Page 30 of Astaroth
Luca laughed, one balkinghah.
“But!” Jennifer shot them a sour look, then looked at Briar again. “I’m glad you’re here, Briar. We could use an extra set of hands with the tree, if you’re not busy. Sam chose the biggest one on the lot.”
“Biggestandfluffiest,” Sam sang.
Relief sank into his bones. The emotional outpour earlier had left him drained. The sex had, too. His muscles were splendidly gelatinous. But warmth filled the manor, seeping through the walls and the floor, and into him. Luca looped their arm around his elbow when he hit the bottom of the stairs and walked with him into the sitting room. Mallory sat cross-legged in an oversized recliner, crocheting what looked to be a scarf. Sam spread a wine-red skirt under the massive tree she, somehow, had carried inside. He hadn’t a clue how it’d fit through the door. A few other people—cooks and maids and loitering residents—pinned garland above the windows and across the mantle. Pine scented the room.
Jennifer handed him a foil globe. “See? It’s huge.”
He hung the ornament on a middle branch.
Aster curled his hand over Briar’s shoulder. Briar knew him by sensation, the gentle thumb to his collarbone, how Aster brushed his knuckles along the ring of his turtleneck. He knew Aster by presence and smell, by the energy that shifted once he entered a room. Briar leaned toward him, felt his chest touch his back. His clippings hardly protested. The pain was dull and muted beneath fresh bandages and new skin, but tolerable. Easier. A start.
“Here,” Aster said, and pressed a steaming mug into Briar’s palm.
Briar turned. They kissed simply, like two people used to each other. To seeking and finding, taking and having. “Thank you.”
The fire roared. Outside, snow fell.
Chapter Ten
Briar stretched his leg, sprawled across Aster’s bed with Chastity’s cool scales sliding over his belly. Her body dipped, cascading from hip to ribs, then around his shoulder. He pouted his lips at her puppy-shaped snout. She flicked her tongue, kissing him on the eyebrow, and kept on her way, slithering toward the headboard. Surprisingly, Chastity was lazy and mild-mannered. The only aggression he’d ever seen happened on feeding days—snatching dead rabbits from the air as Aster dropped them into her aquarium.
Aster rifled through his dresser, tugging on a pair of black briefs. One wing twitched. “Do you plan on wearing clothes at any point today?”
“For dinner, yes. Luca chose something ‘glamorous’, I guess,” Briar said. He trailed his fingers over Chastity’s back. “Are you feeling prudish, Great Duke? Offended by nudity all of a sudden?”
Aster tossed a playful glance over his shoulder. “No, but itisthe solstice. The rest of the house will start sniffing around if we don’t make an appearance soon.”
They’d spent the day between the atrium and the bedroom, swimming and lounging. Later, in the bathtub, Briar’s hands had wandered between Aster’s legs, testing for reluctance.Do it, Aster had said,I want you to.Water had sloshed over the porcelain and puddled on the floor, tossed by Aster’s wings and his restless legs propped on the edge of the tub. His mouth had fallen open, pupils large and dark as Briar pushed inside him. It was strange, having Aster like that. To be in control, to stoke pleasure from within, widening his larger, stronger body, listening to him moan and pant. Briar had never experienced anything like it. Fucking the Great Duke tenderly, slowly, until his dick wept, reddened and swollen, and he came on a strangled gasp, thrusting up into the circle of Briar's fist, grinding down on his sheathed cock until Briar spilled inside him. Afterward, Briar had napped in Aster’s bed, drifting in and out of sleep. Wind howled. Ruckus from downstairs echoed. Reverently, Briar watched Aster dress. He wore his corset, a simple black button-down, and dark jeans.
So far, the solstice had proven lazy and fulfilling, blanketed in snow and yearning for the long night.
Aster scooped Chastity into both hands and draped her over his shoulders. “C’mon, good girl, let’s go see what’s happening in the kitchen, hmm?” He touched his thumb to Briar’s chin. “Clothes, darling.”
“Fine, all right,” Briar murmured.
Chastity flicked her tongue as Aster walked through the door.
Briar sighed, steering his gaze to the window. He watched snow flurry. Far out over the trees, the sun dipped low, sinking toward the horizon.How have I landed here?The thought had come and gone many times. He inhaled a deep, steady breath.
Perhaps fate had caused a collision. Aster and Briar, opposing forces, falling into each other. Maybe the creator had written them both into existence and left them wanting, waiting, untilthis sun cycle, this Celestial Auction, this tragic meeting. Or had their affair been accidental? He didn’t know—he would never know. But he was thankful for whatever had landed him at the estate, in Aster’s bed.
He put on his robe and snuck down the hall to his bedroom. An unzipped garment bag hung from the knob on his closet door, displaying a crimson shirt with polished black buttons and a pressed pair of pants. He pawed through the dresser. Carefully rolled sheer stockings over his feet, shins, knees, thighs, and hooked them to his garter belt. Tugged on thick winter socks. Pushed a leather belt through the loops on his trousers. Slid each button into place and pinched his cheeks until they pinkened. Lastly, he toed on his house-shoes and made for the staircase.
Downstairs, music played from the Bluetooth stereo in the foyer. The kitchen boomed with boisterous laughter, clattering dishware and bubbling pots. He peeked into the sitting room first, nodding to Luca who sat sideways in the recliner, sketching in a notebook. The tree adjacent the fireplace was strung with white lights and an assortment of ornaments, and stockings swayed from press-on hooks stuck to the mantle. People swept by in floor length gowns and dinner jackets, twirling and smiling. The manor felt younger and older at once. Brightened by celebration, yet sturdy and calm, as if this same night had come and gone. A memory replicated year after year.
Mallory rounded the corner, wearing a simple, satin cloth around her missing eyes, and a knee-length, long-sleeved dress. “Briar, is that you?” She reached out. He took her hand. “Oh, hello, dear. Aster has that dreadful beast out again. He knows I can’t stand snakes.” She shivered, grimacing dramatically. “I hope you’re ready to eat. Clementine’s outdone herself this year.”
Briar smiled. “I’m starving, actually. I’m sure I’ll try a bit of everything.”
“Good, good.” She patted his hand and crossed the entryway. “Luca! Dinner!”
The dining room was fit for a feast. A roast pig with a shiny red apple in its mouth filled the center of the long table, surrounded by wine decanters, glazed hens and beautifully arranged side dishes. Honeyed root vegetables sprinkled with thyme, potatoes slathered in garlic, meatballs soaked in a hearty cranberry sauce, green beans with walnuts and goat cheese—everything anyone could want on the longest night. Sam dipped a ladle into a crockpot filled with hot buttered rum and filled a mug, then another, handing the first to Jennifer. Other residents piled food onto gilded plates, sat casually in chairs or stood by the fireplace, eating and drinking together.
“I put her in the atrium,” Aster said through a sigh, walking from the kitchen into the dining room. “Yeah, I know, I know. Mallory will have a fit if I keep her out.”
Briar met his eyes from across the room, the same way he had the first time they’d met. His chest fluttered.Demon King,Briar thought, once again,you are not what I expected.
