That Old Black Magic

Thus, the fretting.

Even Stanley, of all people, had been hit by the love stick when he’d least expected it, and it had changed the direction of his life forever. Well, Nancy did know how to make an excellent donut, that was for sure.

All Darrak knew for absolute certain was that he cared for Eden more than anything in the world. And the fact that she’d become a person of interest to Lucifer didn’t sit well with him. Lucifer might have a very disarming face here in the human world, but that didn’t make him any less dangerous.

He just wished he knew what to do about that.

It felt like a very long time before the sun began to rise. He knew the moment it happened, because it hit him like a lightning bolt before surrounding his incorporeal form like a clawed hand, tearing him from the darkness and wrenching him up through to the physical world.

Eden gasped in her sleep as he was expelled from her body. Immediately he began to take form, his essence rebuilding itself in the image of whom he’d been before, so very long ago. Tall, demonic, and handsome, limbs in all the right positions. It was effortless and yet exhausting at the same time.

A few moments later he found himself lying next to her on her bed. A feeling of relief and calm swept over him.

Eden appeared to smile in her sleep, and she slid a hand over his bare chest. He covered it with his own hand, not wanting to break the moment. It did surprise him that she was able to sleep through this every morning —almost every morning, unless she was already awake.

“Today is special, I feel it,” he whispered to her. “It’s the beginning, not the end.”

She grunted a soft reply, but didn’t stir further. In her sleep she wasn’t consumed with worry or anxiety over their unusual situation. Eden slept very soundly for a woman who had to deal with an unwanted demonic possession and a million other problems since he’d come into her life.

Today could go very well. Darrak tried to hold on to that thought.

It was an important Friday. First he’d walk her through the curse breaking. One way or another, after that they would find Lucifer’s missing person to check that chore off the list and get him off their backs for a bit longer.

And tonight was also the full moon.

Andy was scheduled to turn into a werewolf at approximately the same time Darrak would next lose form. That was, if they were unable to break the curse this morning.

Let’s think positively, he told himself.

“Darrak…” Eden whispered, her eyes still closed.

She often talked in her sleep, saying all sorts of interesting things.

He drew closer, bringing his head to rest on her pillow. “Yes, Eden?”

“What am I going to do…”

“What are you going to do…?” he prompted when she trailed off.

“… without you?”

“I’m not going anywhere.” He frowned at the strange statement and studied her face. “Do you love me, Eden?”

His breath caught and held as he waited for her answer as if he was a teenage human boy looking for the girl he liked to confirm she would go to the prom with him. She was very honest when she was asleep.

“I want you,” she murmured. “I need you… yes…”

“All good to know. But what about…” Oh hell, what was he doing? Trying to coax some sort of oath of love and devotion from an unconscious woman? “Forget it.”

“When you’re gone I’ll be all alone again…”

“Gone?” He frowned again. “Where am I going?”

“I love…” she whispered.

His attention grew fixed on her again. “Yes? What do you love?”

“When you… make love to me. Want it… please… again…”

Okay, so she wanted him for his body. It was nice to know. But oddly empty. Nice. But empty. Kind of like how he felt after eating one of Nancy’s chocolate donuts.

“You want me?” he said.

“Yes, so much…”

“There’s no more spell to stop us anymore.”

Her hands slid over his chest to his shoulders. “No more spell.”

“Wake up, Eden.” He stroked the long strands of dark red hair off her forehead. He studied her face, as if committing it to memory. Every part of her, right down to the very faint and adorable freckle just under her right eye, burned into him for the rest of his existence — a scorch mark where his soul would be if he actually had one.

Instead, she had become his soul.

Damn. He really should start writing those romance novels. He’d kick ass at it.

Her eyelashes fluttered, and her sleepy gaze took in the sight of him lying next to her. This didn’t happen anymore, not since he’d been trying to be well behaved. Too dangerous to be this close when there had been nasty spells to contend with.

“Darrak…” she whispered.

“That’s my name.”

For a moment he thought she’d pull back from him. It was what she’d done in the beginning, when she’d woken to find her unconscious self had been getting a bit too close for comfort with a naked demon.

But she didn’t pull back. Just the opposite, actually. She pulled his face closer to hers and kissed him hard and deep. He didn’t try to stop her.

Eden loved him for his body, for how he made her feel when they had sex.

That wasn’t all this was. It wasn’t.

Come on, Darrak, he admonished himself. Can’t you just enjoy the ride and stop second-guessing everything?

He could enjoy the ride. Sure he could.

Her cold amulet pressed against his chest as her lips moved down his throat. Lucifer had kissed her behind his back, sweeping her away to some alternate dimension so he wouldn’t be around to disrupt them. It bothered Darrak a lot, and it wasn’t because he was jealous.

Then again, jealousy wouldn’t be completely unheard of. Lucifer might be the ultimate hellish asshole, but he was a prince. Influential, powerful, and if he really did have a thing for Eden, the things he could give her…

Oh, this was not good at all. Thinking about his ex-boss was deflating more than just his ego.

“Is there a problem?” Eden asked.

“Problem? No, of course not.”

“I thought you wanted us to…” She cleared her throat, her expression now uncertain.

Thinking about Lucifer was pretty much the equivalent of taking an ice-cold shower. Not exactly firing up his libido. Quite the opposite, in fact.

How embarrassing. An ex-incubus who couldn’t get it up.

“It’s not you,” he assured her. “It’s Lucifer.”

Her eyebrows raised. “Oh?”

“Thinking about him isn’t exactly helping matters.”

“Then stop thinking about him.”

He flicked her amulet. “A bit difficult to do. I feel like there’s three of us in this bed right now.” At her amused expression, “Don’t get any ideas about having a menage a trois from Hell. He’s really not my type.”

“As if I would.” She shook her head. “You’re funny.”

“So hilarious I forgot to laugh.”

She took his face between her hands. “Sometimes you just prove to me that you’re so much more than just a demon. Sometimes you’re practically human.”

“Let’s not get insulting.”