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Wow, who knew he was as much of a nerd as I am? I pause to consider. “Hmm, maybe save that for when you introduce me to people.”
“Of course, my savior,” he nods, and I can’t stop the dumb grin that spreads on my face at his willingness to go along with my nonsense.
“Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted, I was going to say that I may have saved your life last night, but…” Shit, here come the tears. I suck in a shaky breath before continuing. “But you’d already saved me when we met. I was stuck…trapped by grief and terrified of falling so far into depression that I’d never see the light again.”
Max places a hand on my cheek and caresses it with his thumb. “Mona, you give me too much credit. You’re so strong. You’d have found a way through it without me.”
I sniff and wipe at my tears, as a hint of a smile curls my lips. “Maybe. But without your creepy ass lurking outside my apartment, it would have taken a hell of a lot longer.”
He chuckles and squeezes me tighter. “Well, in that case, you’re welcome. And thank you for making my life here in Moonvale better than I could have ever dreamed.” He kisses me tenderly, then pulls back. “Though, I could have done without the whole getting stabbed and trapped in your neighbor’s closet thing. Not that I’m blaming that on you, my savior.”
“No more of that, please! I’ve done my big heroic act for my life—and I have to tell you, I don’t recommend it. If I didn’t love you, I would’ve left you to make it out on your own.”
“That reminds me…” He holds me tighter, letting his fingers dig into my hips just enough to cause a small bloom of pain, followed by a rush of arousal. “I still owe you your punishment for refusing to leave me behind.”
My heart beats faster in anticipation. “I thought we could forget about that. Seeing as I saved your life.” I flutter my eyelashes at him and smile innocently.
“I don’t want to spoil you, Mona. Besides, I think you want my punishment.” He grinds his cock against my ass from below as he brings a hand up to rest on my neck.
I inhale sharply, about to let lust take over when I remember something crucial I need to know about him. “Wait!” I say in a high-pitched squeak.
Max’s eyes narrow at me. “That’s not your safeword.”
“No, but I have something I need to ask about. About you being a succubus.” He tenses against me, his hand dropping from my throat to his side. “It’s not anything bad! At least, I hope it isn’t…I mean, I’ve read some monster romance, but reading versus the reality of actually fucking a monster could be…”
He squeezes my hip hard enough to break me out of my rambling. “Sorry! What I mean to say is…is this,” I gesture down at his body, “your true form? Or do you, uh, do you have monster-y parts you hide? Because I swear that time you had me tied up, you were touching me in more places that two hands and a dick could. Oh my god, do you have two dicks?!” Horror and a strange thrill run through me at the thought.
He lets the silence linger between us after my babbling, and I squirm, waiting to see what he’ll say. Wordlessly, he moves me off of his lap and tugs his t-shirt off over his head to reveal his muscular chest, dusted with freckles and trimmed hair, and tight abs with a dark trail of hair down from his navel into his jeans. He’s so sexy it’d distract me if I wasn’t terrified of what he’s about to show me.
Max moves closer, taking my hand in his, dragging it up his stomach to rest on a small rune-like tattoo over his heart. “I do have another form. I’m sorry that I hid it from you. That was wrong of me. I didn’t want to frighten you. The succubus side of me—the demon side—isn’t any more my true form than this one is. It’s just different. You never have to see my other form if you don’t want to. This spellmark allows me to shift forms at will, but I could get it altered if you wanted me to stay in my human-looking form permanently.”
He gives me such a serious, worried look that my heart breaks a little for him. There’s no way I’d ever tell him to cut off a part of himself. “No! Don’t do that. I love you, and that includes whatever you’re about to show me. Even if it takes some adjustment, I promise you never have to hide parts of yourself from me. I want all of you. Show me.”
His relief is palpable as he lets out a soft sigh. “I’m going to shift now. But the second you get too scared, just tell me and I’ll go back to this form.”
“I trust you,” I say, realizing that despite everything that’s happened between us, that’s an unshakable truth now.
He smiles and mutters a phrase as he touches the mark on his chest. Darkness pulls from the shadows in the corners of the room, gathering across his skin. I watch in fascination as the shadows grow thicker and thicker until they coalesce, forming into—
“Holy shit, you have wings?!” I gasp as I see the large, bat-like wings made of shadow appear on his back. He laughs, which pulls my attention to his face. “And horns!”
He laughs even harder, flashing the sharp teeth in his mouth. A moment later, something touches my leg, and I squeal, startling backward onto the couch.
“I also have a tail,” he says as I look down at the source of the surprising touch. The spade-like tip of a dark red tail caresses up my thigh.
I blink at him in shock, trying to process everything in front of me. His laughter fades, and his face falls. “Shit, baby. I’ll turn back. Just give me a second.”
That startles me out of my dumbfounded state. “No!!”
He cocks an eyebrow at me. “No?”
“No! Jesus, it’s unfair how hot you are, even looking like a demon.” My eyes rove up and down him, heat blooming inside me. “Especiallylike a demon.”
Max steps closer, towering over me as his tail continues to play along my thigh, moving closer to where I need him to touch me.
“I mean, I am part-succubus. We’re literally designed to cause lust. I just…I haven’t let anyone I’ve been with see me like this.” He sounds shy as he confesses. “I didn’t want this side of me to take over. Sometimes it’s felt like I have a beast trapped inside of me. I’ve tried so hard to hold it back. But with you, it’s almost impossible to keep it at bay.”
“So don’t.” I stand and go up onto my tiptoes so I can gently stroke the base of one of his horns. He shudders and leans into the touch. “I want all of you, Max. The man and the monster. The magnificent melding of the two.”
