Demons Don't Always Tell The Truth (Kate Storm Series Book 3) (17 page)

26. Morning Disaster.

I woke rested and at the same time so exhausted I felt pinned to my bed. Which really didn't make much sense to me. How could I be two opposite things at once?

Maybe all my sleepless nights had caught up with me, I'd finally slept and yet needed more sleep because I hadn't been sleeping well?

That made a little more sense until I tried to move.

I was literally pinned to my bed. Not by lack of sleep, but by a very large, very heavy, male demon arm.

Ash was in my bed.

My body jolted like it had been abruptly shot with an overdose of adrenaline as it hit me.

Ash was in my bed.

Next to me. Actually, partly on top of me. Soundly sleeping. And snoring.

I wanted to dance. Shake my money maker. Yell it to each and every realm.

And I really needed to pee.

The weight of his arm, draped over my stomach and bladder, was not helping my situation.

I remembered exploding in an orgasm that seemed to go on and on and on. A blast of hellfire that by all rights should have singed everything in a three block radius. Starting the downward spiral from that incredible high and then . . . Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Damn it. I must have passed out again.

I'd passed out once before from one of Ash's incredible orgasms. Full on lights out, party time is over, lock the door on your way out - passed out.

Apparently I'd done it again, only for a much longer period this time.

Mid morning light shone brightly in my bedroom.

I didn't feel an ounce of embarrassment. Really, why bother? Ash had orgasmed me into passing out. I wasn't a picky witch. I thought it was a great way to start
us
together.

Incredible, joyful energy filled me.

Such a contrast to the last few days. I wasn't sure how long it would last. How long we could last. And I absolutely, positively refused to think about that.

ASH WAS IN MY BED.

Bring out the brooms and cast the whoopee spells.

The demon of my dreams was in my bed with me and we'd had amazing, mind blowing sex.

Which I really wanted to do all over again. Right from the top.

As soon as I peed.

I tried to wiggle out from under his arm without disturbing him, but that only increased the urgency of my situation.

Ash's arm was really, really heavy.

I poked him in the shoulder. "Ash?"

He didn't move.

I tried it again. "Hey, Ash?" I shook his shoulder.

He grunted.

Frog warts. Shouldn't the King of Demons be a little more aware of his surroundings, even in his sleep? Didn't the smaller demons attack whenever they could? I'd heard they waged some serious wars in hell.

"Ash!"

He lifted one eyelid halfway.

A sexy smile warmed his mouth and he curled his arm around my waist drawing me into the curve of his body.

I froze. Pleaded with my bladder.

Ash nuzzled my neck, just below my ear. "Morning."

It could be. I just needed a few minutes of privacy first.

I tugged at his arm, trying to alleviate some of the pressure and desperately trying to come up with a polite way to mention my predicament.

Ash nibbled on the sensitive skin right below my ear. He sucked firmly. My stomach clenched in response.

Okay. Now I was embarrassed and about to be even more so.

"Ash. I need to get up for a minute."

"Hmmm." He pulled me in tighter to his body. A steel pole prodded my ass. My stomach clenched again and my bladder hit critical.

"I have to pee!"

Ash lifted his arm and I bolted.

I slammed the bathroom door behind me and reached the toilet in the nick of time.

It was only as I washed my hands that the unknown details of my hasty exit came to light.

Crazy, hot sex with the King of Demons equalled a matching crazy hair do. I didn't think my curls had ever reached this level of utter catastrophe before.

They didn't just run wild all over my head. They curled in completely new and extremely unattractive directions. Everywhere. Upside down and sideways.

I hadn't washed off my make up from my night out and I'd passed out before I could even think of casting a spell.

There'd clearly been sweat involved in our bedroom activities. I only remembered being wet in one area, but my makeup, or what was left of it, begged to differ.

Forget raccoon eyes, I had streaks,
streaks,
of black, purple and green under my eyes, down my cheeks and even over my nose.

I hadn't worn green make up of any sort.

Sweet Glinda. I'd never looked this bad.

And I'd fled my bedroom.
Fled.
As in I'd moved my body in a very fast manner.

My entire sizable backside had been exposed to Ash's view while it was moving quickly.

I was intimately familiar with the cellulite on the tops of my thighs. I'd never bothered to become acquainted with it on my backside. I figured that was asking too much of a witch.

The one time I'd tried a spell for it, the dimples had somehow increased.

I could hear the reverberation of every taunt from my childhood echoing in my ears.

I wanted to cry.

My first morning after with Ash and it was a disaster. I couldn't see how things could be worse . . . Although on further consideration, taking into account what made my departure from the bed so urgent, I could see how things could have been worse. Much, much worse.

Spirits save me now.

"Kate?" Ash knocked on the bathroom door.

He'd seen my large butt fleeing the bedroom, but I wasn't sure how much he'd seen of my front. He'd barely opened an eye.

It was probably a toss up which was worse at the moment, my front or my backside. Either way, I had no plans to display either.

I was in my bathroom. My options were extremely limited.

Ash knocked again. A bit more forcefully. "Kate?"

"Be out in a minute."

I jumped in the shower, yanked the shower curtain closed and turned on the faucet. I shrieked when the cold water hit.

Then I shrieked again when Ash flung the curtain open.

I hadn't had the time to wet my face, much less douse my hair. I was too busy trying to avoid the arctic blast of the shower.

Ash stepped into the shower, tugging the curtain closed  behind him. His massive body blocked the icy water. For which I was eternally grateful and completely irked.

I was still the disaster of a witch.

Ash tugged me into the embrace of his body. I dropped my head to his hard chest, hiding my face. My forehead and cheek pressed to his warmth. Probably leaving black, purple and green streaks.

Where had the green come from?

"You couldn't wait? I wanted to shower with you."

He had? Just the thought turned my insides to a warm, gooey mess.

"I didn't think we would both fit."

I didn't want him to see my horror.

Ash rubbed his big hands up and down my back, smoothing out the tension. His large body moved. I couldn't see what he was doing with my head buried in his chest.

Fingers slid into my snarl of curls, tilting my head back. Before I could even gasp in despair, a warm washcloth slid over my face.

Traced over my forehead, smoothed down my cheeks and under my eyes, my nose, lips and chin.

Ash turned us so the now heated water hit both our bodies. He eased his hand out from my hair, picked up my bottle of shampoo and said, "turn around so I can wash your hair."

I did as he asked, my brain blank.

Was that it? The end to my crisis? A warm washcloth and some  shampoo?

Obviously Ash had noticed my unflattering look and just as obviously he didn't care.

He rubbed the shampoo through my hair, his strong fingers kneading my scalp. I moaned. Ash chuckled and I realized my back was to him.

My large, cellulite riddled, uncovered backside.

The heated press of steel back there stated unequivocally that Ash liked my behind.

Sweet Glinda.

This really was love.

Not just the heady, heart pounding thrill of new love, but love. Pure and simple.

Ash wasn't backing out my door in disbelief and dread. He'd battled my morning crisis with a washcloth and some shampoo.

Ash loved
me
. Kate.

The witch. Chubby, with a head of curls that sometimes behaved but mostly didn't, insecure, matchmaker extraordinaire, cursed, half-bred, mortal and crazy in love with the King of Demons.

The lingering echoes faded and I leaned back against the hard chest and equally hard cock at my large, but loved backside.

Soapy hands came around my front and cupped my breasts. Squeezed and rubbed. Slid down my generous stomach and into the curls between my legs.

Sapphire flames raced along his skin, impervious to the water.

"What do we do now?"

I was pretty sure Ash meant with my hair, but with his hand occupied in other places, I could have cared less about my morning routine.

I widened my legs and reached around to grab hold of velvet encased steel.

"I can think of a few things."

Ash groaned and I found myself bent forward in the shower, totally unconcerned with body parts and completely focused on  a certain demon.

I have no idea why I thought we would never fit.

27. Panic.

I poured two cups of coffee. Added a ton of creamer to mine and left the other black. I set it in front of Ash, pulled out a chair and sat across from him at my kitchen table.

Ash had turned the kitchen TV on and was watching the morning news.

It felt like something a couple did every morning of their lives.

It felt really weird.

I glanced at the small saucer on the floor.

Shit.

How was I going to handle that conversation?

It would kill me to hurt him. And I couldn't see any way to avoid it.

"What's wrong?" Ash caged my legs between his and squeezed gently.

"Al." Did Ash plan to make sleeping over a common occurrence? Could he? How long could he stay? How long did his sin force him to stay in Hell?

Did Ash want to keep spending the night? How did this all work? Once they said their
I love yous
did couples usually move in together? Wait a while?

I had no idea. No clue at all.

We didn't do long term relationships in my coven. At work I found the match and sometimes got invited to the wedding, but beyond the giddy part of first falling in love, I was at a loss both professionally and personally.

Maybe I was jumping the gun.

Did I need to say something to Al?

"I'll talk to him." Ash picked up my hand, enfolded it in his large one. He was so big, my hand appeared like a tiny pale bird tucked into its nest.

It was how I felt too. At home with Ash.

"No. I need to talk to him." He deserved to hear the truth from me. I'd stripped the bed sheets and put on fresh ones, but he'd smell the truth regardless.

He'd made his feelings about me, and Ash, extremely clear. I didn't know how he would handle this new development. I'd been depressed and Al had been convinced I'd dump Ash when I'd last seen Al.

He hadn't been plotting how to seduce me, Al had been more concerned about how I was doing than anything. This abrupt reversal of everything would be a shock.

To say the very least.

Ash rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand. He might not love Al like I did, but he knew how important Al was in my life.

The phone rang before I could slide too far down the worry well.

I squeezed Ash's hand to let him know I appreciated his concern and went to pick up the phone.

"I quit."

"What?" I pulled the phone away, stared at it in total confusion then put it back to my ear. "Désirée?"

Her southern redneck accent was impossible to miss, but I couldn't match the words to her voice.

"I'm sorry, Sugar. I know you were thinking long term when you hired me. And frankly so was I. But I just can't take this anymore."

Désirée Norma-Sue's voice rose to a near screech by the end.

"Désirée, I want you to calm down and tell me what happened." And clearly something had. Désirée had planned to go shopping and spend the night at Phil's the last time I'd seen her.

She'd been clam and madly in love with Phil, not verging on hysteria.

A heavy hand settled on my shoulder. I looked up to see Ash frowning. I shook my head at him. Shrugged my shoulders. He leaned down and twisted my hand so we could both hear Désirée.

Ash was with me in this too.

" . . . Clothes everywhere. It's a wreck."

A figurative boot kicked me hard. What had she said? I shook off my love daze. "What? Slow down and start at the top. What happened?"

Désirée Norma-Sue took several deep breaths. Her panic and terror coming through in the shaky gasps and audible swallows.

Something had spooked my secretary badly. Or, more likely, someone.

"Okay." Désirée blew out a long stream of air. "I spent last night at Phil's. We went out for dinner and drinks. He made a Key Lime pie for dessert." She paused, made a sound like a whimper. It was muffled and I thought she must have her hand over her mouth. Trying to hold it all in. "We had some for breakfast too, this morning. He's an amazing baker."

More muffled sounds and a cut off sob.

"Okay. Sounds like you had a wonderful date." I kept my voice calm and even, hoping to help her regain some control.

"We did." Désirée sucked in air, expelled it sharply. She took another breath and released it much slower. "We really did."

"Then what happened?"

"I wanted to come home first, before heading in to work. Change clothes. I wanted to wear a new ring I just got that was in my jewelry box. Phil dropped me off maybe fifteen minutes ago. One of his friends called and needed his help. He didn't walk me in. I told him not to, that I'd be fine." She stifled a sob. "I just didn't think . . . What if something happens to him?"

I wasn't sure who she was directing that last question to.

"Désirée." I waited a beat. I made sure my voice was sharper to get her attention. "Désirée?"

"Yes. I'm here."

"Did something happen at your apartment?"

"He was here again, Kate."

My stomach dropped. Her psycho ex-fiancé.

"Are you wearing your charm?" I couldn't imagine her taking it off after our talk and I'd made sure it would change colors to go with any outfit she wore, but still . . .

"Yes. I have it on."

I sighed. Nothing bad could happen as long as she wore it.

"How do you know he was there?"

"My apartment is trashed. He tossed all my furniture around. Opened all the cupboards in the kitchen and dumped food on the counters and floor. The mirror is broken in my bathroom and all my clothes are shredded and thrown everywhere."

Her voice ended in a wail and I imagined for Désirée Norma-Sue the destruction of her wardrobe was the ultimate insult.

Ash nudged me, but I was already ahead of him.

"Are you certain it wasn't a burglar?"

I didn't actually think so given her history, still I had to ask.

"He wrote on my wall in red. It says 'You can't hide. I'll get the gargoyle too'." Désirée's voice stuttered. "He knows about Phil, Kate. I have to leave. I can't risk it. I'd die if anything happened to Phil."

The sick psycho. He knew just what knives to turn with Désirée Norma-Sue. He didn't have a heart. He knew right where Désirée's lay though.

"Ouch."

"What?" I couldn't hear her breathing. "Désirée?" Some sort of clattering noise come through the phone.

"Did you just cast a spell, Kate? I know you're worried. So am I, but that hurt."

Oh, shit. "Désirée, did your charm just heat up?"

"Yes. You could have warned me. It almost burned my neck."

"Désirée put your charm back on. Do you hear me? Put it back on now!"

Ash and I were already running down the hall.

"Désirée?"

Silence.

Ash grabbed my hand as we ran down the stairs. "Anything?"

"No. Damn it."

We were in a full tilt run three steps out my front door. Ash pulled me towards his truck. "It'll be faster."

We jumped in the front of his truck. I kept calling Désirée's name, knowing I wouldn't hear a reply. My landline wouldn't even work this far from my apartment. It was futile. I knew it, but it was all I had at the moment.

The psycho ex-fiancé had kidnapped my secretary.