How to Love a Blue Demon (34 page)

“Yes.”

So Cass sang an old
Donnie Hathaway tune, I Love You More Than You Will Ever Know. The response was instant. The Owe began to pulse and shimmer. The light in the room dimmed as the crystal sucked in energy and spat it out in ways that had Eyoen’s toes curling beneath the water’s surface. Then Priti appeared, snug in Boyd’s arms as they watched something on TV at home.

Eyoen
had more stamina than 20 regular men – his royal blood actually meant he had 10 times the stamina of the average demon – and he’d been making love to Cass for days without stopping. But as soon as she began to croon, caressing the crystal in her long fingered hands as she lowered her already raspy alto into more masculine tones, he was instantly as hard as Cyani brick.

The c
rystal began to flash and spark; its glow building and ebbing with the rise and fall of Cass’ vibrato. He could see its energy flowing beneath her skin, feel it pulsing through her veins and hear it as her voice swelled beyond the boundaries of the room. He felt his siblings drawing near and dressed Cass in a shift of Cyani silk in case they disobeyed his edict to stay away.

She didn’t notice. Captivated by the p
leasurable pulse of energy from the crystal, her eyes had closed as the music took her over.

“I’m only flesh and blood,” she sang. “But I could be anything that you demand. I could be queen of everytha-ang! Or just a tiny grain of sand. Now
tell me, is that any way for a man to carry on? Do you think that I want my loved one gone? I loved you.”

A
s he listened, Eyoen experienced the wonder of tears for the first time. He hadn’t even cried in the hospital when the burning pain of that poisonous steel seemed to invade every cell in his body. Now he shook his head; he was lost in her. The crystal was her focus; he knew how powerful its lure was, but she had turned toward him as she sang; she felt him with the same intensity.

Their bond had
grown exponentially since she’d arrived on the star and been tipped head first into the magic of his daily existence, and it would continue to grow here faster than anywhere else in the world. He could more easily slip into her mind now; her emotions touched him as easily as the water in which they still lounged. But in that moment, as music filled the chamber, he would have done anything to please her.

As she began a tune called A Song for You h
e had to restrain himself from clutching her painfully close, wanting to pull her into his body, to merge their spirits and souls if he could. He bit back a groan as her images of them making love ran on a reel through his mind. He was humbled and seduced by his image through her eyes, excited by her memories of his caresses, of how his masculinity overwhelmed her when he was inside her, how much she loved him.

His siblings were in the room now, unable to resist t
he call of the music. They had never heard anything like this live or recorded. He knew they were affected. The air had grown steamy, redolent with sexed up pheromones as their energy merged with that from the crystal.

Eyoen couldn’t bring himself to banish them. The different pheromones had produced a kind of layering affect, magnifying the pleasure each might have felt alone. It felt too good
, too dear to deny any of them that gift. It was like being held and fucked, worshiped and fed, teased and played with all at once over and over. If he hadn’t known it would make her uncomfortable he would have fucked Cass right then in front of the others.

There was no shame in it.
His fellow demons weren’t fucking in the streets. No one was running around nude or making off color jokes at the mic during political rallies or groping bar maids in public restaurants. But it wasn’t unheard of to see a couple taking advantage of a quiet, dark corner to indulge during the twilight hours. Certainly no one thought anything of quietly watching should said couple feel the need to get down where they might be discovered.

On a planet where men kept harems and women who had spent time
in those harems went on to hold political office and amass fortunes that would make American billionaires grass green with envy, voyeurism, group sex, and other kinds of sexual games were like pastimes. There was nothing dirty, seedy or negative associated with them.

Eyoen felt proud that his siblings should see the evidence of his love. This, after all, was the only way they would get to experience Cass. There would b
e no sharing with his brothers as he had in the past with his favorite houris. He would allow no one to touch her. Allowing them to hear her sing was the least he could do after presenting them with her unreasonable beauty.

A f
ew minutes later when the song ended, the owe crystal pulsed sadly that the music was over. Cass jumped, startled, when his siblings began to clap loudly.

She laughed, then looked down hastily, sighing with relief when she saw that she was no longer naked.

“Thank you,” she dimpled.

Eyoen quickly shooed them all away before they could start asking questions. He ignored
their pouts and pulled her back into his arms.

“Imagine that response times 30-60 thousand
,” he told her. “That’s what you can expect when you perform here.”

“So many?”

“Our stadium can hold three times that.”

“Damn.” She peeked up at him through her lashes. “You don’t think I can fill her up, huh?”

Eyoen laughed. “I do. That was a conservative estimate.”

“You’re doing it again.”

“What?”

“Rubbing your chest like it hurts.”

Eyoen looked down and sure enough, the hand not wrapped around her was rubbing fitfully at his sternum.

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I would if I knew, my dear. I am in no pain. I just feel unsettled, fretful.”

“I
s something going on with your family?”

He shrugged. “I really have no idea.
Don’t worry about it.” He nuzzled her ear. “All will be well. I won’t have you worrying. This time is for pleasure. Yours and mine.”

“
I’m not worrying for myself.”

His eyes softened. “I know that, my dear.”

“I’m not unsure about us, or being here.”

“No?”

She shrugged. “I thought I might be, you know, when we were planning the trip, getting all your gifts together. I thought, shit. What am I doing? This is too fucking weird. Scary weird. Otherworldly. Literally. I went around and around in my head, thinking of everything that could go wrong. Every reason why I shouldn’t go, why I shouldn’t be with you.” She stroked his chest.

His hands tightened reflexively on her arms as she said this, but he relaxed marginally when she kissed his cheek.

“I thought, there’s 100 dudes you could be with, girl. Human men of all kinds. There is absolutely no need to be this daring,” she laughed. “I told myself, you don’t have to go on a space odyssey to find love, and you damn sure don’t have to work it with a blue demon to make this thing pop! I’m no victim of sexual dysfunction, and I ain’t no thrill seeker. I don’t need to be constantly titillated. I got my little kinks, but I’m no hard core pervert. I’m not bored or boring or fighting against anything. I’m not immature, I don’t need to be entertained to feel alive. My music does most of what I need, and I have other creative outlets or business to pick up the rest. But when I thought about all that, and I thought about you leaving without me, none of it really mattered, you know?”

Eyoen squeezed her so hard she grunted and
popped him on the shoulder. Reluctantly he released her enough to breathe.

“More,” he ordered, and
thrilled to her quiet laughter, preening for her as she began to stroke him. He yanked her shift over her head and tossed it aside as though that slight barrier between their bodies offended him.

“
There was no, should I, shouldn’t I, when, where, who, fuck it.” She looked him in the eye and her heart thumped happily at the love she found there. “I wanted to see where you come from. I want to learn about your people. I wanna see where you slept when you weren’t with me, where you grew up. I wanna eat the same foods that grew you into this fine ass man.”

“Demon,” he corrected.

“Demon,” she agreed. “And I couldn’t do that without traveling to your star.” She laughed. “That shit still sounds crazy when I say it, but,” she shrugged, and he shivered as her breasts rubbed enticingly against his chest. “Any angst I might have brewed thinking about what I was getting into, I figure you want something new, to experience something different, sometimes you just gotta take a chance.” She laid her head on his chest and sighed. “And, you know. I love you. So, the decision was made.”

Eyoen
shook her gently until she raised her eyes to his. “I love you too, Cass.”

She grinned suddenly. “You never call me by my name. You only say my dear.”

“It’s what you are. There needs be nothing else.”

“
What? You sound like an alien,” she teased.

“You forget where you are, my dear. Here on Cyanus you are the alien.”

Cass burst out laughing. “Good point. Put your hands behind your head.”

He raised a brow.

“Please. I want to touch you.”

Eyoen
did as she asked, squirming as his erection made itself known – she was sitting on his lap – and grinning when she shook her head at him.

Cass was more th
an willing to make love. But while he let her, she reveled in this simple touching. Unless he was crawling around in her thoughts right now, she knew Eyoen had no idea how much she craved him. She hadn’t even known until shortly after he was stabbed.

She remembered the exact moment she realized that
she loved him. He was sleeping, and she was propped up on her elbow in bed looking at him without those amazing gold eyes looking back at her for once. She let her eyes wander his face. She traced his sharp cheekbones with a gentle finger, shaped the full lips, his natural pout slightly lax with sleep.

It struck her as
he murmured and moved closer, seeking her even as he slumbered, that she was content. She hadn’t realized she was lonely until she had to consider being without him.

Now, tracing the powerful muscles in his arms, the hollows that invited her fingers to grab and hold while they made
love, she wondered what would become of them. It didn’t seem possible that two people could sustain this level of love for long. Eventually even the most wonderful songs ended.

“Ours won’t,” he whispered,
as he slid inside her. “I won’t let it. And neither will you.”

“Prince!”

Cinque turned and found Rierdane bearing down on him, a look of panic on his normally placid face.

“What’s wrong?”

Rierdan
e grabbed his arm and began to pull him toward the throne room. “You must come, my Prince! It’s the King.”

Cinque flashed himself into
the throne room. “On the goddess,” he breathed.

The King lay on his back, the entire right side of his body burned to a crisp.

“It’s nothing,” he breathed, painfully.

Cinque swallowed the bile that rushed into his throat. “Of course,” he said, forcing a light tone. “A scratch.” He
held out a hand and his medical bag appeared. His hands were shaking with fear. He’d literally never seen anyone, let alone his father, in this condition. “I’m not sure I can fix you, father,” he whispered, instruments rattling as he sought the tools he needed.

“You’re doing fine,” his sire rasped.

He heard a gasp. His mother had arrived. He smelled her scent as she knelt beside them.

“Carlow, I will not tolerate this foolishness.”

Cinque smiled. Even with tears clogging her voice, his mother was firmly entrenched in her role as Queen.

“You should, see, the other guy.”

They managed shaky laughs at the King’s joke, but for the next four hours there was silence as they worked. Rierdane stood guard at the door the entire time.

******

As it had been on Earth, on Cyanus Eyoen wanted to be a part of everything she was into. He had court duties to attend to as a royal, but Cass had no problem entertaining herself when they were forced to be apart. Different members of the family took her on short trips to see things of cultural significance, and she soaked up the rich history of the star and its varied customs.

A favorite
was the silver temple – made of actual silver, not just the color – that housed a tribute to an ancient Cyani goddess. She had mostly gone out of fashion, but demons were traditional so they still paid her respect.

“Just in case,” Queen Siri
laughed.

There was the city centre where she visited the hospital
, which was more like a spa, since there was very little equipment and no backlog of patients. She was surprised to learn how few Cyanians got sick. When she had her scan done – Eyoen’s mother insisted – she found there was a little arthritis in her knees from running, she had a problematic disc in her back that needed adjusting, nerves in one foot needed to be repaired, and her voice got a magical tune up.