A Demon’s Book Of Shadows (Witches & Demons #1)

41. Lucy

41

Lucy

It had only been a month before Amon painted at least a dozen concept illustrations for Crystal’s first picture book, which according to Alyssa, would be ready for print by summer. After my shift at the library, I found myself over at Amon’s tattoo parlor. White clouds of condensation puffed with each of my breaths. With winter upon us, the days were short and crisp. A few shimmering stars emerged across the darkening sky as I arrived.

Warm air enveloped me as I entered his shop. The portraits on the wall all eyed me as I sauntered inside. The room wasn’t dingy with monochromatic black and white images. Amon was a night owl. From the look of his space, he was getting his creative spark on for the evening.

Easels were propped everywhere, all of them a mess of brilliant color. He’d taken his artwork to another level with a new symbol.

My breath caught. Paintings of the night sky covered his space. Great sweeping movements of what could be water or starlight flowed like a waterfall between each piece. At first glance, it would appear that he had painted an ocean with how liquid the pieces appeared, each brimming with raw tranquility .

A shadow descended, the soft edges of his wings encompassing me. “There is my favorite librarian.”

I relaxed as his stubble grazed my cheek. I shivered as his ink-splotched hands came to my waist, pressing firmly against me.

“I need your opinion on something,” he whispered, his long fingers removing the scarf from around my neck, where he placed a sensual kiss just behind my ear.

“I need your opinion as well,” I said as I turned to face him. “Alyssa said marketing my children’s book is going to be difficult, even with a badass artist like yourself.”

One of his brows arched. “How come?”

“Her motto has always been that smut sells. Everything else you have to rely on luck, or magic.”

He brushed a strand of hair away from my cheek. “Well then, it’s a good thing that the author of this children’s book is dating a demon who does wild and wicked things to her magic.”

His voice lowered, sending a shiver up my spine. All I could see was Amon's body etched like a work of art, covered in shadow symbols.

Grubs was napping in the corner, his wings a constant shimmer between iridescent blue and green. For some strange reason, he’d taken a liking to Amon’s paintings.

Amon shifted me toward his art desk, where his pigments were scattered everywhere. He grabbed one of the pigment bundles. “I’m trying to figure out what I want to do with this.” He held up one of his sketches he’d done of Crystal.

“I like her hat. You really have the witch vibe going for her. ”

He shook his head. “Something isn’t right. All I can seem to do is get outlines. Every time I try to blend colors for her character, they turn into a mess.”

I glanced over at the starlit ocean he’d created, then back to his sketch. “I have a simple solution. Why not turn it into a coloring book? That way the kids who read her story can pick what color they want for her adventures.” I glanced down at his other sketches, completely transfixed with the serpents. “Maybe you could have her befriend some creatures too, and not just crystals.”

A feral growl erupted from his chest. “You know there are many creatures that a demon conceals within his shadows.”

“Yes, I know,” I replied, wishing desperately we could pick up where we left off before my sister performed coitus interruptus a few weeks ago.

Amon maneuvered to my front, the muscles in his forearms tensing. “We have a couple of techniques to play with. Hold out your hand.”

I did so, and he lathered my skin with a feather in what felt like liquid silk. A symbol appeared, which instantly tugged at my magic. Bands of ink bled across my palm. The sensation began in my fingers, then branched up my arm.

“Feathers?” I asked. “Is that all you’ve got?”

Amon chuckled. “Not impressed I take it?”

“No, I like it.”

“But you don’t love it.”

The ink dispersed, leaving my skin shimmering with purple iridescence .

Amon ran his fingers over the iridescence, making it brighten. “It’s okay for you to tell me what you like and what you don’t. I’m not going to settle for less in the art my shadows create for Lucy Crow.”

His words sounded like a challenge. “What’s option number two?”

“Hmmmm.” A purr escaped his lips that made my insides quiver; “That will require something I have yet to show you about my own talents. It involves creating a new symbol.”

I searched his eyes. “Like a tattoo?”

“It’s more than a tattoo. It’s a magical bond that states you are mine, and that I belong to you.”

The sheer idea of this magical bonding concept was something Alyssa should be texting me about in her latest binge read from some dark fantasy romance series. But here I was, living an actual scenario so many women escaped into books trying to live out a fantasy.

Amon might not have been some dark fae lord with pointy ears and a court of his own. But he had a studio full of easels and art he was creating for our own story. Amon was mine, and I was his. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I refused to return to a life of hiding behind bookshelves, unless he was going to be there pinning me against them.

I traced my finger along his jaw, savoring his skin as it became rough with stubble. “Is this symbol permanent? Once you give it to me, is there no removing it? ”

“The mark will remain with you forever, even after you die. Our magic will be bound together, and eventually recorded in the shadow archives.”

I shivered. “How do I get this tattoo that bonds our magic?”

He leaned forward, his scent of ink and rainstorms washing over me. “I don’t give tattoos to a witch the same way I would give to my old man.” His fingers grazed down my back. “It starts with shadows, and ends with a goddess’s light.”

His tattoo parlor faded away as Amon’s cloak of darkness enveloped me. Crisp night air burned my nose as I emerged in a new place. “Where are we?”

“Where the magic between demons and witches becomes one. We are in the heart of the Summoning, right outside of the shadow archives.”

I glanced around the space searching for what I remembered of the confined walls, creeping vines, and the decay. We weren’t in some abandoned tunnel in the earth at all, but up in the canopy of a tree. I had seen this tree from all angles, from the roots, to the bark, and now up here in the open air.

Starlight branched over us, the shimmering silver catching Amon’s hard features. He stepped behind me, looping his arms around my front as he embraced me.

Resting on the branches in front of us was a single book, its binding knotted and worn from age. I crouched to touch the spine, running my fingers along the bumpy length. “I was wondering where the grimoire went.” The cover didn’t refuse my touch as I lifted it open. “Where are the pages? Have they all been ripped out? ”

“The grimoire is returning to the tree of shadows.”

“I don’t understand.” The remaining pages turned to dust beneath my fingers.

Amon held out his hand. A crystal no bigger than a small orange sat at the center of his palm. “My mother placed her and my father’s bonded magic into this crystal before she died, then she gave it to me. For three hundred years, it remained hidden, right under my nose. The Bone Threader couldn’t find it, and neither could Melrose.” He let out a sigh. “I never knew it was inside of the art bundle, until recently. Apparently it was used to grind up pigments used for her vision paintings.”

“So even if Melrose could open the book, she never would have found the magic she wanted, would she?”

He fumbled the crystal in his hand. “Not without this. This crystal is what housed the magic to open it. You were able to open the grimoire and free Melrose's spirit because you possess magical talents similar to my mother’s.”

“Why put the ability to open the grimoire into a crystal?”

His gaze returned to the grimoire, its cover flickering with dull, yellow light. “I told you that my parents wrote this book together when I was a boy. Back then, it was a custom ritual for a demon and a witch to bond their magics together inside of crystals.” His voice rang soft, a tone of loneliness echoing in it. “I never would have thought that pieces from my mother’s medicine bundle had also been sealed inside of it.” The crystal danced in front of me. “This is yours.”

“Shouldn’t you give it to your father? ”

His eyes met mine, flecks of starlight shimmering in their ebony depths. “No. He requested that to honor my mother’s magic, that I give the crystal to a witch who possessed talents like hers. I mean, you did write a story about a witch named Crystal. I think that sort of speaks for itself.”

My throat closed. Me ? I felt like I was stealing something from another witch, a very powerful one that Amon lost one of his shadows over. I took the crystal from Amon. The smooth transparent edges were cool against my skin. My magic pulsed, emanating like a star.

Lights emerged from the branches like ghosts. My magic guided the lights out into the night. The tree became a display of liquid light as it spread into the air, drifting up and out to join with the moon and clouds.

The stars appeared a little bit brighter by the time the magic settled itself.

“What just happened?” I asked, huddling next to him.

“You’ve released magic tied to the witches and demons devoured by the Bone Threader.”

The bark of the tree went dark again, leaving Amon and I to gaze out at the burning silver stars dancing in the night. The crystal was no longer in my hand. It also dispersed with the stars.

His lips came to the cusp of my ear. “I think it’s time we claim this tree as our own.” His hands fell to my waist, where his fingers traced circles along the small of my back.

“Does this act involve claiming me?” I whispered .

“Very much so.” His fingers dipped into my leggings, diving into my panties. “Like this?”

“Lower.”

His fingers found my slick. “Tell me to stop.”

“I don’t think I will,” I breathed, arching my back as he flicked his experienced artistic fingers over me. “I think I’m ready to be worshiped by more than serpents.”

I felt him harden. He began grinding against me as his fingers explored my clit. “Amon, this is fucking hot.”

“It’s about to get hotter.” He grabbed me, his hands lifting me up into the limbs of the tree. His hands came to my wrists, pinning me.

“Undress me, please,” I moaned.

A crooked grin spread across his face. “I like it when you beg.” He tugged my shirt over my head, taking my bra with it.

I peeled off my leggings as his fingers grip my panties, ripping them in half. My breath was ragged as he traced a scorching line down my neck. He dragged his teeth over my skin, nipping at each of my breasts.

His clothing has already dissolved, leaving me with his muscular starlit body. Bands of shadows branched away from his arms and through his hair. He lay back on the tree, his cock bouncing as he hoisted me onto his lap.

I straddled him, not wanting to wait any longer for his thick penetration.

He bucked his hips, forcing me forward. My breasts smothered his face as he took one into one of his wide hands, the other into his mouth. His sucking and nipping continued as he explored my skin and neck. “You are mine, Lucy Crow. Don’t ever forget that.”

I grabbed his cock, sliding the palm of my hand down the back of his length. I’d waited for this moment for so long, I could scream. I lowered myself onto him, his body hard beneath me. His hard length slipped through the tightness of my opening.

A grunt erupted from his chest as I found a rhythm with him. I rocked my hips as we created an undulation as violent as a stormy sea.

Amon grabbed both of my hands, supporting me. “Our bodies are so perfect for each other. This perfect little pussy—I can feel how much you want me buried inside of you.”

He rocked me, sending my body rippling into a fit of pleasure. I was so close to release when he stopped. I sank down, accepting every glorious inch of him. He continued with this movement and motion, bringing me so close I could taste my magic crying out to be released.

Everything I wanted my demon to do to me, he was doing. His face and chest with the tattoos branching out of his skin blurred in front of me.

“Sweetheart, this is only the foreplay,” he teased. He pulled my hand, forcing me to fall to his side as he slid out of me. His other hand guided me to flip over so I was lying on my back, the thick haze of my near-orgasm brimming through me.

“ Slow down. She can’t handle all of us at once .”

“ Yes she can, she’s a witch .”

While the ebony mass folded in on itself, Amon’s hands came to mine over my head, pinning me to the tree. He bucked his hips, plunging into me.

Surrendering to this moment was in no way a fantasy. This was real, not from some smutty romance book from Victoria’s book collection.

“Take me. Take all of me, baby,” he groaned as he pumped into me.

I rolled my hips as his stomach pressed against my belly. The way he could stretch and touch places I thought were untouchable, he could reach.

“Lucy, you are so perfect for us,” Amon grunted, his voice a rasp of pleasure and urgency.

He bucked his hips again, this time with enough force that made me see stars. “You will take all of me, or my shadows will devour you.”

I couldn’t tell if his words were a tease, or real. All I heard was me and devour , which I was not about to stop from happening.

The black bands from his arms snaked down his wrist and coiled onto mine.

“ All of us, together, as one .”

Amon towered over me, a monster of darkness. Yet I’d seen another side of him that wasn’t scary at all. I’d seen a man who lost is mother as a child, and an artist.

Maybe his shadows wanted the same thing I wanted—a simple way to express myself .

A hand grabbed my shoulder and flipped me over onto my belly. Fingers traced along my spine, tracing circles around the small of my back as Amon’s hard body pressed against my ass.

He gripped my hips in his callused hands as he entered me again. The sheer force and pressure of him was exactly what I needed. As Amon pounded me, a hand grabbed my hair. Another grabbed my ass. Teeth grazed my skin as another hand grabbed my leg.

“ Now it’s our turn .”

Shadows became hands as Amon’s darkness coalesced around me. The hard shadow bodies merged into one dark form that pinned me between it and Amon. I was jostled between the two as Amon and his shadow selves entered me.

I will not pass out .

My body stretched as I surrendered to the shadows. Bands of ebony branched out of Amon’s body as our climax exploded.

I fell next to him in what remained of the tree. The bark our bodies touched had shadow symbols engraved in it. As we finished, I glanced at the mark his shadows had left on me. It branched all the way up from my legs to my torso, where it stopped below my breast.

The light faded, and our magic bound together in one gorgeous symbol. A crow and a raven intertwined, their beaks and feathers shimmering in the starlit night.

“Do you like it?” he asked, his voice husky.

“I think the symbols are perfect for the Crow and Ravenblood archive. ”

He grabbed my fingers, kissing them. “Lucy Crow, I hope you write enough books to fill your own library. I hope you’ll have me illustrate them, too.”

I shivered as I was reminded about what a demon’s shadows could do. I couldn’t wait to see what our magic and love would be capable of when it came to the world of books.