Page 11 of Demon with Benefits (Hell Bent #3)

BONE TO PICK

I RIS SPENT A GOOD TEN MINUTES IN THE BATHROOM . I T only took a couple to clean herself up, and she spent the rest of time sitting on the closed toilet lid with her head between her knees, breathing in and out. In and out. Like she was fighting off a panic attack.

It was just... She hadn’t expected that. Which was dumb, really.

Meph had played her body like a violin. A concert grand piano. An entire goddamn orchestra. He made her come harder than she ever had, but that shouldn’t have been a surprise. Just looking at him made her wet. That kind of attraction could only bring earth-shattering results.

But now she was dreading emerging from the bathroom. She was going to have to look into his red eyes and find out how he would react to what had just happened between them.

Was he going to start ignoring her again? Or was he going to be a smug jerk and rub in her face how intensely she responded to him?

There was only one way to find out. And it wasn’t like she could hide in Lily’s bathroom forever anyway.

Except when Iris emerged, the sofa was empty. So she wandered into the kitchen where everyone was hanging out, figuring Meph must have gone there. But he wasn’t there either.

When she stepped into Lily’s kitchen, she got a few nods, and the casual conversation went on uninterrupted.

She stood in the corner and pretended to be involved.

She’d just had her world turned on its head and shaken vigorously—all from some heavy petting on the sofa—and she felt miles away from everything.

She caught Raum’s gaze from across the room.

He was leaning against the far wall, Faust in his arms. The facial hair around his mouth was like a frame for his full lips, and his perpetually furrowed brow only made his eyes pop more. The bright gold color made a striking contrast against his dark skin.

He was giving her this direct look that somehow revealed nothing of his thoughts while imparting a whole lot of weighty meaning. She didn’t read brooding-demon stare fluently, and yet she felt like she understood.

It was a warning.

Not a don’t-fuck-with-my-brother kind of warning, but more along the lines of Are you sure you want to open up this can of worms?

She wasn’t sure. Not at all.

She managed to drag her gaze away from Raum and said to the room, “I’m gonna head out.” Looked like Meph had, anyway. There was no sign of him anywhere.

The bastard had topped her every previous sexual experience with a little finger fucking and then disappeared without another word. He hadn’t even said goodbye. Who did that?

She gritted her teeth against the wave of anger that washed over her, reminding herself that emotions had no part in whatever was between them. It was purely physical, and that was where it ended.

Raum crossed the room without a word and handed her Faust. He was still giving her that intense look, but all he said was, “I like the name.”

She blinked. “What?”

“The hound. I like his name.”

“Oh, uh, thanks.”

“It’s funny.” He didn’t even crack a smile.

“Uh, yeah.”

“You tell Meph?”

“Um. No.” She had deliberately avoided mentioning to Meph that she’d indirectly named her dog after him. “Why?”

Raum just shrugged. Trying to read his facial expression was like trying to read a boulder, and she gave up.

A few minutes later, she was bundled up at the door with Faust tucked inside her coat. The guys and Eva had said goodbye and hung back at the kitchen, and only Lily stood with her now.

On a whim, Iris glanced up above the doorframe and caught sight of the glowing red ward, a warning that there was a demon on the premises. Or several. “Guess it’s not really telling you anything you don’t already know, huh?”

Lily laughed. “Yeah. It’s pretty much always red with how often Mist is here.”

Not long ago, Iris remembered nearly having a heart attack at the thought that a demon was in her sister’s apartment. Now she’d just let one finger bang her on the sofa. Times had certainly changed.

“Why don’t you guys move in together?” she asked Lily.

“We are moved in together. We just have two spaces. Mist likes hanging out with the guys, so we sleep there sometimes.” She shrugged. “It’s no hardship for me staying there. Bel’s food is amazing, and I love going downstairs to listen to Eva and Ash’s music.”

“How’s it going with the research on the brands?”

Lily made a face. “About as well as expected, considering Mist spent his entire life until now trying to find the same information I’m looking for. And it goes without saying he had a lot more resources in Hell too.”

“Still no word from the angel, then?”

“Actually, yes. Dan finally got back to me and said he’s planning a meeting with her again in a couple of weeks.”

“Well, that’s a good thing, right? She must have something to share.”

“Yeah.” But Lily didn’t sound hopeful. “Sometimes I feel like I’m crazy for trying to do this, you know?

But then, how can I not do it? What kind of person would I be if I just accepted that the man I love has horrible brands enslaving him that I am in control of?

I feel like I owe it to Mist to keep searching.

I feel like it would be a betrayal of him to stop. ”

“I dunno, Lil.” Iris stroked the squirming puppy in her coat. “There’s no right answer. But I think you can take comfort in the fact that Mist doesn’t seem upset about it.”

She scoffed. “He thinks I’m wasting my time.”

“Well, think about it from his perspective. He spent thousands of years controlled by Paimon, being tortured by those brands, and every bit of information he ever found told him there was no way to remove them. And then, you found a way to bend the rules. That’s huge, Lil. You changed his life. Focus on that.”

“I guess you’re right. He’s always telling me that he’s glad things turned out this way and to stop worrying about it.”

“You don’t have to stop looking altogether. But maybe just don’t be so obsessed with it. Relax a little. For all you know, the angel is going to show up at that meeting with the information you need, and this’ll all be over. Don’t lose hope.”

Lily reached out and squeezed her arm. “All right. Thanks for the pep talk, sis.”

“You got it.”

Lily’s eyes narrowed. “You gonna tell me what’s going on with you and Meph any time soon?”

“Huh? There’s nothing going on.”

Lily did a slow blink.

“What? There isn’t.”

“Right.”

“Why’s that so hard to believe?”

Her brow lifted. “There was so much sexual tension radiating off you guys tonight, I was feeling it.”

“Ew.” Iris winced. Being as turned on as she was while sitting next to her sister? Talk about awkward. And gross.

But she wasn’t ready to discuss it, so she just shrugged and said, “You’re probably just imagining it because you’re hot for your own demon. Now I gotta go. I’m sweating in this coat, and Faust keeps squirming. See you at the coven meeting tomorrow?”

Lily stuck out her lower lip. “I dunno...”

“You promised.” Iris gave her a look. “I came to movie night and breakfast. It’s your turn.”

“Fine. I’ll come.”

“See you there, sister.”

“Bring Faust!” Lily called as she stepped out the door.

Oh, Iris wasn’t going anywhere without her new dog for the next while. Not until he stopped eating her furniture.

Meph was so early into the studio the following morning he beat even Jacqui.

It was rainy and cold on the West Coast, but not as cold as the snowstorm they were currently having in Montreal, and he counted it as an improvement.

There was something about the rich green of the cedar forest outside that spoke to him.

He put some coffee on because he knew when Jacqui came in she’d head straight for it. Then, he sat down and stared at Flayed Alive , trying to wrap his head around what had fired him up enough to get out of bed early and come straight here.

Unfortunately, his thoughts kept spiraling back around to Iris and how she’d melted under his touch last night. The way she’d gripped his abs, moaning into his mouth as she came all over his fingers...

I don’t wanna breathe on it. I wanna suck it.

“Fuck me.”

The sound of his voice startled him out of his thoughts, and he blinked, almost surprised to find himself where he was. The sculpture. Right. He was trying to decide if he wanted to add more color.

He thought of Jacqui’s words. Do you want his suffering to be shared by another? Or do you want him to be forever trapped alone in his colorless world?

The more Meph stared at it, the more he felt like it was done. The statement, whatever that was, had been made. The emotion had been conveyed and... cleansed. He didn’t want the poor skinless guy to be trapped alone in his agony, but for some reason, he had to be. Sorry, bro.

With a shrug, Meph tossed down his paintbrush and kicked back his stool to stand up.

He returned to the coffee maker, poured himself a mug, and then went and turned the stereo on.

Connecting his phone, he cranked up his favorite hip-hop playlist, grabbed a big block of fresh clay, and then dropped it onto an empty work surface with a wet thud.

He sat back on his stool and sipped his coffee. “Now what?” he said aloud, voice swallowed by the thump of bass. He wanted to make something on a slightly smaller scale to give himself a break after the last life-size piece, but that was about all he had for ideas.

Weird that he’d been so motivated to get here just to stare at a block of clay, but sometimes it was just like that. It would have helped if he wasn’t still thinking about Iris coming on his hand, but apparently, he wasn’t going to be able to get that out of his head today.

He stabbed his fingers into the clay, trying to turn his horny brain off and let something come out of him. While Tupac sweetly serenaded—“Only God Can Judge Me”—he distantly wondered what fucked-up monstrosity he’d create this time.