“Good,” I saidgruffly.
She reached down to grip my shaft. “But I had to know I could still have my freedom from you if I asked for it,” she said as shestrokedme.
“Youcan.”
“I know Hawk changed from human to demon, but I don’t want to be a demon.” She ran her thumb over the head of my cock before giving it another longstroke.
I didn’t argue with her about it. Perhaps, with time, and if she grew to love me, she would change her mind about becoming a demon. However, I was not in a rush to watch her almost die, which is what it would take for me to attempt changing her. Plus, there was a risk the change would kill her. But Wren was strong, if anyone had a chance of surviving the transition from human to demon, itwasher.
“I understand,” I said, knowing she wouldn’t accept any other answer from me. “But know that if you ever change your mind, I wouldneverallow another to change you. It willbeme.”
“My mind is set, but my mortality is something to worry about on another day. I will give you something else to think about now,” she said with a mischievoussmile.
Before I knew what she intended, Wren slid from the desk and went to her knees before me. She licked her lips before leaning forward to run her tongue from the base of my shaft to the headofit.
Wrapping my hand around the back of her head, I guided her as she took me deep into hermouth.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Wren
Over the next couple of weeks, I found myself growing closer to Corson as we traveled further south and deeper into the Wilds. We’d yet to enter areas I hadn’t been through before, but we would soon. All of us had decided to hold off on entering those areas until we were better prepared. This time of year was perilous enough, between the famished animals, the snow and cold; adding in unfamiliar, mountainous terrain could prove lethal if we weren’t adequatelysupplied.
Whenever Corson and I had any time alone, even if it was only a couple of minutes, I welcomed him inside me and rode out the storm of passion he provoked so effortlessly within me. I couldn’t deny him, and I didn’t try. I’d never believed it was possible to desire someone so much, but I couldn’t get enoughofhim.
Some of the Wilders still gave us curious looks, and a couple of them made snide comments, but most didn’t care about what was happening between us. I couldn’t say they hadn’t noticed as it was impossible for them not to see the relationship between us. I’d tried to hide it in the beginning, not because I was ashamed, but because it was new and part of me feared sharing it with others might somehowruinit.
Keeping it hidden didn’t last long. Wearing my hair down all the time wasn’t practical and even if it was, I often found myself touching Corson without realizing I was doing it. He did the same to me. There were times when I’d be sitting, cleaning my clothes, or skinning dinner, and he’d rest his hand on my nape or the small of my back. It would only be the subtlest of touches to let me know he was there, but as the days progressed, I found myself increasingly looking forward to those subtlecaresses.
When we weren’t alone, he didn’t hover or suffocate me by being continuously present. I would have bolted faster than a rabbit if he did. However, I knew he was always nearby. That knowledge made me feel safer than I had inyears.
Over time, Corson revealed more about what Hell had been like with the constant fighting between the demons and angels. He told me how he’d fought for over a thousand years to help Kobal claim his throne. Once on Earth, Corson admitted that he grew to hate Hell more and more over theyears.
“There is so much light on Earth, different aromas, and colors. There’s always something new to see or experience here. There isn’t much of that in Hell. There are some things about it I miss, like the heat, but not many. No matter how much I grew to hate Hell, if Kobal had decided to return, I would have followed him,” he told me one night while we’d been lying next to each other, our heads together as we stared at thestars.
“Even though you hated it?” I’dasked.
“Yes. He is my king, but more than that, he is myfriend.”
“What if he asked you to return now?” I couldn’t deny the idea had brought a surge of terrorwithit.
“That wouldn’t happen,” Corson had murmured before rolling on top of me and pinning my hands above my head. He slid his leg between my thighs as he gazed down at me. “You humans are stuck with us demons from hereonout.”
“That’s not such a bad proposition anymore, demon,” I’dteased.
He’d made love to me slowly that night, and with a tenderness I’d never experienced from him before. That tenderness allowed him to dig deeper into my heart. I kept trying to put walls up and keep at least some distance between us, but he kept tearing those walls apart one brick atatime.
One night, I’d gone with him while he fed on the wraiths. When we’d arrived at the cemetery where the wraiths were located, the night had seemed darker and the stars dimmer above the headstones, but I could barely make out the wraiths looping over thegravestones.
Corson informed me the wraiths liked to gather at places where there was a lot of death, and they couldn’t tolerate sunlight, so they only came out at night. He’d explained that before the seals fell, I wouldn’t have been able to see them at all, but when the seals gave way, something happened to make it so the wraiths could be detected at least a little byhumans.
I could see the twisting Hell shadows at noon with more clarity than I could the wraiths, yet being so close to the wraiths had chilled my skin. The malevolence emanating from their souls brought goose bumps to my arms. My heart felt like it shriveled to raisin size in my chest and seemed to have a more difficult time pumpingblood.
As I stood there, I realized I wasn’t sure if it was the hatred the wraiths exuded or my fears affecting me so badly. I’d killed enough in my lifetime to wonder if this was what I would become after I died. Would I go to Hell and haunt cemeteries while waiting for demons to feedonme?
I hadn’t been able to voice the question to Corson. I was too petrified of theanswer.
In flashes, I’d watched Corson lift his hand to draw one of those hideous souls toward him. I couldn’t quite see the wraith, but I caught glimpses of its long, distorted face and flapping black ends. One second it was fifty feet away from him, the next thirty, andthenten.
