Prince of Demons 3: The Order of the Black Swan (12 page)

He slanted his head the other way. “Do you have a disease? Because Fortuity…”

“No. I’m not carrying a disease.”

“Well, neither am I.”

“How do you know?”

“Because demons don’t get diseases.”

“Demons don’t get diseases?” she repeated. Then it dawned on her what he was saying. “You mean you’ve only had sex with demons?”

“Well, yeah. Do you see any other humans around?”

“Oh, God.”

“What’s the matter now?”

“My self-confidence just went south. That’s what’s the matter.”

“What does that mean? What does your self-confidence have to do with my sex habits?”

“Habits?!? Oh, God.”

Brave chuckled. “Lana. I can’t be sure, but I’m sensing over-reaction. Why don’t you just calmly, rationally tell me what’s going on behind those mesmerizing gray eyes?”

“Mesmerizing?”

“Yes.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Mesmerizing. Captivating. Alluring. Seductive. And I could go on and on and on.” She stared at him with lips parted. “Lana?”

“What?”

“We don’t have a pregnancy problem. We don’t have a disease problem. Are there any other problems we need to discuss before we get back to the important stuff?”

“I… ah… I… just…”

“Speak!”

“I don’t think I want to be compared to demons.”

He sat back and looked at her like she was insane. “You can’t be compared to demons.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“No.” He shook his head. “I mean demons can’t be compared to you. You’re Lana.”

He said that like he thought she was a Marvel super hero.

“Yes. I’m Lana who is capable of feeling just as sexually insecure as any other woman.”

Brave’s face softened. “I’m not going to pretend to fully understand. Because I don’t. But I am going to tell you that there is no female of any species, in any dimension, who can compare to you. You’re beyond compare.”

Those last three words melted away whatever reserve was still protecting her heart. He pulled her closer. “Do you remember when you decided that you were leaving? The last thing I said to you.”

Lana chanced a glance at Brave’s face, lifting her eyes from where she’d been staring at his chest. “Yes.”

“What did I tell you?”

“That you love me?”

“That’s right. And do you think that’s changed? Never mind. I withdraw the question because there’s just no predicting what you may come out of your mouth next. Let me just say that what I feel for you now is so much more potent.

“Just think about everything we’ve been through. And every new thing I learned about you made me love you more.”

She looked up into his eyes again. “Really?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “Now. Are you going to tell me who Stuart is?”

She smiled. “He’s the loser who drove me into your arms.”

“Then I love him,” Brave said.”

Lana shook her head. “No. No. You don’t.”

He laughed. “Whatever you say. I have a very needy male organ that’s desperate to be gloved in the sweet tightness of your channel. And I say that with heaving chest.”

“Will you stop?” She wanted to be serious, but couldn’t help laughing.

“Less laughing. More heaving.”

She fell forward toward Brave, laughing, but the mood turned instantly carnal when kissing resumed. The light in Brave’s eyes and the flush in his face was as much a turn on for Lana as the skillful way he touched her, constantly monitoring her reaction, asking, “Do you like that? Do you like this?”

“Yes. Yes. And I like you.”

Brave’s chuckle turned into a moan when Lana positioned herself above him and guided his cock into her “channel”. She moved agonizingly slowly because Brave’s size took some getting used to. He was staring at her with hooded eyes and a look of adoration when she mirrored his words back to him. “Do you like that?”

“Words can’t describe how much,” he rasped.

By the time Lana had ridden Brave to two orgasms in the tub, followed by hours of oral and tactile exploration on the big bed in the adjoining room, she’d lost her self-consciousness about being Brave’s first human. She was wearing the confidence of a woman sure of her mate’s affection and a glow that suited her to a tee.

She had just finished brushing her hair out and applying some lip gloss when Brave returned with breakfast.

“Look what I brought you.” He held out the tray.

“Please tell me one of those pitchers has coffee in it.” The way he looked down at the tray, like it had betrayed him, made her wish she’d kept her big mouth shut. “I don’t need coffee. What do you have there?”

“Well, they brought you some pastry things from Loti and some cranberry juice. Next time I’ll be sure they get coffee.”

Lana smiled brightly. “Perfect!”

She was making yummy sounds around a mouthful of pastry with fruit filling when the door chimed.

Brave looked at her with eyes twinkling. “Isn’t that cool?”

She looked blank. “What?”

“That sound the door makes when someone’s there. I stole the idea from your dimension.” He chuckled and shook his head on the way to the door. “I really like that.” He opened the door. Lana heard him say something in demonish. He closed the door, but continued to stand in front of it.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

He looked at her and smiled. “I told them to go away and then come back so I could hear it again.”

Lana had to laugh. Brave had grown up with demons. He’d traveled between dimensions and seen things that most people couldn’t begin to imagine. And yet he could be delighted with something as simple as a doorbell.

The chime sounded again. He looked at Lana and said in an exaggerated voice. “Hello! Who’s there?” They heard muffled sounds on the other side of the door. “Should I open it?” he asked Lana.

“Yes, dufus,” she giggled. “Get the door.” She was still greedily devouring French popovers.

“I don’t know what dufus is, but your tone tells me I don’t want to know. What’s that?” He put his hand to his ear and pretended to be listening to something only he could hear. “The horribly ugly black things say they think you should be punished. And who am I to argue with that?”

He began moving toward her. She shrieked and ran to the other side of the bed. Brave pursued which caused her to try to flee across the top of the mattress. That maneuver ended with the two engaged in an entangled fit of laughter.

The doorbell chimed again.

Lana was breathing heavy. She looked at Brave. “Someone’s at the door.”

“Should I open it?”

They both dissolved into laughter again, but it was brought to an abrupt halt when the door chime began to sound in rapid and insistent succession.

Brave flung himself off the bed, stomped toward the door, flung it open and said. “What!”

Perry simply raised an eyebrow. “Time to fulfill your part of the deal.”

Brave looked the Chief of Security in the eye for a few seconds. “Thank you, Perry. Give me an hour and we’ll join you.”

“Very good, Your Eminence.”

Brave closed the door.

“What did he mean ‘your part of the deal’, Brave? What deal?”

“Remember that thing about the son of Roanald?”

Brave sat on the other side of the table from Lana and recounted every detail of the scheme he’d concocted to get the Callii to rescue her and release him.

“Wow. That’s an incredible story. I guess you feel betrayed, huh?”

Brave shrugged. “Good a word as any I guess.”

“Oh. So you’re going to do that thing.”

“What thing?”

“That thing men do to prove they’re tough.” She lowered her voice in imitation. “Hello. Let me introduce myself. I’m Stoic the Bad. My idea of a fun night out is a gallon of antifreeze. I have no
real
feelings. I’m Mr. Cockwalk.”

Brave started laughing. “Mr. Cockwalk?” He stood up and started undoing his big buckle. “I’ll show you cock walk.”

Lana jumped into a cross-legged position on the bed and started whistling. Until the door chime sounded again. Apparently the hour was up.

They looked at each other with expressions that had gone instantly serious.

As he began refastening his buckle, Lana said, “What should I wear to meet-the-parents weekend?”

After reviewing the plan again, Lana and Brave were ready to meet his family. Abide decided that, since Perry and Dart had already been personally involved, they would be the logical choices to spy on behalf of the Callii. And, perhaps, see to Brave’s safety at the same time.

Abide put his hand on Brave’s shoulder. “It was never just political, Brave. I think of you as my son.”

Brave was a long way away from sorting through his feelings and thought it prudent to say nothing until he had. So he simply nodded and pulled away.

Half an hour later, Brave and Lana stood hand in hand in front of his childhood home. Apparently his parents still lived in the same house. It had clean minimalistic lines, but was covered with a warm mix of pink-hued stone.

“Do you think it has a doorbell?” asked Brave.

Lana turned her head to look at him. “Are you nervous?”

He squeezed her hand. “Does it show?”

She smiled. “Not at all. You’re Brave. And no one in their right mind would question it.”

He gave her a lopsided grin. “Here we go?”

She nodded.

Indeed there was a doorbell. A pleasant-looking man came to the door. He had the sort of frame that suggested he could have been an athlete once, but had chosen to spend his time in a lab. There was no doubt that the man was Brave’s father. Lana could see that Brave had gotten his facial bone structure from his father, including the pronounced jaw line.

“Yes?” Roanald asked looking between the two of them.

Brave seemed frozen. It was Lana’s turn to give a reassuring squeeze of the hand. She didn’t understand the word the man had said.

“Um.” He wasn’t sure if he could recall enough of the language, so he began haltingly. “I know this is a surprise, but there’s no way to ease into it. I’m, uh, Bruce.”

The expression on the man’s face went from inquisitive to shocked as Lana watched him visually trace the curve of Brave’s cheekbone, the width of his brow, and the color of his eyes.

Roanald didn’t move, but shouted, “Lours!”

Bruce and Lana heard a feminine voice respond from within. “What is it, Roan? I was just going out to the…”

She stopped at the door when she saw Brave, looked him over, and, almost instantly, tears sprang into her eyes. Lours rushed forward, grabbing Brave into a tight embrace at the same time she burst into tears. She said many more things that were unintelligible to Lana in between the rain of kisses she placed on Brave’s face. But still, Lana was able to get the gist. Brave’s father was uncertain, but his mother knew him instantly. No explanation necessary.

When she finally began to quiet and pulled back, Brave looked up at the man still standing at the door. Roanald came forward and offered Brave a handshake. Brave took his hand and smiled.