Dark Interests Ch. 01

"Not much more you can do," he said to himself. Pulling at the waistband of his boxer briefs he looked down at the freshly trimmed patch of hair that bracketed the thick base of his penis. He had considered shaving it all off, but the thought of poky stubble hurting Elina during their first time made him stop. "It is what it is."

He grabbed his jeans from his bed and pulled them on. They were a little faded, not quite the jet black they had started as, but he hoped they could pass for slacks from a distance. He was a little too country to wear slacks without getting embarrassed. Besides, he'd look like an idiot wearing work boots with them.

The O'Connors lived in an old two story wooden house just out of Eastridge. It, along with the barn and its flat open fields, had been bought for a song from an old farmer whose kids had wanted to move to the city. The young energetic pair of mother and adopted child had been more than happy to make a few renovations. Amanda had taken a shine to the barn, still in good condition thanks to the farmer's work ethic, and had wasted no time turning it into her own little space. Now the milking stalls and stables were full of machines and tools.

They both had rooms upstairs, a hallway with the bathroom separating them. Daemon had helped Amanda knock one of the walls downstairs down, converting it into an open plan kitchen/dining room/lounge combination with an entertainment room in a cubby just off it. As Daemon skipped down the stairs he heard the light drone of the TV. Padding across the hardwood floor on sock covered feet he stuck his head into the entertainment room and had to stifle a laugh. Amanda was curled up on the couch with her head propped up on the armrest, her hair a tangled mess. She was snoring softly as the Smurfs played on the television.

Tip toeing from the room the large man flipped the stoop light on before locking up as quietly as possible. The truck's engine turned over with a sputtering roar making him wince to himself as he pulled out of the drive.

The drive to Eastridge was a pleasant one. The sun was slowly setting, turning the fat fluffy clouds orange against a pink backdrop. Daemon rolled the window down, letting in the cool evening air, and popped an old Beth Hart CD in before turning the volume up. The tarmac spread out before him in an endless strip. Cornfields and pastures lined the road, their yield glowing in the lights of passing cars.

Elina lived in the Valley, a block of suburbs that had been built about twelve years ago on a piece of flat land that hugged up against the slopes of the Akari Hills. Daemon disliked the cookie cutter look of the place, he thought it was too sterile. The same three bedroom, two bathroom layout over and over again, the same small patch of lawn in the back and smaller patch in the front. The same attached garage, big enough for only one car, which meant that most of the driveways had a vehicle sitting in it. The only difference was color, and even then it was all pastels, and whether or not there was a swimming pool.

Daemon pulled to the curb outside a light orange house, the truck rumbling under him while on neutral. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves he jumped out of the truck and walked up the path. He ignored the doorbell, knocking against the wooden door instead. Mr. Cancio hated the sound of his doorbell and had been threatening to have it unwired since the family had moved in a couple of years ago. He hadn't gotten around to it yet so Daemon had learnt to knock.

Speaking of Mr. Cancio, he was the one that answered the door...dressed in black slacks and an apron. A very frilly apron.

"...and I can never unsee this," Daemon said, shaking his head sadly.

"Ahh, Daemon, come! Come in! I was just putting the final touches on my creation for tonight!" Leonardo Cancio was a tall slim man and pulled off messily handsome very well. His salt and pepper stubble was scruffy without being lazy and his curly hair was windswept with some grey showing at the temples. He ushered Daemon into the house and shut the door with a bang.

"How are you Mr. Cancio?"

"Can't complain. Work is work and home is home." He led the way towards the kitchen, only stopping long enough to yell up the stairs, "Cucciolo! Your ragazzo caro is here!"

Daemon smiled when he heard Elina yell, "Sì Papà!"

"Come Daemon. Relax...you know Elina, you will be lucky if she is only twenty minutes." The energetic Italian man flittered back behind the counter and grabbed a knife. He talked while he worked. "Elina tells me it is two years since you have been together. Is this truth?"

"Yup."

"Interesting. Interesting." Mr. Cancio stopped chopping for a second to look up, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "And yet you only approached me asking to date my daughter one year ago."

Daemon nearly fell off the barstool in fright. He had totally forgotten about that little lie. His mouth opened and closed like a beached fish until Mr. Cancio burst into laughter.

"Relax. I'm only teasing you. My daughter is happy and my wife likes you, and you show respect, which is all a father could ask for is it not?" He lifted the lid of a pot on the stove and checked the content before grabbing a bottle of wine and tossing a bit in. He paused, then with a shrug tossed a bit more in before taking a pull from the bottle himself. "Mushroom Risotto. Family recipe," he explained.

Daemon leant against the marble countertop and watched Mr. Cancio at work. There was a certain art to his movements. He had a love for cooking that Daemon had only seen in one other person, Amanda, and that was only when she was baking a cake.

"Pass the parsley, per favore," Mr. Cancio said, indicating the leafy herb. "Grazie...and the butter from the fridge if you don't mind."

The next few minutes were a blur as Elina's father moved around the kitchen, chopping and stirring, and taking long swigs from the wine bottle. He offered some to Daemon but the young man begged off. Daemon had to cite driving as an excuse, Mr Cancio would only laugh if he reminded the man he was still underage."So how's Mrs. C?" Daemon asked during a lull in activity.

"Good. Good. She is helping Elina prepare for your date." He smiled. "Or they have already done so and now they gossip like old ladies!"

"Are you saying I'm getting old dear?" Mrs. Cancio's voice preceded her into the room. That gave Leonardo just enough time to school his features into a mask of pure love.

"Cara mia! Banish the thought, you are like a fine wine, perfectly aged and beautiful to taste!"

"Given your love of wine, I will choose to take that as a compliment," Jessica Cancio said fondly, her blue eyes warming as she looked at her husband. She was a plump woman; having a child and marrying a man who loved to cook had packed on a few pounds, but Leonardo liked her extra curves and she was comfortable as she was. She still moved with the same casual grace as her daughter and would dance around the kitchen with Leo often just to prove it.

She gave Daemon a hug and a peck on the cheek as she walked past. "Elina will be down shortly, Daemon."

"Thanks, Mrs. C."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner? Leo made more than enough," she said, pulling a wine glass from the rack and pouring herself a glass. The warm orange lighting in the kitchen made the liquid glow a deep maroon.

"No, mama. We have plans already."

Daemon turned around on his stool towards the voice and stopped breathing for a second. Elina looked absolutely beautiful. She kept her rich dark chocolate hair in what she called a long pixie cut. It framed her face, showing off her delicate features. Longer strands fell in a half fringe across her brow and over one side of her head. She smiled at him, her cute full lips pulling up at the corners. Her eyes were a warm soft brown, her thick dark lashes batting gently as she blushed and looked away.

She was tall, something she got from her father, and something Daemon had been very thankful for when they first kissed. Years spent on the athletic team had kept her figure trim and while she moaned a little about having such small breasts she was very proud of her legs and ass, both toned and shapely.

She was wearing a black thin-strapped dress that hugged her torso. It showcased the flare of her hips and the narrowness of her waist and ended just above her knees. The barest hint of creamy smooth thigh flashed as she walked towards Daemon and the poor man nearly started drooling.

Mr. and Mrs. Cancio smiled knowingly. Daemon had spent many an afternoon in their home, studying with Elina or sitting and watching a movie in the lounge as they munched on microwave popcorn, and the Cancios saw it every time Daemon looked at their daughter. He was head over heels in love with her.

"De?" Elina suddenly stopped, looking concerned when Daemon hadn't stood to greet her.

"Huh?" was the intelligent reply she got as his eyes continued to roam over her. The hunger burning in them sent little thrills of pleasure tingling down her spine. "WOW! You look...you look beautiful!" Daemon managed to get out before surging to his feet and almost springing on her.

"Woah! Slow down boy! Makeup, makeup!" she said, batting him away. She laughed a little at the crestfallen look on his face. The look morphed to one of pleasure when she leaned forward and placed a feather light kiss on his lips. Her soft lips molded around his with familiar ease.

"WE ARE STILL IN THE ROOM!" Mr. Cancio said, loudly enough that his wife actually jumped before slapping his back and scowling at him. "Scusa, scusa! Father's instincts."

"Shall we?" Daemon asked, gesturing towards the door with his free hand. His other had somehow taken ahold of hers and wouldn't let go.

"Yes! Please!"

Elina said goodbye to her parents, promising to be home early tomorrow morning. Her mother gave Daemon a kiss on the cheek again and Leonardo gave a head bob. They knew the pair were going to a party held by one of their school friends. Elina didn't keep such things secret, and they knew she was going to spend the night at Daemon's. Both parents trusted their daughter to make the right decisions. Mr. Cancio also trusted Daemon to knock the head off anyone who tried to hurt his daughter.

Picking up the overnight bag Elina had packed and left by the foot of the stairs, Daemon led the way to the truck. His big mitts helped support her as she boosted herself into the passenger's seat. His choice of hand placement made her smile. He jogged around the car and slid behind the wheel, chucking her bag between them.

"You really do look beautiful," he said again, his voice pitching low and becoming intimate now that they were in the privacy of his dark car.

"You clean up pretty well yourself, farm boy," she teased, scooting closer to him. "You know, I'm glad you like the dress. Mom helped me pick it out." She leaned forward as she spoke.

"Hardly even noticed the dress," Daemon said, meeting her half way, then he was kissing her. It was the way he had wanted to kiss her when he first saw her in the kitchen, deep and passionate and hungry.

Elina moaned into his mouth as his lips parted her own and his tongue played along the contours of their joining. She felt one strong arm curl around her waist, pulling her closer to him and for an irrational moment she considered throwing her bag out the window as it got crushed between them. She wanted to mount him right there.

She went so far as to grip the straps of her bag as the kisses and nibbles that Daemon was trailing down her neck made her shiver. She felt her nipples hardening as the sensitive nubs pressed against the soft fabric of her dress, the contact adding extra stimulation. The thought of soaking her panties was the only thing that stopped her. With monumental effort she pushed against Daemon's chest, his thick muscles quivering under her touch, and sucked in great lungfuls of the cool evening air.

"Babe, you do realize that we're still parked in front of my house right?"

"Mmm hmmm," Daemon mumbled, planting one more kiss on her lips, this one lingering.

"...and knowing my parents..."

"They're probably watching through their window," Daemon finished for her, sitting back heavily in his seat and brushing his hair back with a shaking hand. "The pervs!"

"HEY!" Elina laughed, slapping him on the bicep and hurting her own hand more than him. "Those are my parents you're slandering."

"It's only slandering if it isn't true." He held up a finger and waved it in her face before she could protest further. "You forget I once saw you father spank your mother with the wooden spoon while cooking...and she blushed."

Elina couldn't help but laugh at the reminder as Daemon started the truck and pulled a U turn. It had been one of the first times he had come over to her house to study, when they first started dating. He had gone to get a glass of water. She remembered the look on his face when he came back, a blush darkening his already tan skin. She didn't know why he was so embarrassed, she'd already met Amanda and growing up with that woman must have been one big lesson in 'tease'.

The moon hung heavy in the clear night sky, its beam penetrating the windshield, highlighting Daemon's face and casting dark shadows. Elina turned her head to admire his handsome features as he stared ahead, one arm on the wheel, the other resting on the gear shift. He was the right mixture of hard and soft, she decided. Hard planes and sharp angles made up his face, his body a mass of strong muscles with gentle padding. His dark eyes could turn hard as steel and just as cold when he was angry but they rarely were with her. He only ever showed his soft side to those he trusted and loved.

She knew, deep down, that there were secrets he kept from her. He had admitted it not long after they had started dating. She knew that there was something...different...about him and Amanda. Amanda was much too young to be his adopted mother and Elina remembered the jealousy she had felt when she first met the buxom, playful redhead. She also saw the easy love that existed between the odd pair. It would have been so easy for Elina to remain an outsider to their relationship, but Amanda had welcomed her with open arms and a few playful words that had made her blush.

Elina also knew that Daemon, and by extension Amanda, would never hurt her and that the secrets they kept were not kept to exclude her but to protect her. So she let it go and trusted him to tell her when he was ready.

"What are you thinking about?" Daemon asked, not taking his eyes off the road as the left the valley.

"How much I love you...and how much I don't want to go to the party."

Daemon's head whipped around, almost giving him whiplash. His eyes bore into hers, the hunger igniting in his chest a match for the slow heat she had felt pushing against the boundaries of her control since the kiss earlier.

"So..." he said slowly.

"So...take us home!" she said, her teeth glowing in the moonlight as she smiled.

Daemon had to make a conscious effort not to speed as he barreled down the highway, cornfields zipping by in the dark.

"What are you thinking about?" Elina repeated his earlier question, her tone and smile devilish.

"I was thinking about Smurfs...now I'm definitely not thinking about Smurfs."

"Okay. Let's hear it." Elina was used to her boyfriend's weird trains of thought and more often than not found them amusing. "What's wrong with the Smurfs?"

"Well...how do they repopulate? Do they age? If they don't, then how is Papa Smurf the oldest? How is he Papa Smurf? Is there a Mamma Smurf? Did he give birth to them? And since there's a Smurf for pretty much everything, does that mean there's a gay Smurf? And if so, do all those other Smurfs walk around shirtless just to tease him? Or is it like one big blue gay village?"

"Wow! What brought that on?"

"Amanda was watching it earlier...and the drive to your place is long and can get a little boring, so I started to wonder what must go on behind the scenes, you know...when the camera isn't rolling." Daemon shrugged his broad shoulders.

"Ohh babe, you know it's not real right?" Elina said, reaching out and playing with the hair on the nape of his neck, her gaze sympathetic.

***

Amanda woke up to an empty house. After wiping the drool from the corner of her mouth and switching the television off, she got up, stretching like a cat, before padding on bare feet to the bathroom.

Done with her business, she walked around the house switching on lights and thought about dinner. It was quiet without Daemon and she found herself missing him, which was strange. He had only been gone a couple of hours and it wasn't like he hadn't left her alone before.

She put on a pot of coffee and leant against the wooden counter while it brewed.

"Magical resonance," she muttered to herself.

It happened occasionally. Not often, but occasionally. Amanda had raised Daemon since he was four, and she was twenty three. In all their years together he had been suppressed. But it was still possible his magic, his aura, had sensed hers and grown with it. Like two trees growing around each other.

If that had happened it meant they were connected, a siren song of power that would wrap around her and drag her down. What pissed her off more was that it wasn't forced. Magic acted on intent, and that meant that a part of her wanted him as more than an adopted child, and a part of him wanted her. Their magic was only acting on those feelings.

It was probably why she got so turned on when she sensed his magic.

Amanda shook her head, scattering her thoughts and worries over how to tell Daemon that they were practically engaged in the eyes of the magical world. She poured herself a cup of coffee. Spooning an incredible amount of sugar into it, she drank it black and let out a relieved sigh.

The clock on the microwave read 9:37. Daemon and Elina were heading to a party in town and wouldn't be back till later and then...well... Amanda smiled.

They were finally going to seal the deal. It was the whole reason she had had to alter his medallion. Daemon, the big idiot, had been worried his father's heritage may rear its ugly head during sex. Amanda wasn't convinced, but it helped calm the young man, so she agreed. Sometimes she regretted telling him about his parents but he had needed to know why he was hunted, why they needed to hide. He was unique, there was no other like him in the world. Normal, Supernatural, or Preternatural.

Daemon was the son of a life mage of staggering power and a demon of lust.

Grabbing the phone from the hook, Amy decided pizza would do for dinner. Gino's would deliver.

After placing her order she rinsed her cup out and leaving it on the sink to dry made her way upstairs to have a shower.

It took Gino's thirty minutes to deliver and by the time the young bespeckled boy was knocking on the door Amy was clean and fresh with her still damp hair tied up in a bun. She tipped the young man - getting a blush in return - and sent him on his way.

With her prize in hand and the warmth of the pizza bleeding through the cardboard, she made her way back to the kitchen and hopped up on the counter before grabbing a slice from the box. Lifting the gooey cheese covered piece of heaven to her mouth, she froze as headlights swept over the house, the powerful beams of light highlighting the hallway. She recognised the familiar rumble of the truck and glanced at the microwave clock. It was barely after ten! Did something go wrong?

Padding over on bare feet she stopped at the entrance to the kitchen, unsure of what to do. If something had gone wrong she wanted to be there to comfort Daemon, but if it hadn't she didn't want to look like she was hovering. She'd promised him earlier that she would be asleep in her room the whole night and not waiting outside his door to surprise him with a polaroid camera to capture his special moment.