Page 5 of Priest

Oliver started to reach for him, but Priest carefully stepped away from his grasp. “No. It was my fault. I?—”

“It wasn’t,” Priest interrupted in a hurry. “It’s not you. I have a massive case going on right now, and I’ve already been away too long.”

That wasn’t a lie. The Siren royal family was waiting, and Jeremiah would most definitely kill him dead if his fucking hunger got Remi hurt.

“I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

He ignored the shattered look on Oliver’s face and told himself it meant nothing as he rushed out the door without a real goodbye. Oliver was forbidden fruit. He was the temptation Priest could never give in to.

It had to be that way. For both their sakes.

2

OLIVER

Oliver was a polite person. He understood social niceties. It was one of the things that helped him survive when he was younger, and it was one of the things Poe was trying to cook out of him now. Well, mostly. Poe wanted him to stop being such a people-pleaser, and rightfully so.

And right then, he was the closest he’d ever been to cracking and giving someone a real piece of his mind. Priest, to be exact.

The Demon. The Liar.

I’ll see you soon, yeah?

Those had been Priest’s last words to him before doing the exact opposite. Oliver hadn’t seen him in weeks, and if it wasn’t for the news talking about the Trident Agency’s involvement with the Siren royal family, he would have assumed Priest was lying to get out of having the conversation Oliver was so desperate to have.

The truth was, Oliver wanted him. He understood the risks that came with falling for an Incubus Demon, but he didn’t care. Priest had been nothing but kind to him. He was what he was, but he was also an adorably awkward nerd who acted like he’d never learned how to flirt.

And Oliver was no fool. He knew there was danger lurking behind Priest’s gorgeous eyes. He knew what he went to Azriel’s club for, and the only thing Oliver wanted to do was offer himself. Not that he would, of course. Not without some kind of commitment.

Oliver had already grilled Azriel on whether or not it was safe to be with someone like Priest.

“Could he kill me?” Oliver had asked a few weeks after meeting the Demon.

Azriel rolled his eyes and muttered several words in a language Oliver didn’t understand before flashing teeth in a grimace trying to be a smile. “Yes, he could kill you. But he wouldn’t. That’s not his nature.”

“That’s not an Incubus’s nature?” Oliver asked, his entire body humming with skepticism.

Azriel laughed. “Oh, darling.No. An Incubus would definitely consume you until you were dead. But Priest wouldn’t. It’s not inhisnature. He’s a bodyguard. Aprotector. His entire life is keeping little lost lambs like you safe.”

Oliver flipped him off and ignored it when Azriel laid an apologetic kiss on his cheek. “I don’t even know why I’m asking,” Oliver had said when Azriel pulled back. “It’s not like he’d want someone like me.”

Azriel looked at him, sighed, and shook his head. “Oh, honey,” he said in that devastating tone that cut right to the quick.

It was the last time Oliver had brought up the Demon with his Angel friend. Now, Poe had to suffer Oliver’s pining, which he complained loudly about but still sat through all of Oliver’s poetic ranting. Poe gave him shit but also told him to be patient.

“He’s probably not used to wanting a human for more than a midnight snack,” Poe had told him.

And he was probably right. Oliver knew that should scare him off, but instead, it just added to the intrigue. How would it work? How would it feel to let Priest feed off him? He groaned and opened his eyes to find a mug hovering over his face.

He jolted, then realized the mug was attached to the arm of his best friend. He sat up, carefully dodging Poe’s hand, and rubbed his face. “What are you doing?”

“Making you tea,” Poe said, waving the mug back and forth. “Here comes the train,” he singsonged. “Open up. Choo-choo!”

“I will hire the biggest Gargoyle I can find to sit on you,” Oliver growled.

Poe grinned over the rim of the mug. “Don’t promise me a good time. Now, drink your tea like a good boy. That or go jerk off, but I literally can’t take the pining or the pheromones, and since you won’t go ask Azriel where your stalker is…”

“He’s not my stalker,” Oliver said, standing up and brushing past his friend, heading into the kitchen. He opened up the fridge and got a bottle of Siren Water out. The damn stuff wasn’t great for humans, but by the gods, it was addictive.

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