Cooper almost laughed. What right did Chaos have to be pouting right now? Kai had been right—he was such a brat sometimes. “You’d force me into it?”
Chaos growled, releasing Cooper so he could throw his hands into the air. “Who said anything about forcing? But if you refuse, you—you’d be choosingwrong! And you shouldn’t be allowed to choose wrong. It’s very frustrating.” He began pacing in front of Cooper, tossing him belligerent looks with every turn of his heel. “Why are you being sofrustrating?”
Cooper had a better question. “Why do you even want me?”
“Because,” Chaos said and left it at that. When Cooper raised his brows at him—was that really it?—he let out a heavy breath, as if Cooper was being ridiculous. “You want reasons?”
Cooper nodded.
Chaos huffed, crossing his arms over his chest as he told Cooper grudgingly, “I’m tolerated by some. Feared by many. But no one…cares for me, not like you do. You care about my feelings and making sure I get to do the things I want to do. You care about my friendship. And I do the same for you, don’t I? I think about how to please you, how to make you happy. I’ve never done that before.” He frowned down at Cooper’s bedroom floor. “I should hate it,” he muttered. “I wanted freedom, and instead I’m tied to you. But I find I don’t mind being grounded, if I’m grounded with you, Cooper.”
“Oh.” It was a strange sort of confession, but then, Chaos was strange. Cooper pushed his glasses up his nose. “That’s kind of romantic, actually.”
“Yes.” Chaos preened, dropping his arms. “I’m very romantic. I’ve shown you, haven’t I? How I can be so sweet and so gentle.” He drifted closer to Cooper, his intensity ratcheting up with every inch he closed between them. “I can be everything you need. So you needn’t worry any longer, Cooper. Not with me here.”
Cooper was finding it hard to blink, staring into Chaos’s fire-filled eyes.
Was Chaos really trying to convince Cooper to keep him? That was almost funny. It should have been the other way around. It should have been Cooper on his knees, trying to show Chaos he was good enough, interesting enough,braveenough to be a demon’s mate.
Holy shit.Cooper’s stomach bottomed out with the realization.Chaos wants to keep me.
The knowledge felt like free-falling. It wasn’t a sensation Cooper normally liked. But unlike Cooper’s father, or his cousins, or his past failed attempt at romance, Chaos could actually catch him, couldn’t he? Chaos might not have been the most stable being, but he was strong. He’d just sliced a man in half a few hours ago. And yes, that maybe should have made Cooper hesitate more instead of less, but…maybe Cooper had been around violent men too long after all. All it seemed to tell him was that, for once in his life, someone could back up what they were putting down.
Someone would catch him before he hit the ground.
They might be a strange pair in other people’s eyes, but what did it matter what the rest of the world thought? Chaos was beyond this world. Above it. Better and stronger and weirder than anything else in it.
And he’d chosen Cooper.
“Okay,” Cooper breathed. He felt…free, all of a sudden. Weightless. “Okay. We’ll bond. You and me.”
“Really?” The flames in Chaos’s eyes went out in an instant, replaced by a soft golden gleam. He grabbed Cooper’s shoulders tightly. “No take backs,” he said quickly. “We bond. You and I.” His lips twitched into a sly smile. “I’ll need to get the Book from Ivan, of course.”
“I can ask,” Cooper offered.
“No.” Chaos grinned widely now. “I want to steal it from him. It’ll be hilarious.”
The idea of stealing anything from Ivan was terrifying, but Cooper kept his mouth shut. This was what a future with Chaos would be like—a little terror with the comfort of his presence.
Cooper would take it. He’d take all of it. He still wasn’t sure why Chaos would possibly want him so badly. Weren’t there other humans that could care for him the way Cooper did? But he wasn’t going to argue. He didn’t want Chaos to leave him for someone else. Not ever.
“What does it all entail?” he asked instead of arguing over things like petty theft. “Like, how do we do it?”
“First, we get the Book.” Chaos started stroking his fingers lightly down Cooper’s bare arms. “There’s a passage at the end—a sacred vow. I take a little nip of blood from you, you take a little nip of blood from me.” He ran his tongue over his sharp teeth. “And then we consummate.”
“Oh.” Cooper choked on a breath. “Sounds simple enough.”
“So simple,” Chaos agreed, his hands trailing down to Cooper’s wrists, stroking his pulse points. “So easy. But maybe—” He stepped closer, close enough for his shirt to brush against Cooper’s bare chest. “Maybe we should still practice.”
“Biting each other?” Cooper asked, his brain going a little fuzzy with the warmth of Chaos’s touch.
Chaos grinned, flashing his fangs. “If you like. But I meant we should practice consummating.”
“We’ve done it before.” Quite thoroughly, if Cooper remembered correctly. Which he definitely did.
“Not enough,” Chaos insisted. He pulled at Cooper’s arms until Cooper was pressed fully against him, rubbing his nose along Cooper’s neck and shoulder, his wily fingers dipping under Cooper’s towel. “Don’t you want to, puppy? Don’t you want to practice with me?”
As if he couldn’t feel Cooper’s hard dick tenting his towel. As if Cooper had ever said no to more “practice.”
