Page 13 of King's Obsession

Then start here.

Asmodeus didn’t really need the prompt, not really. He cleared his throat after swallowing the tasty steak. “Where is Wanda? Christa?” He had hoped Wanda would be up to going beyond her orchard. Because if he was going to do this, then he didn’t want to have to repeat himself.

“Wanda, she isn’t ready yet to…” Silas sighed and laid his head on Dakata’s shoulder.

He cursed himself for putting the sadness into Silas’s eyes even as Dakata gave him a withering look that, in their realm, would have gotten his balls chopped off. Asmodeus understood more than most, the desire to protect. “She’ll find her center in the forest once more,” Asmodeus assured, working to convey how much he believed he had protected her and the others from future attack.

He had used the strongest magic he had to protect the forest from those with the intent to harm its inhabitants. Mostly for Wanda, but not solely when he had his own blissful one to protect.

Dougal patted his arm and gave him an indulgent smile, or that’s what he hoped it was. “You did what she needed.”

How did he know that?

Asmodeus blushed and avoided looking at the other occupants of the glade when he felt the weight of their interest. He was glad he was in his demon form to prevent anyone from seeing his embarrassment. “Yes…” He coughed and placed down his plate to reach for the mug Dougal had given him earlier, which he’d placed at his feet.

Drinking deep, he coughed and spluttered for real this time as the liquor hit his tonsils with a ferocious bite. “What… pray tell… is that?” He eyed the cup through blurry vision as he placed it back on the ground, out of harm’s way—his harm.

Dougal gave his back a few slaps and grinned unrepentantly at him. “My special home brew. Put hairs on your chest.”

“And strip the lining from your throat at the same time,” he spluttered, because Asmodeus didn’t doubt it could do both. As those around him laughed freely, he felt a freedom he’d never known before to just be himself. Something he hadn’t felt in centuries since the death of his father.

He didn’t linger over the pain of grief when he could see he’d gotten off track and, for the briefest of seconds, became tempted to take another drink to wet his now dry mouth at thoughts of what he was about to announce.

Get on with it.His human side was bubbling with excitement and pushing to be set free if he didn’t get to it.

Give a demon a damn moment.

You’ve had centuries, now get on with it!

Unable to argue, he cleared his throat, every pair of eyes on him as he placed a hand on Dougal’s thigh. It flexed under the material and the man beside him stilled. “I’m having a ball next week, and you’re all invited.”

The stunned looks and frozen expressions suggested he’d advised he was going to have them all gutted and burned, rather than inviting them to a party. “Why are you all looking at me like that?” he growled, his embarrassment increasing.

Dougal was the first to find his voice. “All of us?” His voice was barely a whisper over the wind and the rustle of the leaves above them.

Asmodeus understood the importance of getting this right. Of fixing what he’d done—if it was at all possible. He shifted on the log, his ass complaining at the hardness. His knees knocked against Dougal’s as he gave him his full attention. “Everyone who wants to come to hear me announce I am blessed to have a blissful one.”

Dougal’s eyes widened, and his lips trembled. There in his eyes was what Asmodeus knew was love. The kind that changes. The kind that left its mark. Not one anyone could see because it was on his soul. Pressed into his heart. Behind those eyes that had captured him from the first instance was Asmodeus’s soul. “You are my blissful one,” he murmured softly. “I am yours, eternally.” Kissing wasn’t something they really did, except in that moment, Asmodeus wanted nothing more.

He leaned closer, bigger than Dougal in his human form, he had to lower his head to kiss him softly. The merest touch of lips. Dougal’s parted on a moan and Asmodeus’s heart sang.

Of those who sat watching, some gasped and others sighed. He was aware, yet Asmodeus kept his focus on Dougal as he eased back only a few inches to hold Dougal’s gaze. “Will you do me the honor of accompanying me to the demon realm to attend a ball in your honor?”

A shuddery breath hit Asmodeus’s cheeks, and he smelled the homebrew he’d tasted on Dougal’s lips. He waited, his heart pounding, his gaze searching Dougal’s, waiting for his answer.Please don’t let it be too late. Please.His eyes begged.

Another shuddery breath and Dougal slid a hand around the back of his neck, his fingers threading through the long locks to hold him in his grasp. “It would be my honor.”

He rested his forehead against Dougal’s and let go of the breath he held. “Thank you,” he murmured against Dougal’s mouth before taking it in a hungry kiss.

Thank the demon protectors, he hadn’t fucked up totally.

“I think this is a cue to leave,” someone said, who, Asmodeus, didn’t have enough focus to care. He just wanted Dougal alone. With a thought, he translocated them to Dougal’s home—their home—with another, they were both naked.

There were no pleasantries as the hand holding the back of his neck squeezed tighter, controlling the angle of the kiss as they hit a wall—or maybe a door while Asmodeus breathed in his blissful one’s scent. It was like nothing else, it both calmed and aroused him to the point of pain. The fear of losing this, of never getting to hold Dougal again, had him fight for dominance. It wasn’t how they were in private, in moments of intimacy, yet the need wouldn’t abate. “Need you,” he growled against the mouth, claiming his in a hot, hungry kiss.

“You have me. You always did.”

The words stopped him, breathless, he cupped Dougal’s cheeks. “I’m sorry.” It was the first time in his life he had apologized, and it would probably be the last, so he made it count, opening himself to reveal his deepest fear. “It’s not that I didn’t want you with every beat of my heart. I—”

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