Page 137 of Demon with Benefits
He turned his head to smile at her. “I’ve been practicing. I didn’t want to try the shift during sex until I knew I wouldn’t lose control. Bit of a vibe killer otherwise.”
She turned her head too, and their gazes met. They exchanged the secret smiles of familiar lovers, and it was precious in a way he didn’t fully understand. He would probably spend the next two hundred years learning to define all these new emotions. It was corny as shit, but he’d never looked forward to the future like he did now.
“Well, I’d say you’ve mastered the art,” Iris said with the sigh of a well-pleased woman. “Hell of a time to spring that on me though. We’re going to be so damn late, Jacqui is going to kill us.”
Meph decided not to tell her that her makeup had smudged. “I got a little excited, and my demon wanted to play.”
Her lips curved. “He’s a good boy.”
“I think you’re confusing him with the dog.”
She chuckled. “You guys have a lot in common, you know. Both training to manage your dark side so you can live on Earth.”
Meph shot her an affronted look. How dare she compare his fearsome demon to a puppy.
“I’m serious! Actually, I find it encouraging. Whenever Faust is driving me nuts, I just think, if I managed to get through to your demon, then I can definitely control a hellhound.”
“Well, I’m glad managing the terror of the underworld has given you a confidence boost with your dog training.” His tone was dry.
She laughed, smoothing a hand down his chest to soothe him. “Poor baby. Don’t worry, you’re still very scary.”
“Damn straight,” he grumbled.
Her conciliatory pets stopped as her palm passed over his abdomen, and her brow furrowed. “I don’t like seeing this empty spot. It reminds me of him.” She was, of course, talking about the regrown patch of skin where Valefor had hacked off his binding tattoo.
“He’s dead.”
“I know. But I hate remembering how he hurt you.”
Meph rolled onto his side to face her. “It doesn’t bother me, but don’t worry. I already booked a session to get it filled in.”
Her eyes lit up. “What are you getting?”
It went without saying he wasn’t going to complete the sigil again. He wouldn’t try to cover up the rest of it either—that sigil was now a memento to all the shit he’d gone through before making peace with his demon.
“Another grim reaper?” Iris guessed when he didn’t answer. “Or another underworld war scene? A dragon? Some kind of nasty bug, like a centipede?”
“Nope.”
Her face scrunched up. “Is it something really brutal then? A disemboweled guy? A mummy cradling its own head? Belial finding a mess in his kitchen?”
He barked a laugh. “You’re brilliant. That’s horrific. But no, none of that. I was actually thinking... butterflies.”
A full five seconds passed in silence. “Butterflies.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re serious.”
It took everything he had to keep a straight face. “Yeah. Why not?”
She looked down at his abs as if trying to visualize the tattoo. “I mean...”
He took pity on her. “Well, it’ll be butterflies flying out of the empty eye sockets of a demon skull.”
“Ohhh.” She sounded relieved. “Okay, that sounds cool.”
He laughed. “You think I was gonna get some cute girly butterflies right next to the zombie wasteland on my ribs?”
