Page 22 of Ex-Mas
“Maybe I will.”
There is no maybe. This is only the beginning of us finding our way back to each other, and as angry as I was, I already feel it fading away. Carrying her inside, I realize she’s still the girl that owned my soul when I was alive, and not even death has changed that. I don’t think anything will.
9
Rubbing my chafed wrists, I realize for the first time how exhausted I am. Adrenaline kept me awake and mostly alive this far, but he’s looking at me differently now. His demeanor is calm, more relaxed, more protective. He’s starting to seem like my Adrian again, and I’m afraid I wouldn’t have any adrenaline left even if he wasn’t. Apparently, spontaneous demon anal really takes it out of a girl. “Are you tired?” I ask lamely. He already told me he only sleeps once a week, but I’m looking at his bed and dying to crawl on top of it. “What time is it?”
“Actually, yeah,” he admits. “I don’t exactly keep a clock around these days. What is time when it will never run out?”
Yet as he rubs along his jaw I find myself wondering how long it’s been since he has taken one of his weekly sleeps. He looks as drained as I feel. Not physically, but in a way only I’d be able to see. I still know him.
“I guess that makes sense.” Freshly showered this time, I slide one of his shirts on and move a little closer to him. “It’s cold in here.”
Adrian chuckles, closing the distance between us to stare down at me. “Ever think you’d say you were cold in Hell?”
“Yeah, but only to piss Satan off.”
He looks so much like the man I loved when he bites his bottom lip, that look of reverence he saved solely for me so clear on his beautiful face, I have to clench my fist to keep from reaching out to him. “Sounds about right. So, is my girl tired?”
He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, and suddenly, I don’t care where we are, how we got here, or what his ulterior motives might be.
I finally get to sleep in bed with the love of my life again.
“If I say yes, will you wrap me up in those wings of yours and sleep too?”
“No.” Yet, the smirk on his face says otherwise as he lifts me up and carries me tohis bed. “You’re going to use me for my wings now, huh?”
Frowning, I remind myself that we’re making progress right now because I’m not being a dick. So instead of saying yes just to get under his skin, I shake my head. “Nope. Just want to learn to embrace... all of you. And you don’t exactly have any blankets down here, so I guess it is a little selfish of me.”
“I’ve never minded being used by you, Lysandra. It was my favorite pastime,” he quips, lying back with his wings open wide just like his arms. “Plus, I could use some sleep. I think it’s making me soft.”
It‘s hard to hide the satisfied smile on my face as I gently crawl into the space he made for me and feel his wings wrap around me.
It‘s not the lack of sleep making him soft, it’s me... and I’m only just beginning.
––––––––
It takes me a full five minutes to realize I’m actually awake. Soft, warm feathers tickle my bare thighs, keeping me almost sedated even after I remember what those feathers are attached to and who they belong to – and it’s the silence that actually wakes me up.
No annoying song. No Christmas music at all. Just sweet, sweet silence.
Glancing up, I see Adrian’s honey brown eyes staring down at me with a warmth of their own. It makes me homesick for a time I’ll never get back, a version of him I only catch glimpses of now. But as far as glimpses go, this is a pretty good one.
“Morning,” I mumble sleepily. “Seems like somebody’s feeling better.”
“Nah, I still hate everything,” he jokes, the soft smile on his face giving him away. “You slept well, huh?”
His fingers slide along my thigh, but he makes no move to take it any further. Almost as if he just wants to touch me.
“You have a DJ who gives away your emotions and you’re still lying to me.” Shaking my head, I try and roll over — the little shit has me pinned.
He looks around the room curiously as if he’s waiting for the silence to end. “I guess I can stop lying, it’s not like you can go anywhere.”
It’s not like I would even if I could. Yesterday was the weirdest day of my whole life, and yes I had a lot of doubts... but I’d rather wake up in Hell next to Adrian Gravesthan wake up topside without him. “Neither can you.”
“Speaking of...” His gaze flicks past me a split second before he’s grabbing something soft and pressing it against my chest.
It’s my Ouija body pillow. Sitting up abruptly, I hold it to my nose and breathe in the scent of home for what I imagine is the last time, then hug it tightly. “So who summoned you? I’ll get my knife.”
