Braxis closed his eyes to savor my words, then took my hands from his face and pressed kisses to my palms. “Do you remember what you promised me when I first captured you?”
I frowned in thought.
“You said that you'd make me pay for every touch I stole and that my soul would be the currency.”
“Yes, I remember,” I whispered.
“You have your payment, hashanna,” Braxis said the words with a touch of pride and acceptance. Then he laid down and pulled me back into his embrace.
As I stared up at the striking angles of his face, Braxis fell into a peaceful slumber, and I was left wondering what the fuck to do with this baffling, brutal, and breathtaking man... and his soul.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Since we'd already been heading in the direction of Earth when we'd fled Agranen, we made good time and reached it less than a day later. By that time, Rusalla's powder had worn off and my magic returned, along with the feeling in Malik's mark. I could still sense his worry like a shivering pulse but it wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as his fear had been. I dressed in my old clothes and boots while Braxis put on a simple tunic and pants. Despite our joke, he left off the armor and the sword from his belt.
Gregory had met with Braxis on Earth to hand off the Silver Tongue so Braxis dispatched several warriors in one of the surviving cruisers to search for the Triari traitor on the planet. Then he took me down to my townhouse in a speeder—just the two of us.
The speeder used a reflection technology to cloak itself as it entered the atmosphere but I'm sure both Homeland Security and my men would be alerted of its presence. Hopefully, my men had warned D.H.S. and they wouldn't be scrambling to discover why a Bleiten speeder had just arrived on Earth. If not, we'd likely have a Secret Service team at the Supemarket's gates soon.
Braxis landed the small craft on my roof and we headed into the townhouse together. His pale gaze shot around my home as we passed through the upper floor hallway. I had to pause to allow him a few curious looks into the rooms before he'd follow me further. The upstairs rooms were all empty but the scent of coffee wafted up to us along with the mutter of male voices. The conversation stopped as Braxis and I headed downstairs, his weight causing the wood to creak ominously and perhaps even a little pitifully. Four men came rushing to the bottom of the stairs and as soon as I reached the last step, I flung myself forward into their arms.
There was a lot of kissing and relieved exclamations and stroking and squeezing before we were able to speak calmly. They peppered me with questions that I answered as quickly and succinctly as possible, and then, finally, they turned to acknowledge Braxis.
Braxis had remained on the stairs the entire time, watching us with a blank expression as he loomed over our reunion like a gargoyle. The blankness turned into wariness when the men focused on him. Braxis came down the final steps and stood before them as if facing a firing squad. Then he knelt and bowed his head.
In English, Braxis said, “I have wronged all of you and I beg your forgiveness.”
I gaped at him. Was this the man who had balked at the thought of kneeling to Lucifer? And yet, there he was, kneeling to my men. Was it because of his guilt or was this part of his strategy? Perhaps it was a little of both.
“Great big Bleiten balls!” Cyprian exclaimed as he looked Braxis over. “You're even bigger than I imagined.”
Braxis looked up and frowned at the Faulin. Even on his knees, Braxis' head reached Cyprian's shoulders and his body did seem even larger in my modest home. At least my ceilings were high enough to clear his head. Downstairs, I had eight-foot-high ceilings and when Braxis had been standing, he still had a good foot between the top of his head and my coffered ceiling. Which made me rethink his height yet again. He couldn't be more than seven-feet—still a daunting height but not quite as tall as I believed him to be. Mal was around six-six, and since Braxis was just a bit bigger, this made sense. But why the hell was I thinking about all of this now? Probably because I was trying to keep calm while I waited to see if my men were going to attack Braxis.
Since no one immediately tried to kill my abductor, I introduced them, “This is Cyprian Alexander. Cyprian, this is Braxis Fengoth.”
“Hello, Goliath,” Cyprian said dryly.
“Hello,” Braxis made it sound like a question.
“You stole my line,” Kyrian grumbled.
“It was an obvious choice.” Cyprian shrugged. “Completely impossible for me to pass up.”
“Yes, but it was also biblical, which made it my purview,” Kyrian argued. Then he looked over at Malik to announce, “He's even bigger than you.”
“That's Kyrian Leteira,” I said.
“I told you that,” Malik grumbled to Kyrian as he grimaced and crossed his arms. “And not by much.” He waved a hand at the kneeling giant. “He's only got a few inches on me.”
“A few inches can make a world of difference. Size does indeed matter,” Cyprian declared in a lascivious tone. “That being said,thisis just ridiculous.” Cyprian waved an elegant hand at Braxis. “Will he even fit into a car?”
“Why, do you want to take him on a tour of the city?” Kyrian shot back.
“There are humans his size,” I tried to stand up for Braxis. “He's not ridiculous.”
“Not many,” Cyprian argued. “And don't try to pretend that this isn't noteworthy, Se Esaria. There is literally a giant demon, with enough muscles to equip five men, kneeling before us in your home. You need to give us a moment to process this.”
“A giant demon who has abducted youtwice,” Kyrian added. Then he frowned at Braxis and asked, “How much do you weigh?” Then, in an even more curious tone, “How much do youeat?”
