Page 37 of Fallen

“Meaning you aren’t the enemy to them anymore. Just like you aren’t to me.”

He peeled Alex’s cargos down his legs, leaving him only in boxers, and Alex crawled up the unmade bed and collapsed on the pillow, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Now, you’re going to have a long, dreamless sleep,” Talon growled, crawling up his body, “and when you wake up, I’m going to make you come so hard all you can remember is my name, because you’remine, and I take care of what’s mine. Yes?” He pressed his forehead to Alex’s, who shivered, almost naked and completely vulnerable with Talon’s weight pressing him into the mattress.

Alex’s heart was pounding far too hard for him to sleep, but he nodded nonetheless. “Yes.”

“Good.” Talon kissed him, long and deep, and then stood, undressing slowly. Alex turned onto his side, watching with idle interest as Talon bared his pale, muscular body without an ounce of modesty. When he was down to a pair of black boxer-briefs, he crawled over Alex and fit up against his body.

A small sound left Alex as Talon’s heat soaked into his bones. Lips pressed against the back of his head.

“Sleep, little bird. I’ll be here when you wake.”

Alex closed his eyes and succumbed almost immediately.

As promised,Alex’s sleep felt as deep as an ocean trench, dark and dreamless, floating in languorous, warm nothingness. There were no nightmares, no monsters waiting to spill his lifeblood, no haunting images of his eviscerated family. No evil Talon laughing with the mozgoran while Alex bled out at their feet.

He woke slowly, boneless and well-rested at long last. A warm body was plastered against his back, and he took a steadying breath as he came to terms with his situation. He barely remembered going to the club last night and throwing himself at Talon, but he was grateful for it, nonetheless. He wouldn’t have survived much longer without sleep. And now, in the harsh light of what was probably mid-afternoon, based on the way the sunlight hit his bedroom window, he was forced to finally face the truth.

Talon, in his own way, cared about him. And as strange as it was, Alex felt the same pull toward Talon that Talon claimed to feel toward him. It was the only thing that made sense. He’d had nightmares in the past, yes, but none so detrimental to his health as the ones he’d started having after he rejected Talon. Something about Talon soothed him, called to him. He felt more at peace here in the demon’s arms than he ever had in his life. Thathadto mean something, didn’t it?

“You’re thinkingveryhard for someone who just woke up,” Talon murmured in his ear. The arm under Alex’s head curled, and Talon’s hand pressed flat against his bare chest. “If you send me away again, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

From someone who professed to be so dedicated to Alex’s happiness, his threat fell flat. Curious, Alex turned his head and asked, “What would you do?”

There was a pregnant pause, which was all the answer Alex needed. Talon wouldn’t do anything that might turn Alex against him. That would negate his whole plan to get Alex to accept having him in his life.

“I’m not going to send you away,” he said, sparing Talon from having to think of an appropriate response, and he felt the demon relax. “I still don’t completely understand any of this, but I’m tired of resisting it.”

“Not exactly the glowing statement of commitment I was hoping for, but I’ll take it,” Talon said cheerfully. His other hand trailed down Alex’s body, toying with the waistband of his boxers. “I can definitely make it worth your while.”

“Hey.” Alex angled himself back so he could look Talon in the eye, and Talon paused at his serious tone, his fingers tracing designs in the soft skin just below Alex’s belly button, curling in the trail of body hair that led below his boxers. His cock twitched at the touch, but he ignored it. “I’m serious. Thank you for being here for me. I’m used to handling shit on my own. I don’t understand why you care or why we can’t seem to stay away from each other, but I’m glad you’re here.”

Talon cocked his head in that curious way of his, like he found Alex particularly interesting—which, Alex supposed, was true. “What about your paladin friends? The squad you patrol with?”

“They’re okay. They’re… like work friends, though. We don’t really spend time together outside of guild stuff.”

Talon hummed. “They don’t see you like I do. I see your loneliness, your anger. You don’t have to be lonely anymore, and I can take your anger when the burden is too much for you to bear alone.”

Alex stared at him, his eyes burning. “You can’t—just say things like that,” he said breathlessly. What kind of demon would be so selfless—and forhim?

Talon beamed at him, looking triumphant. His hand slipped below Alex’s waistband, wrapping around his already hard length, warm and dry. Alex’s stomach dipped at the touch, and a breathy sigh left him.

“C’mere,” he said, tugging Talon on top of him.

Talon shifted away just long enough to divest them both of their boxers, and then it was skin against skin all the way down. A low, inhuman growl pitched out of Talon as their bodies lined up, his fingers catching under Alex’s knees and guiding his legs up and around his waist. He felt vulnerable like this, opened up for another—a feeling that only intensified when Talon’s strong, possessive hand wrapped around his throat. But there was no danger in the touch. He felt shielded, protected, despite the embarrassed heat flooding his face.

He’d never been naked like this with anyone before, and his throat bobbed nervously under Talon’s palm. The demon didn’t miss it, of course. He leaned in to kiss Alex’s rosy cheek, then licked the other, startling a laugh from him.

When Talon kissed him, it felt like he was trying to devour him. His tongue pressed inside Alex’s mouth, their lips crushed between their teeth, and Alex moaned, overwhelmed. In response, Talon gentled the kiss, circling his hips in a way that dragged their cocks together. Alex gasped, one hand flying down to cup Talon’s ass through the sheet that pooled around them.

“Do that again,” he entreated.

Talon nipped his chin, then planted his elbows on either side of Alex’s head, watching his face with eerie, unblinking intensity as he rolled his hips again. Alex was ensnared in the black vacuum of his gaze, pleasure building in his gut with every rhythmic thrust of Talon’s hips. He kept waiting for more, for Talon to do something with his hands or mouth, but he didn’t. The depth of his gaze felt more intense, more intimate, than anything else Alex had ever experienced. Slowly, Talon guided him toward the edge, letting the pleasure build from a trickle to a roar. Alex couldn’t look away, wouldn’t even dream of it. His gasps and moans filled the air between them, and Talon watched him all the while, like the only thing he hungered for was Alex.

It was when Talon’s breathing grew ragged, his head sagging so their foreheads touched, that Alex finally found his release. Seeing Talon lose his perfectly wound control, watching his face twist with exquisite agony as his muscular body drew tight with his impending release. Alex’s thighs clamped down around his waist as he came, his back arching. He shouted as he spilled between them, and Talon moaned, long and low, ducking his head to bury his face in Alex’s chest. He bit down on Alex’s pectoral as he shuddered through his own release, and Alex barely felt the pain, too high on endorphins for it to register. He carded his fingers into the back of Talon’s hair, giving it an affectionate tug as they both came back down.

Talon raised his head, his hair wild and his expression smug, and kissed him, long and deep. Fingers curled around Alex’s head, like he was something precious.

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