Needing is One Thing

Chapter 4. You make me feel so...

Monday and Mika was back in class, turning in the last of her reports. How she'd managed to finish her economics assignment last night was beyond her. Now it was just sit back and enjoy the perks of being a senior for the last two weeks of the semester before graduation. Even her teachers were sighing with relief that the school year was essentially over.

She had been looking forward to it: the feeling of that weight lifting off of her shoulders. Instead, she felt more burdened than she ever had before. She pulled three letters from the mailbox this morning, scrawled with her dad's sharp printing to forward them to her new address. They were burning a hole in her backpack, but she couldn't open them. She couldn't think about that now.

Instead, she was trapped in thoughts of James.

My name is Raestrao.

Raestrao. James had called it his true name. Mika thought it fit him; it felt majestic, like him. She wanted to say it out loud, feel it roll off her tongue but he had said it would call him, summon him to her. She didn't dare say it.

It was different, not being able to say someone's real name. James was different; this only served to remind her. He was a demon but he felt and looked human. He was a demon but he took care of his brothers as well as her. He was a demon and he had changed her yesterday, changed her entire world.

Mika had thought she would be nice and brought James his lunch. The boys cooked for her all the time; it was about time she exchanged the favor. She wanted to talk with him again, spend some more time with him alone, like when they had been in the garden. They had talked for a little while but then it had gone well beyond that.

James was reading a book on romance in the library. Why does Grandfather even have such a book? Mika didn't remember seeing it before but then again her grandfather had hundreds of books between the books in the study and the ones in the library. It wasn't surprising she didn't notice it but it was surprising that a demon of desire was reading it.

James was more than a little embarrassed to be caught reading it but when she asked, he was more than happy to talk to her about it. It was nice to just sit quietly together, talking. Mika felt so comfortable with him. It was like the pieces of her world were slowly coming into place.

Hearing James talk about love made Mika focus on him even more. As they spoke, she noticed how he was watching her so intently because she couldn't take her eyes off of him. His voice was calm but she saw how his hands gripped the armrests of his chair, saw how they were shaking. Mika realized James was hungry. Not for the lunch but for, well, the energy an incubus craves. His self-restraint was pulled almost to the breaking point.

James needed energy and she had given Sam and Erik energy when they kissed her. She could do the same for him; she could help him. It made Mika's heart flutter to realize he needed her, even in this small way. The thought was electric, empowering. She offered and he hesitated but James was logical, he needed it and she was willing to give it.

He was gentle with her, pulling Mika onto his lap. She'd straddled him in the chair, his hips between her knees. Still, he didn't kiss her, held himself back from her. It wasn't until she offered to let him enthrall her that his hesitation finally disappeared. He'd wanted to use his powers on her but wouldn't without her permission.

And Mika's world turned golden.

James wrapped her in his arms and his magic, his eyes gazing into hers over the tops of his glasses. They shone, shifting to gold. Mika felt herself go warm and soft in his arms. She surrendered to him, reveling in it.

His lips caressed hers: firm, insistent, a little demanding. Maybe it was the hunger, maybe something more but Mika let him pull her into the kiss, let him lead her into the fire. She felt a spark in her core, felt her entire body light up even as she sank deeper into his embrace.