Ring deposited back on the dresser, I cross the room in two quick strides. I wrap an arm around her waist and draw her near.
“Do you prefer me like this? As I truly am?”
Her eyes answer for her as they trace my horns, my wings, but she also gives me a small nod.
It fills me with an emotion I can’t quite name. Pride mixed with relief, with elation, with affection. A balm for a fear I hadn’t wanted to let myself dwell on.
My mate likes me as I am, and that makes me feel like I could move mountains.
I want to pull her closer, crush my lips to hers, take her to bed and see just how much she likes her demon, but I make myself step back and take her hand instead.
“Come on, let’s get some sleep.”
We crawl into bed, and though it takes a bit of creativity to fit our bodies and limbs together in a way that allows us both to be on the mattress without falling off, we make it work.
I’m on my side with Seren’s back tucked to my chest. Her head rests on one of my arms like a pillow, and the soft cloud of her hair tickles my bare chest. I drape my other arm around her waist, settle her against me, and feel a piece of myself slot into place.
This is right.
Me, Seren, the two of us together, is right.
I’d give my left horn to be somewhere we could do something about it, about the delicious warmth and tension between us when she leans back and nuzzles into me, when all the gentle curves of her body find exactly where they fit.
Tonight’s not the night, though. Not with her friends just down the hall. All that delectable potential will have to wait.
But I can’t resist getting at least one small taste.
Hand curled around her jaw, I tip her head toward me and catch her lips in a kiss.
Just a small kiss. More a brush of lips than anything.
It ignites a blaze.
Instinct wells up, hot and demanding, filling my veins and sending a rush of blood straight to my cock, swelling my knot nearly to the point of pain. I shift my hips and pray to the Goddess that Seren can’t feel it.
Even if she can, she mercifully chooses to ignore it as she settles her head back down.
When her breathing evens out, when she’s still and relaxed and a wonderful, steady weight against me, I finally feel myself relax, too.
I relax enough that something else wells up in me.
Something I’ve never experienced before.
A purr, soft and tentative, fills my chest.
It stutters, stops and starts as I get the feel for it, and Seren cranes her neck back to look at me.
“Are you—”
“Purring.” This time it’s my turn to have my cheeks stained with color. “It’s a… demon thing.”
“And it’s… good?”
Unable to help myself, I pull her closer. I kiss her deeper this time, surging instinct and fire in my veins be damned. My purr crests louder, and when we break the kiss, Seren lets out a long, satisfied sigh.
“It’s very good, star. It’s for you.”
“Me?”
