Page 82 of The Music Demon

He took Shivaun by the hand and urged her to stand. Without taking his eyes away from hers, he waved the divan away. In the middle of the pavilion stood a large bed draped with crisp white linen. Not some version of cotton or synthetic material. Real linen.

Shivaun’s attention was riveted to the sight and he sensed a sudden wave of nerves wash over her.

He pulled her hand up to his mouth, turned it over, and kissed the inside of her wrist. Breath caught in her throat and she swallowed.

“No cause for alarm. It’s just the two of us. We’re in a world you created from a fantasy. Just you.” He ran his lips up to the inside of her elbow and kissed with a tiny trace of tongue. The wetness caused Shivaun’s breath to return in the rush of a gasp. “And me,” he added.

She saw that heat was beginning to build in his aura. It was scary. It was exciting. It was titillating.

“Do you want to undress for me?” Lyric asked.

Possessed by overwhelming modesty, she shook her head emphatically, almost violently.

The demon smiled knowingly. Patiently. Seductively. “Very well then,” he said. “I’ll undress for you.”

Shivaun’s eyes flared at that proclamation. She was about to tell him she wasn’t ready, but didn’t get the chance. With a thought Lyric stood before her in fully unclothed demonic glory, complete with pulsing gold spikes emanating from his beautiful swirling red and blue aura.

After watching her look him up and down, he cocked his head. “Have you never seen a male naked before, Shivaun?”

At the end of a quick, deep inhalation, she said, “Aye. My sister and I saw our brother and his friends swimmin’ in the river once.” She paused. “He did no’ look like you. At all.”

“Without begging for compliments, I’m going to accept that as a good thing.”

She nodded. “’Tis a good thing. You do no’ need me to say your looks are fetchin’, demon. I’m certain you’ve heard it many times.”

“And yet,” he pulled her into his body, “I only want to hear it from you. Why is that, do you think?”

Her arms went around his neck of their own accord. “And, of course, my brother and his friends were not, em…”

“Erect?” He chuckled.

“That’s right. They were no’ like this.”

“Would you like to touch?”

She blinked rapidly before creating a separation of a few inches between their bodies. Looking down, she nodded.

“Go on. You have my permission to explore this experience in any way you want.”

With a caution that might seem comical to those more experienced, she reached between them and circled the demon’s girth with her hand. She was surprised by the velvety feel and squeezed lightly, which provoked the demon to make an unusual noise. Since he made no move to stop her, she took that noise as an indication of approval and stroked the head with her thumb. That evoked a low growl.

As if guided by a collective unconscious almost as old as time, she increased pressure and pumped once tentatively.

With a grunt, Lyric slammed her body into his and crushed her mouth with a heated kiss unlike anything ventured before. When it seemed he was desperate to deepen the kiss, she opened her mouth wider to receive what he was offering. That was welcomed with a deep groan.

“Wish your clothes away, Shivaun,” he rasped into her mouth. When she hesitated, he said, “This is a divine torture, but make no mistake that itistorture. Wish your clothes away.”

With a little internal pep talk, she did just that.

He lifted her and walked toward the bed, murmuring sweet reassurances all the way.

He laid her on the bed and made her feel shy by the time he took to feast his eyes upon her and the thorough, leisurely way he enjoyed looking. When she began to curl into herself, he stopped her.

“No. In all the worlds there’s not a single thing as magnificent as you. Don’t feel ashamed.” He waved. “Look around at your creation. You’ve brought this world and me to heel. You’re as mighty as any being in the cosmos and I forbid you to be ashamed.”

Shivaun found the idea of Lyric forbidding her to be bashful funny and began to laugh softly. “You can no’ tell me how to feel, Lyric.”

His head jerked up. “You said my name.”