I’m so in tune with his intensely slow rhythm, I notice the slightest shift as he quickens his pace minutes later. “I need to make you come, Lorelei, please,” he begs, as if my pleasure is even more important than his own.
Just knowing how badly he wants it, how much it will please him, shifts my drive. Instead of just accepting everything he’s giving me, I start to move with him. Within minutes, I’m panting and giving into his demands as I come for him. Making good on his promise, Modeus spills inside me, leaving me dripping with his release.
CHAPTER7
Modeus
Lore is nestledunder my arm, fast asleep. I’m afraid to shut my eyes for fear none of this will be real. She accepted me as herbashertalmost too easily. It could be that dealing with finding Harlow was too much, and she was too numb to fight me, but I felt her recognition and the relief that came with it, as if she’s been waiting for this moment. Maybe she has. I’ll have to ask her when she wakes.
I had no intention of confessing she was my mate, but I was an idiot to think I would be able to hold back, especially when she admitted she was feeling something for me, even if she thought it was just trust. I seized the chance she would continue to let her instincts guide her. Harlow made it clear he didn’t know how she would react to the realization she had abashert. He cited her independent nature and admitted that losing her mother might have soured her opinion of finding her mate.
Fucking Harlow. Why the hell did he give up now, after all this time? Something about the way we found him with his fists raised in fury doesn’t sit right with me. Lore was right to go to Sacred City first. Finding Harlow there, lost to his grief, would at least make a little more sense to me, but I can’t see him allowing himself to weaken over time and surrender on the hillside he hasn’t called home in ages.
Nothing about his death makes sense.
Lore
Modeus has been tiptoeingaround me since I got out of the shower. For a demon who wouldn’t even give me breathing room yesterday, he seems almost distant today, and I don’t know him well enough to understand why. It’s like he thinks if he gets too close to me, I’m either going to attack him or send him packing. He’s sneaking around like a mouse, but he’s as obvious as a hippo.
“What are you doing?” I slap the butterknife I was using on the counter—my clean counter. Even the mess that was left on the floor last night after our encounter is gone.
“Me? Nothing.” Modeus looks around.
“Yes you. Do you see anyone else? And you’re not doing nothing. You’re staring at me,” I accuse.
“I like looking at you,” he says without regret.
“You’re being weird. Do you want something to eat?” I offer, licking a line of peanut butter off my thumb. Modeus takes a tentative step closer to the island, bringing him nearer to me. “I’m not going to hump your leg.”
“You can hump anything you’d like. My leg, face, anything,” comes his quick reply as he continues to inch closer.
“Then why are you circling me like I’m a pit viper you think is about to strike?”
“I don’t want you to try to get rid of me.” He picks up my hand and licks the same path I did, even though the peanut butter is gone, while looking right into my eyes.
“I’m not,” I reply softly. “Unless you give me a reason to.”
“Harlow was worried you wouldn’t accept me,” Modeus says, and hearing his name sends an ache through my chest. “I’m sorry.” He lowers his eyes and takes a step back.
“No, it’s okay.” I try to sound breezy and unaffected, but it’s tough. “I don’t want to pretend he didn’t exist, but I guess we both had things about us the other didn’t know.”
“Did you know about me? That you had abashert?” he asks, and I hand over the peanut butter toast I made.
“I’ve dreamt of that symbol for as long as I can remember.” I nod toward him, meaning the marking on his back.
“Harlow didn’t know,” he surmises.
“No. I didn’t recognize what the dreams meant for a long time, and when I did…”
“You didn’t want to open old wounds,” he finishes for me.
“That and…” I look down. Maybe I should get to know him a little better before confessing my speculation, but it will be best if he knows from the beginning. “I think I have more than one mate, and that just didn’t seem fair to tell him.”
“I would agree.” Modeus shoves half the toast into his mouth and nods while chewing. He doesn’t seem perturbed at all. I think I might be offended.
“That doesn’t bother you?”
“No.” He reaches forward and nabs another piece of toast. “More mates means we can better assure your safety, your satisfaction.”
