“Lazy brat.” Leviathan scoffed, pulling away from him.
Cullen peeked an eye open, blinking sleepily as he took in Leviathan’s tangled dark hair and half hearted scowl as he gazed across the room, his arm tucked behind his head.
Beautiful.He thought distantly. He was so, so beautiful. A god in name and face and power. He shifted a little closer to his body, basking in the heat as he murmured, “You choose.”
Leviathan turned a curious gaze on him.
“You choose what to do today.” He added. “But no sex.” Until later, he was sure. When Leviathan would kiss his neck at just the right angle or curl his arm around him in that way that made him feel warm all over–
“I don’t think anyone has ever offered for me to choose what to do.” Leviathan murmured thoughtfully, his eyes still on the fireplace across the room.
“I doubt that.”
His lip curled up into a devilish smile. “Nobody has ever dared to be so casual with me before.”
Cullen made a quiet, doubtful sound and nuzzled into the pillow again. “We should take a nap.”
“We should go somewhere beautiful.” Less than a heartbeat later he had sprung up out of bed and grabbed Cullen by the ankle. He yanked him to the edge of the bed, dragging a sharp yelp from him. “Up. Get dressed.”
“What?” Cullen demanded, irritation bursting out of him as he kicked out of his grip and sat up. “We’ve been awake for two seconds! We haven’t even had breakfast yet!” And he was starving. He wondered if this body was naturally moreravenous or if it was all the extra sex.
“I’ll have the servants bring us up some crepes while you get dressed.” He bent to kiss him before Cullen could blink and then vanished in a swirl of darkness, leaving him alone in his very quiet room.
He inhaled and blew it out noisily, his hands coming up to scrub over his face. It would only be seconds or minutes, he knew that, but he needed it. Needed those extra seconds to breathe and to convince himself that he was not falling too easily into this trap.
The smiles, the laughter, the playful flirting…it was fake. All of it.
It had to be.
Because he couldn’t actually be enjoying this shit.
Yes, Leviathan was being kind to him. Yes, he had taken him out and joked and smiled and given him another one of thosefirststhat he had always secretly longed for but…
He felt the phantom snap of his ankle, heard the sharp sound of his own scream and saw the fear in his boyfriend’s eyes. All of that had happened. All of that had been real. Leviathan was no tender-hearted lover. He was a demon prince. And Cullen had to remember that.
Hehadto.
“What happened that quickly to upset you?”
He jumped, springing up from the bed guiltily, a hot blush creeping across his face when he remembered he was naked. Leviathan watched him curiously, two large chocolate crepes wrapped in napkins in his hands. His eyes flicked down and Cullen’s blush deepened as his hands moved forward to cover his half grown erection.
“Nothing.” He mumbled, turning for his wardrobe. He paused halfway there, glancing down at the mess of hisbody. “Maybe we should–”
There was a swift, unnatural wind, and something seemed to swipe at his body, leaving him feeling suddenly clean all over. He looked at Leviathan with wide eyes; the demon prince only gave him a wicked smile back. “Dress, pet.”
Warm.Leviathan had told him.Dress warm.
And he had, pulling on the green sweater from the night before–his wardrobe had been restocked when he’d gone to look in it–and a comfortable pair of dark sweatpants. Leviathan had not commented on any of it, only dressed similarly–with a flick of his wrist–his sweater a deep red and his pants a few shades lighter than Cullen’s own.
Cullen had said nothing, had only shifted uncomfortably at the matching clothes before Leviathan had pulled him close and brought him–here.
His breath caught in his lungs as the shadows vanished around them, as the view came into his line of sight. He gaped at the massive mountain across from them, a large lake that rested just a few feet away reflecting back the long slopes and the white tip of the behemoth. He gasped softly and heard Leviathan chuckle beside him, the low sound drawing his attention away from the natural beauty in front of him.
A soft pink light washed across the sky, bathing them in the light color and leaving him feeling oddly warm, despite the chill in the air. Leviathan smiled at him and he realized this man standing before him had never looked quite so much like a god before, in this soft, natural light in this ethereal place that smelled sweet and clean…
His throat gave a hard bob as he blinked and looked at the mountain again. “Where are we?”
“Japan.” Leviathan murmured as he moved past him, walking down a slight slope that led down to the water. After a moment, Cullen followed him, copying his move as he sank to the ground halfway down the slope. Leviathan handed him his crepe and he took it without argument, his eyes going to the mountain across from them again.
