Page 12 of Calling Chaos (Demon Bound #3)

11

Cooper

C ooper stood awkwardly by while Nix and Chaos embraced in his living room.

Something bitter was churning in Cooper’s gut, something beyond just his nerves about Ivan’s anger. Nix was so beautiful, and Chaos seemed so fond of him. It had only taken one word from Nix for Chaos to back off of Ivan.

Cooper hadn’t known Chaos could be so obedient.

He cleared his throat, wanting an excuse to get out of the room. “Let me just grab that book for you.” He hurried into the computer room and grabbed the Book off his desk before coming back quickly to hand it back to Ivan.

Ivan.

Cooper had never seen his cousin actually cautious of another being before, at least not since Dimitri had died. Ivan was usually the scariest person in the room, and he knew it. But apparently now Cooper’s demon—the one he’d been holed up in a hotel room playing faux honeymoon with—was scarier.

It almost made Cooper smile, but Nix and Chaos were still hugging, so he couldn’t quite manage the curl of his lips.

“There’s a meeting the day after tomorrow,” Ivan said after staring at the Book in his hands for a long moment. “If you and your demon would like to attend.”

That was the politest request for a work event Cooper had ever gotten from his cousin. Come to think of it, Cooper was pretty sure he’d never gotten a request at all before. He received orders, curt and cold and nonnegotiable.

It was so far from the norm that Cooper didn’t even know how to respond. “Um…what about?”

Ivan didn’t glare at him or snap at him for asking unnecessary questions. “We’re making some changes,” he answered instead, side-eyeing Chaos, who’d finally released Nix. “Getting rid of the rest of Sergei’s men, for one.”

The rest of Sergei’s men. “Does that mean you found him?” Cooper couldn’t quite keep the relief out of his voice. An angry Sergei wasn’t someone he’d ever wanted to run into. Not after he’d been the one to spot the inconsistencies in Sergei’s finances.

“He’s in the trunk of our car,” Ivan said, matter-of-fact.

Of course he was. Of course Ivan had been running around with his right-hand man in the trunk of his car. Alive or dead, he hadn’t specified, and Cooper wasn’t going to ask. If Sergei was still alive, it wouldn’t be for long.

“Will it be fun?” Chaos asked Nix—not Cooper—tugging at the other demon’s arm like a little kid. “The meeting?”

“You might get to kill someone,” Nix told him, his voice full of fondness.

He said it like it was a reassurance. And it probably was because, unlike Cooper, Chaos liked violence. Thrived on it, it seemed. Vicious and wild—that was how he liked his humans. And his fellow demons, apparently. No doubt Nix had a vicious side, if he was spending this much time with Ivan unscathed.

Cooper could almost picture the two of them together: Nix and Chaos, wrapped around each other in that Void of theirs. But he stopped himself before the image could crystallize. Chaos had told him no sex thoughts. Because Nix could smell them.

Nix, who was so beautiful, and probably looked even more beautiful naked…

Had Chaos seen him naked? He must have. They’d been together for centuries.

“Fuck,” Cooper swore, unable to find a way out of his circling thoughts.

All three of his guests turned to look at him, and Cooper could feel the blood drain from his face. That was three people’s very intense attention to have on himself.

As if summoned by Cooper’s discomfort, Chaos finally left Nix’s side, bounced over to perch on the coffee table again, and tugged Cooper into him with an arm around his hip.

Despite his embarrassment, Cooper let out an inaudible sigh of relief at the touch. Chaos might have been wild and vicious by nature, but he’d also become a comfort to Cooper these last few days. His touch was as reassuring as it was sometimes…stimulating.

No sex thoughts , Cooper reminded himself. No thinking about Chaos on his knees, his mouth around your dick. Bad brain. Bad, bad brain.

Luckily, Ivan seemed to attribute Cooper’s outburst to its most likely cause: the thought of the impending “meeting,” which would no doubt end in bloodshed.

“Cooper doesn’t involve himself in the violence, usually,” Ivan explained to Nix, like it was a funny character quirk.

“He won’t have to, though, if I’m there,” Chaos said immediately, patting Cooper’s hip.

That was actually kind of nice to think about. Cooper had never had anyone to protect him before, when it came to these things. He’d been to plenty of Mafia meetings, and…his heart jumped at the thought of it. Bloodshed. Betrayal.

“Cooper will let you know,” Chaos told them suddenly, his hand tightening on Cooper’s hip as he seemed to register Cooper’s anxiety. “Or he won’t. But you two can go now. You’re still scaring him.”

Was he really dismissing Ivan, just like that?

It seemed to piss Ivan off as much as Cooper might expect. His cousin lost the tense air he’d been holding, a vein in his temple jumping as his jaw clenched—never a good sign. “Are you sure you’re not scaring Cooper?” he asked Chaos in a voice as cold as ice.

But of course Chaos wasn’t intimidated. “It’s different when it’s me,” he said haughtily. “I’m afraid your tiny human brain wouldn’t understand.”

Jesus. A fight could not break out between the two of them. Chaos hadn’t seemed opposed to killing Ivan, and having a murdered mob boss in his apartment was the last thing Cooper needed.

Besides, Ivan might have been kind of terrifying, but it wasn’t like Cooper actually wanted to end his life. Ivan wasn’t nearly the monster Dimitri had been. He was just…scary. But that wasn’t an execution-worthy offense in Cooper’s opinion, no matter what Chaos might think.

“Um, you can send me the details,” Cooper managed to say, trying to keep an eye on both of them at the same time. Now it sounded like he was the one dismissing Ivan from his presence. But he couldn’t figure out how else to break this tension.

Ivan didn’t respond, and it was Nix who asked, “You sure you two will be all right?”

Cooper felt the sharp, bitter sting of jealousy again. Did Nix want to stay here, with Chaos?

But Chaos only said, “Go away, Nix.” Bright and cheerful and just as dismissive as he’d been with Ivan.

When Nix’s gaze swung to him, Cooper only shrugged. He didn’t need protection from Chaos. Whatever happened would happen. Cooper had already decided to lean into the uncertainty his demon had brought into his life. It may have made his stomach flip, but Cooper was used to that. And he was learning that maybe it was a good thing every now and then, to be uncomfortable in that way. Cooper had spent too long shying away from discomfort, caging himself in.

It was a safer way to live, maybe, but it had also made his life lonely and small.

With another glare at Chaos from Ivan, Ivan and Nix finally left. Cooper ran after them to lock the doors behind them—just because he was giving in to the uncertainty didn’t mean he had to let go of safety altogether—and then pressed his forehead to the door, taking in deep, soothing breaths.

Chaos stood next to him, cocking his head like he was listening. A mischievous grin graced his lips. “Your Ivan’s annoyed. He thinks they can’t control me.” His grin widened, his golden eyes twinkling. “He’s right. They can’t.”

Cooper let out a breathless laugh. At least he wasn’t the only one out of his depth when it came to this demon.

Cooper sat cross-legged on the couch, stewing in his own nervousness as he clenched his hands in his lap, trying to stop chewing on his fingers. Chaos was perched next to him, their knees just touching. His head was cocked again, like he was studying Cooper.

He’d been quiet a surprisingly long time, but now he spoke, “We won’t go if you’re so scared, puppy.”

To the meeting, Chaos meant. He was offering to skip it. For Cooper.

Cooper shoved his glasses up his nose as he tilted his head to glance at the demon. “But Nix said it would be…fun for you.”

Nix had actually said Chaos might get to kill someone, but Cooper wasn’t up for repeating that at the moment. The thought of his new friend murdering some mobster, even with Cooper’s awareness of who and what Chaos was, would still take some adjusting to.

Chaos suddenly grabbed Cooper’s hand, coaxing it out of its clenched fist to examine his bitten-down nails. “Staying with you is fun for me,” he muttered.

Cooper sighed. “Bracchus.”

Chaos pouted at him, pinching Cooper’s knuckle. “What?”

“When you do find your human mate, you can’t go pushing aside your own needs for them like that all the time,” Cooper chastised. “It’s not healthy.”

Cooper knew a little bit about that, from his one disastrous relationship. He’d made himself small and unobtrusive and ignored his every inner instinct, and his boyfriend had still been a massive dickhead to him in the end. Cooper didn’t want anything like that for Chaos. The demon was too…sweet, for all that he was dangerous and maybe a little feral.

Chaos’s pout deepened. “You think I’m lying.”

“I think you need more excitement than holing up with me in my apartment,” Cooper told him, arching a brow.

“We have done more than that,” Chaos argued, his tone petulant all of a sudden. “The hotel. Sex. Geese with knives.”

Cooper bit back a smile. Chaos was trying to be thoughtful, in his own way. He didn’t want to push Cooper into something he didn’t want. Something that scared him. But Cooper had been to dozens of meetings like this before, and he’d always survived. They might make him a bit nervous, but he could push through the discomfort. And he’d have Chaos there, watching his back. Cooper had never had that before.

“We’ll go,” he said firmly, curling his fingers around Chaos’s hand, and before Chaos could protest, he added, “Would you like to practice kissing with me some more?”

Chaos blinked back at him, mouth half-open. Cooper had actually caught him off guard for once. Cooper had never been the one to suggest they start their “practice” before—he always let Chaos take the lead when it came to that.

But right now, Cooper wanted it—needed it—and he didn’t want to wait for it to happen. He’d been forced to watch Chaos snuggle up to beautiful Nix, and now Chaos was being so unbearably sweet, offering to give up exciting bloodshed just to make Cooper more comfortable.

Cooper wanted to touch him. To be touched by him. He hoped Chaos wanted the same.

Chaos’s hesitation didn’t last long. “Yes.” He nodded eagerly, wild strands of hair flopping in his face. “Yes, puppy. Good idea. Let’s practice .”

He said the last word with a wicked bite of humor, like it was some sort of inside joke. And then he was tugging Cooper onto his lap, arranging Cooper’s legs until he was straddling the demon. Chaos was still in his human form, though his hair had stayed purple, and his eyes were a golden yellow instead of brown. But he had no wings to contend with as he leaned back on the couch, his hands settling on Cooper’s hips.

Chaos had gotten very familiar with the process of kissing during their sessions, and he slid his hand easily into Cooper’s hair now, tugging Cooper’s mouth to his.

Cooper moaned into the kiss as he slid his tongue into Chaos’s waiting mouth—he loved how warm Chaos was, in whatever form he took. Loved the way he met Cooper with such greedy intent, like Cooper was a meal he’d been starving for. Cooper’s cock filled rapidly, his body associating Chaos’s touch with incoming pleasure after the way Chaos had been tossing him blow jobs like candy the past few days.

He ground his hips against Chaos shamelessly as Chaos licked and nibbled and murmured approvingly at him. Cooper’s own movements were artless and sloppy, his arousal coming on too fast, but Chaos liked that just fine, Cooper had learned. As long as Cooper was enthusiastically into whatever they were doing, Chaos was delighted.

When oxygen became a scarce commodity, Cooper leaned back, trying to catch his breath. He couldn’t help asking the question that had been plaguing him, the words coming out between pants. “Did you and Nix ever…” When Chaos only cocked his head with a frown, Cooper gestured between them. “Like this? Together?”

“Oh! Practice?”

Cooper bit back another surge of bitterness at Chaos using their word to describe what he’d done with Nix, but Chaos was already shaking his head. “No. Nix prefers human prey. And I prefer…” He bit at his lower lip mischievously, thumbs stroking the soft skin of Cooper’s hips. “Something different.”

“Oh.” Cooper fiddled with the hoodie strings on Chaos’s sweatshirt. Cooper’s sweatshirt, really, that Chaos had taken. “Bracchus?”

“Yes, puppy?”

Cooper didn’t know quite how to ask what he wanted to. He had gotten too used to the apps, too used to walking into a room and already knowing what was expected.

Would you like to fuck me? Will you fuck me? Please, God, just go ahead and fuck me?

He cleared his throat, grinding down just a touch, reassuring himself that Chaos was hard too. Cooper wasn’t the only one. “Do you want to…see my toys again?”

Flames lit up in Chaos’s pupils. “Just to see?” he asked coyly, thumbs pressing hard into Cooper’s skin now.

“No. You can—” Cooper’s breath hitched as Chaos’s fingers dipped below his waistband. “You can play with them. With me. If you—if you want.”

Chaos’s gaze dropped to Cooper’s sweatpants and the erection tenting them. It was obvious what Cooper wanted, no matter how roundabout his request. But it was hard for embarrassment to linger when Chaos stroked a finger over the fabric, humming appreciatively when Cooper’s cock jerked under his touch.

“But, puppy,” he murmured, a sly edge to his voice. “What if I put one of those toys inside you and I get all jealous?”

Cooper swallowed with a dry throat, trying to stop himself from rocking into Chaos’s touch and focus. Cooper hadn’t said anything about putting the toys inside him, but he wasn’t going to correct Chaos. Not when that was exactly what he’d been looking for. “What do you mean, jealous?”

“What if I want to be inside you instead?” Chaos asked, his lower lip pushing out as he teased Cooper’s cock. “What if I want to fill you up?”

“Then…then…” Cooper’s face felt hot, his body strung tight with tension. “Then I guess you could…you could do that. If you—if you end up feeling jealous.”

Chaos grinned at him, no longer coy but triumphant, and then he was standing, Cooper in his arms. Cooper didn’t know how that was possible—they were the same fucking size—but he supposed that was the demon strength coming in handy.

Chaos walked them to the bedroom, tossing Cooper onto the bed like a sack of potatoes when they got there. Cooper giggled as he bounced on the mattress, the sound trailing off as he felt a strange flash of warmth. He yelped.

Holy shit—his clothes were on fucking fire .

But the fear only lasted a moment. His clothes disintegrated around him in an instant, his skin untouched and unharmed by the flames, his bed not even smoking. Cooper was left nude, his heart racing with residual adrenaline. He gaped at Chaos, who was naked now as well, that intimidating cock bobbing in front of him as he opened Cooper’s bedside drawer.

Chaos ignored Cooper’s shock, humming in thought as he stared inside the drawer, then pulled out Cooper’s anal beads. “Like eggs,” he murmured. “Hatchlings.” He grinned at Cooper, waving the beads in front of him. “Our hatchlings would be so cute, don’t you think? Should we try to make some?”

A new sort of anxiety coursed through Cooper. Chaos couldn’t mean…

“Right. But. Wait.” Cooper shook his head. “That can’t actually— we can’t actually—”

Chaos cackled, setting the beads and a bottle of lube beside Cooper on the bed. He knelt between Cooper’s thighs, pushing Cooper’s legs apart to give himself more room, stroking Cooper’s hip. “Silly puppy,” he soothed. “Don’t fret. I’m going to take such good care of you.”

It wasn’t nearly as reassuring as Chaos seemed to think—not when Cooper didn’t have an answer to what the fuck “hatchlings” were—but apparently Cooper’s body didn’t care about any of that. He was still hard as a rock, precum dripping from his tip, waiting for whatever would come next.

Whatever Chaos wanted.