Page 23 of Ex-Mas
“I got that too. I know how much you like the engraved bow.” Rolling over, he stands up and tucks away his wings. “Would you consider becoming a demon like me if I said it was a woman?”
The amused expression on his face tells me he’s fucking with me, but I need him to answer some down questions before I stop playing nice.
“I’m considering it either way, but I’ve already proven I don’t need to be a demon to kill someone,” I mutter. “Especially a human.”
“Mmhm. Yeah, well turn your blade towards me once again, because I can go topside by myself. I lied.”
He has the audacity to look sheepish about it, and I just want to smack him.
Smack, not stab.
I hate being lied to. “Of course.” Scooting back, I put the pillow between us. “What else?”
His eyes are black again and locked on the Ouija pillow I’ve placed as a barrier. “Uh... I didn’t want to just talk to the guys, but I think that one was obvious.” His gaze meets mine. “I killed them on the way to your house.”
So much death, so much hurt, all because we live in a “stab first, ask questions later” society. Those men didn’t deserve to die, Adrian didn’t deserve to die. But I did, and I’m the only one left with a beating heart.
If I even have a heart at all, that is. Even now, knowing I should be upset with him for killing people, I’m just... not. He did it, even if it’s twisted, backward, and wrong, for me. For us. So he’d be the only one who knows what it feels like to touch me.
I belong here in Hell with him.
“Hm. And what about the women you fucked before me? Are they still alive?”
“If they existed, I’d hand you the knife and take you there.” Frowning, I bite back the urge to scream at him for lying again, but all I see on his face is truth. “I didn’t fuck anyone else all these years, Hellcat. I didn’t even consider it.”
“Well good for you, but I wasn’t talking about them. I was talking about the ones before me, Ade. I didn’t have any of those, but you sure did.”
“Oh... those,” he drawls lazily. “I forgot they existed. Would you like them to die?”
“No,” I say quickly. “I want to move forward and not dwell on the past. I’m the one you brought down here, so I’m the one you wanted. Right?”
His fingers flex with the urge to touch me again. “Yes. I never came to see you because I knew I’d never be able to stay angry if I did. My rage is the only reason I’ve made it this long, the only reason I haven’t succumbed to the demon inside of me and turned into a mindless bloodfiend. But if I went up there and saw you had moved on...” His gaze drops from mine as the music starts up again, his jaw tensing. “I don’t know what I would have done.”
“Kill them, apparently.” Moving the pillow, I tentatively crawl back over into his lap. “You were it for me, Ade. I fucked that up and I know it, but there was never going to be anyone else. Not really.”
“Were?” he asks, fingers curling to grip my hips. “Is that past tense because I’m... this?”
This is it. I can’t explain how I know, but I do — this is the moment that will decide how we proceed. I just wish I wasn’t staring into black eyes this time. “It was only past tense because I was telling you how I felt when you were this and I was still... that,” I explain, gesturing toward the ceiling. “And maybe a little because a big part of you still hates me. I already told you I never stopped loving you.”
His gaze flicks down to my lips, and when they meet mine again they’re exactly what I need to see. “It seems you believed all my lies. Not even as a demon could I ever hate you, woman. You’re still it for me.”
Tentative lips meet mine, a growl leaving him a split second before he deepens it and owns my mouth completely, hands pinning me to him almost painfully, but it’s the best thing I’ve ever felt. There’s no deception here, just two lost, broken souls finally coming back together.
As the room starts to shake around us, I attempt to pull back, but Adrian’s strong, determined, and kisses me so thoroughly that I forget anything is happening around us at all until he finally stops.
“What...? What happened? Was that some kind of Hell-quake?”
There’s a soft smile on his face as he nods behind me, and when I turn my head, I see why.
The room we’re in is bare. There’s no more Christmas tree, no more snow on the ground. The LED lights are gone, baubles and Santa statues nowhere to be found.
And the silence is fucking beautiful.
“Whoa,” I whisper. “Where’d it all go?”
He looks around the room to slowly take it all in, that grin seeming to find home on his sinful lips. “I guess I don’t hate Christmas anymore.”
This time I have proof this isn’t another lie, and that my Adrian is not only still in there, he’s the one in control now.
