Chapter 10 Intelligence #2
That made her cheeks burn brighter and Laz all the more interested.
“Do tell,” he said, propping his elbows on the table and chin in his hands.
She hid her face in her hands, letting out an adorable little whine. “No, not in public.”
“Oh, come on. There’s just two other tables up here.”
Rosalind shook her head.
“Alright, fine,” Laz said, standing quickly and hurrying to her side of the table.
Even if uncertain, she took his hand with little hesitation. “Where are we going?”
“My place.”
He was probably a little too eager, having to remind himself to slow the pace of his longer legs despite his desire to just pick her up and do everything for her for the rest of her life.
Except the work thing. She was far too smart and too good at that.
She could do that, but nothing else. Unless she really wanted to, he supposed, then he’d concede on a few things.
Eagerness won out when he finally shut the door to his apartment, even over his curiosity, because he’d spent the whole night looking at Rosalind’s beautiful pink cheeks and bright eyes and tiny smile as she talked about Heck like it was home that he needed to know what all that joy tasted like.
Laz’s hand was on her face a second later, pulling her bag from her shoulder and tilting her up to meet his kiss.
Fuck, he’d never get over that. The sweetness of her lips against his tongue, the little moan that tasted of chocolate and passion. How her hands slapped at the wall just before her back hit it, then dragged up his chest until she could wrap them around his neck.
It was too good, too fast, knowing he had her in his arms, in his apartment, all to himself.
Showing off how he was courting the most beautiful human was fine, sharing with Dav was fine, but letting other demons witness how she fell apart with just the trace of his palm over her hip and the slight scrape of his claws in her hair? No. That was only for them.
Lazerath moved his lips to her jaw, savoring the little whimper that left her throat. “I’ve not forgotten you were going to tell me about that pathetic human male who failed to court you properly.”
“Ugh, Laz.”
He paused, pulling his hand away from her face so he could press it against the wall. Caging her in with a teasing grin. “Limp cock, shouted his own name when he came, howled like a veilhound when he came—”
“What? Oh my gods, no.”
“I’m just going to keep guessing until I get it right.”
Rose’s mouth opened, but the edges were strained like she was fighting a smile.
He took a breath—
“I was bored!” He blinked down at her, eyes squeezed shut like she was afraid of the words coming out of her mouth. “I… don’t often feel sexual attraction immediately. But he was intelligent, and that’s usually what interests me, so I thought the rest would come.”
Laz managed to bite his tongue to stop himself from asking questions too soon.
“He was just sort of… bland. Sex was a transaction, which was fine when I didn’t have time for much outside of finding release for the stress we were under. I wanted to try some things, and he didn’t really see the point when what we were doing still worked for him.”
Lazerath’s lip curled.
“No, no,” Rose chided, patting his chest. “It was fine. I know it wasn’t my fault. It was probably the first time I sort of put the pieces together about… what I was interested in.”
“Like?” he asked, tilting his head.
She pursed her lips. “Like… you’re sexually attracted to females, right? And so is Dav?”
The comparison fell into place. “Oh, I get it. But Dav’s into both. All? Umm, he’s open about his preferences, and he wouldn’t be mad about me saying that, or, you know, fielding questions.”
“Okay, so I’m…” One hand rubbed over her chest. “Similar to him, but not? I mean, I’m logical, so I can objectively know when someone is attractive, but it’s actually their intelligence that… you know… makes me sexually interested.”
Well, fuck him.
But not, because…
“Intelligence. Yeah. Fuck.” Laz scratched at the back of his head, suddenly feeling like his apartment was much too small and hot, and when did his tail start that weird out-of-rhythm thwacking?
“Laz?” A cool thumb brushed over his cheek, tugging his face back. Rosalind’s warm gaze settled on him, such a shock to the pain burrowing into his bones. “Why did you say that?”
He meant to express his frustration with a wave of his arms, but they sort of flopped at his sides. “I mean, you want an intelligent partner. I’m basically… not.”
Dav was. Dav was fucking brilliant. They could bond over lists and numbers and have little human-demon babies that lined up like a family of cute measuring cups. Or tiered cake. Chocolate, of course.
Laz was just… silly. Fun, yes, but he didn’t know the first thing about the books that Dav kept.
He could handle money, yeah, fine, but not the bigger things.
Not balancing and budgeting beyond making sure he had enough to pay rent and business licenses.
For fuck’s sake, he had been screwed over by a demon selling milk.
And just when his thoughts were sinking into the pits of the sads that he wasn’t sure he could climb out of, there was a prick of pain at his jaw.
He blinked, finding an absolutely terrifying sight in front of him.
Rosalind didn’t just look mad; she looked furious. Those eyes that had just held warmth were now stern, a fire living in the depths of that molten brown as her fingers pinched on either side of his chin to hold him captive.
“Don’t you ever fucking—fuck, I’m too short for this.
” Quickly, she released him and glanced around her feet, finding the small chair he kept by the door to put on his boots.
She stormed over to it, grabbed the back, then dragged it in front of him.
With one hand on his arm to keep herself steady, she stomped onto the seat so she was…
fuck, just a bit taller than him now, then fixed her angry face again as she grabbed his chin.
Lazerath should not have been so turned on by her anger directed at him like this. He hadn’t quite believed Dav when he’d explained how thoroughly Rosalind had torn Salgoron of Salgoron’s Goods a new asshole, but now he understood his friend’s mutterings about how fucking hot it had been to watch.
Rosalind’s grip returned to just the right side of pinching pain, pulling his attention back. “Don’t you ever fucking say that again.”
Laz was too dazed to remember what he’d said. “Yeah, sure. Never again.”
The wrong fucking thing to say—or the very right one—because her nostrils flared and her grip turned punishing. “Lazerath, look at me.”
“Nowhere else I want to look right now, beautiful.”
The anger in her gaze softened a fraction. “Laz. You are smart.” Instead of digging her nails in farther when he ached to turn away, her other hand came up, and then her palms were cradling either side of his face. “Yes, you are.”
It was hard not to believe her when she said it peering directly into his core. When he truly did believe that she was half of his soul, and thus everything out of her mouth should be right.
“Intelligence,” she said, eyes taking in his face, “is not only measured in balancing books or math or inventory. And it’s certainly not measured by jerks who take advantage of others’ kindness.
You started a business, recognize patterns in customer flow, and have an incredible eye for displays.
There’s also emotional intelligence, and yours drew me in immediately. Just like your smile and joy.”
Laz huffed, but her thumb pressing on his lower lip stopped his words.
“You are brilliant, Laz. Just because it looks different than others doesn’t mean you’re not smart.
Like tonight, when there wasn’t a single lull in conversation because you were listening, processing, asking questions, and letting me ask them in return.
Like how you work flawlessly within a routine, or when your workspace is messy you can get thrown off, but you can also focus on something you enjoy and get so much done.
You can even recall recipes without needing to reference the ingredient card.
None of that is a lack of intelligence, it’s just how you work. ”
He reached up, tugging her hands into his. “You know all of that about me already?”
“I need to. I…” Rosalind bit her lower lip. “I just need to keep my mind moving, taking in everything so it doesn’t have time to…” Her hands were occupied, so she just shrugged. “It’s how I work.”
That he could understand, so he set her hands on his shoulders and placed his palms on her waist. “Situational awareness. Anticipating. Like the rhythm we fell into that first night with each other?”
She nodded.
“Good,” Laz said, a smirk lifting on his mouth. “Then you know exactly what I’m going to do next.”
He caught Rosalind’s smile a breath before his lips crashed into hers.