Chapter 84 Chapter 84
“This is one of the smaller islands of the Maldives,” he answered, his smirk widening when her jaw dropped.
“Oh wow, I never thought I would get to see a place like that with my own eyes.”
“You’re funny, Valerie,” another unfamiliar demon chimed in, having light blue hair that appeared almost white in the bright light of the sun. He radiated a pleasant coldness that was a welcome change to the unbearable heat that surrounded them.
“I’m Brian, by the way. If I had known that you’re bonded to my friend, I would have come by for a visit, but the idiot never told me!” he said, a pouty expression on his face that Valerie found adorable. He wasn’t as intimidating as Liam, on the contrary. Despite his frost magic, his personality was warm and inviting.
The last demon that she hadn’t met before took this as his cue to introduce himself, telling her that his name was Benjamin. “I’m surprised that Maxwell would agree to a bond, but you seem nice enough,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. A gleam appeared in his eyes when he watched her, gaze coming to rest on the star on her wrist. “Where is he, by the way? Did you leave him at home?” Benjamin laughed, not even hiding his malicious joy, and the others soon joined in.
“Well, I wanted to mess with him a little,” Xander grinned proudly. “You know how worked up he gets when I’m stealing from him. It’s hilarious, and I can’t repeat it often enough.”
“We talked about this before, though,” Shawn said, sounding more serious than the playful green-haired demon. “Hands off his girl, Xander. I’m keeping an eye on you.”
Valerie blushed, feeling many amused pairs of eyes on herself. “When will you get him here, huh?” she asked Xander and earned herself a cocky smirk.
“Are you missing him already?” he teased. “Aww, is it lonely without your demon boyfriend?”
Her eyes widened, and she blushed furiously, the pink spreading to her ears. While she tried her hardest to come up with a witty reply, the whole group erupted in laughter.
“Don’t push it, Xander. You shouldn’t make him wait,” Liam said and threw him a harsh look that made him shut up.
“Okay, boss. No need to get angry with me,” Xander cackled, and then he was gone. Valerie stared at the spot where he had been just seconds before and sighed. She finally got a break from this huge manchild.
“Took him long enough,” Shawn said, and Vaughn nodded in agreement.
“Don’t want to deal with pissed-off Maxwell for the remainder of the day. How about we go for a little swim until they are back?” Vaughn suggested. “I’m guessing they’ll be busy fighting for a while.”
“Yes, let’s go.” Esther added. “Come on, Valerie.”
“Give me a moment,” she replied and quickly took her dress off, revealing her blue bikini underneath. Her friend pulled her along towards the water, Vaughn, and Wade following after them. Valerie laughed, running into the cool ocean with them. The water was refreshing, splashing in all directions as she ran.
Esther turned to her and unexpectedly splashed a load of water at her, drenching her completely and making her shudder from the sudden cold.
“You’re getting that back.” Valerie giggled, throwing water at her friend, who screeched loudly.
Vaughn soon took part in their water battle, and Wade didn’t need to be asked twice either. With the two demons getting competitive, the calm ocean turned into a wild maelstrom, especially when Vaughn started using his wind magic to cause some more chaos.
“Take that.” Vaughn shouted, throwing Esther in the water headfirst. She resurfaced and glared at him, a challenging glint in her eyes.
“You'd better run, Vaughn,” Wade cackled, watching him smirk amusedly.
“We’ll see about that.”
Valerie and Wade watched the couple chase each other down. They had so much fun that they never noticed how much time passed in the meantime, forgetting everything around them until Esther and Vaughn reached a stalemate and came back to them.
“Phew, you’re insane,” Esther said, wringing her wet hair when she stood close to Wade and Valerie.
“Nothing new,” Vaughn said cheekily.
All three of them suddenly looked at Valerie, and the wide grins on their faces should have told her that something was up, but she was too distracted by the beautiful view in front of her to notice.
“Got you,” a husky voice whispered in her ear as muscular arms wrapped around her waist from behind. She froze in surprise, cheeks going red when she felt Maxwell’s toned chest against her back. He hugged her, pushing her close to him, and her heart fluttered nervously.
“Where did you come from?” she stuttered.
“Xander finally decided to get me here, too. I would have joined you sooner, but I had to kick his ass first,” he said, his breath fanning over her ear. She shuddered and bit her lower lip, trying hard not to melt. Even though she didn’t see his face, she could very well picture the evil grin he wore right now since his tone was dripping with malicious joy.
Vaughn, Wade, and Esther watched them gleefully but soon decided to leave them alone and give them some privacy. Valerie and Maxwell didn’t even notice them anymore.
“Why didn’t you wait for me before going in the water, hm?” he asked, and she turned around in his embrace to look at him. His blue eyes reflected the bright sun rays and shimmered beautifully, taking her breath away. A mischievous spark lit them up, and his lips formed a devilish smirk.
That was the only warning she got before he lifted her and threw her over his shoulder effortlessly. She squeaked, the world turning around her. Putting her hands on his back, she squirmed around to get down, but his hold on her was secure, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t make it budge.