Page 7 of Claiming Demons

That made Caia smile.

We continued to chat over lunch and through the afternoon, though Caia and Grey often took long tangents into business and medicine and things I didn’t understand.

Then Reia got home from school and was overjoyed to see Caia. She offered to show Caia some nearby sights as she walked Kerberos.

I saw them off, but when I turned back to Grey — standing in the front hall behind me — he had the oddest smile on his lips, like he was thinking through some drawn-out, brilliant idea.

“What?” I asked him.

“What would you say if I offered my empire to Caia?”

“Ahhhhhhhhhh.” It was like my mind had shut down. I knew words existed and I should have used some, but I couldn’t stop gaping at him.

“I’ve talked with her enough to know she’s brilliant,” he said with a grin. “I think she’d do well as CEO of Zagreus Holdings International, or at least my bio-medical division. Maybe I’ll start her off there, with the intent to groom her into the CEO?”

“You… really think she could do it?”

His sable-void eyes met mine. “Don’t you?”

Ouch.

He’d known my daughter all of one afternoon and already seemed to know her better than I did.

“I know she can do anything,” I told him. “I just didn’t think she’d do it… this soon.”

Grey kissed me softly, a quick brush of his lips that sent tingling sparks rushing through my veins.

“She’s ready,” he breathed, then pulled me close. His next kiss was far less tentative, and the sparks in my blood turned to flames, sweeping through me. “Are you ready to let her go?” he whispered when he drew back.

My mind was addled by that passionate kiss, and I blinked for a moment before I fully registered his question.

WasI ready to let her go?

The answer surprised me.

No… I wasn’t.

I’d been a horrible mother, and I wanted a chance to change that, to spend quality time with my girls now that I knew a bit more about myself.

Except it might be too late.

Caia was twenty-one, a grown woman, and didn’t really need me anymore. Eva was finding her own way in the world, and Reia… she’d never needed me. The sad truth was: I needed my girls far more than they needed me.

“I’m not ready to let go of any of them. I… I want to spend more time with them.”

I vowed to do just that, and get to know them as they were now, as women coming into their own.

Grey smiled, the void of his eyes swirling with greater intensity. “Then I guess I’ll have to get my time with you when I can.”

His hand curved over my butt then urged me to raise my knee. I slid my leg up and his fingers slid down under my skirt to trace lines of electric pleasure over my folds.

I’d pretty much given up on panties and it was a good thing too, because Grey’s expert fingers quickly had my pussy drooling and hungry for more. He pinned me against the wall as his fingers attacked my clit, and his lips devoured mine. His hard body pressed close in all the right ways.

A soft-shuddering, soothing orgasm sang through my body and ramped up my desire fromburningtosavage. I mewled and moaned into his mouth. I hadn’t even accessed my sex aspect, but we were both on fire.

He pulled back long enough to free his rigid cock and slip on a condom. Apparently, he kept some on him at all times… just in case.

My voice was already hoarse as I whispered, “You don’t need that now, I can control—”

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