That was hilarious.
And maybe it had been a little naughty of Nix to let him continue thinking that. Nix hadn’tintendedto trick him, at least not initially. He always kept the smoke column up because he needed time to assess which form to take to appeal most to his bargains. But then Ivan had requested a weapon, and Nix had realized his form didn’t matter—Ivan wasn’t summoning him for incubus purposes.
More was the pity, as the brother Nix had been spying on was even more appealing up close, with coloring as cold and icy as his voice. Pale-blue eyes, pale lashes, white-blond hair he kept shorter on the sides and combed neatly on top. His features were surprisingly pretty for a man who must be nearing his forties, though hefilled out his suit in a way that suggested he was hiding some muscle underneath it.
And, judging by the little hitch of breath and dilation of his pupils when Nix had appeared, Ivan liked Nix’s true form just fine.
For all that he only wanted Nix as a weapon.
And while Nix had been a bit naughty, so had Ivan. Really, shame on him for asking for such deliberately vague terms in his contract. Secure his empire, keep his family safe? If one read it by the letter, Ivan could keep a contracted demon at his side for a long, long time. After all, when was the family of a mafioso ever truly safe?
Any demon would have been a fool to take it.
Any demon that actually wanted tocompletetheir contract, that was.
Nix, however, was in no hurry. It was positively delicious to be back in the human realm. And how enticing to have been summoned by this human in particular. How—
Oops, there he went.
Nix darted behind the desk and steered the cushy desk chair under Ivan right as the human collapsed, his pretty eyes rolling back in his head, clearly hanging on to consciousness by a thread.
Poor baby indeed. Initiating a contract did tend to take it out of a human. It was actually quite impressive that Ivan was managing to stay conscious at all. He must have a particularly strong force of will.
But Nix already knew that. He could feel it in the soul piece lodged in his chest, given to him by their bargain. And what a soul piece it was. Absolutely scrumptious, this little tidbit. Full of complex, conflicting emotions.
All soul pieces tasted slightly different—some were sweet, some were salty, some were so bitter they were hard to stomach. But this one was like a big, juicy hamburger with all the fixings. (Not that Nix had everhada hamburger. But the human commercials made them look awfully tasty.)
Ivan let out a weak gasp, and Nix focused back on the human the delicious soul piece had come from. Ivan’s head was rolling on his shoulders, his chin brushing against his chest. He seemed to be having a hard time looking up, so Nix dropped onto his knees, placing his elbows on Ivan’s legs and resting his chin on his folded hands.
“You’re not—” Ivan began.
“A big, bad warrior demon?” Nix finished for him. “Afraid not, sweetums.”
“Your voice…”
“Oh.” Nix hid his grin, clearing his throat with a weak (fake) cough. “Must have been the smoke.” He blinked guilelessly. “Sorry if you got the wrong impression.”
“You’resmall.”
Nix pinched Ivan’s thigh. “I beg your fucking pardon.” They were practically the same height, both of them reaching six feet at least. And if Ivan was talking about other things…well, Nix wasn’t small there either.
Ivan didn’t react to the pinch, just kept staring. “You—you’re—”
Nix threw him a bone. “I’m an incubus.”
Ivan’s brow furrowed adorably. “Isn’t that a type of sex demon?”
“Some would say that.” Nix’s lips curled into a catlike grin, and his pinching gave way to a soothing stroke. “Why, Vanyechka, you have need of one?”
NowIvan stiffened under his touch. “I don’t fuck men,” he said coldly, gathering his composure from who knew where.
“Good thing I’m not a man.” But Nix put his hands back under his chin. No more petting for the repressed mafioso.
“I don’t fuck male demons either.”
Nix pushed his lower lip out into an exaggerated pout. “More’s the pity.”
Was now a good time to tell Ivan he could smell desire? Probably not. Poor thing was shell-shocked enough as it was. He was just…blinking at Nix now. He seemed to do that a lot.
