Page 32 of Accidentally Summoned an Incubus

A split second later, the blanket reappeared. The house had bound Lochran tight, tucking the blanket into every crevice available.

I giggled at the concentrated look on my mate’s face as he struggled to loosen an arm from the blanket’s vise-like grip. Finally, he freed his arm enough to prop himself up.

Lochran’s eyes met mine. “I genuinely think I might have hypothermia,” he declared dramatically. The house, taking no chances, swelled the fire in the hearth to a near blisteringly hot temperature. “Do you mind distracting me while I try to warm up?”

“What did you have in mind?” I asked and was surprised to hear a tinge of sultriness in my tone.

Lochran paused a moment. “Maybe we could get to know one another more personally?”

Images of last night flooded my mind once more. I clenched my legs together as heat pooled in my stomach. Screw the Q andA, I wasdefinitelyup for getting to know my mate on a more personal level.

Lochran chuckled. “Mind out of the gutter, my wicked little witch. I wasn’t kidding when I said I needed a bit of time to warm up. What Imeantwas it would be nice to get to know a bit more about you.”

“What do you want to know?” I asked.

Lochran pondered for a moment. “Let’s start simple. What’s your favorite color?”

Without thinking, I said, “Easy. Violet. It’s a calming color, and it gives me a sense of peace and serenity. My favorite time of year is when the lavender blooms, and my favorite crystal to use in spells is amethyst.” I cast a glance at Lochran and gulped. Yes,of coursemy mate had to have violet eyes. “You?”

“Dusky pink,” he said immediately. I waited, but he offered no further explanation.

“Okay. How about favorite food?”

Lochran raised an eyebrow as if the answer should be obvious.

I rolled my eyes. “I meanthumanfood,” I said, adding atskat the end for good measure.

“Pancakes, bacon, and maple syrup. When I had the energy, I would summon a small kitchenette and make imaginary pancakes in the shadow realm. How about you?”

“Cookies,” I answered, a smile curving my lips. “My grandma would sneak them to me before dinner when I was a child. I meant it when I said Dad was a disaster in the kitchen for years. He was so bad at the beginning that my mom promised me if I ate a bit of it andsmiled encouragingly, she’d let me go over to Grandma’s for more cookies.”

Lochran chuckled at this. While he had seemed to soften to my dad over dinner, I guessed the hazing was still prominent in his mind. So, a little ammunition against my dad seemed like a fair exchange.

Lochran was quiet for a while, pondering his next question. Finally, he asked, “Why did you not want to summon me?”

Ah. I guessed the time for easy questions was over.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts. Finally, I answered, “I know that all the couples here are happy. But a little bit of me feared that by summoning my mate, I’d be taking the choice of freedom from them. Like, I didn’t know anything about you, and I wasn’t sure if you enjoyed your life as it was. I didn’t want to force someone to be with me. And what if you had already found someone that you loved?” I couldn’t seem to stop myself from rambling as I continued, “And then I just summoned you away from that, and you were forced to be here with me, and you’d have no choice but to stay. And if you didn’t like me, you’d have to have sex with me to survive, and that’s no better than having you as a sex slave—”

“Lex,” Lochran said softly. “We’re fated mates.” Lochran paused a moment before continuing, “Have you ever met a sex demon from a different clan than ours?”

I shook my head.

“Well, I’ve met plenty of them, and they all want the same as every other magical creature on the planet. To find their fated mate. That one person they can bare themselves to in all ways. The bargain our ancestors made is a blessing. I never had to worry about scouring the land for you, unlike the other sexdemons. And summoning me doesnotmake me your sex slave. If anything, it’s the opposite. I may have been free to wander the mortal realm, but I was chained by my need to feed. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t exactly hate it when I was first let loose on the world. But I soon realized that I didn’t actually have the freedom I thought I had. I mean, I didn’t even have the luxury of appearing as myself,” he said, gesturing up and down his body. “I’m designed to draw out the most potent sexual desires. Just to survive, I had to find someone who craved sex, and I was forced to take on whatever form they found most desirable. But since being summoned, I can finally settle into my own skin. I’m finally free of the shackles that bound me.”

I swallowed a hard lump in my throat. I had just assumed that my mate would be living his best life, hunting for his food and having sex left, right, and center. I felt suddenly stupid. How often had I cringed when the need to satisfy my succubus side had become intense? But it had never been overwhelming to the point where I’d been forced to give into it. I always had a choice. Lochran didn’t. I wondered how I would feel being forced to change my appearance into someone I wasn’t. Knowing that none of your partners were attracted to you, it was always the face of someone else.

Yeah, being a sex demonsucked.

“I think you’re the most attractive person I’ve ever seen,” I said quietly. It was true. Scars and all.

Lochran’s face softened. “When you first summoned me, I didn’t know what to expect.” I cringed slightly. I’d been wearing my most slobbish house clothes, no makeup, and my unbrushed hair pulled into the messiestof buns. I bet he had been expecting a model, not a mess. “You took my breath away. When I used to lie in bed at night and picture my ideal mate, my favorite image was of us in our pajamas, cuddled up on the couch and watching Netflix. When I first saw you, you looked like home.”

You looked like home.

Yeah... I was totally falling in love with my mate.

I had a sudden need to explain the sex ban. Maybe not inexplicitdetail right this very second, but I wanted to assure my mate that he wasn’t the reason I’d been withdrawn since he got here. “I... um... about a month ago, I had a... regrettable encounter. I’d needed to satisfy my succubus, and the person I chose turned out to be my new boss... and, well, it has just been a very uncomfortable month dealing with that. I guess I kind of blamed my succubus side for putting me in that situation, and I kind of put myself into a sex ban as self-punishment, I guess. It’s part of the reason why I’ve been wanting to take it slow.”

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