Page 15 of Demon's Bride

I’m not yet ready to concede. I, too, know stories from the elders. There’s a price to be paid for soul-reaping, and I’d not see my people forced to pay it if they do not have to.

As if I could shield her from the fractured, unsteady magick which threatens, I pull Allie’s attention back to me with a firm hand on her jaw. Leaning in, I press my lips to her cheek.

“It’s a problem for tomorrow,” I say softly against her skin before pulling back to meet her gaze. “My realm is in no terrible danger tonight, no matter the outcome of our union.”

Allie nods, though when I pull away the shadows haven’t left her eyes.

“We must try,” I tell her. “Despite it all, we owe our two realms that much, don’t we?”

The words seem to bolster her. The slight, determined spark in her eye is a welcome change, and when she places her hands on her hips and sets her mouth into a playful little smirk, I feel something come back to life within me.

“So tell me about what comes next,” Allie says, forcing levity back into her tone. “What kind of magick sustains an entire realm?”

A dark, clawing hunger awakens in my belly at the question.

What magick, indeed.

Taking a few steps away from her, I circle her slowly, allowing my wings to unfurl to let her know exactly what manner of beast she’s dealing with.

“What kind of magick do you think? Are you not my bride, Allison Ashblood? Can you not guess?”

Her eyes widen, and I watch a little tremor move through her. “A power defined by our union.”

“Yes. There’s great power to be found in a demon claiming a human for his own, much more so when that human is a witch.”

“And so you’d claim me?” she asks, jutting out her chin. “You think I’d hand over my soul so easily?”

“It’s not your soul the bargain demands.”

A beautiful flush creeps up her cheeks. “I’m not well-versed in sex magick.”

The hesitance in her voice stops me short. “Are you a virgin?”

“No. I’ve slept with men… women, too.” Allie glances up at me tentatively, waiting to gauge my reaction.

I only nod in understanding. “A common practice amongst demons as well, to take male and female lovers.”

“Have you?”

“I’ve only taken females to my bed. Never a human, though, never a witch.”

“Have they all been demons?”

The edge in her question bites in the best way. “Do you truly want my whole sordid history, Allie? Because then I might ask for yours in return, and I have a suspicion hearing about your past lovers would make me feel even more feral than I do now.”

She frowns sharply, and I can almost taste the anger in her. The jealousy.

It pleases me.

“If you’re not a virgin,” I say, “then have you not practiced sex magick with your partners?”

From what I’d been able to glean from the texts I’ve studied, the practice is somewhat common amongst human witches.

“Most of my partners were non-magickal,” she says with a shrug.

Something about her tone strikes me as off. But I don’t want to push her for details, and I’m half-convinced it’s just wishful thinking making me believe I know Allie better than I truly do when she speaks again.

“But I’m more than willing to try, with you.”

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