Page 8 of Calling Chaos (Demon Bound #3)

7

Cooper

T his time, Cooper woke up in his bed. That was great, right? Waking up in a bed like a normal person. Things were getting back on the right track.

Except he also woke up with an inhuman screech leaving his throat, because there was a pair of fox eyes a hair’s breadth away from his face, staring, unblinking, at him.

Without his glasses on, they were kind of a fuzzy blur in the dim, curtained-off room, but it was still fucking startling.

“That was loud,” Chaos told him, not exactly sounding put off by having scared the bejesus out of Cooper, or by getting an earful for it. He didn’t move any further away either. “And your heart’s beating quite fast.”

Cooper sat up, putting some distance between their faces. Chaos was squatting on his heels by the head of Cooper’s bed, his wings flared behind him, as if to help him keep his balance.

Cooper had almost managed to get weirdly used to the little demon yesterday. It had been hard to maintain his fear and anxiety when Chaos was marching him around the block, swinging their hands together and asking question after question, like an overinquisitive child.

It didn’t make it any less unsettling to have him looming over Cooper while he was sleeping though.

Cooper grabbed his glasses from the bedside table and turned back to Chaos with clear eyes. The demon’s hair was a violently bright purple this morning. It suited him. He also had small, stubby black horns, short enough that Cooper had missed them in the nest of his hair yesterday.

Cooper cleared his throat. Was Chaos still waiting for him to respond? “Yeah, well, my heart beats fast when someone scares the shit out of me first thing in the morning.”

Instead of taking it as a rebuke, Chaos seemed to take it as an invitation, crawling up onto Cooper’s bed and sitting cross-legged on the covers, facing him. He held Cooper’s laptop in his hand.

“Did you like the game?” Cooper asked.

“It was quite tolerable,” Chaos told him. “I have advanced many levels.” He looked almost thoughtful as he said, “It’s a strange sort of chaos to feed off of. Kind of faint in flavor. But also novel.” He gave Cooper’s knee a pat over the covers. “You did well.”

“Great.” Cooper was weirdly proud he’d managed to find something entertaining for the demon to do. He hadn’t even considered Chaos could feed off chaotic energy through a video game.

It had been such a long time since Cooper had had anyone in his space, let alone a strange creature from another realm. He’d half expected Chaos to have run off and found someone better by now.

He can’t, stupid , he reminded himself. He’s bound to you by the contract.

Chaos’s continued presence didn’t have anything to do with Cooper at all, or his talents as a host.

“I found something else,” Chaos said, a sly cant to his voice.

Cooper stuck his fingers under his glasses to rub some of the sleep from his eyes. “Oh yeah?” He could only hope Chaos hadn’t downloaded some horrible virus onto his computer. That would be just his luck.

Chaos opened the laptop, and the sound of moans and wet slapping filled the room before Cooper’s eyes managed to focus on the writhing bodies on the screen.

Sweet, holy fuck.

Chaos had found Cooper’s porn stash.

Cooper’s cheeks heated, and his heartbeat, which had slowed down to a normal rate, ramped up again. “Um…”

That was all he could come up with. A big, fat “Um.”

He cleared his throat. Came up with nothing. Cleared his throat again. “So that’s… Well, pornography is—”

“I know about pornography,” Chaos told him dismissively, even as his eyes gleamed at Cooper’s blush. “Nix liked to watch the shoots through the portal.”

There was so much to process in that statement.

“Nix?” Cooper asked dazedly, his gaze still stuck in horror on the porn Chaos had decided to show him. His own porn. “Ivan’s Nix?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“How—how do you know Nix?” Had Nix summoned Chaos first? But Chaos had said he’d been in the Void for centuries before Cooper found him, so that wouldn’t make sense.

“Nix is a demon.” Chaos fast-forwarded the video, pressing play again when the two men on-screen had changed positions. “An incubus. Your boss summoned him, I think.”

Of course. Sure. Ivan had summoned a sex demon. A male sex demon. That made perfect sense.

What the fuck was Cooper’s life turning into?

“Anyway, you have a splendid variety here,” Chaos told him. “I approve.”

He clicked on another video, one Cooper had found in the “Groups” tag on his favorite site. Now there was an entire chorus of moans filling the hole left by Cooper’s awkward silence.

“You like orgies?” Chaos asked him, cocking his head. At some point he’d shuffled closer so his bent knee was touching Cooper’s leg, his tail swishing over Cooper’s calf.

Cooper supposed there was no use giving in to the embarrassment crawling over his skin. Chaos was immune. Or maybe oblivious to it. Either way, the only thing to do was answer his questions and pretend like getting interviewed about his porn taste first thing in the morning was par for the course. “Um. I like watching them?” Cooper told him. “On video. I don’t…participate.” It seemed only polite to ask, “Do you like orgies?”

Chaos hummed a little tune, considering. “You wouldn’t be in this orgy?” he clarified.

Cooper shook his head. “Not really my scene. People make me anxious, remember? I wouldn’t know what to do.”

Chaos’s lower lip pushed into a pout, like Cooper was disappointing him with his answer. “Then no.”

A strange warmth ran through Cooper at that. Chaos wanted him in his hypothetical orgy? Why was that so fucking cute?

Or maybe Cooper was just having a hot flash from the shame of Chaos displaying his saved porn in some sort of private screening.

“And what about this one?” Chaos asked, pulling up another video.

Oh yeah. Cooper knew this one well. It was a slow, sensual fuck, with lots of kissing and whispered encouragements. Cooper kind of had a thing for it in his porn. He was no virgin, but he’d only had one boyfriend in his life, and the guy hadn’t been very nice. Everyone else he’d slept with since then had been more of a casual hookup. So he liked to watch couples that seemed super into each other, even if he knew they were probably acting for the camera.

“They’re being very gentle,” Chaos said quietly, stroking a taloned finger over the screen.

“Yeah,” Cooper rasped, his throat dry. He couldn’t meet Chaos’s eyes at the moment, so he kept staring at the video. It was probably the worst place to look—arousal was pooling in his belly now, and he was willing himself not to get hard.

“Cooper?” Chaos asked.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Cooper was vaguely aware it was Chaos’s first time using his real name. “Yeah?”

“Have you kissed someone before?”

“I have…” And again, since it seemed polite to reciprocate Chaos’s interest, he asked, “Have you?”

“I’ve mated,” Chaos told him, sounding adorably proud. “But I’ve never kissed. That’s more of a human thing. I’m not at all accustomed to…gentle mating.”

Cooper glanced up at the admission, only to find a specific sort of sly look on Chaos’s face. It was the kind of look Cooper was beginning to realize meant trouble was imminent.

“If I’m to find a human to mate with,” Chaos mused, his voice full of false innocence, even as his eyes began to sort of…glow, “I should become accustomed, don’t you think?”

“Um…yeah?” Cooper didn’t know where was safe to focus anymore, but the screen grabbed his attention as the couple flipped over, one man riding the other. “Sure…”

“I don’t wish to hurt my future mate,” Chaos said, just barely loud enough to be heard over the moans. “To become…overzealous.”

“Right,” Cooper said absently. Now he was distracted by the thought of what an overzealous Chaos might look like. Sharp teeth and grasping hands, probably. Would the tail come into play? Or the wings?

“So you’ll help me?”

“Sure,” Cooper agreed, completely on automatic.

He froze, taking his eyes off the laptop to meet Chaos’s gaze once more. What had he just agreed to? And were those flames reflecting in Chaos’s slit pupils? “Wait, what?”

Chaos moved closer with alarming speed, abandoning the laptop to crouch over Cooper’s torso. Cooper had to lean back on the bed so their heads didn’t bump.

“You’ll teach me to be gentle? A good mate for a human?”

“Oh. I’m not—” Cooper sucked in a breath, almost choking on the smell of sweet smoke. “You wouldn’t—”

“You haven’t mated before?”

“I have.” Cooper’s brow furrowed. “I’m not a virgin,” he clarified. Maybe that was a demon thing, going off for human virgins?

But Chaos didn’t seem put off by his answer. “Then what’s the difficulty?” he asked, gesturing to the laptop. “These are all videos of men. You find the male form pleasing, yes?”

“Yeah, I’m gay. It’s just—”

“You don’t find my form pleasing?” Chaos’s tail swung, closing the laptop with a thump.

“No, you’re—you’re very pleasing. I just—” Cooper didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t even exactly sure how they’d gotten here. He found himself blurting out, “I prefer to bottom! So I can’t—you know—depending on which way you—”

He trailed off as, in answer, Chaos swung a leg over him, straddling Cooper’s torso fully and leaning down until their faces were barely an inch apart. “Oh, puppy,” he crooned, his voice full of sympathy even as his eyes gleamed with some sort of sinister intent. “Here I’ve only been discussing kissing. But if you wish me to penetrate you…that can be arranged.”

Cooper rinsed the toothpaste out of his mouth, avoiding his own eyes in the mirror.

He’d shouted something about not being able to kiss with morning breath and run off into the bathroom. Chaos had mercifully let him flee.

Cooper had just…needed a moment.

He eyed himself in the mirror now, wondering what the strength of his appeal might be for someone like Chaos. He supposed he was attractive enough. He definitely needed a haircut, but the overlong mess kind of suited him. He had a nice face and an okay smile, and people were always intrigued by his eyes. And yeah, maybe he could benefit from going to the gym every now and then, but…it wasn’t like no one had been interested before.

Cooper had been fucked. Quite a bit for a semirecluse. But never by a literal demon. A strangely cute one who held Cooper’s hand when they walked and looked at him like he was something fascinating and not a boring, nerdy shut-in.

But if Cooper ignored that last dig about penetration—and he would ignore it, so as not to court a full-blown panic attack—then Chaos was just talking about a little making out.

Cooper could handle that.

Who was he fucking kidding? Nervousness aside, Cooper was dying to handle that. He hadn’t been on the apps in a while, and he hadn’t been kissed in forever. Or touched in any significant way. In terms of a sex life, he was basically crawling through the desert, and Chaos’s offer was a straight-up pitcher of ice-cold water. Like Cooper was really going to refuse?

And if Chaos didn’t like kissing Cooper—if he didn’t like Cooper , in the end—well, that was to be expected, right? Cooper wouldn’t get hurt by it, because he wasn’t holding out for anything anyway. Chaos was going to find some other human to bond and mate with, most likely some jacked supermodel type who liked skydiving and going to raves and participating in every single orgy they came across.

This was just…practice.

And yeah, maybe Cooper should have more self-respect than agreeing to be someone’s practice hookup, but the truth was that he really, really didn’t.

He blew out a breath, narrowing his mismatched eyes at himself in the mirror. Let’s fucking do this.

Bolstered by the shortest pep talk of all time, Cooper walked back into his bedroom, only to halt in the doorway, frozen in horror.

He’d thought the porn was bad. He’d thought it couldn’t get any more embarrassing.

He’d been wrong.

Chaos had found Cooper’s sex toys.

The drawer to Cooper’s bedside table was open, and the demon had a dildo—a squishy purple monstrosity Cooper hardly ever used, one that by some disturbing luck matched Chaos’s hair perfectly—in one hand and a string of anal beads in the other. There was a Fleshlight and a vibrator beside him on the bed, where he was still sitting cross-legged.

Chaos held the items up like he was showing them off, grinning brightly. “You have accessories!”

“Oh my fucking God.”

Chaos stroked the dildo. “So nice to play with, yes? Is this what you do instead of going to orgies?”

No. No, no, no. That was not happening.

Cooper stepped up to the bed. After a moment of initial reluctance from the demon, he was able to gather the toys from Chaos’s hands. But when he tried to place them back in the drawer, Chaos’s tail whipped out, slamming it shut before he could.

Cooper let out a frustrated breath. Forbidding Chaos outright from something didn’t seem to work well, but distraction…

“Bracchus,” Cooper said gently, abandoning his battle for the drawer handle. “You want to kiss me, right?”

Chaos perked up immediately, his tail abandoning its hold on the drawer to curl up behind him. “Yes, please.”

Well, that was…polite. “Okay. So let’s put the toys away.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not ready for those yet.”

Fuck. Why had Cooper phrased it like that? Why the fuck would he say “yet”?

But Chaos was nodding sagely. “Of course, puppy. You’re very nervous. And embarrassed. I should go slowly with you.”

“You—” Cooper was stopped short as he shut the toys away. He’d assumed Chaos was oblivious to his emotional roller coasters. The demon definitely hadn’t said anything about them until now. “You know I get embarrassed?”

“Of course.” Chaos cocked his head, widening his eyes in that way he did when he wanted to seem innocent. “Did I forget to tell you? I can feel your emotions through your soul piece. And scent them on you besides. Your embarrassment’s strange but tasty. Kind of sour and tingly on the tongue.”

“You can feel my emotions,” Cooper repeated woodenly.

“Just bits and pieces.” Chaos grinned, flashing his dimple. “Right now, you’re embarrassed again.”

Of course he was. He was a fucking mess, and apparently Chaos knew every bit of it.

Although…Chaos didn’t seem to mind Cooper’s nervousness or his embarrassment. He’d even just said it was…tasty?

Still, Cooper was embarrassed and also felt sort of…flayed open, in a strange way. He spent so much time worrying about what other people were thinking, worrying about trying to seem normal and less anxious than he really was. And apparently, with this demon, it was a lost cause.

Cooper didn’t have to pretend or worry or fret. Chaos already had his number.

Holy shit.

Chaos was going to turn Cooper’s life upside down, wasn’t he?

Whether Chaos was here for a few days or…longer, Cooper was just now realizing he wasn’t going to come out of this the same as he’d started. It didn’t seem possible to remain unchanged by someone like Chaos.

It was scary but also…intriguing. Cooper’s life had become so small. So contained. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have it blown wide open.

Whatever Chaos was feeling from Cooper’s soul piece now, it made his grin drop and his eyes go heavy-lidded. He scooted to the edge of the bed until his legs hit the ground, widening them invitingly. “Come here, puppy,” he crooned.

Cooper went, standing between Chaos’s knees. It made him taller than Chaos, the demon gazing up at him through dark lashes.

Chaos placed his hands on Cooper’s hips, and the warmth burned through Cooper’s clothes, straight to his skin.

Right. Kissing lessons. Cooper licked dry lips. “You know the basics?” he asked.

Chaos nodded. “We press our mouths together. We stroke our tongues.”

“Yeah.” Cooper pressed his thumb to Chaos’s lower lip, studying the row of sharp fangs that was revealed. “I’m a little worried about your teeth,” he admitted.

“Because I might bite off one of your fingers?” Chaos opened his mouth, capturing Cooper’s thumb and holding it in place between his fangs.

“No, I— Wait, do you want to bite off one of my fingers?” Carefully—so fucking carefully—Cooper withdrew his thumb from Chaos’s mouth.

Instead of answering that extremely important question, Chaos bared his teeth, which were suddenly of the blunt human variety. “So I don’t accidentally take your tongue,” he said in a way that was maybe supposed to be reassuring.

“Cool. Great.” After a beat, Cooper added, “Thank you.”

The insanity of this moment aside, Cooper was grateful for the training wheels. He’d had some bad kisses in his life, but he’d never lost his tongue for his troubles. That seemed too high a cost for one kiss, even from an adorable demon.

Cooper had kind of expected Chaos to just go for it. To jump on him with the same giddy glee he approached everything else. But instead, Chaos kept sitting there with his unnatural, predatory stillness, his hands steady on Cooper’s hips.

Waiting for Cooper.

Luring him in.

Cooper lowered his head slowly, pressing his mouth against Chaos’s lips. Like his hands, Chaos’s mouth was uncommonly warm. It made Cooper’s lips tingle.

He hummed, licking the sensation away, only to press another kiss against Chaos’s top lip, then the bottom lip. He kept it gentle. Soft. Sweet.

He leaned back after a moment. “See?”

Chaos’s eyes were on Cooper’s mouth. “More,” he demanded, his voice as soft as Cooper’s touch.

Cooper pressed in again. This time, Chaos’s lips parted against his, so Cooper gently—slowly—swiped in his tongue. Chaos tasted smoky and sweet, just like his scent.

Chaos’s fingers tightened on Cooper’s hips, and after a moment, Chaos’s tongue met his, following Cooper’s lead and stroking against him slowly.

Cooper shuddered, biting back a moan. The slow pace of things was making everything feel unbelievably intimate. In some ways it was familiar, like kissing anyone, but also…

He leaned back again, ignoring Chaos’s pout at his retreat. “Let me see your tongue.”

Chaos opened his mouth obediently, like it was a normal question to be asked mid-make-out session.

Yeah, that thing was longer than a human’s for sure. And…pointier. Cooper blinked, and suddenly it was forked.

“What—?”

“More,” Chaos rasped instead of letting Cooper finish his question. He didn’t wait for Cooper this time—he released his hold on Cooper’s hips and grabbed his cheeks, pulling Cooper’s face down to his. He surged up and captured Cooper’s mouth, his now forked tongue swiping in to claim and plunder.

Cooper groaned, his eyes falling closed as he gave in to the newly demanding kiss. Chaos’s hands were somehow everywhere, like he had more than the normal amount. On Cooper’s hips again but also in his hair, stroking his arms, teasing under his shirt. Cooper’s muscles went limp, and he relied on Chaos’s body to hold him up.

When Chaos let him up for air—probably some time after he should have, judging by how lightheaded Cooper was feeling—Cooper gasped the question, “Are you sure you haven’t kissed befo—”

“More,” Chaos growled, tugging Cooper’s hips closer and kissing him again.

Cooper had gotten hard at some point. Could Chaos feel his arousal, like he’d felt Cooper’s embarrassment? Although, the point was probably moot, since no doubt Chaos could feel Cooper’s fucking erection against his stomach.

Cooper should put a stop to this now, right? Practice was one thing, but this was…

Cooper wasn’t going to let this demon actually fuck him, was he?

But then Cooper’s shirt was being tugged over his head, and Chaos was leaning forward, butting his head against Cooper’s belly like some kind of cat.

Cooper stroked Chaos’s purple hair, trying to catch his breath now that his mouth was his own again. “Do you think you—you have a handle on it now? The kissing?”

In answer, Chaos’s hands wandered from Cooper’s hips to his ass, grabbing and kneading the flesh there. It felt good.

Too good.

“Um, maybe I should add to the lesson,” Cooper said frantically as more blood rushed to his dick. “You need a human’s permission to mate with them. You know that, right?”

Chaos’s hot breath huffed against Cooper’s bare belly. “Of course.” He raised his head, peering up at Cooper beseechingly through his lashes. “Do I have your permission, Cooper?”

Well, that was Cooper’s fault, for setting that one up. Because he was in no way actually ready for that question.

Luckily, just then, Cooper’s phone rang.

His phone that was in Chaos’s pocket.

And judging by the growl Chaos let out at the interruption, the demon didn’t seem very inclined to give it back to him.