The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,39

than the ones on Earth. By the time the sky began to turn dark, I'd run through my complete list of tricks and ideas, without moving even a single hair on his head. Well, except the ones my fingers played with.

"We can go to Daemin," I told him.

Ron gave me a look that made it clear he wasn't on board with this idea. "Conserving your power?" he asked. "Sound familiar?"

"I can still move between planes," I groaned. "I'm allowed to do some things. Just not big workings."

"And you don't think that changing my natural body is a big thing?" He rolled into me, pushing me onto my back. "Sia, it's never been done before. I don't even know if it's possible. I'm certainly not going to agree to doing it tonight."

"Tomorrow?" I asked.

He spread his good wing, reaching out for the ground to balance. "Does how I look bother you so much?"

I just looked down at how he was kneeling over me. "That does. The way you have to change your posture so you don't injure yourself bothers me. Ron, I don't want you to hurt."

"Sia, I have always hurt. It's been a constant companion for my entire life. This is normal, and I do like having my tail."

So I pushed, forcing him over so I could straddle his hips. "Yeah? Guess this means I get to be on top, huh?"

He froze. "Really?"

"Uh..." Because I was still waiting for my period to end. "Ron..."

He just pulled me down against him. "So not yet," he said. "Am I supposed to avoid saying the words?"

"That I'm still on my period?" I asked.

He nodded. "You once told me it was rude to ask."

"It's a little more complicated than that," I admitted. "You aren't supposed to blame my bad moods on my monthly cycle. If you're making plans to get me naked, that's different."

"Oh, is it?" he asked, but he looked a little nervous. "If, um, I said I kinda wanted to be alone... You know, if we ever..."

"Then we'll be alone," I promised, realizing he was talking about his first time with me. "You've only ever been alone, right?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "But maybe I could ask Luke to share the bed with us tonight? You know, let him and Nick have some time to get used to what happened?"

I shifted off his hips and moved to lay beside him, tucking my head against Ron's weaker shoulder. "Are you ok with that? And does everyone know?"

"Everyone knows," he assured me, "and I'm fine. No. I'm thrilled. I've been hoping that Luke would finally accept his legion completely, but - "

"Wait," I said. "Accept us completely?"

He curled his lean arm around my back. "That's how it feels for us. All in or all out. It's why they tried so hard to tell you this is ok. To demons, there's no middle ground. Either you're invested in all of your legion, or you're trying to find a way out of it."

"But Bel and Nick," I said, since those two weren't intimate.

"They're not fucking," he agreed, "but they're invested in other ways. They're friends, and they have an understanding. There's no sexual attraction, but I'm pretty sure that's because they both want to top." And he leaned in to kiss the top of my head. "I can't explain it, but you can almost feel it. They're happy with their relationship."

"Relationship!" I said, finally understanding. "Doesn't matter if that's a friendship, a lover, or anything else, so long as it's confirmed and stable, right?"

"Yes!" he agreed, sounding thrilled that I'd figured it out. "We set our own limits, but when you were desiring Bel but unwilling to touch him? We could tell, and it's like a shoe that doesn't fit right. It's not... natural? I don't think that's the word I want, but it's not what we're used to."

"And now we're ok?" I asked.

Ron nodded. "Yes. Even you and Luke seem to have settled things. You feel like you are happy with us now, and that makes me feel like you aren't about to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere," I promised him, then turned so I could see his face. "Do you think Luke would spend the night? I mean, he and I are just friends."

Ron's smile looked almost like it belonged on Sam's face. There was a little devious twist to it. "I think that since you are not allowing sex at this time, it makes the perfect excuse, and maybe I'll get brave?"

"But, would Luke... I mean,