Page 51 of Demon Loved (The Witches of Mingus Mountain #5)

So she slowly lifted her mouth from him, then shifted so she could settle herself on his shaft, letting all his strength and his heat fill her.

His eyes met hers, shocked and at the same time needful. Yes, he’d wanted this just as badly as she did, even if he might not have been able to fully understand those desires.

Their fingers entwined, and she held on to him as they rocked together, finding their rhythm.

The way he’d touched her had been amazing, but this was even better, since now they truly had become a single being, Belshegar and Brianna, two people whose blood might have come from other worlds but who had found their home in this one.

He came first, a burst of heat within her, but she followed soon after, a cry rising from her throat that made her glad the gallery was closed today. Anyone downstairs surely must have heard them.

They were alone now, though, and they clung together as the heat and the need from their orgasms slowly subsided. After a moment, Brianna eased herself off him so she could lie down once again and feel the strength and the warmth of his oh-so-human body pressed against hers.

Silence while her heartbeat seemed to thud in her ears. Finally, he spoke.

“I had no idea.”

She pushed herself up on one elbow so she could better see his face. He looked almost supernaturally calm, but she couldn’t miss how his chest rose and fell, how the faintest sheen of perspiration gleamed on his forehead.

“How could you?” she asked sensibly. “You didn’t even have a human body until a little over a week ago.”

“Still.” He went quiet again for a moment, and then he also moved onto his side so he could gaze at her more directly. “Will I ever stop being surprised by you?”

She touched her mouth to his gently, although even that soft brush of lips against lips was enough to tell her she’d be ready to try this another time in the very near future.

For now, though, she was content just to be here like this with him.

“I sure hope not,” she said.

Her phone had about ten unread texts — most of them from her parents — so after Brianna and Belshegar had showered and made some coffee, she responded to them with variations on the same theme.

I slept well. I’m fine.

And she was. Not just because her slumber had restored the energy she’d depleted the night before when she banished the Collector from this world, but because she and Belshegar had made love.

Because they loved each other, and she knew everything was going to be all right.

Now they sat on the balcony that overlooked Main Street and offered a spectacular view of the Verde Valley and Sedona’s red rocks and the darker edge of the Mogollon Rim beyond. A cool breeze stirred the air, and she thought it couldn’t get much more perfect than this.

“Our battle with the Collector had an unexpected side effect,” Belshegar remarked after he’d taken a bite of cinnamon raisin toast.

“Just one?” Bree responded, knowing she sounded just a bit arch.

He smiled, and the sunny day got a little brighter.

“One of several, I suppose,” he said. “Something about the energies we raised appears to have strengthened the permanent wards protecting Jerome, so even if the Collector somehow does manage to escape at some point, I believe he —or his servants, if any are left — will have a much harder time getting in and trying to take the artifacts you’re keeping here. ”

That was something, she supposed. Actually, it was a whole lot.

While she really didn’t want to consider the possibility of their enemy being free once again, she had to admit she was somewhat comforted to know that the former mining town wouldn’t present quite as tempting a target.

With any luck, he’d move his treasure hunt elsewhere.

“I know my father — and the other elders and Angela and Connor — will be glad to hear that,” she said. “They’ve had to work so hard to make sure everyone is safe.”

Belshegar nodded, his gaze moving from her to the street below them. Since it was now Friday morning, there was a bit more traffic than usual as people made their way up here for a long weekend, whether they were coming from Phoenix or Flagstaff or points even farther away.

And Brianna wasn’t going to let herself feel the slightest bit guilty about the way the “be back at” sign had remained firmly in place in the gallery’s front window.

She’d borrowed her friend Bellamy’s line about a “family emergency” and had told Chelle that she wouldn’t be able to work this weekend, and although Chelle hadn’t sounded too thrilled — especially since she was off in Sonoma and couldn’t do much about it — she hadn’t put her foot down and said Bree needed to get to work or find a new place to live.

However, the idea of relocating had already floated through her mind as she and Belshegar were getting ready this morning. The apartment had suited her just fine when she was on her own, but she could already tell they’d be on top of each other if they spent too much time in the place.

Maybe it was a little too early to be thinking about cohabiting, and yet she couldn’t imagine doing anything else. They loved each other, and she knew they were going to be together. Why not start thinking about the future?

He must have also been considering much the same thing, because he said quietly, “Do you think it’s going to be a problem? The two of us and your clan, that is.”

“Absolutely not,” she said, making sure she sounded as firm as possible. “For one thing, my father’s origins are just as otherworldly as yours, and the McAllisters made him an elder. If they aren’t just as accepting of you, then they’re a bunch of hypocrites.”

“They are definitely not that,” Belshegar replied, still in that quiet, musing tone. “And I will admit that knowing your clan welcomed your father so kindly has helped to put my mind at ease.”

“I know they’ll do the same for you,” she said, and meant each and every word. Part of being a McAllister was knowing how to roll with whatever life might throw your way.

Again, they went quiet, and she knew she needed to speak the words…just to be sure.

“So…you really are staying?”

His hand found hers. “Of course I am. I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”

Warmth filled her then, a very different kind from the heat she’d experienced a little over an hour earlier when they’d been lost in one another’s arms. “I love you,” she said simply.

“And I love you.”

Her fingers tightened on his. “But we’re probably going to have to find someplace else to live. This apartment is way too cramped.”

Again, he didn’t seem at all put off by her suggestion that they live together. “You might be right. And I will admit that I would like to live someplace with more land. Back on my world, I had many gardens to tend, and it would be good to be able to do that here as well.”

He’d mentioned his gardens before, so his comment didn’t surprise her too much, even though at the time, she’d thought he was talking about his place in Los Angeles.

“We’ll figure it out,” she told him. “But we’ll probably need to find a house somewhere down the hill…

not many of the homes here in Jerome have big yards, and the ones that do have owners who have no intention of going anywhere.

” A thought occurred to her, and she added, “It might be fun to find something in Page Springs, especially now that Bellamy and Marc have bought the Rainbow Canyon winery there. Then we’d have friends close by. ”

“‘Friends,’” Belshegar repeated in musing tones. “Yes, it would be good to have friends.”

Of course, all this was pie in the sky if they couldn’t come up with a way to fund such a purchase.

They’d have to buy, since rentals in Page Springs were few and far between.

And while Bree had some money saved up, she knew it wasn’t anything close to what they’d need for a decent down payment on a house.

Because of the place’s popularity as a tourist destination, properties in the Verde Valley tended to be expensive.

But maybe her parents could loan them some money. Or….

“You are worried about financing such a project,” Belshegar said, almost as if he’d read her mind. “Homes here are quite costly, are they not?”

“They can be,” she admitted.

He let go of her hand and spread open his palm. Sitting on it were several large, clear stones. Even though they hadn’t received their final faceting, Bree thought she knew what they were.

“Are those…diamonds?” she asked, knowing how shocked she sounded.

“They are,” Belshegar said calmly.

“Where in the world did you get diamonds?”

“I made them,” he said simply. “It is easy enough to convert energy into matter, so I converted it into something that has value in this world. Would these help to buy a house?”

“Probably more than one,” she said with a grin. Clearly, he hadn’t been lying when he’d told her he still had access to all his demon abilities.

“I believe one is all we will need,” Belshegar said, then slipped the diamonds into her hand and closed her fingers around them.

The gems were cool and ever so slightly sharp against her skin. Brianna couldn’t begin to estimate how much they were worth, but she had to guess it was well over a million dollars.

“I could have conjured the house itself,” he added. “But then it occurred to me that doing so would have raised far more questions than quietly creating the means for us to buy one.”

That was for sure. Most residents in the Verde Valley were used to the way the younger generation of McAllisters tended to buy houses much earlier than their nonmagical counterparts, so she doubted too many people would raise an eyebrow at her and Belshegar purchasing a property together.

Besides, he’d already presented himself as someone living off a trust fund, which meant a lot of her friends and neighbors would probably think he’d financed the whole thing.

Really, there wasn’t anything too strange about the situation.

Well, except for the part where they’d launched into a life together after knowing one another for barely two weeks.

“But we’ll probably need a Wilcox to sell these for us,” she said, still smiling. “I don’t think anyone in my clan would even know where to start.”

“Whatever needs to be done.” Belshegar’s expression turned serious then, his gaze once again holding hers. “I want to be an equal partner with you, Brianna. You are so very strong, so very talented. I want you to know that I will not be a burden.”

How could he possibly believe that she would ever look at him in such a way? But both his expression and his tone were earnest, and she thought she understood.

“We’ll take care of each other,” she promised, and immediately, he sat up a little straighter.

“Forever?” he asked, and she nodded.

“Forever.”

The Witches of Mingus Mountain series will continue in Christmas Past , a holiday novella releasing in early December 2025.