21. Problem solver
CHAPTER 21
PROBLEM SOLVER
BILLIE
W hen it became obvious that I wouldn’t be leaving the village for a while—if ever—Glaine went and spoke to the clan seamstress, Raiga. He offered to use coin to buy a few dresses that would fit me. Most of the demons and demonesses who live in Nuit don’t use money, not like they do in the capital city. She didn’t want his coin, and when he said he would find something to barter, she refused that, too. As a soldier, he left Nuit to keep Sombra safe—and, to the smaller clans that are often the first targets when demons rise up against Duke Haures, his lifelong service was more than often to earn him three woven dresses to replace that red one I spent my first week in Sombra wearing.
I slip one side of the sleeveless dress I have on off of my shoulder. There goes the next. With a little hip wiggle, the dress shimmies down, pooling on the dungeon floor.
There isn’t underwear in Sombra. The next time Sierra pops in, I’m getting all of my lingerie from the apartment, but for now… the dress is off and I’m completely naked.
Glaine rumbles under his breath. “You are uncovered, my mate.”
I cup my breasts, rolling my nipples between my fingers. A teasing smile plays on my lips as I have his enraptured attention. “I’m naked , Glaine.”
He shudders. “You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on. But, I must confess, Billie… if any other demon spies you like this, I don’t think I will be able to stop myself from reaching for my sword.”
My smile widens. “And remind the duke that you have it? You’re not a guard anymore. He might take the sword back.”
“Let him.” His voice is ragged as he watches me push my tits together, highlighting my cleavage. “I’ve given centuries of service to him. All I ever wanted was my mate. The sword… the prestige… my command. My freedom, even. I’d sacrifice it all for her.” He swallows roughly, and I can’t tell if it’s emotional—or if the way I’m skimming my hands down my sides before settling on my bare hips is arousing him beyond belief.
“Oh? And what would you do if she was right here in front of you?” Keeping one hand on my hip, the other dips between my legs. I finger a golden curl, showing him how damp it is. My pussy? It’s soaked. Just watching him devour my naked body with his gaze has me turned on.
And, okay, maybe it’s the chance that we could have a visitor any second now. Luckily, that’s easily remedied…
Glaine voice drops. “I’d go to my knees and worship her the way she deserves to be worshiped. She’s my gift from the gods, my one true mate, and deserves the worlds. Both of them.”
I move toward him, closing the gap between us. “What if I told you that I only want to stick around one world for now?”
His expression shadows over. “So I was right. For the final time, you’re denying me. Just like the prophecy foretold.”
Glaine and that damn prophecy. Of course he doesn’t think that the world I’m choosing is Sombra.
I’m standing directly in front of him. Instead of trying to explain, I decide to do one better.
I go up on my tiptoes, angling my head back so that I can invite his kiss. It’s so funny when you think about how he had the instinct to put his mouth on my pussy long before I taught him just how pleasurable it could be to press my lips to his, slipping my tongue into his mouth so that I could stroke it.
When I’m done, I keep my mouth right next to his.
“The prophecy was bullshit,” I whisper against his lips. I have his essence. I know how much he believed in it, but it was a stupid riddle that, in the end, was worthless.
He gave me the freedom to go. I’m making the choice to stay.
“Billie?”
I cup his jaw. “Wrap me up in your shadows.”
When he hesitates, I know it’s not because he takes umbrage at anyone other than the duke giving him orders. I don’t count. I can tell him to do anything, and if he can, he will. Using his essence, I can sense his confusion.
That’s okay. I think I can explain.
“If you go from your solid form to your shadows, you can hide me with them, right? And if you do, no one can see me like this.”
“But the chains?—”
Hasn’t he figured out the loophole yet? Probably not, since the duke has used Glaine as his muscle for centuries. If he’s sent Glaine and a mage along to chain up demons for all that time, why would they second-guess him? But I’ve been thinking about that. The day that the rogue came at us, Glaine broke free of the chains by feeding it his essence. He didn’t want to spare anymore—not if he wanted to give it to me—so he didn’t do that again.
Now he doesn’t have any because I do. I have his essence, and because I’m not a Smbra demon, I don’t burn when I grab the chains and, with a soft clink and a tiny sting, they fall off, clattering as they hit the floor.
“How did you do that?” he marvels. “Are you a mage, my Billie?”
Hardly. “I just figured, you don’t have demon essence to feed the chains. I do, thanks to you, but humans don’t burn if they break the rules.” If we did, it would’ve been Kenendy on fire with Loki. “I figured, I’ll share a couple of drops to get you out of the chains. It stung, but I’m fine. And now we need to hurry before they come back.”
“That is amazing.” Glaine pauses for a moment. “But what if you had burned?” He reaches out with his free hands, clutching my elbows. “I would’ve lost you.”
It’s a good thing I didn’t. And once I’m immortal, he won’t have to worry about that anymore.
“But you didn’t. Now, before those chains come back…”
“You are brave,” he says, back to marvelling again. “And you are wise.”
“See? That’s why you need human mates, babe. We bring a whole new perspective to Sombra.”
“Like being unclothed in a demon cell?”
I pat him in the chest. “Or hiding in your shadows so that no one will know that I am.”
He takes the hint. Without the chains, he dissolves into his shadows at my request even as he asks, “Wouldn’t it have been easier to tug your dress back on?”
Maybe, but not if I want to do this .
I motion for him to drift a little lower. He does, I squint at him, then grab his shoulders, hoisting myself up knowing that, no matter what, he’ll be there to catch me.
Even in his shadows, I can make out the outline that is my mate. After the last few weeks, I know where to find his cock—just like I know better than to think I won’t find him hard and ready.
He sucks in a breath as I grab him there next, angling him until the head of his cock is tucked inside of my heat.
Then I meet the strained yet hopeful look on his shadowy face.
“If you don’t want to do this, tell me. Not with your essence. With your words. I know you’ll never deny me, and I want you to know that I’m not gonna do that to you, either. But if you don’t want me to fuck you right now… to promise myself to you… then tell me. I’ll find another way to get the chains off and get you out of here.”
I mean it. I need to hear him say the words. I need to know that it’s not his demon instincts that have him eager to bury himself inside of me, or the promise of sex that makes him want to take a mate.
Glaine palms my ass cheek with one hand. With the other, he lays his palm on the small of my back, pushing me gently at the same time as he jerks his hips, filling me halfway with his shadow dick before he nuzzles his chin on the top of my hair.
“I love you, my Billie,” he repeats. “And I’ve made you the mate’s promise in my heart every second of every day since the distrust in your eyes turned to affection. You say to use my words. Then I shall.” I’m fully seated on his cock, stretched out deliciously as he dips his chin lower, rubbing it along my temple. “My soul will be yours.” A kiss to my cheek as he withdraws about an inch of his cock before thrusting back up into me. “My heart is in your hands.” His moves his hand from my back, slipping it between our bodies. He holds my breast, squeezing it just enough to have me gasp loudly… or maybe that’s the sincerity in his words as he finishes his promise: “Our lives will be forever intertwined. I give myself to you. I give you everything.”
On the word ‘everything’, Glaine pulls out halfway, then slams back in. I bounced on top of him, digging my nails into his chest.
“Yes,” I whisper, arching my back as I press my groin against his, getting as close as possible. “ Yes .”
He stills for a moment. “But that’s my promise. You’ve had it all long. Without your words?—”
Oh. Right. I was so distracted by how good that felt, I forgot this wasn’t just sex for fun. We’ll have plenty of that, but this is different. It’s important.
So, clinging to Glaine, tilt my head up and repeat everything he just said to me.
The second I do, something snaps into place. And though I’ve seen firsthand what a truly demonic demon looks like, I get a glimpse of it in my demon when he groans, then spins on his heel, searching for somewhere to lay me down.
The cot is narrow and small. It could never fit two figures side by side, even if one is a measly human. But with me on my back, and Glaine using one leg as purchase on the floor to pin me to the bed… we fit well enough.
“I knew it,” he says, panting softly as he quickens his strokes, rocking into me as though knowing that our bond won’t be completely finalized until he nuts inside of me. “All along, I knew you were meant to be my mate.”
I grin up into the focused face of my demon. Everything, from those vivid green eyes to the double pair of horns that I will never allow him to hide again, belongs to me. No one else. And maybe that makes me selfish to think like that in this moment, but that just means that the two of us were meant to be all along because, well, isn’t he doing the same?
We’ll have to figure out how to get out of here. Now that we’re bonded mates, Duke Haures has no reason to keep Glaine in the dungeon, and if it turns out fucking in the cells is frowned upon, I’d rather us be on our way before I find that out. The shadows are hiding everything that counts in case a guard does come to check on us, but at the rate that Glaine is racing toward his orgasm—and his shadowy claw rubbing my clit to help me on my way—he might be expecting them to pop their horns in soon.
For now, though? I enjoy this moment while it lasts. After all, it’s only the beginning of forever—and after everything we’ve been through since I was grabbed by the guard, we definitely deserve it.