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If all she had todo was wear an invisible bandage that wouldn’t give away her weakness to herenemies, could she return to battle? Okay, so the bandage was made of webbingshot out of the Kil’tiarks’ butts. No doubt there would be some teasing butthat was a small price to pay if Shaw could fight alongside her sisterValkyries once more.
Shaw couldn’t waitto corner one of the medics and have them sign off on her battle fitness. Yay…oh, except she’d committed herself to completing this to-do list. It was theprice she had to pay to ensure Stephanie remain on maternity leave until thebabies were born. If Shaw upped for reassignment immediately, no doubt her bosswould be back in the office within a heartbeat, bouncing, hormonally snarlingbefore hugging everyone. Driving all and sundry nuts.
No, she’d see herobligations through to completion. But once Shaw had her health certificatesigned off and Stephanie had disembarked the hormonal nutso train, see youlater Headquarters, the battle life beckoned.
Now Shaw wasexcited and more than a little revved up. What could she do to burn off allthis excess energy? Hmmm, lucky for her there was a handy Demon lying besideher with a big cock. Even better, his ten minute rest period was up. Yee-haw.Shaw jumped him.
***
Kaleb stared outat the amazing scenic vista from his location seated at the marble toppedbreakfast bar, sipping juice and munching on some toast. Yes, there was smoghazing the horizon but there was also blue skies and sunshine. Wow. What aview.
He’d woken thirtyminutes ago and hit the shower, stretching out his muscles under the heavenlystream of hot water. He and the Valkyrie had all but set the sheets on firelast night. Leaving him admittedly a little bleary eyed this morning from lackof sleep. But did he care? Not one little bit. He felt fantastic physically. Asif he could climb a mountain. Or go another five or six rounds with a voraciousValkyrie.
Stepping out theshower he’d realised he had a clothing, or lack of clothing issue. Settling onwrapping a towel around his waist before checking on Shaw. Still sleeping.Sprawled out on her stomach, the sheet twisted around her hips, exposing theelegant line of her spine and the defined muscles of her back. He was temptedto kiss his way down all that smooth flesh, rip off the sheet and settle in fora day of fucking… but, his instincts, strangely, were warning him that would bea mistake.
A mistake? Staringout at the view unseeingly now, Kaleb pondered what the hell was going on withhim. Seriously? Naked female just down the corridor and he was in the open plankitchen, wearing nothing but a towel and chowing down on some dry toast andthinking. Thinking? Him?
But he wasn’t athuggish Conflict Demon, he was a planner, a plotter and every instinct he hadwas broadcasting that he needed to back away from the Valkyrie. That it wasvitally important that she be the one to initiate things between them and dothe heavy lifting so to speak. Which was stupid if he was just in this for thefucking… Lord Lucifer save him! He wasn’t just in this for the fucking.
The bite mark. Thedogged insistence that had gripped him all night that he ensure each and everytime they came together that Shaw climaxed. And that almost smothering wave ofrelief that had engulfed him when he woke this morning to find her still in thebed beside him, sleeping. A Valkyrie never let her guard down around those shedidn’t trust. He was clearly making some kind of progress.
Progress? Towards what?
Kaleb had neverconsidered himself a dullard but it took him several seconds to put the piecestogether. The L word hitting him like a two by four between the eyes. Love?Fuck. Yes, love. A sense of peace, excitement and anticipation settling in his gut.Huh, who would have thunk it, he was a Demon in love. A Demon who wantedforever with Shaw Bengala.
He wanted to see thatscowl of hers each and every day. Be the first one she snarked at of a morningand the last one she snarled at of a night.
He wanted Shaw toclaim him.
By the NineCircles, now his strategic retreat this morning made sense. Kaleb’s instinctsinsisting that the only way to win Shaw was to play hard to get. Shit. Fuck.Play hard to get? How the hell did one go about doing that? Crap, no sex for astart. Or at the very least ensure she made all the first moves. No unnecessarytouching. Keep the flirting silly, meaningless, as if her response to it wasinconsequential.
Damn, he only hadfour more days to plot and plan the downfall of his Valkyrie, right into hisarms and life. No pressure then.
Kaleb prayed toLucifer for strength and guidance, he was going to need it.
He was finishingthe last of the juice when running footsteps sounded and suddenly Shaw wasthere. Wearing a tight white tank and green sleep shorts, her hair loose fromthe knot she habitually wore, golden curls exploding out of her head like shewas a heavily burdened dandelion. She looked gorgeous. Though on closerinspection she also looked frantic, until her eyes came to rest on Kaleb.
For half a secondhe was pleased, she’d missed him. But then he saw her eyes dart to theelaborately carved closed wooden arched doorway on the far side of the livingroom, and her relief quickly made sense. She hadn’t missed him, she’d just beenworried he’d gone snooping, invading her personal space. Ouch. His ego took ahit.
“Everything okay?”
“Umm.” Shaw batteda springy curl out of her eyes. “Yes. Everything’s fine. I was just worriedthat you hadn’t been able to find something to eat or drink by yourself.”
“I’m good.” Hegestured to the empty plate and glass in front of him, watching Shaw abruptlyfrown and swoop forward. In under a minute she’d cleared away the dirty dishes,stowing them in the dishwasher before grabbing a cloth and wiping clean themarble counter top in front of him. “Errr… thanks. Can I fix you anything?”
Shaw shook herhead, wandering over to the living area, straightening a cushion. “I’ll grabsomething after I shower.” She began to back towards the carved arched doorway.“So… you’ll be..?”
“Waiting righthere, since I don’t have any clothes and have already showered.”
There went thatflash of relief across Shaw’s face once more. “Okay, good, I’ll be quick. Thenwe can hit the road.”
“Sure.” Watchingas she opened the door leading to what he presumed was the master suite aboutfour inches, squeezing her way through the narrow gap hurriedly before closingthe door in her wake. Huh, that was a little overprotective and territorial ofher. Now it had Kaleb wondering what she was hiding back there. It would beinteresting to have a look, telling even.
How someone decoratedtheir personal space often revealed a lot about their personality, their hiddendesires, their secrets. It would give anyone with an avid interest and atrained eye ammunition if they needed it. Or perhaps provide them with the keysto unlocking tightly sealed metaphorical doors.
Luckily Kaleb wasboth trained and beyond interested. More importantly he realised, he didn’tneed to see inside Shaw’s private suite to start getting a feel for all herhidden layers. He had an entire house to explore. Staring down at the freshlywiped marble counter top before him and then over at the cushion Shaw hadunconsciously straightened, he couldn’t help but smile. Oh, yeah, he had plentyof things to look at in this starkly modern yet warm open planned room. It wasa stepping stone, sure, but stepping stones led to things, like an openinvitation to the inner sanctum… and being claimed by a Valkyrie.
A stubborn Demoncould dream. And a tricky devious one would get the job done by whatever thehell means it took. Because, by the Fiery Pits of Hell, Kaleb Chipp intended toget himself claimed by one mulish Valkyrie.
