“Come here, you,” he says the second I’ve released it. Wrapping his arm around my waist, he pulls me against his body and spins me around so I have no choice but to look at him.
Reaching out, he tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear and stares down at me as if I’m about to vanish into thin air.
To be fair, that’s exactly what I’m attempting to do.
“I never did tell you, but I love this hair on you. You’re so sexy as a brunette.”
“Yeah?” I ask, my heart naïvely fluttering at the compliment.
“Everything about you is sexy, Calli. Spent all my life dreaming about having this. Having you beside me.”
“Who knew the devil could be so sweet,” I whisper, smiling up at him.
“Even Lucifer has a weakness, Angel.”
Leaning forward, he brushes his lips against mine, and despite knowing better, I fall under his spell once more.
He drugs me with his lazy kisses and gentle caresses until he rips his lips from mine in favour of a yawn.
“Tired?” I ask.
“Hmm… I haven’t had sex in… a while. It’s taken it out of me.”
“How long?” I ask, hoping that his one-way trip to unconsciousness will allow me to get some truths out of him.
“Before Halloween,” he confesses, his eyes already closed as his fingers draw patterns on my thigh. “I couldn’t touch anyone else after you. It could only be you, beautiful.”
“Why that night? What changed?”
He thinks for a moment, and I begin to wonder if he’s fallen asleep, but then his voice startles me. “Because since Emmie and Stella, I’ve seen something new in you. I’ve seen a fire. A strength that I didn’t know was there before. And I started to believe you could handle me.”
“Handle you?” I ask softly.
“Yeah. I’m not a good person, Angel. I’ve done a lot of bad things. And I’m…” He pauses, and I once again think he’s asleep. But when he finally speaks, my heart cracks for the little boy still hiding inside the hard outer shell. “I’m fucked up. I’m not good enough for you, for anyone. I’m broken.”
“Daemon,” I sigh, placing my hand on his cheek.
There are so many things I want to tell him, but all the words get stuck in my throat.
And when he begins snoring softly, I realise that he wouldn’t have heard them anyway.
I wait for five minutes, although as I lie there watching him sleep, memorising his soft features when he’s relaxed, it feels like hours before I finally slip from his hold. All the while, my heart is in my throat when I watch him mindlessly reach for me in his slumber.
“I’m sorry, Daemon. But I can’t be yours.”