Page 52 of Dating the Dealing Demon

“Yes.”

“Let’s go. Blink me to her.”

“I’m not welcome in the labyrinth for a while, given the minotaur thinks me a threat to his mate, which I’m not, but I can see his side of it now. I would destroy anyone who dared compromise your safety. You’ll see Meg soon.”

She eyes me suspiciously. “Promise?”

“Didn’t I keep my end of our bargain when you demanded to see Ava?”

“You did.” If I hadn’t been holding her, I would’ve missed the slight sway of her body into mine and her soft sigh as her tension fades. “So Meg’s good?”

“She loves him. She was ready to battle a realm for him.”

Val goes quiet a moment. “Her mom will miss her. They’re tight. Unlike my family.”

“Funny enough, I know her mother. After seeing Meg safely to the labyrinth, she threatened me at the scary end of a god’s candle so I would take her to be with Meg’s dad in the Valley of the Gods.”

“Wait, Ava’sandMeg’s moms are witches?”

“And Meg’s dad’s a demigod.”

Val stares up at me. “Are my parents…?”

“Human.” I stroke a hand along her spine because I can’t stop touching her. “You’re completely human.”

She wrinkles her nose as if I’ve said something distasteful. “Why would a demon prince want a human for a mate when you could have someone so much cooler? Like an elf or a siren or a fae?—”

“Don’t get me started on the fae. To be honest, I thought I wanted a bland, boring bride. Instead, the Fates sent me a wonderfully complicated.” I press a quick kiss to her hair. “Brilliant.” Another kiss to her forehead. “Vicious with stabby tendencies.” To her nose this time. “Perfect mate who will always keep me guessing.” A long, lingering kiss to her lips has us both seeking more contact. My pulse triple-times when she wiggles closer.

“But if you’d ever wanted a mate other than human?—”

“I want you.Onlyyou.”

She studies me like I’m a specimen under one of her microscopes, and I swear emotions the depth of galaxies spiral in her blue eyes. “What specifically would complete the mating bond between us?”

My heart pounds as if it’ll grow wings of its own and beat out of my body, straight into hers. My obsession with this woman threatens to take over my control, my common sense, my everything. “You shouldn’t ask such dangerous questions.”

“Because you’re scared of what would happen if we did?”

“Because I’ll never let you go.” The truth slips out so easily, as deadly as the blades she came at me with.

She sucks her bottom lip between her teeth, and I want another taste. I lower my head, stopping when she pulls back. “What would the levelling up of your magic do? Would it help you win back the throne? Or could it be what your mom meant about us destroying worlds? What would it mean on a magical level if we hook up?”

I fumble to engage my brain instead of leading with my cocks. “Are you suggesting a pity mating because my father put his throne up for grabs?”

Her scowl would make a she-demon proud. “I’m looking for answers. Either you give them to me, or I can speed dial your sisters. Want me to discuss our sex life with them?”

“We have a sex life?”

She tightens her fingers in my shirt collar, and I swear she’d like to strangle me. “We won’t if you keep playing like this.”

I smile, not bothering to hide my fangs even in my human glamour. “All right. I give in. For now. To complete the mating bond, I would need to be in demon form, and we would both have to…finish.”

“Who came up with coming as the way to win magical power boosts for a fated mate? Sounds like one of Meg’s romance novels or video games.”

“I didn’t make the rules. The Fates did. Mating magic has always been sex magic with consent and mutual gratification required.”

“Now Iknowit’s magic since human guys typically wait for the first but don’t bother with the last.”

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