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Bellamy chuckles, looking dizzy and dazed. “You know I do it for you, right? Not because of the deal, but because I want to submit to you.” Through the bond, I can tell how important it is to Bellamy that I understand the difference.
Disbelief and hope mingle in my heart, still unable to believe he really wants me. But sure enough, the emotions are right there, displayed for me to see. A small smile tips my lips. Fuck, this little human is going to be my undoing.
When the shadows finally melt away, leaving him resting limply back against the pillows, I climb onto the mattress beside him.
Beside us, the shadowy, ethereal form of the Devil Dog materializes out of the floor, its towering shape glowing with soft, electric-blue light. The beast lets out a low, vibrating purr that rattles the bedframe, leaning its massive, dark head forward to nuzzle against Bellamy’s thigh, offering its silent, protective worship to its mate.
Bellamy lets out a soft, shuddering laugh, his fingers gripping the duvet as the beast’s shadow-fur brushes over his skin. “God… you two are intense.”
The Devil Dog presses its heavy shadow frame closer, wrapping its ethereal limbs around Bellamy’s ankles, cocooning him in a warm, protective envelope of shadow magic.
I shrug, kissing his temple. “What can I say? We’re obsessed.”
I pull his soft, trembling body against my chest, wrapping my arms around his waist as the Devil Dog huffs.
Bellamy buries his face into the crook of my neck, his hot breath brushing against my skin. The magical mark on his neck glows with a satiated light, pulsing to the rhythm of my own heartbeat.
Once the haze of his orgasm lifts a little, a small string of worry flows between us.
“Don’t worry, Bell. He won’t take you from me,” I whisper into the dark, pressing a lingering kiss on his cheek. “Not tomorrow. Not ever.”
“I know.” Bellamy smiles, his eyelids fluttering shut as sleep claims him.
Chapter fifteen
Bellamy
The leather-bound books Vesper gave me sit piled high on the library’s mahogany reading table, their golden spines catching the dim October light streaming through the glass roof. Over the last few days, I’ve spent nearly every waking hour here, burying myself in centuries of demon history. But it isn’t just the text teaching me who Vesper is. It’s the shared dreams. It’s the sudden, vivid reels of memory that spill across our bond while I sleep.
Through those glimpses, I’ve seen the loneliness that shaped him. I’ve felt the centuries he spent standing apart, treated like shit by mortals and lesser demons alike, until he pulled a broken shadow cryptid from the brink of death and forged a soul bond out of shared survival. It made him cocky, sharp, and guarded.
But I see past all that crap because I can also see how it made him strong. A demon worth binding his soul to.
A quiet, familiar vibration ripples through the link. A few rooms over, Vesper approaches. A subtle smirk touches my lips as I lean back against the plush armchair. I cross my legs lazily, setting my open book face-down on my lap.
The oak doors swing open. Vesper steps into the library, looking sexy in a dark fitted suit, his glowing crimson eyes immediately sweeping over me. “Still buried in texts, little bird?” Vesper asks. “I’m beginning to think you forgot how desperate you were to see the rose garden.”
“I see the rose garden every day,” I reply easily, holding his gaze. “I’m learning everything I can about my pet demon. For instance, I learned that high demons of the crossroads despise waiting. Yet here you are, waiting on me for the third time today.”
Vesper freezes mid-step. He cocks a thick eyebrow as he registers the flirty defiance in my tone. The sudden shift catches him completely off guard. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? A demon at your beck and call, willing to please you at any moment?” Vesper counters smoothly, though a subtle twitch of surprise ripples through our shared link.
“I would,” I purr, stretching my arms over my head, watching his eyes involuntarily drop to the exposed skin at my waist before snapping back to my face. “Well, while you’re distracted by my body, we need to talk about my terms.”
“Your terms?” Vesper steps closer to the table, leaning his hands flat on the polished wood, looming over me. “You’re marked, Bellamy. You’re bound to my soul and living under my roof. What terms could you possibly demand?”
“I want to talk to my friend,” I say firmly, my playful edge sharpening into something unyielding. “I miss Oakley.”
Through the bond, I feel a sudden, violent jolt of shock from Vesper, followed immediately by a cold wall of hesitance. “No,” Vesper says flatly. “Wraith Harbor is crawling with Gregory’s search parties. Opening a line of communication outside these wards is a huge risk.”
“I am not asking to run away, Vesper!” I stand up, leaning across the table until our faces are mere inches apart. “Just because we share a bond doesn’t mean I’m going to surrender who I am. I’m not losing myself. Not again. I miss Oakley. I miss the person I was before Gregory broke me into a thousand tiny pieces and locked me away. I refuse to live in another cage, no matter how grand the fucking library is.”
Vesper’s face turns to stone. On the surface, he looks like a ruthless, cruel monster preparing to shut the conversation down. But through the bond, I feel everything he’s trying so hard to hide from me. There’s a frantic, desperate pulse to his heart. There’s a desire to yield to my wishes, and an aching fear that making a single concession will cause me to slip through his fingers and run.
His past made him afraid to let anyone in. It’s why he’s acting like this; it’s the only way he knows how to keep me. I soften my posture, reaching across the table to rest my warm hand over his bare knuckles. “Look at me, Vesper.”
His glowing crimson eyes search mine.
“I won’t leave you,” I whisper softly, my thumb stroking his skin. “I’m not going anywhere. But I need this. Badly. Gregory stole me away from my friend. He needs to know I’m okay. And I need to hear his voice.”
