Page 23

TWENTY-THREE

damien

H ome. Pleasant Grove was my home now. Officially.

I stared up at Willow’s family house. Our house now, I supposed.

As long as she wanted to stay here, I’d be here. She didn’t know it yet, but I had a long future planned for us. An eternity together.

Picking her up in my arms—one of my hands on her back, and the other under her knees, I carried her over the threshold of the house.

Our house.

But when I turned to my witch, expecting happiness, she had a frown on her face.

“What is it, little witch?” I asked her, brushing the hair out of her face. Cupping her cheeks as she turned to face me. “I thought you’d be happy to be home. Together.”

“I am, it’s just…” Her eyes were glassy. “I didn’t think about it till now. I don’t want you to watch me grow old. To die. You’ll live…” Willow’s voice stuttered.

A long time. I knew it. A long lifespan was just one of the many things that came with being a demon.

“Willow,” I murmured. “I don’t have to watch you grow old.” I interlaced one of her hands in mine, kissing her knuckles.

“We don’t?” She blinked. “But I’m mortal . Practically human. I won’t live as long as you.”

“We can tether your life force to mine. Ensure that when we take our last breaths, it’s together.”

“Really?” She blinked away her tears. “So I’d live…”

“As long as I do, yes.”

Willow wandered over to look out the window, like she was looking at the town. I wondered if she was thinking about the people here that she loved.

“You wouldn’t age. At least, not normally. But we… could stay here. For as long as you’d want.”

“We could?”

“I know what this place means to you. How much you love these people. It’s your home.”

“And Luna…” Her words trailed off, but I knew what she meant.

When Luna married my brother, she’d go through something similar. As the future Queen of the Demon realm, she would live by my brother’s side for an eternity. “Yes.”

“What about… kids?”

I blinked. “What?”

“I don’t even know if you want to have kids, but would they…”

“Live as long as us?” I asked her. Sure, children of demons and witches weren’t the most common, but they weren’t rare. Plenty of demons had mated with humans and brought them back to our world. She gave a slight nod. “They would. They’d inherit magic from both of us.”

We’d never had a chance to talk about having kids, about the little witch that had been in my dreams.

“I want that,” I murmured, directly into her hair. “A family, with you.”

“You do?” The tears were back, only this time—they were happy.

“Yes. Fuck yes, Willow. I want to do it all with you. Every little thing I’ve never experienced—I want to try it all with you. I want to see your world. To take you everywhere possible. And then show you mine.” I squeezed her hands.

“I want that, too,” she said, letting the tears fall. “An eternity with you.”

“Thank fuck,” I responded, taking her mouth. Kissing her, showing her how much I loved her with one simple action. “I love you.”

She laughed. “I’m never going to get tired of hearing you say that.”

“We don’t have to do the ceremony now. We can wait.” I thought about the jeweled ring in my back pocket. The one that had been my mom’s. The same one she’d enchanted to protect me. “Do it at the same time as our wedding.”

“Our wedding?” This time, she looked confused.

I laughed, bringing our foreheads together. “I know it hasn’t been very long. That we still have so much to learn about each other. But, when the time comes…. I want to make you my wife. I want you to be mine in every way possible.”

I could feel her smile against my mouth as we kissed again.

“Yes,” she said as she pulled away, “Yes, I want to be your wife. All of it.”

“I love you, Willow.”

“I love you too, Damien.”

I rubbed my fingers over her mark. “Mine,” I murmured.

“Yours,” she agreed.

Throwing her over my shoulder unceremoniously, I carted her from the living room into her bedroom.

“Damien!” Willow shrieked, dangling down my back. “You’re ridiculous.”

I dropped her on the bed, enjoying the way her eyes widened as I stood over her, stripping off my clothes.

“I’ve wanted you again since yesterday. Since I put my mark on you.” Fuck, I’d never imagined how much I’d like it to see those two little imprints on her bare neck. Knowing that I put them there. “We didn’t have enough time this morning.”

The ballroom had eased the urge that the claiming had brought on, but it wasn’t enough. Some males fucked for practically a week straight afterwards.

She bit her lip, watching me from lidded eyes.

“Like what you see?” I asked, smirking, knowing my full chest was on display as I unbuttoned my pants.

Her cheeks pinked, her hands moving to cover her eyes. “I wasn’t watching.”

“Willow.” Grasping her fingers, I pulled them away from her face before pinning them to the bed, our hands intertwined. “Baby, you’re allowed to look.” Placing a kiss underneath her ear, I slipped my hands under her top, cupping her tits even through her lacy bra. I brushed my finger over a nipple, enjoying the shudder her body made from the sensation. “Because I’m yours.”

Willow squirmed underneath me. “ Please,” she pleaded, even if she didn’t know what for. I was happy to oblige. But first?—

“You’re wearing too many clothes,” I muttered, fumbling with the hem of the sage green sweater she’d pulled on this morning.

“Take them off then,” she agreed, before bringing her mouth back to mine.

We pulled apart long enough for me to whip her sweater off, dropping it on the floor behind me before rolling her leggings off of her legs. Stripped down to her orange polka dot panties and black lace bra, she’d never looked so much like mine.

I chuckled, kissing the top of each hip bone. “Cute panties.” Her cheeks pinked, turning almost the same color as her little pink nipples. “I’m fucking obsessed with them.” Hooking my thumbs into the waistband, I dragged them down her skin, not stopping until she was bare for me, exposing that perfect mound. “Obsessed with you.”

When I’d gotten her back to my room last night, my cum had still been dripping out of her, and I’d almost lost it right then and there. But she’d been so tired, and all I’d wanted to do was take care of her. So I’d gotten her cleaned up and tucked her into bed.

But tonight, I was going to take my time. Maybe start working towards that eventual witchling. Whenever she decided to go off birth control, I couldn’t fucking wait.

Unsnapping her bra, I took a moment to enjoy the view of her tits and that creamy skin.

“Can’t get over how fucking perfect these are,” I said. They were just begging for my mouth, and I couldn’t resist tasting her. Moving my head down, I sucked one into my mouth. Lavishing it with attention, I swirled my tongue in circles over and over before switching to the other breast.

“Damien,” she whined. “I need?—”

I ran my fingers over the soft skin of her thighs, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. Her sweet smell lingered in the air as I leaned back, taking in the sight of her. “I know what you need, baby.” I kissed the swell of her breasts.

Standing up, I pushed my pants and briefs off in one clean motion, and my cock sprang to attention. I’d never get over the way Willow’s eyes widened every time she saw me.

I eased inside of her without preamble—no foreplay. Still, she was soaked for me, and I squeezed my eyes at the sensation of being inside her bare. Somehow, it got better every time. I was fucking lost in her, and I knew it.

“I love you,” I murmured, capturing her lips as she wound her arms around my neck.

She moaned my name as I pulled out slightly, pushing in deeper.

This time, I’d go slow. I’d savor it. There was time for the rest, later.

I wanted her to know how much I loved her. Cherished her.

I kept up that pace, slow slides inside of her, until she was trembling against me, begging me for more.

“Tell me you’re mine,” I murmured again, kissing her bite.

“I’m yours,” she agreed, her hips rocking in time to meet my shallow thrusts. Each time I hit her cervix, I felt a shudder run through her entire body. She was close, and I just needed her to let go.

I’d be right behind her, always.

“Come for me, baby.”

“Damien,” she cried. “I love you.”

Bringing our mouths together, I kissed her deeply, letting go of everything else. “I love you,” I murmured.

I used my shadows to apply pressure to her clit, and that was all it took. She came, squeezing around my cock, her insides milking me.

That was what tipped me over the edge, and I came on a cry of her name. Every last drop was spilled inside of her, leaving me boneless.

I buried my head against her breasts as I held her, feeling myself growing soft inside of her.

And even then, we remained connected.

“I can’t wait for a lifetime of that ,” she laughed.

I pinched her cute little bare ass. “An eternity.”

“Mmm. Forever sounds perfect with you.”

It really did.

I couldn’t wait to start the rest of our forever—together.