Page 43 of How Not to Date a Demon

Yeah. I’d fuck that.

Maeve didn’t know what she had imagined a demon would look like. But it wasn’t anything like the one in front of her.

“You’re gold.” But he wasn’t a new, bright, and shiny gold. He was… tarnished. Like an elegant vase worn from lack of any care in a long, long time.

When he smirked, his teeth seemed sharper. “Congratulations, you know your colors.”

Maeve dropped his hand and walked around him. His gold wings were similar to what she thought bat wings looked like.

“It really is from the wings. I knew there was something up with all your shirts,” she admitted. “Crazy, my ass.”

Galen frowned. “How long have you known?”

Maeve’s cheeks heated. She didn’t want to tell him about the little tests she’d put him through. That wasn’t really pertinent information, was it?

“A few weeks. The shirts were weird. And chanting to the puppies? Then there was the dream.” She gasped. “That’s right! It wasn’t a dream, was it? You totally ran off in the rain to do demon stuff.”

He winced. Guilty.

“I’m sorry. To be fair, I didn’t want to hide it from you. But I couldn’t tell you either. I got so sloppy, I’m sorry. I should have been more careful.” Guilt carved out a furrow in his brow, and her first instinct was to comfort.

“You were stressed about the promotion,” she said automatically, and then shushed herself.

No comforting the lying boyfriend. The lying demon boyfriend.

Suddenly, she imagined all the times they’d… they’d destressed together.

“Oh my god, we’ve had unprotected sex. You came in me!” she shrieked and cupped her mouth in disbelief. “What if I had gotten pregnant? Would I have had a little demon baby?”

Galen palmed his head, wings twitching in irritation. “We went and got you the shot, babe!”

She sputtered. “Yeah, for humans! What if you have super demon sperm or something? How can you be sure? Has that ever happened before?”

“No,” Galen answered with a sigh. His wings moved with him, like they were their own entity. Was he controlling each muscle in them? “A demon has never gotten a human pregnant. Not by accident.”

“So it can happen?” she asked, narrowing her gaze, undeterred by her curiosity.

Galen groaned. “Yes, it can, but only under very special, controlled circumstances. Babies aren’t accidents in Hell.”

“Oh.”

He was so sure. And she couldn’t really argue with facts. And besides… Maeve glanced at his wings.

Tarnished gold like the rest of him. “Can I touch them?” she asked.

They twitched as if in answer. “Uh… sure. Just be careful.”

“Why? They don’t look fragile or anyth—”

As she touched the webbing of the wing, it jerked and furled closer to Galen’s body, snapping away from her touch. “They're ticklish,” Galen explained, clearing his throat.

That made her want to touch them more. “That seems like an unnecessary weakness,” she mused.

Galen nodded. “Yeah, it’s what you could call our consequence of leaving Heaven. I used to have white feathers to protect them, but when I fell… so did they.”

“So this was beneath the feathers all along?” she asked.

“Yep. Ever wondered what an angel looked like? Just imagine me, but shinier and with fluffy wings. You’re welcome. Instead of twelve eyeballs, I have twelve inches of—”