“I covet you like any good demon would.” His other hand tightened at the back of my neck. “And my desire for you increases every waking second in a way that should frighten me, but really just excites me. But most of all, I love you,” he said, and my entire body jolted at the words. He didn’t seem to notice. “I, Astaroth, Crown Prince of Hell, am in love with you, Layla Shaw. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow. A hundred decades from now, I will still be in love with you, and it will be as fierce today as it will be a decade later.”
Hearing his words was like bear-hugging the sun. Warmth poured into me and he drove those words home with a kiss that went beyond the soft, questing one we’d just shared. It was deep and thorough, and I felt like he was claiming me and I was claiming him in return. That finally, after all this time, we’d destroyed that line between us and there was no going back.
“I love you” was said over and over, in between kisses and then in between the moans those kisses eventually wrought from us. Even when we moved beyond the words, it was screamed in every kiss and touch.
Dropping our hands, Roth gripped my hip as he pressed his body to mine. The thin pajama bottoms offered no real barrier between us, not when we were so greedy for each other. I wanted him, so badly that I ached in a way that had to be physical, totally was physical, but it went further, deeper, tattooing my skin, carving out my muscle and etching into my bones. And he had to feel the same, because I could feel how much he wanted this with every roll of his hips and when he slipped his hand under my shirt, dragging the material up and up, I could barely breathe. My heart jackhammered as he rose up on one arm and stared down at me.
I was bare from the waist up, and while this wasn’t the first time he’d seen so much of me, a nest of cannibalistic butterflies started flapping their wings in my belly. My experience in these situations was limited, but the stark hunger in his fiery gaze was evident and I knew in the very core of my being that he was thrilled with what he saw.
And he proved it with his words.
“Beautiful,” he said, voice thick as he lightly trailed his fingers across my belly. I jerked, and then bit down on my lip. “You are so beautiful, Layla. And if I could pick one thing I could stare at for the rest of eternity, it would be you.”
My heart swelled so fast and so big I thought I’d float right up to the ceiling and into the stars. Maybe even to the Heavens themselves.
Roth’s fingers drifted up, his caress reverent. “It would always be you.”
Then he was kissing me again, and these kisses, these moments were precious, powerful and beautiful in their own way.
Roth’s lips skated over my cheek toward my ear, and he whispered words that sent a heady flush across my skin and caused my muscles to curl in a strange, delightful way. When he lifted his head, his gaze was questioning, wanting and a thousand other things.
I nodded.
One side of his lips tipped up, and then he said, “Thank you.”
Not a single part of me understood why he was thanking me, but then all thoughts flew out the window, because he kissed the corner of my lips, and then started a line of tiny kisses that trailed from my chin down my throat and then farther still.
My fingers dug into the comforter when he stopped, and then lingered, drawing a stuttered gasp from me. I really didn’t get why he was thanking me while he was doing this, because it should truly be the other way around.
His lips skimmed over my ribs. “I think we need to get you a tattoo.”
It took me a few minutes for his words to make sense. “A...a tattoo?”
“Yeah.” He kissed just above my belly button. “A familiar.”
“I can do that?”
Roth lifted his chin and grinned in a way that caused my heart to flop around. “I don’t see why not, and I know who can do one for you.” His gaze traveled down the length of me, sending a shiver dancing over my skin. “This would be a good spot.” He dragged his hand over the side of my ribs. “Or here?” That same hand made its way under the band of my pajama bottoms and curled around my hip. His gaze heated. “I really like the idea of it being here.”
“Does it really matter where it’s inked on?” I asked. “It’s going to move anyway, right?”
“Oh, it matters.” He kissed the spot below my navel. “Mostly just matters to me.”
I laughed. “Okay, then.”
Grinning, he rose once more, climbing over me. His arms were huge and powerful and his hands came down on either side of my head. My breath caught as his lips took control of mine. I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close. His tongue swept over mine, and the taste of him drove me crazy.
Roth went on the move again, sliding down once more. My fingers played in his hair, and I could no longer keep track of where he was heading, because he obliterated any comprehensive thinking skills.
I don’t even know how my bottoms came off or where they ended up. It was like magic. Roth was magic. He also had this delightful mischievous tilt to his lip as his hands traveled up the outside of my thighs. There was nothing between my skin and his hands, and I could feel every touch and even the softest caress was like being hit by volts of electricity.
“Shortie?”
I loosened my grip on his hair, letting my hands fall back to the comforter. “Yeah?”
“What about getting a tat here?” He kissed the side of my thigh, right above my knee, on the inside. “It’s a very interesting place. I like it.”
I bit down on my lower lip. “I’m sure you do.”
His eyes flared a bright ocher. “You know what else I’ve been thinking?”
With him, it was anyone’s guess.
“I think I’m going to have to make it official. You know, me being the president of the demon horde Layla fan club.”
A laugh burst out of me. “What are you going to do? Make yourself a shirt that says you’re the official president?”
“And buttons. I’m totally going to make myself some buttons.”
I started to laugh, but his fingers found the thin material—the only thing left on me—and things were most definitely going further than they had before. I was nervous, but I also trusted him. I remembered what he’d whispered in my ear earlier. I knew this would only go so far. Before my nerves could get the better of me, his lips were where his hands were, and I was no longer thinking about anything. There was only feeling—just him and the crazy, beautiful rush of sensations he coaxed out of me. He was a master at it, absolutely brilliant, because I didn’t feel like me. I didn’t shake and tremble like this and those soft noises were so not coming from me. I was like a piece of cloth being pulled too tight, until suddenly all the tension broke, and I was caught in the whirlwind, thrown so very high, I could kiss the stars.
Roth slowly rose, wiggling an arm under me and pulling me against his chest. When I opened my eyes, he looked like he’d had his mind blown, but that was strange, because he was the one doing all the mind-blowing. I was the one on the receiving end.
“That...” My tongue didn’t want to work. “That was amazing.”
His smile was part arrogance, like he already knew exactly how awesome that was, but there was something boyish about the curve of his lips. He stretched out beside me, keeping me close. He lowered his head, kissing me softly, and I was boneless and weak in his arms.
His mouth was hot against my damp brow. “I want an eternity of mornings like this.” He dropped a kiss next to my ear. “An eternity.”
A chill blew through me as my eyes popped open. The happy glow dulled and the haze scattered. I suddenly realized something very important, something that neither of us had even thought of at this point. Roth would never grow any older. For as long as he walked this earth, he would look as he did today, while I would age and die like any other mortal out there thanks to my Warden blood.
Roth had an eternity.
I didn’t.
eight
THE CHILLED, UNSETTLED feeling followed me the rest of the morning and I hated that, because Roth and I were finally on the same page for the first time, and what we had done—what he had done—was frankly amazing and beautiful, and yes, I would want an eternity of mornings like that. Now I felt haunted, as if there was a shadow looming over us, turning infinite time into minutes or seconds. Which was stupid, because I recognized that I had a long, long time before I needed to worry about the awkwardness of a hot guy spending time with me when I was well into my golden years.
But I kept picturing Roth looking as fine and fresh as he did this morning while he rolled out of bed and cast a knowing grin in my direction. In my head, I didn’t look like I did right now. Instead, I had gray hair, a face that rivaled one of those dogs who had wrinkled skin and a hunched-over back. And instead of doing what we did this morning, we’d spend time playing bingo.
I kind of liked bingo, though.
Anyway, the whole thing went well beyond uncomfortable.
There were more pressing issues we needed to address now, which was why we were gathered in the kitchen with Cayman and another demon I’d never met before but who went by the name Edward. I seriously doubted that was the blond’s real name, because the name Edward really didn’t strike fear in the heart of anyone.