Page 29 of Nightmares and Numerology

The coven house’s driveway was full, as usual. I’d been forced to park down the block and navigate the cracked sidewalks leading up to the coven house.

The Tudor Revival had been on the market for a while, and I’d considered it almost unsellable, even with my incubus charms. It required more renovation work than most people wanted to undertake. Then Lorcan Rowe came to town and bought nearly every one of our challenging properties, investing time and resources until the properties were worth almost double what we’d been willing to sell for. Truly, the vampire’s obsession with his now-wife had been a boon to every realty company in the area. He’d ensured all of them suited her expensive tastes. Selling them would be easier next time if he ever chose to sell.

Lydia picked up the pace, half-jogging to keep up with me. We were quite the contrast. I’d been dressed for work when I seduced her. She’d worn a conservative outfit that I thoroughly enjoyed reducing to ribbons. I’d pay for it later, but it had been worth it. There was something viscerally satisfying about clearing everything in my path. I needed her flesh on mine. It hadn’t just been a matter of hunger; it was finally having her. Of her wanting me to have her, no holds barred.

Now she wore a pair of sweats and one of my oversized coats, covering herself from head to toe with fabric, lest someone see the changes she’d undergone after we’d been together. I didn’t find the changes unpleasant, but she looked so stunned and scared that I indulged her request to visit the coven. They’d have more answers for her than I did.

Lydia’s glance up was tinged red with the glow of embers. Her magic wasn’t just unstable now; it was evolving, physically changing her. I should have expected something like that, especially after her magical dye job. Indigo’s magic had seeped into Lydia’s body. It made sense that the demon would come to the forefront the longer she spent with a similar species.

She drew the drawstrings of her hoodie even tighter around her face, leaving only a red-gold slice of her skin visible. Her lips looked fuller, which only made me want to take another taste, to see how they felt against mine.

“I have horns,” she hissed. “I think people are going to notice!”

Maybe, maybe not.

Humans could be spectacularly unobservant when they wanted to be. Lydia’s horns weren’t like mine or Fifi’s, which were blatantly obvious in either form. Hers were more like the nubs you’d see on a baby goat—small and only half-formed. They weren’t so different from a half-demon’s—an imp, to use the catch-all term. Different from most, but not so strange that anyone would question it in the infernal layers.

“Your hair mostly covers them. Besides, I think they’re cute.”

She grimaced. “You would. You’re taking this demon thing really well. Indigo freaked out. Hell, I’m freaking out. Why aren’t you? It’s a big change. We don’t even know if it’s permanent.”

I stopped, pulling Lydia to my side instead of letting her stalk past me onto the porch of the coven house. Once we crossed that threshold, I’d be pushed aside as everyone crowded around her, trying to figure out what had happened.

Lydia let out a soft sigh when my hand cupped the side of her face. Her skin felt feverishly warm, a side effect of the fire at a Koloth’s core. I’d have to get used to her being a hot sleeper when I shared her bed again.

“Because it doesn’t matter. I’d still want to do what we did.Do you regret it?”

Lydia sighed. “No, but...”

“No buts. I enjoyed myself. If your screaming orgasm was any indication, so did you. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

It had been one of the best feedings I’d had in my entire life. Maybe Fifi was onto something. Sex with feeling was so much more fulfilling than a casual fling. The emotions were deeper, the anticipation a thrill in itself. I still had a ways to go before I was fully recovered, but just being inside Lydia had done a lot to replenish what I’d lost. It made sense. She was essentially five beings in one: herself, Indigo, and the creatures that Indigo had attacked and absorbed. While none of the other parts had been aware or even alive, they had been present, and I’d taken what I needed. She didn’t even look fatigued, which was a plus. It would take days to wear her out, and I was looking forward to testing her limits.

Color flushed into her cheeks, ruby red against her new skin. It looked good on her. I liked making blood bubble just beneath her cheeks. It meant I had an effect on her, which was exactly what I wanted. I wanted to keep her red-faced and panting. Her moans were music to my ears, thrilling a part of me I hadn’t known existed. It wasn’t just that she looked dead sexy when she orgasmed; it was that she’d let me in deep. She’d trusted me. That meant a lot.

“You can’t just say things like that!”

“Watch me.” I leaned down, whispering so only she could hear. “Next time, I’ll be well-fed, not a starving demon. When I have you again, I’ll take my time with you. I want to taste every part of your body.”

Lydia’s body quivered, and I could see the outline of her nipples through the fabric, peaks hardening at just the thought of my mouth on her. I wanted it so badly I could taste it. But Idoubted she’d appreciate it if I pinned her and made her a meal here and now. Too many people passing by. Not to mention that a certain faerie police chief would have our horns if we tried it.

She let out a nervous laugh. “How do you do that?”

“Turn you on? That’s what I do, Bean. And I intend to keep doing it.”

She flushed an even darker shade of red. “No, you sex fiend. I mean, how do you always know what to say to make me feel better?”

Oh. Well, that one was harder to answer. The relationship between us was unexpected—nearly unprecedented. I didn’t know how I’d ended up where I was; I just knew I liked it.

I let her go, stuffing my hands into my pockets with a shrug. “I’m just that good.”

That made her laugh, a sound that warmed me from the inside out. No matter what else changed about her, I liked that her laugh had stayed the same.

“Okay, okay. Let’s go talk to the witches, hot stuff.”

I held out my arm. “Beauty before age, dear.”

Lydia gave me a coy glance over her shoulder, adding a little extra sway to her hips as she walked ahead. “You just want to watch my ass as I walk away.”

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