Page 26 of Demon with Benefits
“I guess you’re right. He’s always telling me that he’s glad things turned out this way and to stop worrying about it.”
“You don’t have to stop looking altogether. But maybe just don’t be so obsessed with it. Relax a little. For all you know, the angel is going to show up at that meeting with the information you need, and this’ll all be over. Don’t lose hope.”
Lily reached out and squeezed her arm. “All right. Thanks for the pep talk, sis.”
“You got it.”
Lily’s eyes narrowed. “You gonna tell me what’s going on with you and Meph any time soon?”
“Huh? There’s nothing going on.”
Lily did a slow blink.
“What? There isn’t.”
“Right.”
“Why’s that so hard to believe?”
Her brow lifted. “There was so much sexual tension radiating off you guys tonight,Iwas feeling it.”
“Ew.” Iris winced. Being as turned on as she was while sitting next to her sister? Talk about awkward. And gross.
But she wasn’t ready to discuss it, so she just shrugged and said, “You’re probably just imagining it because you’re hot for your own demon. Now I gotta go. I’m sweating in this coat, and Faust keeps squirming. See you at the coven meeting tomorrow?”
Lily stuck out her lower lip. “I dunno...”
“You promised.” Iris gave her a look. “I came to movie nightandbreakfast. It’s your turn.”
“Fine. I’ll come.”
“See you there, sister.”
“Bring Faust!” Lily called as she stepped out the door.
Oh, Iris wasn’t going anywhere without her new dog for the next while. Not until he stopped eating her furniture.
Meph was so early into the studio the following morning he beat even Jacqui. It was rainy and cold on the West Coast, but not as cold as the snowstorm they were currently having in Montreal, and he counted it as an improvement. There was something about the rich green of the cedar forest outside that spoke to him.
He put some coffee on because he knew when Jacqui came in she’d head straight for it. Then, he sat down and stared atFlayed Alive, trying to wrap his head around what had fired him up enough to get out of bed early and come straight here.
Unfortunately, his thoughts kept spiraling back around to Iris and how she’d melted under his touch last night. The way she’d gripped his abs, moaning into his mouth as she came all over his fingers...
I don’t wanna breathe on it. I wanna suck it.
“Fuck me.”
The sound of his voice startled him out of his thoughts, and he blinked, almost surprised to find himself where he was. The sculpture. Right. He was trying to decide if he wanted to add more color.
He thought of Jacqui’s words.Do you want his suffering to be shared by another? Or do you want him to be forever trapped alone in his colorless world?
The more Meph stared at it, the more he felt like it was done. The statement, whatever that was, had been made. The emotion had been conveyed and... cleansed. He didn’t want the poor skinless guy to be trapped alone in his agony, but for some reason, he had to be.Sorry, bro.
With a shrug, Meph tossed down his paintbrush and kicked back his stool to stand up. He returned to the coffee maker, poured himself a mug, and then went and turned the stereo on. Connecting his phone, he cranked up his favorite hip-hop playlist, grabbed a big block of fresh clay, and then dropped it onto an empty work surface with a wet thud.
He sat back on his stool and sipped his coffee. “Now what?” he said aloud, voice swallowed by the thump of bass. He wanted to make something on a slightly smaller scale to give himself a break after the last life-size piece, but that was about all he had for ideas.
Weird that he’d been so motivated to get here just to stare at a block of clay, but sometimes it was just like that. It would have helped if he wasn’t still thinking about Iris coming on his hand, but apparently, he wasn’t going to be able to get that out of his head today.
