Page 49 of Demon Demands

Him laying between my legs, his tongue sweeping over my pussy as my back arched off the ground.

Me on my knees as he fucked my face mercilessly.

The way he gazed down at me as he slid inside of me, slamming to the hilt.

Cum dripping down my thighs as I used his shirt to clean up.

When he reached behind his back to grab me, I swatted his hand away. “No. Not yet, Love.”

Palmer hummed under his breath, a deliciously masculine vibration running through me where our bodies touched. “That’s become my favorite type of foreplay,” he confessed, running his hand over a purple flower. “But yer not tying me up.”

I chuckled, stretching out on the ground in front of him. “Talk, Mage. And paint me. I’ve always wanted to be living art, and then I want you to make a mess of it when it’s finished.”

I stared up at the ceiling of the cavern, loving the way the veins in the rock sparkled in random spots like the stars in Earth’s night sky. Simply intent on listening, I bit my lips together and anticipated the cool liquid from the plants.

The first petal brushed gently over my thigh as Palmer sighed. “It started eleven years ago, when I was seventeen. My da got inta some trouble. He owed money ta the wrong people, and he’d gambled it away. They came lookin’ for him at our house, but he wasn’t there. They didn’t like that answer, so they decided to beat the truth out of my ma and me. The harder I fought ta get ta her, the worse they attacked her. She told me ta stop, that they’d leave when they realized that we weren’t lyin’. And I did, until they found where my brother and sister had been hidin’. They were twelve. Murphy took a few hits, but when they raised hands ta Millie, I fuckin’ lost my mind.

“I didn’t know they were humans, but Ma did. That’s why she kept tellin’ me ta stop fightin’ them. I blew them inta the walls, and Murphy helped me toss them out the door all while Ma screamed at us ta stop. But I didn’t. I followed them out, creating my first vortex to blow them off our property.”

Palmer grew quiet for a moment, working his way down my leg with petals and berries. The cool liquids felt sticky as they dried, but I looked down to see that my entire left leg was glowing with abstract swirls, spots, and lines. He frowned at the pile of colors, lost in his thoughts.

“It took ‘em two days ta come back with more men. I’d already made peace with the fact that I’d kill them if they returned. And I did. My ma cried while she healed me, but never asked me what I did. After a while, we thought everything was good. Then Da came back, same issues, different people. He wanted me ta make his problems disappear, so I did, again. It was the next time he came ta me that I knew shit was bad. They weren’t humans, not easy ta take out. They snatched me, took me ta their boss.

“The man was an angel, Raguel. The angel of vengeance; and he was angry with my da. My da traded me for his debts, and Raguel made me work for him until Nate took an interest in me. Raguel disappeared while Nate was in town. When he left, the angel came back, askin’ me ta take notes on Nate for him. ‘Get close to him, Palmer. I need to know everything about him and his family’.” Palmer deepened his voice, changing his accent as he mocked Raguel’s words.

“An’ that’s what I did, until I grew closer ta Nate. I realized the surly vampire was a good guy, and Raguel was the bad guy. Then I started feedin’ him fake information. I did that for a few years until…” he trailed off, glancing up to my face as he shifted to the other side of my body.

“Until he found out that I lived in the same town as the Kings’ daughter. When his interests moved ta an elusive Sloane King, I had ta pay more attention ta what I sent him. I spent a fair amount of time lookin’ inta ya, but when I asked Nate about ya, his response was cryptic. Even Novak thought it was odd, but neither one of us thought anythin’ about it until we met ya.

“I didn’t know ye were my mate, but Novak had wondered on more than one occasion. When he asked Nate, your da would clam up and evade Novak’s questions. The more suspicious Nate acted, the more Novak was sure ye were his mate. Honestly, I didn’t believe him, but when we met ya, there was no more denyin’ it.

“This isn’t somethin’ that I can openly talk about on Earth. I have an oath with Raguel, but this is the only realm that he has no real control over. I’m hopin’ that being here negates the oath, otherwise I’ll be dead by sunrise.” He chuckled to himself, humorless and full of self loathing.

“I still have no idea why he wants information on the Kings. Whenever I’ve asked, he’s told me it’s none of my business. Eventually I jus’ stopped askin’. But once, I heard him mention that one of the Kings had his power, and he wanted it back. Somethin’ about copyin’ others. I’d seen Nate’s and Sam’s power, so I deduced that it was either Charlie or you that held it. After watchin’ ya in person, I thought I might know who had it. I keep lyin’ to Raguel, tellin’ him I haven’t seen ye use powers that aren’t natural to ya.”

“He wanted Lucifer,” I admitted as all the pieces clicked audibly in my mind. “And now he wants me because I have the mimicry power.”

“The power was stolen,” Palmer stated, but it almost sounded like a question at the end.

“No. It was never Raguel’s. Lucy refused to give it to him. He told me earlier that he gave it to me as a baby, and that I’ve been using it my whole life to model my powers to be whatever I want. He made it sound like I’ve been picking and choosing, taking what I wanted and leaving the bits that I didn’t.” I shrugged as he ran two fingers across my stomach.

“I guess it makes sense in a fucked up sort of way. I don’t know what I’d be like without it, what I would lose, other than my life.”

I snorted as I scrubbed a hand over my face. “If Raguel takes the mimicry power from me, Lucy said it will kill me. A true death. Not something I can heal from with time. The power is ingrained in my very being at this point. It’s as much mine as my fangs or my horns. Now that I’ve had some time to think back over all Lucy’s lessons, I think he’s been trying to train me to fight Raguel. I’m also going to assume he gave something to Jack, but I haven’t asked. Yet.”

Palmer nodded his head. “That’s why Novak pulled me away earlier. He must have caught a stray thought from Lucifer. I haven’t told anyone what I jus’ told you, so I guess the nosy bastard went through my emails.” He narrowed his eyes.

“That’s probably what he was doin’ when he was in my room while we were in Baton Rouge. He called me out about actin’ weird, but he was layin’ on my bed too casually to have been doin’ nothin’.”

“Palmer, you do realize that the more you push me away, the more I want you, right?” I gave him a lopsided grin as he rubbed an orange leaf down my arm. “But this push and pull thing you’ve been doing... just isn’t working for me. You’ve got to stop.”

He huffed. “The closer I get ta ya, the harder it’s gonna be ta fight Raguel’s influence. I’d rather not have ye than show him that I want ya. What’ll happen if he gets his hands on ya?”

“I don’t intend to let that happen. I need you to trust me a little more. We could be working together on this instead of you shouldering all the weight. Let me help you lead him on. Let me help you lie to him.”

He rolled his eyes at me, not wanting to give in. I stayed quiet as he marked my neck and face, the glow playing with my vision.

When he ran his fingers through my hair, dying the strands to match my body, I grabbed his wrist, pleading with my eyes. “Let. Me. Help.”