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CALLIOPE

E verything I thought I knew about myself wasn’t true. The only solid thing I could hold on to was Adan. The man who seemed torn apart by the thought of me being in danger, yet shrugged off the risk to his own life.

“Please keep yourself safe, too. For me.”

“You don’t need to worry, baby.” His arms tightened around me. “I’m not letting anything take you from me. Or me from you.”

His air of utter confidence eased some of my concern. “Good.”

“If I lost you, my demon would burn this entire world to ash.”

He seemed to brace himself, as though he feared my reaction to what he’d just said. But instead of scaring me off, his protectiveness only made me want Adan more. “I don’t need you to tame your demon half. I want every part of you.”

His eyes bled to black with swirling flames as he replied, “I would fight fate itself if it tried to take you from me.”

“Now that I know I have demon blood too, maybe I won’t just stand beside you and can fight with you if it ever comes down to that.” It dawned on me that Adan’s demon might be able to shed some light on what I just found out about my parentage. “Do you know who my father is?”

He shook his head. “No, but it doesn’t matter to me. Human, demon, shifter, or witch…you’re mine no matter what.”

As his eyes turned back to blue, I curled against Adan, his arms a solid anchor in a sea of uncertainty.

I’d walked into The Abyss less than two days ago, thinking I was just a travel blogger trying to salvage a ruined itinerary. Now I was apparently the daughter of a demon, the fated mate to another, and caught up in a curse that had triggered an ancient assassin to come after him.

It should have felt like too much, but I had a sense of all this being inevitable. Like the pieces of my life that had never quite fit were finally starting to make sense.

“How’re you holding up?”

“I keep thinking back to something that happened last year,” I murmured, the words slipping free before I could second-guess them.

Adan stroked his thumb against my waist. “Tell me.”

I shifted so I could see his face, needing the grounding force of his gaze. “It was in New Orleans. I was there for a week, mostly wandering the Quarter, taking pictures, stuffing myself with beignets. I ducked into this tiny shop near Royal Street with crystals, herbs, and the whole vibe.”

He stayed quiet, listening with a stillness that let me know I had his full attention.

“A woman was doing tarot readings in the back. Probably just for tourists, but I was curious. So I sat down, and she shuffled the deck like she’d done it a thousand times. But when she laid out the cards, she froze. Her reaction wasn’t theatrical. She genuinely looked disturbed.”

“What did she see?” he prodded after I paused for a moment.

“That’s the thing. She didn’t explain. She just stared at the cards and then at me, as though she wasn’t sure what she was looking at. Then she gathered everything up, told me I had too much shadow in my chart, and basically shooed me out the door.”

Adan let out a low breath. “She must have been a true psychic who sensed your demon blood.”

“Back then, I thought it was just some scam. But now, I think you’re right.” I rubbed my arms despite the warmth of the fire. “She saw something in the cards she couldn’t explain.”

“Something beautiful and unique.”

The way he said it—with quiet reverence and heat—loosened the tension in my chest just enough to let everything else rush in.

I didn’t know who my father was. What kind of demon blood I carried. Or how things would go down with the curse I had triggered.

But I knew what I wanted.

Adan.

Twining my arms around his neck, I suggested, “This might sound wildly irresponsible, but how about we forget about all this serious stuff while we distract ourselves the very best way possible? In your bed.”

“I think my mate is as smart as she’s gorgeous.” He stood with me cradled in his arms and carried me into his room, where he set me on the bed.

The mattress was more comfortable than anything I’d ever lain on. I briefly wondered if The Abyss put some sort of fluffiness spell on it.

Adan crashed on top of me, his breath tickling my neck as his kisses trailed down to my collarbone. “What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?”

“Hmm?”

“You stopped moving and did this little snort that sounded like an almost giggle.”

I was unable to hold back my giggle. “I was just wondering what kind of magic you used to make this bed so plush.”

“That’s nothing.” His fingers trailed down my neck to my hip, brushing the exposed skin where my shirt had ridden up. “Do you want to see something better I can do with my magic?”

He bent over me and placed the lightest kiss against my bare skin. I shivered as I watched his blue eyes darken with black swirls, heat flooding between my legs in anticipation.

“Uh-huh,” I breathed.

“My kind call it a phantom touch,” he explained, running just the tips of his fingers down my side.

“Like a ghost thing?”

His deep chuckle sent a sensual shiver down my spine. “Maybe I should just show you.”

“Please.”

A pulsing throb started low in my core, like a vibrator set to the lowest setting—except nothing was actually touching me.

“Whoa,” I gasped.

His grin was wicked. “More?”

“Yes,” I panted.

With his gaze locked on mine, the pressure picked up in my core until I was gasping and pushing my hips forward as if I could somehow deepen his phantom touch.

“Does my good girl need more?” The vibrations grew stronger inside me, and I couldn’t hold back the moan, gripping the sheets as I came hard, my arousal soaking my panties with him barely touching me. At least not physically.

“Wow, that was amazing.”

“I would happily spend the rest of my very long life watching you come for me.” I briefly considered asking him how many years demons lived, but then my ability to think clearly was wiped away when he asked, “Do you want more? See where else I can touch you?”

“Yes, please,” I begged, squirming as I clenched the sheets in my fists.

He undid my jeans, and the pulse between my legs heightened. Every part of me was on fire, no matter where Adan used his phantom touch. Every new sensation had me prickling with goose bumps. I couldn’t get enough of it.

I reached forward to grab him, but then immediately fell back to the bed as if I were tied down.

He laughed, shaking his head. “Not yet, baby. Let me take care of you first.”

“Is this another way you can use that phantom touch?” I demanded.

“Maybe,” he said, grinning as the pulse quickened between my thighs before he stripped my jeans and panties from my body and drove his tongue inside me.

The combination of a ripple of sensation and his flattened tongue had me coming so hard I felt stars prick my vision and flow through my body.

Then another sensation started low, warm. Going from my core to my butt.

As soon as I felt a warm ripple against my puckered hole, I bucked my hips closer to Adan’s awaiting mouth, stunned by my reaction.

“You like that, baby?” he growled into my pussy.

“Uh-huh,” I whimpered, the vibrations now going through my entire lower half, every part of me pulsating.

“Soon, I’ll claim every part of you, but I can’t wait to feel your tight pussy wrapped around my cock again tonight.”

He sealed his words with a lick through my wetness, his phantom touch exploding in a hard vibration that had my arousal pooling down my thighs.

“Fuck,” he murmured, quickly stripping out of his clothes and positioning himself between my legs.

I clutched his shoulders as he notched the head of his dick at my entrance. I was still vibrating with aftershocks of my last orgasm, and the sensation heightened all of my senses.

Grabbing my thighs with his phantom touch, he wrapped them around his waist so I was arched off the mattress and completely at his mercy. Then he thrust all the way inside me.

I moaned, wiggling my hips to adjust to his sensual invasion.

His lips curved into a smug grin as he stripped my shirt and bra off, his thumbs brushing over my pebbled nipples. The combined sensation of his thick dick inside me, his fingers toying with my breast, and the ripple of sensation against my puckered hole quickly pushed me toward the edge. I couldn’t even form words anymore, my whole body shaking as I screamed, bucking to meet his hips over and over as he filled me to the hilt.

“That’s it, baby, come for me again. I want us to finish together, and I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out,” he commanded.

I met his next thrust, a new throbbing pulsation against my pussy as if he stuck a fluttering vibrator against me but there was nothing but the air between us…and his knowing smile.

“Yes, oh yes! Adan,” I screamed as tears pricked my eyes. My orgasm ripped through me so fiercely that I collapsed onto the bed, my eyes closed as I tried to control my breathing while I came down from a deep high.

My body shook again as I felt Adan spill inside me, his groans mingling with mine before he collapsed on top of me, his heart thundering. He peppered my neck with kisses, not saying a word as we caught our breath.

His eyes were still heated when he finally looked down at me. “Was that enough of a distraction for you?”

“Maybe,” I teased, pursing my lips as though I was considering my answer. “You should try again just to be sure.”