AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And there’s really only a handful of non-demons living here?” Even knowing the circumstances, that seems incredible to me. I may not be the most social person in the world, but there’s comfort to be taken from being part of the community of species. I can’t feed from another member of my own species; not really. Knowing there are others who know what I am and will consent to me feeding from them without me having to endanger myself… that’s priceless.
“Yep,” Garrett says, overhearing and breaking off his argument with Zac, which seemed to have morphed into an exchange of “No, you’re the worst!” He squares his shoulders. “That’s part of the reason why I’m here: to help the village think of ways to attract other species. And whatever’s behind that door in the cave is going to be a big part of it.”
I take a second to think about that. Historic treasure hidden by a dragon thousands of years ago behind a door that’s a puzzle? Definitely sounds like a tourist attraction to me. And where tourists go, others follow to cater to them.
“Good thing I’m here to open it.”
CHAPTEREIGHT
Micah
If Cam hadn’t been soadamant earlier about the importance of consent, I might wonder if he was enthralling me. Because all I can think about right now is getting my hands into those blond curls and my mouth on his.
To be closely followed by my mouth on other things.
Sitting next to him at dinner might have been a mistake, because the scent of him has been in my nostrils for hours: machine oil and Dove soap. Not the sexiest combo, but it’s driving me wild.
“…at least it’s breakfast, and we’ll send food with Micah for lunch,” Garrett’s saying as he hands Cam a cotton tote bag of food. I zoned out while he was packing it, but given Cam’s declaration that he can’t cook, I really hope it’s stuff he can eat as is.
“Thank you. I’ll hit the store… sometime. I guess tomorrow. Before we go to the cave, maybe.” He doesn’t sound too excited, probably because that means less time in the cave.
“Between this and what we already stocked in the kitchen, you should be okay for a few days,” Garrett assures him. The two of them seem to have already formed a bond, and I’m glad. It didn’t take long to guess that Cam would easily spend all his free time alone with his puzzles. He needs more friends like Garrett.
And me. I can be his friend. It’s okay to lust after friends, right?
I don’t get the chance to decide for sure, because Cam turns his big brown eyes on me and says, “Okay, I’m ready. You can take me now.”
Oh, baby.
He means take him back to his house, of course. Not… take him. Even though he’s only going two houses down, I’m teleporting him there. It’s too cold outside, and he’s not dressed for it. Garrett solved that problem, thankfully—he and Cam put their heads together over his phone and did some online shopping. His new coat and boots will be ready for collection at a store in Zurich tomorrow. Asher’s going to get them, since he has to go for a meeting anyway.
Until then, I’ll teleport Cam wherever he needs to go, and make sure he’s wearing warm layers. The last thing we need is for our puzzle expert to get sick. Grandmother wouldn’t be pleased.
Just the thought of my grandmother (and her frown) is enough to kill off any lingering inappropriate thoughts I might be having. “Let’s go,” I tell Cam, trying to sound casual. “I’ll be back in a bit,” I tell my cousins. Zac’s wandered off somewhere, and Asher’s frowning at his phone, but Garrett smirks.
“No rush,” he says. Why did Asher marry him, again?
I put my hand on Cam’s shoulder and take us both to the teleport room in his house. There’s nothing special about it—it’s just a small room that’s kept empty to make teleporting into it safer. Like all teleport rooms, there’s a poster on the wall with a unique identifier—something to fixate on and teleport to. In this case, it’s a photo of the front of the house with the street name and number underneath. All I had to do to get here was picture that poster.
Much better than slogging through the snow and wind.
Keeping my hand on Cam’s shoulder so he doesn’t get disoriented, I reach out and flip the light switch. When I said the room was small, I meant it. We purpose-built this town, and I designed all the houses to have a teleport room. There was no point in making them big rooms; most are the size of a closet.
“Thank you,” he says politely, blinking in the sudden light.
“My pleasure.” I take my hand off him, already regretting the need to stop touching him. “I’ll leave you be. You’ve got my number if you need anything?” I check. We did the whole exchange numbers thing before.
“Sure, but…” He looks up at me, and I swear, I could drown in those eyes. “Why don’t you stay?”
“Stay?” I repeat, not sure what he means. Does he need my help with something? “And talk about our plans for tomorrow?”
He shrugs. “We could do that, if you want. I was hoping we could have sex.”
I stare at him. “Sex?” Is this… Am I dreaming?
His gaze turns to concern. “You have had sex before, right? I didn’t get the impression that you were celibate.”
“No—I mean, yes. I’ve had sex. I’m not… celibate.”
