Page 12 of Devour

“Let me out,” Em muttered to her brother.

“Em,” he pleaded.

“Ash, shut up and let me out,” she snapped at him. He scooted out of her way, her car keys in her hand. Ash hesitated for only a moment before dutifully chasing after his ride.

Once they left, I turned to Eli with a warm smile. “Well, Happy Friggin’ Birthday, hubs.”

“Thanks.” He rolled his eyes. “And for the record, I know what they did was lousy, but I like to think even the best people make mistakes sometimes.”

“You’re too forgiving.”

“Maybe,” he sighed. “I guess that means I’m pursuing the right calling after all.” He pushed the rest of his food away and leaned back in the booth beside me. “They were right about one thing, though. You feed off drama.”

“I do not.” I lifted a hand to clutch my imaginary pearls at such a bold accusation. “And I’ll have you know I’ve had my fill for the day. Anything more goes toward tomorrow.”

“That’s pretty messed up—to prey on vulnerable people’s emotions,” Eli said with a disapproving glance.

“Excuse me, sir. You’re letting the remnants of a perfectly good platter of chicken wings go to waste, but I’m not lecturing you about meat being murder. How I eat is how I survive. Don’t make it a moral issue.”

“And how do you eat?”

“Well, I don’t need your food. That’s not how I get full. Sometimes, I eat.” Not that he knows what that means, but I feel the need to justify myself, anyway. “But only after someone breaks their promise. I’m a nice guy like that.”

Eli rhythmically drummed his fingers on the tabletop of the booth, then leaned slightly to the side to face me. “When Ash kissed me, did you do that?”

“I nudged him.” I smiled and tapped a finger to my temple. “He was already thinking about it. I made a suggestion, and he went with it.”

“Why? Why possess someone?”

I rolled my eyes at his word choice. “Secondhand isn’t as satisfying as firsthand, but it gets the job done. All Ash needed was a nudge in the right direction.”

My hubby was not an idiot. Maybe a touch naïve, but not unintelligent. If anything, someone who made a habit of reading up on demonology might be better equipped than most to recognize this situation. So even though he’d put the pieces together two questions ago, he didn’t smell scared. And really, if I wanted him dead, I could’ve done that quite a few times over by now—and he realized as much. He remained intrigued more than anything. Interesting.

“And what would be firsthand? Intercourse?”

“Sometimes.” I shrugged. “Anything sexual fills me the fastest. Desire. Frustration. Tension. All very satisfying.”

“And strife?”

“Not so much. Neither does annoyance nor sadness. Backed by passion can make it tolerable. Fear is always unappetizing, regardless of context.”

“So, you sustain yourself on anything inherently passionate or sexual,” he concluded.

“Pleasurable,” I corrected.

“Same difference.”

“Oh, hubs.” I leaned closer to him, but unlike before, he met my gaze with half-lidded eyes. So hot. “If you enjoy a big ol’ piece of birthday cake, that’s pleasurable to you. And if I crawl under this table and suck your cock, that’ll also be extremely pleasurable. Not all pleasure has to be sexual, and I don’t need sexual pleasure specifically to get full. Though it does satisfy me the most.”

“Well, you already admitted you weren’t hungry anymore, so don’t think I’ll fall for that line.” A smirk.

“There’s always tomorrow.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Eli chastised.

He turned and gave me his shoulder, but he couldn’t hide the smile at the edges of his mouth. Internally, his emotions churned while his thoughts leapt all over the place. Still not scared.

I couldn’t help myself. Leaning forward, I buried my face in his neck for one more dose. Indescribable bliss. One that satisfied a craving no human ever felt, and therefore had no name. I inhaled that incomparable essence until his fingers gripped a fistful of my hair and tugged me away.

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