Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Asmoday
“This is ridiculous,” I muttered as River strode my way. He was coming from the coffee shop. I was hiding around the corner, out of sight, so Selina didn’t realize the coffee was for me.
And Daruka.
After he handed me the to-go cups, I’d slip behind the buildings and enter my own home through the back door, where Krishna would be waiting to hurry Daruka’s steaming cup of caffeine upstairs to her.
Yeah, I’d resorted to bribing my friends to bring me coffee the morning after Selina caught Daruka and I post-best moments of my life and had drawn exactly the right conclusion.
Hard not to, when we were both naked and the scent of sex hung in the air as heavily as the smoked meat cooking away on the edge of the patio.
Now she refused to let either one of us anywhere near her coffee shop. And I’d never been very good in the coffee-making department.
Turned out, Daruka wasn’t good at it either, and yet insisted she desperately needed a fix to start her day.
If she’d let me close enough, I had a few creative ways to ease her morning tension that I suspected would work as well as if not better than a hit of caffeine, but she’d retreated again after Selina screamed and alerted the entire damn town that we’d banged on the back porch.
I blamed these thoughts for me not realizing River’s hands were empty until he was standing before me.
I blinked.
He shrugged. “She isn’t there. Shop’s locked up.”
“What do you mean? She’s always there first thing in the—well, it isn’t first thing, but still. That coffee shop is always open until midafternoon.”
River shrugged again. “Don’t know what else to tell you, man. The pub serves coffee, and it’s open by now.”
That was good to know, but I was more focused on the fact that Selina was not in her shop. If she wasn’t there, where was she?
One thing everyone in this town knew—except Daruka—was that Selina held grudges. And she always got her revenge.
Oh, shit.
“Thanks, River,” I managed before sprinting down the block toward my bed and breakfast. Halfway there, the ground rattled under my feet.
I glanced down, like that was going to tell me anything.
Two tremors in less than a week was unusual, sure, but it didn’t mean the world was about to end. It just meant the rocks this place was built on were settling.
Daruka would not see it that way, not without me there to reassure her. She was running from something. I had no idea what, but those first tremors had spooked her enough that I knew she might consider turning tail and leaving town again after this second shiver.
Even if she wasn’t speaking to me, I didn’t want her to leave, to no longer be in my life.
Hell, last night, when she bolted upstairs and then refused to come out of her room, I went wandering around town and learned that the new yoga studio had a massive saltwater pool out back.
Since it was run by a selkie, all yoga classes were done in the water.
Made sense, and I couldn’t wait for Daruka to start talking to me again so I could tell her this good news.
Did I dote on her?
Yes, yes I did.
Did I see myself backing off any time soon?
Nope.
Speaking of which, I should quit dawdling and get the hell upstairs,.
If Selina wasn’t at her shop, she might very well be in my bed and breakfast, picking a fight with Daruka.
All jokes about a witch and a mermaid walking into a bar aside, I really did not want to find out who might win in a battle between those two.
I barreled into Krishna at the base of the stairs. Poor kid fell flat on his ass.
In my defense, he was, like, half my height and easy to miss.
“Shit, sorry, man.” I offered a hand and pulled him to his feet.
He glanced at my other hand. “Where’s her coffee?”
“Coffee shop’s closed. Have you been here the entire time? No sign of Selina?”
“No one has come through here since you left. But I suppose you just justified her fears.” He sighed.
“What fears?”
Krishna flapped his arm at the staircase behind him. “That’s why Daruka’s been hiding. She knew Selina would come after her eventually. Selina always gets her man.”
Selina always gets her—what? Where did Krishna come up with these things?
Wait. Daruka was hiding from Selina—not me?
That certainly perked me up.
No, I should not be thrilled about this. I’d just expressed my own worry about Selina confronting Daruka.
But, yeah, I was really relieved that she wasn’t dodging me.
“Thanks, mate,” I said, patting Krishna on the back before striding up the staircase. “I’ll take it from here.”
“Where are you going?” he asked, practically running to keep up with my long strides.
“To see Daruka.”
“No.”
I tossed him an arched eyebrow look and didn’t break stride.
“I’m serious, Asmoday, don’t do it.”
“Don’t do what?”
“Don’t go up there and seduce her. She—she’s fragile right now.”
I snorted. “Daruka has never been fragile a day in her life. Besides, I’m not going to seduce her.” Although the idea did have merit. “I just want to talk to her.” And if talking led to seducing, don’t expect me to complain.
“Oh, well, if that’s all, okay.”
He followed me. All the way down the hall to Daruka’s door.
Guess there really would be no seduction anytime soon.
Bummer.
I rapped on the door.
No answer. I arched a brow at Krishna.
“Maybe she’s still sleeping,” he suggested.
Hmm. If it wasn’t me she was avoiding, then perhaps I could help stave off her caffeine addiction after all. At the very least, I could wish her good morning and receive a sleepy smile in return, setting my world back into balance.
I slipped an old skeleton key out of my pocket and thrust it into the lock.
The moment I stepped through the entry, my body was hit with what felt like a thousand jolts of electricity. My teeth clattered together, my eyes rolled into the back of my head, and my face and the floor became very close and painful acquaintances.
“Oh, shit,” I heard someone say from a distance. The electrical shocks had stopped, but my body was still shaking, which was the only thing it was capable of doing at the moment. I was pretty sure my nose was bleeding, probably from the impact with the wooden floorboards.
I couldn’t even push out a groan.
“Help me roll him over.”
I was flipped onto my back, and something soft was tucked under my head while something not quite as soft was swiped under my nose. Hopefully, I hadn’t pissed my pants. I’d lost full control of my facilities for a moment there. What the hell happened?
I needed to learn that trick, whatever it was. It might come in useful down the line.
Something was waved under my nose—smelling salts, maybe? I honestly had no clue, but all of a sudden, my eyes shot open and my surroundings came into focus. My fingers and toes were tingling, although I couldn’t yet move them.
Daruka’s face swam into view, and I actually sighed with relief.
“Did you do this to me?” I asked.
“I did,” she confirmed. “Why are you in my room? Are you stalking me?”
“I prefer the words doting on.”
“Me?”
We definitely needed to work on our communication skills if she was this shocked by that revelation.
The feeling was returning to my appendages. “I’d suggest you take advantage of me while I’m unable to fight you off, but I’m pretty sure Krishna is still here.”
I caught Daruka’s wobbly smile before Krishna’s mop of hair and scruffy face moved into my line of vision.
“Right here, buddy. How are you feeling?”
“Like I was pumped with too many jolts of electricity.” I groaned as I pushed myself up onto my elbows. “Tell me you’ll teach me how you did that. And also, tell me who your intended victim was.”
I knew, of course, but I wanted to hear her say it. I needed a dose of reassurance that she hadn’t intended to hit me with three thousand jolts of electricity.
Daruka and Krishna each looped an arm under my pits and more or less dragged me over to Daruka’s bed.
I lay there on the soft comforter, wishing I were lying here under entirely different circumstances.
Ones that involved Daruka and me naked. Preferably with her tits in my mouth or my cock stuffed between them.
Seriously, that was my biggest fantasy.
“Dude,” Krishna said, his gaze darting to my groin.
I glanced down at the bulge in my pants. “Oops.”
“At least we know the important bits still work,” Daruka quipped, which only made my other head swell more.
I shifted so that I was leaning against the headboard, massaging my temple. And since she hadn’t yet clarified, I asked, “So can we assume Selina was your intended victim?”
Daruka darted a narrow-eyed glance at my sidekick. He threw up his hands. “He seemed concerned!”
“I am concerned,” I assured them. “You shouldn’t have to worry about being attacked in your own private space.”
Daruka crossed her arms. The action pushed her breasts up and out. I slid my gaze to the side. Now was not the time for my lust-filled fantasies.
“She’s a witch,” Daruka stated.
“Yeah, and you’re a demon, last I checked. Are you one of the rare breed that has no power? No, that can’t be true.” I rubbed my tingling hand. “Not after that little stunt.”
Daruka scowled.
“I’ll let you in on a secret. While Selina is vindictive as hell and can bench press more than you’d think, she actually is not a very powerful witch. She’s really good at making coffee and can handle the odd, basic spell, but that’s about it.”
Experimentally, I bent my knees. I wasn’t quite ready to walk yet, but I was pretty sure I’d be able to, eventually. Didn’t know how long it would take, though. Maybe I could stay here and Daruka could take advantage of me.
Daruka flapped a hand at the middle of the room. “Do not underestimate a woman scorned. Also, I can’t believe you slept with her!”
“In my defense, when it happened, I didn’t even know you existed.”
She narrowed her eyes.
I huffed out a sigh. “When I came to town and realized she was a witch, I asked her to cast a spell that would allow me to live here without everyone trying to get into my pants all the damn time.”
Did Daruka’s gaze drop to the waistband of said pants?
“Everyone ends up in Arrythmia for a reason,” she noted. “What was yours?”
I lifted a single finger. “Not really pertinent at the moment.”
I didn’t want to get into my elfin expectations right now. Or ever. I had a bad feeling she wouldn’t feel that she could fit into that life, and I had no intention of living any life that Daruka wasn’t part of.
“I think it is very important,” she replied.
Ah, hell. “When I finally get my head out of my ass—my father’s words—I’m supposed to take over as head of the elfin woods.”
“What does that even mean?”
I tugged on one of my ears. “It means I’m elfin royalty, Daruka.
Or as close as the elves come to having royalty.
Really, it’s more of a management role. An overworked manager at that.
But it also comes with certain responsibilities.
Like moving back to the elfin forest and maintaining a permanent residence there. ”
Hell, I hadn’t even gotten to the juiciest part, and she was already shutting down on me. I could see it in her eyes. The idea of living in the elfin forest repulsed her. Might as well put it all out there at this point.
“And take a mate and get busy creating the next generation, who will take over when I’m ready to retire.”
Her eyes flared for a brief moment, and hope bloomed. But then her eyes narrowed. “Creating the next generation?”
I nodded. “Yes, it means making babies, Daruka.”
“I know what it means,” she snapped, sounding far more irritable than the subject merited. But then again, she was part demon. Demons weren’t keen on the whole parent thing. Compassion, feeling responsible for another being all the time—that wasn’t in a demon’s nature. Just ask me.
Or my mother. Or, I’d wager, whichever of Daruka’s parents she got her demon side from.
“So this thing you keep insisting is between you and me…” she started.
“Daruka, that’s—”
“How does this all tie back to Selina?” Krishna interrupted.
Damn, I’d forgotten the werewolf was still here.
“Yeah,” Daruka said, her words now dripping with ice, “finish your story.”
I was tempted to point out that she was the one who asked me to elaborate on the whole elfin responsibilities bit, but I held my tongue and explained Selina’s bargain instead.
“Twelve hours!” Daruka gaped like she could not imagine banging for twelve hours straight. I was beginning to lose hope that I could show her someday.
“I made it clear that it was only for those twelve hours,” I said. “But she has obviously chosen to ignore the memo.”
“You didn’t make that clear to me,” Daruka said.
“What I made clear to you was, ‘This will not be the only time between us.’”
Her cheeks flared an adorable bright red. Krishna stared at me like I was a deity.
Far from it, mate.
Daruka waved at my groin. “So basically, your dick is so fantastic that Selina wants to kill me because she got to ride it first.”
“I’m pretty sure she wants to kill you because I want you to ride it again and again, and I don’t want her anywhere near it.”
That doubt crawling across Daruka’s face was really starting to get to me. What was it going to take to convince the woman that I—
The bed wobbled. Not the kind of shaking it did when two people were hardcore fucking—or even one person was spanking his monkey with enthusiasm. This level of movement was more akin to—
“Holy crap, is this an earthquake?” Daruka asked, all that high color from her embarrassment leeching from her face.
I shook my head while swinging my legs over the side of the bed. “No way. Earthquakes don’t happen here. Never have, never will.” And yet, that hadn’t been the barely noticeable shiver that occurred every now and again. This was…what? Three times in two days?
And twice today?
“Maybe we should get down to the ground floor anyway,” I suggested.
Just in case.