Demon Cant Help It

CHAPTER 26

Maksim could believe that until he was with Jo. Then he wondered how he was ever truly going to have a relationship with a human woman. A normal relationship.

Dear God, he wanted to be normal. Never had he wanted that. And when had he started to refer questions to God? That went against the whole demon/Hell creed.

He stood at the end of Jo's bed, where she still slept like the dead. She hadn't even appeared to have moved in the hours that he'd been gone.

Quietly he shucked off his pants and shirt, leaving on only his jockey shorts. Carefully, he crawled into bed beside her.

She immediately shifted, curling up against him, her skin silky and warm from sleep.

"Hi," she murmured.

"Hi," he replied, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Where did you go?"

So she had woken enough to notice he was gone.

"I just had to talk to someone."

"Mmm," she said. "Was it a good talk?" Her voice was already slurred as sleep tried to reclaim her.

"Yeah, it was very satisfying." He pulled her closer as one of those overpowering waves of protectiveness she brought out in him washed through him.

Her hand curled on his chest, and he could feel her even breathing on his skin. To his surprise, the closeness and contentment of being with her, snug in her bed, lulled him and soon he slept, too.

When he woke again, the sun had set, casting the room in murky shadows, but it wasn't the change in lighting that roused him. It was the hand with delicate fingers slipping under the waistband of his jockeys.

He snagged the hand before it reached its goal, which was already pulsing against his stomach in the hopes she'd reach the goal, too.

"Hey there," he said, his voice gravelly with sleep. "What do you think you are doing?"

He felt Jo smile against his shoulder. "Nothing."

Maksim kept hold of her hand as he rolled onto his side, his face inches from hers. "Nothing is what you should be doing."

Jo groaned with disappointment. "I don't want to do nothing. I want to touch you."

Her other hand, which Jo didn't have restrained, slid up between them and stroked over his stomach, then lower, shaping over his erection through his boxers.

He groaned. "Jo. The doctor said you need to stay in bed and rest."

"I am in bed," she pointed out reasonably. "And the rest is really more about my bruises. Not about the baby."

The baby. The idea that she was carrying a life inside her was staggering and humbling. His hand released hers and moved to her stomach. He slipped his hand under her shirt and slid his palm low on her abdomen, cupping the slight swell there.

She placed a hand over his and the moment, just lying there, like that, was as intimate as Maksim could recall.

"The baby will be fine," she said with certainty. She wiggled closer to him and pressed a kiss to his mouth. "She managed to be fine after a fall downstairs, I think she'll be fine if we make love."

Make love. He'd never thought of the act in that term before. But he found he wanted to now.

"How do you know it's a girl? Did they tell you that when they did the ultrasound yesterday?" He was directing the subject away from amorous ones, because he still wasn't sure she should be doing something like that so soon.

"No. I just have a feeling."

She hooked a leg over his, pulling herself closer to him still. The hand still over his erection moved, just slow, persuasive caresses. She kissed him, her lips as leisurely and coaxing as her fingers.

"You are relentless," he murmured against her mouth.

"Mmm-hmm." Her hand left him just long enough to tug his boxers down, freeing his arousal, which was more than happy to be set loose.

Then she wriggled her own hips, working off her panties. They came back together, bare legs intertwining. Her arms came around his neck, although he did freeze when he heard a small gasp.

"Are you okay?"

He felt her nod rather than saw it. "The shoulder is just a little sore."

"Jo," he said again. "This is too soon."

"Shut up and kiss me."

Even though he still wasn't sure, he obeyed her. For a long time they just kissed, their lips exploring, their bodies staying pressed tight, skin against skin. Every movement pushing them a little further into their desire. Her breast brushing against him, her nipples hard, a delicious friction.

His hands stroked over the sleek skin of her back, down lower still, shaping over the soft cushion of her ass. His mouth left her peppering kisses down her neck over her chest finding the nipple closest to him. He drew the taut point into his mouth, swirling his tongue around it until she cried out.

"I love how sensitive your breasts are."

"Mmm, a pleasant side effect of pregnancy."

He touched her stomach then, also savoring the gentle swell of her belly. Something about knowing she carried life aroused him. It wasn't even life he'd put there, but that didn't seem to matter—he still felt possessive and protective of it.

Then his hand moved lower, finding the narrow strip of curls that protected her sex. He slipped his finger into the slit, discovering her dripping wet and so ready for him.

He groaned at the feeling of her slick and hot.

One finger slid deep inside her, while his thumb stroked her clitoris. Her hips moved, riding his hand in the way he knew she wanted to ride him.

He reveled in her movements, in the sexy noises she made. She strained and pulsed around his finger. Until she shattered, a low cry escaping from her into him as he kissed her as she came.

Then while she was still limp from her release, he positioned her legs around him, keeping them on their sides but spreading her wide so he could enter her. Her soaked warmth made it easy for him to thrust into her core, rocking her slowly and gently toward another orgasm.

She cried out again, but even then he didn't stop, still moving in her until she pushed him onto his back and straddled him.

He watched her moving above him. His cock deep, deep inside her, her hips setting the rhythm. He closed his eyes and let her take total control, sliding up and down on him until he didn't know where she stopped and he began.

Then her motions grew faster, her body riding his, steering their release.

When his orgasm hit him, he ceased breathing. He did nothing but feel. Her body milking his, her hands braced on his chest, her lips on his face.

He gave himself over to her and the second orgasm that hit him drove all logical thought from his mind. If he could go to paradise, this was what it was like.

Then he fell into sated oblivion.

Jo woke to Maksim stroking her tangled hair away from her cheeks, the touch so tender, so breath-stealing.

He leaned in and kissed her sweetly, leisurely, and she suddenly knew she had to take the risk. She had to allow herself to trust this man. He wasn't Jackson. Not even close, and in truth, she felt more for him in this short time than she'd ever felt for Jackson. She'd believed Jackson was the real thing when she'd been living it, but now…

She couldn't let this slip away. Maksim was the real thing. She could love him. God, she already did.

"Maksim?" she said.

His hand paused rubbing up and down her back in an easy, delicious massage. "Mmm?"

"Are we…" The question sounded so stupid given where they were, lying naked in each other's arms, basking in the aftermath of amazing, perfect sex, but she needed to know. "…are we a couple? Is that what we're doing here?"

Maksim was quiet for a few moments, but it felt like minutes, hours, and Jo started to think of ways to backpedal, to get back the peacefulness they'd just had.

"Yes."

She remained utterly still, even holding her breath, hoping he'd say more than that. Thank God, he did.

"Jo, I've never felt like this before. And I will be dead honest with you, I have no idea whatsoever what I'm doing. I just know I don't want any of this to end. I want to be with you."

Jo's heart swelled in her chest. It wasn't poetry, but it was the most beautiful thing anyone had ever said to her.

She kissed him, joy filling her. He caught the back of her head and kissed her back more intensely. Maksim's usual possessiveness was returning with gusto.

And she loved every moment of it.