Page 18 of Hellfire & Bowties
“My pleasure, hon.” Luc rose to his feet, stretching out his wings. They were so big they nearly touched the other wall.
Luc let out a contented grunt as he retracted them, walking over to a plain wall. He pushed at the stone, and a crack appeared before it swung inward. A door.
“Bathroom is through here. Knock yourself out.”
Oren ducked back into the closet to rummage for some pajamas. They were a short, bright pink set with a Peter Pan collar. He walked out and stopped short.
Gone were the leather trench coat and leather trousers. Luc had his back to him, climbing into that monstrously huge bed, completely naked. Oren’s mouth went dry as he watched that tailswinging over a tight ass and powerful thighs. All he could see was miles of smooth red skin, and his body reacted immediately. He had never been so viscerally turned on in his entire life.
He glanced up in a daze and saw Luc staring straight back at him. Oren might have squeaked and run for the bathroom.
He slammed the door behind him and panted. He heard laughter on the other side of the wall and blushed the color of his pajamas. It sounded… flirtatious, and Oren kicked himself mentally.
Everyone knew you ran toward the dick, not away from it.
“This is why you’re a virgin,” Oren muttered to himself.
Oren snapped himself out of it, glancing around the bathroom. There was a huge hole in the ground, looking like a hot spring of some kind, full of steaming water that smelled faintly of sulfur. It was almost tempting enough to slip straight into. Certainly big enough for two. The sink and toilet were Luc-sized and ornately carved with demonic designs, and a large mirror sat on one wall.
Oren hurried through a quick refresh and shimmied into his pajamas, then removed his glasses. The heat on the bare skin of his legs made them prickle, and he rubbed them together before cracking the door open.
Maybe his luck was good, and Luc would be waiting on the bed for him, chains in hand, ready to ravish him beyond ravishing.
But no naked devil lay waiting.
Pouting, he tiptoed out into the room that was even darker than before. Only a single torch by Luc’s bed was still lit and flickering. Luc was a large lump under the ornate red and gold cover, and Beast was nowhere to be seen—probably back where Oren had first found him.
Oren crept across the floor, the bathroom door falling shut behind him and really plunging the room into darkness. He took his place on the huge sofa that was more like a double bed andpulled the cover over him, noting it smelled faintly mildewy. Better than brimstone, though.
“Good night,” Luc said, sounding exhausted. He reached a clawed hand over and doused the torch flame with his hand, showing no sign that it hurt.
And then it was pitch-black.
Oren had never experienced darkness so all-encompassing. There wasn’t even a hint of light. It was like being suddenly thrust into a void, where light came to die. He felt a stab of anxiety and tried to push it down. What was the point in being afraid of the dark when he was dead?
Lying on his back, he stared in the direction of the ceiling, his mind still running a mile a minute.
“How can you tell it's night when there’s no sun here?” he asked.
“Go to sleep, Oren.”
“But—”
“Sleep.”
Oren sighed, squeezing his eyes shut and readjusting his position.
Just don’t think about it, he coached himself.You’re sleeping in the same room as the devil. Nothing is scarier than that.
Oren could feel the darkness pressing down on him, like a living thing slithering over his skin. He pulled the sheet over his head and gritted his teeth. He tried to breathe deeply to calm his racing heart, tried to think bright, sunny, happy thoughts.
But there was never-ending darkness surrounding him and no light, and he was beginning to panic.
He poked his head out of the cover and smothered a whimper. There were things moving in the dark, he just knew it. Things that wanted to wrap him up and suffocate him.
He rolled off the sofa and rushed to the bed, wasting no time climbing up onto it. When he looked up, he saw a single eyestaring straight at him, the faint yellow glow soothing instead of scary. Oren inched closer, wanting to be bathed in it rather than deal with the oppressive gulf of blackness yawing behind him. Any embarrassment was worth that.
“You’re sitting on my wing, hon,” Luc told him, and Oren jumped hearing it.
