Dashing devil 5 bold beg.., p.10
Dashing Devil 5: Bold Beginnings, page 10
“I missed you soooo much, Darling,” Silvie’s words were muffled, murmured directly into his neck.
“I missed you too, my love” Boyd rumbled back, giving her a squeeze.
He only got to enjoy the feel of her body against his for a moment before—after blurring through the air—he was set back gently right in front of the elevator. By the time he was back on his feet, Daisy had joined them in a pretty green sundress so pale it was almost white, though she remained a little separate from the group.
“Okay, as soon as the doors open, everyone cheer ‘welcome home!’… ready?” Silvie whisper-shouted as she floated up beside the big demon.
Boyd didn’t have time to look over at his silver-haired love before the doors to the elevator opened.
“Welcome h…” was all Boyd got out before he broke off to catch the bundle of white feathers, golden hair, and fair skin that slammed into him. He pulled his angel into a hug.
Tears pooled in Hopes big azure blue eyes, but they were happy tears. The pure woman was so filled with joy that she couldn’t restrain them, and they trailed down her cheeks—though he could tell across their bond that she was desperately afraid he would think she was upset.
Pressing his cheek against the side of her head to get his nose close to her hair, he inhaled. The smell of sunshine with a trace of baby powder filled his nose as he took in a breath in preparation to reassure her.
“Shh, it’s okay,” he whispered, “I’m so happy you are here, too. Happy tears are fine.”
He had instantly put his will into solidifying their Bond as soon as she was physically in contact with him. Through it, Boyd felt her almost tangible need for him to know how happy she was. He wasn’t about to complain as his arms wrapped around her shoulders and held her wings tight against her back. Between the softness of her feathers and the splendor of her figure plastered against him, he was happy to stay there as long as she wanted.
Hope nuzzled into his shoulder with a happy sound. Her arms wrapped around him, darting up under his wings as she pulled him close. It took him a moment, but Boyd soon realized her happy sound wasn’t wordless—she kept repeating over and over, “Home… finally home.”
And he knew without asking that she wasn’t talking about the base.
Kayla stepped out of the elevator behind her wearing a light grey pencil skirt and blazer over a pale blue blouse. She had the advanced camera drone Tinker had given her as a going away present hovering over her shoulder, custom built for the reporter and programmed to replace a cameraman. His little inventor had even skipped her usual hot pink color scheme, sticking with a less eye-catching slate grey.
It seemed Kayla’s boss had insisted she take a few days off from her missing Changed story to cover Hope’s homecoming. In reality, Davis had made the arrangements so that they could read Kayla in on the classified portions of their investigation, and then offer her sanctuary while she covered the portions they could make public.
Boyd had convinced the Director that getting word out on aspects of the group behind the disappearances would pressure their opposition. He hoped that by applying pressure, they might make a mistake he could capitalize on. Of course, one of those mistakes might be killing the reporter who was publicly calling them out, so they’d agreed that The Devoted would provide for Kayla’s security.
Those were troubling thoughts—for a later time.
Now, his angel was finally in his arms and he was in a position where he could ensure no one could ever take her away again.
Eventually, Hope leaned back as far as she could in his arms, which weren’t ready to let go of her… not yet. Her left arm remained around his waist, but her right hand worked up between them to wipe the tears from her cheeks as she beamed up at him.
Boyd’s breath caught as he took in the beautiful sight—her big blue eyes, masterly crafted features, and the perfect white teeth that showed between plush cupid’s bow lips. Long golden lashes fluttered slightly under exquisitely arched golden brows as her eyes darted around his face.
He realized that her breath had also caught, and the two stared at each other for a long moment as her still damp fingers reached up to trace along his cheek. Boyd sensed that the touch was a confirmation that this was real, that this moment wasn’t just another dream, so he leaned down to kiss her.
Boyd vaguely sensed that Silvie was going around and greeting the others, with Raev getting a passionate kiss. Mindy got a more subdued peck with a tight hug, while Tinker and the others got only a hug.
Hope’s kiss was too encompassing for him to notice any other details. It had started off chaste enough, an almost delicate brushing of lips, but had rapidly devolved into something more when he’d sensed Hope’s desire for him to consume her.
Even as he deepened the kiss, part of him felt it was wrong to fulfill her desire. The angel was too pure to be tainted by a forceful touch. She should be protected, cherished, and cared for—her golden soul never to be tarnished. Only someone willing to commit evil acts would consider such a thing.
Boyd recognized the sensation from their childhood and adolescence, knowing it was a result of the angelic woman’s aura. It ran completely opposite to the desires he felt across their bond from the woman in his arms. She wanted to be taken, preferably roughly and right then and there, to be used in whatever way he saw fit.
What he found odd, was that he hadn’t sensed such conflicts during their recent encounters. It was only after he realized he could easily counter it by locking the artificial drives away through a simple application of his Mental Domination on himself, that he figured out his Gestalt had handled it for him before. Now that their merger was more or less complete, he would have to do it himself.
Boyd sensed that Hope still wasn’t quite willing to believe that this was real, so he gave her plush bottom lip a little nip, eliciting a startled yet thrilled whimper from his angel. He shifted his grip, looping his arms lower down her back to pull her more completely against him as he continued to kiss her.
“Are they still breathing?” he heard Daisy ask after a moment, tone blending concern with a little awe.
“Kuh-he!” Mindy let out her little laugh. “No, they aren’t breathing. But both have efficient lungs for high-altitude flight, so they can hold their breath for quite a while.”
“Maybe I should have waited to put the warm stuff out,” Daisy worried. “At least the risotto balls; I don’t think those will do well under the warmer.”
When he felt hunger for something other than him rise up within Hope at the mention of food, he wound the kiss down. When their lips finally broke apart, she pressed her face back into his neck, arms locked around his middle. Boyd tucked his chin against her golden hair and smiled over her golden curls at Silvie, who looked on with adoration in her silver-flecked, bright-blue eyes.
His first Devoted, never a fan of covering much of her sun-bronzed skin, wore a pair of white shorts that covered hardly any of her legs with a blue scoop-neck sleeveless top tucked into them. Her metallic silver hair flowed down her back past her tight rear, swaying back and forth as she bobbed happily in the air with Raev tucked under one arm as they watched the moment.
“Welcome home,” Boyd murmured, causing Hope to shiver in delight in his arms. “Daisy is a wonderful cook and prepared a lovely meal for you.” He found he still had a very natural urge to care for and cherish the woman and was very concerned by her rising need for sustenance. “Why haven’t you eaten?”
“I was too excited to eat,” she murmured, and he felt embarrassment and a little shame across the Bond he was forcibly stabilizing. “Sorry. I did eat a little this morning… Silvie made me.”
“I told you he would get growly because you didn’t eat more,” Silvie said in a gentle ‘I told you so’ she reserved for Hope.
It was a tone which he had not heard in years and made him squeeze the angel a little more firmly against him. He had been such a fool... so many years wasted. That was time he would never get back—though he could try to make up for it.
“I really am sor‒EEP!” Her oft-repeated apology was cut off as he scooped Hope up into a princess carry and marched her towards the food.
Daisy really had outdone herself. The table had a smorgasbord of food laid out across it, with a focus on the fanciest fare their cook could produce. Boyd was under the impression that the fairy thought Hope preferred fine food, which wasn’t true. She would sample and make the appropriate noises at the risotto balls, bacon-wrapped filet mignon cubes, and truffle honey glazed chicken, but Hope actually had simple tastes.
She would, of course, compliment anything put in front of her and mean it—especially if it was homemade. The woman was more likely to dig into the roast vegetables of every kind that surrounded bowls of Silvie’s three favorite chopped salads—unless there were cheeseburgers, that is.
Given the angel’s sweet tooth, he just had to ensure she ate enough real food before letting her loose on the dessert table. Boyd almost felt sorry for Daisy, knowing how much time and effort she had put into the Chantilly cake. With its custard and fruit layers sandwiched between vanilla cake and fluffy whipped topping, capped by ‘Welcome Home!’ across it in golden frosting, the cake was a masterpiece.
It was just that he knew Hope would ignore it in favor of his single contribution to the spread. To welcome her home, Boyd had made brownies.
They had set the buffet style table of food around one of the seating areas that had two large comfortable couches and several smaller love seats arranged around a low table. From somewhere, Mindy had produced a stock of party supplies. With Tinker printing whatever was needed to fill in a few gaps, they’d decorated with colorful streamers, balloons, and posters that hung from the high ceiling that read ‘Welcome Home Hope!’
All the colors of the rainbow had been worked into the decorations, but the centerpiece was several bouquets of white lily and crimson rose petals that looked like overlapping angelic and demonic wings—organically real but printed by Tinker. They provided a central theme that Mindy had recommended. One Boyd knew Hope would squeal at when she saw them, if she ever looked anywhere other than at him.
“No need for apologies,” the big demon rumbled, grinning down at his wide-eyed and incredibly happy angel. Her arms had immediately looped up around his neck, her fingers feeling so soft and warm where they clasped under his shirt’s collar. “We just need to get some food in you. That way we can focus on fulfilling that other hunger I sense.”
He could see that was what she was truly sorry about, that her rumbling stomach would delay what they both craved. Her cheeks had picked up a faint flush during their kiss, but it deepened at his words—not in embarrassment, but in excitement.
Chapter 10
Boyd had told the others when he’d seen the effort they’d put into decorating that he doubted the party would last long, accurately predicting Hope’s need to be claimed as quickly as possible given their forced separation after the duel. But he was glad he’d agreed to Daisy’s idea of a nice spread, since his angel was so hungry.
Carrying her like this also gave Boyd his first good look at Hope and the dress she was wearing. It was constructed from the purest white satin—satin that clung to every curve of his angel's divine figure. Constructed in a wrap-around style, it had a deep V-neckline that hinted at the promised celestial secrets held within while drawing attention to her graceful neck.
Its hem had hiked up to her upper thigh in her current position in his arms but would normally fall halfway to her knees. Lace detailing along the hemline matched the azure tint of her eyes and created an enticing contrast with the fair skin of her long and shapely legs. The wrap around design was backless to account for her expansive wings which were currently folded up behind her, hugging the back of his arms like a pair of snowy clouds.
As his eyes tracked back up her form to her achingly beautiful face, he found her watching him with a serene but pleased expression that belied the wanton lust he felt roiling beneath the surface. His frank appraisal of her, held in his big strong arms as she was, had stoked the fire within enough that he was tempted to postpone the meal in favor of skipping straight to dessert.
Fortunately, they had gotten close enough to the buffet Daisy had set out that the delicious smells reminded her of her hunger for food just in time to stop him from abruptly changing course. He quickly walked past the painstakingly arranged decorations, including a framed cross-stitch on an easel at the end of the buffet table that read ‘Home is where Hope belongs!’. The angel had yet to notice any of that, though, as her eyes remained locked on his face.
Since Boyd knew she would want to acknowledge the effort everyone had put into decorating, and to save her the need to apologize when she noticed it later, he cleared his throat and gestured with his chin. Hope blinked and followed the gesture, turning her head a moment before one hand shot from his neck to cover her mouth as she gasped.
“Oh, it’s all so nice!” Hope’s flute-like voice carried pure joy in her tone. “Aww… who did the cross-stitch? That is so sweet.”
A blushing Daisy waved her hand and was immediately rewarded with Hope’s brightest smile. “This is truly breathtaking, and I'm deeply touched by the thoughtfulness each of you have shown me. But you needn't have gone to all this trouble."
"We wanted this day to be special for you," Daisy replied softly.
After mouthing ‘thank you’ to the suddenly bashful fairy woman, Boyd smiled down at the simple joy on Hope’s face. More happy tears sprang to her eyes and she gently bucked in his arms as she requested, “Set me down, please. I would like to thank the others.”
Boyd carefully did so, and watched with bemusement as she went first to Daisy and wrapped her up in a big hug. Daisy wasn’t able to escape the taller angel and the small fairy looked overwhelmed when Hope kneeled to pull her rather forcefully into a long embrace, though she warmed to it once it was initiated. No one could resist Hope’s pure affection.
He saw Hope lean close and whisper something in the other woman’s ear, though he had no clue what she could have said that made Daisy’s cheeks turn a vibrant pink like that. The younger woman’s iridescent eyes darted to him, but when she saw he was watching them, she scowled. When Hope let her go, Daisy suddenly remembered three things that she’d forgotten in the kitchen and fluttered away to grab them.
Hope went from person to person and pulled them into tight hugs while shedding happy tears freely and whispering quiet thank you’s. He wasn’t surprised when Raev boldly leaned in and kissed Hope—though she kept it short and sweet. Laura laughed and said something he couldn’t hear over the soft, happy music that Daisy must have turned on from the kitchen.
Boyd was surprised, however, by the kiss that Hope pressed to Laura’s cheek in response to whatever it was she’d said. The three of them huddled close in an excited conversation, that Silvie didn’t take long to notice and join. Shaking his head at this dangerous combination of femininity, Boyd moved over to the table and prepared Hope a plate while she was occupied.
He got the feeling she really hadn’t eaten much since the day of the duel. With that in mind, he started adding this and that from the amazing spread Daisy had set out to a plate for her. He’d filled most of the plate, picking out the things he knew Hope would like most, when Silvie floated over to him. She pressed her shoulder into his as she prepared a plate of her own. From the emotions that spilled across their Bond, he knew she wanted to be close to him, but also that she had decided today was Hope’s special day, so was restraining her urge to cling to him.
Boyd looked over to her with a gaze that promised her consideration would be rewarded while flooding their Bond with affection. He didn’t sense a strong hunger in her like he did with Hope, but knew Silvie must not have been eating well either because she’d put more on her plate than she normally did. By the time they were done filling their plates—in Boyd’s case filling two plates, one for him and one for Hope—the others had joined them.
Boyd took a seat on one of the couches at the end so he could make use of the cushioned arm for a table and pulled Hope down into his lap. His wings draped over the back of the couch, while hers draped over the arm. His left arm rested on the arm of the couch, tucked up under her wings to hold the plate on her other side.
“Hee-hee-hee!” her giggle was literal music to his ears when she fell into his lap.
She curled her legs around to press them to his, maximizing their physical contact. When she smiled up at him, pure happiness flooded across their Bond that he’d wrenched back in place after re-establishing physical contact. He plucked one of the risotto balls from her plate, as Daisy had been right about them being best while the cheese was still warm and soft, and held it up for her.
“For me?” she asked sweetly, her mouth dropping open to accept the offered morsel.
Boyd carefully placed it on her tongue and let her take a bite, twisting it around to avoid any cheese leaking out and dripping onto her dress. Hope covered her mouth with a shy hand as she chewed but gave a happy groan as she finished chewing. After she swallowed, she turned to Daisy.
“Those little cheese balls are so good, Daisy. You are an amazing cook.”
Daisy, who had been settling into one of the love seats with Laura off to one side—each with plates of their own—replied, “Oh, it was nothing, just a simple dish, really.”
Hope let out a gentle laugh and Boyd smirked, because he knew what was coming. Gone were the days when anyone could downplay a compliment around here.
"Simple?” the angel frowned. “You've turned simplicity into a work of art. That bite was a taste of heaven."
