Page 115 of The Succubi's Choice

“So I go in and unplug the server?” She asks, and he blinks rapidly at her, before holding up his finger to his lips.

“One second,” he says, with a simple quirked eyebrow, and —

And just like that, Thomas is back, with the small explosion of knowledge that she can charm him, his hand still around her waist.

Which he drops like it stung him, jerking in surprise, his blue eyes blinking out of some sort of shock.

“Uh,” he says, and it’s like a dose of cold water is dumped over Miri. “I...wasn’t expecting that.”

She steps away from him gingerly. “Um.”

They stare at each other for a few seconds, his face somewhat slack, before he visibly shakes himself. “Okay, that’s weird, you look nice, he’s saying he needs me to do that big change?” He sits back down in the chair, and she can still see the furrow in his brow. “Uh.”

It’s such an intense change, with him being all of a sudden not the Archdemon, that she sits on the couch. “I can...change my clothes?”

He waves a hand at her. “Uh, be comfortable? I...” He swivels the chair toward her. “What happened?”

“We went to another meeting, they put out a warrant for my arrest,” she repeats, it still feeling foreign to her. “I’m going to go unplug the servers when you need me to, apparently?”

“I got that from him, but uh...” He looks down at himself, where he’s still wearing the suit, before he waves at her again. “Sorry, I’m just...not used to that from him and...this is weird?”

Ignoring the small fission of satisfaction in her, she nods. “It’s weird.”

“Okay!” He turns back to the computer, eyes wide and awkward. “Hacking. Stuff.”

She grabs her bag and heads into the small bedroom. “I’m changing.”

There’s nothing but the clack of keys. “This will take a while, if you want to sleep.”

* * *

She endsup conking out on the messy bed they shared, not that long ago, and when she wakes up it’s sunny out, and her phone is suspiciously quiet.

It’s silent, much more silent than an apartment in Silverlake should be, so she grabs her purse with her gun before padding out in her pajamas.

Thomas is still sitting at the computer, pecking away, and he blinks owlishly at her before rubbing his eyes. “It’s way later than I think it is, isn’t it?” He says, and he looks about as rough as she feels.

“Almost noon,” she says, before he nods.

“One sec,” he mutters, typing a few more things, and she’s vividly aware it’s not for her, before, “okay, go.”

If she hadn’t seen it now twice in the last few days, it’d spook her, but it’s almost a palpable relief to see the Archdemon again, with the straightening of his shoulders and the dulling against the pressure of her charm.

“I think he coded through the night,” she says, flopping on the couch. “He’s probably tired.”

He nods, absent-minded, looking at the computer screen for a split second, before he leaves the computer chair and flops next to her, throwing his arm around her and tugging her close.

She goes, leaning her head against his chest, the vestiges of sleep still in her eyes.

He doesn’t speak, as if only there to give her touch and comfort, and she can’t make herself change that. Can’t make herself move, can’t make herself look at the computer, can’t make herself ask.

He presses a soft kiss to the top of her head, as he seems to always do, and it warms her through her entire self.

She tilts her face towards him, and he kisses her again, like she’s the one tempting him, like he’s unable to keep away, despite her morning breath and messed up hair and gritty eyes.

“You’re beautiful,” he mumbles, and his voice is just as unused as hers feels, gravelly and rough. ”I am going to put so many runes in your pockets.”

That startles a giggle out of her, which he kisses away with even more fervor, lines of want in his jaw and breath catching in his lungs.

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