“Hah, Tollense doesn’t count, because that’s in Germany, not in the Tanum area.” Sammy waggled his eyebrows triumphantly.
“I say it does because many of the petroglyphs show scenes of war, and the battle at Tollense happened during the Bronze Age as well. It’s referred to as probably the first real war in the history of mankind, which I admit is kind of sad. Still…it counts.”
“I say that’s cheating.” Sammy stuck his tongue out, which Dre took as his cue to approach his man and kiss him senseless. He had found out quickly that this was the easiest way to make Sammy shut up. Plus, it felt incredible.
When they both had to breathe again, Dre looked down into Sammy’s beautiful eyes. “What do you think,mo grah thu? Shall we shower then have dinner at that lovely French restaurant in Toulouse I told you about or do you want to stay here and order takeout?”
Sammy blinked, which made him look all kinds of adorable. “As much as I’d like to go to Toulouse, I’m just too tired to get dressed again. Let’s shower, order in then laze on the couch. Maybe do some exploring of the more carnal nature?”
His grin was probably meant to be seductive, but Sammy apparently was very tired. He looked like a mole who had just broken the surface. Dre laughed out loud and swept Sammy in his arms.
“Yes to all of the above, though I’m not sure about the carnal things. You look beat,mo grah thu.”
Sammy yawned. “I’ll get my second wind once I’ve eaten. Promise.”
“Yes,mo grah thu. Whatever you say.”
Dre carried Sammy into the shower and, as he had anticipated, into bed when Sammy fell asleep before dessert.
Chapter Ten
“I think I’m going to be sick.” Dre watched his reflection in the mirror, wondering if it was possible for demons to throw up. He’d never heard of it, since demons didn’t get human diseases, but right now he felt as if his dinner wanted to make a reappearance, which would be a shame, because it had been delicious.
“You’re going to be fine. Those are my friends, my family. They’re going to love you.” Dre was sure Sammy tried to sound reassuring. He would have probably appreciated his efforts more if there hadn’t been a slight tremor to his boyfriend’s voice. They both were nervous as all hell, ramping each other up. No amount of dessert or heavy petting had been able to calm them down.
Dre splashed some cold water into his face before he straightened his back. Everything in him yearned to turn into his demon form to present a menacing front to the world. But if he wanted Sammy’s friends to like him, he had to be approachable—or at least more so than an eight-foot demon with claws sharp enough to perform surgery with them, a wing span that just wasn’t made for inside and fangs so long that it became almost impossible to speak once they were fully out.
He had shown his true form to Sammy, who was at first suitably impressed then couldn’t get enough of it. After their trip to Sweden, they had spent the rest of the weekend visiting places where Dre could fly with Sammy. To him it was pure heaven that Sammy accepted his demon form so easily, but he knew Sammy’s friends wouldn’t be so relaxed. From what Sammy had told him, they all were powerful paranormals themselves, and how they managed to have regular book club meetings without killing each other and destroying the book shop in the process remained a mystery to Dre.
After his meeting with Mavis and Maribell, he had done some research on the whole group, and even though he would have probably been able to best them in a fight, he was still glad they had grudgingly accepted him. Those two were a lot more than met the eye, and Dre wouldn’t challenge their wrath if he could avoid it. The two alpha werewolves, Declan and Troy, worried him as well. For two alphas to live without a pack and have nobody interfering was unheard of. It spoke a lot of their position within the shifter world that nobody dared to bother them. Emilia, the vampire, was another enigma. Vampires and werewolves mixed about as well as demons and everybody else. Still, she seemed to have no problem meeting regularly with two very powerful shifters. Perhaps it was because she was from the oldest line of vampires, who could trace their ancestors back to Lilith herself. Having such an ancient family at her back gave her a lot of freedom. Amber and Jon, the banshee and the zombie, were the least threatening, though, thanks to Sammy’s warning, Dre wouldn’t accept any baked goods from Amber.
“You’re going to be okay, Dre.” Sammy hugged him from behind. “We’regoing to be okay.”
Dre put his hands on Sammy’s wrists and enjoyed the tingles that radiated through his body from where their skin connected. “I just want them to like me.”
“They will. And if not, it’s their loss because you’re the greatest guy I ever met.”
“You’re just saying that to get another massage with a happy ending.” Dre chuckled.
“Doesn’t make it untrue though.”
Dre definitely noticed the interest Sammy’s cock took in his words, as well as the lack of denial of his statement. During their exploring of each other’s bodies Sammy had lost most of his shyness.The Guide to Successful and Satisfying Sex with a Paranormalhad helped a lot. Dre would have never thought that reading it together could be a source of so much fun and sensual moments. It had been an eye-opener to him. Never before had Dre laughed so much during sex—even if they hadn’t gone all the way yet. He was fascinated how easily he and Sammy could change from seriously turned on to laughing so hard that their bellies ached. It made him even more determined to keep Sammy, true mate or not.
“No, it does not. Unfortunately, we don’t have time to indulge in happy endings at the moment. We need to go downstairs.”
Sammy pouted, but let go of Dre’s waist. “Fine, be all logical about it. I just want to point out that Milo is handling the shop pretty well.”
That the boy did. Dre had to give him that. It had taken Milo only a week to immerse himself in the workings of the shop. He made a mean café latte and knew the stock almost as well as Sammy himself. The boy seemed to blossom under the calming influence of all the books.
“You’re right. But didn’t he say something about having to work at the pizza delivery tonight?”
Sammy slapped his forehead. “I forgot. Damn. Let’s get downstairs.”
On their way out of the apartment, Dre grabbed his copy of theChronicles of Corum,which he had read thoroughly. Since he wasn’t likely to sway Sammy’s friends with the fact that he was a demon, he wanted to win them over with his love for and knowledge about books.
After they had sent Milo off, Dre watched Sammy operating the coffee maker to create everyone’s favorite drink while pacing around nervously. When he heard a door open and close again, he almost jumped out of his skin. Sammy’s muffled laughter broke him out of his stupor.
“Easy, Dre. It’s just Jon.”
