AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You slept together?” Garrett whispers, but it somehow seems almost as loud as a yell.
Micah shoots him a flat look. “You knew that. Remember me coming home this morning and you making a smart-ass comment about me being in my clothes from last night?”
“Yes, but…” He stops and shrugs. “I have nothing. I knew, but I didn’t want it to seem like we’d gossiped about it.” He turns to me. “We didn’t.”
I shrug. “I don’t mind if you did. Just as long as you’re all saying nice things.” Not that there’s anything else they could say. I was in that bed with Micah. He had no complaints. “But why are we suddenly afraid of the council?”
“We’re not afraid,” they protest at the same time, then exchange embarrassed glances. I roll my eyes and cross my arms, propping my shoulder against the doorframe we just came through. Somehow I miss and plunge through the doorway, headed for a painful sprawl on the floor.
Micah’s hand closes around my upper arm with an iron grip and hauls me upward. He waits until I’m steady on my feet before letting go. “Okay?”
I peek up at him coquettishly. “My hero.”
Garrett chokes back a laugh, but Micah’s breath hitches even as his cheeks flush. Someone else might have thought that was embarrassment, but I’m an incubus. I know what turned-all-the-fucking-way-on looks like. So Micah likes the idea of being my hero? I file that away for future reference. Role-play sex is fun.
I’m just wondering how to convince him to sneak into the bathroom for a quick blowjob—is there a bathroom here? There must be—when Garrett yelps. “We’re late!”
Micah seizes my hand and drags me along the hall. Thankfully, we don’t have far to go, because my coordination isn’t great even when I’m not unbalanced and racing with no clue where to go. We pause for a moment outside the door to catch our breath, and then Garrett opens it and steps inside.
I follow right on his heels. They never explained what the big deal was, and now I’m eager to see this council that can fluster them both so much.
At first glance, I don’t get it. There are seven demons sitting at a boardroom-style table. Some of them look older, even for our lifespan, and none of them seem particularly young. That’s probably normal, right? People with experience get elected or selected for village councils.
“There you are,” a woman snaps. If I had to guess, I’d say she’s the oldest one here, but she doesn’t look elderly. The way she’s glowering does make me want to take a step back, though.
Fuck that.
“Sorry we’re late,” I announce cheerfully, stepping around Garrett and taking a seat at the table. It might look ballsy, but mostly it’s so they can’t see my knees knock together. “My fault, I’m afraid. I’m clumsy, and Micah had to save me from falling over.”
There’s a moment of silence as they all try to work through that, and Garrett and Micah join me at the table.
“Are you hurt?” the dark-haired man at the head of the table asks at last.
“Only my pride.” I pause. “And definitely my dignity.”
The man’s face relaxes in a way that makes me think he might be smiling… but not. “Those are easier to heal than broken bones. I’m Jesse Hatt, the demon species leader. Welcome to Hortplatz.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Shit. Why didn’t Micah mention the species leader of all demons was going to be here? I wouldn’t have waffled on like an idiot. “I’m Cam Torrence, and I’m here to solve the pretty. I mean, the puzzle. The door.” Dammit, they know that. Time to zip it. I should have listened to Micah when he said not to say anything.
A warm hand lands on my thigh under the table and squeezes lightly. I let out a little breath. Micah’s got my back.
Jesse introduces the other council members. When he gets to the scary older woman, Damaris Bailey, something clicks in my head. This is the grandmother everyone was talking about at dinner last night. The one they reassured me was happy about the cave, as though it would be a bad thing if she wasn’t.
Looking at her now, the frown on her face sending genuine shivers down my spine, I get it. No wonder Micah was willing to give up shower sex with me. I wouldn’t want to piss this woman off either.
She doesn’t say hello, or acknowledge me in any way, really, unless you count the slight intensification of her glare. I’m just wondering if Micah’s reflexes would be good enough to teleport me to safetybeforeshe lunges at me across the table, when Jesse asks, “Could you tell us how you plan to work?”
Tearing my gaze away from Damaris, even though every prey instinct in me insists I should keep my eyes on her, I blink at him. “Um. Sure. Micah will teleport me there and back each day. But not on weekends, because he deserves time off. Especially if he has to keep doing his regular job as well.”
Beside me, Micah shifts uncomfortably, and I realize I’ve made it sound like he’s been complaining to me. “He’s been so helpful and welcoming,” I add, and Garrett makes a tiny sound on the other side of me. Oh yeah, I guess in the context of us having fucked all night, that might be a weird thing to say. But the council doesn’t know that… do they?
I glance around the table. Nobody’s smirking or shocked. They don’t know.
“We never doubted he would be,” Jesse assures me. “Micah has always done his duty well and faithfully.”
I frown, because that definitely didn’t sound right, but he’s still talking.
“I actually meant, what’s the process for solving the puzzle?”
