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It was already dark when he appeared back at the house, far enough down the driveway he knew no one would see him suddenly appear out of the air. He walked up to the house and around the back, casting out a few tendrils of thought to check on the emotions of the animals. Reassured that all was well with the four-footed members of the sanctuary, he turned his thoughts to Raven and winced as he caught the bitter tang of her worry. He’d been gone too long.
He half jogged the rest of the way to the kitchen door and let himself in, shedding his jacket and knife belt and hanging them by the door before turning to apologize. “Hey. Sorry, I was gone—” The rest of what he was going to say was lost in a grunt as she hugged him hard enough to squeeze the air from his immortal lungs.
“I wasn’t sure you were coming back,” she confessed, her face buried into his chest and the summer berry scent rising from her hair to tickle his nose.
“I made you a promise, remember?” He slid his arms around her and held her as he slowly opened his mind to her emotions, letting everything she was feeling wash through him. Worry, fear, and regret, he listed off every negative emotion as it brushed through his awareness. But beneath it all, there was something more, something warm and bright that offered him such promise. She loved him.
Malyk slid chilled hands into her hair, freeing it out of its ponytail so it fell around her shoulders. He tugged on it gently until her face tipped up to look at him. “I promised you I would not leave until you were safe or you asked me to go. You’re still stuck with me Raven.” His voice dropped to a low rumble. “I’m not going anywhere.”
A soft smile touched her lips that conflicted with the sad look in her eyes. “You mean you’re not going anywhere, yet.” She reached up and touched a finger to his lips, silencing him. “It’s okay. I’m not going to say anything more. I had time to think today, and I’ve decided I’m going to stop borrowing trouble. I’ve got more than my share as it is. Don’t worry that I’m going to go to pieces when it’s time for you to go.” Her smile grew a little wider as she let her finger trace over his lower lip. “You’re pretty amazing, but I think I can manage to live without you.”
He spoke softly, his lips moving against her finger. “You really are a survivor, Raven, you’re so strong.” He pressed a slow kiss to the tip of her finger. “Strong, and beautiful, and a magnet for trouble.” He chuckled as he kept dropping kisses along her finger and down her hand. “And I know you would manage to go on without me, the truth is, I’m not sure I’d manage to go on without you.”
One hand left her hair to cup her cheek, keeping her gaze on him. “You and I, we need to talk, little bird. And if I remember human custom rightly, you’re likely going to want a drink for this.”
“Whah?” Raven gave him a look of pure confusion and tried again, this time with actual words. “Human custom? What are you talking about?”
“Oh yes, drinks. We’re going to need drinks to get through this,” Malyk muttered against her fingers and slowly released her, rueful good humour warming his words. “By Styx, it has been far too long since I’ve had to have this conversation. I forgot how hard it was.”
“You are making no sense whatsoever.” She took a step back and turned, heading for the stove. She switched off the element heating their soup and pointed to another cupboard over the fridge. “Drinks are up there. I’ll get glasses. Then you are going to start making sense again, at least I hope so.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” he retorted as he sized up their drink options and selected a raspberry port from a local vineyard. “This will do nicely.” He showed her the bottle as he snagged two glasses from her hands and gestured for her to follow him to the living room.
He pointed her to the couch and poured both of them a drink before taking a seat beside her and offering her one of the glasses, filled almost to overflowing.
“You’re scaring me Mal. What’s going on?” She took the glass and held it carefully as she sipped the level down until there was no risk of it spilling. She had no idea what he was going to say, but she knew without a doubt she wasn’t going to like it.
He took a drink from his glass and set it aside, reaching for her hand and covering it lightly with his own. “There’s nothing to be scared of. I’m not going to transform into some horned devil or something.” He ran his free hand through his hair and sighed. “Though some of my siblings fit that description, and my stepfather too for that matter.”
“Please tell me you’re not related to Jerry Carter,” she muttered, suddenly wondering what devilish relations he was referring to.
He met her query with laughter and a shake of his head. “He is most definitely not one of my family, no. Remember when I told you that I had gifts that ran in my family? I may have been a bit lacking on the actual details.” His fingers tightened around hers as though worried she was going to flee. “I’m not human Raven. I’m not from this world, and I’ve been alive nearly three thousand years. I’m a daemon.”
She downed the rest of her port in a single shot and stared at him over the rim of the empty glass. “You were right, I needed that drink. You know, for someone who claims to be older than dust, you really do suck at this.” Raven winced at the anger and distrust in her voice but couldn’t seem to stop the words flying out of her mouth. “You really do look good for your age, though, I wouldn’t have guessed you were more than a thousand years old, tops.”
Mal sighed. “You’re right, I suck at this. It’s not something we do very often. It’s more like a carefully hidden secret, given that most intelligent races don’t react well to learning their myths and legends are still wandering around the neighbourhood. Now, given that you can talk to cats, I did rather hope you’d be a bit more open-minded.”
His last shot struck home, and Raven felt a stab of guilt and struggled to calm herself. “So what’s a daemon then? You said you don’t have horns, but don’t demons usually have that sort of thing? I’m very confused Mal. And if you are what you say you are, why are you even here? Shouldn’t you be home, doing whatever demons do?”
“Daemon, not demon.” He corrected her as he refilled her glass. “Daemon is the name of my race, or close enough to it in your language. There are different types of daemons. Some have horns, even cloven hooves and tails in some cases, it all depends on their lineage. We exist in another dimension from yours, a different plane.” Malyk’s fingers caressed her hand with slow, gentle pressure as he spoke.
“As for why I’m here, we come and go from your plane with regularity, yours and many others. The myths about demons and angels, creatures of magic and legend, they’re about us. Well, some of them anyway. We feed on energy. Different daemon types have different needs. Those who feed on what are considered the higher emotions are usually called angels, those who feed on the more basic emotions are often called demons or devils.”
“So which are you?” Raven couldn’t resist asking.
“An Angel. I am Malyk, son of Molla and Nikos, adopted son of the House of Annoch.” A soft glow filled the room and then grew to almost blinding intensity, with Malyk in the center of it. Having made his point, he allowed it to fade again until only a faint gleam remained.
Raven shut her eyes against the blinding light and kept them closed, even after the light had faded. Her heart was pounding as though she’d been running for miles and she couldn’t catch her breath. “Why?” The single word came out in a breathless rasp. “Why me?”
“Why not you?” His arms gathered her close and lifted her into his lap, his lips brushing over hair. “I’m not a messenger from the gods, Raven, or some all-knowing magical oracle. I’m just a man.”
“A man who can heal and talk to animals and light up like a firefly. You’re not just any man Mal.”
“Well, you have a point there. I’m a bit more than a human man, but among my race, I’m pretty ordinary. It’s just a matter of perspective. I told you the truth about why I’m here. My family was worried about me and thought I needed a change. Alistair’s mate had the house here, and she and my mother are very good at getting what they want when they are in league with each other. I gave in to their wishes, it was easier than fighting.”
Alistair’s mate is human?” Raven finally opened her eyes and peeked up at him, her curiosity getting the better of her. “Hey, you’re still glowing.” She reached out and brushed a hand through his pale hair, watching it shimmer in the light.
“Most of us suppress the light, it gets to be a bit annoying, but I wanted you to be able to see it as a reminder that I am what I claim to be. I always thought horns would be easier, but I’ve been assured that they make doing one’s hair a major challenge.”
“Alistair’s mate is human, of a sort.” He paused and frowned slightly. “This gets confusing fast, so bear with me. Alistair is an incubus, he feeds on feelings of sexual pleasure. He’s mated to Keri, who is a cambion, a human who is part daemon. Her mother’s identity is unknown, but we’re working on figuring it out. Keri can survive the trip between planes because of her daemon blood, and she’s there now, with my brother.”
“An incubus? Seriously? You’re brother’s a sex demon.” Raven laughed suddenly. “Lucky Keri.”
“Careful lover, or you’ll have a jealous daemon on your hands,” Malyk growled and cut off her laughter with a heated kiss, his arms tightening around her.
Raven hesitated for a split second but then she was lost in his kiss, no longer caring whether he was human or daemon. Her arms twined around his neck, and she tugged him closer still, her lips parting as her tongue darted into his mouth.
* * * *
Malyk groaned her name against her mouth and took their kiss deeper, forgetting everything still left unsaid between them as his need for her became paramount. He explored the warmth of her mouth, the taste of her as familiar to him now as bread or wine. She was part of him, embedded into his life and body as surely as the air he breathed.
It was Raven who finally broke their kiss, “Your high beams are on,” she laughed and gestured around them as her eyes narrowed against the glare.
“Sorry.” Mal’s voice was husky with desire and he could barely manage to focus long enough to make his halo fade. “Strong emotions tend to make it brighter.” Then his lips were back on hers and his hands were on her shirt, tearing it off of her with urgency. He tossed the garment away, his hands already cupping her breasts through the satin of her bra. Greedily his fingers dove under the soft fabric, teasing her breasts out until they were warm under his hands, her hardening nipples pressing into his palms.
Raven moaned and arched, catlike into his hands, her body writhing lightly as she rubbed herself against him. She turned herself to face him, her thighs straddling his as she reached between them and started to fumble with the fastenings on his jeans.
“I’ve got that.” Mal couldn’t keep the smugness from his voice as he banished his clothing with a thought, his cock standing to immediate attention once freed of its confinement.
“No way.” Raven stared down at him, her hands already wrapping themselves his thick length as if confirming for herself he was naked. “You can just do that? Oh Mal, I don’t think showing me that was a good idea. I’m going to want you to make your clothes disappear all the damn time.”
He laughed. “That’s no hardship for me my beloved. Anytime you want me like this, you have but to ask.” He eyed her jeans, mischief gleaming in his eyes. “I can get rid of yours too, but only if you’re not fond of them. Once they’re gone, I can’t get them back.”
“If it means not having to move? Go right ahead.” She leaned in and kissed him softly. “Just promise me you’ll call me your beloved again.”
“I can do that, my beloved.” He sighed into her mouth and then kissed her, his hands skimming over her jeans. A second later cool air wafted over her bare skin and she shivered. He bucked his hips, pumping his cock through her fingers. His hands glided over her inner thighs and upwards until he found her outer lips, already wet and slick with desire. He felt her buck against his hand, silently asking for his touch as her slender fingers tightened around him and began stroking him hard cock in earnest.
He felt her move with urgency as she shifted her grip and levered herself higher before settling her weight down over top him, driving him deep inside as her hands fell away. Her tongue tangled with his and she moaned into his mouth in wordless bliss at their joining.
Love and unadulterated joy slammed into Mal’s awareness with such power his defences buckled, and every part of him was saturated with the essence of her feelings for him. His head swam, his blood igniting with heat, and as he felt her body give way to his, he nearly lost what little control remained and came right then and there. Nothing had ever felt like this; he’d never dreamed that any woman, daemon or not, could affect him this way. His hips thrust high, lifting them both off the couch as he buried his shaft to the hilt, revelling in the pulse of her inner walls as she surrounded him. He gripped her hips, holding her steady as their bodies came together and parted over and over, the sound of their lovemaking growing ever more frantic.
Her breasts bounced with each movement, brushing against his chest. He felt her nipples tighten as they touched him and then her hands left his body to reach up to cup her breasts, pinching and rolling the hardened nubs between her fingers. The added stimulus made her inner walls clench around him as she fell into an orgasm, her head falling forward to rest against Mal’s shoulder as she cried out, her body wracked with pleasure.
Watching her come undone in his arms had Malyk fighting to hold off his own release, wanting to experience her moment of rapture first. Her body quaked around him and every shuddering gasp she uttered tore away another shred of his control; the heady mix of her love and lovemaking finally overwhelming him and he was flying, soaring high on the crest of an orgasm that seemed to last an eternity as he emptied himself inside her.
