“What?” I croaked.
He drew a shaky breath, practically quivering in my grasp. “Do you?—”
“No, I heard you. I just…” I trailed off, then swallowed hard.
I’d thought it already. To myself. In the privacy of my mind, where feelings were easier to manage. Safer. That truth was meant to stay caged behind my teeth. If I said it out loud, it became real. It became a promise. The binding kind.
I’d been left before; I could be left again. But even if this ended, if he flew away and left my hands and heart empty, he still deserved to know.
“I do.”
Zephyr turned inside the loop of my arms, then gazed up at me. His eyes shimmered, and a fanged tooth dented his lower lip. “And you want to keep me?”
“Oh, Beauty.” I raised a hand to brush my knuckles over his cheek. “Yes. More than anything.”
Kissing him was easy now, an effortless lean, and he met me halfway. He was pliable in my grasp, open, and always so honest. He’d made me honest too. I was glad he’d asked, because otherwise I might have held onto that truth forever. Glad he knew because I could feel the smile pulling at his lips as they pressed against mine. He was happy, and so was I.
Suddenly, he broke away, flushed to the roots of his hair, looking almost alarmed. “I love you too!” he blurted like it had snuck up on him.
I barked a laugh, so damnblissful, then kissed him again, harder this time. He tasted sweet, like whipped cream, and the flavor made me want to drink deeper. Incubus venom, I knew it but didn’t fear. I’d meant it when I said I was enthralled by him all on my own. Bewitched and beguiled and done pretending I wasn’t. Done fighting it.
Iswallowed every drop.
My hand found the small of Zephyr’s back, guiding him closer. I would’ve given him the world if he’d asked, but all I truly had to offer was this: the squeezed-tight space between us where he was mine. Whole, safe, and held.
We stood swaying in the growing dark, like we were dancing to some distant melody. Then Zephyr nosed into my neck and dragged his tongue in a wet, slow stripe over my skin, right where my pulse beat strongest.
A groan caught in my throat. I reached to the back of his head, fingers catching in his hair.
He nipped at the lobe of my ear, sending a jolt through me before he whispered, sultry and sly, “Je veux embrasser ta bite.”
I huffed a half laugh, half moan. “Ugh, French again. You know I have no idea what you’re saying.”
He leaned in and let his lips brush mine. His breath was hot with amusement. “Then let me show you.”
He was a different person when well fed. Brighter—like someone had peeled back the haze to reveal something warm and wild underneath. He moved with the same confidence I’d seen during his stage performances, soft lines and subtle allure, but this show was for me alone. A private performance. A striptease in reverse.
My suit jacket was the first casualty, shoved off my shoulders then flung aside with a flick of his wrist. My tie was next, loosened but left hanging like a leash. He worked his way down the buttons of my shirt, undoing each one until my chest was bared and the tails fluttered past my waist.
Hooking his fingers around my belt, he slid it free, slow and smooth, like he was drawing a sword from its sheath. The sound of it slipping through the loops was indecent inthe hush before it fell with a soft clink to the floor. Then he unfastened my slacks, and every nerve ending fired at once.
Zephyr stepped back and waved his hand, giving a clear command. “Lay down.”
“On the floor?”
“Oui.”
I groaned, but obeyed, lowering myself onto the cold floorboards.
He grinned, and his sharp teeth caught the light. “Comme ça.”
“Zephyr…” I said his name like a warning.
He tilted his head, trading mischief for doe-eyed innocence. “Yes, Daddy?”
My cock kicked hard. I threw an arm over my face before stretching out on the floor, resigned to my fate.
Tittering, Zephyr stepped over me, one graceful leg at a time, then stood above my hips. He nudged the toes of one foot against my crotch—testing.
