Page 60 of Hexes From Exes

“He gave it to you?” Rick asked.

Stephanie nodded. “You know I don’t take no for an answer. I thought…” she started, then swallowed.

“I wanted to be here,” he said weakly.

“You’re here now,” she replied.

Despite his waning strength, Rick reached up to grab her hand, feeling how warm she was. She was alive, she was real. This wasn’t a dream.

“You’re so cold,” she whispered. She looked up to Cass, who stood watching them cautiously. “Is he going to be okay?” Stephanie asked.

Rick couldn’t see Cass’s face, his eyelids were closing again. He was so tired…

“I don’t know,” Cass admitted at last.

Rick could feel himself drifting away. The warmth of Stephanie’s touch faded into the background. For a moment he felt like he was falling, but something anchored him. It was the feel of Stephanie’s lips on his own, and he felt warmth seep back into his world. After a few moments he was able to return her kiss, feeling some semblance of strength for the first time since he took the captain’s pill. This was different, this was like the first time he tasted a mojito – a warm, pleasant sensation that spread across his tongue and warmed his chest. After another few moments, he could raise his hand and bring it to the back of her head, pulling her into him. He didn’t want to let her go. He never wanted to let her go again.

* * *

Cass stepped away from them, feeling like she was intruding. Rick was dying, and she didn’t have the heart to tell Stephanie. His scales were even duller than they had been in that cell. She could practically see his life fading away as his eyes closed and his body relaxed.

Stephanie must have known it too. She bent down and kissed him. At first, he did nothing, which Cass took as her cue to go. He would die and burst into ash, and this would have been for nothing, except for him to spend his dying moments with the woman he loved. But then Rick was moving, his hand in Stephanie’s hair, and Cass watched in wonder as the two of them started to glow. It was faint, just a halo of light around them, but it was noticeable enough to illuminate the small room.

Rick opened his eyes to stare up at Stephanie with a look of absolute adoration. Cass felt a surge of jealousy – not at the fact that he was looking at Stephanie, but that anyone might look at her that way. She thought of Alice and Eric and wondered…

No. She couldn’t drag them into this. Whatever this was - it was dangerous. It nearly cost Rick his life, but he was willing to die for it. Was Cass willing to face the same fate for some answers?

She knew the answer as she stepped away and summoned the portal back to Dread.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Stephanie took the next week off of work. It was the first vacation she’d taken since starting Eternal Beauty Systems. She gave no explanation, just that she needed to be away for about a week.

She wasn’t about to explain that she was nursing her demon boyfriend back to health.

When Rick appeared in her living room with Cass, she was sure he was going to die. He was unrecognizable – covered in some sticky substance and paint, what was visible of his scaled body was a dull color instead of the vibrant red. When she put her hand on his body, she felt none of his normal warmth. He was cold. Even his eyes were glazed and dull, like he was moments away from never seeing anything ever again.

But somehow, like in some fairytale, kissing him brought him back.

It was slow at first. He’d gotten enough energy to get into the shower, where she attempted to clean a six-foot-plus demon in a space meant for a human. Once he was clean, she fed him and tucked him into bed.

The first night she barely slept – she awoke every few moments to check if he was breathing. He made it through the night. At some point she fell asleep, because when she awoke the next morning, it was to his arms wrapped around her, and her pressed into his body like that first night they spent together. She felt his hard cock against her thigh, unable to help the smile that slid across her face at the sensation. Demon men and human men were exactly alike – neither missed an opportunity for sex.

He must have felt her shift against him because his grip tightened as he held her close to him. Her hands slid along his arms, feeling the warmth returning slowly to his scaled body. He wasn’t as warm as he used to be, but he didn’t feel like ice anymore. She placed a kiss against his collarbone, burying her nose deep into him. He smelled like her body wash, but underneath, she caught a hint of his normal charcoal scent.

Rick ran a hand along her side, the pads of his fingers soft against her skin. They trailed along her thigh, her hip, then across her arm and shoulder. At last, they were under her chin, which he tilted back so he could kiss her on the mouth. She melted into that touch, into the feeling of his lips on hers. His forked tongue flicked across her lips, and she squirmed at the memory of it between her thighs.

His hand slid from her jaw to her hair, his claws raking her scalp in a way that elicited a low moan from her. At the sound, his grip tightened on her hair, his hips moving against her, pressing his hard cock into her.

Rick’s hands fumbled weakly with her clothes. The sports bra was fitted enough to give anyone trouble, but Stephanie shed it in one quick move. Her shorts were next, sliding them off and onto the floor. Rick was still naked from the shower. Stephanie didn’t really have anything to clothe him. Whatever he wore before was ruined, and she’d tossed it immediately after he’d cleaned up.

Rick sat up, but she saw him sway, still a little dizzy and weak from whatever happened to him.

“If it’s too much,” Stephanie started, putting her hand on his chest to force him onto his back.

“No,” he said, and for the first time since he returned to her, she saw a flicker of heat in his eyes. He grabbed her waist, his hands on either side, and dragged her body over his.

Stephanie didn’t resist, settling her naked body over his hips. She felt his fingers dig into her hips as he looked her over, drinking in the sight of her like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.