Still chuckling, I started to undress, peeling off my jacket and tossing it aside. Luce's eyebrows shot up in surprise before a slow, wicked grin spread across his face. He gave me an exaggerated leer, waggling his brows up and down like some kind of lecherous cartoon character.
I rolled my eyes, biting back another laugh. "Underwear stays on. I don’t need that extra bit of distraction."
Luce schooled his features into a more serious expression, but I could still see the amusement dancing in his gaze. "Of course. All very platonic."
I shook my head, unable to completely suppress my smile as I continued to disrobe. The air was cool against my bare skin, raising goosebumps along my arms. But it was the heat of Luce's stare that made me shiver, an electric tingle that raced down my spine.
Luce joined me undressing. His fingers moved deftly over the buttons of his shirt, revealing more and more of his toned chest with each passing second.
"This will be much easier for me if I’m in my true form," he said casually, shrugging out of the garment and letting it fall to the floor.
Oh! He shapeshifted rather than used illusion. I had never met a daemon who went that road.
Luce's body blurred as his muscles rippled and expanded, growing larger and more defined. Silvery-blue scales erupted across his skin, gleaming under the soft light. Luce's face elongated slightly, his features becoming sharper, more angular.
I watched, transfixed, as horns curled from his temples and a powerful tail unfurled behind him. When the transformation was complete, Luce stood before me in all his daemonic glory, towering and magnificent.
Suddenly, the situation didn't seem quite so amusing anymore. Luce had always been attractive, but seeing him like this, in his true form... it hit me like a punch to the gut.
The man, er, daemon, was breathtaking. Raw masculine power radiated from every inch of his impressive frame. The shimmering scales accentuated the hills and valleys of his musculature, drawing my gaze like a magnet. His massive shoulders tapered down to a trim waist and sturdy hips.
My mouth went dry as I dragged my eyes back up to Luce's face. He was watching me intently, a knowing glint in his deep-set eyes. A flush of heat crawled up my neck and into my cheeks.
Damn it, I was not some blushing schoolgirl. We’d had sex this morning, for crying out loud. I shouldn't be getting all hot and bothered again.
I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin, meeting Luce's gaze head-on. "Okay then," I said. "Let's do this."
Luce shrugged then hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his pants. With a swift tug, he shucked them off, leaving him clad in nothing but a snug pair of black briefs.
I tried not to stare, I really did. But it was impossible to miss the sizeable bulge straining against the fabric. Heat pooled low in my belly as my imagination ran wild with thoughts of what lay beneath.
Luce cleared his throat, snapping me out of my lust-fueled daze. "We can postpone breaking out and have sex if you’d like?"
"Not on the table," I scoffed, hoping he couldn't hear the breathless quality to my words. "Let's do this."
We climbed onto the bed awkwardly, trying to arrange our bodies to maximize skin contact. After some fumbling, we settled into position with my back pressed to Luce's solid chest and his groin nestled against the curve of my butt.
I swallowed hard, desire and practicality warring within me. Part of me couldn't help but wonder what would happen if Luce got fully erect right now. Was I willing to put off breaking out for an hour or six? A traitorous voice in my head whispered that I could just let him slip inside...
No. I gave myself a mental shake. We'd had sex before, but this, geez. This was different. It felt…intimate. Like something else entirely.
Luce's hot breath tickled the nape of my neck as he murmured, "Ready?"
I nodded curtly, not trusting myself to speak.
At first, nothing happened. But then a faint trickle of power seeped from Luce's skin into mine. It started as a barely-there sensation, like the whisper of a breeze.
Gradually, the flow increased. Power poured into me from every point of contact between our bodies, an electric, exhilarating rush. Luce had been telling the truth. This full-body transference was far more potent than our previous hand-holding attempt.
My head fell back against his shoulder as intoxicating energy suffused my being. Minutes ticked by as Luce continued infusing me with power. To my abiding frustration, my body began reacting in a way that had nothing to do with magic. My nipples pebbled beneath my thin top, and a telltale ache built between my thighs. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself to focus.
"That's all I can give you," Luce finally murmured, his breath hot against my ear.
I suppressed a shiver and murmured, "Not by a longshot."
Closing my eyes, I reached deep within myself, grasping at threads of my own limited power. It was a mere candle gleam compared to the bonfire that was my true strength, locked away in that damn diamond in the middle of the ocean. But it would help. And for a daemon, sharing power with someone else was almost unheard of.
I pulled the magic I’d gathered to the surface, mixing it together with the energy I'd absorbed from Luce. The combined power crackled over my skin, making the fine hairs on my arms stand on end.
