A/N: Heads up: this chapter got more explicit than I thought it would--it's hard to keep Sam in line. (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤

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Maria's chair clatters backward to the floor as she rises abruptly. Taking an unsteady step towards the woman in the doorway, she reaches towards her with a shaking hand.

"Inez?"

"Who else?" the other replies with a weary grin. "Now who wants to tell me what in hell is going on?"

"Mom!" Jack and Elliot exclaim as one, leaping up and striding to take Inez in a shared embrace. Cass and Sofia follow suit, though they hang back a little, giving the brothers room.

"What the Hell, Mom? Where have you been?" Elliot asks, his voice muffled and thick with emotion.

"You know where," Inez replies, patting and rubbing her boys' backs and sounding a little confused. "I went to pick up the supplies. I was on my way home, and I must'a blacked out or something—had one a' my episodes. Next thing I know I'm standing outside the lodge. I must'a walked the whole way home," she laughs. "No wonder I'm so damned tired."

"Mom," Jack says, releasing his hold on her to cup her face in his hands. "You've been missing for a week. We found your car. We... We thought you were dead."

His voice breaks and he hugs her again.

"A week?" Inez shakes her head. "That can't be..."

"It's true, 'Nez," Maria says, her voice watery and rough with tears. "We've been searching for you day and night, and then Ian and the boys here found your car, all burnt to Hell, and we thought..."

"Ian?" Inez asks sharply, registering my presence fully for the first time. "Ian Foley?"

"In the flesh," I say, rising and extending my hand. "I'm very pleased to meet you, ma'am. I didn't expect I'd have the privilege, given the look of things."

"And these?" she nods at Carlos and Sam.

"They're with me," I confirm, stepping back to rest my hand on Sam's shoulder, feeling more possessive and defensive than is probably called for. After what happened this afternoon, though, I think I can be excused if my feelings are a little raw.

Her eyes skip over Carlos and settle on Sam. She studies him for a moment and then blinks as though to clear her vision.

"Y'all aren't just messing with me, huh?" she says. "It's really been a week?"

Everyone confirms that it has.

"Well...I'll be..." She stumbles a little, and Jack and Elliot both move to offer her support.

"Whoa, Mom, let's get you set down," Elliot says, guiding her to a chair. "Have Cass check you over."

Leading her to one of the more comfortable, upholstered leather chairs in one of the sitting areas, the brothers sit her down while Cass runs through a quick check.

"Can't be sure without all the proper instruments," they say after a minute or so, patting Inez on the arm, "but as far as I can tell you seem fine."

"'Nez...where have you been?" Maria asks, kneeling beside the chair. "I swear we searched every damn inch of ground in a twenty-mile radius, and there was no trace of you anywhere. You must remember something."

Inez just shakes her head. "I swear, I don't. I picked up the supplies, started on the drive back, and then...Now."

"Well, I don't understand it," Maria says, smiling "but it's a goddamned miracle. Second one today, in fact." She glances at Sam. "It's about time we had some good luck."

I'm not sure I believe in miracles, and Inez's story leaves a lot to be desired in the way of details. I'd like to press her for more, but it's not my place. I can't help asking one question, though.

"You didn't see anyone else out there, did you? On your way back to the lodge?"

She looks up at me and shakes her head. "I came to standing on the porch," she says. "Didn't see a thing. Why? More folks ain't missing, are they?"

Maria and the other Walkers exchange looks.

"We'll give you some space," I say, gesturing to Carlos and Sam. "Let you catch up. I'm glad you're alright, Ms. Walker," I add, nodding at Inez. "Perhaps tomorrow we'll have some time to talk."

"I'd like that." Her face crinkles with a smile, and then she turns her attention back to her family while the rest of us retreat.

~✬~

I keep my eyes on Sam as we ascend the stairs to our new room. I've barely looked away all night—even the surprise appearance of Inez hardly interrupting my vigilance.

I almost lost him today. I came close enough to know what it would have felt like if I had, and I never want to feel that way again.

We pause at our door. Carlos has a smaller room down the hall, and we bid him goodnight.

"Call Toni in the morning," I tell him. "Inez might be back, but somebody died in that car. Maybe it wasn't our business to begin with, but I have a feeling it's our business now, and I don't want to give the Walkers a chance to change their minds about calling in outside help."

Carlos nods in agreement. "I'll call her now," he says. "It's late, but she'll answer. After what happened today...I think I'm ready to hear her voice."

I pat his shoulder awkwardly. "Good man."

To my surprise, he reaches for Sam and draws both of us into a hug. "I'm glad you're okay, muchacho," he says, and kisses Sam on the side of the head. Then he smacks us both lightly on the backsides and winks. "Sleep well."

With that, he wanders off down the hall and disappears into his room.

"I think Carlos is lonely," Sam muses, watching him go.

"Hmm." I agree, but it's not a problem I'm willing to solve.

In our room, Sam retreats to the bathroom and I hear the sink running as he brushes his teeth.

"I wonder what happened to Inez?" he says when he emerges. "Maybe she was being held behind another barrier like the one that hid her car. Or maybe she was abducted by aliens. Do you believe in aliens, Ian? I think multiple dimensions is more likely, myself, having spent a lot of time in several demonic realms, but—"

I pull him to me gently, silencing him with a light kiss, just brushing my lips over his.  He looks up at me, dark eyes soft and wide.

The memory of how he'd looked lying in the water comes back to me and I shut my own eyes against it, drawing a breath that shudders in my chest.

"Hey," he says quietly, and I feel his hands on either side of my face. "I'm okay, Ian. I'm here—thanks to you."

I open my eyes and look down at him again. His expression is open and unguarded—that look I've seen a few times before—like he's offering me everything and holding nothing back. It still scares me. I feel like a clumsy brute being given something precious and breakable to hold; something I don't deserve to have. I also understand that I can't refuse it anymore.

"You're no good for me, Sam," I say shaking my head. "You know that right?"

He frowns, his pretty mouth dipping down at the corners just the slightest bit. I smooth my fingers over his pinched brows and smile.

"You're like sugar, or liquor, or some sweet drug, and I can't get enough. Even if it kills me, I can't quit."

I kiss him again, feeling the press of his soft lips against mine, and walk him back until his legs hit the bed. I start to push him down, but he resists and I stop.

"Ian, wait. Let's talk a bit." He sits and, matching his unhappy expression with my own, I join him.

"Did I do something wrong?" I ask.

He shakes his head and smiles, but he still looks sad. "No. I just need you to understand some stuff before we go any further."

"Okay," I say slowly, rubbing my thumb across the back of his hand. "What?"

"I made a pact with you, right?"

I nod.

"Well, for an incubus, for an Ainasya like Samasa, a bond like that is...well, it's a serious thing. I thought that being what I am now, it wouldn't be like that. I mean, Karin forced me into more pacts than I can count, and it was never like this."

"Like what?" I ask, feeling uneasy.

"The longer the pact goes uncompleted, the stronger it gets—the harder it gets to resist. I feel like I'm yours, and you're mine—so much so that I think even death couldn't drag me away from you right now, and you couldn't go on living if it did. But..."

He bites his bottom lip and squeezes my hand.

"Those feelings are, like you said, almost like a drug. Once the pact is complete, they might vanish. They might not be real."

He looks up at me and I see the shine of tears in his eyes and realize that, for whatever reason, that possibility really has him scared.

"Sam," I sigh, brushing the silky black hair away from his face. "I'll tell you a secret, okay? I wanted you before you kissed me the first time—before we made that pact. I'd bet you anything I'll still want you once it's complete."

"Anything?" he asks, somehow managing to sound hopeful, seductive, and teary at the same time.

"Anything," I promise.

"You know it's not wise to make deals with devils," he smirks, sniffing and scrubbing his sleeve across his nose.

"I've been called a lot of things," I say, leaning over to kiss his temple. "'Wise' is not among them."

He looks over at me, and his eyes go to my mouth. "Alright, Ian Foley," he says softly. "Tell me what you want."

~✯~

We undress one another slowly, almost like a ritual, until we stand together naked and bare.

He steps forward, taking my hands in his, and then pulls me with him to the bed.

Lying back, he lets me see him, touch him, explore his beautiful body with my eyes and mouth and hands. I make him moan and sigh and shiver, kiss the tears from his eyes and lick the salt from his skin.

When I've made him spill his essence twice, I kiss him once more, thinking to finish myself with a few quick thrusts into my fist, but he arches against me and makes me stop.

"Ian—wait. I want more," he says, and I realize the little demon is still half hard.

"More?" I ask. To be honest, I'm getting a little tired from leaning over him.

"Yes. I want...more."

"Oh." My mind jams as I realize what he means. "Now?"

He nods.

"I...I'm not sure I have the right...supplies," I say. I'm a safe-sex kind of guy, usually.

"I don't mind. I've never been with anyone, and you..."

"I'm clean, but still..."

"Please?"

I sit up and brush my hands through my hair. "Okay, but...I don't want to hurt you, and..."

"I think we have enough...slickness...between us now to make it work," he says.

"Uh..."

He rolls over and lifts himself onto his knees, resting forward on his folded arms.

At that sight, the thinking part of my brain stops working.

Somehow, he's right, and I'm able to enter him, though I take it as slow as I can.

Apparently a little too slow.

I'm about half-way there when he rocks back against me with a sudden thrust, taking me as deep as I'll go, and utters a soft little cry that gets me right in the balls. After that, it's fast and hard—a little on the rough side, even though I'm barely doing half the work.

Finally, he gasps and arches with release, my name on his lips, and a moment later I do the same, collapsing over him and crushing him beneath me into the quilt. After a minute of heavy breath-catching, I roll off him and lie at his side.

"Holy fuck," I say when I can speak.

"You got that right," he grins.

We lie for a moment in silence, and I study his face—his sweet, beautiful features—and examine the feelings in my heart.

"You know what?" I say, pretending to frown. "I don't think that worked. I don't feel any different."

His brows pinch in a frown.

"But...it was what you wanted, right?" he asks, sounding a little hurt.

"Yeah. But I guess there's something else I want even more."

"What?"

He half lifts himself on one elbow, and I hope he's not thinking that what I want is another round. He might be twenty-one, but I'm sure not. 

"What?" he presses. "Tell me."

Feeling suddenly shy and a little selfish, I'm not sure that I dare to say it out loud; but I do anyway—like the man I wish I was.

"I want you to love me," I say, "for as long as you'll let me have you."

For a moment he looks shocked, and I wonder if I've messed up after all.

Then, he smiles and turns as golden as the sun.