Dashing Devil Omnibus 2: Books 4-6, page 54
“Alright Hopewing… down girl,” Silvie said, then giggled from where she floated near their heads. “They are about to drag Archangel out of here so he can be healed. We’re supposed to go to the locker room while they set up for the closing ceremonies.”
Boyd had heard through the rumor mill—a.k.a. Silvie—that Hopewing had refused to serve as the designated healer for the duel. That would have required her to heal Archangel after Boyd went through all the trouble of trouncing him on her behalf. Hope had reportedly said that though she was the best healer in New Eden, there were others who could fix what Boyd ‘hopefully’ broke.
Hope stared down at him for another long moment, and while he couldn’t see the longing in those innocent eyes, he felt it through their temporary Bond. She really didn’t want to be separated from him.
Like he was about to let that happen.
“You’ll be coming with us to the locker room, of course,” Boyd rumbled, grinning up at her. He had won the duel, and to the victor go the spoils.
Hope beamed down at him before, with a delicate flap of her pristine white wings, she floated back from her position hovering over him and settled onto her feet. Boyd had just started to rise to his feet when Silvie tackled him, sending him sliding back across the stone slab of the arena while driving her lips into his.
Another round of laughter broke up the cheering while Silvie kissed him as thoroughly as she could, careless of the observers. Boyd grinned into the kiss, matching her heat and passion with his own. She kept it—relatively—brief.
And while Boyd knew she absolutely wanted to keep kissing him, this one had mostly been for the cameras. He wouldn’t be surprised to see either kiss on certain magazines—like in the interview he’d done for Cosmo Heroic. Boyd’s understanding was that he presented a rare opportunity to display a desirable male who was simultaneously in a good relationship with an equally desirable woman, but still available.
He had seen the figures on how some women preferred one to the other, but Boyd would garner support from both. Silvie’s kiss was to remind the world that, despite the romantic overtones of the duel, Boyd was figuratively still on the table for any woman who secretly hoped to catch his eye.
Once that had been done to her satisfaction, Silvie grinned and giggled. “Thank you for saving Hopewing, Darling, I love you sooo much.” Then she floated up and off of him, letting him get to his feet.
Boyd performed his wing-assisted kip up in one smooth motion before rumbling, “Of course, my love. We may have been children at the time, but I did promise we’d be together… and The Devoted keep our promises.”
He glanced over to where Archangel’s unconscious body was being carefully transitioned to a grav-board by six medical personnel, none of whom he recognized from Hope’s party.
“I didn’t break anything,” Boyd rumbled to the med techs. “While I appreciate your caution, his spine is—at the very most—only strained. A larger concern would be the likely concussion and possible trauma-induced brain damage… in either case, getting him to the healer faster will serve him better than the level of…” He pursed his lips, searching for the appropriate word. “… the level of care you’re currently using.”
He knew they were instructed to treat Archangel so gingerly to make it look as though Boyd had been more brutal than he actually was. After giving Boyd wary glances the six men quite quickly got Archangel’s limp form onto the board before scurrying away.
Boyd turned back to face his supporters’ side of the stadium, ignoring the continued jeering and booing from the opposite side. With a grin he pumped a fist in the air, triggering another surge in the previously waning cheers. Silvie blurred away from him and then back again, passing him his shield so he could mount it to his lower back, and then his ‘sword’ which he would have to carry in his hand, as he’d convinced Tinker he didn’t need a sheath for the weapon he would most likely only use the one time.
Boyd saluted the crowd with it, then called out, “Didn’t that roar feel better than the first?”
The crowd’s roar was his answer.
He grinned and scanned the crowd, meeting as many eyes as he could while waiting for the responding screams and cheers to die down. There really were a lot of women present; they took up at least seventy percent of the seats.
“We’ll be back out in a little bit!” He spoke louder than he usually did to be heard over the still-roaring crowd. “All you beautiful people should get a drink or something before you scream yourselves hoarse!”
He thought that technically gender-neutral term that still targeted his base was clever.
This only triggered more screams and cheering so Boyd chuckled, grinned, and waved as he turned to walk away with Hope on his right and Silvie on his left. The two gorgeous women let him give one last wave before latching onto his arms to walk and float with him, respectively, out of the arena.
Hope’s left wing tucked in under Boyd’s right wing, her splendid feathers feeling warm and oh so very soft against his back and the inner portion of his wing that came in contact with them. He no longer sensed a desire to be claimed in front of all those people radiating off of her—which seemed a fairly rapid transition and left him excited about figuring his kinky, innocent, perfect, and dirty little fallen angel out.
They kept their pace steady, but he sensed Hope’s desire to hurry to where they could have some privacy. Silvie was enjoying the moment, waving and smiling at the fans and cameras, though, so the two balanced each other out on the Bond. Boyd set a confident and even pace as he smiled at those he walked towards.
The lighting and acoustics changed as they walked into the hallway under the stadium. The roaring crowd dropping away significantly was a little jarring, so they walked in silence for another moment.
Suddenly, Hope giggled and made an attempt to imitate Boyd’s rumble. “I would say it’s been a pleasure, but I try not to lie.” She switched back to her much sweeter flute-like notes to add, “I love you so much.”
Without warning, Raev came tearing around the corner. All five fluffy tails bounced behind her, her ears were perked, and she had a big grin on her face. Boyd barely had time to disengage from Hope and Silvie, who didn’t move far away at all, and catch the laughing fox Changed as she threw herself the last dozen or so feet at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his middle.
“You were such a badass, Big Guy!” She grinned at him as she effectively climbed him to reposition herself while his hands found and supported her by her pert rear.
“I was worried for all of about three seconds when that prick’s wings sliced at you, but then I felt your confidence so figured you could handle it. Still, you had everyone on the edge of their seats… then wham! Total turnaround. Fucking fantastic job! It will top the streams for weeks.”
“Here… for now, at least, you’ll have to settle for this,” his foxy love leaned it to give him a quick but hard kiss, her tongue briefly slipping into his mouth.
She leaned back with a smirk and winked a black-rimmed emerald eye at him, “I’ll give you a tail bath later.”
‘Oooh, that sounds lovely, mind if I get in on that?’ Mindy spoke to the group, causing Hope’s left wing to twitch because she wasn’t used to it. Soon, she would be.
“Of course!” Raev’s eyes popped open in excitement, though Boyd was fairly sure she didn’t mean to sound as eager as she did.
‘Kuh-he! Oh… incoming,’ Mindy added after her signature mental giggle.
“Connor!” Boyd heard Daisy’s familiar voice echo around the corner. “At least slow down for the rest of… Connor!”
Raev hopped down off Boyd and turned just in time to see Connor sprint around the corner, nearly bouncing off the opposite wall of the wide hallway in his excitement. “Oops, that’s probably my fault,” his kitsune chuckled at the laughing and grinning youth. “He also had a lot of sugar… Daisy wasn’t kidding about spoiling him.”
A concerned-looking Daisy came fluttering around the corner after the boy, the hem of her yellow sundress dancing around her slender calves. About a dozen snacks and sweets, including a mostly consumed cotton candy, floated along behind her in a loose clump.
Boyd assumed they were Connor’s leftovers.
“Boyd! You were so cool! it was amazing, how you were all… whoops!” Connor sprinted up and came to a stop that had his shoes skid an inch or two on the concrete floor, which almost sent him toppling into Boyd’s armored legs.
“Whoa, there buddy,” Boyd chuckled as his tail naturally snaked out to gently brace the boy’s chest and keep him upright. He’d found himself using it more naturally since merging. “Thanks, though. I’m glad you think I looked cool.”
Daisy landed lightly behind Connor, shooting Boyd a glare over her younger brother’s shoulder as she gently shifted the boy to the side. Boyd quirked a brow at the determined-looking little fairy before her wings fluttered and she floated up until they were eye-to-eye. Then, she darted forward and ducked down to press her cheek to his chest, wrapping her arms around him in a quick hug.
“Thank you for not getting hurt,” she muttered quietly.
Then, she fluttered back and stuck her arm out straight to one side before bringing her hand across to slap Boyd in the face as hard as she could.
“Sis!” Connor gasped, aghast.
Boyd blinked, surprised but unhurt. Her little hand didn’t have the strength to do him any harm… not here, at least.
Daisy clutched the hand to her pert chest, her other hand wrapping gingerly around it as a scowl twisted her pretty features. “But how dare you make Connor worry like that?!”
The big demon chuckled, smirking at the little fairy before turning to Connor. “I guess I got the level of suspense about right… huh?”
“You got it perfect!” The boy bounced in place as he grinned up at Boyd. “The smarter kids saw what you were doing, just like you said they would, but you should have seen the other kids’ faces when you turned it around! Oh, wow… were they ever surprised and happy! They’ll never forget it!”
“You knew?” Daisy landed gracefully as she turned to stare in surprise at her brother.
Connor gave Daisy the ‘you’re so strange’ look that only younger siblings can pull off properly. “Come on, Sis… that’s like Hero fighting one-oh-one. Boyd was just biding his time while he figured his opponent’s abilities out… Just like he said he would. Plus, this way everyone that wanted him to win got to be extra happy and relieved when he did.”
Boyd swallowed his smirk as Connor explained it pretty much the way the big demon had told him. He hadn’t wanted his little buddy to worry about him too much.
“Why did you think I kept telling you he would be okay and to just wait and see?” Connor asked.
Daisy blinked at her brother while he turned back to grin at Boyd. “You should have seen her, Boyd, she was so worried. I felt bad for telling you not to fill her in. It got so bad I started to worry about her… which is just weird… ha ha ha!” He ended by rubbing the back of his neck with a big smile.
Daisy gaped at her little brother, still holding the hand she probably broke on his face close to her chest.
“I’m sorry if I worried you overly much, Daisy,” Boyd rumbled, the smirk he tried to contain teased forth by Connor’s enthusiasm. Turning to his favorite angel, the big demon asked, “Hope, could you please see to her hand?”
“Of course!”
Hope beamed at the fairy and smoothly stepped forward. “Hello, Daisy, I’m Hope. I’ve heard wonderful things about your cooking and I’m so looking forward to getting to know you. Here, let me just…” The angel’s gentle hands slipped around Daisy’s injured extremity, emitting a golden glow over Daisy’s hand. “There, that should take care of that.”
“Oh, wow,” Daisy looked at her hand as she opened and closed it, wiggling her slender digits. “Thanks, that’s… that’s amazing.”
Then, the fairy woman blanched in a specific way that Boyd had only seen happen to people under two conditions. Either they just thought of something that surprised them, or a certain mentally gifted Hero highlighted it for them.
“Kuh-he!”
Boyd barely picked up Mindy’s giggle from around the corner, but that served as all the confirmation he needed. Tinker, Laura, and his gothic love appeared shortly afterward, each wearing a smile. The two Heroes were in their suits, but Laura had selected a nice beige dress that accentuated her figure.
Boyd tried not to pay too much attention to how good she looked.
“Thank you for making Boyd such delicious food while he trained to free me,” Hope continued, beaming and squatting down to get on his level as she turned to Connor. “Hi, Connor. Silvie tells me you’ve been a really good friend to Boyd. Thank you for that.”
“Oh, wow…” It was Connor’s turn to gape, awe evident in his voice and his eyes wide. “You’re like really pretty.”
“Thank you! You’re quite handsome yourself!” Hope smiled at the boy.
Tinker reached Boyd first, trotting ahead the last few feet to hug him around the waist and grinning up at him. “You looked really good out there. I didn’t expect you to use the bucklers offensively like that, but it was genius.”
“Says the genius who made them,” Boyd retorted with a smirk.
He placed his large hand on her upper back in an approximation of a hug. His instinct was to scoop her up for a kiss, but he sensed that Connor’s presence made her uncomfortable with overt signs of affection. “Thanks again, they worked perfectly.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled shyly as she stepped away, tugging on one of her braids.
Boyd was pleased with the progress that the simple acceptance of his thanks represented. It had been a productive month.
‘Well, I have no hangups about PDA,’ the Mindy that now stretched out on the bed in the wood slat room within his mind purred as the gothic goddess stepped up to him in that amazing suit of hers. Despite the teasing tone she had used, the kiss she leaned up to press to his lips was demure and chaste.
“Good job,” she said out loud.
Telepathically, she added, ‘Your real reward will come in the bath chamber… later.’
Mindy clapped her hands softly to get everyone’s attention. “Hope has some things to say to Boyd before the ceremony, and they won’t make people wait long for that to start. Let’s give them some privacy. Connor has to pee. Royce will take him.”
Her mental words overlayed the spoken ones, but he had no problem understanding either. ‘He really took a shine to Connor. We’ll go intercept him and Davis, to stall for some time.’
Mindy slipped away from him as smoothly as she’d arrived, turning and swaying those amazing hips of hers alluringly as she sashayed away. That purple skirt of hers was designed to flow with the movement, drawing attention to the already distracting sight.
“Come on everyone,” Mindy called, walking back the way their group had come.
“See you soon, Hope and Darling,” Silvie bubbled, waving goodbye as she turned to float back with Mindy.
“Uh… bye Boyd! Don’t forget your promise!” Connor said over his shoulder as Diasy started guiding him away.
The boy had reminded Boyd that he’d previously promised to give Connor a tour of The Tower. The siblings would be staying in Daisy’s assigned apartment within the massive structure, so Boyd said he would try to do it in the morning when they returned to Glorith to pick up their fairy chef.
It depended on how quickly Hope’s transfer was processed. Boyd really wanted to come through for his little buddy, but if Hope’s transfer happened as quickly as he wanted, he would likely be… indisposed.
“I’ve gotta pee, too,” Raev admitted to the embarrassed-looking Connor, strolling beside him as confident as ever.
Raev apparently owned even her biological functions. Boyd wondered if he could get her to admit that girls farted. Silvie never would.
Boyd turned his smile on Hope as the others walked back down the hall. His angel returned a serenely pleased smile as she stepped into his side for the remaining few paces to the locker room. As soon as she was tucked back under his wing, he felt a desire similar to his own though different in surprising ways burning in his angelic love.
He began to suspect that Silvie’s hints about Hope’s proclivities might have been understated, and he very much looked forward to finding out by just how much.
Chapter 55
Boyd thought the locker room should be renamed, as it didn’t contain a single locker—well, not including the gearbox Boyd had brought with him, and it was biometrically keyed to members of The Devoted. There were cubbies along the wall, but the professional sports teams that normally used the room didn’t feel a need to secure their gear.
The room was designed for communal changing, with benches before the cubbies. It had durable carpet laid down in a weird brown color that Boyd realized was supposed to be bronze. The cubbies were made from a silvery metal, and the walls were painted gold.
It was hideous. But as Boyd only had eyes for the angel he followed into the room, he didn’t notice much else. She smiled and waited as he turned to his gearbox, thumbing it open and depositing the obsidian rod inside while adding many more lethal implements to his person.
The controlled portion of the evening was over, so anyone who attacked him from here on out would be fair game for a good running-through. Hope could patch up any holes he regretted.
The angel in question, once Boyd was more comfortably armed—they were in an anti-Changed city, after all—still wore the serene and warm smile he knew wasn’t so much a mask as her default state. After taking her hand, he spent a moment simply admiring her in the calm and quiet room, taking in her classic beauty.
When Hope realized how he was looking at her, he sensed across their limited bond a spike in her heart rate and emotions. And though her cheeks tinged a light pink, her gaze grew hungry.
That’s when it hit him. He had done it. Boyd had won Hope her freedom and Davis would arrange for the sweet angel to be transferred to their team. To his team. The big demon would finally get to take the gorgeous woman who had obviously always carried a flame for him—as he had for her—home with him.
