Chapter 11 #2
Neyu made a soft noise like a humorless laugh. “I haven’t killed any humans this day, no.”
“They burn easily—”
“Saer.”
The leash on his temper snapped. “What, Neyuukhan?”
In answer, Neyu shifted to stand directly in front of him, her hands raising to caress either side of his face so he had no choice but to gaze upon her or shut his eyes. He looked daggers at the demoness, but she kept her voice steady. “What do you think happened?”
His growl halted at the unexpected question, though ire persisted. “You would know that better than I.”
“And yet, it seems whatever your mind has come up with—in place of reality—plagues you.”
The soft skin of her palms tempted a sense of peace as they curled under his sensitive jawline. Saer fought to ignore it, focusing on her words. “It doesn’t matter.” He pulled away from her touch and stepped around the demoness to show her his back.
Neyu didn’t let him get one full step before snagging his elbow. “Talk to me.”
Pride didn’t bother to quell an aggressive sound erupting from his mouth as he whirled around, breaking her hold. “I won’t be manipulated.”
The demoness’s eyes widened. “Manipulated?”
“Yes.” His fury spilled over, the accusations pouring out before Saer could think twice. “Every touch, every word, every look. You make the ones who want you feel special. Everyone. Which means none of us are.”
Neyu’s rage surged to meet his, eyes flashing with a heat that had nothing to do with the sin she embodied. “How dare you?”
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
“Would you believe me if I did?” Neyu’s voice raised to match his furious holler.
“Was it all a lie?”
“I’ve never lied to you.”
“Am I just a necessary part of your plan?”
“You’re not listening to me!”
“How many of the others have you called ‘Dearest?’”
“Are you—?” Neyu closed the distance between them until her face spanned a breath from his.
One of Lust’s fingers jabbed over Pride’s heart, her teeth bared in an expression more ferocious than he’d ever seen on her.
“If I weren’t in love with you, I’d be scraping your face out of my fingernails right now! ”
Saer’s snarl faltered.
“Hellsfire.” Neyu dropped her hand and moved to pull away.
He stepped forward when she shifted, giving the demoness no course other than to shuffle backwards. Neyu backed into the tree, catching her breath when her shoulder blades touched the barrier.
A deep rumble of a different and warmer flavor settled in Saer’s throat when he leaned over Neyu, the crescents of their hair brushing against one another. “I’m listening now,” he said in a low and cautious tone.
Neyu lifted a hand to push it between their bodies, her palm on his sternum. “I won’t be bullied,” she whispered.
The corner of Saer’s mouth twitched, despite himself. He glanced down at her hand, then back to her drowning-deep eyes. “I won’t stop you if you wish to move.”
A long, slow breath left her, but she stayed in place. “I didn’t expect to tell you this way.”
Saer leaned closer, the tip of his nose caressing hers.
The demoness swallowed, and Saer angled his head upwards so he could skim his lips along her brow, choosing his words with care.
“I missed you. In my time away, I saw humans overcome with emotions I imagined sharing with you. Those guards…” A subdued growl simmered in his gullet.
“They don’t know you or I. Yet, they took that away from me. Us.”
“No.” Neyu’s hand slid up his chest, and Saer struggled to keep his focus. He took her movement as permission, and lifted an arm to slide his fingertips along her waist, inwardly irritated by the scratchiness of the blanket standing in the way of the softness of her skin.
“Explain,” he whispered against her forehead, then kissed it as he’d pictured doing thousands of times, ever since he’d seen humans share the gesture amongst those they cherished.
It felt right.
The demoness’s breath shook, and Saer smiled against her skin. “They didn’t want me,” she said.
“I find that hard to believe.” Saer dipped his head down and to the side so he could experiment with another feather-light kiss on the auricle of her ear. His lips were sensitive, and he tasted a whisper of her skin on his tongue. He hadn’t expected to appreciate these small touches so much.
She rewarded him with a full-body shiver. “We can only pull on their sins when they already exist. You taught me that.”
“Mmhmm.” Saer’s fingers glided along her ribs, itching to pull the blanket away, but staying his hand.
“I knew their lust wasn’t for me, though they pretended otherwise. It was for—” Neyu gasped—the tiniest intake of breath—when he kissed under her earlobe. “For one another.”
Saer paused long enough to consider, and she made a whimpering noise against him. “Please,” she whispered.
He groaned and pressed closer to her as his nose nuzzled against her neck, breathing in her scent. She smelled like lavender and roses.
A tightness and yearning made itself known below Saer’s waist, under his makeshift clothing. This close, Neyu angled against him as though instinct drove her as much as it drove him. She pressed her hips into the suddenly hard and insistent part of him.
He’d overheard other men speaking of coupling in both detestable and romantic terms. No human, male or female, had ever invoked those carnal urges in him.
But Neyu’s nearness drove his human body differently, pulled at him, begged him.
His mind started to muddy, wanting to forget all else but this demoness he held.
One thought stopped him. “Are you—?”
Neyu whimpered and shook her head, knowing what he meant to ask without needing clarification. “I taste your lust, but I can’t pull on it. I don’t want to pull on it. I just want—”
She gasped when he rolled his hips against hers in answer, and the sound sang through him.
They teetered on some sort of precipice. He knew he should stop this course—before they further broke the vow they’d made.
‘You are bound to protect me, obey me, honor me, and put no others before me.’
Not even one another. Not even his perfect match.
‘Dearest,’ she called him...
The significance clarified. Neyu broke that vow the first time she’d declared him as such.
“Please,” she said, and he knew he was as lost as she.
He slid a hand up to curl behind her neck while the other secured itself around Neyu’s waist and lifted his face just enough to kiss her jawline, then the corner of her full mouth. “Yes, Dearest?”
Something between a sob and a sigh left her, and Saer captured it when he at last pressed his mouth to hers.
She tasted as close to heaven as he’d ever achieve. Honey and butter and citrus.
Neyu’s arms wrapped around him, one of her legs lifting to coil around his hip, and Saer moaned into their kiss.
Parting her lips with his, his tongue brushed against hers, eliciting harmonizing growls from each of their throats.
The emotional onslaught crashed over Saer, and more urgency filtered into the kiss, intensifying until he had to pull back just enough to gasp for breath.
His demoness slid her hands under his jawline, kissing his lower lip, his chin. She whispered against his skin, “Show me. Teach me. Learn with me.”
Saer didn’t require any further encouragement.