Suddenly he groaned something in demonic and rolled towards her, one arm catching her around the back and pulling her in close. Her eyes flared wide as he aggressively tucked her against his body.

Then, as if to keep her from moving away, his strong leg wrapped across the top of hers. He mumbled more incoherent words then she heard the soft even sounds of his breathing.

Okay then. She scolded herself. Well you want him, don't you? Then don't be so nervous. She couldn't help it though.

It was one thing to...act and another to actually be caught up in it. She was so close to him this way, her face could easily bury in his warm neck.

With the quiet noise from the TV in the other room, Telal’s soft breathing, and the incredible warmth of his body, Lily soon found her eyes drifting close.

CHAPTER 23

Lily woke to the sound of groaning. Her eyes fluttered open, then stayed open as she stared into the face of Telal Demuzi.

Her stomach tightened with butterflies. “Good morning.”

His eyes searched over her face as if realizing she was actually there and not some figment of his imagination. Her usual bravado faltered and the butterflies shot throughout her body making her heart race.

“Lily.” It sounded like a question.

“Hi, Telal.” She wanted to say something sharp and witty, but nothing came to mind. He was completely wrapped around her, his face only inches from hers. When his eyes fell to her mouth and darkened in the way it does when a man is attracted to a woman, her breath hitched.

He leaned in and her hand shot up to press against his mouth. “Did you throw up last night?” The erotic glint in his eyes vanished and he fell back on the bed with a groan.

“No, I don't think so.” He scrubbed his hands over his face, rubbing the palm of his hands into his eyes. “God I feel like shit.”

She laughed, which helped to put her back to rights. “I'm not surprised. I'd feel like a truck hit me too if I drank as much as you did.”

He started to sit up but groaned like he'd been stuck with a knife in his gut. “Fuck.” He stood and she heard the trash can get knocked over.

“Any evidence of upchuck in there?”

He shook his head in answer. She watched him stumble with heavy, uneven steps towards the bathroom. She couldn't help it, she grinned. Watching the strong, smart demon look...human was amazing to see.

He flicked the bathroom light on and the door closed partway. She heard the toilet flush a minute later, then the shower kick on. Not sure why exactly, she went into the bathroom.

 Her eyes widened. He'd already stripped down and stood under the spray of the shower. Under normal circumstances his body was incredible, but dripping wet, he looked glorious.

He'd just finished brushing his teeth when she stepped into the doublewide stall with him. He looked over at her with surprised eyes. So he hadn’t heard her. Grabbing the toothbrush out of his hand, she dispensed some paste on it from a container attached to the wall and scrubbed away. They watched each other, both getting doused under the oversized shower head.

She finished brushing and set the toothbrush back on the ledge carved into the wall. He picked up a rag, rubbed some soap on it, and began washing his arms and chest. Still his eyes watched her.

“You shouldn't be in here,” he said without any real heat.

She smiled because she couldn't find words as he slid that washcloth across his chest and over the loops in his nipples. Watching him made everything inside her feel tight and needy. With the wall of white suds on his chest she wanted nothing more than to step forward and rub her own chest across it.

He finished washing and she held her hand out for the cloth. Now it was his turn to smile and the feral look in in his eyes actually made her flush from chest to nose.

“Let me.”

She almost moaned and somewhere in the whirlwind of fog beginning to swim around her mind, she managed to nod.

“You shouldn't bite your lip,” he said softly as he soaped the cloth up again until it was nice and foamy.

“Why?” She sounded breathless and hoped he didn’t hear it.

His eyes flicked to hers. “Because it makes me want to.”

And breathing became difficult. God, she'd never expected this. Never thought he'd even speak kindly to her let alone...almost romantically. She closed her eyes and told herself not to think about it, if she did then she might jinx it.

“Turn around.”

She did, stiffly. When his body stepped up against hers, the air in her lungs exhaled in an unsteady stream of air. Hot and wet from the water, his chest pressed into her shoulders, and his groin against her lower back which gave her the strongest urge to rub back against him. And he was hard, his erection not quite digging into her, but making its presence known.

Dark golden arms came around her, so different from her own light skin tone. The washcloth flattened against her stomach, rubbed in small circles around her bellybutton and she sucked it in whether consciously or not. Her eyes watched his strong forearm, the dark dusting of hair there, a darker shade of gold, and the thick veins that fed blood through his system. He was so strong compared to her, it made her knees weak.

His arms curled more around her, bending her into him. His voice came at her ear, husky and deep. “You are quite beautiful, lilit.”

“What-what does that mean?” Her eyes closed as the washcloth swept across the expanse of her stomach from hip bones to just under her breasts.

“Succubus.”

She couldn't help it, she laughed. The answer was so underwhelming.

Her laughter stuttered to a stop as the washcloth moved up between the valley of her breasts, which sent some kind of signal to her nipples to pull them into hard, aching points. He rubbed the cloth along her neck and collar then back down between her breasts. Her chest sawed hard. It was almost painful how badly she needed him to run that cloth across her breasts, to squeeze her. But he didn't.

Moving slowly, he traced the cloth up either side of her arms, across her shoulders, occasionally stopping to rewet and soap it as it cooled. Her muscles turned to putty under his hands. She was completely at his mercy, under his control. She'd let him do anything to her in that moment. Hell, she hoped he'd do something to her. Like bend her forward then slip his cock inside. Her core clenched needily at the image and a soft moan bubbled out of her.

“What are you thinking about, Lily?” he asked in a soft, hypnotic voice. Her breathing quivered as he made his way with the washcloth across her hips, then rubbing bigger circles across each of her ass cheeks but never becoming indecent with the touch, never going as far as she craved.

A heated blush blazed across her cheeks. “I can't say it.”

She could hear the laughter in his voice. “Since when are you shy, Lily Bellum?”

“Since now apparently.”

Now he did laugh. A warm, delicious sound that drifted over her body like an embrace. He warmed the washcloth under the water again and knelt down, slowly tracing the cloth up first one leg, then the other. Her knees turned to jelly as he softly cleaned each foot forcing her to brace an arm against the shower wall to steady herself. She'd never have thought that rubbing a cloth slowly against the arch of her foot could connect to the need in her sex. But apparently that was the case because with each stroke across her arch, even in between her toes, need curled in her.

Her legs were squeaky clean by time he finished, but he didn't stop there. Oh no, he ran that decadent cloth up between her thighs then higher near her aching sex. Her breathing turned harsh and loud in the shower. He gave her the same treatment with the other inner thigh, and this time, just the barest piece of cloth scraped against her swollen lips. She moaned, a wild unsteady sound.