“How do I respond to that demon shit?” I asked. “Smack you on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper?”
His curled lip turned into a smirk, but the rumble in his chest increased until it was an animalistic growl, somehow sexier, knowing that beneath his skin, he wasn’t human.
How messed up am I?
“No,” he growled out, placing his palms on the pillows on either side of my head and leaning in close, his lips hovering over mine as I pouted slightly, desperate for contact he was denying me. He wouldn’t touch me more than a peck on the cheek and a handhold while I was recovering, and it was a matter of the mind being willing but the flesh being weak. Butdamn,when he teased me like this, it drove me crazy. “But maybe I could smack you on the ass a few times until you learn to speak to me with some respect.”
“Would that make you happy,sir?”
He groaned and brushed his lips against mine. “You are in so much trouble when you’re better.”
“Can’t I be in trouble now?”
“Fuck,Nikki, you’re killing me.”
He glanced around, tilting back to make sure the hallway was clear before he returned to his position, leaning over me and dominating the space around me. He gently traced his fingers down my cheek and neck, then further down, brushing against my breasts through my hospital gown. I gasped, and his eyes shot to mine, the lust broken by concern. I think he expected me to still be afraid of him, at least in part, and while I’d admitted to him I wasn’t keen to see his demon form again any time soon, I hadn’t been able to look at him as anything other than the Cade I knew, and that was more than enough for now.
Because the most stable part of my life was a fucking demon.
Torturously slow, he dragged his palm down my body beforefinally sliding under the sheets at my hips and hitching up my gown, tracing teasing patterns along the fabric of my underwear. When I gasped his name, he pressed his lips to mine, a chaste kiss as he shifted my panties to the side and ran his fingers between my pussy lips, already wet for him.
Cade growled again, and when I sighed as he pushed a finger into me, he clasped his other hand over my mouth. “Shh, angel. Keep quiet.”
He pinned me with his gaze, his forehead resting against mine as he pumped his finger in and out of me before adding another one. I opened my legs to accommodate his touch, bucking my hips against him and desperate for more until his thumb found my clit. I moaned against his hand, and his eyes flashed yellow, making me gasp. He had explained to me his nature and that he needed release to keep his demon under control. Circumstances had taught him more control than he had thought himself capable of, but I loved that the feeling of me clenching around his fingers as he beckoned me to my peak was enough to make his control slip, even just a little.
My breathing became ragged as he whispered, “Are you going to come for me?”
I nodded against his hand, and he growled again until he needed to press on my mouth so hard to silence me, I fell back against the pillows as I cried out against his palm, coming around his fingers as my orgasm shook me and made my leg tremble with the release.
An insistent beeping sound broke the moment, and a nurse rushed into the room, straightening a bobby pin in her hair as Cade hastily removed his hand from under the sheets. Without a word, the nurse grabbed my wrist, feeling my pulse while pressing buttons on one of the machines that monitored me. Slowly, her eyes came to mine, taking in my flushed cheeks and disheveled hair before her gaze settled on Cade with that smugfucking grin plastered on his face.
“She needs to rest,” the nurse berated, looking at Cade over her glasses as though he were an insolent child. I’d had enough of resting, but I wasn’t about to argue with the stern woman as she turned her accusing glare to me. I turned my lips down forcefully to hide the smirk that threatened to surface as Cade made obscene gestures with his tongue behind the nurse’s back.
“Go home,” she said to Cade, and with another visual sweep over him, added, “… and take a shower.”
He nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets after blowing me a kiss, winking at me before he left, and leaving me wanting more.
Niles came to visit later that day, the only one from the precinct who had, which wasn’t entirely surprising. I hadn’t worked particularly hard, if at all, at making friends there. It was probably something I’d need to rectify, maybe even request a transfer and start afresh right after I caught up and made things right with my existing friends for my extended absence. The precinct had sent me a humongous bunch of flowers, though. However, I wondered if that was only Niles’ doing as well. Flowers weren’t normally my thing, but I’ll admit the sunflowers brightened up the otherwise drab room, and since I was going to be here for a while, I’d take any comfort I could get.
I wouldn’t be able to return to work straightaway, even after I was fully recovered. I’d been suspended for three months, and the three months started after my discharge from the hospital. The force doesn’t look too kindly upon drunk driving. I guess they have to maintain some illusion of integrity.
“Kline,” Niles said, pulling up the empty chair next to my bed.
“Hey, Lute.”
His stoic expression wavered for a moment as he looked at me, sweeping his gaze over the machines and lines before coming back to my eyes. “What happened?”
“I’m sure you already know.”
“Maybe, but I want to hear it from you.”
Sighing, I slid down on my pillows, taking a moment to curl and stretch my toes under the sheets. With the physical therapy, I liked the reminder that I was ultimately still in control of my body, even if it wasn’t cooperating all the time. “I was stupid… I drove while incredibly fucking drunk and crashed my car. I’m lucky I didn’t kill anyone or myself.”
“I know that much. What I want to know iswhy?”
I searched his eyes, and when he went to take my hand, I slid it away. “Because I had just found out that my father and Murphy were the same person.”
Niles’s denial was immediate. “Nikki, no, that’s not possible.”
