Page 19 of Tall, Dark & Horny

The absolute certainty in his voice cracked something open inside me.

And I wanted more. Not just answers or explanations. All of Adan, too.

“Can I see what you really look like?”

His eyes bled to black and back to blue again. “You already have.”

“No,” I whispered. “I mean…your demon form.”

Adan didn’t move right away. His expression turned guarded, and for a moment, I thought he might say no. Then he stood, his tall frame casting a long shadow across the stone floor. “You sure you’re ready for that?”

Oddly enough, I was. “Yes.”

“Stay exactly where you are.”

My breath caught as the air around him rippled. The warmth of the room deepened into something heavier. The ceiling lights flickered, the sconces dimming to a low golden glow. And then he began to change.

A low crack echoed through the suite as his bones started to realign. His back arched, and with a low snarl, his body began to expand. His shoulders grew broader. His muscles thickened, flexing as his clothes dissolved in a whisper of smoke, replaced by iron armor that latched onto him like second skin. Black horns pushed free from his skull, ribbed and slightly curved at the top. And a long tail flicked behind him, shaped similar to a scorpion’s and ending in a magenta-tinged tip.

The sound of leathery wings unfurling sent a shiver down my spine, and I watched in stunned silence as they stretched wide behind him. They were massive. Powerful. And with their magenta coloring, beautiful in a way I hadn’t expected.

His eyes were the last to change. The deep blue I had come to recognize bled away, consumed by a swirling fire that danced in pure black sockets. Yet even then…I saw him.

Not a monster. Not a beast.

Still Adan. Just bigger and with demonic features.

The Abyss responded to his transformation. The stone floor pulsed beneath my feet, and the chandelier above us dimmed further until it glowed with a soft, flickering heat.

Adan stood motionless, letting me take him in. His breathing was even, but his jaw was tight. As though he was bracing himself.

I rose slowly, never taking my eyes off him.

He was massive. At least six-foot-eight now, every inch of him solid and fierce in an otherworldly kind of way. His armor gleamed across his shoulders and forearms, gleaming iron molded to his body as though it had been forged just for him. His torso and thighs were bare, showing off the raw power of his body.

My steps were slow as I approached him. Every instinct in me should’ve screamed to run, but all I felt was awe.

I reached out and touched the center of his chest. His skin was warm, the beat of his heart steady beneath my palm.

“You’re still you,” I whispered.

The fire in his eyes flared.

And then—quietly, reverently—he whispered back, “Only with you.”

I felt Adan’s breath hitch beneath my palm, just slightly. Even with all that power, he was holding back for me.

The realization settled inside me like a truth I hadn’t realized I needed. Adan was a demon feared by others, descended from one of the most powerful creatures in existence. But with me, he was gentle. Patient. Even vulnerable.

I knew deep in my bones that I didn’t need to be afraid of him. Or of what being his fated mate meant.

If I listened to my head instead of my heart, I’d take a step back to give myself time. But I threw caution to the wind and slid my hand up from his chest to cup his cheek. A low rumble vibrated in his throat as he leaned into my touch.

“I’m not afraid of what you are.” My voice shook, not from fear but from the depth of emotion surging inside me. I didn’t know where it came from, but there was no denying I felt an irresistible pull to Adan.

His large hand rose to cover mine where it rested against his face. “You don’t know how much that means to me.”

“I think I do,” I breathed.

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