He rolls his eyes and snickers as Kit comes out from behind Oriel. “Well, Icouldhave said Coke can clasper, but I thinkthatis a conversation forlater.”
Kit turns a color that seems to almost be purple as he makes a shocked face and I groan inwardly. The sleepy bear has gotten quite mouthy on this trip, and I don’t know why, but I will figure it out. His raunchy description is making the little demon look like one of the funny stooge men we watched, and if we don’t shut it down, it will become obvious to those around us.
“Anatomical discussions need to be saved for a less public venue.” Clearing my throat, I arch a brow at Kit, holding my hand out to him. “Come, little demon. Walk with me until I can locate appropriate attire.”
He gives me an unsure expression. “I don’t know Slash…”
My lips curl up as I shrug and turn on my heel to walk away. “As you wish, Kit.”
A strangled sound makes me grin to myself as he realizes what walkingbehindme in this ridiculous get-up means. Within a few moments, Kit is at my side, grabbing my hand and squeezing it hard. I look down, my expression full of mirth as he glares.
“That was mean, big guy. I mean, I evencheeredfor you and I’m the least cheerful guy you know.”
The red tint to his face pleases me, but not as much as the fact that he’s not breaking down. In fact, despite watching me kill the bull and seeing my ass a moment ago… Kit is more calm than when we were in the elevator. So I smile down at him fondly as I reply, “Not mean, and I heard you yelling. You were much more enthusiastic than I would have expected. Normally, you save that kind of glee for poking at the prince.”
“It’s weird, I know. But I sort of wanted to make sure you knew we believed in you.” The little demon ducks his head and shrugs. “I know you battle and stuff all the time—or did before Dickhead Lucian cancelled the extracurriculars. But this is more serious, you know?”
“Indeed.” I flash him a supremely pleased grin as we continue walking through the den of debauchery. “I am proud that you are handling this so well.”
The heat coming off of him assaults my still raw senses from the adrenaline of the fight and my supernatural side having control. He is definitely going to turn into a crimson fruit if he keeps doing that; my crow brother is correct in his past declarations. I hear a distinct cough and turn my head to find Jasper giving me his usual irritated scowl. I’m not worried that he seems so pissy; it’s becoming more and more obvious that he is struggling hard to reconcile his desire to get closer to the little demon and his ingrained distrust of everyone who are not our long time brothers.
“You performed as expected, General,” he says in a very low tone. “However, I expected a debrief afterward. Learning who the money demon was would have been beneficial, and now we’re leaving the area without doing so.”
I’m about to respond when Kit snickers. The sound increases slowly as we both look down at him, and before long, the small pet has scampered out of his bag to chitter along with his good humor. That makes him laugh harder, and he claps his free hand over his mouth to stem the sound as best he can.
“What is so fucking funny, shrimp?” Jasper growls in annoyance. He puffs up, holding his wrath at being laughed at, as he demands an answer.
“It’s… it’s…” Kit continues laughing, trying to get the words out as he shakes a bit in my grasp. “It’s just that… you wanted… a debrief… and you sure as fuck got one.”
Jasper’s eyes widen as the innuendo strikes him and I burst out laughing as well. My humor rings out loud and clear as I get it, the delight in his bawdy little joke apparent. He definitely has been spending too much time alone with Oriel and Salem, but I find myself even more pleased and proud of him as he continues to snigger like a normal teenage male between us.
This is what I call progress, even if the Prince is scowling harder than ever before.
Deal
Kit/Kat
I’m pretty proud of my little joke, and it seems like the big guy is too—which makes me inordinately happy. Dottie is perched on my shoulder as I let Slash and the begrudgingly quiet prince lead me through another section of shudder-worthy demon gangs doing violent things in front of cheering audiences. I’m not sure if it’s all kink or if it’s something else entirely, but I’m sure as fuck not going to ask. All I want to do right now is find some damn pants for the shark shifter and get whatever intel the guys think is enough, so we can get out of here.
I thought Discordia was nerve-wracking, but this is on an entirely different planet.
“Are you okay, little demon?” Slash says as he continues to watch everything he can as we move.
The tension in his form isn’t from the fight, nor his nudity. I’m quickly figuring out how little supernaturals care about public sexual encounters or being bare assed where others can see. Historically speaking, that’s the icky Puritan stuff ingrained in Americans rather than solely because of my trauma. But knowing something logically and reconciling years of conditioning are two completely opposite things. I’m getting better at avoiding a trigger moment when it happens, but I’m still not quite at the point where I’m totally comfortable with it.
I did well with Slash’s ass, though, and I’d challenge anyone to see that rock hard muscled giant flash you without having palpitations. Salem’s butt isfantastic, but holy fuck, the big guy is practically a mountain of marble. Not losing my grip is an achievement, and being able to walk with his hand in mine afterward should earn me a medal.
“You’re thinking awfully hard down there, shrimp.” Jasper eyes me, his gaze intense as he waits for me to respond. “Is that a sign I should be concerned with?”
He actually noticed something past the point of his perfect nose? I’ll be damned.
I should definitely encourage that, but it’s hard for menotto give the prince hell now. It’s become part of our routine and it’s almost as comfortable as having my kinkajou here to calm me. “Those of us who use our brain before our dicks often have reflective expressions, Jasper.”
Slash snorts, not looking at his boss as he says, “You are doing well if your tongue is so sharp. That is good.”
Jasper glares at him, then turns it on me as he veers to the right. I don’t know what he senses, but his pace quickens as he guides the group off the main path. I can tell he wanted to shoot back a scathing response to my snark, but now he’s laser focused on whatever he’s hunting down. I can’t decide if I should root for him to find his prey or if I should hope he doesn’t. The Prince isn’t sharing what we’re doing as usual, and unlike the others, I don’t have blind trust in his intentions.
We finally stop in front of a group of tents made of bones and some kind of animal skins. They look similar to nomadic structures on the surface, but their design is absolutelynothuman in style. The skulls and sharpened bones are arranged to both construct a temporary dwellingandto intimidate anyone who approaches. Dangerous vibes emanate from the biggest one, and I shrink back somewhat as the other guys gather behind us.
