Glass Heart

Chapter 10

*Warning: Suggestive Content*

Orthus's scarred head nipped playfully at my fingers while the other nuzzled into my shoulder. Both pulled back for a second to look at me, yipped, and then he ran off in the direction we were traveling. "Will he be alright by himself?" I questioned worriedly as I watched his furry body disappear into the thick brush around us.

"He'll be fine, no demon would dare attack my servant." What an absolute sweetheart thing to say. Clearly Ryon was strong enough to take on armies single-handedly, so his willingness to look after those of lower stations showed his heart. I admired that. Power corrupts those with weak morality, he was probably the most benevolent demon I would ever encounter. No, not just demon, there were plenty of humans who he beat out in terms of heart.

Despite acknowledging how much I admired his heart, I couldn't let it go without teasing him a little bit, "aww, so you do care about him. I bet you're a softy at heart."

Ryon rolled his eyes at me, though couldn't hide the smirk that tugged at his lips. "I don't have a heart." Liar. "When he finds a tree, he'll signal the location to me and we'll meet him there." Ryon explained.

"Why wouldn't he just come back and lead us there himself?"

Ryon chuckled, "he wanted to give us some privacy." The way he emphasized privacy told me a lot about what Orthus assumed our relationship to be. I wasn't complaining, I just wished it was actually like that. Ryon was handsome, even otherworldly, he would have definitely been in a boy band if he was human, but that was skin deep. He was confident, funny, loyal, intelligent, and charismatic, even when I sensed his darker side surfacing.

He was a demon, so it could never be, after all, my family's entire purpose for living was to hunt down his entire race, and well, demons and humans weren't exactly compatible in either world. If we were a thing, it would only be temporary, fleeting, I might even have to face him in battle one day. Would he be able to strike me down? Able, yes. Willing? An entirely different question, one I couldn't answer.

Grace and Ryon... I do like the sound of that, I pondered. If I got the chance, I would take it, because it would probably never come around again. Time moved so differently in the realms, it was hard to know if minutes had passed or hours back home even though it had been several days here. I could live a lifetime in Hell and return in a week or a thousand years. The excitement at that prospect unnerved me a little.

I sidled into the ground to make myself comfortable by the fire, Ryan's leg just next to my head. We swapped stories of our realms for the next couple hours, Ryon telling me more about the provinces of Hell and the leaders who ran them, and I told him about my favorite places from all of my trips across the world and some stories that went with them. Gradually, we gravitated closer to each other, and eventually we were laid out with our heads right next to each other, but facing different directions. He was looking at the sky, or what passes for it in Hell, and I was looking at him, pondering his face, wishing I could run my hands through his mismatched hair without it ruining the comfortable atmosphere we had created.

I still felt the weird urge to touch the markings on his face and found my hand starting to outstretch before I caught myself. He smirked, as if he knew exactly what I had been about to do. "Go ahead, I don't mind," he teased playfully. Just don't touch the horns. Huh? That damn voice, where was it coming from? But I had the feeling that it was on my side so I decided to take the advice, I wouldn't touch them if it was unwanted though I couldn't stop myself from being curious.

It felt an odd combination of uncomfortable and excitement as I gave into the desire to touch the handsome demon that lay in front of me. I sat up on my elbows so I was looking down toward him and unconsciously started tracing the patterns up his jaw and over his cheekbones, barely noticing when his eyes shut as he sighed comfortably at the touch. I followed the patterns up to his forehead, careful to avoid touching the bony protrusions at his temple, as requested.

I cupped his cheek, meeting has gaze as his icy blue eyes opened in question, pierced through the darkness behind them and straight into my soul. I pushed my fingers through his hair, allowing my thumb to drag across his cheekbones. "What are you thinking?" He whispered, the movement drawing my eyes to his rosy lips.

In answer, I dipped my head to his ear and whispered, "I wanna make out with you." I wouldn't normally be so bold, but how did the saying go . . . when in Rome? . . . er, Hell. I made myself a promise that I wouldn't give up the chance, at least, not without trying first.

"By all means, then. I'm certainly not going to stop you." I met his eyes and flashed him a grin, he was smirking like the arrogant bastard he was, but that mattered little, I was getting what I wanted.

I threaded my fingers through his soft hair and pressed my lips to his with a lazy sort of urgency. His lips tasted sweet like honey and rich like chocolate. I swore that I could hear his heartbeat pick up as I stroked his lower lip with my tongue. I was hungry for him and I certainly didn't want to stop at kissing. I wanted more and decided to solicit it from him, deciding that toying with the hem of his shirt should suffice.

*Content Warning, See Above ^ *

As I drew my hand away to do just that, the edge of my finger grazed against the base of his horn, drawing a strangled gasp from the demon. I immediately froze, uncertain of what to do except apologize, "I'm sorry—" but I was quickly cut off.

"Do it again." Looking into his eyes, they were darkened, blown over with lust.

I furrowed my brow, "but, your reaction—"

"—Wasn't pain. Do it again," he urged.

Slowly, I drew a finger around the base of one of his horns. "It's so soft," I murmured to myself, fascinated how something so harsh looking could have such fine velvet fuzz. A sound escaped the back of his throat, somewhere between a purr and a moan as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. I withdrew my hand, "Are you alright?"

"Your touch ignites my horns. Hellfire, that feels good. Don't stop!" He pleaded. I wanted to do as he asked but I couldn't. If this was some sort of sex-stimulant like an aphrodisiac for demons then he wasn't in his right mind. No matter what I wanted, if he wasn't in his right mind, then I would force myself to ignore his pleas. There was nothing worse than taking advantage of someone, regardless of gender.

I withdrew my hand from his horn, much to his protest, and instead cupped his cheek. "Ryon, explain this to me first. You look like you're in pain . . . and enjoying it." A roundabout way of asking, but it seemed awkward to just ask if I'd accidentally roofied him. I never thought that I would ever think those words, much less in that order.

"That's because I am."

"Am what?"

"In pain and enjoying it. Our horns are very sensitive, filled with nerves that elicit great pleasure or pain, or both depending on the demon, but only when someone that can impact our lives does so. To find someone who can ignite our horns like you just did," he shivered, flipping our positions so that he loomed over me, our noses nearly touching, "is very special indeed." So I hadn't accidentally roofied him? Am I getting that right?

"So when I touch your horns like this," I prompted as I drew a finger up the outer edge of his left horn, all the way to the point on the end. His whole body shuddered, eyes darkening further.

"You ignite me," he finished. "I've never found another who could."

He leaned in close but I drew back slightly. "What are you doing?"

This new information had brought a host of different questions. Had touching his horns sparked the desire or something else? I had to know.

"I know you want more, I can see it in your eyes, you're not very good at hiding it. Let me have you, even if it's just once." His eyes were darkening even more as he begged me to give in.

Holding back was so hard. His muscled body was right there, inches from my own but until this was resolved, it might as well have been worlds away. "I'm all for it, believe me, but do you want this just because I ignited your horns?"

My question seemed to amuse him, a smirk pulling at his lips, seeming to know exactly where this was going even before he spoke his next words, my body responding to his excitement. "Your actual question is; would I still offer you if you hadn't ignited me, and the answer, darling, is yes. Good enough for you?"

I pretended to think for a moment, then quirked my lips into a wry smirk of my very own, "hell yeah." And with that, his body descended upon mine.