Page 66 of Fallen

Teeth nipped across his jaw. “That’s a tall order.”

Alex chuckled. “Apparently we have plenty of time.”

Talon hummed a long, self-satisfied note. “Yes we do.”

He peeled himself away from Alex with a reluctant groan and backed toward the door. Alex drank in the sight of Talon’s long, lean body on display. He was completely confident in his nudity, his heavy cock bobbing between his legs. There was a serpentine grace to his movements, his gaze dark with promise.

He closed the door behind himself, and Alex huffed out a laugh. His life was weird—in a good way, but still weird. One minute he was fighting a holy war, the next he was in a demon’s bathroom, finding lube in every corner. There was another—half-used, he noted with a rush of desire—in the shower.

The water pressure was incredible. He washed thoroughly, sniffing the expensive shampoos and soaps. His mind was elsewhere, though. With Talon, in the next room. Was he waiting downstairs, or had he gone to bed?

Alex couldn’t believe he was here. That he was staring down the barrel of immortality with a demon who’d promised him anything and everything he wanted. A demon who, apparently, was all too happy to bow to his every whim.

A demon who was waiting right outside the door for him when he emerged in a cloud of steam.

Talon tugged the damp towel from his waist with a cheeky smirk. “Come, little bird. Time to sleep.”

“Were you standing right outside the door the whole time?” Alex asked with a laugh as Talon dragged him up the stairs.

“Maybe.”

Talon guided him into the bed and laid down beside him, wrapping snugly around him and tangling their legs together.

“You should know,” Talon said in his ear, “that if I wake up and you are anywhere butin my arms, I will go outside and kill the first person I see.”

Alex turned his head, struggling not to smile. “What if the first person you see is me?”

“Then I’ll ask why you weren’t in my arms.”

“Maybe I had to pee.”

Talon bit his shoulder with a growl.

Alex laughed. “Fine, I get it. I’m not going anywhere, Tal.”

They were quiet for a moment, and then Talon confessed in a low whisper, “I don’t think I’ve ever felt that sort of panic before. At first, I thought I was overreacting, but then time kept passing and you keptnot coming back. I had no idea where you were or if you were okay…”

Alex wriggled. He couldn’t actually press any closer than they already were, but it was the thought that counted. “I’m sorry. I?—”

“Don’t. Don’t apologize for what happened to you. None of it was your fault.”

“I mean, it kind of is. I’m the one who let you in. Well—no, you let yourself in. But I wanted it as much as you did. I should’ve known I couldn’t keep it a secret from them. And,” he squirmed around to look at Talon, “can I tell you something?”

“Always.”

“The truth is, I already knew I couldn’t have both. I woke up that morning knowing that one day I’d have to choose. Turns out they took the choice away before I had to make it myself, but… I think I would’ve chosen you.”

Talon scoffed. “Youthink?”

Alex laughed brightly. “They didn’t give me the time to figure it out, but yeah. You’ve done more for me in a week than they did my whole life. They took my trauma and used it to turn me into a soldier in their war. I don’t think they ever planned to make good on their promise to help me get my revenge. But you did. You let me do whatever I needed.”

Talon kissed his cheek. “I’ll always give you what you need, little bird. Starting with sixteen hours of sleep. Followed by so many orgasms you’ll think your fragile human body will die.”

Alex sniggered, rolling onto his side once more so Talon could squeeze him like a body pillow. “Awesome.”

Chapter 23

Talon

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