Feathers and Blood (boyxboy)

Chapter Twelve

Aaron

I had successfully been avoiding lengthy conversations with Jay for weeks. Both he and Robin thought there was something medically wrong with me, but it was worth it. I knew that I would crack in seconds if the big demon ever asked me about the whole fiasco with Jesse. We had known each other for years, years that I had spent working to gain his trust. Robin, of course, was in love with me and therefore blind to anything I did wrong, but Jay was more wary.

When demons are first born, they need sleep often, about as much as a human does. As they age, they grow as humans until they stop at a certain point (it's different for each demon). After that, they get stronger and need sleep less and less. Demons like Johanna or Phobos technically only needed to sleep like once a century, but come on. Sleep was awesome, and like disgusting sinners that we all clearly were, we slept whenever we felt like anyway.

It was particularly enticing when you had a hot boyfriend to sleep with. I smiled as I gradually awoke, my first sight being Robin's beautiful face grinning down on me. "Well, finally," he purred. "I've been lying here for hours."

"Mmm," I breathed, pulling the sheets up to cover the both of us and enjoying the silky feel. "C'mere."

I pulled him down, pressing our lips together. I could feel his smile through the kiss as his hands shimmied up my sides and into my hair. "Aaron," he whispered. I ignored him and rolled over so that he was under me. Caressing his cheek, I bent down and kissed him again, this time with more passion. "Aaron," he repeated against my mouth, this time louder.   

I sighed and held myself up above him. "What?"

"Aaron," he murmured, reaching up to touch my chest. "Baby, are you okay?"

Shit. "Why wouldn't I be?" I hedged, shifting awkwardly.

He shrugged. "I don't know," he confessed. "It's just that lately you haven't been talking much and you seem really on edge."

"Well of course I'm on edge! We're entering a war here, a war I'm not even allowed to be a part of." Lord Oliver of Misery had stopped by a few weeks ago to inform us that we wouldn't be allowed to actively participate in the war, as we were refugees and we wouldn't want to make things more complicated. "Besides, it looks like this war will be a serious one, what with Jesse and all..."

Robin sighed and pushed me off him, sliding out of bed. "If you say so," he muttered, kissing me on the cheek. "But we're going to be okay, you know that? As long as we stay true to each other, we're all going to be fine."

"Okay," I managed, looking away. A pang of guilt hit me. I wasn't staying true to anyone, not even Johanna. I constantly told her how much she meant to me, how much I adored her, but in truth, I despised her. And now that her kingdom had fallen, what did that mean for me? Was I free from my duties or had they just been made more complicated? And more importantly, what would happen to Robin if things got heated? I hadn't gone to fight on Johanna's side when Phobos had attacked; our deal about keeping Robin safe was probably scrapped.

Trying to stow those feelings away, I quickly dressed and followed Robin downstairs to the kitchens, where Jay was waiting for us. Crap. I considered making up some excuse and leaving, but Robin was holding my hand and practically glowing to me. It was rare that all three of us ever found the time to have breakfast together - I couldn't just ditch them now. Reluctantly, I took my seat a table that way too big for just three people. Robin happily sat next to me, still holding my hand, while Jay sat in front of us, a ghost of a smile on his face.

Jay was about a head taller than me and roughly twice as wide, and it was all in pure muscle. His dark skin (much darker than Robin's) seemed to ripple in sheer strength. His distinctia was literal enormous size and power, which seemed kinda unfair to me, since I only had fangs, and especially unfair to Robin, who was equipped with those beautiful, but pretty harmless eyes. We were lucky Jay was on our side. He won't be on my side if he finds out what I did.