“Stop that,” I say as I sit up and wave my hands at him as if brushing away all the emotions and butterflies making my common sense pack up and head for the hills. “Don’t… be mushy. I don’t know what to do with mushy.”
Salem chuckles, rounding the end of the island to stand next to me again. “I can’t figure out if you’re more worried about sexy stuff or mushy stuff now. But it seems like the latter tames that bratty attitude fairly well.”
My nose wrinkles and I cross my arms over my chest as I glare up at him. “Well, now I’m not going to tell you a damn thing, jackass. You’re not supposed to do a Jasper impression; you’re the nice one!”
“Oh-ho, my little sous chef… You are so very misguided.” His eyes twinkle and he leans down, whispering in my ear, “Before you arrived, I wasnotthe nice one. Jasper tossed you in here because I scared the piss out of prospective roommates all throughout my lower school years. That's why he chose this room.”
What?!
Pulling back, I squint at him as I process that tidbit. “He thought you’d be mean and make me run away?That’swhy everyone kept looking at us weirdly when I showed up at the meeting with you?”
Giving me a toothy, demonic smile, Salem shrugs guilelessly. “I don’t like people in my space and they don’t like my cooking and hyperactivity paired with a narcolepsy act. What can I say?”
My lips curve up, once again feeling victorious. “So I did good, then? I made you enjoy having me around and you didn’t send me packing?”
Something changes when I say that, and my adorable roomie’s expression turns downright wicked. “Oh, yes, Firecracker. You were sovery,verygood—in fact, good enough that I started trying to figure out how to get you to notice me within days. And by that, I don’t mean just see me, but… see me like you did in the tent.”
I swallow hard, gathering my thoughts before I reply, “I do… I mean, I did. Well, both. I see you like that, I mean. And I like… that you want me to. Andwhen you get all squirrelly because I say the ‘c-word’. That’s… it makes me feel things.”
“That’s absolutely perfect, KK, because I definitely see you that way. And I want to explore those things more when we don’t have impending visitors.”
“Me, too,” I whisper as I reach over to put my hand on his lightly. He leans down a little, and I know I’m going to give in when a loud pounding on the door makes me jump away.
Salem looks like he’s going to murder someone as he pulls back and I sigh softly.
I knew it would be just my luck for one of the others to arrive just in time—I just knew it.
Hey, Good Lookin’
Salem
My brothers have annoyingly terrible timing.
Kit gives me a shy, but mildly frustrated smile when I pull away. Despite wanting to throttle Oriel for interrupting, I’m still happy to see her look eager to kiss me again, so I decide to spare the crow—this time. I wink to let KK know it’s okay, then stroll over to the door to disengage the system so we don’t have to stop fixing the food for each arrival. I only had it on so we’d have privacy to talk—and maybe smooch a bit—and that’s not an option now. No use making everything more difficult and the rest of them cranky.
“Food smells tasty,” O says as he pads in. He’s wearing casual clothes, too, and his feet are bare.
KK waves at him from her perch on the stool as she keeps an eye on the pots and timers. I didn’t have to ask her to do so, and that pleases the shit out of me. Dottie chitters, and my roomie grins. “I think she’s happy to see you, Oriel. You’re probably not on the ‘grape up the nose’ list.”
The crow shifter smirks as he drops his stuff next to his chair, then heads over to grab a drink. “I’m honored and grateful. As funny as that was, I don’t want to be on the receiving end of the little gal’s vengeance. She’s fierce for such a small animal.”
“A bit like me, hmm?” Kit grins broadly as she crosses her arms overher chest.
That makes me marvel again at how dumb I was not to figure her secret out without that moment in the tent, and I chuckle under my breath when I think about how annoyed O will be with himself. He notices so much because of his line and his role, but this seems to have coasted right over his punky head. “Definitely like you. Hey, we should do that bestiary thing tomorrow. I almost forgot about it.”
“Can we?” KK pops out of her chair, obviously excited as fuck. She rubs her hands together as she waits for us to respond, clearly plotting something—though I’m not sure I want to know what.
“Tomorrow’s pretty packed,” I say as I grab the trays out of the oven. Kit blinks at me, her eyes on my hands, and I shrug. “I thought you realized I don’t require mitts and stuff, dude. Demon, you know?”
Oriel elbows her as he passes by with his drink. “You’re more observant than that, KK. Come on now.”
I blink, my eyes cutting to my new kissing partner as I try not to snort. The annoyed face she’s making is adorable, so I have to look away before I fuck this up. I swore I wouldn’t, butdamn, I didn’t think O would give me an opening like that right off the bat. Coughing as I pull the bread out, I shut the oven so the roast can continue cooking and put the hot tray on the stovetop. “You, however, Kit… You need to use the mitts to get the bread sliced, so it cools flat. It’ll be easier to put the spread on.”
She gives me a salute, her eyes twinkling, and I growl softly as I stalk over to where Oriel is now stretched out in his seat. The little brat is taunting me, and I can’t do a damn thing about it. However, I can definitely needle my brother a bit to take the edge off. “When do you think the others are gonna show? Slash should be soon, I’d think, but the couples are probably still fucking like rabbits after all that nakedness and danger on the surface.”
Kit chokes on the soda she’s drinking, and I grin as she wipes her mouth on her hand. “Salem!”
“Yeeees?” I ask, batting my lashes playfully. “I mean, ask Oriel. He’ll tell you I’m right. That kind of violence and arousal combined with risk and magic, makes our demons super horny.”
