Leviathan shifted uneasily. Cullen fought the urge to tell him to forget about it.
“Not my face.” He said finally. “Not right now.”
“Okay.” Cullen breathed, his chest tightening with a strange mix of emotions as the air shifted, a strange power twitching through the world around them. He gasped as he felt Leviathan’s body grow against his back, flinching away from the widening chest and arms before Leviathan finally wrapped a firm, thick arm around his waist, drawing him back again.
His legs, sprawled on either side of Cullen, grew wider and longer until they took up the entire bath. His hands–one of them still tucked gently between Cullen’s–grew and shifted, the black veins of scales growing darker and thicker until they sprawled up his massive arms in delicate designs that spoke of death and suffering. Cullen drew in a slow breath, his body trembling as long black claws sprouted from his nails, each of them sharp as the tip of a knife. His own hands–nearly as big as Leviathan’s normally–were suddenly dwarfed against his. And when he shifted and felt the pressure of something hard andbigagainst his back, he froze, his eyes popping wide. Leviathan’s hand curled gently against his, the large pad of his thumb pressing against the back of his hand.
Cullen exhaled shakily. “Wow.” He sensed Leviathan’s discomfort and added, “Don’t worry. I’m not scared.”
“Fear has a very distinct scent, you know.”
Even his voice…it was a half pitch deeper than normal. Older. Ethereal. Cullen had to draw in another slow breath.
“Okay, well Iamsuddenly sitting in the lap of a giant. Give me a minute.”
He did, the hand he held on his stomach and the one curled against his hand remaining very still and gentle, the claws sharp but nonthreatening. Cullen took a few slow breaths and then smoothed open Leviathan’s hand again, his fingers tracing the dark scales there. He could hear Leviathan’s heart–louder and stronger than before–pounding faster at the movement.
“I’m not afraid.” Cullen repeated softly, bringing his hand up to kiss his palm. His hand could have wrapped around his entire face. “It’s still you.” He kissed him again and then lowered his hand, sinking them under the water as he pulled his arms closer around him. He started to turn his head, but paused when Leviathan tensed.
“Why can’t I look? Is it so different from before?”
He hesitated, one of those long claws running along his palm. Cullen gasped at the feel of it, tingles shooting from his hand to his chest.
“My face is the same.” Leviathan answered finally. “A little broader, maybe. The veins…” He turned his hand over, letting him see them again. “They run up through my whole face.” He paused. “My hair is longer.”
“Really?”
“Just by a bit.” He murmured. “And my eyes are black. I can’t keep them human for you in this form.”
“That’s okay.” He whispered shakily. “It’s not like I haven’t seen them before.”
Another pause. “My teeth are sharp.”
“They’re alwayssharp.”
“Not just those little fangs I have in my other form.” He muttered. “All of them. Sharp and pointed. My tongue is longer.” He snorted softly. “I suppose you might like that part.”
Cullen huffed a laugh. The sound came out far shakier than he’d wanted it to. “Maybe. But if I can’t even look at you, I couldn’t exactly enjoy it fully.”
Leviathan chuckled. “I could always blindfold you.”
Cullen shifted again and blushed at the feel of thatthingagainst his back. Demon or not, he wasn’t sure he could handle it. “Maybe.” He paused. “Do you have wings?”
“Wings?” He almost sounded amused. “Why would I have wings?”
He shrugged. “Fallen angels are always depicted with them. And you had them in Heaven, didn’t you?”
It was a surreal thing to even be able to ask.
“We did.” He whispered, sounding a bit lost now. “We had them when we fell as well.”
“So…”
“Lucifer took them from us.” He continued quietly. “After we fell. It was a mark of Heaven that we no longer wanted.” He paused. “He tore his own off first, his rage much stronger than any of ours. And then…we asked him to take ours as well, so that we might all have that reminder.”
He hesitated. “You were all so angry.”
“Betrayal does that to a person.” He said quietly.
