“She was a witch—”
“Wait, a witch?” Faye’s eyebrows raised.
“Female demonesses that possess majick are called witches. They usually trade their majick services for coin. Being a majborne demon is dangerous, but profitable if you know what you’re doing.”
“I’d never even considered such a thing,” Faye mused.
“When my mother died, the other witches in her coven took me in and raised me.”
“How interesting.” Faye smiled. “So, you were raised in a house full of women?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Raxx shook his head. “But I couldn’t have asked for a better start in life. You’re not invited to join a coven unless you’re exceptionally talented and intelligent. I’ve been schooled by the best.”
“My sisters and I had a tutor. She was a miserable old bat and we hated her. It’s a wonder we learnt anything,” Faye giggled, folding in her wings and rolling over to lay on her back. She stared up at the ceiling and watched the shadows dancing back and forth from the flickering candle.
“You turned out just fine,” Raxx replied.
“Only fine?” Faye teased, turning to look up at him.
They had been laying on the bed, talking for hours. Only now, as Raxx leant over her, did Faye realise quite how close they actually were. Her heart sped up as she watched the same realisation cross Raxx’s mind and his dark eyes flickered down to look at her mouth.
There was a long tense silence as they just looked at one another. Faye was painfully aware of how harsh and fast her breath sounded in the quiet room. Just as before, during that fateful night they had shared in her tent, Faye got the distinct impression that Raxx wanted todosomething. The demon was hesitating, fighting with himself. She could sense it.
Faye reached out and smoothed her hand over Raxx’s bicep, both alarmed and titillated when her majick rushed to tingle beneath her touch. The shadow demon’s dark eyes moved to watch her hand on him.
“It feels so strange, doesn’t it?” she whispered. “Have you ever felt anything like this before?”
“Never,” Raxx replied, his voice low and gravelly.
“What do you suppose it means?”
“I wish I knew.”
Faye looked up at the demon and caught his eye again. They looked at one another for a long moment.
He wants you as much as you want him...Faye’s majick seemed to hiss inside her skull, shimmering excitedly in her chest with every heavy heartbeat.
“Raxx,” she mumbled. “I feel dizzy.”
In silence, they broke apart and sat up.
Faye had long since removed her cape, but she unbuttoned the neck of her jerkin and her fingers began deftly unlacing the tight leather bodice of her winter riding kit. She had been glad of the layers in her cell, but it was far too much for the warmth of Raxx’s bedroom. Sweat beaded at her hairline.
Raxx followed suit and unbuttoned his leather tunic. Faye realised with striking clarity; she had never seen the shadow demon without his thick layers of armour.
The princess had never noticed the long slits down the back of his tunic before. Whilst she also had small openings in her clothing, Raxx’s wings were much more cumbersome than her own. She hadn’t given much thought to how he managed with them, but supposed he needed a lot of space to slide his large wings free.
To her shameful disappointment, Raxx was not bare beneath his leather, but Faye noted keenly that the shirt he donned looked damp with sweat and was stuck to his skin in places.
Raxx wasn’t heavily muscled like some of the other demons, but he was in good shape. He was lithe; hard planes and angles, in all the right places. Faye forced herself to rip her eyes away from him.
The shadow demon gathered some of the books they had been pouring over, placing them on the floor out of the way before rolling over to lie on his back. His wings tucked neatly beneath him.
Faye rolled onto her side, her arm curled beneath her head. Her eyelids grew heavier, listening to Raxx’s deep, steady breaths beside her. She fought to keep them open.
“Get some sleep, princess.” The demon’s deep voice startled her.
“I need to go back to my cell,” she mumbled, her voice muffled by the bedsheets.
