Page 84 of Demon Demands

Groaning in frustration, I stepped into my bathroom to shower and stew.

I’d just sealed a bond with another mate. That was two this week. I didn’t know where the fuck I was going with that train of thought, but I couldn’t get over some of the stuff Briggs had said. Not in a stressing over it sort of way… more like an I was psycho girlfriend sort of way.

I was definitely going to be killing some of his exes. I didn’t give a fuck how crazy that made me sound… or look.

The fact that he’d let them stop him from doing the things that he enjoyed drove me insane. But more than that, knowing he’d been worried about sealing our bond before I was ready was a bit of a relief.

I fucking knew I’d fall for him the moment he opened up to me, and it had been terrifyingly simple. There was pillow talk, for Devil’s sake. I didn’t do pillow talk. But I did with him, and I had with the others.

Fuck. What was happening to me?

My whole fucking world was flipped upside down in a matter of weeks. How!? I’d only ever fallen for York. Then I’d sworn to myself I wouldn’t let old emotions make me feel any type of way for him.

Yet I’d told him I loved him. Again. And it had been so effortless to say, like most things were with my druid. He had an uncanny ability to make me spill my guts, just word vomit every tiny thought that crossed my mind.

Admitting aloud that I had deeper feelings for Novak had been eye-opening. I fucking knew that would happen too. He was so… easy.

Talking to him, laughing with him, being around him, nothing about him was difficult. The thought of verbally expressing my feelings to him made me want to gag, though. But, godsdamnit, I’d gone and fallen in love with my vampire at some point. It was all fun and flirting, then the L word slapped me right in the face.

Stone still had not put me out of my misery. Not an incubus, my ass. Every single time he smiled at me, I just fucking melted. He seemed to understand more about me than I’d given him credit for, and that was pure stupidity on my part.

My demon mate saw everything, especially all the little things that turned me on or set me off. I was starting to think that he was making a list, like the pros and cons of Sloane King.

Fuck. He had me twisted. He was one smirk away from me jumping his bones, audience be damned.

Now that I had worked things out with Palmer, he was crawling under my skin too.

I loved his smartass remarks and the way he challenged me. After our conversation in the cavern, I felt so much closer to him, but I wanted more from him. I needed my mage to be the guy he was when I’d first met him.

I was hoping that since he didn’t have to hide the truth about Raguel from me anymore, well, maybe he’d be that guy again. It would only be a matter of time before Palmer had me hooked, and fuck if I wasn’t ready for my mage to show me more of the real him.

And Vaughn… I thought I might have puzzled his issues out, but I hadn’t had time to talk to him alone. He’d given up on his back and forth bullshit, and I was thinking it had to do with finding out we were mates. He didn’t know if his feelings were genuine or if the bond was making him feel those things for me.

I understood his hesitancy, if that was the case, but I still wanted confirmation. I just needed to know what he was thinking, without prying into his private thoughts.

I sighed as I cut the water off. All I’d managed to do was scrub my skin raw while I ran a mental marathon, but at least I didn’t smell like sex anymore.

For someone who didn’t have a ton of feelings, I sure had a fucking lot them all of a sudden. I was firmly placing the blame on my mates. This wasn’t my fault. Not entirely… or maybe it was.

Godsdamnit.

Just stop right there, Sloane.

We’re not running in circles today.

Stepping out of the shower, I came to an abrupt halt, glaring at Novak as he sat on my bathroom counter. He had one leg pulled up with his back against the mirror, casually rubbing his thumb across a makeup brush.

“Are you done talking to yourself?” he asked, smirking at me as his eyes met mine.

“Yes,” I drawled, wrapping a towel around my body. He pouted at me for covering myself. “Don’t look at me like that, Novak. It’s like I just kicked your puppy.”

“Pretty much,” he assured me with a nod. “Take the towel off, and I’ll stop being so sad.”

Snorting at him, I dropped my towel and moved into the adjoining closet to get dressed. “Did you just come to watch me shower or did you need something?”

He grinned at me from the doorway. “I came to see what you were doing, but I stayed to listen to your thoughts.”

I paused, shirt halfway on, and damn near choked on my tongue while I blinked rapidly at him.