Page 19 of Falling for Ash
Suddenly, she felt warm. Very, very warm. Like flames dancing along her skin, caressing, almost kissing her. Then she gasped. What had started as light tickling was now full blown fire.
“Are you alright?”
“I feel hot,” she said just as a cramp hit her.
Ash opened a door, and suddenly, wings sprouted from his back. Along with a tail and horns. She knew they should frighten her, but she couldn’t focus on anything other than the pain.
“Hang on,” the Demon growled.
Ash scooped her up in his arms, his handsome face stern, and if she wasn’t mistaken, worried. Cool air met her skin as he flew with her through the doors of the bar. Holy crap. She was flying. Darn it! And she couldn’t even enjoy it!
“Easy,” he whispered, as he lowered to what looked like a courtyard.
She could not tell, but she knew they weren’t in LA anymore. The sky was a strange shade of purple and red. And there were other creatures flying about, some with feathered wings, others with batlike ones not unlike Ash’s, but not nearly as impressive.
“Boss! You’re home! Let me aid you!”
A small man, at least, she thought he was a man, came running out to greet them. He moved strangely, in a sort of side scramble like a crab. In fact, he had crablike claws instead of legs on his lower body. Ash growled, and the creature stopped dead in his tracks.
“Sorry for growling at you, Ernie. But it’s okay. I’ve got her. You may retire for the evening,” Ash spoke to the cre—, er, to Ernie.
“Thank you, boss,” Ernie mumbled, casting an angry glance at Gabby before crawling away.
“Who’s that?” she asked, her head still spinning.
“Who, not what?” Ash asked, eyebrows raised, and she could tell he was teasing her.
“Well, since I am dreaming all this up, I don’t suppose it matters. Tell me both.”
“You’re not dreaming, sweet. And that was Ernie. He works for me. He is an Imp.”
“Are you sure I am not dreaming?” Gabriella asked, laying her head on his chest. It was still much too foggy to hold up on her own. This must be why she’d never indulged so heavily before.
Ugh.
Why did people even like drinking if this was the result?
“Why must you be dreaming, sweet?”
“Well, let’s see, tonight I was told I am a Werewolf. My stepmom signed me up to meet a guy through a supernatural speed dating service. I got drunk for the first time on who knows what mixed cocktail Eve, the actual Eve by the way, and Aphrodite, aka Goddess of Love, whipped up for me.”
“I see.”
“That’s not all,” she continued. “Most recently, I am being carried all over the place by this ridiculously cute guy, who is not gasping for air even though I weigh a ton, and I am pretty sure he can fly. Seriously, how drunk am I? Did you really have wings on your back a minute ago?” Gabby frowned, looking at the space those large black appendages had appeared only moments ago.
“First, you are light as a feather. Perfect, in fact. Second, my wings are still there,” he explained, causing all sorts of delicious waves of warmth to run up and down her spine. “You just can’t see them.”
“Wait. What? Where did they go?”
“When I need them, they will appear. You see, they are simply existing in another plane of reality.”
“Oh.” Gabriella sighed, nodding against his chest.
The fact the sumptuous mortal was taking him at his word was surprising in and of itself. That she trusted him with her person was something else entirely. Yes, he was the Demon of Lust, but he had caused enough death and destruction to have forged quite the reputation for being fearsome. And yet, one brush of her hands over his chest, one sigh and the feel of her warm breath on his neck, and Asmodeus, the Demon of Lust, a Prince of Hell, and General of the Daemonium Guard, was undone.
Mine.
His Demonic side whispered in his mind, and he felt the truth of it to his core. Yes. She was his.
