Page 29 of Micah

I burrow against his chest, yanking the covers up to my chin. “It’s freezing!”

His laugh vibrates through me. “The heat is programmed to turn down at night, but it’s definitely not freezing. Trust me. The heating system never lets the house get below fifty-five.”

“Fifty-five? That’s freezing. Okay, well maybe nottechnically,” I concede. “But it’s colder than my naked body wants to be.” I make my eyes as big and pleading as I can. “Turn up the thermostat for me? Please?”

He laughs again, and I wallow in the sound. I made this clever, handsome man laugh like that, all warm and indulgent. If I’d known that working away from home came with benefits like this, I’d have done it sooner.

“What time is it?” he asks. “The thermostat is programmed to warm the house up from six on weekdays and seven on weekends. It should kick in soon.”

I wriggle around in his arms until my back is to him, then reach out and snag my phone from the nightstand. “It’s six fifty,” I announce. “I guess we’ll just have to stay in bed until the house warms up. Oh no. Poor me. Snuggled in bed with a sexy demon on a Saturday morning. How will I survive?” I push my ass back into his groin. His morning wood is nice and hard, and a certain muscle clenches just at the memory of how it felt inside me.

“We could play games on our phones,” he suggests, his hand sliding down my belly to firmly grasp my cock.

“Games sound like fun,” I agree, a little breathlessly, “but I read this article that says using technology in bed is bad for you.” Or something. I’m sure an article like that exists.

“I think we have an old edition of Monopoly somewhere,” he teases.

“I’ve already passed Go and need to move on to one of the overpriced hotels.”

His chuckle is a breath against my neck. “I guess the only other thing to do is talk quietly. Or maybe take a nap.”

“Mi-cah…” I whine, and he finally relents.

“Pass me the lube.”

* * *

Bundledup warmly in the clothes Micah helped me get—including the cute scarf he ordered without me knowing, in a really cool random geometric pattern that’s almost like a puzzle—I wander along the main street of Hortplatz. The wind is barely there today, nothing like the other night, and even though it’s still cold and cloudy, there are plenty of people around.

“It didn’t use to be so busy on the streets,” Micah says when he sees me looking around. “Mostly because they were covered in snow. This is all Garrett’s doing—now that we’re trying to make the village attractive to other species, we need them to be able to walk around.”

I try to make sense of that. “You mean there was nowhere for people to walk?”

He shakes his head. “What did we need that for? If there’s snow in the way, we’d just teleport to wherever we were going. But this is nice—stretching our legs, getting fresh air. And Zoe’s snow village is amazing.”

“Snow village?” If that’s what it sounds like, I want to see it.

“I’ll show you later. We’ll loop around that way. Now, this is the grocery store. I know you don’t cook, but—”

“The place of snacks,” I interrupt. “Do they have ready meals too?”

“Only the frozen kind. But don’t worry about that—we’ll keep you fed.” His smile is a subtle little one. He’s been cooking for me or taking me to his house to eat all week, and it seems that he likes that.

We go into the grocery store. It’s not that different to home, except for the brands and some of the types of food. Like, there aren’t any PopTarts, but I’m not mad about the kajillion different cheeses they stock. Cheese makes everything better.

“Micah,” a voice calls while I’m inspecting a piece of cheese labeled Sbrinz, which Micah assures me I’d like. I mean, duh.

We turn toward the newcomer, an older-middle-aged demon wearing a shirt with the store’s logo on it and a big smile. “Is this the puzzle expert? Welcome! I’m Griff. If there’s anything you need that’s not in stock, just let me know. Our special order process is much faster than what you’re used to.” He winks, which is… weird. But I just smile and nod enthusiastically. Maybe he means it’s a lot faster for demons to teleport somewhere and pick up a special order than it is for other species.

“That’s so kind. Thank you! But you have a great range here, and I’m sure I won’t need anything else. I love how much cheese there is.”

His face lights up like I’ve just told him he won the lottery. “Yes, we have lots of cheese! Most of what we stock is locally made, except the ones like Stilton that need to be imported.”

“Micah’s showing me around the village right now, but I’ll be back later for cheese and other snacks,” I promise. “Do you have chocolate milk?”

Griff seems a little surprised but nods. “Of course. But… the cheese and chocolate milk together… you might get a stomachache?”

What an excellent point.

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