Sahriel waved frantically to Miriam, his other hand held firmly at his side. His smile was a little strained, but he understood the need to stay apart, out in the open where the lights still touched them and people could, conceievably, see. But as soon as they were off the main path, heading through the dark into the wood, Sahriel snatched up Connor’s hand, holding tightly to it as if afraid he might disappear into the trees and leave him there alone.

Not that it would matter, Sahriel could see just fine, but he didn’t want Connor to let go; to shake him off as if he didn’t want him. Now, more than ever, he needed Connor to want him. He’d sent Nefertem to Hell to stay with Connor. He’d certainly never risked that much before.

Connor held on just as tightly, linking their fingers securely together and squeezing his hand. He was relieved to finally have a whole night they could spend together, something which had happened too rarely in the last week. He needed Sahriel as badly as Sahriel needed him, and it was exhausting, soul-wearying to work day after day without any real time to spend with him. He was grateful for this night like an oasis in the desert.

“I missed you,” he noted quietly after awhile, and it seemed like such an understatement and yet incredibly silly that he felt such a need to say it, to express the ache of Sahriel not being there as often as Connor could wish.

“Missed you too,” Sahriel noted softly, walking closer to Connor’s side and rubbing his cheek against his shoulder. He felt bad for being relieved to be out of the house, leaving Miriam alone, but at the same time he needed time alone with Connor; needed to be able to touch him and breathe in the scent of him, taste him if he wanted to.

“I need just you time.”

Connor nodded silently, knowing exactly what he meant. Time just together to kiss and touch and not worry about anyone seeing, or making Miriam uncomfortable, or anything at all except each other. To get fully naked and skin to skin, lying together and rubbing sensually against each other, whether having sex or just enjoying the simple pleasure of touch.

“I know,” he said finally. “I need it too.” The walk to the cave entrance seemed longer than usual tonight, and he tugged Sahriel inside, stopping to kiss him once they were well and truly out of sight, enclosed in the rock walls. He took a little time to just hold him close, wrapping his arms around Sahriel’s slender frame and kissing him slowly, thoroughly caressing and exploring his mouth.

“You taste good,” he murmured.

Something in Sahriel had started to feel strange the last few days, somehow foreboding and unsettled. Every time Connor kissed him the feeling subsided and he was filled with relief that almost swept him away. He felt it now, reaching up to tangle his fingers in Connor’s hair, kissing back in complete abandon, the rest of the world disappearing as he sank into it.

“Need you so bad, Connor.”

“Good,” Connor murmured with a faint smile, kissing him again and then tucking Sahriel under his chin, holding him tight and rocking him a little. “Just like this,” he said softly, not even sure what he meant except that just this was incredibly soothing, peaceful and relaxing like nothing he’d ever known, just holding each other tight. “Just like this.”

After a minute he sighed, letting Sahriel go to retrieve his hand again and walk the rest of the short distance to their little hideaway, eager to get to the soft warm nest of blankets they’d made to curl up in.

Sahriel led the way, making sure they didn’t trip over anything, pulling Connor over to the nest he had made; a swirling mess of blankets and pillows woven together to make a strong base, then covered with more blankets and pillows. It was comfortable and big enough to hold them both with room to spare. Sahriel was in love with it already and hurried over to snuggle into the soft mass, making odd little happy sounds, reaching out with his senses to light the oil burner so Connor could see.

While Connor appreciated the gesture, he almost didn’t need it, having developed a sort of sixth sense for feeling his way around in the caves, particularly this one he knew so well. Still, the soft light made it easier to move quickly, and he followed Sahriel over to the blankets and dropped down beside him, reaching for him hungrily, needing to touch again.

“I want you,” he sighed, almost a moan as he pressed Sahriel back into the cushiony softness, half covering him and kissing him hard, thrusting a knee between his legs to rock hard against his hip, groaning at the sparks of pleasure that shot through his groin. It was something more nebulous than sex that he meant, though that was certainly included, but there was a terrible need for possession that gripped him when he’d been away from Sahriel too much for too long, when the want was all-consuming and covered so much more than physical, something fierce that burned in his very soul. “Want you so bad…”

“Yours,” Sahriel reaplied softly, and his head fell back as he moaned, exposing his throat as his teeth dug into his lower lip, blood sliding to fillt he fresh wounds, the scent in the air arousing. There was need in the word; the raw desire for Connor to possess him that went contrary to his nature, which screamed to be free at all times. Sahriel didn’t know what was wrong with him, but he didn’t care; he wanted Connor to own him, and to own Connor in return, not as a pet but as an equal.

“Naked,” he managed to demand. “I want you naked.”

Connor had trailed kisses down the side of his neck when his head fell back, and paused to leave a lovely mark on his shoulder, but the husky demand made him shiver, moaning a little as he nodded, moving back just far enough to strip out of his clothes, hot eyes still fixed on his lover. Sahriel was the most incredibly sexy, beautiful thing he’d ever seen, and there was nothing he wanted more.

“You too,” he insisted in a deep, darkly intense voice that promised he would do it himself if Sahriel didn’t.

Transfixed by the sight of Connor’s skin being revealed, it took a minute for Sahriel to comply, slowly shifting so he could push his trousers down his legs, kicking his boots off and tossing it all aside in a heap before reaching for the hem of his shirt, tossing it aside, apparently oblivious to his own nudity or the chill bite to the air, hands reaching out to stroke Connor’s stomach, leaning in to dip his tongue into Connor’s belly button, sucking gently on the flesh around it, loving the way his muscles shifted around his mouth, just beneath the surface. His teeth grazed Connor’s skin in his wake and nicked him just below the navel, blood trickling and Sahriel watched it wantonly before licking it up.

“Mine.”

“Yours,” Connor agreed readily, suddenly breathless as Sahriel’s tongue swept across his skin. “All yours… God, you’re so sexy.” It nearly drove him mad, just looking at Sahriel and feeling the hunger eat him alive like nothing ever had, the sheer aching sense of need so sharp it was almost pain. His hands reached blindly to tangle in Sahriel’s hair, needing an anchor, needing to touch even as Sahriel continued his teasing licks and nips on his skin.

The touch distracted Sahriel and he looked up curiously, meeting Connor’s gaze and smirking at the heat there. He let his hands settle on Connor’s hips and licked his lips, smearing the blood still oozing there before very deliberately kissing the end of Connor’s cock. He didn’t bother pointing out that he was pretty sure demons were supposed to be sexy.

“You’re the sexiest thing I ever saw,” he noted softly, and it was true. The other demons were what humans desired from partners, but Connor was pure, raw, human male and Sahriel was somehow designed to want it. He was convinced Connor was the epitome of what something had created him to lust after, and he certainly wasn’t complaining.

Connor didn’t think there was anything particularly sexy about himself, certainly nothing that a demon would find so attractive, but as long as Sahriel thought so it didn’t matter.

“Where did you come from?” he murmured wonderingly as he stroked Sahriel’s cheek with the back of one finger, then tugging him up and onto his lap until Sahriel was straddling him, pulled tight against him. “Somebody made you just for me,” he added with conviction, kissing him deeply and licking at the traces of blood on Sahriel’s lip, sucking lightly at it and soothing it with his tongue.

“God you taste so good,” he groaned, the flavor sending an erotic thrill running through him.

Sahriel paused at that, a little stumpled, licking his lips after the kiss but otherwise preoccupied, thinking, which in and of itself was something a little remarkable. Sahriel wasn’t known for doing a lot of thinking. But Connor’s words made him wonder, because sometimes humans seemed to know something demons didn’t.

“Do you really think someone made me just for you?” They made him a bit early, if they did, but he wasn’t going to complain about waiting a few thousand years, it wasn’t like he hadn’t had fun most of the time anyway. “We don’t know where we came from.”

“You for me, me for you, it’s the same thing really,” Connor answered disinterestedly, shrugging. He nuzzled the corner of Sahriel’s mouth, licking and nibbling his way down his jawline to the sensitive spot right beneath his ear, sucking there with interest to see what kind of reaction he got.

Sahriel felt something melt inside himself, liking Connor’s theory on his creation much more than any of the demonic ones he’d heard. The result of Connor’s sucking was more exaggerated, flamed by Sahriel’s pleasure and his back arched, hips thrusting up against his lover’s, legs wrapping tight around Connor to pull him down and in against him with a wanton moan.

“Connor…Want you now, Connor, stop teasing me!”

Connor gave him an inscrutable, if smoldering look. “But I’m not done teasing you,” he pointed out, having entirely too much fun playing with Sahriel’s so responsive body. It was time to relax, time to enjoy himself, and they had a whole night to be together. He meant to make the most of it.

“Shh now,” he murmured, “just enjoy it…” He got down to a more serious business of finding every one of Sahriel’s sensitive spots with his tongue, licking and sucking here and there, leaving adoring kisses and stroking elsewhere with his hands as he slowly and carefully and thoroughly worshiped his slender beautiful lover, wanting to make him feel incredible before they even got past the foreplay.

Incredible was dependant on one’s definition, in Sahriel’s opinion. There was no denying it was amazing; that his whole body was begging for it just as loudly as his voice, pleading desperately, his words ignored as Connor continued to drive him half mad. It was tormenting, his whole body hungry for more, his silly human toying with him the way a demon would toy with a human, under normal circumstances. It was embarrassing, but Sahriel reasoned none of the others would know, and even if they were right there in the room with them he knew he wouldn’t put a stop to it. Nefertem was right to be incredulous, but it didn’t change the raw fact of it.

Sahriel was in love. And as if that wasn’t already impossible enough, he was in love with a human.

“Oh God.”

Connor liked the sound and tone of that particular exclamation, and he was grinning as he stretched up and pinned Sahriel down to kiss him hard, raw passion and joy and fierce desire all present in his kiss.

“Come on then,” he said in a rough, husky voice. “Where’s your slippery stuff?” He pulled back a little to rub his fingers together, miming to show what meant since he had no idea what the stuff was or what it was called.

“Idiot,” Sahriel grumbled, but he reluctantly crawled out of the nest and went the grab the small pot, lingering over the slightly fragrant scent of it before taking it back over and handing it to Connor, flopping back down and spreading his legs, arching one slender brow and smirking up at him, letting his sharper teeth show, for once looking every inch the demon, laid out naked with faintly glowing skin, slightly pointed ears, sharp teeth and eyes that shone impossibly in the dark.

“Are you done playing yet?”

Connor had been, but now he perversely decided he was not, giving him back a sardonic grin every bit as toothy, if not as sharp, and taking his time about scooping a generous dab of the cream out of the jar and slowly applying it, fingers circling teasingly before they pushed in and playing as they stroked inside and out, thoroughly slicking up Sahriel’s entrance before he smeared the rest of it on himself, smirking all the while at Sahriel’s impatience.

“You rat!” Sahriel whined softly, throwing an arm over his face and groaning as his hips shifted hungrily, thrusting up against Connor until he decided humans were just stupid. Then he smirked and reached down to grab Connor’s wrist and deftly shoved Connor’s fingers all the way inside, controlling Connor’s hand skillfully and slowly stroking it over his prostate, fucking himself on the long, calloused digits, letting his pleasure show in a deliberate torrent of lustful moans.

Connor growled at the interruption of his teasing, trying to frown at him but not really succeeding. “Oh no, I don’t think so,” he said dryly, pulling his hand free and grabbing Sahriel’s wrists, pinning them on either side of his head as he finally gave them what they both wanted, moving forward and thrusting in more deeply than his fingers could reach, quick and hard and his smirk disappeared almost immediately as he began to move and the pleasure overwhelmed him, making him groan and pant for breath.

“Oh God, Sahri…” he moaned.

“Connor,” Sahriel whispered in response, eyes hazing over as his body thrummed, heat sending a faint flush over his skin, goosbumps pebbling his flesh. He reached up to wrap his arms around Connor’s neck and pulled them both up into a sitting position, sitting down on Connor’s cock and crying out as it slid in further, lifting himself up just to feel it again as he slid down the thick length.

“Oh…so good, Connor!” He bit down on Connor’s throat, not quite slicing through the delicate skin, but hard enough to bruise.

So good, god yes it was good, and Connor only managed a gutteral, wordless cry, his grip tightening enough to leave bruises as he tried to hold on hard enough to keep himself anchored. The firestorm of heat and pleasure was sweeping him away, scattering his senses until he was nearly dizzy with it. Good wasn’t even hardly the word for it. It was mind-blowing.

“You,” he managed to groan, not even sure what he was trying to say. “You.”

Laughing softly, Sahriel kissed him in pure delight. Every reaction Connor had was perfect; always exactly what Sahriel wanted to hear and it only made the fire inside hotter as he moved faster against Connor, meeting his thrusts, loving the sound of skin on skin echoing in the cave.

“Close,” he whispered against Connor’s ear, licking at the soft lobe and nuzzling his temple. “Come with me, want to feel it.”

“Want you,” Connor agreed, or thought he did, hazily felt it like agreement at any rate. Really it was a wonder he managed to say anything at all, with his senses shattered into tiny, glittering fragments as the waves of pleasure built and built in his system, sweeping through him in a crescendo that was all too close already.

“Sahri…el…” he breathed finally, soft and aching and desperate, mouth seeking for another kiss as his body finally reached its peak and tensed and shuddered with release on a long, low groan.

Sahriel gave in immediately, tongue sliding in against Connor’s, mouth sealing them together as he came hard, body clinging hungrily to Connor as the pleasure rocked through him. His eyes slid closed and he rocked lazily against Connor, humming softly as he shivered, sparks of pleasure shooting up his spine.

“Connor. Mine…you’re Mine.”

“Yours,” Connor echoed, feeling something oddly like relief ripple through him in the aftermath as he eased back until he was lying down, tugging Sahriel down on top of him and hugging him fiercely, feeling both deeply possessive and an aching need to be owned, to belong to his lover as much as Sahriel belonged to him.

“Yours, I need you.”

Smiling softly, Sahriel sprawled out on top of him, stroking Connor’s chest and shoulder with long, lazy planes of his hand, soaking up the aftermath; the taste and scent in the air, the loud drumming of Connor’s pulse against his own, the heavy breathing, the heat in the skin against his own. They were all things that made his demonic senses sharper and he licked his lips in pleasure.

“Need you too,” he agreed softly, before falling quiet, just listening and absorbing the night.

“Do you want tea? I’m gonna make some.”

“Mmmm,” Connor answered after a minute, feeling too lethargic to imagine sitting up and drinking tea, let alone making some. Still, it sounded good, something warm and soothing to drink. “Sure,” he agreed, but he didn’t intend to move for it.

Laughing softly at the pure laziness evident in the vague agreement, Sahriel crawled free of the nest and went over to find the teapot, filling it up from their water bucket and taking it back over with two mugs and the small container of tea. He settled back in against Connor before focussin on the teapot, forcing the water to boil. He knew he wasn’t supposed to be using his abilities but he didn’t think it mattered right now. Nefertem wouldn’t be back for quite some time and boiling water wasn’t exactly strenuous. He usually did it accidentally, not even thinking about it.

Connor roused himself enough to watch with a bit of wonder, always amazed at this odd ability of Sahriel’s to make things hot, make water boil or lamps light or, he was sure, much larger things, though he’d never seen it demonstrated. It was sexy, somehow, though there was little about Sahriel that wasn’t, one way or another.

“You’re so hot,” Connor noted to himself, reaching out to stroke his arm, a little amused at the correlating thought that Sahriel could make water boil from pure hotness alone.

Smiling softly, Sahriel leaned into the touch, but his attention was on the teapot, waiting for the moment when it was boiling and then pouring out two mugs of tea, grinning as he presented one to Connor and then curled up with his own, sipping it and moaning in delight, the sound eerily similar to those he made when he had sex.

“I love tea!”

Connor just shook his head in amusement, holding his own mug carefully and waiting for it to cool before taking a sip, not wanting to burn himself and a little amazed that Sahriel could drink near boiling water with no apparent discomfort.

“It’s good,” he agreed lazily, feeling content and sated and not at all like moving.

The heat was the part Sahriel liked the most; he liked it so hot it burned inside his stomach like a small fire, warming otherwise cold skin and muscle from the inside out. He shifted to curl up against Connor’s side, careful not to bump him, very much aware humans didn’t heal anywhere near as quickly as demons. It reminded him that Connor was fragile, and one day would die, leaving Sahriel alone. It wasn’t something he liked to think about, but it was a thought coming to mind more and more often as the days went on and he only fell further into whatever the emotion was that attached him to Connor. Love, or something worse. He fell quiet, lost in his own small melancholy.

It made him heartbreakingly lovely, and Connor tilted his head to just watch him, entranced by the beauty of that very same quiet sadness, the faint wistfulness about him. It was gorgeous but also tugged at his heart, and he didn’t feel up to dealing with whatever it was at the moment, so he didn’t ask but merely reached out to play with the long, silky fall of midnight hair. God, he loved Sahriel’s hair, it was amazing.

“Beautiful,” he murmured, mostly to himself.

Startled, Sahriel just smiled, all shining white teeth and he leaned closer to kiss Connor, soft and chaste, lips hot from the tea. He was still amazed that Connor thought he was beautiful; that a human could think so, even if he was supposedly designed to appeal. But Connor thought he was and it was the best kind of tea.

“I love you,” he whispered softly, almost afraid to say it and make it true.

Connor blinked at him, the words not making sense at first, and then his eyebrow lifted slightly as he gave Sahriel a faintly puzzled, quizzical look. No one had ever said that to him before, and hearing it first from a demon was just… weird. Need, lust, hunger, possession, obsession, those things made sense coming from a demon, or supposedly a demon, but love? Love was strange.

In fact he wasn’t sure even he knew what love meant, and how the hell could a demon know that better than he would? In the end he decided that Sahriel was telling him what he thought a human would want to hear, or trying to express what he really meant in words a human would understand, and he shrugged it off. It was a nice gesture, he supposed, but it made him a little uncomfortable as even if he was human he had no idea what you were supposed to say to that.

He ended up smiling bemusedly and tugging Sahriel closer, holding him possessively and kissing his hair. “Mine,” he agreed, or figured it was close enough. “Mine for always.”

Sighing softly, not having expected anything from Connor, Sahriel put aside his empty cup and curled up in Connor’s lap. He knew a human couldn’t love a demon; that it had to be impossible, but somehow it still hurt in ways he didn’t fully understand, so he just took what he had, that he was Connor’s, and let that be enough.

“Mhm, mine,” he agreed, because he had that much of Connor and it was more than enough. More than he had thought he would get a month ago.

The sigh bothered him and a frown creased Connor’s forehead as he absently wrapped one arm around Sahriel to cuddle him closer, stroking his hair while he slowly drank his tea. He wished Sahriel hadn’t said it, for whatever reason, because now everything felt odd and it made him uneasy.

“All yours,” he insisted, because he felt that just as strongly and it felt somehow as if Sahriel were doubting it.

Sahriel wasn’t doubting that Connor was his; in all the ways it was possible to own a human, Sahriel owned Connor. But Connor didn’t love him and humans were supposed to love. Love other people, and there was the crux of the matter. Sahriel knew a human couldn’t love a demon, even if Connor had wanted to, which he clearly didn’t. It made Sahriel’s mood plummet and he remained curled up in Connor’s lap, wondering where the warmth all went.

Connor sighed too when he didn’t get an answer, and his arms tightened around Sahriel with an unhappy feeling that he wasn’t holding on tight enough, somehow.

“Shh,” he murmured, wanting to soothe even if he didn’t know what the problem was, stroking Sahriel’s hair and hugging him close. “I won’t let go,” he murmured, kissing his hair, not sure if it was a threat or a promise.

“One day you will,” Sahriel whispered darkly. “You’ll let go because you want to, or one day you’ll die and have to…either way.” And he’d be alone, the laughing stock of all the demons, because he’d fallen for a human and let it die, and he would be by himself for eternity, or worse.

“I will not,” Connor told him grimly, tightening his grip until it might be painful and not caring. “I’m not letting go of you, not ever. I don’t care what I have to do, I will find a way.” It wasn’t that it didn’t scare him, the idea of what he might have to do to be able to stay with Sahriel as long as Sahriel lived, but leaving Sahriel to someone else was not acceptable, and going into whatever there was after death, without him, scared him more.

Frowning, Sahriel sat up and stared at him, his expression clearly stumped. He scratched his nose when it itched and then thought some more, but couldn’t come up with a response. It made no sense. Why did Connor want to follow him if he didn’t love him? Was he just that possessive? Humans only did stupid things for people they loved, generally. They definitely didn’t do stupid things for demons.Thousands of years of being hunted had proven that.

“Why?”

Connor pulled him back in close, tucking him against his chest and rocking him back and forth, pressing his cheek to Sahriel’s hair. “I don’t know,” he whispered finally. “I don’t know.” He couldn’t even begin to tell why he needed Sahriel so badly, why he was so fiercely determined to keep him, to stay with him, to never let anyone else have him.

More than anything, he didn’t know why it hurt. It hurt to think he couldn’t do it, it hurt to think Sahriel would go on without him, it hurt to think of losing him in any way, shape or form.

“I need you,” he blurted, and that was the closest he could come to explaining it, even if it wasn’t an explanation at all. “I need you forever.”

Whatever that meant to a human, who had no idea what forever even was. Sahriel forced a smile and wrapped his arms tight around Connor, clinging harder than he meant to but unable to let go. So he couldn’t keep him forever; he could damn well hold on for as long as they got. And even if Connor didn’t love him, Sahriel could still try to make him understand by loving him even more to make up for it.

“Okay.”

Connor snorted softly, not thinking that okay meant Sahriel understood anything at all, but knowing that neither of them really knew what they were doing here.

“I know what you meant,” he said finally, pretty sure that whatever Sahriel had really meant when he said he loved him, it was the same thing he was feeling. They needed each other, they were meant for each other, made for each other… the words didn’t matter. They belonged, and he wasn’t going to let the fact that he was human break them apart, now or fifty years from now when most humans died.

“Can you… ” He hesitated, not sure he wanted to ask, but sure that he would rather this than any other options. “Can you make me like you? If… if you bite me or something?” he asked awkwardly, not wanting to offend him but hell, who knew anything about demons really? “Can you make me… a demon?” He shivered because the very idea was a bit scary, but he’d meant it when he said he didn’t care what he had to do.

“Bite you? I’m not a vampire!” Sahriel whined softly, but his frown was genuinely puzzled. “I don’t think so, I never heard of anyone being made into a demon, demons just are. We just…come into being, like we are now.” None of them had ever been little, and none had grown old, they just were and while some knew they were related others appeared to have no relations at all.

“I can’t make you a demon. But…there’s other ways. We can talk about them one day, later, if you still want to.”

Connor shivered again, uneasy about the whole idea, but he still held as tightly as he could to Sahriel’s slight frame. The discussion made him tired, and he nudged Sahriel down into their soft nest, ready to lay down and curl up with him and let all the uneasy questions go for the moment.

“We will,” he promised softly, because he wasn’t letting go. Not for any reason, not ever.

Lying down was the best idea ever. As soon as his head touched the pillows, Sahriel sighed in relif and turned to curl up amongst the blankets, pressing in tight against Connor’s side, relieved to once again be skin to skin.

“Will you dream about me?”

Connor snorted a soft sound of amusement, tucking Sahriel beneath his chin and stroking his hair in the obsessive way that was so soothing to him.

“When do you think I don’t?” he noted dryly, because even before he’d given in and admitted it, Sahriel had been haunting his dreams since he met him. He couldn’t really remember the last time he had slept without a dream of Sahriel in there somewhere.

Delighted by the reminder, Sahriel finally relaxed, nuzzling Connor’s throat and letting the warm blankets soothe the last of the hurt away, leaving him once again sated and comfortable. He let the lamps burn out of existence and loved the way Connor’s breaths seemed louder in the dark.

“I’ll dream of you,” he promised. “I’ll have the best dreams ever.”