Page 41 of My Saintly Demon

He flinches again and reaches for his back.

“I need this itching to stop.”

He pulls the poultice away, eyes wide when he glances at X. “Well done. There’s barely any bruise or swelling.”

“I told you I was good at that. I had enough practice with them on myself.”

I don’t know if Dave catches it but I notice the cloud that momentarily crosses X’s face before he pastes another smile in place. I’ll have to see if he needs someone to talk to once all this has died down.

Dave helps me off the counter, and after thanking X again, we return to our suite.

Once the door is closed, he groans more and rubs up on the wall.

“Seriously, Chuck, it’s so fucking itchy. I’m happy you got the lotion, but I’m not happy you ran into that guy.”

“How did you find me, anyway? Was I gone that long?”

He strips off his clothes as I locate the bottle I had stuffed into my coat pocket.

“You probably weren’t, but I saw you again. You were in my head, just like when I saw you while you were… taking care of yourself.” His lips tilt into a wicked grin but it disappears as fast as it came. “But this time you were crying for help and I knew you were in trouble.”

“My prayer,” I whisper. “You heard it.”

Pausing his undressing, he stares at me for a long time.

“You’re on my channel. I told you there’s something about you I pick up.” He taps the side of his head with a finger. “You’re in my head a lot.”

He continues to strip and I can’t look away. Dave is fit, no six-pack or anything, but you can tell he has muscles. And he’s so strong. Like a tiger, real power ripples beneath the surface. I’ve seen him use that power on people to protect me. I’m not even afraid for my safety. Even seeing his strength up close and the flames that ignite in his eyes when provoked, I’m not concerned he’d ever harm me.

I only have to put lotion on his back to ease his persistent itch, yet he’s stripped down completely and stands before me with his thick cock laying heavy against his thigh.

“I thought I should get completely naked ahead of time. I hear rub downs sometimes have happy endings.”

I bark a laugh at his unexpected, funny side and step forward to smooth a hand up his chest.

“Or is it a happy new beginning? I don’t like endings, much.”

“Me neither.”

“Just in case there’s a happy ending, I’ll grab the other bottle of stuff from my things.”

He lays down on the bed and I find the lube at the bottom of my bag. I strip down to nothing and wince at the pain in my ribs. I’m going to need X to use some magic there too if he can. It’s great my face doesn’t look like it had a fight, but I’d like to move without wincing too. Especially with the man I’m currently sharing a bed with.

When I grab both bottles and turn around, I nearly scream when I see Dave’s back.

“Are you almost done? I’m dying over here. I hope that lotion works well.”

When I say nothing, he lifts his head my way.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t think lotion is going to help you,” I whisper.

Dave rolls and bolts off the bed into the bathroom. He spins around to look backwards into the mirror.

“What the fuck is happening, Chuck?”

Dave’s voice wavers and I finally break from my frozen place and join him in the bathroom.