How It Could Have Been… by lyradaemon

Disclaimer: It's on the previous page, and it applies to everything I write hereafter

Chapter 2: Making a move

Next Instalment!

I'm going to do this. And I'm going to do it properly. There's no need to be shy. Everything will be perfect. I hope. Daemon told himself sternly. Mother Night, why did this have to be so hard?

He cleared his throat, then knocked on the door.

It was opened by Jaenelle, who was looking decidedly dishevelled. "Oh, hello Daemon. Um, come in, I was just…" she looked behind her, a small frown on her face. "Well, I was just experimenting…"

"So I see," Daemon said mildly, stepping over a very squashed looking cushion. "May I ask what you were experimenting on?"

"Well, I wanted to see which of my jewels I needed to use to make that cushion fly," she explained brightly. "It's always fascinated me that one jewel can do one thing, but not another. But then I did something funny with my Opal jewel and it…well, it sort of died on me." She frowned. "It was in the air one minute, and then I used a bit more Craft, and next thing I knew, it was lying on the floor, looking like that. It's really very odd."

"Yes…" Daemon said, bemused. Jaenelle had always loved experimenting, but he had to admit, this was a new one.

"Anyway, did you want me for something?" Jaenelle asked, returning to why Daemon was there in the first place.

"Ah…no, I just…I just wanted to come and see you," he explained lamely, blushing slightly.

Fortunately, Jaenelle had just turned her gaze to the now deceased cushion, so she didn't notice it.

"Seeing as you're here, you wouldn't mind helping me to tidy up this room a bit, would you? It'd take me forever on my own," Jaenelle asked, with an odd note in her voice. Daemon looked at her sharply and… was that shyness he saw there? And – dare he hope – desire?

"Of course," he replied. Then – just to see what her reaction would be – he smiled one of his devastating smiles and loosened his choke-hold grip on his sexuality, letting it drift through the room.

He could see her eyes become slightly misty, before she shook her head as if clearing it. "Right," she began rather weakly. "If you could just pick some of the cushions off the floor…"

With a self-congratulating smile, Daemon began using his Craft to pick up the surprisingly large number of cushions scattered throughout her living room, then arranged them in a huge pile in mid-air.

He turned to ask Jaenelle what she wanted done with them, but she was just standing by the window, with a dreamy look on her face and clutching a blue fluffy cushion tightly to her chest. Quietly, he edged around the room, pretending to be cleaning up, until he finally stood just behind her. She hadn't noticed.

He reached out a hand and lightly touched her shoulder, at the same time sending a wave of seduction tendrils through his finger tips. Jaenelle jumped at the unexpected touch, then whirled around, finding herself face to face with Daemon. She had a guilty look in her eyes, as well as something more… She could feel the heat emanating from him, feel the sharpness of his golden-eyed gaze on her face. She could smell him, that dark, hot, seductive smell which she could tell instinctively was his, no matter who was in the room with her. She could almost feel those sweet lips on hers…

Daemon lent forward and slowly touched his lips to hers. She didn't move towards him, but she didn't resist either, so he lightly wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. He could feel her body trembling under his gentle touch, and it aroused him. He deepened the kiss, letting his lips move freely over hers, feeling her, tasting her. His hands wandered over her back and sides and he could feel her muscles shudder under his touch.

Jaenelle felt her body respond to Daemon's hands, and she kissed him back with all the passion that had been building between them. His tongue played teasingly over her lips until she opened them, letting her tongue dance with his. She snaked her arms around his neck, burying her hands in his thick black hair, holding his head so that she could kiss him more.

Finally, Daemon broke the kiss and pulled back, surveying Jaenelle's face to gauge her reaction. Her eyes were definitely cloudy, and she was quite breathless, but she had a content smile on her lips all the same.

"Did you come her to do that?" She asked finally, her voice sounding husky.

"Not exactly – but I have been meaning to do that for some time," he replied with a devilish smile.

"Oh right," she said, a bit dazed. "Well, if you ever want to do it again…"

Not needing any more encouragement, Daemon captured her lips with his again, enjoying the soft mewing noises coming from her throat. I could get used to this, he thought with a grin.

"So, are you courting me now?" Jaenelle asked shyly when they finally broke off again.

Daemon looked her seriously in the eyes, "Only if you want me to, sweetheart."

"I do," she replied softly, then briefly touched her lips to his.

"I want to take it slowly though," Daemon said tenderly, gently tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't want to rush anything; I want you to feel comfortable. This is important to me, and it would kill me if I did something to hurt you."

I love this side of him, Jaenelle said to herself. He's so sweet and gentle… he could never hurt me. "You could never hurt me Daemon," she said, echoing her thoughts. "I promise."

"And I promise you'll never regret this," Daemon whispered, before kissing her again.

I could definitely get used to this.

A/N: There we are. They're finally together - my way! ;)