Page 67 of Grave Danger

Demmy slowed his sucking and lifted his gaze to Cody’s. His pupils were wide and his cheeks red, beads of sweat dotting his forehead. After more tender licks and kisses to Cody’s softening dick, Demmy finally pulled away and smiled. “Feel better?”

“You’re the best au natural healer.”

“Don’t you mean naturopath?”

“I meant what I said.” Cody reached for him, but Demmy leaned back before getting to his feet. “You don’t want a turn?”

“I want to save it up for later. Give us something to look forward to.”

Cody raised his eyebrows. “I like the sound of that.” He tucked himself back into his pants and stood. “Okay for me to take off my suit now?”

“Yeah. Let’s get changed and go out for a bit. There are some places I want us to visit together.”

“That sounds kind of romantic.”

“Does it?” Demmy’s said with a sly smile.

Cody glared at the Parson’s Hollow Library. “This wasn’t exactly what I’d pictured when you said you wanted us to go to some places together.”

Demmy, the apparent demon that Cody had married, smiled and took him by the hand. “Come on.”

The air inside the library was cool and dry, laced with the smell of books. Cody felt the quiet settle on him, however, like one of those weighted blankets everyone raved about but made him feel edgy and trapped. This was why he didn’t visit the library. It wasn’t because he didn’t like books or enjoy reading. It was the ridiculous fear he’d do something loud and disturb everyone and everything.

Demmy still had him by the hand, preventing him from turning for the door, and he led him toward the main desk. Behind the desk sat Tracey Mumm. It had been a few years since Cody had seen her, and, he had to admit, she looked good. Really good. Gone were the heavy dark-framed glasses and long, straight, uninspired hair that had practically hidden her face. Today’s Tracey had her hair gathered into a messy but stylish knot at the top of her head. A bit of light makeup helped her eyes stand out and gave her skin a healthy glow.

When they were a few feet from the desk, Tracey looked up, her small and welcoming smile collapsing into a cold and steady stare.

“I’m going to have to evacuate the building,” Tracey said, fixing her eyes on Cody. “It’s about to burst into flames and collapse.”

“Well, this has been fun,” Cody said, lifting his free hand in a wave. “Have a great day.”

“Hold on.” Demmy tightened his grip, keeping Cody from escaping. “Hi Tracey. How are you?”

Tracey looked at Demmy and said in a deadpan monotone. “I’m great. Never better.”

A bearded man with glasses wheeled a cart out from between shelves of books a short distance away and glanced toward the desk. He stopped and stared at them. Cody gave him a nervous smile and lifted his chin in greeting, but the man didn’t acknowledge him at all. He just stood and stared. For fuck’s sake, had they stepped into Librarians of the Corn or something?

“Good. That’s good.” Demmy quietly cleared his throat, stepped closer to the desk, and lowered his voice even more. “I don’t know if you’ve heard about the weird things going on around town…”

“You want to see the archive room,” Tracey said, her tone still flat. “Only this time you brought your Neanderthal husband so you can show off for him.”

“What? No. That’s not why Cody’s here with me.” Demmy frowned and shook his head. “Show off? What do you mean by that?”

“Come around.” Tracey waved toward the far end of the desk and turned her back on them.

Demmy huffed a quiet breath before leading the way to the end of the desk. A low swinging gate with an EMPLOYEES ONLY sign was all that was needed to keep out the riffraff. Cody followed Demmy through the swinging gate, trying to take in the organized chaos of the shelves underneath the long Formica-topped desk. But he kept glancing over at the bearded man with the glasses who watched them, standing so still he could have been a mannequin, hands curled tight around the handle of his book return cart. Cody wondered if the man were imagining the handle was Cody’s throat.

Tracey walked them down a narrow hallway. Shelves crammed with even more books lined one wall, and the other contained a couple of doors that stood open. One was an office, and the other a tiny, windowless break room that contained a café table with two chairs and a microwave with a dial timer sitting on a wheeled cart reinforced with strips of duct tape. It seemed the library’s budget didn’t extend to the employee break room. It looked smaller and even sadder than the breakroom in their Critter Catchers office.

A door at the end of the hall was secured behind a locked gate. As Tracey stood picking through a keyring, Demmy picked up a pair of white gloves from a short stack on a small table. He nodded down to the gloves, and Cody selected a pair for himself, surprised to find they were made from soft cotton. The gloves barely fit his hands, but they felt good against his skin and he smiled as he flexed his fingers.

He found Tracey watching him, and he flashed a quick smile. She rolled her eyes and turned away to unlock the gate. After she stepped into the room beyond, Demmy followed her, and, with a moment’s hesitation, Cody entered the room behind Demmy.

The lighting was much worse in here. Harsh fluorescents buzzed overhead, and the air felt even drier. Several metal bookshelves had been arranged to form aisles, each holding a good number of books in various sizes and bindings. After all the years hearing from Demmy what kinds of stuff he’d uncovered in this place, Cody had the creepy feeling that more than a few of the books were bound in skin. Human skin.

Would the cotton gloves protect him from human skin cooties?

“You know what to do,” Tracey said to Demmy, then directed a look Cody’s way that was so hard he took an involuntary step back. “Don’t touch anything.”