Page 51 of Feeding Beauty (The Lost Girls #5)
Take Your Pizza to Go
TALON
L ucifer stretches out in the patch of sun on the wood floor of our new apartment. A puff of black fur floats from his body into the air with the movement. He seems well situated, but I know the second I drop my jacket or sit down, he’ll be all over me. His own personal heater.
Though I’ve come to appreciate the attention, and the feline is always careful not to touch my bare skin and is incredibly adept at avoiding getting burned.
If only he was better at missing my nuts when he jumped in my lap, that would be ideal. But I’ve had enough wins to last me a good long time. No use getting greedy.
“That’s the last box,” Ariel says, dropping it on our new kitchen countertop with the rest.
Aurora and I got the keys to our new loft at the top of an old industrial building, the kind with exposed steel beams and pipes that hum faintly when the water’s running.
We have roof access now—perfect for when I want to stretch my wings without taking the long way around.
The light here is better too, the sunlight pouring in through the massive windows like it’s trying to fill up every inch of the space with warmth.
It didn’t take much to convince her. Just a few well-placed arguments, and a long afternoon of edging her into agreement, both literally and figuratively. We’re staying. We’re building something. Might as well have a place that feels like it.
Gone is the mildew and cloying candle stink of the old apartment, replaced now with the clean scent of fresh paint and wood polish.
The long brick wall is weathered but solid, full of that lived-in charm Aurora calls character.
Opposite it, a wall of tall windows frames the daytime view of Back Bay.
The buildings, sky, and water layered together in an appealing mosaic.
It feels like a start. Maybe even a good one.
“Thank you, Ariel,” I say sincerely.
“Hey, we helped too,” Snow protests from the large slate gray couch she’s currently sunk into next to Cinder and Aurora.
“Only the hardest workers get pizza,” Kai says from the ground where he puts together a small bookshelf with impossibly small screwdrivers.
A cry of protest arises from the couch.
I keep it to myself that I still think we should have got lobster rolls from a certain food truck. When I suggested it earlier, I got a number of pillows to the head with vocal protests that I can’t reward their help with food poisoning.
“As much as I like that idea,” Ariel says to Kai, “I think you risk being stabbed by Ms. Stabby McGee over there if you try to hold out on her.”
True to Ariel’s word, Snow plays menacingly with one of her daggers.
“Don’t forget, your parents are coming to visit next weekend,” I remind Aurora because I know she will. I mentally make a note to get magnets so I can put it up on the fridge where she’d be hard pressed to miss it.
Relations between Midnight and the Realm of Roses have turned a new corner as Kai and King Roland forged a new relationship on the blood-soaked Rosari ground that day.
And Aurora’s parents were as ecstatic to have Aurora home as they were grateful for all our efforts to protect their land.
They quickly realized how Aurora had changed.
How she yearned to be new, to live differently.
So while she may be the heir to the throne, they agreed to letting her live her way for a while.
In sin. In Boston. With me.
Though I did get a stern side talking to from her father, who said if I didn’t continue to protect his little girl’s heart with the same vigor I’d always protected her with, he’d tear my wings off himself.
Then he patted me on the back with a fatherly look that made me feel warm in places I didn’t know I could.
“Are your parents really cool with you staying in Boston?” Ariel asks.
Aurora grins. “They know I’m happy here.”
“You sure you don’t want to go back to all your other friends in Realm of Roses?” Snow tests.
Whatever seal Aurora had been kept under had broken after that night with Mal.
The royal court practically came crashing down on her with warmth, gratitude, and not a little inappropriate curiosity.
Thankfully, no one was stupid enough to outright ask if she had any connections to the secret beast of the castle or the disappearances.
I’m not sure who was more of a threat on that front, me or Aurora’s father.
Aurora was overwhelmed by all the attention she got, but happy that the glass around her had been broken.
“I’m glad I’m not seen as some ice princess, or worse, some monster.
” Aurora looks at me with the same dazed expression she’s had in her eyes since that day.
“But my people are right here.” She reaches around the girls as best she can, and squeezes them while stretching out a toe to put on Ariel’s arm, including her too.
Ariel pinches her calf and earns a squeal.
“Alright, everyone take your pizza to go, because I am also hungry,” Aurora announces, standing and lightly slapping Ariel’s knee. “Starving, in fact,” she says, grinning wickedly at me.
Snow rolls her eyes even as she grabs an entire box. “Fine, bang it out in your new place. But I’m coming back here to this swanky joint to watch the next episode of Hex Island when it drops Thursday. And you can’t stop me.”
“Yep,” Ariel nods, as she steals a cheesy slice from Snow’s box. “If you are going to have a place this cool with all your princess rule, you have to host Hex Island nights.”
“I’m in.” A small enigmatic smile curves Snow’s lips. “If that’s…okay.” She adds, looking at Aurora with sudden uncertainty.
“I’d love that,” Aurora says, warmth softening her expression.
Cinder bumps her fist against hers as Kai sidles up to me.
“Talon. My guy. My man. Hot boy of the hour.” Not sure I love his joining in on the nickname, and somehow making it even worse.
“While the women watch their petty TV dramas, maybe we can have some manly time. Drink beers. Or hunt…something.” He scratches the back of his head, clearly at a loss for what other manly activities there are.
“You can come watch too, Kai,” Aurora says, her lips lifting with quiet knowing.
“Oh, thank the fae lords,” he says, clutching his chest. “I’m dying to see that douchebag Viggo fuck it all up for the house in his attempt to get with Chastity.”
I shoot him a hard look, and Kai straightens. “Please, that idiot Ricky is going to lose the whole pot on rando girls he keeps sneaking out of the house to meet with.”
A grin creeps up Kai’s face as he realizes I’m in just as deep with that shitty show.
As soon as the door closes behind them, Aurora jumps me. I easily catch her.
“Feed me, I’m hungry.” She pouts dramatically before attacking my neck with nibbles, licks, and kisses that send blood pumping into my fast-hardening cock.
“What happened to your table manners?” I tease. “Are we expecting several courses this evening, madam?”
Her eyes glitter. “As long as I get them from you. I’ll eat it all up.”
I pull back, letting a moment of seriousness settle between us. “Are you sure this is what you want? Me? Forever? Because I know you’ll always have this hunger crop up and maybe you aren’t used to?—”
“Sleeping with only the person I love?” she retorts, pushing aside the pink hair that fell in her face.
“Oh no.” She waves her hand in fake dread.
“Yeah, no. You are all I’ve ever wanted,” she says more seriously.
“Sure, in an ideal world, you could touch people without burning, and I wouldn’t have to feed on sex to survive.
” She focuses on my sternum, deep in thought and shrouded in vulnerability.
“But of all the scenarios I’d ever considered a dream reality, I still think this is my favorite one.
You fill me up in all the ways. With your love, with your…
” She pats me through my pants, causing me to jerk.
“But you still always encourage my independence. You help me be the most me I can be. And that version, a version I love, is only possible with you in my life. That’s only if you are okay being enslaved to a lifetime of my hunger.
” A bit of uncertainty creeps into her eyes.
“You can’t enslave the willing,” I point out before kissing her in that way I know makes her knees weak and her panties wet.
In the kiss, I try to return all the confirmation that I’m in this for as long as she wants me. No, fuck that. Even if she gets tired of me, she’ll have to suck it up because I love her too damn much.
When I release her, she licks her plump lips, pupils blown wide and unfocused. Her eyes narrow with slow intent, a spark of mischief glinting as she drops to her knees, unzipping my pants along the way.
Oh fuck, she’s going to—oh fuck .
I jerk as she takes me in her soft, hot, wet mouth. My fingers find my way into her hair where I hold on for dear life as my Succubus princess girlfriend literally tries to suck the life out of me through my dick.
When I get that familiar rush of tingles up my spine and I’m on the verge of exploding, I yank her to her feet and strip her naked. My wings extend from my groin and wrap around her waist as we fall onto the couch. I slide into her tight, welcoming heat until we both groan and buck with need.
“Welcome home, baby,” I whisper.
I feel her smile against my ear. “Best home ever.”
Download the bonus epilogue: a Lost Girls getaway to the Realm of Roses… as shadows of Snow’s past rise to the surface.