Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
SKYE
Iwait for a count of ten after Wist leaves. I can sense them—impossible to think of them as “it” anymore—moving away, but I want to be sure they’re really out of earshot and off the property first.
“They’re gone,” I say finally, and almost before the words are fully out, I hear chairs scraping and Daniel appears in the doorway. Kieran and Ewan are with him.
“Are you okay?” he demands, coming over to me. I’m still standing in front of the couch—that whole time, we never sat down. It just didn’t seem like the thing to do. But right now, I really want to sit.
So I do, grabbing Daniel’s hand and dragging him down to the couch with me. Then I pull his arm around me. He takes the hint and snuggles me close.
“I’m fine. Feeling some adrenaline still. Did I fuck that up?” I ask Connor and Gabe.
Gabe instantly shakes his head. “You were great. We got plenty more information. I’m going to call the Collective, report in. Maybe we should stop wasting time on looking for that gateway.”
Connor blows out a breath and sinks into an armchair. “That makes sense,” he admits reluctantly. “It just pisses me off to give up after all this effort.”
“Was it just me,” Kieran begins, sitting on the arm of Connor’s chair and putting a hand on his shoulder, “or were some of those questions Wist asked weird? I thought they’d be more generic, but they seemed… specific.”
I frown and think about it. At the time, they seemed safe enough—but maybe they did focus a lot on what we know about the otherworld and demons and their history on Earth rather than things like what broccoli tastes like.
“I’ll mention that to the Collective too,” Gabe says. “But it’s not like they asked about the number of hunters in the area or where the nearest gateway was. Their questions might have seemed weird, but I don’t think they were dangerous.”
I let out a quiet breath of relief. I’d really hate to have fucked that up and be the cause of the people I love dying in agony.
“But we agree that they’re working with the higher demons who are against Cato?” Ewan asks, still leaning in the doorway to the kitchen.
“Oh, definitely,” Connor says.
“Hundred percent,” I add. “I wish they’d told us more about those demons, but clearly they were under orders.”
Daniel tenses beside me. “How much of what they told us can we safely believe?”
A little silence falls. “I don’t know,” Connor says eventually. “Some of it, we already knew. Other bits make sense in context.”
Gabe shrugs. “In the end, does it matter? We didn’t learn anything groundbreaking.
Whether it’s a hundred higher demons coming against us or the thousand they mentioned, we’re not likely to win.
Telling us the bigger number doesn’t change anything.
Our only chance is stopping them before they manage to bring down the barrier. ”
“But what if that’s the lie? What if they’re not actually planning to bring down the barrier?”
“Then why tell us that? What advantage does it give us?” Gabe counters.
“There weren’t enough details for us to act on them.
” He shakes his head even as my stomach churns with anxiety.
“Either way, these decisions are above my pay grade. Con and I will report in, and hopefully someone with more experience and knowledge will have some answers.”
They haven’t so far, but saying that probably won’t help right now.
“I’m going up to the house first,” Connor says. “I want Uncle Norval to sit in on this call. I can’t believe he didn’t sense the spirit and come down here already.”
“The ghosts are resting,” Ewan tells him.
“We’ve been wearing them out, between their new jobs and their self-appointed guard roles.
They’re all on low-power mode tonight, watching TV in the Garden Suite.
I didn’t let them know when Dan called, because I didn’t think them being here would be helpful. ”
“Agreed,” Connor and Gabe say together, and I snicker. Daniel turns his head and kisses my ear.
“I’m going to go fill Josh in,” Ewan says. “I’ll send Norval to you—at Gabe’s place?”
“Yeah,” Connor replies. “Thanks.”
Kieran stands. “I’ll come with you. I may as well get some work done while I’m here.”
They all head toward the door, though Connor hangs back long enough to tell me, “Get some rest. You did good tonight.” He looks at my pants, in the middle of the floor still, and smirks. “And I bet you’re going to do even better now.”
And then they’re gone.
I let myself fall sideways on the couch, pulling Dan down to lie with me. “This evening hasn’t gone the way I planned it.”
“For what it’s worth, your plan was a really good one,” Daniel murmurs, burying his face in my neck. He just breathes me in, his lips pressed to my skin, and all the love I feel for him rushes through me.
“Love you,” I whisper, and his lips move, curving into a smile.
“I love you too.” He lifts his head, gaze searching mine. “You’re really okay? No headaches or anything?”
“Nothing,” I confirm. “I mean, my head’s spinning with everything Wist said and whether or not it might be true, but that’s not a bad thing.”
“Mine is too.” A slow grin spreads across his face, and he wriggles his brows. “Want a distraction?”
“Fuck, yeah,” I agree. “Here?”
He shakes his head. “No supplies. And Carter and the others will probably come down to check on us when Ewan tells Norval what happened.”
“Bedroom,” I say instantly. We’ve been refreshing the salt line there every few days.
“Come on.” He rolls off the couch to his feet and hauls me up too.
“Ooooh, you’re so strong,” I tease, and he winks.
“All the better to do this.” In one swift, easy motion, he bends and hauls me over his shoulder. My shriek of surprise turns into a laugh.
“Nice ass,” I observe, staring at it as he carries me out of the living room and down the hallway to his bedroom.
“Thanks. I like yours too.” He gives it a whack that makes me laugh again.
Pure joy wells up in me, that I can have this—love and friendship with someone who’s so in tune with me.
Someone who’s not afraid to share his feelings but can also joke around and toss me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Someone who—
Daniel dumps me on the bed, and I bounce on the mattress. Okay, we might need to work on the romantic gestures. But that doesn’t stop me from reaching up to pull him onto the bed with me.
“Kiss,” I demand, and he obeys immediately, ravaging my mouth and then nibbling down my neck to his favorite spot on my collarbone. The hickey there is pretty much permanent now, but I don’t care. It just means everyone knows how much he wants me.
He’s settling in, but I give him a little nudge. “We gotta be fast, unless you want Carter sitting outside the door listening to us,” I remind him. We’re sure he’s done that at least once, but there’s no way to prove it.
Dan smirks. “Oh no, I need to bang my boyfriend fast and then eat frozen pizza. My night is ruined.”
“Nobody said anything about frozen pizza.” Though that reminds me, we’ve got food waiting for us. “But I might be able to scare up a three-course gourmet meal if you can make me come in under five minutes.”
He eyes me skeptically. “You? Gourmet?” Then his expression changes. “You bribed Jorge to cook for us!”
I shrug. “Maybe.”
“Ten minutes,” he bargains. “We’ve just been in a stressful situation.”
“Five,” I insist. “I’m not feeling stressed at all anymore.”
He narrows his eyes. “Seven.”
I pretend to think about it. “Seven,” I agree. “Set the timer.”
While he grabs his phone, I magnanimously strip naked and get a condom and lube from the nightstand. I even start stretching myself as he takes off his clothes. I’m generous like that.
By the time he’s back on the bed with me, naked, finger hovering over the start button on the timer, I’m beginning to feel loose. That’ll do—wouldn’t want to make it too easy for him.
I nod. “Go.”
His finger stabs the screen, then he tosses the phone aside and dives for me. In two seconds, he has me flat on my back, knees up and open, but to my surprise, he bypasses my cock—the fastest way to get me off—and heads lower.
“What—”
The first touch of his tongue on my hole answers all my questions.
I spare a fleeting regret that his first time doing this is going to taste like lube, but then my eyes roll back and my brain blanks.
I fucking love being rimmed, but not every guy wants to do it.
Daniel and I haven’t even talked about it yet.
I don’t know where he got the idea from, but I approve.
I’m only half-aware when he starts jacking my dick, matching the strokes to the lash of his tongue, but awareness rushes back in when he finally lifts his head.
I’m achingly hard and on the verge of exploding…
in fact, if he wasn’t gripping my cock so firmly right now, this would probably all be over.
“How you doing?” he asks with a casualness belied by his puffy, wet lips and fast breathing.
“Don’t stop!” I beg.
He chuckles. “Not stopping, kitten. Just changing gears.” He eyes me for a second, then releases my cock. I’m about to protest but stop when he picks up the condom. All right. Finally.
I’m so open and ready for him that he slides in with barely any hesitation. We both exhale deeply, and then he leans down to kiss my lips.
“Love you, my Skye,” he murmurs. I open my mouth to reply, but he draws back and pounds into me, setting a fast, hard rhythm that robs me of my breath and ability to think.
In less time than I would have thought possible, I feel the tingly tightness begin in my balls. Not long now. Not—
Every muscle in my body seizes as I come harder than I ever have before, an incoherent sound ripping from my throat.
A second later, Daniel’s shout rings in my ears as he thrusts one last time and holds himself deep inside me.
I sag into the mattress, gasping for air, and Dan’s big, solid body collapses onto mine.
The timer goes off.
“Damn it,” I mutter, and Daniel huffs a halfhearted laugh, turning his face into my neck and mouthing at my damp skin.
“Too bad I’ve already had a gourmet meal tonight.”