by Layla Stone
Roaring her frustration, she pushed herself off the bed. “When I got into the kitchen and show you where the damned pots are, I’m also grabbing my favorite knife to chop your hands off for touching my blanket.”
Sorn didn’t look the least bit sorry. Holding his arm out to the door he said, “Whatever gets you out of bed, Sweets.”
“I hate you,” she grumbled and stomped out the room.
“I hate you back,” he said without any heat.
Down the hall she rounded into the kitchen, grabbed the handle to the oven door, pulled it open and pointed. “Here you go. Cook your heart out.”
“Why are they inside the oven?”
Rubbing her eye with her one free hand she said, “Because that’s the most logical place for them to go.”
“If that’s your most logical place to put a pot, I’m going to pack my stuff right now. I don’t trust crazy Terrans.”
Her heart lifted. “Really?”
By all means… go.
Sorn shook his head as if to say… you had your chance to send me away. “Pots belong in cabinets. Not inside the oven. And that’s not my opinion, that’s a fact.”
“You don’t like it, feel free to move them.” She regretted her words the second something flashed in his eyes. “Feel free to move the pots and pans. Nothing else,” she amended.
Sorn reached down and pulled out a pan, opened the nearest cabinet with bowls and plates and shoved it inside, knocking over several bowls in the process.
Ryya jumped forward and plucked out the pot, straightening the bowls. “I take it back, I’ll do it myself.”
“Okay,” he said brightly.
Ryya whipped back to scowl at him.
“I hate you.”
He smiled bigger, “I hate you too, Sweets.”
“Don’t call me Sweets. Demon pet names ick-me-out.”
Bending over to stack the pots and pans she heard his quick intake of breath. She was only in her panties and a shirt and bending over gave him a view. She figured a Demon like him had seen plenty of panties so she ignored it.
“Go back to bed, I’ll move the pots. I just wanted to know where they were,” his voice caught on the last word.
Too late. She was already pulling out the handful of stacked pots from the oven. She ignored him as she moved to the island and pulled out the flimsy to-go containers on the bottom shelf and placed the pots in there. Gathering up the containers, she walked to the trash and dumped them.
She never used them anyway.
Turning back to her new roommate, she planned to threaten him, but stopped when she saw his face. The Demon was stiff, and his chest was rising and falling quickly, like something was wrong.
“What?”
Sorn didn’t speak for a moment. When he did, it was rough and angry. “This isn’t going to work.”
This wasn’t going to work? Seriously?
Rat eating Demon bastard.
Turning to face him, her shirt snagged on the safety locks that kept the cabinet door secured. Tearing a hole in her favorite nightshirt added to her fury.
“Convenient you decided to tell me this isn’t going to work after I move the damn pots. Where exactly did you want them to go?”
She watched Sorn bend over, grab the oven door and shut it slowly. Then he stepped in front of her, backing her into the island, trapping her. He towered over her and let his head fall so his mouth was next to her ear. “I wasn’t talking about the pots… I was talking about you bending over with nothing but a strip of fabric that does absolutely nothing to cover you, giving me ideas I do not want to have.”
Oh.
Oooooh.
“If I were you, Sweets, I’d be praying to Seth of Stars every night, hoping I find a reason to leave, because if I stay… it’s going to get messy.”
Ryya’s stomach burned with the conflicting emotions. Lust was easy to recognize. His size, his voice, his mouth just far enough away to feel his breath made her toes curl. She could imagine his heaviness pressing her into the mattress, no, into her new carpet as he brought her to a climax.
Mentally, it was bliss.
But the Demon in front of her was a jerk and blitzing with him would be the worst decision she could make.
“I’m not going to blitz you, Sorn. And you already said you don’t like Terrans. Plus, the fact that you got turned on by me moving pots and pans says you’re into a kink I’ve never heard about and I don’t do.”
At his stunned expressions she moved under his arm and headed to the hall. “Good night, and don’t wake me up again unless you want me to beat your face with a frying pan.”
4
“You’re doing it wrong,” Sorn said from above her.
Mouth full, she couldn’t speak so she did what she could… growl.
“You’re not supposed to saturate it, just suck on it.”
Tilting her head back she used her glare to threaten death. If he didn’t shut up and leave her to it, she was going to stab him.
For reals this time.
Sorn the annoying Demon crouched down in front of her, balancing one hand to the concrete floor. With his other hand he slowly pulled the pressed hemmin-dowel from her mouth.
He let his thumbs brush her lips as he did so, stirring emotions in her lower belly.
Taking the quarter-inch dowel between two fingers, he inspected the tip in the sun. Ryya was a little smug because she was sure the Demon would notice she was preparing the dowel correctly.
Sorn opened his mouth and placed the wet end inside. His dark eyes held her, challenging her to say something – anything to stop him.
She didn’t.
He twisted the stick, humming as if he was savoring its flavor – her flavor.
Blood rushed to her face. She couldn’t breathe.
He removed the dowel and held it up, “There, now it’s ready.”
It was ready now that it was covered with his saliva? Like hers wasn’t good enough? Delusional Demon.
“I doubt the extra bit of your spit made it better,” she said, ignoring her out of control body and emotions.
Sorn stood up and walked to the third pile of planks and placed them into the hole. “Hemmin dowels have to be slick, not saturated or they won’t fit in the holes. If I didn’t remove the extra moisture, they’d have been useless. Not to mention you were putting them in the wrong planks.”
She may have kept them in her mouth for too long… but they didn’t feel waterlogged or anything.
“Directions say A not F,” she pointed to the Minky pad with the instructions.
“Trust me. I know what I’m talking about.”
She snorted, not wanting to believe a Demon. But on the chance he was right, she didn’t remove the hemmin from plank F.
Sorn moved back to the wood slats to her right checking the side and the marks. He was close enough to catch his scent. He smelled clean with a woodsy sage, crisp and warm.
It was doing a number on her mental composure.
Why did the jerk have to smell so good?
His sleeveless shirt exposed his massive arms and scars. His clothes were stained but clean. He looked ready to fight. And win.
The male was a sexy sight.
“You’re building a patio?” he asked drawing her attention from his body.
“Yep. Adjustable doors and a bed swing.”
He nodded, “I can see you on a bed swing.”
Could he? She didn’t like the intimate fantasy of them on a porch swing that flashed through her brain, so she ignored them.
“Watched a video on it. It took a team of five two weeks to complete, so I figure it will take a month.”
He picked up a hammer and tapped the little wood dowel further into the hole. “You think so?”
“Yep,” she said, grabbing the Minky pad looking up the next step because she obviously wasn’t going to get that dowel out now.
She blinked and he was next to her. She forced herself not to jerk at his silent
approach. His meaty finger pointed to the top image. “Start there. Once the frame is up, I can help secure it.”
She wanted to say she didn’t need his help, but it was a big patio and if he helped lock it in, then she could do the rest herself.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” he repeated.
Sorn faced her and Ryya could feel his eyes bore into her. His attention sucked the space between them, claiming it. She fought to keep her wits. Her nerves buzzed with excitement.
His presence was like a drug.
Demon males were worse than Terran playboys. Demons blitz with the intention of getting their partner addicted to them. At least that’s what most of the Demons who blitzed her friends did.
After they got you hooked, they’d leave you without a fragment of guilt. It’s what they did.
Only an idiot would blitz a Demon. And she wasn’t an idiot.
And becoming an emotional waif was not going to happen to her, either.
Which brought her back to his offer to help her lock in the frame.
As smart as it was to let him help, she didn’t want to do anything that might be construed as a Demon favor. They were the kind of people that obligated you by doing a simple favor and then kept you under their thumb for the rest of your life.
“Yeah, okay, I’ll wait” she lied, “But if you’re not around when the frames done, I’ll figure it out myself.”
“It will be too heavy. You’ll need my help.”
That was true, but again, she did not want to end up indebted to him.
Nasty word-twisting bastards.
Avoiding his eyes, she said, “I’m pretty creative. I did do all the installation myself. I think I can figure out how to keep a frame from falling.”
Silence.
The air coiled with his anger. She could feel it like it was a physical thing.
She had no idea how he did that, but alien races could do things many things she couldn’t.
Ryya peeked up at him and that was all it took for him to start in. “These are heavy. If you set them up wrong, they’ll fall on you. You’ll get hurt. You’ll be hurt when I’m not here and no one will hear you because all houses are diamond-cut insulated. So you can be a nip and build this alone, get hurt and possibly die – in which case I will claim to be your mate and take the home as my own… or you can wait for my help.” His tone was sharp with warning.
“If I die here and you take my house, I will haunt you and make your life miserable.”
Sorn didn’t smirk or laugh at her joke.
“Well, I don’t want you to twist this into a favor and claim that I owe you for the rest of my life.”
Sorn’s eye twitched. “You know nothing about Demons; how we make deals and why we offer favors.” His tone made it clear this was a sensitive topic and Ryya assumed it probably had a lot to do with why he didn’t like Terrans.
“Fine, then tell me what I don’t know.”
“No.”
“No?”
What the hell? How is he going to get pissed she didn’t know anything and then not educate her?
“It would take too long, and I have a job to get to. Plus, you don’t need to know.”
What in the name of all things holy was he saying? “You just said I don’t know crap about Demon deals or Demon favors. And said it like the fact that I didn’t know pissed you off. And now you tell me I don’t need to know. Well, forget it; you don’t get to be pissed and then do nothing to fix it.”
Leaning in he said, “If I ever offer you a deal or a favor, I’ll explain your options. You will get a chance to take it or leave it – and in the end you will learn everything you need to know.”
It felt like a threat laced in a promise of Demon seduction.
He was close enough that he filled her entire vision. She blinked slowly as she breathed him in. She loved his mouth, his smell and his confidence… and, she pressed her lips together with a frown, she also hated them with the same passion.
“I don’t need you to explain anything. In the past thirty-six hours I’ve learned all I need to know. You speak in circles, you’re bossy and for some reason you get turned on when you see me doing any kind of manual work – like moving pots or installing a patio.” She put her fists on her hips and glared at him. “You’re probably old and wonked in the head. Regardless of your long life, the mind still wears out over time. So, I’m going to make this clear for you, old man. Thank you for offering to lock up the frame, but I’d rather do it alone.”
Sorn looked away and she was sure the side of his lip twitched, and she wondered which part he thought was funny.
When he looked back he grabbed her chin and brushed a thumb over her lips. “I don’t need to see you working to get turned on – this smart mouth makes me want to bit into it every time you speak.”
Ryya’s lower lady parts clenched with anticipation. With want. With need for him to bite into her. Yes…
No.
No…
She was losing her damn mind.
She tried to pull away but he didn’t let go. “I’m going to work right now, and when I get back, you better not have tried to lock it up yourself. If you do, I will show you what happens to smart-mouthed Terrans who ignore me… intimately.”
She swallowed.
Sorn glanced down at her lips.
Ryya bit her lip. Was he going to kiss her? Did she want him to?
Bending down, his lips touched hers. Opening her mouth with his, he drew her close and sampled her with a low rumble deep in his chest.
It was over before it started.
His teeth scraped her lower lip, biting her tenderly.
Holy hell…
She was ruined.
She wanted more.
Ryya leaned in to get it and Sorn pulled away. “Are you going to wait for me?”
“Yes. I’ll wait,” she whispered.
He dropped his hand and nodded once as if he approved of her decision. “I’ll be back at four in the morning. Be ready.”
Four in the morning? She wasn’t getting up to work on the stupid patio that early.
Sorn didn’t give her a chance to tell him so because he was already inside the house, headed to the front door before she got her wits back.
5
Ryya had finished putting the patio frame pieces together. All that as left was to lock it into the house. It was midnight and she was tired, but she told herself she needed to finish the episode about landscaping art.
She went inside, flopped down on the couch and turned on the Minky screen, scrolling to find the right show. The episode was recorded on Earth, so some plants would have to be shipped to Marnak as seeds. She hoped they took to the weather and different soil here.
Ryya tucked her knees to her chest and imagined how great her back yard would look if she did what they were doing on the screen.
“You plan on re-doing your back landscaping, too?”
Ryya didn’t jump thanks to her tired reflexes. Turning causally, she said, “I’m always looking to re-do something.”
Sorn’s big blue arms folded over his chest as he leaned against the wall. He looked good, as usual, but there was something else in the way he stood there. Relaxed? At ease? No, it was more than that. It was like he and the house acclimated, and he fit perfectly.
“Do you plan to upgrade the house and then sell it?” he asked.
She didn’t want to share her true feelings about the house. “I like staying busy,” she said.
“So, when you’re done upgrading, you’ll leave?”
“Maybe. Or maybe I’ll be busy with other life things that I don’t need to put my energy into a house.”
The Demon was silent. She could tell he was taking that in.
She hoped he didn’t figure out what it meant.
“Meaning you are hoping by the time you’re done making the house a home, you’ll have a family to take care of.”
Damn.
She really didn’t want
to talk about having a family with a race who didn’t settle down. It was what she wanted, but she didn’t feel like justifying her dreams.
Pushing off the couch she used the hand-motion detection to turn off the show. “Well, it’s late, I’m going to sleep. See you…” she started to say and stopped herself when the Minky screen chimed alerting her to an incoming call. It was her sister. For a heartbeat she thought of letting it ring, but after the third one she accepted Wrey’s call.
It was a voice call, not a video so Ryya just stared at a black screen with a ripple of color that moved when Wrey talked.
“Hey,” Ryya said with her arms folded.
“Ryya, thank Seth. You need to come here.” The noise in the background made it hard to hear. A male with a deep voice was laughing and there was another voice that sounded like it was on a loudspeaker.
“Where are you?”
“Someplace called The Pit. Jay wanted to come because he says guys from work said it’s the best and it was fun, except now Jay’s drunk and is picking fights.”
Ryya frowned. She never liked Jay. He was a Terran who liked people to think he was intimidating. He wasn’t. Five years ago he was short and rail thin with a chip on his shoulder. Since then Jay bought cybernetics to upgrade his body, making him into a machine beast.
The thing was… he never got over being small.
“Where is The Pit?” It was probably a new restaurant. Probably. By the name, she guessed it was barbeque.
Gross.
If it was a brand new restaurant, it wouldn’t be uploaded to the maps for a week. “Ping my account with your GPS and I’ll use that to find you.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are the best sister ever. He won’t listen to me, and I don’t want Ma hearing about this.”
“On my way,” she said and terminated the call.
Sorn was standing behind the couch, closer than before. It was obvious he listened to the call. It was also clear with his pressed lips and hands fisted at his waist that he was upset.
“You don’t know what The Pit is?” he asked.
“No, I don’t,” she said holding his eyes.
“It’s not a place for someone like you.”