh gusted across Ashmedai’s chin and jaw. “Let’s go to bed.”
“Yes. You need sleep.”
They stood, but when they were on their feet, Nicolas grabbed him, forcibly turning Ashmedai to face him as his eyes raked up and down his body.
“Whoa, wait. You’re wearing new clothes! I didn’t notice when you came in because I was almost asleep.”
Ashmedai looked down at himself, fidgeting nervously with the lapel of his coat. “Yes. Shadrach bought them. Is it okay? Feels weird.”
“It… It looks great. Wow. I can see the shape of your body.” Nicolas met his eyes, smiling tentatively. “The cloak kept you pretty covered up. But this… I feel like I can see you.”
“Oh.” He hadn’t considered that—nor had he considered that seeing his body might be something Nicolas wanted.
He was inhuman and assumed looking at him would be strange and uncomfortable for a human.
But Nicolas’s gaze roamed his body hungrily, and his hands soon followed, flattening against Ashmedai’s chest, moving up to his shoulders and down his arms. To his hips and under his coat, gliding up his sides and around, under the back of his coat.
Ashmedai rumbled pleasantly, his eyes unfocusing as his attention turned inward, on the sensation of his human’s hands exploring his body in places rarely touched by another being.
“I want to touch you,” Nicolas breathed. “Want to touch you everywhere. Learn every inch.”
Ashmedai pressed closer, clawed fingers curling around Nicolas’s tender throat and guiding his head up. He sealed their lips together, slipping his tongue past Nicolas’s plush lips to taste the silken inside of his mouth.
Nicolas said bed, and Ashmedai intended to get him there. He hooked his hands under Nicolas’s rear and lifted him effortlessly. Nicolas clung to his shoulders and wrapped his legs around Ashmedai’s waist. He was strong for a human, sturdy, but he felt so lightweight and delicate in Ashmedai’s arms.
He carried him carefully into the bedroom and laid him out on the mattress, peeling each article of clothing off with care.
“Ash, let me see you,” Nicolas pleaded, gripping the hem of his hood. “Please, I want to see all of you.”
For the first time, Ashmedai considered it. He was starting to believe that Nicolas wouldn’t turn away in horror or disgust. But still he shook his head.
“Not yet.” He touched Nicolas’s damp lips softly. “Not yet, my light. Not ready.” Things between them still felt so fragile. He was afraid seeing how different he really was would give Nicolas second thoughts.
Nicolas smiled sadly. “Okay. Whenever you’re ready, then. I promise, I’ll like what I see.”
“I hope so. I am… different.” He’d never cared about his appearance before, but being around the others had made it painfully obvious exactly how inhuman he really was.
“Of course I will, Ash. Because it’s you.”
Ashmedai couldn’t resist leaning in to taste him, sinking his tongue between his lips and and growling enthusiastically as Nicolas’s fingers deftly opened his trousers and pushed them down his legs. He kicked his boots off, and the jeans followed quickly.
“Want to do something,” he said. “Something different.”
“Anything,” Nicolas panted. “Anything you want.”
“Want you inside me.”
“Oh God, yeah. Wait, when you say inside…”
Ashmedai straddled his hips. Nicolas was already hard, his length weeping at the tip, like the very idea was enough to bring him to the brink.
Ashmedai’s cock parted his seam. It was incredibly sensitive inside, and although it would be tight, he wanted to know what it would feel like to fit Nicolas’s length inside along with his own, filling him up in a way no one ever had.