Darrak made her feel better than anyone ever had in her entire life.
People like Ben, like Leena, like her mother, thought what they had between them was wrong. That it was impossible for her to care this deeply for a demon and for that demon to care about her in return.
But Darrak wasn’t exactly a demon anymore, was he? He was special. He was unique.
He was hers.
She arched against him as it felt as if she exploded into a million pieces of pleasure and couldn’t help but cry out against his lips. A moment later, her name left his lips in a harsh, raspy groan as he experienced his own shattering moment of completion.
They lay naked on her bed, side by side, the covers tossed off and the shadows of the dark room playing across their bodies. Darrak held her hand tightly in his, their fingers entwined, and stared into her eyes as she relearned how to breathe.
“Yes,” she whispered, trailing her fingertips down his bare chest. “That was very good.”
He pulled her closer, his lips tracing the contour of her jaw. “No spell.”
“Gone for good.”
Darrak slid his hand over her hip, then around to her back where he played up the length of her spine. She nestled closer to his warmth, which had thankfully returned now that everything was back in proper alignment.
“I think I could get used to this,” she said.
“You, me, a messy bed.”
“To hell with everything else.”
A smile played at his lips. “I have a feeling you’d need food. Eventually, anyway. We could always send out for chocolate donuts.”
“You know the way to a girl’s heart.”
He slowly trailed his fingers over her face, then down her throat, collarbone, and breasts. He swirled his thumb around her nipple, which made it extremely difficult to think properly.
She wanted him again. And again.
“Darrak, please…”
“Please what?” He was grinning now.
She eyed him and couldn’t help but smile as well. “Don’t be so smug, demon.”
“Smug? Moi?” He leaned forward and kissed her shoulder, but his fingers didn’t stop playing with her sensitive flesh until he replaced them with his tongue. Her mind went white. “You want me, Eden?”
“No, you absolutely disgust me.” She grinned and captured his mouth, kissing him deeply. “Yes, I want you.”
“And you need me?”
“Oh, yes.”
He leaned closer to whisper in her ear. “And you love me?”
She took his face between her hands and stared deeply into his eyes. “Of course I do.”
He pulled back, locking gazes with her. A frown creased his brow. “I’ve been thinking a lot. You know, between the bouts of agony and confusion.”
Eden raised an eyebrow. “Should I be scared?”
“Possibly.”
“What have you been thinking about?”
“Stanley.”
“You’ve been thinking about Stanley? Before, during, or after we had sex?”
He laughed. “Not now, trust me. No, I’ve been thinking about him and his decisions lately. Especially when it comes to Nancy. He and I had a little talk about his proposal to her.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Stanley was a selfish loser, never thought much about anyone but himself and his next conquest.”
“I remember. But what’s your point?”
“I was like Stanley, sort of. Way better looking, of course.” He flashed her a wry grin. “Less balding, anyway.”
“No argument here.”
“But when it comes to faulty starts, him and me — we’re a lot alike. Until we met a couple of very special women. Stanley met Nancy… and I met you.”
Darrak looked so serious right now it almost made her laugh. By the looks of things, his brush with mortality had given him much to think about. “You did. So what’s your point?”
He met her gaze and held it. “Eden, this is going to sound crazy, but it feels right. Especially now. I… I just…”
She stroked the messy dark hair off his forehead. What was this all about? “Just say it. It’s okay.”
Darrak sat up completely and brought Eden up next to him, clasping her hands in his. His eyes were so full of sincerity she had a moment of fear about what exactly he wanted to tell her, what confession he suddenly wanted to make.
“What, Darrak? Talk to me.”
He searched her face. “Eden… marry me.”
She blinked. “What?”
He squeezed her hands tighter. “We’ve been through so much together and… I know it’s a human concept that doesn’t normally apply to demons, well, like ever. But it feels right. I want to be with you for however long we have together. I know it’s not ideal, and our lives aren’t anything remotely resembling a fairy tale, but… I love you. And I want to marry you because it’s a symbol of how we feel. How I feel.” He laughed a little. “Damn, I sound like I have no idea what I’m doing here, but I’m doing it anyway. Eden Riley, will you marry me?”
She gaped at him for a long moment before she tried to speak, but nothing came out. Her mouth had dried up like a box of sand.
What was he doing? Just what exactly had she clicked into place when she’d been shifting his dark and light jigsaw pieces apart before?
“Darrak… I–I don’t know what to say. I’m surprised you’d ask me… this. It’s just, I…”
A shadow of doubt entered his expression. “It was stupid, wasn’t it?”
“No.” She gripped his hands. This was so unbelievably sweet and unexpected and… she didn’t know how to deal with this. A wistful sensation passed through her wishing things could be different than they were. Wishing they were remotely normal and could discuss things like this seriously. “Not stupid. Just not — Darrak, I… it’s just not something we should even be thinking about right now. There’s too much to deal with. I mean, at the very least you don’t even have a birth certificate. Or a driver’s license. And… and we’ve only known each other a month. One month!”
Clarity washed over his expression. “Forget I said anything.”
Her stomach twisted. “No, I don’t want to forget it. Just… maybe ask me again when things are better. But right now — you can’t honestly think this is a good time for this, do you? Besides, we have to go deal with Andy.” She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. “We really have to get moving right now.”
New clothes flowed over his skin, and he let her go completely. “Of course. Andy. I forgot about him for a minute there.”
Eden grabbed at the bedsheets to cover herself. She suddenly felt extremely naked. “Darrak, I mean it. We’ll talk about this later, I promise we will.”
He got up off the bed, averting his gaze. “No problem. I’m going to let you get ready. I’ll give you some privacy.”
He left the bedroom and the door closed behind him with a soft click.
It felt very quiet all of a sudden. She could even hear the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears, loud and fast.
Darrak had just asked her to marry him. Marry him. And she’d all but replied with a hell no. The last thing she wanted to do after all they’d been through was to hurt him, but what was she supposed to say? And what in the world had possessed him to ask her that in the first place? Had he really been inspired, of all things, by Stanley Dancy, minion to wizards and demons alike?
The full moon was making everyone go wild this month.
So, that couldn’t possibly have gone much worse than it did.
Darrak wished for a button to press that could undo the dumber things he attempted. It would have helped many times over the years.
This, quite possibly, had been the dumbest.
“Eden Riley, will you marry me?”
He covered his face with his hands. “What do I think this is? The Bachelorette?”