Daka raised his head from Mahu’s chest to seek his eyes. He worried he’d been too much, but Mahu’s gaze was fond, his lips in a lusty half-smile.
Daka’s vulnerability must have shown because Mahu continued, “It was perfect. In my wildest dreams I’ve never experienced anything like that.” His smile broadened to reach his eyes, the skin around them crinkling at the corners.
Daka stroked a lock of silken black hair behind Mahu’s ear and planted a kiss on his chest. “Good.” He breathed out a relieved sigh.
Laying his head back down, Daka wrapped his arm around Mahu’s waist and closed his eyes. Body boneless and sated, Daka fell asleep with Mahu stroking his back.
“So glad you’re here.” Mahu’s voice, low and gentle, soothing him to slumber. “So glad to have found you…such a delight…just as you are.”
Daka’s last thought before drifting off was a sad one—but I haven’t really told you what I am. I will. I promise. Soon.
8
Mahu
You, Mahu, only you.
His name had rung lush on Daka’s kiss-swollen lips. The same name he’d heard countless times throughout his years but threaded with new meaning as Daka repeated it like a prayer, breathing new life into Mahu with each use. Life he’d thought he’d lost with the passing of his family, but now he had something worth living for again.
Mahu had come awake with Daka in his embrace. The arm beneath Daka’s head had grown numb, but Mahu couldn’t be bothered to care. His lover lay curled against his side, the warmth between them threatening to lull Mahu back to sleep. Not yet ready to open his eyes, he basked in the sensation of sharing a bed again, of having found someone to wake with kisses and sweet words. He hadn’t had this kind of comfort in years, so he’d treasure each moment.
Stretching carefully so as not to disturb Daka’s slumber, he shifted to better feel all the places they touched. A slow, luxurious movement to better relish each heavy limb, each patch of hot skin, every intimacy they shared.
A contented sigh froze halfway through Mahu’s parted lips as he noticed a strange constriction around his ankle. An odd feeling, unexpected.
He flexed his foot.Hmm.He couldn’t shake the notion something warm was wrapped around his ankle. Though hesitant to bother Daka, Mahu gently kicked his leg, trying to shake off whatever held him. When it didn’t budge, he began to fret and opened his eyes.
Daka’s head lay on his chest, but Mahu’s eyes were playing an evil trick on him.
Mahu blinked hard, forced himself to swallow, and looked again.
Horns.
Anxiety swelled. This couldn’t be real. His heart thumped wildly in his chest, but no matter how much he wished the horns to disappear, the cursed appendages remained.
He spluttered, “Osiris, help me.”
Mahu shoved Daka off him, body heavy and pliant with sleep, and scrambled from the bed. Before he could make an escape, the thing around his ankle tightened. He tripped. Stumbled to the floor, one leg on the bed, one leg off. Righting himself, he tugged at his trapped leg.
Daka’s lids fluttered open as he startled awake.
Mahu panicked, kicking out. He threw off the covers to reveal a long, black tail coiled firmly around his shin. Demons had horns and tails.
“Let go of me!”
Daka’s expression clouded with confusion as Mahu flailed frantically to escape his clutches. Two wicked horns sprouted from Daka’s temples, curving to sharp points at the tips. He sat, shaking his head, his mouth open but silent.
Mahu struggled, his balance off with one leg still caught. He grunted, trying to tug it free. “Let go!”
Daka’s eyebrows flew high. A wave of horror crossed his features. “Oh, no.”
“Let go, demon!”
The tail loosened.
Mahu yanked his leg free and backed up to the far wall, naked and vulnerable. “Get out.”
Daka climbed to his knees. His tail coiled swiftly around his waist. He touched one of the cursed horns.
