Chapter 30
A soft brush against his back brought him slowly out of a sound sleep. He shifted, turning his head to the side, and whatever it was brushed him again, lower this time. He groaned softly and twisted away from the now familiar touch.
“Please, no more.” Cullen mumbled into the pillow. “We did it so many times…” He hugged the pillow closer, shifting even farther away from the touch.
“Only four…” Leviathan’s deep voice crooned as his lips came down on his bare shoulder. His hand drifted down again, brushing over his bare ass. “It’s practically an insult to my stamina.”
“Well, it’s not an insult to mine.” He grumbled, batting his hand away. Leviathan made an irritated sound but moved his hand back up, rubbing slow circles on his back. Cullen let him, drifting off again before Leviathan spoke once more, dragging him from the edge of sleep.
“What would you like to do today, pet?” He murmured, his chin resting on his shoulder.
“Sleep.”
He gave a grunt of impatience. “But later.”
“More sleep.”
“Lazy brat.” Leviathan scoffed, pulling away from him.
Cullen peeked an eye open, blinking sleepily as he took in Leviathan’s tangled dark hair and half hearted scowl as he gazed across the room, his arm tucked behind his head.
Beautiful. He thought distantly. He was so, so beautiful. A god in name and face and power. He shifted a little closer to his body, basking in the heat as he murmured, “You choose.”
Leviathan turned a curious gaze on him.
“You choose what to do today.” He added. “But no sex.” Until later, he was sure. When Leviathan would kiss his neck at just the right angle or curl his arm around him in that way that made him feel warm all over–
“I don’t think anyone has ever offered for me to choose what to do.” Leviathan murmured thoughtfully, his eyes still on the fireplace across the room.
“I doubt that.”
His lip curled up into a devilish smile. “Nobody has ever dared to be so casual with me before.”
Cullen made a quiet, doubtful sound and nuzzled into the pillow again. “We should take a nap.”
“We should go somewhere beautiful.” Less than a heartbeat later he had sprung up out of bed and grabbed Cullen by the ankle. He yanked him to the edge of the bed, dragging a sharp yelp from him. “Up. Get dressed.”
“What?” Cullen demanded, irritation bursting out of him as he kicked out of his grip and sat up. “We’ve been awake for two seconds! We haven’t even had breakfast yet!” And he was starving. He wondered if this body was naturally more ravenous or if it was all the extra sex.
“I’ll have the servants bring us up some crepes while you get dressed.” He bent to kiss him before Cullen could blink and then vanished in a swirl of darkness, leaving him alone in his very quiet room.
He inhaled and blew it out noisily, his hands coming up to scrub over his face. It would only be seconds or minutes, he knew that, but he needed it. Needed those extra seconds to breathe and to convince himself that he was not falling too easily into this trap.
The smiles, the laughter, the playful flirting…it was fake. All of it.
It had to be.
Because he couldn’t actually be enjoying this shit.
Yes, Leviathan was being kind to him. Yes, he had taken him out and joked and smiled and given him another one of those firsts that he had always secretly longed for but…
He felt the phantom snap of his ankle, heard the sharp sound of his own scream and saw the fear in his boyfriend’s eyes. All of that had happened. All of that had been real. Leviathan was no tender-hearted lover. He was a demon prince. And Cullen had to remember that.
He had to.
“What happened that quickly to upset you?”
He jumped, springing up from the bed guiltily, a hot blush creeping across his face when he remembered he was naked.
Leviathan watched him curiously, two large chocolate crepes wrapped in napkins in his hands.
His eyes flicked down and Cullen’s blush deepened as his hands moved forward to cover his half grown erection.
“Nothing.” He mumbled, turning for his wardrobe. He paused halfway there, glancing down at the mess of his body. “Maybe we should–”
There was a swift, unnatural wind, and something seemed to swipe at his body, leaving him feeling suddenly clean all over. He looked at Leviathan with wide eyes; the demon prince only gave him a wicked smile back. “Dress, pet.”
Warm. Leviathan had told him. Dress warm.
And he had, pulling on the green sweater from the night before–his wardrobe had been restocked when he’d gone to look in it–and a comfortable pair of dark sweatpants.
Leviathan had not commented on any of it, only dressed similarly–with a flick of his wrist–his sweater a deep red and his pants a few shades lighter than Cullen’s own.
Cullen had said nothing, had only shifted uncomfortably at the matching clothes before Leviathan had pulled him close and brought him–here.
His breath caught in his lungs as the shadows vanished around them, as the view came into his line of sight.
He gaped at the massive mountain across from them, a large lake that rested just a few feet away reflecting back the long slopes and the white tip of the behemoth.
He gasped softly and heard Leviathan chuckle beside him, the low sound drawing his attention away from the natural beauty in front of him.
A soft pink light washed across the sky, bathing them in the light color and leaving him feeling oddly warm, despite the chill in the air.
Leviathan smiled at him and he realized this man standing before him had never looked quite so much like a god before, in this soft, natural light in this ethereal place that smelled sweet and clean…
His throat gave a hard bob as he blinked and looked at the mountain again. “Where are we?”
“Japan.” Leviathan murmured as he moved past him, walking down a slight slope that led down to the water.
After a moment, Cullen followed him, copying his move as he sank to the ground halfway down the slope.
Leviathan handed him his crepe and he took it without argument, his eyes going to the mountain across from them again.
“So…is that Mount Fuji?” He’d seen pictures but it looked different somehow. More…ethereal.
“It is.” Leviathan murmured. “I think it’s pretty here. I thought…you’d like it.”
“I do.” He admitted, keeping his voice just as low, as if to not disturb the surrounding quiet. “I’ve never been somewhere like this.”
“I know.”
His eyes flickered to his face. Of course Leviathan would know that. He knew everything Walker did and they had talked about so, so much during all those years together… A slow flush crept across his face at the thought. Leviathan knew so much about him, much more than he let on, Cullen was sure.
Hell, in some ways he knew him a little better than Walker did…
“You're staring at me again.”
He jolted, quickly turning back to gaze at the mountain with a quiet scoff. “No, I'm not.”
“You are. You do it a lot.”
“I–shut up.” He snapped, biting into his crepe with a bit too much force. Leviathan’s cheek pulled up in a smile, but he said nothing.
Silence fell and Cullen was grateful for it.
Grateful for the chance to think, to force himself to focus on the negatives of this…
whatever it was. Because he could feel the softening he’d fought so hard in the beginning starting to seep in.
He didn’t mind sitting here with this demon lord beside him.
He didn’t mind the way their knees brushed or the way Leviathan’s scent washed over him, mixing with the sweet smell of the nearby cherry blossom trees.
And that was dangerous.
And stupid. So instead he thought about what had happened that first week.
The snap of his ankle, the burst of pain. The acid poured down his throat that had stolen his very soul. The fear that Leviathan would force him to–
He didn’t have to force a thing. Whispered a quiet voice in the back of his mind.
His jaw clenched. That first night…Leviathan had been forceful, yes but…
it had taken very little for Cullen to say yes, to pull him closer…
He shook that thought away, turning away from the mountain in front of him to hide his expression.
Not his choice, he’d decided. His body’s choice.
It seemed to have a mind of its own now, especially with that dark shadow hovering over him…
A slow frown pulled at his lips as he considered the rest. Held down, forced to eat…
fingers. They hadn’t looked quite human, but he wasn’t sure that had made him feel any better.
In fact, it might make it worse. Because that black demon blood that had once scorched his throat and left terrible burns…
if it now tasted so sweet and delicious… like candy…
Stop it. He hissed silently to his body as it began to react in terrible, confusing ways.
“Your scent changed.” Leviathan murmured, his hand moving to rest over top of Cullen’s where it laid on the ground between them. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” The word was little more than a whisper.
“Liar.”
Cullen drew his hand away with a soft scoff, shaking his head. “I don’t need to tell you everything that’s going on in my head.
Leviathan gave him a small, secretive smile. Cullen did not want to know the reason behind the expression.
“I think we should have another party.” He murmured, startling him.
“But…you just had one?” He couldn’t keep the little tinge of disappointment from his voice. To be around all those demons again so soon…to have them scent Leviathan on his body and know…
“I wasn’t in a party mood the other night.” Leviathan murmured, examining his nails. “And, besides, we hardly got to have any fun at all. Maybe now that you’ve… opened up to me it might be a little more enjoyable.”
Heat rushed to his face. “Don’t drop creepy innuendos on me, you pervert.”
“But your face goes such a pretty color when I do it.” He murmured, shifting closer. His lips brushed his cheek–and Cullen jerked to his feet, flinching away from the touch.
“I…I’m ready to go h–” He broke off, his eyes widening in alarm when he realized what he’d been about to say. “Back.” He finished weakly. “I want to go back.”
Leviathan watched him for a long moment, a sly smirk on his face, and then pushed himself up and reached for his wrist.