Page 38 of Raising the Sun

The demon chuckled, low and sultry. “Oh, nothing from me, Michael. I’m only here to flirt and look pretty.”

I rolled my eyes, and the interviewer laughed under his breath but clearly thought the role was being performed perfectly. “Alright then.” He slapped his knees and stood, extending a hand for me, then Ash, to shake. “I guess we’ll see you both at the show. Have a wonderful rest of your day.”

“You too.”

They gathered their equipment quickly, but by the time they were ready to leave, Ash had managed to convince the official he’d shown around to order a bouquet for her wife. I wasn’t exactly well versed on the rules, but she’d paid for it, so technically it couldn’t be classed as bribery, right?

Ash didn’t seem to think so, but promised to wipe her memory if it came up as such.

I didn’t doubt him.

Once we were alone, I switched the sign to Closed and sighed as if my lungs had been detaining all my breath. There was an odd sense of giddiness in my belly, a warm, eager feelingthat made me want to either dance around like no one was watching or tear Ash’s clothes off. Or both. Simultaneously.

The interview had gone off without a hitch. I hadn’t let my mouth run away with me or said anything embarrassing. I hadn’t panicked or buckled under the pressure when they’d asked me to show off my skills. It was almost too good to be true, and I half expected to wake up at any minute with everything in ruins.

I may have pinched myself, just to be sure.

“You did splendidly, petal,” Ash assured me, reading my mind as he often seemed to do. He tilted my chin up with his finger. “How are you feeling?”

Good.

Exhilarated.

Horny?

Instead of using words, I stretched up to kiss him, my tongue seeking entry with a flick across the seam of his lips. He didn’t deny me, his chest rumbling with an approving hum as he opened up, accepting my enthusiasm and responding with his own. That fluttering in my stomach intensified, a surge of wild, glowing energy that rapidly flooded south. My hands fell to his arse, squeezing the soft globes as I ground my hips forward, showing himexactlyhow I felt.

He smirked approvingly against my lips. “In a good mood, then?”

“Verygood.” I mouthed at his jaw and neck, my dick perking up at the soft moan that escaped him. “I want you.”

“I’m pleased to hear it.” It was permission if I’d ever heard it, especially when he tipped his head back to let my teeth sink into the juncture above his collarbone. But instead of letting me take it further, he tugged gently on my hair, drawing me back. He snorted at my pout. “I am very much on board with being ravished, my dear, but first I want to deliver on a promise. A treat, if you will.”

I perked up like a dog being offered a bone, and how sad was it that I fully recognised the comparison? “Which one?”

“You’ll have to follow me upstairs to find out.”

“If this is about what you said last night... about teaching me how to deepthroat? We can do that right here.”

“It’s not, but I haven’t forgotten that either. So…” With a feather-light touch, he palmed the bulge in my jeans. All thoughts left my head on a moan, and I couldn’t stop myself from swaying into the friction. “If you’re a very good pet, and you do as I say…” He clamped down, startling the most undignified whine from my throat. “Andbe patient, I might give you both.”

I nodded dumbly—willing to do his bidding, whatever that entailed—before allowing myself be led upstairs.

It wasn’t until we’d reached the living room and he’d magicked the furniture closer to the walls that he turned to me, smirking impishly. “Ready?”

I snorted, examining the big circle of space with some apprehension. Was he going to summon something? Or was he going to sacrifice me to another demon lord? Where Ashwas concerned, it could have been either. To keep me on my toes.

“I haven’t a clue what’s about to happen, but sure.” I shrugged. “I’ll trust you.”

“Foolish,” he chided, though it was fond, so I doubted murder was on the agenda. Except, he did start peeling off his shawl and crop top, and he only ever took off his fancy clothes when he didn’t want them to get dirty or he was getting ready for sex.

I hoped it was the latter.

That thought was torn from my head when a towering pair of bird wings erupted from his back in a graceful swoop. A gasp left me, and they unfolded and fluttered as if craving the air between each orange feather before settling behind him in an impressive arch. Tendrils of what looked like fire—but could have been magic in its three-dimensional form—twined up the length of his horns like an endless snake, and all I could do was blink, taking him in.

I wasn’t a stranger to the horns, had gotten quite used to them, but the flames were new, and though I’d seen his feathers and glowing eyes before, all of it together made him look absolutely divine. The irony wasn’t lost on me. His wings, especially, granted his appearance a more magical edge, and my fingers itched to reach out and see if they were as silky as they appeared.

“Can I… touch you?” I heard myself say, expecting him to refuse as he had before. Instead, he let one wing fan out, extending it fluidly towards me.

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