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"Wow. You should be a writer with that imagery."
He smiled. "Yeah, yeah. But you know what I mean."
Except, I was missing a part of my life and things were harder, not easier. "You at least have Maddie."
"You have Dante."
"Dante's not Maddie, believe me."
"Fair enough. She's great...I care about her...love her...I don't know. It's all just different."
Silence fell, but it was comfortable. "Good lord. I can't believe we're discussing this rationally."
"See? Not so hard to be friends."
I had my doubts about that. "I guess."
"Don't worry. We'll keep trying. Before long, we'll be on a bowling league or something." He spoke his words lightly, but there was a catch that belied the truth of his words. Being friends wasn't easy for Seth either. He still cared about me and was suffering just as much as me with this separation. Seeing that made something in me soften.
"Hey, it's okay. We'll make this work."
I reached out to hug him, and he automatically returned it. I felt warm and safe and right in his embrace-until he casually squeezed my back. I cried out, jerking away at the pain that shot through me. We sprang apart, and he looked at me in alarm. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
"It's...complicated." My standard answer to uncomfortable questions.
"Georgina!"
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
He strode toward me, reached a hand out, then pulled back. Intensity filled his face. "Are you hurt?"
I tried to keep out of his reach. "Look, I got in a fight last night, and I'm sporting some, uh, residual effects. It's mostly gone, though, so there's nothing to worry about."
"You? Got in a fight? With who?"
"Whom. And it was with Nanette. I told you, it's nothing."
"Who's Nanette?"
"She's...a demon."
He gave me a level look. "A demon. A full-fledged demon."
"Something like that."
"Let me see your back."
"Seth-"
"Georgina! Let me see your back."
There was anger in his words, not at me, but at the thought of someone hurting me. It reminded me a little of Dante's reaction, except that Dante always had a bit of anger in him. It was normal. To see it woken up in Seth...to see him so passionate and fierce...
Slowly, slowly, I turned around and undid the front of my robe, letting it slip halfway down my back. I heard Seth gasp at what he saw, and then a few moments later, he stepped forward and pushed my hair off my back so that he could get a better view. I shivered when his fingers touched my skin.
"Georgina...this is horrible..."
"It was worse before." I spoke flippantly, hoping to deflect his worry and realizing I'd only increased it now.
"Worse?"
I tugged the robe up and turned back around. "Mei healed it. I'm fine."
"Yeah, it seems that way."
"Look, it's nothing you have to worry about."
"Not worry about?" His eyes were filled with incredulity. "Even when you're...normal...a demon could still kill you, right?"
"Yeah."
Seth put his hand to his forehead and sighed. "This is what it's like, isn't it?"
"What?"
"What you went through with me. Living with the fear that I could die. Having it tear you apart."
I didn't answer right away. "You don't have to worry about me. This'll work out."
"Did this...did Nanette do this because of your investigating?"
I nodded, then crooked him a wry smile. "Still like how brave I am?"
He stepped closer to me and looked me up and down in a way that was so serious, my smile faded. "Even after this, you aren't going to stop, are you? You're going to keep pushing to find Jerome?"
"Do you want me to stop?" This was almost like my earlier conversation with Dante, when he'd made it clear he thought I was a fool for continuing with my quest.
Seth's answer was a long time in coming. "I don't want you to get hurt. But I understand you, and I know why you have to do this...and it's still part of that strange, brave nature of yours that's so..."
He didn't finish, but I saw the anguish in his eyes, the worry and heartache over something happening to me. It was mingled with something else, though. Pride. Affection. I put my arms around him again, wanting to comfort him now. "Hey, hey. It's going to be okay. I'll be okay."
His hands rested on my hips, careful of my back, but honestly, I barely noticed. My attention was on his lips, pressed against my cheek. "Georgina, Georgina," he breathed against my skin. "You are...incredible."
And like in the car, I don't know who exactly was to blame, but our lips met and were kissing again. Unlike before, we didn't break apart out of shock. We kept kissing. And kissing. His lips were intoxicating and felt like they'd been designed especially for mine. Our bodies pressed against one another, though his embrace was still gentle. As the kiss continued, that same sensation came back to me: this was purely a kiss. Just an expression of love between two people with no dire side effects, no soul stealing. The longer it went on, the more amazed I was. By now, as a succubus, I would have begun to taste his energy and feel his thoughts. But not now. I was alone in my own head, savoring his body and not his soul.
We pulled back slightly, and he moved his hands up to the side of my face, smoothing my hair away and touching my cheek. "Georgina. You are...beautiful."
We kissed again, and it was so sweet, so pure, that it didn't seem possible. I hadn't had a physical experience that could really be called sweet or pure since...well, since my mortal days. But this was. And by pure, I didn't mean non-sexual...because my body was definitely awake and yearning for his. But, it was pure in the sense that there were no ulterior machinations here, just our feelings. My love for him was the turn-on, and as his hands ran down my arms and back to my hips, it was the knowledge that it was Seth that made it all so powerful.
His hands carefully moved down to the robe's tie and undid the knot. He broke the kiss and studied my face as he hesitantly, almost reverently, slipped the robe off me. It hit the floor, and I stepped away from it. Seth moved with me, running his fingers along my arms, leaning down to kiss my neck. I tilted my head back as my own hands began pushing up his T-shirt. When I had it half-way, he paused to push it up the rest of the way.
Then his hands were on my waist once more, sliding down and feeling the curve of my hips. I had on plain cotton panties-sexily cut, at least-and his fingertips traced the edges down along my thighs, every touch soft yet quivering with pent-up energy. I don't think I was being quite as gentle. I was hungry to touch him, eager as I ran my hands along his chest and the lean muscles of his stomach. I wanted to kiss it and taste it and lose myself in all things Seth.
I began backing up toward my bedroom, and he followed, turning hesitant once we reached the bed and I started to sit. "You can't..." he began.
"I can lie down," I said, doing exactly that. "I just can't slam my back down or anything."
After watching me for a moment, making sure I spoke the truth, Seth took off his jeans and lay down next to me. I rolled slightly to my side, pressing back to him. We resumed kissing, doing no more than that, just letting our nearly bare bodies wrap around each other. Having all this skin touching between us was heady. Never, never had I imagined it could really happen. Our hands explored each other, feeling every line and curve we'd always been denied. Every gesture between us was exquisite. Every caress was a prayer. We regarded each other's bodies with wonder and joy.
When my hands slipped to the edges of his boxers, I found his own fingers were tugging at my panties. We hardly needed any communication, and once completely naked, I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him toward me and seeking the completion with him I'd so long dreamed of.
To my surprise, he pulled from my arms and scooted down the bed. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"This," he said.
He smoothly pushed my legs apart, and I felt him shower my inner thighs with light, delicate kisses. Up and up his warm mouth moved until he made contact with my clit. I gasped softly at the fire that coursed through me from that light flick of the tongue. It was so light...yet so powerful. I'd been so intoxicated with the simple fact that we could touch that I hadn't been consciously aware of just how aroused I had grown. I ached and was wet and nearly melted at his touch.
