Page 36 of Calling Chaos

Cooper didn’t say anything. Maybe he didn’t believe that Chaoscouldprotect him. At least not forever.

Because he still thought Chaos was leaving one day.

Chaos pouted, shoving the laptop off his lap with a huff. He turned to Cooper. “If we were to give the Book back to him, would you be less afraid?”

Cooper scratched at his neck sheepishly. “It would be one problem solved, sure.”

Chaos considered as he stared at his human, amused at the way even that little bit of attention turned Cooper’s cheeks pink.

Cooper wasn’t ready to commit to a bond yet; even Chaos knew enough to know that. And when hewasready, it would be easy enough to get the Book back from this Ivan fellow. And Chaos would most likely get to see Nix in the process. It would be good to see his friend. Plus, if Nix had convinced the human he was with to bond…

Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to see what that looked like in person.

Chaos dug Cooper’s cell phone out of his pocket, offering it over. “You may call him. Ivan.”

After a moment of hesitation, Cooper reached for the phone. “Yeah?”

“But if he tries to harm you…,” Chaos warned, miming swiping at Ivan with his claws.

He was oddly pleased when, instead of cowering in fear, Cooper rolled his pretty eyes. “Please don’t disembowel my cousin.”

Chaos decided to pretend he hadn’t heard. He couldn’t make any promises, anyway. It was all up to Ivan, really.

Cooper stared down at the phone in his hand for a moment, then sighed, sliding it into his sweatpants pocket. “We should head back to the apartment first. He’ll want it right away.” He glanced at Chaos, nibbling at his lower lip. “Ivan is very…possessive of his things. If he summoned his own demon, he’s not going to be happy that I did the same.”

As if summoning Nix was anything akin to summoning Chaos. Silly humans. Still…Chaos rose onto his knees. He’d had an exciting thought. “I could pretend to be human! That would be fun, wouldn’t it?”

Cooper eyed him, his gaze darting first to Chaos’s spread wings, then to his tail, then somewhere around his hairline, where his horns peeked out. “I think that’s probably a…bad idea?”

Chaos ignored that too, leaning forward to nuzzle his head into Cooper’s neck instead. He placed a kiss there—he liked the way Cooper shivered when he did. He’d like to suck him again, since it had already been hours since the last time. But it would be more satisfying when Cooper wasn’t distracted by worry over his cousin.

And if Ivan caused any problems…

Well, then it wouldn’t matter what Ivan did anymore, because Chaos would burn him down to a crisp.

Chaos hadan ongoing list of things that werenotfun, and waiting for things to happen went right toward the top.

A little anticipation was one thing, but after too long, it became boring.

Boring, boring, boring, boring.

Like right now, waiting for Ivan in Cooper’s apartment. Because Cooper had been wrong about needing the Book on hand right away—his cousin hadn’t come running the second he’d called after all. They’d been waiting forhoursnow.

They didn’t know why either. The phone call between Cooper and Ivan certainly hadn’t been very informative. From what Chaos had overheard, it had been mostly awkward and strange, with Cooper acting a bit like a loon. Chaos would have found it funny if Cooper hadn’t been so nervous talking to the man.

And now Cooper was pacing, nibbling on his fingers like he never allowed Chaos to do, getting more anxious by the minute. He wouldn’t even let Chaos soothe him with his touch and his mouth, muttering something about, “If I’m interrupted by Ivan mid-blow-job, it’ll ruin sex for me forever.”

Rude.

That was what it came down to. Rudeness. This Ivan was rude and annoying, and not in the good, fun way Chaos was. Having Nix at his side had clearly done nothing to teach the man about the importance of respecting a demon’s time.

Not that Ivan knew Chaos was here. Still. Who said Chaos had to be logical about it?

Would Ivan bring Nix with him, when he came to ruin all Chaos’s fun? Chaos had a feeling he would. If Ivan and Nix were looking to bond, they wouldn’t want to be apart while the mortal half of their duo was still vulnerable.

Speaking of…

“Don’t go thinking any lusty thoughts while Nix is here,” Chaos warned Cooper from his cross-legged position on the coffee table. “He can smell them.”

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