Chaos
Chaos pushed his lower lip into a pout as his puppy held out a hand for the phone. “No telephone,” Chaos insisted. “More kissing.”
He’d very much been enjoying the kissing. Cooper tasted minty and fresh, and his mouth was warm and wet and welcoming. His body would be the same; Chaos just knew it. He could tell by the lovely, soft give of Cooper’s belly, and the delightfully fleshy handfuls of his bottom.
Chaos had enjoyed the way Cooper went limp in his hold, the way he let Chaos’s hands roam over him while he kissed him feverishly. The human’s arousal wasn’t a violent, possessive wave, like some men Chaos had known. It was a slow, burning sweetness, and it smelled like charred caramel.
Tasty, tasty, tasty.
But it was melting on the air now, as Cooper was distracted by the ringing telephone. “I can’t ignore it,” he was saying. “It might be work. If it’s Ivan, I need to answer it.”
Chaos held the phone up to see what name was displayed. He scowled at the screen.
Ivan.
Cooper kept reaching for the phone. “I need to answer, Bracchus.”
Chaos held the phone behind him, out of Cooper’s reach. He wasn’t going to be swayed by his true name leaving Cooper’s sweet, soft lips. “Why?” he asked petulantly.
“He might need me.”
No, no, no. Chaos didn’t like that. Cooper had been taking care ofChaos’sneeds, taking him out and giving him games to play and practicing kissing with him. What did Ivan’s mortal needs matter? The other human had Nix for those things. He didn’t require Chaos’s puppy too.
“What happens if you don’t pick up?”
Cooper sucked in a harsh breath. “Um, Ivan kills me?”
Chaos let out an enraged growl, his wings stretching out behind him as his tail lashed against the mattress. Ivan would dareharmChaos’s summoner?
Cooper shrank into himself, away from Chaos, the scent of his arousal extinguished completely, replaced by the acrid bite of fear now. “Oh damn. You don’t like that.” He smiled awkwardly, holding his hands out in supplication. “Okay, he’s not going to literally kill me. That was an exaggeration. He’ll probably start by leaving an angry voicemail.”
The ruffled feathers on Chaos’s wings smoothed back down. And oops—the bedspread was smoking. Chaos put out the small, smoldering flame. He hadn’t meant to do that.
He gave a delicate cough, trying to push back the growl that still seemed to want to come out. “We’ll wait for the voice message, then,” he said primly.
Cooper only nodded, eyeing the charred circle on his bedspread.
They waited together. Cooper’s legs were still bracketed by Chaos’s knees—he hadn’t retreated that far—but he wasn’t leaning on Chaos anymore. There was…distance.
It was irritating.
“You don’t have to be afraid of me,” Chaos reminded his puppy. He usually found humanity’s fear of him funny, but he wasn’t even slightly tempted to cackle right now. “I’m your friend.”
He was, by contract and now by choice. And also potentially his future mate, but Chaos kept that part to himself for the moment.
Cooper gave him a smile that looked a little more genuine than before. “I told you, I’m just…going to be, sometimes. I’m not used to demons, you know. To growling and wings going all crazy and my bed catching on fire.”
Chaos frowned down at the phone in his hand. “You’re not going to want to kiss me anymore,” he said in a quiet voice. Quiet and pathetic. Cooper should really take pity on him.
Chaos was counting on it.
Cooper let out another one of those funny breaths. “I’m not worried you’ll hurt me.”
“So we can kiss again?” Chaos asked immediately, pressing his advantage.
“You want to?” Cooper’s cheeks flushed a lovely pink. “That wasn’t enough, um, practice?”
“Of course not. I set the bed on fire, didn’t I? I’ll need lots of practice.” Chaos gave Cooper a stern look. “Lots.”
