Page 38 of Devil Bound
“Displeased?Dragon Mother, it’s just the juice cleanse.Mood swings are normal at the beginning.”
But Nelly wasn’t having that.This time he did snort into his juice, which didn’t stop him from finishing the glass.
“Mood swings?You’re calling this a damn mood swing?Do you know what you fucking did, sashaying in this morning, looking like that?”
I considered.I had been focused on completing the favor and collecting the return, but had it been very rude of me not to offer to take Nelly back to bed and give him the opportunity to suck on my cock as a way of starting this fake boyfriend adventure with me?
“I’m not sure what you mean.”I decided to be cautious as I didn’t want the Dragon Mother to catch on to the fact that Nelly had an apartment of his own.
“I was asleep!I was going to sleep in today.Can I have any more of this?”he asked, looking at his empty glass.
The Dragon Mother clicked her tongue.“A juice cleanse.Goodness.You two are lucky Trony is an angel of culinary skill.”
“Thanks,” Trony said as she walked in with a tray that had two glasses on it—the big round-bellied ones I’d given her for Saturnalia a couple of years ago when she’d been into finding the perfect milkshake recipe.She’d added her favorite silicone straws, too, along with clinking ice cubes.
She handed one to Nelly after prying the empty one from his hand, then offered me the other.
“Beetroot?”I asked.
The angel snorted.“Don’t be basic.This is pomegranate with heart cherries and strawberries, fresh vanilla, banana, and mint.The ice cubes have lemon zest and blood orange juice in them.”
Nelly stopped drinking, and I watched the straw’s silicone rest against his bottom lip, wondering what other silicone toys he’d enjoy licking.His eyes went to the painting above the mantel.
“Pomegranate?”
“Yes,” I said.“An aphrodisiac and the base for pomegranate wine, the old-fashioned wedding drink of some of the cities in ancient Greece.”
He snorted.“It’s not like you made it.”
Trony’s brows went up.“He’s right.”
“So he is,” the Dragon Mother said.“In addition to which, Lucy, don’t you know that humans need their sleep?Just like they need nourishment.Especially the magic users among them.You have to pace yourself, no matter how eager.”
Nelly snorted.Trony’s expression didn’t change as she turned and headed right back to the kitchen.
“I know, Dragon Mother.”
I didn’t elaborate.I really did know, after all.It had been four years, four years of waiting for Nelly to finally demand that I pleasure him, but I couldn’t tell Tiamat that, not after getting Trony’s help in telling her Nelly was my boyfriend.
Tiamat’s attention went back to Nelly.“You are a necromancer.”
He nodded.“I work with Brunswick PD.Homicide.”
“That is unusual.You keep no reanimated serfs of your own?Or do you get them to help the police do their human crime solving?”
The color finally drained from Nelly’s cheeks, leaving an almost sickly pallor there.
“No, I just…I raise murder victims, you know?Because if it wasn’t too traumatic, they can help solve their murder.It’s not perfect, but it helps.”
Tiamat considered him, then nodded.“You call on what essence is left of them, not for vengeance, but to prevent further harm from coming to others.”
“In a way.”
Nelly took a few more sips.His pomegranate juice was almost gone though.I’d have to remember to thank Trony for getting into juicing on such short notice and coming up with something Nelly liked.
Tiamat was watching him intently.“It is not easy to summon essence like this.It demands a lot from a necromancer.Some of your kind might argue that it goes against the essence of necromancy, even.”
Nelly’s brow creased, and he looked up from his juice.“Yeah, some idiots and their wordplay.In this day and age, why would you want to keep zombies and revenants around?To, what, do your laundry?”
