I blink up at him, my eyes confused. “That’s bad?”
“No.” The dark-haired demon chuckles huskily, and I watch his pupils dilate. “No, it’s not bad. But it is… hard to control the parts of me who enjoy that very much—who enjoyyouvery much. And I don’t want to scare you or push you too far. You’re doing so well; it would be a crime to set that back.”
Biting my lower lip, I smile a little, then murmur, “You do crimes all the time, though.”
That makes his grin widen, and he looks even more handsome when it reaches his eyes. “Good point. But that one? Ineverwant to do that, Kit. I promise I willneverintentionally hurt you.”
I frown for a moment, then look at him seriously. “You’re very smart to realize that you can’t really promise never to hurt me…you could accidentally and that would make what you said a lie. That would hurt even more, I believe.”
“Plus, I’m a guy,” Oriel chuckles. “We’re wired to fuck up, especially demon males. So yeah, I qualified my promise, but it’s because I want you to trust me. I want to be close with you like this and more, eventually? So we have to start with honesty, and I get?—”
My eyes widen and before he can finish, I push up on my tiptoes to kiss him one more time. I know what he was going to say, and that means my charade has to end. He was going to say that he’s baring himself to mind my boundaries—or something like it—and much like Salem, I’ve run out of road with my disguise. If I don’t come clean now, everything will be tainted, and that’s not who I am. So I enjoy the gentle, yet hungry kiss until it breaks, and pull back so I can gather myself.
“Oriel, I have to… There’s something you need to know.”
His eyes are a little glassy, making my chest puff with pride, though I’m not sure why. “I can’t imagine what would be important enough to stopthat.”
Famous last words if I’ve ever heard them.
Making sure that I’m not touching him, I rake my lip with my teeth one more time, then meet his gaze. “Oriel, I’m not a guy.”
He blinks for a moment, then bursts out laughing. My eyes dart back and forth as he snorts and doubles over, clutching his stomach as his hilarity continues. I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing; he’s just about crying in laughter in front of me. Or is he losing his shit? Fuck, I don’t know. I mean, Salem was so relieved that no one emasculated me that I suppose it took the edge off of the reveal. But Oriel and I are just here, alone, and he shared something deeply personal with me.
“Um…”
Oriel finally takes a huge breath, then blows it out as he stands straight again. I think he’s trying to calm his amusement so he can talk, but it’s making me itch all over. Wiping tears from his eyes, the crow demon blows a loud raspberry, then his shoulders slump as his body relaxes. “Okay, okay. I’m fine. I’m fine.”
Good for him, but I amnot,and he’d better say something before I puke.
“I’m not laughing at you, by the way.” The way his eyes sparkle is encouraging, but I’m loath to believe body language versus words. “I mean that.”
“Okay…”
He shakes his head, then says, “I’m laughing atus—every damn one of my brothers and I for being so fucking blind. Like… when you said that… everything came together. All the little things I wrote off or ignored because you’re human and you have so much trauma. I discarded the weird shit without a second thought because fuck if I know how humans behave in close quarters, right? But Ididnotice shit; I wasn’t crazy.”
I shrug a little, still unsure where he’s going with this. “No, you’re not crazy for that reason, at least.”
“But you know what, you devious little shadow?”
Shaking my head, I wait for him to go on because I don’t have a damn clue where he’s going with this diatribe.
“I’m proud of you,” he says as he moves within centimeters of me again. “It had to be scary, coming here with all that on your back and such a big secret, too. But you stood up to the Prince of Hell and his friends without batting a lash, and even took not being human in stride.”
I swallow hard as I look up at him. “People are capable of wonderful and horrible things when they feel like they don’t have a choice.”
His grin is boyish, almost delighted as he nods. “That, my little shadow, is spot on. You’re definitely as wise as Zav, and certainly as sneaky as me. I think you might have all the good stuff my brothers and I embody wrapped up in… what I assume is some sort of restrictive under things?”
My face turns bright red, and I look away. I don’t have those back in my grasp just yet—X is working on it. But I am bound up mummy-style under my clothes and it’s verynotsexyunless your name is Amun-Ra or something. “Sort of.”
Oriel blinks, then snaps his fingers. “They keep destroying your fit! You’ve run out of boobie slings, haven’t you?”
No, no… never that phrase, I’m going to die on the spot..
“I… uh…” All I can do is sputter. Oriel is very intohowI pulled off hiding, but he hasn’t said a word about whether that changes anything. Since we just had amoment, his acceptance or denial is more important than my lack of binders right now. But I can’t go farther out on that limb until he gives me a clue what he’s thinking.
His brows furrow, and he holds up a finger. “Just a minute. I think…”
The crow demon takes off into his lair, muttering to himself as I stand, rooted in place by my fear that this is all for show. Maybe he’s using the puzzle master persona and compliments on my ingenious plan to cover the rejection I’m going to get. All this praise for being strong might be to soften the blow when he tells me I’ve crossed a line I can’t come back from.
