"Why are you staring at me?"
A muscle feathered in his jaw. "Don't you have something you want to ask me?" The words were sharper than he would have expected.
"No." He snapped. "What are you even talking about?"
Leviathan only smiled slowly.
"What are you looking so smug for?" Cullen demanded, furious.
The grin widened. "I know what's wrong with you, Cullen."
Cullen froze, panic flooding him and making his face go red. "I…what are you talking about? I'm just sick. Caught a flu or something–"
"Demons don't get sick,pet.And if you think you've been doing a good job hiding the bulge in your pants, you're sadly mistaken."
Cullen blushed, dropping his hand to cover himself, though he was completely hidden by the table and the long sweatshirt he was wearing. "Shut up."
Leviathan chuckled. The dark look in his eyes had Cullen’s heart flying. His hands clenched into fists under the table. "Why not just ask me to help you out?"
He winced. "You must be joking. I wouldn't touch you if you were the last man on earth."
"We both know that's a lie, Cullen. You've already let metouch you. You’ve let me taste you and rub your–”
“I never wanted you to touch me, you justdid it!” He snapped, springing to his feet. "Stay the fuck away from me."
He was a few feet from the door of the dining room when Leviathan appeared in front of him, blocking the way. He stumbled back a step, terrified, a shiver running through him as Leviathan stepped forward and reached out to touch his face lightly.
“You look a bit woozy, Cull.” He murmured, his voice seeping with amusement. “Need some help getting to bed?” He started to reach for his arm. “I’d be more than happy–”
Cullen grabbed his wrist, squeezing it tightly as he lowered it back to his side. “Do not touch me, you disgusting demon.” His voice was clear and harsh, though he was burning all over, his body aching with need. “I want nothing to do with you. You might have taken me away from Walker, but my heart will always belong to him, even if he doesn’t want it anymore.” He grimaced, both from the memory of Walker’s fear and from the fire coursing through his veins. “You thought you could make me yours just by locking me in this hellhole, but demon or not, I still want you dead. I’ll never let you touch me. I’ll die before I let any of you nasty beasts anywhere near me.” He released his hand. “Get out of my way.”
Leviathan smiled calmly at him, but there was a strange fire in his eyes. An intensity and impatience that terrified him. “You’ll be begging for me within the week.”
Cullen pushed his way past him, hurrying from the room before Leviathan could see the panic enter his eyes. “I have a perfectly good hand.” He snapped.
“Yeah.” Leviathan scoffed, barking out a harsh laugh. “Good luck with that. It’s going so well so far.”
19
It had been a long, stressful night and day of a whole lot ofnothing. Cullen wasn't sure why he went down to dinner at all when the sun began to set. He knew what Leviathan would say, knew the smug look he would give him. And still he'd decided to come. It felt like giving up on an important principle, but he wasn't sure which one.
Leviathan watched him again as he ate, but Cullen only stared at his plate, picking at his food. He wasn’t sure what the hell he was doing but he felt a bit like he was going insane at this point. Need twisted in his gut like a knife and his cock throbbed painfully under his clothes.
“So.” Leviathan said finally, hiding a smile behind his goblet. “How’d using your hand go?”
Cullen closed his eyes, taking a deep breath so he didn’t give into his need to throw something. After a long moment, he gave in, keeping his voice calm. “Why isn't my hand doing the trick and why the hell is it not going away?” He had a strong feeling there was some weird demon-related thingabout it. It was the only explanation for Leviathan's laughing at him before.
Leviathan set the cup down, licking his lips. Cullen looked away, his cheeks flushing.Fuck. It had been like this since they’d sparred. He could hardly even look at Leviathan–with those stupid thick arms and the smirks and the little ways he shifted in his seat that made Cullen wonder if he was also trying to hide something–without getting even more worked up.
“It doesn’t work that way with demons.” He said finally, his eyes on his empty plate and his lips turned up in a small smile. “We cannot reach our orgasms on our own. There has to be physical contact with someone else. It’s why we’re always presented as such horny bastards in stories or art. Because we have no reservations about sex. No privacy, because we physically cannot do it ourselves.
“And since the desire flows through us so viciously… we have to turn to each other. Or humans. It’s that or be driven absolutely insane from the constant stress of it. Maybe you’ll even die without receiving release. You know…eventually.” He smirked and something in Cullen’s stomach tightened. “Or you could just ask the hot Prince of Hell across from you to fuck some sense back into you. Your choice, Cullen darling.”
There was tense, heavy silence.
Slowly, he raised his eyes to Leviathan’s face, gritting his teeth at the smug look there. "You're not serious, right? This is a joke? How does that even make sense? It's no different if you're doing it yourself or not, you're just trying to trick me."
Leviathan held up his hands. Cullen tried not to stare at his long fingers. Or the muscles in his forearms as they shifted. "Hey, it took me a long time to accept it too. It wasquite the shock to me when I Fell." He shrugged. "But it's just the way it is.”
