Chapter 6 #2
I already ran warm, so with the fire going, I peeled out of my hoodie and tossed it with my ball cap toward the adjacent couch.
The cool air of the house kissed my bare torso as I reached for the books to decide with which one to start.
A flash of movement made me pause. I looked at the mantle over the fireplace and found a thick black snake slithering across the top of it.
I tipped my head in greeting. “What’s up, Coldin?”
The demon flicked his forked tongue at me and continued his path down the fireplace. He headed toward the door, and I chuckled to myself, guessing I’d disturbed the snake from wherever he’d been hiding in here.
I turned back to the books in front of me.
Throughout my long life, I’d learned the best escape from myself was by reading.
It offered a reprieve from the hard experience I carried while simultaneously giving me a glimpse into humans—their thoughts, their emotions.
I could peer deep into their minds and hearts, and that was more than I’d ever get from just bedding them.
It was only while I read their carefully crafted words that I ever wondered if I had things wrong.
Maybe humans could be more than their lies, greed, and hatred.
But then I hung around them and was reminded that they would always be that way.
Liars. Cheats. Incapable of the kind of love they wrote about.
Love. Ha. What a fucking joke.
I’d never fall for that shit again. Ever.
My gaze bounced between three of the five books I’d brought home—the ones Serenity had recommended.
Despite my disdain for humans, I couldn’t lie.
From the minute she’d walked into the bar last night, she’d piqued my interest—her wintery pure scent, her messy personal situation, the taste of her pleasure, the perfection of her curvy and inked body.
Even her shy, fumbling mannerisms today called out to the monster inside of me.
Her sweet and timid disposition made me want to corrupt and devour her.
It made me want to bring out all the hurt-feelings she no doubt kept buried inside.
She smiled prettily to my face, but I’d seen her the night before. There was a certain sadness she carried yet hid.
Eager to get a deeper glimpse into the human’s head, I grabbed the dark romance book she’d recommended. I settled back against the plush cushion of my couch, propped my feet up on the coffee table, and let the crackling fire create a soothing background track to my reading.
It was always interesting to see what humans labeled as “dark” romance.
To a creature like me, one created from the filthy and depraved, these kinds of stories were just an average day in my world.
It might as well have been a fucking rom-com.
Especially this particular one. A stalker romance?
Please. Perseus—the golden-haired guitarist in our band and fellow Incubus—did that shit regularly during the early stages of his pursuit of Harper.
Still, I wasn’t lying when I’d told Serenity that I liked romance books. They were some of my favorites. I was a sex demon, so romance was interwoven with my very existence. Not to mention, the genre was a huge insight into the human emotion known as the world’s greatest lie.
Romance books delved into how people fell in love, what made them fall out of love, and what was so great about the damn feeling. Reading these stories was as close to experiencing it as I’d ever get.
The tales also kept my mind fresh with ideas for sex and new ways to pleasure my partners, something I took a lot of pride in. After all, the better they liked it, the better I ate.
About a quarter into the book, Coldin appeared in the library doorway, not as a snake, but in human form.
A silver ring pierced through the center of his bottom lip, and a dark skull face spanned the skin of his neck.
He’d dressed in a fitted black tee, which exposed his many other tattoos.
The grim reaper hovering above screaming souls decorated his right arm.
An animal skull with blood dripping from its jaws was on the left.
A single snake eye painted the tops of both hands.
Thick bands of black ink adorned both of his wrists, though, those tattoos weren’t drawn on by human tools.
Rather, they were evidence of the demonic handcuffs that allowed him to roam Earth with us but kept him from killing freely.
He fixed his forever blank green eyes on me and announced, “Zagan is calling for me.”
I raised a brow. If Zagan was calling for Coldin, that meant it was through shadow speak since the Letum demon didn’t have a phone. And if Zagan was using shadow speak, that meant Iyla must’ve really done it. She’d saved Zagan.
The news stunned me. Coldin disappeared in a plume of shadows, leaving me to stare at the suddenly empty space.
A human managed to beat a demon? I didn’t like Iyla, but I had to give her props.
She had guts if she was able to beat Babette.
Perhaps her feelings for Zagan were stronger than demonic powers.
“Yeah, right,” I muttered to myself before turning back to the book in my hand.
I finished the book quickly, and while it was entertaining, it hadn’t made me feel anything. I hadn’t gained a new grasp on myself or humans, and that was what I wanted—no, needed—right now. I wanted to feel something deeper and real.
I wanted to know why Zagan had been ready to throw away his life for Iyla.
I wanted to know why Perseus was suffering while watching Harper struggle.
I wanted to know why Serenity gave her heart to a worthless pile of shit who didn’t even deserve a glance from her.
I sighed and scanned the covers of the other four books.
The sticky note Serenity had written on was still on the cover of one.
I peeled it off, staring at the tan, animal-shaped paper with her neat little writing across it.
A new question joined the others plaguing my mind, and I stared at the sheet of paper, hoping it would give me an answer.
Pursing my lips, I held the sticky note out and snapped a photo with my phone. Pulling up Serenity’s texts, I sent it to her.
What’s a capybara?
Not even a minute later, my phone dinged with a photo of the creature in question.
The round and tan animal sat on its hunches and stared blankly at a large rubber duck next to it.
The capybara seemed to be in an enclosure, and more creatures just like it floated in a large pool or stretched out in the grass to sunbathe.
Serenity’s pale finger pointed at it in the bottom of the photo.
This guy
Well isn’t he an ugly rodent
The success of our blossoming friendship just got reduced by 50%
I’m sorry. Damn autocorrect. I meant, he’s an adorable little guy.
Lies … but you’re forgiven. This is Tom.
Another photo lit up my phone. Unlike the first photo, this one was of Serenity squatting near the glass with a fat capybara right beside her on the other side of the clear panel.
The rodent looked unamused by the selfie while Serenity beamed into the camera, clearly loving the opportunity to pose with Tom.
“You’re an ugly fucker,” I said to the still image of Tom before focusing on Serenity’s vibrant grin. “But you’re cute.”
Cute was an understatement. She was fucking gorgeous. Memories of the night before filled my head. Her naked body splayed out for me to torment with my shadows, the ink decorating her skin, her pink nipples practically begging me to taste them, her wet pussy dripping for sex.
I couldn’t wait to actually have her.
I pictured her shivering beneath my touch while my fingers traced the moon phases tattoo between her breasts.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the back of the couch, freeing my now aching cock from the confines of my sweatpants.
I gripped the dark shaft and gave it a measured pump while envisioning Serenity’s full pink lips parting on a moan as I pressed the pads of my thumbs against her nipples and rubbed them.
I stroked my hard dick to the fantasy at an even, unhurried pace.
Fantasies of a girl with starlight for hair batting her lashes at me as she shed her clothes to show me more of the black ink painting her pale skin.
I was eager to run my tongue along each design and shower her in endless waves of bliss.
Visions of the girl swarmed my head as the pleasure engulfing my veins ramped up. I pumped harder and thrust my hips off the soft cushion as heat seeped from my hand to cocoon my cock. I was willing to bet that heat was nothing compared to what I’d find when buried inside of her.
She’d feed me deceit with a fake smile while riding my dick, and I’d let her ride me with her sweet lies.
I pictured her crying so that those tears glistened like stars on her lashes.
In my mind, I ran my thumb beneath her eyes to gather them, only to shove the tears into her mouth for her to simultaneously suck on my skin and the evidence of her pain that she kept hidden.
With a groan, I shoved my dick into my hand one last time, cumming across my pants and the couch. I blinked the satiated haze from my eyes, and with a snap of my fingers, the sticky substance evaporated into shadowy tendrils, leaving everything as clean as it had been before.
My gaze fell to the image of Serenity still open on my phone.
I couldn’t wait to paint her body in that same cum.