Page 18 of Ex-Mas
“So how do I make you happy then?”
“You ask that like you don’t actually hate me,” he replies teasingly. “Are you forgetting I brought you down to Hell?”
“No, I don’t think I’ll ever forget that even for a second. But if I’m stuck down here with you, I might as well try to lower the music.” Pausing, I look just to his left. “Let your wings out.”
“Bossy,” he mutters, but his wings flutter out almost immediately, the sound making me flinch slightly. “Do you plan on washing them for me?”
He can call me bossy all he wants, he’s the one consistently ruining surprises. Sighing, I reach out with one hand to gently touch thefeathers, and I’m taken back by how soft they really are. “Would you let me?”
“I don’t think so,” he clips, yet his wing moves forward to chase my touch, making him scoff. “Unless... you really wanted to. Do you?”
Do I? Yes. Our banter has always been fun, but if I’m being honest with myself, I owe him. I owe him more than I’ll ever be able to repay, and if the last few hours have taught me anything, it’s that I desperately missed him. All of him, even the jagged edges. “I won’t push you, Ade. But yeah, I want to. Let me do this for you.”
Jaw tight, he nods his permission. “Only if you won’t judge the noises I make. Your touch feels —” he pauses a second, and when he finishes that sentence I have a strong feeling he went with a different word — “good.”
A bottle of different shampoo appears on the edge of the tub, so I grab some and lather it in my hands. “I think I lost my right to judge you a long time ago,” I admit quietly, meeting the tip of his right wing as he brings it to me. For some reason, nerves form a ball in my throat as I start. “Is this okay?”
“Yes,”he replies so throaty and rough I feel my clit throb. “Fuck.”
His wing shivers under my touch, spraying water droplets everywhere.
It’s kind of cute.
Grinning, I do it again, threading my fingers a little deeper this time. “I bet these are comfortable to sleep on. Warm, too.”
“You’ll find out soon.” I catch his gaze and see he isn’t joking, he has every intention of pinning me down tonight so I can’t leave, and the thought actually confuses me.
Where does he think I’d go? It’s not like the zoo where you get a map upon arrival and the trail is basically a circle anyway. This is Hell, and I’ll be sticking with the devil I know.
“So what will happen back home? Will someone have to find like... a replica of my body or something?”
That makes him chuckle. “You’re missing. Remember those unsolved mysteries you used to watch where the person up and disappeared without their license or anything? They were likely brought to Hell. Or just murdered I guess.”
“Well, I always wanted to be on TV,” I comment dryly. “I guess that means I’m debtfree at least, though I’m gonna miss my pillow.”
“I might be able to retrieve it.”
His voice is softer now, eyes closed as I continue cleaning his wings.
Mariah’s still singing, just a little quieter now. “It’s a black body pillow, soft as a cloud. There’s a bronze Ouija board hand-painted on it that I might’ve used once or twice to try to talk to you.”
Adrian laughs lightly. “Oh, did you? What were you going to ask?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to tell you I was sorry.”
His eyes open and the honey brown ones I see completely take my breath away, but when I blink, they’re gone. “Yeah?”
“Of course. I never wanted to hurt you, Ade.” My chest tightens as I remember the look on his face, how devastated I was when it hit me. “Never.”
His fingers curl into my hips before he decides to lighten the mood and pull my gaze off of his scar. “Remember that time we got in an argument and you said you wished you could roll me into a ball and kick me over a fence?”
“You took your socks halfway off and just let them dangle off your toes. I had everyright to roll you into a ball and kick you over a fence.”
“You still hate that, huh?” The laugh that bubbles out of him sounds so much like my Adrian I lean into him, the song fading away even more. “I only did it to annoy you. You’re fucking hot when you’re angry.”
“Is that also why you left all the cupboard doors open?” I giggle. “I think I might’ve tried to stab you that day.”
“Fair, honestly. I just liked getting a rise out of you, and I know how much you need to go off on someone every so often for your sanity. I didn’t mind being your target, especially because of how crazy you always rode me those nights.”
