Page 59 of Where the Dark Knelt (Worshipped by Darkness #1)

A couple of months later.

On a rainy evening, Desmond and I went for a walk. I loved evening walks, especially when we held hands. It was such a simple gesture, but for me, it meant everything, deeply romantic and soulful in its own quiet way.

We dressed quite simply, or rather, I did.

Desmond, on the other hand, always loved dressing up in his black leather outfits, as if no other style existed.

But I didn’t complain, that brutal motorcycle rider look suited him far too well…

Well, the rider on me, in a sense. I chuckled silently at my own thought, remembering our hot night together.

Just last night, he had practically begged me to tie him up in shibari and kiss his body to the edge until he came.

And gods, he came just from the lightest touch of my lips after what felt like a million kisses all over his skin.

He never stopped surprising me. That alone made me happy, as if life had finally acquired all the colours it had been missing for so long. I missed those colours desperately, and what surprised me most was that it was this demon boyfriend of mine, Desmond, who brought them back into my life.

I looked up at him with a smile. He was a couple of heads taller than me, and when he noticed me staring, he bent down to place a gentle kiss on the top of my head.

“What are you looking at, babe?” he asked, smiling so beautifully that it stole my breath away every time. Truly, he was a demon, beautiful as hell itself. I always thought that if he ever had a duel with the devil, he’d definitely win… or at the very least, win the Mr. Universe beauty contest.

“Laughing at me, babe? You are all over in your head again.” He teased me softly as he inhaled the scent of my hair.

We continued walking under our shared transparent umbrella, raindrops clattering rhythmically against it.

My bare legs, exposed under my knee-length black dress, were gradually getting damp from the rain’s mist. But that wasn’t the only reason I was getting wet.

Just one look from him did that to me. I didn’t know how he had such power over me, but he did.

Every time he looked at me like that, I’d have to change my panties.

Not that he ever complained – in fact, he seemed to enjoy it immensely.

Even now, it still felt so new to me. Never in my life did I think it was possible to get so aroused just from a person’s gaze…

or rather, from a demon’s gaze. And to love him with such madness.

He turned my life upside down.

I loved the rain, but after I moved in with my demon, I started noticing a bunch of snails on the asphalt near the house.

They’d crawl out whenever it rained or after it stopped, and every time, those damned things scared me.

I didn’t even know when it started or why exactly, but snails just terrified me.

Their slimy tendrils waving in different directions didn’t seem to bother anyone else, but for me, it was pure disgust.

I was always so afraid of stepping on them.

I felt sorry for them too, but one day I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw a fat snail right in my path.

Since then, every time I went out in the rain, I strained my eyes, scanning the ground for these tiny monsters.

And… how do people even eat them? Just thinking about it made me shudder.

Feeling my tension, Desmond tightened his grip on my hand. “What is it?”

“Snails…” I snorted softly, my eyes darting across the wet asphalt in search of lurking horrors.

“Are you serious?” he raised an eyebrow at me before bending down, picking up a snail right from the asphalt, and bringing it close to my face. “We’ve been over this, c’mon.”

I screamed in horror and leapt out from under the umbrella. “You’re crazy! Put it down!”

“Oh, darling… are you really that afraid of them?” He stepped toward me, shielding me under the umbrella again, but I was still glaring at the snail in his hand. Its tendrils twisted as it desperately tried to retreat back into its shell, terrified for its life.

“I’ve told you a hundred times, yes! Get it out of my sight!”

“She hid in her shell because of your screaming,” he pouted like that was somehow a bad thing.

“And thank God for that!”

“You’ve never told me why you hate them so much.”

“I don’t know, they’re slimy and disgusting.

One time I stepped on one, and the sound it made…

that crunch… ugh, it was horrifying. Ever since then, I just…

can’t stand them. They make my skin crawl,” I shivered again, half from the cold rain and half because he was still holding that damn snail in his hand.

With a chuckle, he carefully placed the snail from one side of the curb into the grass on the other side, then bent down to whisper in my ear, his breath sending cold goosebumps across my soaked skin.

“I just changed her world, you know. Imagine what’s going on in her head right now: ‘What the fuck just happened? Teleportation?’”

I wanted to laugh, but my disgust still overpowered any humor. I shot him a glare.

“Come on, it’s just a snail. Nothing so strange about it.”

“Maybe not for you. You don’t have that fear, demon.”

“I’m not afraid of much in general, but…” he drawled out thoughtfully, glancing up at the dark clouds overhead.

“But??” I raised my eyebrows, crossing my arms over my chest. He pulled me into his embrace.

The rain drummed harder on the umbrella above us, and his warm body pressed against mine.

Of course, his erection was there, poking into my stomach, as always.

Seriously? Even after talking about snails? God… he was incorrigible.

“Well…” he continued, still staring at the sky, “I guess that means we’re not going to Paris to eat snails, huh?”

I shuddered all over again. “Are you insane? Of course not. But… I would go to Paris.”

“So we will go,” he said with a grin, burying his face in my rain-soaked hair. “No snails, I promise.”

I didn’t quite believe that last part of his promise, but Paris… I had always dreamed of going there. It was such a beautiful, romantic city. And why shouldn’t I go, especially with my demon? The demon of love, the city of love, and the two of us in love with each other… what could be better?

We flew to Paris at night. Desmond had bought the tickets immediately, and when I asked why we couldn’t just teleport there, he replied that humans didn’t tolerate teleportation very well. Since I wasn’t some powerful witch, teleporting that far would be a threat to my life.

So, we took the old-school option: a massive plane flying across oceans and seas.

I rarely slept on planes. On the few occasions I’d flown before, I’d stayed wide awake, restless in those cramped seats.

But this time was different. This time, Desmond was with me.

He was my protector, my strength, my anchor.

Just having him by my side made me feel so safe and warm that falling asleep with my head on his lap felt like the most natural, comfortable thing in the world.

We were flying business class, of course, in seats right next to each other, giving me all the space to curl up against him.

I woke just as the flight attendant brought us something to eat, and later, breakfast at dawn.

It had been so long since I’d seen a sunrise from an airplane window.

I’d forgotten how sacred it felt, hovering above the clouds, watching the darkness give way to tender peach and gold.

You don’t see something like that every day, especially when you’re flying with your beloved demon to another city, to another continent, to fulfill a childhood dream.

For as long as I could remember, I’d always thought I’d get engaged in Paris. That I’d be proposed to in the city of love. I’d dreamed about it so many times. But that my chosen one would be a demon… that was a twist of fate I never could have imagined.

The flight attendant’s voice came over the speakers, announcing we would be landing at Paris airport in forty minutes. I exhaled with a smile. Very soon…

As we descended, the city appeared below us through the dawn haze, sprawling endlessly with its authentic rooftops, regal old buildings, scattered skyscrapers, and, in the distance, that tower everyone always talked about.

The Eiffel Tower looked like a work of art, even from the sky.

I’d always dreamed of seeing it with my own eyes, especially at night when it sparkled like a beacon in the dark.

I was looking forward to every moment, exploring the city step by step, cutting through it in endless marathons, taking millions of polaroid pics with Desmond.

“This is another gift for you, my love,” he whispered in my ear, his teeth grazing my earlobe. I blushed as his hand slid up my thigh, inching under my skirt. He almost reached the hem of my shorts when I grabbed his wrist.

“Desmond… we’re on a plane.”

“I paid for this entire business class cabin. It’s mine.”

“But… we only have forty minutes…”

“Enough for you to cum a few times,” he murmured into my neck, his lips kissing my skin as his claws lightly scraped it in warning.

His fingers deftly sliced open the seam of my shorts with a precise flick of his claw, and then he slid his fingertips under my red lace panties, pushing them aside beneath the short tennis dress I’d worn on the flight.

It was so hot in the airport before boarding, and this tiny dress was my favorite, it was comfortable and so very short.

“Desmond! That was a new dress,” I hissed in a whisper, but he only grunted against my neck, breathing heavily.