He didn’t need to be told twice. He bent his head and took her mouth with such possessive intensity that she melted against him without a second thought.
He backed her up a few steps. Their lips parted. His tongue snaked between them, and she let out a breathless moan as it swept against hers. She reached up and threaded her fingers into his silky hair, bunching it up in her hands. Strong arms enveloped her, and he pulled her firmly against his body. His hard, muscular,familiarbody.
God, she hadn’t realized until this moment that she’d missed him. She’d been mourning the loss of him after finding out what he was, and yet, he was still right here. Kissing her just like he had before, when she’d been falling hard and fast and telling herself it was too early to start envisioning a future with him.
But he was still the same Ash. Red skin or not, he was still—
His claws pricked against the skin of her back as he dug his fingers into her, and her mind blanked.
Okay, so he wasn’t completely the same. But she was finding it harder and harder to care, and her resolve to stay away from him was slipping, and—
“I told you to hurry the fuck up!” Belial boomed from outside the door, and just like that, the spell was broken.
They broke apart, both of them breathing heavily. Her hand flew to her chest, clutching at her racing heart.
The black bled from Ash’s eyes and his skin returned to a warm tan, and suddenly, he looked human again. But he wasn’t, and she would never think of him as such again.
Everything was different now, and she had to decide what she was going to do about it.
“We’d better go,” he said, giving her one last heated look before turning away. He looked like he wanted to devour her, and she wanted him to.
It was a good thing Bel had interrupted him. Not just because their lives were in danger and they needed to run away, though that was a fairly valid reason. But because Ash needed to sort out his feelings for her before she let things go further between them.
Until he could admit that he wanted her for reasons beyond her ability to see through his curse, she couldn’t give him more. She had too much self-respect for that.
They needed to have a conversation, she decided. A real heart-to-heart. Ash was going to hate it, and she smirked to herself at the thought.
But not now. Now, they had to go.
Ash tugged the T-shirt still in his hand over his head and then went to the closet and grabbed a jacket and donned it, pulling his long hair out from under the collar.
“You need me to carry anything?” he asked.
“I— Um. No. I’ve got it.” She picked up her bag and swung it over her shoulder.
Their gazes met again, and she could tell he wanted to say more, but he didn’t. He turned away and opened the door, and the two of them stepped back into the hallway.
Meph, Raum, and Belial were waiting in the living room. There were flames sparking in Belial’s eyes again, and she immediately tensed.
“You said five minutes, not five fucking hours,” he growled.
“Shut up, Bel.”
“Did you tell her?”
Ash frowned. “Tell her what?”
“About the gate.”
“What about it?”
Oops.“Belial told me to ask you how a human can travel through a gate,” Eva explained.
“You didn’t even ask?” Bel asked her.
“I forgot.”
“And you couldn’t tell her yourself when it came up?” Ash rolled his eyes. “Asshole.”
