Minos stepped back, and Adam sighed, because cuddles were awesome, but he went ahead and sat down on the couch. And itwassuper comfy. He patted the cushion next to him, and Minos took the hint and sat, and Adam sort of sprawled out with his head at the other end and put his legs on Minos’ legs. It was sort of a half cuddle, and this way he could see Minos’ face.
“Still waiting,” Adam prompted. Because Minos was definitely looking oddly, and he wasn’t getting out of talking about it. If Adam had learned anything from his failed relationship with Tim, which weirdly felt like it had happened months ago, it was that you couldn’t just ignore shit and hope it went away. Newsflash—it never went away.
“And why does my life seem so far away? Like I feel like I died months ago, not a day ago. It’s totally weird,” Adam asked.
Minos looked a little more relaxed at that question. “It’s how the soul is engineered to process death. Death sends you through acceptance and understanding. It’s like you speed through a year of heavy self-reflection, all in a few seconds of time. After that, you would’ve gone through ‘afterlife readiness’ if you were upstairs. They love their classes and self-reflection up there.” Minos rolled his eyes at that. “Down here we just get on with Limbo or judgment.”
“Ahhh, yeah,” Adam replied. “That’s what she was talking about. Angel-ugh, or Miss Bitchy, was miffed I hadn’t been through some course or other and that she had to explain my death to me.”
“Hmmm,” Minos hummed. “Yes, they don’t like deviation from their standards up there. It’s rather obnoxious.”
“You don’t have to tell me, Big Guy. I had to deal with her attitude. And although this is probably the most you’ve spoken—nice job, by the way!—you still didn’t answer my original question about that look on your face. No secrets. I’m not doing the secret thing ever again. Been there, done that, and somewhere there’s a corpse to prove it. Because I am totally blaming Tim for my death.
“So spill it. What’s up?” Adam asked. And then he just snuggled down into the cushy couch, legs comfortably resting on Minos, and waited. Because he couldoccasionallykeep his mouth shut for a few minutes.
“Ahhh, yes,” Minos said, and he placed his hands on Adam’s legs, which was incredibly nice. Adam had the impression it was partly to touch Adam but also partly to keep Adam where he was. Like he would run away from Mr. Sexy here. Besides, where would he go? The firefall was beautiful, but he didn’t think he’d be taking a dip in it any time soon.
“I am the Judge of the Damned,” Minos stated. Which, duh, Adam knew already. But he just waited and let his sexy demon get out whatever he needed to say. Because he didnotlook excited about this conversation.
“Is this about me being a human and the fact that I’m not supposed to be here?” Adam asked. Because, yeah, apparently he couldn’t keep his mouth shut for two minutes. Oops.
“No. Well, that is an issue, but that’s something we’ll deal with when upstairs comes looking for you. Luce really won’t care that you’re here. Flouting the rules is kind of his thing, after all.”
Adam assumed Luce was short for Lucifer, which was kind of cute, and it was through sheer force of will that he refrained from commenting on the cuteness of it. Because hereallydidn’t want to keep derailing Minos until he got to the bottom of whatever was bothering his sexy demon. So he waited until Minos started talking again. And man, it washardnot to talk sometimes.
“My ‘look,’ as you called it, has more to do with your ‘lack of filter,’ as you phrased it.”
“Oh my go—umm…” Because apparently Adamcouldn’tshut up, and he also couldn’t stop saying the g-word.
“You can say ‘god,’ Adam. You won’t be struck with lightning or anything,” Minos chuckled. And ok, brooding Minos was sexy as fuck, but chuckling Minos was even better, because Adam was the reason that he was chuckling, and that was kind of awesome.
“Oh my god, then! You totally hate my random rambling and word vomit, and I’mso sorry! I really thought you didn’t mind, and I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I can’t seem to help myself,” Adam prattled, getting more worked up as he went, and by the time he was done he went to move off Minos, but Minos gripped his legs firmly and kept him right where he was.
“Stop,” Minos growled. And oh, that growl. How he could go from mortified to horny in two seconds flat was beyond him, but that growl just did it for him.
“I don’t mind your rambling. Iloveyour rambling. I want to know everything that’s in your head. Never feel bad about saying what you’re thinking,” Minos assured, squeezing Adam’s legs. And Adam settled down at that and felt better, because Minos looked passionate about actually wanting to hear what Adam said. Which was kind of cool.
“And that is sort of what I was trying to tell you,” Minos continued. “You reallycan’thelp it. You literally can’t. Because I am the Judge of the Damned, and my job is to judge people on their actions, but also on their deepest secrets, their innermost desires and thoughts. In order to know that, people have to be willing to tell me all those things. In fact, people have to feelcompelledto tell me those things.
“So… I do that. My presence does that. It makes you want to tell me everything. The further you get from me, the easier it will be to resist talking. Usually six feet is fairly safe. Ten feet is a sure bet. But three feet or closer, and you won’t be able to help yourself.
“But you need to know that I want to hear all your rambling. I judge the worst, most depraved humans. They tell me all their secrets, and they’re horrible. I don’t mind, because it’s my job, and I find justice for them. There’s satisfaction in that.
“But your rambling… it’s refreshing. It’s like a cool breeze after nothing but stifling air for so long. I love to hear the thoughts in your head. I want to know all your secrets and all your desires, because they are beautiful and sexy and fun, and they show what a good soul you really are. Your thoughts are a candle in the darkness, and I wouldn’t extinguish them for all the world. But that doesn’t mean I have the right to compel you to tell me things you don’t want to.” Minos finished talking, and then it looked like it took an act of strength for him to let go of Adam’s legs and physically lift his hands from holding Adam there on the couch.
“Silly demon. Do you think I’m gonna get up and move now? If you don’t mind the word vomit, if you actuallylikeit, then I’m not going anywhere. Because secrets suck, and I’ve never had a problem baring my soul to anyone—even complete strangers while standing in line at coffee shops. And that’s just because I’m bored.
“So to word vomit all over someone who actuallywantsto hear it? Score! Besides, cuddles from you, or even better, some more making out, totally makes up for any demon mojo you got going on that makes me want to tell you everything in my head.” And Adam playfully wiggled his eyebrows at Minos at that.
Minos chuckled again—double score for Adam!—and although they didn’t start making out (unfortunately), they did look out the window together all snuggled up while Adam asked a bunch of weird questions about hell’s landscape and Minos’ job and his house and anything else Adam could think of to ask.
And Minos answered all his questions without getting annoyed, and without telling him he had the attention span of a gerbil (yes, that had totally been a line Tim had once used when they were arguing). There were more snuggles and more chuckles, and it was like the best first date that he had never had when he was alive. Being dead had started off kinda sucky, but since meeting Minos, things had definitely been getting brighter.
And Adam thought again that maybe it was super fast and a little weird to feel so close to someone he’d just met, but he was dead, after all, so he was just going with it. He realized that maybe they had it backwards upstairs. Because snuggling on the couch with Minos, having all his silly questions answered, and being looked at like he was the most interesting person in the world?
Well, that pretty much felt like heaven to him.
Chapter8
