Noah hesitated.Had Reign made this breakfast for him? Was that part of the contract?He didn’t remember reading anything about it in the demon tome.
When he kept scowling at the food, Reign cocked an eyebrow and tipped his chin toward it with visible amusement, making it rather obvious that,yes,he’d made breakfast for both of them. Which probably made sense—the fact that he was a demon and had fucked Noah like one didn’t mean he lacked manners.
“So, what’s with the piano?” Noah probed, finding it a little strange that Reign would keep it around just for decoration.
Reign’s garnet eyes watched him drip egg yolk while fighting to eat the toast without making a mess, then cut to the glossy black instrument for a moment before shifting back to him. “There’s a pest that loves bothering me every chance he gets. He’s the one that plays it.”
“Apest?” A gruff voice that still managed to sound somehow melodic protested as if on cue.
Noah snapped his head to the side just as a broad-shouldered black man came down the stairs from the upper floor.
“That’s what you think of your best friend, Reign?” the man demanded with an obvious teasing note to his tone, sauntering his way to the dining table.
There was a familiarity about him, something about the combination of his square jaw and shaven head that, along with his mischievous smile and merlot red eyes, had Noah rummaging through recent memories in an attemptto place him.
“I have to say,” he leered as he pulled the chair next to Noah and plonked onto it, “listening to you two fuck in the morning? I came twice before you even finished.”
The back of Noah’s neck flushed.Well, fuck. Reign hadn’t mentioned anything about guests last night. Noah glanced at the demon in question with what he hoped was a reprimanding slant of his eyebrows.Or this morning.Nor had he told Noah to keep it down… even if Noah wasn’t sure he would’ve been able to comply.
Clearing his throat, Noah smiled. “Apologies if we woke you up,” he said, feeling a bit awkward about the whole thing.
The man Noah was still trying to place responded with a bark of laughter. “The only thing you need to apologize for is not inviting me to join in, kitten,” he tossed casually, hooking a finger under Noah’s chin.
“Barbatos.”
A shiver racked through Noah at the icy authority in Reign’s voice, at the warning that it carried, as if Reign was staking his claim. Noah reallyreallyliked that, but he tried to hide it, not sure if his reaction was appropriate. The heat in Reign’s captivating eyes as they settled on him suggested it was.
Barbatos hummed next to Noah and flailed his arms. “Yes, yes, I was joking. Obviously. And call me Trevor, Reign. How many times do I have to tell you?”
Trevor… that definitely sounded familiar. Noah squinted, focusing on the man’s features and then on him as a whole. It came to him as Barbatos grinned again, flashing perfect white teeth. Trevor and Abi, the two diplomats Teresa had gravitated around the most during the Asian Representatives’ visit to Lisbon. He was theex-CTO guy Teresa had banned from asking questions about Noah’s tech expertise.
“You’re Teresa’s friend that wanted to recruit me,” Noah blurted out.
Trevor—or should he call him Barbatos?—snorted, shaking his head. “Friends? C’mon, kitten, who’d wanna be friends with that snake. We’re just two diplomats with our sights on each other’s countries.”
That made sense, Noah supposed, though it certainly had looked otherwise at the time, making him wonder. “You and Abi seemed close to her.”
“That’s just how foreign politics works. No one is friends with anyone, we just roleplay being civil while aiming for each other’s necks. Although”—he threw Reign a pointed look—“some of us don’t seem too keen on following the rules as of late.”
Noah chuckled, agreeing with that statement. Reign openly challenging Teresa about the Church’s control over the media had certainly been a recklessly bold move. Still, things not escalating from there had been even more impressive.
“Barbatos, don’t you have places to be?” Reign spoke up from across the table, placing his cup of coffee down with a sigh.
“Your morning sex got me all excited and I might’ve overdone it a bit, you see. My lady’s still sleeping upstairs,” Barbatos explained, grabbing a piece of toast as he threw Noah a wink. “It’s why I came down to say hi to Noah.”
Noah was about to apologize again for not keeping it down, when a realization hit him, spilling out of his mouth before the intended apology. “Are you like Reign, too?”
“A demon?” Barbatos’ smirk, which looked a little too wide for his face in that telltale way, was answer enough. “I am.”
Noah shot up from the chair and went for his suitcase, pulling out the old demon tome. He quickly flipped through the pages until he found the one he was looking for. Returning to the table, he held the book up. “Barbatos. Thatisyour real name.”
“Indeed.”
Noah studied the depiction of Barbatos’ demon form, then glanced up at the man munching on an avocado toast. “Is this how you look?”
Before he had time to react, Barbatos snatched the tome, holding it hanging by the corner as he looked at the picture. “Oh, this one is surprisingly close,” he deemed, leering at Noah probably because it was obvious he wanted to see it in person. “Shall I show you then, kitten?”
Barbatos snapped his fingers and his black skin changed to blue-gray as horns grew out of the sides of his head and curved up. Gray hair fell down to his waist, wavier than Reign’s though just as lush, and his body gained a few inches of height and width when he stood up, making him seem even more muscular and imposing and definitely… sexier.
