Page 13

13

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, IT EXPIRED?

“Um. What?” Nat squinted at the crib next to the bed.

Wanda was awake. She had sat up and was babbling to herself, except her eyes—

Her eyes were glowing white.

Nat sat bolt upright, his heart thundering in his chest.

Duke wasn’t supposed to find out like this.

Hell, Nat hadn’t thought this far ahead. He had assumed that he would have more time before Duke learned about Wanda’s other species.

What if Duke decided to fire him? He’d only had his job for one day.

“Nat?” Duke murmured.

“Um?” Nat shuffled between Wanda and Duke, Duke’s cock slipping out of him. Then he realized that Duke’s entire body was a deep red, his horns visible on his forehead.

“Why are you not—Your glamour,” Nat said weakly.

Duke gave him a flat look. “I can be myself in my own bed, Nat.”

This had to be why Wanda’s eyes were glowing.

Crap.

“I was gonna tell you,” Nat blurted.

Then he realized that he would’ve gotten into less trouble, if he had pretended to be surprised by Wanda’s demon heritage.

Too late. Stupid mouth.

Duke sat up slowly, the duvet sliding off his exquisite chest. “You knew?” he asked, glancing at Wanda and back at Nat.

Nat’s mind raced. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone. She’s at risk.”

Duke blinked. “You know about the kidnappers.”

Nat laughed helplessly. “Yeah. I know about them.”

“Who told you?”

Nat swallowed. Duke was going to fire him anyway; he might as well tell the truth. “I was there. When you, Ace, Raptor, and the rest broke into the kidnappers’ hideout.”

Duke froze. His eyes widened almost comically. “You...”

“That’s why I trust you.” Nat shrugged. “You came to save us.”

“How did I not recognize you?” Duke frowned deeply.

“You were busy with everything. I think you got us transport out of there, and a place to stay. You didn’t have time to chat with the victims.”

“I... You’re staying at one of our safehouses, aren’t you? And I wasn’t even aware of that.”

Nat shrugged. “I wrote my address on HR’s hiring contract.”

Duke sighed, rubbing his temples. “I didn’t have time to look at the details.”

Nat watched him warily. “Are you going to fire me now?”

Duke’s head jerked up. “What? Why would I fire you?”

“Because I’m trouble.” Nat sagged. “I was kidnapped, and Wanda is still at risk of being kidnapped. I didn’t think you would want to deal with that.”

Duke narrowed his eyes. “No. If you’re working for me, then you’re mine to protect.”

Nat stared. “That’s... not how things work.”

“Mine,” Duke growled.

Nat’s stomach flipped. No one had made him this kind of promise, either.

“You can’t,” Nat said. “You have too many other responsibilities.”

Duke’s gaze dropped to Nat’s fingers, and he frowned deeply. “I’ll make time. For what it’s worth... I’m sorry that I didn’t recognize you from before. You’re remarkable.”

“If you praise me any more, I think my head might explode.”

“Your head has already exploded a few times. I think another explosion wouldn’t matter too much.”

Nat’s mouth fell open. “Oh, gods. You didn’t just say that.”

Duke smirked. “I did.”

Someone cackled somewhere in the mansion.

“That’s such a good pickup line,” Hubrie howled faintly.

Duke sighed into his hand. “Please ignore him. And get back under the covers.”

Nat’s heart leaped. He looked over at the crib, where Wanda was babbling at them. “Can I bring her over?”

“Of course.”

Nat went to get Wanda; she smiled and kicked in his arms.

“Fuck,” Duke said.

Nat was about to remind him of her delicate little ears, when he realized that Duke was frowning at his lap. “What’s wrong?”

Duke looked up. And back down. Nat covered Wanda’s eyes.

“I thought I might as well remove the condom since I’m out of you,” Duke said slowly. “I came a lot last night. Or this morning. A few hours ago.”

“Okay, and...?” Nat clambered onto the bed.

Duke gestured between his legs. “It broke.”

“Your cock broke?” Nat looked again, and realized that the condom looked kind of loose around Duke.

Because it had split all the way down one side, and it was flapping open around his cock.

“Did it soak into the bed?” Nat asked, right before he remembered waking up with Duke buried inside him.

He looked between his own legs. There was barely a drip going down his thigh.

Duke patted all over the bed, his frown growing. “No. There’s hardly any trace of it left.”

“So...”

Duke met his eyes. “I think it all went inside you.”

* * *

Nat’s brain shorted out for a second.

Because that was really fucking hot.

“Should I be glad that my hips weren’t in the air? Like what people do when they’re trying to conceive?”

Duke’s gaze darkened. “With the way I was knotted inside you? There wasn’t anywhere for my cum to go, except into your womb. So I probably filled it up pretty good anyway.”

Nat’s ears burned. “But I wasn’t in heat.”

“Yeah.” Duke looked pensive. He reached over and folded his hand around Nat’s. “I know we didn’t plan for, or discuss having a baby. But in case you conceive... Will you—Will you consider carrying the child to term? I’ll pay for everything, and shoulder all responsibilities.”

“I want the baby,” Nat blurted.

Surprise flickered through Duke’s eyes. “So... a 50-50 split?”

“Probably? If you have time?”

Duke flinched. “Fuck.”

He dropped his gaze to Wanda, and Nat’s belly, and he seemed so torn that Nat felt bad for him.

“It’s okay, I’ll manage,” Nat said. “If you fire me, I’ll have time on my hands.”

“I’m not firing you.” Duke scowled.

“You’re really sure about that.”

“Yes. You’re good with the scheduling, even if your mouth gets ahead of you sometimes.” Duke cracked a smile. “You’re good with the kids too. And...” He wet his lips.

“The sex?” Nat guessed, covering Wanda’s ears.

“Yes. I can’t stop thinking about you,” Duke said lowly. “All day yesterday, I kept remembering you beneath me. Taking me like you were meant to be mine.”

Nat blushed. “No one’s ever said that to me.”

Duke looked offended on his behalf. “No one?”

Nat shrugged. “People think I’m plain, or fat.”

Those golden eyes flashed. “You’re not plain, Nat. You’re smart. Good. And I like that there’s so much of you to hold.”

Was that something a boss should be saying to his employee? Nat didn’t think so. But he was going to soak up every last bit of Duke’s admiration, when so little else in his life had gone right.

“I’ll have Hubrie write up an additional contract, to make sure all your needs are taken care of.” Duke reached over, gently stroking Nat’s plump belly with the back of his finger. “If—If you do conceive, you probably won’t show for a while.”

“Is that a good thing?”

Duke gave a half-shrug. “I’m... I’m tempted to make sure that you do conceive.”

Nat’s face burned so red, maybe all he needed was a pair of horns, and he could be a demon too. “How did the condom break, anyway?”

“Fuck if I know. I’ve never had one break on me before.” Duke reached into the nightstand drawer, pulling out the condom box. He turned it in all directions until he found what he was looking for. “It... It expired three days ago. What the fuck?”

Nat checked the date too, but Duke was right. “Things don’t usually go bad a few days after the expiration date.”

“Unless it’s milk,” Duke said dryly. “Then maybe it goes bad before .”

“That’s because you trusted the corner shop,” Hubrie yelled from elsewhere in the mansion. “I told you not to!”

Nat cringed and wished he could hide his head under the pillows. “Has he been listening this entire time?”

Duke sighed. “He’s paid to listen to everything around the house. Security,” he added at Nat’s incredulous squeaking. “Nothing beats a true shapeshifter’s hearing range. It’s why each of my friends employs a Butler Brother, even though they have the strangest ideas about pickup lines.”

“All you need is something from 699 Pickup Lines, and you’ll win Nat’s heart,” Hubrie yelled back.

“Shut up, Hubrie,” Duke growled.

Nat blushed and decided not to think too hard about Hubrie’s words. He changed the subject. “Why are your condoms expired, anyway? Don’t you just... go through them?”

“I haven’t had time to jerk off, much less find a bed partner,” Duke said dryly. “My past self was optimistic. Well, Hubrie was optimistic. He bought me the box and opened it, and I haven’t had a reason to use it. There’s a forgotten pile of condom boxes in my closet, mostly full.”

Secretly, Nat was glad to hear that. “It’s also because of Teddy and Mallie, isn’t it? You don’t want to bring anyone here because you don’t want to put them at risk.”

Duke’s smile was slow and pleased. “Yes. You understand.”

Nat looked down at Wanda, who was drooling all over a mouthful of sheets. “It’s why I don’t, either. My friends and I... we have too much to risk at the apartment. Even the one we were living in, back in Colorado. So we don’t bring anyone home.”

Duke brushed his fingers through Nat’s hair. “Who takes care of your needs, then?”

Nat shrugged. “No one?”

At that, Duke growled. He pulled Nat back against his chest, spooning him while Nat spooned Wanda. “Mine. I’ll take care of your needs.”

“You shouldn’t be saying that, right? You’re my boss.”

“And as the boss, I can do whatever I want.” There was a smile in Duke’s voice.

Nat tried to think of a reply. Before he could, Wanda reached over his shoulder and grabbed Duke’s nose.

“Wanda,” Nat squawked.

“Wah ba goo,” she said, stuffing her fingers into Duke’s nostrils.

Duke winced, but he was also grinning. “Hey, kiddo,” Duke said lightly, leaning back. “I don’t think you’ll find anything in there that you want.”

Nat pulled her fingers away before she could do something grosser with them. “Sorry!” He cleaned her hands on the sheets. To Wanda, he said, “Even I am not going into his nose.”

Wanda scrunched up her face and reached for Duke’s nose again.

“Try a raspberry,” Duke said.

Nat blew a noisy raspberry on Wanda’s belly, and she shrieked with laughter.

“That’s it,” Duke growled. He hooked his chin back over Nat’s shoulder, his eyes crinkling.

For a heartbeat, Nat forgot how to breathe.

“It’s her, isn’t it?” Duke murmured. “When you told me about your ‘friend’ who has a demon child. You wanted to know how to raise this one.”

Nat blushed, caught. “Yeah. Her other dad isn’t in the picture, so I don’t really know what to expect. Before this, she mostly shifted into a raccoon because she saw me doing that.”

Duke hummed and reached for Wanda, huffing when she grabbed his finger. “You’re a little sweetheart, aren’t you, Wanda?”

Wanda gummed on his finger and tried to chew it off. But instead of chiding her, Duke grinned. He lowered himself to Wanda’s level, flashing his eyes white. Wanda flashed her eyes back at him; Nat had to swallow the urge to coo at them both.

“Aside from the glowing eyes and skin color changes, demon children are pretty placid,” Duke continued, still watching Wanda. “They don’t set fire to anything at this age. Unlike the dragonets.”

“Yeah, Ivo was having some trouble with his baby,” Nat said sympathetically. “She kept burning up our things. So we didn’t own much by the time we were kidnapped in Colorado. At least the apartment safehouse is fireproofed. We haven’t had to worry about something catching fire there.”

Duke blinked and turned toward him. “That’s right. You weren’t originally from here. Is there anything you left back there, that you need to retrieve?”

Nat bit his lip. “We had been kidnapped for a while. I don’t think our landlord held on to our things, ‘cuz we sure as Hell didn’t pay rent while we were gone.”

“Did you leave behind anything important?”

Nat’s chest ached, suddenly. “I—Yeah. There were a couple of photo albums. They contained photos of me and my Gran, from back when she was still alive. Gran insisted that my mom and dad take those photos. She—She used to believe in me. She told me that I would grow up and make all my dreams come true. But those albums are probably the first things our landlord threw away. They don’t have any resale value.”

Duke’s arms tightened around him. “I’m sorry to hear all of that. Your parents, your Gran, and the photos.”

Nat sighed, his shoulders hunching. “Yeah, well.”

“Were those small albums, or big ones?”

“Small. Those little booklets that can fit in one hand. Gran took care of me a lot, but my parents didn’t like sticking around to take pictures of us.” Nat sighed heavily. “Damn it. Now I’m sad.”

Duke rumbled. He wrapped himself around Nat, a big heavy weight that made Nat feel so safe. As though nothing out there could hurt him or Wanda. Wanda patted Nat’s cheek, too.

“Are you sure you should be doing this?” Nat asked before he could stop himself. “You’re my boss.”

“And you’re mine to protect.”

“Surely you don’t protect everyone in the company.”

Duke hummed. “I guess not. Just you.”

Nat’s heart skipped a beat. “Because you like having sex with me?”

“Not only that.” Duke’s hand crept over Nat’s hip, covering his entire belly. “You might be carrying something of mine.”

“So you’ll stop if I’m not carrying your baby?”

Duke growled. “Nat.” He moved, sinking human-blunt teeth into the crook of Nat’s shoulder. Nat’s heart stuttered in anticipation. But once again, Duke didn’t break his skin. “I have been claiming you. You have been wearing my clothes. And my scent, and my cum.”

Nat blushed. “I still find that hard to believe. No one wants me.”

“Well, they’ve missed out. Too bad for them.” Duke rumbled, carding his fingers through Nat’s hair. Nat’s sense of smell wasn’t as good as a wolf’s, but he could pick out the traces of Duke’s brimstone scent on his skin, more so with every pass of his hands.

He also noticed that Duke was careful not to touch Wanda.

Because Wanda wasn’t his. And that reassured him—that Duke wasn’t going to steal her away.

“Duke,” Nat said quietly.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

He thought Duke might’ve hidden a smile against his shoulder.

But he didn’t know for sure, because Wanda reached over and stuck her fingers into Duke’s eye.