“I didn’t realize demons snuggled,” I murmured against his pecs as he chuckled, giving the skin beneath my lips a little nip. All his weird moving ink was settling back around his body, but they were different now. “Uh, Uko… your ink is now blue?”
He looked down at his chest. “Ah, they do that when they are happy.”
I stared at the little squiggle near my face. It was blue and kind of fuzzy, a weird little spiral-shape that twisted this way and that. “They? You talk about them like they’re alive.”
He stroked his long fingers through my hair. “They’re parasites. So I guess they kind of are.”
I backed away from the one on his chest. “Parasites?”
He nodded. “Well, kind of. They are the souls of imps. Lesser-lesser demons, I guess you’d say. They do not get reborn, so to prolong their existence, they bargain to hitch a ride on one of us. They feel our pleasure, pain, happiness, anger, that kind of thing. Which is why they all headed to my dick,” he said with a laugh.
I gasped.Those tiny, squiggly little perverts.“Are they sentient?”
He bit his lip. “No, not really. They just kind of feel. They are a soul, not a mind. I guess I am sentient for them. Once their souls attached to me, they became little fragments of my soul. They change color depending on what I feel.”
I grinned. “Aww, like tiny, moving mood rings. I like it.”
Stroking my hair, he hugged me tighter. “I’m glad, because I accidentally transferred one to you.”
I shot up into a sitting position. “You gave me the demon version of an STD?” I screeched, searching my arms and torso.
“A what? Calm down, Elsie. It’s here.” He lifted my knee, spreading my thighs and exposing my heated flesh to the cool evening air, making me shudder. Then I saw the little swirl on my inner thigh where he’d bitten me. It moved around sluggishly, as if it was as confused as I was. “It will not affect you at all. You are not a demon; you did not bind it. It’s still attached to my soul.”
I swallowed hard. “So you just accidentally gave me a piece of your soul?”
He had the good grace to look a little abashed. “Yes. I’m sorry. Well, I am not really sorry, because I like the idea of you having a little piece of me after I’m gone.”
I looked up into his face, seeing the gentleness there. Apparently, demons could be romantic as hell too. I lay back down on his chest, pushing down the emotions that were threatening to rise up and cause a riot.
He kissed the top of my head. “Would you like to go and test the giant bed? I think I might be feeling hungry again.”
Three hours and five orgasms later, I’d come to the conclusion that he wasn’t just hungry—he was starved.
CHAPTER
FOUR
When we checkedout early the next morning, Kate the receptionist was back on the front desk. She took in Uko’s arm around my shoulders and the post-sex glow on my face, and grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “I see you enjoyed your stay,” she said politely, but her eyes were practically dancing with delight.
Uko gave her a blinding grin. “Indeed. I found the water pit to be excellent,” he told her, then leaned down to nuzzle my neck. I was no longer against PDAs. Hell, I was pretty sure Uko could lay me down on the lobby floor and fuck me senseless, and I’d love every second of it.
“The hot tub,” I corrected, smiling softly at Kate. “I really appreciate your help.”
She waved away the compliment as she completed the check-out process. When she handed back my credit card, I could tell she wanted to high-five me again but resisted. “I hope you have a wonderful journey. Thank you for staying with us.”
Uko waved and grabbed my hand, walking us out of the lobby and back up the street. Beale Street was bustling with businessmen and tourists at this time of the morning, and I felt a pang of guilt. “You would have enjoyed Beale Street. I feel a little guilty that I kept you in last night.”
He leaned down and kissed my temple. “I had the best night of my immortal life last night. I do not regret a momentary second.” He paused. “Actually, I am still a bit annoyed about the room service interrupting the hot tub time.” He winked. “But it all worked out in the end.”
We rode the elevator up to the correct level of the parking garage, making out like horny teenagers the whole way up. We were just in sight of my car when Uko froze like a deer. Leaning against the hood of my car were two huge, golden men. Between them was a beautiful redhead, but something about her seemed off.
One of the golden guys saw us first and punched the other in the shoulder. “Ha! Told you this was his scent, Rom.”
The pretty redhead laughed, hip-checking the one who was gloating. The grumpier-looking huge guy rolled his eyes and glared at us. “Ukobach. It is time to return to Hell.”
I wanted to cry as I looked between them and Uko. He looked sad but resigned, and when his eyes flashed to me, pain burned in their depths. All the marks in his body slowly turned a dull, dark green. Was that their color for sadness?
He leaned down and kissed me. “Thank you for summoning me,” he whispered against my lips.
