Page 71 of Judge of Saints and Sinners

Blinking, I poked one. “Come to think of it, where is your shirt?”

A silvery brow rose. “I scarcely had time to procure these pants. Are you complaining?”

“Not at all. Just a casual observation, you know, because I'm still figuring out this whole demon moving through the worlds thing, and I—”

Nephesh cut me off by pulling me up, his mouth on mine in an instant. I smiled into the kiss, letting his thick tongue slowly into my mouth as he rolled us carefully.

I didn’t want to talk anymore. I pressed close to him, not necessarily concerned about the guards seeing any of my skin in the dark cell, but more about the idea that there was anything existing outside of us. I wanted it to be only us, at least in my mind. Especially if this was all I got.

I pouted when he settled me on my back, his head immediately tucking into my neck, where he dragged in air, scenting me as his hands leisurely stroked my body.

“What are you doing?”

“You smell like…like home. It’s addicting, and when I touch you like this…” His hand brushed lower, past my waistband to stroke over the top of my leggings carefully. “It is even richer.”

I blushed, which was surprising at this point in my life. But I found that I liked it. “I like the way you smell too. You smell like firewood and smoke, but not in a bad way. It smells really good.”

Nephesh tilted his head tilted to stare at me for a long moment, and then he was moving again, tracing his mouth down my neck, the slick slide of his tongue tasting me, teasing me with every touch and flick. When he reached my collarbone, that long tongue danced out, tracing the lines of my bone before breathing out over it, his breath sweet and hot against the freshly dampened lines.

“There are those amongst the demons who crave human flesh. It’s written in our old books before my father shaped our home. But now I feel that there may have been a slight misunderstanding.” His eyes were red, narrowed, as he shifted lower, his wings flickering as they moved to accommodate us once more.

“What do you mean?”

“Because I will never know another thing that I would crave more than the taste of you.”

I started to giggle at his realization, but then the sound that slipped out of me was something else altogether. A plea, perhaps, as his hips rocked against me, just a teasing glance of what was to come.

“Nephesh…”

He was right, though. My craving for him ran deeper and thicker than the blood in my veins. I could feel it now, calling out to him.

I boldly drew my hands down his sides, feeling the way the muscles of his back flexed under my touch. His mouth brushed over my lips.

“I have put you in danger. I have threatened your life, simply by existing in yours. But I cannot find it in myself to regret a single second of being with you, little thief.”

My heart was racing.

“And while I believe that most monsters do not deserve any kind of happiness, I find myself hoping for exactly what you always said you wanted.”

“What’s that?”

“A chance.” He sat up, settling back on his ankles as he maneuvered me up the bed. A quick glance told me that there were shadows stretching across the bars, darkening the space all around us as if encompassed in a dark, heavy fog. “A chance to know someone completely.”

“A chance to trust someone,” I responded, nodding as Nephesh slipped my leggings down over my legs. My breathing panted out as my panties followed, the sharp, cool lines of Nephesh’s claws trailing up my thighs.

“A chance to love someone,” he said, his voice a dark rumble as the shadows billowed around us.

Sitting up, I found the line of his waistband and guided it over his hips, my mind consumed with the beautiful lines of his body, both of muscle but also the scars that he’d earned trying to do what was right.

What he had believed in.

His breathing hitched as he kneeled back on the mattress, and my fingers traced down past his belly button, lower, until the hot, hard length of him brushed my palm. I was only there a moment before he was on me again, pushing me back into the bed. Feeling the sweet weight of him over me dragged a soft moan from my lips.

Because we fit in every way.

His hard lines against my soft. My grasping fingers to his teasing touch. And when he found my lips again, I couldn’t stop my hips from bucking into the long, strong fingers that teased me there. But still, he didn’t give me what I wanted.

I huffed out a breath, but a smile stayed on my mouth as I responded back to him. “And be loved in return.”