Page 39 of Demon Demands

The music in his thoughts rang out like a loudspeaker, Novak cackling as he channeled York’s song choice into everyone’s mind, except Vaughn’s. My druid snaked his arm around Vaughn’s waist, pulling the fae face-to-face with him.

“Tango with me, Fae. Keep your eyes on me.”

Vaughn spluttered, attempting to reply, but York didn’t give him a chance. Snapping their arms straight out in front of them, my druid began the dance with one large step, dragging my fae along for the ride.

Every time Vaughn stumbled, York recovered their steps, never pausing the sensual movements or the song he was singing in his head.

Even with Vaughn’s clumsiness, watching the tango between my mates was… sexy. Their chests were pressed together, faces so close they could cross a single inch to kiss, York’s expression serious and Vaughn’s a little dazed. My fae finally relaxed as York began humming the next song aloud.

“Go left,” I whispered, not wanting to break Vaughn’s concentration.

York spun Vaughn around in a full circle, pointing him down the left hall as they continued their march. And my fae was starting to enjoy himself, really playing into his part. He trailed his fingers along York’s shoulder, and I glanced back to see the rest of my guys’ reactions.

They were all somewhat silent, but it wasn’t without great effort. Briggs and Stone were both biting the sides of their hands. My shifter had tears streaming down his face.

Palmer had his lips rolled in, teeth clamped together to hold his laughing at bay. Novak’s shoulders were shaking as he made quiet noises that sounded like he was being strangled.

“Left again, and then take a right,” I whispered, watching York nod his head slightly.

My druid dipped Vaughn low, and as my fae’s eyes began to wander, York clicked his tongue. “Eyes on me, Fae. It’s almost time for our finale.”

I felt for my fae, I really did. York was an, uhm, enthusiastic dancer. You couldn’t help losing yourself when he led. His movements were so effortless, it was as if you were just an extension of him.

Once upon a time, dancing with York had been one of my favorite things to do. Still was, but I wasn’t particularly ready to admit that to him.

As we followed down the halls, we passed numerous doors. Most were empty rooms, waiting to contain portals or offices, possibly just a regular guest suite. They weren’t the rooms we were heading to, so I paid them no attention, but Novak was transfixed by the unknown allure.

Forty-seven hallways later — No. I was kidding. It was just three — I scooted in front of York and Vaughn, opening the oversized double doors at the end of our path. And… you guessed it. Another hallway. But without all the armor.

As they danced inside, I called out to York, “You can have your finale now. It’s safe.”

York dipped Vaughn once more, my fae floundering his arms around at how sudden the move was. Snapping him back up quickly, Vaughn and York were nose to nose. They were millimeters away from another opportunity to kiss, and some depraved part of me wanted to shove their faces together.

Fuck. I couldn’t do that while Vaughn was tripping. But it would be so hot. I couldn’t decide who I wanted to watch more; Vaughn and York or Vaughn and Novak or—

“Gods, Sloane.” York backed away, giving me a crazy look before bowing to his partner. “Thank you for tangoing with me, good sir. I look forward to dancing again, without our mate watching. Her mind just went…” He made an explosion with his fingers, and I rolled my eyes at his theatrics.

“Yeah, you heard that too?” Novak asked York. “I was ready to step in front of her if I needed to.” He turned to me. “Your mind goes from calm to naughty in like three second flat. It’s a frightening place to be inside of sometimes.”

“I’m not even sorry that you heard it, but I’ve got to figure out how to keep you guys out of my thoughts. Why do you only hear them when they’re dirty?”

“Ha!” Palmer nearly yelled. “Now ye know how I feel. How’s that for a taste of yer own medicine, huh?”

Vaughn was running his hands along the edges of the ebony wood doors we’d just come through. “Uhm, guys? These doors were made for giants. Do they live here?”

I snorted at him, trying not to laugh. “No, Vaughn. No giants. Just demons with tall horns and wide wings. You're safe.”

When Jack and I had started the renovations on the wing of the palace that we took over, we’d both chosen to do the same thing. Those twelve foot double doors were original staples of the palace, but behind them, we’d turned two separate sides of the same wing into two homes.

Homes within a palace. Outrageous, right? The palace was ridiculously big, and no one had missed the space we’d taken over.

Behind the double doors, a hall led to several more, each holding magical doors, and sort of resembling the setup of my house in Tennessee. The hallways were much shorter than the rest that we’d gone down, but still just as twisted.

What they wouldn’t realize yet was that they made one big circle, always having a way in and out of every area. It was strategic, since the palace had been invaded more than once before the barrier around the Underworld had been put into place.

I’d asked Franklin to have a mage link the doors in my space back to our rooms back on Earth, and he’d found a demon-mage in Hell to do just that.

The ancient vampire deserved a fucking raise. I wasn’t paying him enough.