“And what if I am? Is that something you’d want? Spending the rest of eternity with me?” Again, Milo sounded vulnerable. Unsure.
Quirion stared at him with absolute confidence in his gaze. “There’s nothing I want more.”
Milo sighed in relief. “Then I guess we find out tonight at nine.”
Quirion bent down to give Milo another kiss. When they parted again, his man made a face and Quirion couldn’t withstand temptation. He bopped him on the nose. “We’d better get back to studying.”
“Yeah. That’s good, it will keep us occupied till nine.”
“Till eight. We need a little sustenance before we conduct the mate experiment.”
“You do say the nicest things.” Milo smiled.
Chapter Eleven
At nine o’clock sharp, Milo and Quirion were standing in front of Quirion’s bedroom. Milo still felt a little overwhelmed. He had kissed Quirion. Quirion had kissed him. After years of pining and overthinking, he would have sex with his demon right after kissing him. Well, almost right after kissing him. Milo knew that outsiders probably wouldn’t understand why he was willing to sleep with Quirion and risk his bite right after he had found out that his feelings were reciprocated. It was one of the reasons he had never had another partner. Hadn’t even thought about it. For him, Quirion was it, and if he couldn’t have him, he wouldn’t settle for somebody less. Nor would he let this chance slip through his fingers. In a way, they had been together since he had started working for the demon. And sex after the better part of four years wasn’t rushing into things.
Plus, Quirion was right. Milo didn’t want to be as pathetic as Sammy and Dre or as dumb as Barion and Jon. He didn’t know what was worse—being so scared of the outcome to remain frozen in limbo or being accidentally bitten. Both scenarios reeked of loss of control, something Milo hated. It had worked out in the end, for both pairs, but Milo preferred less drama. He knew it would be difficult should he not be Quirion’s mate. No doubt it would take him some time to get used to the thought. Then again, sex wasn’t at the core of their relationship, never had been, never would be, for that they were both too pragmatic. A bit like Sheldon fromTheBig Bang Theory. And just likeSheldon, when they did have scheduled sex, Milo was sure it would be mind-blowing.
“Are you ready?” Quirion put his hand on the doorhandle.
“Hmm, let’s see. You’ve fed me, with spaghetti from Zenobia, no less, I’ve been wanting this for years and we’re both here. Yes, I’m ready.” If there was a slight quiver in his voice, Quirion was nice enough not to mention it. He pushed the door open and led Milo into his bedroom. It was the only room in Quirion’s library Milo hadn’t seen before. Milo had his own guestroom—a pretty bare place with a bed, a nightstand, and an en suite bathroom. Quirion’s own bedroom wasn’t much different. Both he and his demon had their priorities straight. A bedroom was for sleeping, nothing else. The bed here was a lot bigger than the queen Milo had at home and in the guestroom here. He thought it was probably custom-made. The mattress was on the harder side, the bedding a simple white. Two pillows, one cover. Quirion now drew said cover back. They both stared at each other.
“We have to be naked to do this.” The demon sounded matter-of-fact, though the red bleeding into his eyes told how agitated he was despite his calm demeanor. It boosted Milo’s own confidence. He grabbed the hem of his T-shirt to drag it over his head. When he could see again, Quirion’s upper body was already bare. And what an upper body it was. The silver runes describing his heritage flowed over chiseled abs and rock-hard muscles nobody would have suspected on somebody as scholarly as Quirion. Milo licked his lips in a visceral reaction to the visual he was presented with. The red had now overtaken Quirion’s eyes completely. His fangs were protruding from his upper lips, clear evidence of his arousal. Just like the swell in his pants, stretching the fabric to its limits.
Milo looked at his own crotch, where similar, yet not as impressive things were happening. He didn’t mind, though. No human looked good compared to the physiology of paranormalsin general and demons in particular. It was like comparing swans with kakapos. They were both birds, but one had all the elegance and grace while the other was too plump to fly and always looked a bit disheveled. It didn’t mean kakapos didn’t have their own charm, quite the contrary, just not the same as swans.
Milo watched as his swan—he decided to leave that analogy behind before it killed his erection—lost his trousers. After a pointed look from glowing red eyes, Milo copied the move and finally, they stood there naked. Their height difference was blatantly obvious in the way Quirion loomed over him, a fact Milo didn’t mind one bit. He loved that he had to look up to his demon.
Quirion held out his hand, inviting Milo to close the short distance between them and come to the bed. Milo put his own hand in the huge paw offered to him, registered the familiar warmth—demons ran so hot, like heating blankets on legs, though they did not like being compared to this wonderful invention—as well as the subtle texture that was growing in intensity as Quirion’s scales came out. They were very different to snake or fish scales, a little more prominent while at the same time buttery soft, which could fool a person into thinking they might be easy to break. Quirion had explained to him once that a demon’s scales felt soft because of the magic embedded in them, not because they were soft. In fact, the only thing able to slice through those scales were the claws of another demon.
All this information played like a running commentary in the back of Milo’s head while his libido took the front seat, telling him that he was, finally, feeling those scales with the skin on his torso.
“You’re so perfect.” Quirion purred, rubbing his larger body on Milo.
“Love your scales.” Milo concentrated on the sensation of the scales massaging the skin on his belly, caressing him in a way nothing and nobody had ever accomplished. His dick was rock-hard, eager to propel things forward.
Quirion seemed to be on the same page. He gently laid Milo down on the bed, then reached into the drawer of his nightstand, producing a deep red glass flask with a cork. When he saw Milo’s questioning gaze, Quirion smiled.
“I got this today before I went to Zenobia. Good sex, especially between two males, requires the use of quality lube.”
“I did wonder why you took so long. This is the good stuff?”
“The best. Not some mass-produced crap, but manufactured with great care by a group of incubi who specialize in accessories for sex.”
“You do look out for me.” Milo eyed the bottle with a mix of anticipation and trepidation.
“Well, I do look for the both of us.” Quirion pinned him with his stare. “We haven’t talked about it yet, but would you rather like to top or to bottom?”
“Since I’ve done neither, I haven’t had the chance to form an opinion on the matter. Also, I thought the whole thing was set, at least for the bite?”
“Huh?” Quirion furrowed his brows. “What do you mean?”
“I thought it was a claiming, that I had to receive both your bite and your semen.” Milo felt his cheeks heating up a bit. No matter how pragmatic he tried to be, he was in bed with the demon of his dreams and whenever he had envisioned this scenario, a discussion about positions had not featured. Which only showed how right he had been to stick with his fantasies. Reality held too many surprises.
“It is a claiming, yes, but technically, I could just bite you and be done with it. The sex is just to sweeten the deal. When I biteyou during sex, the pain of it is outweighed by the endorphins so you don’t really feel it.”
“As opposed to the excruciating pain if I am your mate?”
