Page 105 of The Music Demon

Observing that Lyric was displaying all the signs of someone afraid prompted even more questions.

“Fine. So, tell me this. I see that you are afraid.” He began to protest, but she held up her hand, again, then continued. “You can deny it all you want, but at your leisure you need to check out the definition of denial.

“Are you fearful of losin’ this alleged power to another demon? Or are you fearful for my safety and well-bein’?”

He closed the distance between them and took her by the shoulders, looking both intense and angry.

“How can you even ask that? My priority is your safety and well-being.”

“Your priority?”

“Yes.”

“And you’d trade your safety for mine?”

In the heat of the moment he responded without thinking. “Of course! What do you…?”

Lyric registered the light in Shivaun’s eyes and the curve of her delectable mouth. His chin retracted slightly. As what he’d said sunk in, he noted there was no sneezing.

“Well,” he said, genuinely surprised at this supremely unexpected turn of events. His hands loosened on her shoulders as he let the implications sink in. He hadn’t been informed that his internal workings had undergone an overhaul. He’d been the same old Lyric for… well, ever. But there it was.

He’d blurted out his answer without precalculated thought. And, judging by the satisfied look on Shivaun’s face, she’d grasped the full implication. He’d just acted out love according to her own definition.

“Well,” she repeated.

“You think your essence mixed with mine when we…?”

“Had no’ occurred to me. Can we no’ just savor the moment?” That notion lasted for a full three seconds before she posed a question of her own. “Mixin’ essences, you say? I have developed an appreciation for music that was no’ there before.”

“You didn’t like music?”

“Oh, aye. I did like it just fine. But I was no’ what you’d call a devotee.”

Lyric laughed. “You’re a devotee?”

She wagged her head back and forth. “Gettin’ there, I think. But ‘tis beside the point. The point is that perhaps we have exchanged more than fluids.” She looked out at the water. “Are you sorry that you’re, em, different?”

He ran his hand down her arm before pulling her into his body as close as if they were dancing. “No. Are you?” She grinned and shook her head. “Does this mean you’ll accept me as your mate?”

“You askin’?”

“What do you mean? I’ve asked and asked and…” That was when he remembered that mentally and emotionally Shivaun was more human than demon. “Oh. You want a, ah…”

“Proposal.”

“Yeah. That.”

“Aye. That.”

He’d never paid attention to such things, never dreamed in a thousand millenniums that he would need that information. But he found himself wishing he had.

“Do I, ah...? Great Paddy, Shivaun. You’re going to need to tell me what to do.”

She teased him by sighing dramatically. “Very well. Look into my eyes, ask me to be your mate, and tell me why I should.”

“Why I should?”

“Aye.”