In fact, I even text Sage first.
“Damon, what do you think about going on a double date with me and Zoth and Bay? I want to prove her innocence and nail his ass if he’s the guilty party. What do you say?”
I waffle and hesitate before finally pushing send. Ridiculous, right? Because I already sent Sage the warning text.
A few seconds pass before Damon responds.
“I’ll do it.”
“On one condition,” he adds.
There’s no other text.
“What’s the condition?”
“I get at least a kiss out of it.”
I giggle and cover my mouth. Orchid sighs and rolls over, still asleep.
“Let’s see about that. It’s going to take some heavy duty convincing to get Bay to believe this isn’t a setup.”
“All the more reason for us to kiss.”
I shake my head even though he can’t see me. “You’re taking advantage of the situation.”
“Can you blame me?”
“No.”
"Well, then?" I can just picture his cocky grin as he sent that. "Do we have a deal?"
I sigh. “Maybe.”
“Maybe isn’t good enough.”
“Damon, now isn’t the time for fun and games.”
“Maybe I’m a man dying of thirst, and you’re the tall glass of water I need. I’m parched here, Rosemary. Let me drink you up.”
I read and reread his text. It’s corny, which isn’t like him, but then I think about something Bay told me about this past break or the break before, about guys kissing and licking down there, and suddenly, I am very, very wet.
Embarrassed but very turned on, I rub the back of my neck. Would he let me pick where he gets to kiss me?
No! Bad Rosemary! I can't believe I'm even thinking about this. It's absurd. It's wrong. I wouldn't dare ask Damon to do this in front of Sage, so it should be off the table.
I wrinkle my nose and text back, “Fine. One kiss. On the lips. Nowhere else.”
“I just woke up my roommate from laughing so hard. Where else were you thinking about me kissing you?”
“Damon.”
“Your neck?”
“Stop.”
“Your breasts?”
“I would’ve thought you would call them boobs.”
“Nipples?”
I don’t respond.
“Between your legs?”
I inhale sharply.
"If you want me to kiss your lips, I'll kiss your lips, but just realize that you didn't specify which lips."
“Damon, you know full well which lips I meant!” I’m so glad no one is awake to see how red I am right now.
“Relax. You don’t have to worry. I won’t do anything to betray your honor, and I won’t push the envelope. When you want me to kiss you somewhere other than the lips on your face, I will gladly comply, but I won’t go further than you want. I vow.”
A warmth spreads throughout me. A vow. Fairies can’t break a vow, just like we can’t lie. Yes, he’s part demon, but I just know he won’t break his promise.
“Sage isn’t the happiest with this idea,” Damon sends.
I check to make sure Sage hasn’t gotten back to me yet. He hasn’t, so I send him a quick text, “I’m sorry. I just can’t think of anything else.”
“Just be careful and know that if anything happens to you, I will kill Damon.”
“You won’t have to worry about Damon. He’ll behave.”
“I don’t know if I’m more worried about Damon or you.”
“What do you mean?” I’m so confused.
“Zoth. He might see Damon as a threat.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“I’m sure you didn’t,” Sage sends to me, and then he sends this to our group chat, “Just be careful. Both of you. Watch your hands and your mouth, Damon.”
“I make no promises,” Damon sends to us all.
I just shake my head. Boys will be boys.
As soon as I wake the next morning, I call and text Bay until she finally caves and answers.
“What the hell do you want?”
"To let you know that I made my choice about the boys."
Silence.
“Damon, in case you’re interested. Oh, and I might have mentioned to him that you had been begging for a double date, and he knows we’ve been… at odds, so he convinced me to call you and see if we can get together. A double date. The four of us. What do you say?”
“I don’t know if I want to deal with you and your drama right now,” Bay says sharply.
"What? No drama. I… Bay, I'm sorry. I don't know if it'll make you feel any better, but I told a guard I would let them use telepathy on me, and they wouldn't let me. I want the world to know we aren't involved, and I thought that would be one way to do it, but it's not my place to have asked. I'm sorry. I really am. I'll say it every day if you want, every hour, every minute—"
“Fire and brimstone, do you know how to breathe?” Bay laughs, sounding so much like her old self that I giggle.
“I do know how to breathe.”
“Hmm. How good of a kisser is Damon?”
“Amazing.”
At least he is in my dreams.
“I’ll consider the double date,” she says.
“Consider?”
“Well, I need to know that you and Damon are serious.”
“Oh, we are.”
“More than just your words,” she says dryly.
I grin. “You want proof?”
My gaze shifts to the window. Just as I saw out of the corner of my eye, Damon's hovering outside.
“Give me a sec,” I tell Bay, and I hang up. I fly out the window and kiss Damon. I only mean for it to be a short peck so I can snap a pic, but he wraps his long arms around me, drawing me close. My lips open in shock, and he probes his tongue into my mouth. I relax against him, giving in, and my toes curl. I can feel his arousal against me, and it’s all I can do to cling to his broad back so that my hands don’t wander to places they shouldn’t.
When I pull away, I’m dizzy and out of breath.
"If I only get the one kiss, it is going to be a damn good one," he says with a beam,
