He slid onto my lap and raised his head so his flicky tongue was inches from my face.

“There’sss another sssnake in our territory.”

“Ah, yes. Cora filled me in. She lives on Keon’s back?”

“She’s been ssspying on me, on usss.”

Of course she had. It was Keon’s job, after all, but he didn’t have to bring my Cyril into it. “I’m sorry, Cyril. I can ask Keon to keep her out of your space.”

“No need. I can handle her.”

Okay, now I was confused. “But if she’s bothering—”

“No, I…I find her fascinating…She comesss and goes, and she has a scent that makesss me feel…”

“Feel?”

“Ssstrange.”

Uh-oh. “Cyril, do you like her?”

“Like?”

“Are you attracted to her?”

“I believe I wish to mate with her.”

Oh, boy. “Um, sure, I mean if she’s up for it.”

“I’ll asssk her.”

He slid off my lap and across the room, but he paused before he got to the wardrobe under the vent. “I misssed you too, Fee. Don’t get kidnapped again.”

And that was Cyril showing me love in his own reptilian way.

I dropped Cora a message asking for an update on Vi and the spell, then headed out to look for Mal. I had a question to ask him, and my stomach was all aflutter. I didn’t make it far, though.

Keon was waiting for me outside my door, arms crossed, looking annoyed.

When he didn’t move to let me pass, I inched around him and shut my bedroom door. “How long have you been here?”

“A few minutes.”

“You could have knocked.”

“Yes.”

And? Nothing, it seemed. God, he was weird. “Well, what do you want?”

“We should train in the morning before heading to the Academy.”

“I’ve had my training, thank you.”

“Not with the weapons we’ll be using against the daemon army Mammon is raising. You’ll want to be competent in their use before you train the cadets, or they will mock you.”

I blinked at him in surprise at his thoughtfulness. He could have neglected to tell me this. Let me look like an ass at the Academy, but he hadn’t.

“Thank you.”

He looked confused. “Why are you thanking me?”

“For caring whether I look like an idiot or not.”

“I don’t care how you look, but you represent Lilith. I care how she is perceived; therefore, I must educate you.”

O-kay. “Still, thanks.”

He didn’t move; in fact, he looked suddenly lost, and it hit me that this wasn’t his domain. That these quarters weren’t his home. How out of depth must he feel? I really wanted to see Mal, but I couldn’t just leave him to wander about aimlessly. Well, I could, but it felt…wrong.

“I was actually about to go play some Chaos Dimensions. You want to come watch, maybe play?”

“What is this…Chaos Dimensions?”

“A game.”

His eyes narrowed as if he was trying to gauge whether I was sincere or not.

Okay, maybe another tact. “Have you tried cheesy puffs?”

“What are cheesy puffs?”

“Popcorn?”

He shook his head.

I grinned. “You may have killed a bunch of people, but honey, you haven’t lived until you’ve had sweet and salty popcorn mixed.” I turned and walked away. “Come on. Let me educate you.”

I’d find Mal later.

Chapter Twenty-Four

An hour later, Keon was sitting cross-legged on the floor by my feet, tail whipping back and forth excitedly. He shoved handfuls of popcorn into his mouth while simultaneously button bashing the shit out of the game controller. Okay, so he wasn’t great at the game, but he was having fun, and that was all that mattered.

My comm beeped with a message from Cora.

Vi says there might be a spell. We’re looking into it. I’ll check in as soon as I have more news.

Let me know if you want me to head over. Because guess what? I can do that now. I got flight skills.

WTF?

I’ll fill you in later.

You better. I’ll message if I need you.

I went back to kicking cryptid ass, and for several minutes, it was just me, Keon, the monsters on the screen, and the regular crunch of popcorn as he devoured it. Mal’s citrus scent signaled his arrival, and my stomach quivered.

“What’s this?” Mal joined me on the sofa.

I glanced across at him, cheeks heating as I quickly soaked up his profile. Fuck, he looked good—hair mussed from sleep, lips all pouty and kissable, and shirtless, just the way I loved him.

I had a question to ask, but now wasn’t the time.

Keon hissed at Mal, then went back to his button bashing.

Mal stared at him, then gave me a weird look. “You do realize that’s Lilith’s Blade sitting at your feet, right?”

“Uh-huh.” I sliced a cryptid’s head off and then leaped over its body to kick another in the face.

“The demon queen’s pet assassin is sitting at your feet,” Mal said.

“He’s not a pet, he’s a person, creature, whatever. And he was bored.”

“Fee?” Mal said. “A word.” He jerked his head toward the hallway and then left.

I popped my controller on the coffee table. “Hold the fort, I’ll be right back.”

Keon didn’t even blink, his attention on the screen.

I joined Mal in the hallway. “What is it?”

He pulled me out of the room and pushed me up against the wall, pinning me in with his body, palms on the brick either side of me.

“He’s a killer,” he said. “A cold-blooded killer. You can’t befriend him. You can’t save him. He has no empathy, Fee. He’s not built that way. He’s a daemon.” He was saying words, but his attention was on my mouth, intense and telling.

“You’re worried I’m humanizing him.”

“Yes.” He leaned closer.

“Like I humanized you?”

“Ouch.” His breath kissed my lips.

Fuck, I wanted to kiss him, but we were having a serious conversation, and I wasn’t about to be distracted.

I put my hand on his chest to keep him at bay and immediately regretted it. His velvet-smooth skin was a fucking addiction, and now all I wanted to do was lick him.

“Fee,” he said. “You need to keep Keon at a distance.”

I pulled my hand back. “Look, Mal, I know what Keon is, and I know that if Lilith asks him to slit my throat, he’ll do it in a blink, no questions asked. He’s loyal to her, and in his own way, he cares for her, maybe even loves her, so he may not have any empathy, but he does have feelings. He may not be human, but I am, and I can’t change that. This is me, Mal. He was bored. He looked lost, and so I thought I’d hang out with him. Where’s the harm in that?”

Mal sighed and shook his head. “You’re something else, you know that, Fee?”

“Something good?”

“Definitely.”

“He’s going to be with us for a while. He’s here to protect me. We don’t have to make this awkward. While he’s here and not trying to kill me, he’s part of the team. If that changes, then we’ll deal with it.”

“Okay, if that’s what you want.”

“It is.” I lifted my chin so that our mouths were a mere inch apart. “So… you want to join us?”

Mal smiled. “I’d rather do something else…”

“Later.”

“Promise?”

I kissed him softly, resisting the urge to deepen the kiss, and then slipped under his arm and back into the lounge. Keon was still alive in the game. Points for effort. I joined him, appearing beside him in the game to help get the cryptids off his back.

Mal grabbed a controller.

“Right, then,” he said. “How about we take this up a level and have some real fun.”

Hot water beat down on me as I stood, palms flat on the tiles, with Mal behind me. His mouth was on my neck, fangs deep as he fed. His chest was pressed to my back, one hand on my breast, the other low on my abdomen. His fingers slid back and forth between my folds, playing my clit like a fucking pro. I moved with him, hips rolling against his hand, urging him to go faster as the endorphins from his bite flooded me.

I opened my legs wider, pushing back with my ass, wanting more of his fingers inside me.

He retracted his fangs and laved the wound before turning me to face him. His hand wrapped around my throat and then slid up to pinch my jaw, forcing my mouth up to his for a deep kiss that was all wrestling tongues and nipping teeth. He sucked on my bottom lip and broke the kiss to fall to his knees as if in worship.

He gripped my hips and lifted me, draping my thighs over his shoulders.

“Mal…”

His mouth claimed me, tongue whipping back and forth over the swollen nub until I was panting and clutching at his hair, and then he wrapped his lips around my clit and sucked. A primal sound tore up my throat as I came, hips jerking against his mouth. He lapped at me, sending me into a head-whipping frenzy.

“Fuck, Mal.”

But he wasn’t done with me.

He stood and hoisted me up so my legs were around his waist, and then he entered me hard and fast, over and over again, and the orgasm I thought was over sharpened and tightened to the point that it skated the line between pleasure and pain. I wrapped my arms around his head, holding him to me, cradling him as our hips kissed harder and faster. My sobs echoed around the room, pleading for him to stop and begging him not to, while my body milked his arousal until he finally came.

We lay tangled in sheets, hands touching skin, lips brushing against each other for a good half hour afterward.

“How’s Azazel?” Mal finally asked.

“Good.” I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.