Page 99 of Of Storm and Emerald
She sighed as her eyes migrated back to her friend. “We haven’t talked everything out, but we will. Shortly after you left, he showed up in my room. We yelled. I cried. He explained. And we decided to talk tomorrow, once emotions weren’t so high. I’m not an idiot, Piper. I know there is a lot that needs to be figured out, I just–I just want tobewith him right now. No stress. No treaty looming overhead. Just a man and a woman. Please, just let me be a woman who is–”
A small smile crept across Piper’s face, and her eyes softened. “A woman who is what, Rae?”
Auraelia matched Piper’s smile but didn’t answer her question.
“So where is he anyway?”
“He went to grab some food. You shouldprobablybe gone by the time he gets back.”
As soon as the last word left her lips, the telltale signs of Daemon’s magic permeated the air, and she watched as the shadows in the corner of her bathing chamber darkened.
He was there, but he was waiting for Piper to make her exit first.
Piper’s eyes shifted from Auraelia to the darkened corner that kept pulling her attention, and when the connection settled into place her eyes widened in understanding.
She mouthed ‘right’and then slowly began to back out of the room.
“Okay, well, I’m just going to go then. Rae, I will catch up with you in themorning.” It was a statement and a question all rolled into one. When a flush colored Auraelia’s cheeks, she amended it. “Latemorning, obviously.”
She chuckled as her friend winked and then backed the rest of the way out to the door. But before Piper fully exited her chambers, she hollered into the space. “Glad to see you’re taking care of my girl, Daemon. Don’t screw it up again!”
With the sound of the door latching into place, he dropped his shadows. Placing the covered tray in his hands on the counter, he strolled over to where Auraelia was giggling in the tub.
“How’d she know I was here?” Mirth filled his tone, and she glanced up to see a genuine smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“Hmm? Oh, she can read me like an open book.Shenoticed my reaction the moment thatInoticed thatyoushadow-walked into the room.”
“Ahh.” His head bobbed in understanding, and he sank down to the floor behind her head. Tapping the edge of the tub to let her know he wanted her to lay back, he gently gathered her hair into his hands and draped it back over the side.
With the gentlest of touches, he kneaded into the muscles of her shoulders as he trailed kisses down the column of her neck.
She moaned as her muscles loosened under his ministrations.
“That feels amazing.” Her eyes fluttered closed as she melted under his touch.
She felt him smile against her skin as he continued to trail kisses along her neck and across her shoulders. His hands worked in tandem, massaging her shoulders and then down her arms. He rubbed away the tension that was built up at the base of her skull, then meticulously plucked all the pearls from her hair. Then after unraveling all of the braids, he ran his fingers through her waves, and massaged life back into her scalp.
“You’re going to put me to sleep.” Fully relaxed, her voice was barely above a whisper.
“We could go to bed, you know.”
Auraelia turned her head slightly and cracked one eye. “You’re serious?”
He laughed, and the sound made her heart soar. She’d only heard him laugh a few times, and it was quickly becoming one of her favorite sounds.
“Yes, I’m serious. If you’re tired, I’ll wrap you in my arms and hold you while you sleep.”
She sat up, her hair dragging over the side of the tub and sticking to her wet back. She turned fully around in the tub–the water cutting directly across her nipples. A sultry smirk pulled at her lips, while her eyes locked onto his.
“Daemon–” his name was a purr rolling off her tongue. She stood slowly, streams of water rolling down her curves. “That sounds wonderful and all. But, if I’m being completely honest, that’s not what I want. Not right now.”
His smile shifted into one that would make the demons of the underworld second guess themselves. “No?”
She shook her head slowly. Watching as his eyes devoured her naked form–heat licking at her skin from the passion that burned there.
Daemon stood, and rounded the tub until he stood directly in front of her. She turned toward him, her nipples hardening under his intense stare.
“No, Daemon. That’s not what I want.”
