Page 27 of King's Obsession

“Actually, if you want to be pedantic about it, I was the one who killed your husband, and believe me, that was a mercy killing. Fine, I am the king’s consort and if you’re going to insist, it’s tradition…” Dougal held out his left hand, palm up. Conscious of all eyes on him, he closed his fist and then opened it again, revealing six perfectly round pebbles about the size of golf balls.

“One shot of troll spunk each,” he lied and chuckled, winking slyly at Asmodeus when he looked to protest. “Make sure you’re relaxed before using any of that, but hey, no turkey baster required.” Grabbing hold of Vito’s wife’s hand, he dropped the ball into her bottle. “There you go. Have fun.” One by one, he pulled the women closer—they seemed curious more than anything else—gifting them a pebble and sending them on their way. “Problem solved.” Dougal let out a long breath as he studied his mate who was watching him intently. “Is everything all right with you?”

“You protected me.” Asmodeus charged into his arms, holding him tight enough to stop his breath. “From fights, my virtue, you… you… I’ve lived with the fear for so long and for no reason,” he whispered into Dougal’s neck.

“You had reason. Good reasons. Today proved that,” Dougal said gently as he turned them both so no one could see Asmodeus’s face. “Hopefully, now this party is out of the way, it’ll take at least another couple of hundred years before anyone decides to try challenging us again. It won’t matter. We’ll still prevail. But now you can have more confidence about that for yourself.”

“I feel I should do something for you.” Asmodeus’s hands were strong on Dougal’s jaw, his gaze intent. “Anything you want that is in my power to give you is yours. You just have to ask.”

“Well…” Dougal started to chuckle again. “There was one little thing. Do you know if any of those trays of hors d'oeuvres survived? I’m starving and they smelled amazing.”

“Hors d'oeuvres?” Asmodeus shook his head. “My blissful one fights for me and my position, saves my balls from being bruised, and appeases six demonesses who are often more vicious and intelligent than the male of the species. He could ask for castles, jewels, entire segments of the realm to himself and all he wants is a tray of hors d'oeuvres.”

“Yep.” Dougal winked. “I have everything else I need in my arms already.”

There was a definite pink tinge on Asmodeus’s cheeks as he stepped out of Dougal’s arms and yelled, “My blissful one wants hors d'oeuvres. Make it happen. Clean up this mess, and set up the tables. This is supposed to be a party.”

Chapter Sixteen

Asmodeus

“What did you put in the jars,” Asmodeus murmured in Dougal’s ear. He’d seen the wink and heard the lie, but he just wanted to check exactly what his mate had given them.

“Warming stones, they’ll give the ladies hours of pleasure.” Dougal had kept his voice low, but that didn’t hide his amusement at what he’d done. “They look like they needed some entertainment.”

One of the other demonesses who’d not gotten involved came a little closer, her eyes hungrily roaming over Dougal’s troll. With a thought, Asmodeus clothed Dougal and himself, giving the demoness a hard, warning glare.

She didn’t look at all cowed, before she strolled over to a server, grabbing a glass of wine and drinking it dry before grabbing another. “This party definitely isn’t as boring as usual, I should attend more often if we get perks like this,” she said to the server before moving on.

Asmodeus scowled. His blissful one was not a perk!

“Oh, food,” Dougal said gleefully and tugged his hand over to the server heading in their direction.

His lips twitched at the obvious pleasure Dougal took at the simple things. The troll had proven himself a worthy consort and despite how he would like to demonstrate exactly how that made him feel, Asmodeus sat to watch his blissful one enjoy the food. He also understood those at the party needed to see him with Dougal after the fight. Leaving would make them appear weak. It was stupid when they’d kicked major demon ass, but it was how the realm was.

From his seat, he watched the slain demons being dragged out by the guards who’d not interfered. He’d held them back, his stupid thinking they could protect Dougal while he proved to Vito and the others they were wrong to misjudge him. At the same time, he’d misjudged Dougal, and he’d make up for that when they were alone.

His gaze settled on Scott who was tucking into a burger with relish, his swollen belly on display, he’d not bothered to cloth himself. It rippled as the child inside moved. Scott shoved fries into his mouth, then rubbed his free hand over the mound, his mouth moving, only Asmodeus couldn’t hear what he was saying.

Merihem approached and blocked his view, Dakata at his side. Asmodeus hadn’t expected Dougal to call them to their assistance, although his mind flicked back to the scene in the forest when Asmodeus first declared himself. Dougal considered some of his demons family well before the party. Once more, he’d miscalculated how much his blissful one had proven he was a formidable adversary to those who fought against them.

Merihem bowed his head. “Well, that was fun!”

Dakata slapped at Merihem’s naked back, knocking him sideways. “Fun is not what that was. And I’d heal that cut to your face or Peni will have a fit when you get home.”

“Shit,” Merihem muttered, rubbing at his face, then looking at the blood smeared on his left hand. “Good call. He’s real weepy since he had the baby. Anything sets him off and…” he shrugged his powerful shoulders, looking more than a little lost. Something that many would never consider was possible for a demon whose job was killing evildoers. “He’s got something called the baby blues. Though why they call it that when the baby isn’t blue, who knows?”

“It’s all about feeling blue,” Dougal answered around a mouthful of food. “It’s a perfectly normal and natural thing for the body to go through after giving birth. He’ll be back to his normal self in a few days.” He lifted the half-empty platter to Asmodeus. “You should try these. Never tasted anything so tasty.”

Asmodeus threw back his head, laughing at the normality of it all.

Dakata froze, and Merihem took a step back. “Okay then, as everything is in control, we’ll leave y’all to it.” They walked away fast in Scott’s direction, and moments later the three disappeared.

“You should laugh more often. It makes you approachable,” Dougal suggested, perusing the tray he held.

Asmodeus glanced at those working their way towards him, and he stopped laughing. “I don’t want to be approachable,” he muttered under his breath.

Dougal gave him a delightful grin. “Too late.”

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