Page 51 of Demons Treasure Warlocks

“Because it’s fun, and it’s turning you on, despite your every effort not to let it affect you,” Bale murmured. He managed to keep the tone light and easy, which attracted Darius’s attention. He was never one for heavy-handed tactics. He spread his fingers wide on Darius’s legs, grazing the growing bulge in Darius’s fleece pants.

Darius peered at him with suspicion. His scowl seemed to be permanently etched on his face as he tentatively reached forward. Bale leaned in leisurely, following Darius’s lead and keeping his own expression neutral. He didn’t want to scare Darius.

“Darius?”

“What?”

“Are you okay with this?” Bale whispered against Darius’s mouth, checking in.

Darius pulled back and gazed off in the distance before meeting Bale’s hopeful eyes. He nodded as he tugged on Bale’s stubbed horns gently. “I think so? It’s good for now.”

“Perfect.” Bale wrapped his arms around Darius’s hips and pulled him to the edge of the recliner’s seat. He nipped at Darius’s mouth while he continued to move Darius to a spot for optimal seduction. Bale rested his belly against Darius’s groin and mentally cheered when he felt the heat and stiffness of Darius’s erection.

Darius kissed him deeply with ardent affection. His closed eyes squeezed tighter as he wiggled closer to Bale. One leg hitched upward and rested against Bale’s ass while the other rocked the recliner restlessly. The movement only mimicked the thrusting motion, making Bale moan as he imagined being deep inside Darius. He spread Darius’s legs wider as he forced himself to wait for cues from Darius.

Drawing back from Darius, Bale studied the almost debauched man. His lips were puffy and red with his legs spread open. Black strands of hair hung loose from the ponytail, giving Darius a seductive air. “Stars, you’re sexy.”

Darius froze as he met Bale’s eyes. Awkwardness fell over him as he reared back from the intimacy. Bale regretted saying anything as Darius became unsure and almost anxious.

“You are too.”

Bale glowed at Darius’s compliment and slowed down on the eroticism. Darius was likely spiralling a bit, and Bale needed to find an approach that would make them both happy and have Darius return to being the dark prince he was, ordering him about. “I love how you don’t realize your seductive qualities. You have this easy manner of moving and relaxing that makes me ache to discover some of your secrets.”

“I don’t have secrets.”

Bale couldn’t hold back the guffaw that time. Darius with no secrets? He called bullshit on that one.

“What? I’m an open book!” Darius sat up and accidentally kicked Bale in the ass. It was a small pain compared to listening to Darius protest. “Dammit, Bale.”

“Open book? Nice one,” Bale laughed. He rested his weight on his legs and stared sweetly at Darius. “You are by far one of the most secretive people in the world. And I adore it.”

Darius’s scowl transformed to confusion as he narrowed his eyes at Bale. “What are you talking about now?”

“I mean, Darius, my heart, I love ferreting out your hidden side. It makes me thrilled knowing something about you that no one else does. I especially love it when you realize after I do,” Bale confessed as he placed soft kisses on Darius’s pouty mouth.

Darius grumbled a tiny bit but gave up fighting Bale soon enough. Bale slid forward, inhaling the pure scent of winter and man. How the cold managed to cling to Darius was a mystery, but Bale adored the crispness of it. He captured the essence in the crook of Darius’s neck where it pooled, waiting for Bale. Tenderly, he licked a stripe up the corded muscles and nipped lightly to see what Darius would do.

Darius offered himself slightly, a tiny tilt, and it was all Bale could do not to bite down on the tender flesh and sate his desires.

Which shocked him. He wasn’t that type of man or demon. Feasting and claiming had never been his purview and to feel the need now worried him. He nosed the spot and kissed along Darius’s jaw.

Darius peered at him with a small amount of worry and a heaping dose of haughtiness. “Bale?”

Bale ignored Darius and began peppering kisses on Darius’s expressive face. It made the most sense. It was something they both enjoyed with no worrisome thought between them. Darius fell into the touches wholeheartedly. He held onto Bale’s forearms for leverage as he threw himself into Bale’s embrace. Sighs and moans became softer and the silence warmer as they rediscovered each other.

Bale’s knees ached after being on the cold wood floor, so he lifted Darius swiftly and changed their positions. As much as he’d love to be on Darius’s lap, the weight difference between them was too much, and Darius wouldn’t be able to handle it.

This way was better as he could explore the skin under Darius’s shirt, feel the heat exuding from his back. He ignored the scarred texture as he caressed Darius.

Darius rested his body in the curl of Bale’s arm, believing Bale would never let him go. Bale carried that trust in his heart, and he was determined to protect Darius forever. If his arm grew numb, so be it. Darius’s comfort was tantamount.

Bale leaned into Darius’s touch as he caressed Bale’s face. The gentleness soothed him while making him ache simultaneously. Stars, he never thought he’d get this chance again. What they had together before Hastur blurred into the mists of time. All he had left of those moments was the pure joy in Darius’s eyes as Bale pushed into him before their discovery. The connection then never faded, and Bale hoped he’d see that look again, though maybe not the action. It made him nervous.

“Bale?” Bale froze at the slight quiver in Darius’s voice. He sat and waited for Darius to continue. But Darius only shivered.

“What’s wrong?” Bale examined Darius with a mere glance but couldn’t see anything out of place.

“It’s really dumb. But this chair isn’t the best, and it’s so close to the window that I’m getting cold. I’m sorry. I was having fun, but I can’t concentrate,” Darius muttered. His smile was weak, and he kept pressing a hand to the back of his neck.

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