Page 68 of Higher Demon

He sucks in a breath. “When higher demons love enough to be with someone for eternity, their essence bonds with that person’s in a way that’s completely unbreakable. They share life energy. Can communicate mind-to-mind. Belong togetherforever.”

I blink twice. “Fuck.” It’s barely a breath, but he hears it.

“Yes.”

“So does that happen, like… automatically? Or?—”

“Yes and no. It’s not entirely clear. There was a school of thought that the bond was completely spontaneous, but then a few thousand years ago, two higher demons deliberately chose to bond. They manifested it with their will. Further experimentation showed that the circumstances need to be met—love, basically. And free will.”

“You mean consent? So a demon couldn’t just force someone else to bond?”

He shakes his head. “No. Both parties need to be equally invested in the relationship. On a… a soul-deep level, I suppose. Except we demons don’t have souls like yours.”

My chest feels tight. “Does it work with humans?”

There’s an awkward little silence before he says, “No human has ever loved a demon.”

“Before now,” I counter.

He smiles. It’s one of his rare natural smiles and makes my stomach do a loop. “There’s no way to know. Theoretically, it should work. It’s worked with non-demon species before. But it’s never been tried with a human.”

I’m surprised by how disappointed I am. A second ago, I could barely breathe under the suffocating weight of the decision, but now that I might not get a chance to make it, I’m… devastated.

Pushing that aside, I say, “Okay, so for now we’re working with a theory. Tell me more. You said talking mind-to-mind. I like the sound of that.”

He rolls his eyes. “Of course you do. The bond is… extraordinarily intimate. It allows telepathy, but also the sharing of emotions. There’s a constant sense of presence, of the other person being with you.”

For some perverted reason, that goes straight to my cock. “Imagine how hot it would be to fuck and know what your partner’s feeling.” I expect him to roll his eyes again, but instead, his breathing picks up. “Oh. You like that idea? Me too.” I slide my hand slowly up his thigh, then pull it away. “But you were telling me about the bond.”

Marc leans over and kisses me, deeply, thoroughly, and wetly. Until I forget everything and am interested only in pulling him down to the couch and wrapping myself around him.

Then he breaks the kiss and sits back. “The other import?—”

“Oh, come on! Fucking tease.” I pout and adjust my dick in my jeans.

“It was a promise, not a tease. The other important thing to know about the bond is that it links a couple’s life force.”

It’s hard to think when there’s no blood left in my brain, but he seems intent on getting this done before I can get done, so I concentrate. “You said that. What’s it mean?”

“One cannot die without the other also dying.”

Oxygen freezes in my chest. “Marc,” I whisper. “No. We can’t ever—you’ddie.”

He spreads his hands. “Possibly. It’s hard to know if things would be different with a human. But with other species… their lifespan was elongated.”

I’ve never had a hard-on disappear so fast in my life. “Elongated? Like… they didn’t die? Even though they were supposed to?”

“The aging process froze at the time of the bond, in the same way it does for higher demons when we become.”

He’s saying I’d basically live forever. We’d be together for eternity.

I’d outlive everyone and everything I know.

I put my hands on my thighs so he can’t see how they’re shaking.

“No decision needs to be made,” he says quietly, watching me. “It may not be possible, but even if it is, the bond will not form unless you want it. Want it without any reservations. I just… needed you to know.”

Yeah, that’s good. I’m going to need some processing time. I manage a nod. “Thank you. Uh… it’s a lot to think about.”

---