Page 14 of King's Obsession

Dougal pressed a finger to his lips, quietening him. “I know your heart. I have always known. You needed to know it yourself.”

A tear slid down his warm cheek, a weakness he would berate himself for later. “What if I’m not enough to protect you?” he whispered his biggest fear. Trembling at the reality of confessing it aloud after the eternity of holding it in.

Dougal kissed him softly. “I believe together we are strong enough to fight any foe, or why else would Fate choose for us to mate?” He kissed him once more, then pressed his cheek against Asmodeus’s, making his heart swell with emotions. “There is nothing love can’t defend. I will protect you, my love, as you will protect me.”

There, wrapped in each other’s arms, Asmodeus believed him. He closed his eyes, and clung to that conviction, because if anyone dared to harm one hair of Dougal’s, then they would truly understand what the wrath of a demon was.

Time passed and the urgency that Asmodeus usually felt to touch lessened with the knowledge he didn’t have to let go of his blissful one like all the other times. It sank into his soul, and he moaned when muscular hands moved lazily over his body. They explored and teased, while learning the curves and dips, which made him moan, groan, and whimper with need.

The press of his body into a soft mattress was but a fleeting thought as, for the first time, they made love in the confines of a home created for him—for them. He felt the blessing of it from the forest as Dougal thrust into his willing body.

He clung to his powerful shoulders, staring up at his blissful one with no barriers between them. Each thrust came with the knowledge this was what he had denied them both. “I’m sorry,” he murmured once more when Dougal moaned through his release.

Its warmth bathed him deep inside. The seed marking him, changing him.

The thought roamed through his mind and was gone a second later as he found his release and Dougal pressed his body into the soft comforter beneath as he draped himself over Asmodeus much like a blanket. Dougal nuzzled into the crook of his neck as he tucked himself fully against him. “I dreamed of this,” he murmured sleepily.

Another tear leaked out of his eyes as he held Dougal tight. “Me, too.”

Chapter Eight

Dougal

Dougal wasn’t going to pinch himself, although it was a close thing. They woke from their nap late in the afternoon, and Asmodeus was still in his arms. When Dougal’s stomach rumbled—they had worked up an appetite after all—Asmodeus zapped up a spread for them, fit for a king.

Yet there were personal touches on the menu as well. Sun-kissed strawberries, which were Dougal’s secret pleasure, a delicious cucumber and mango salad but made with apple cucumbers, not the regular telegraph ones… Asmodeus was showing him in more than words that he had paid attention to those little details that never would have imparted in a rush of sexual pleasure, and that they had watched each other for so long.

It was in the same vein Dougal knew when Asmodeus’s tail started twitching, that Asmodeus needed to walk, so after their food, he said, “I usually check on a few things in the afternoon. Did you want to come along?”

He wasn’t holding his breath, except again, it was a close thing. Asmodeus could’ve used his excuse for work as the perfect time for him to return to his own realm.

Asmodeus slowly nodded and then let out a long burp. “I think I’ve eaten too much,” he grumbled as he patted his belly. “There’s something special about eating here.”

“It’s all the fresh air,” Dougal said with a grin. “Or it could be the company. Come along. Let’s stretch our legs.” He held out his hand, quietly pleased when Asmodeus took it, letting him pull his mate out of his seat. Small things, yet each one went a long way to healing the scars caused over centuries.

They had barely gone twenty feet from the cabin when Asmodeus stopped. Dougal glanced at him, seeing the demon peering at the leaves in the canopy above, his head slightly tilted and a puzzled look on his face. “Are those leaves actually clapping us?”

Dougal burst out laughing. “Yes, I think you’ll find they are. I’ve been with this forest from the start, and over the centuries, the trees—all the living things here, for that matter—are affected by my moods, and me by them. Your declaration, your acceptance of me, was an acceptance of them. That thing you did to protect Wanda? It rippled through the entire forest, and of course, the trees are thrilled you want to protect me, too, even though they know I don’t need it.”

“So that’s how come you could always stay hidden when we played hide and seek? Your trees were spying on me!”

“It’s not like I was cheating. I always let you find me, eventually.” Dougal’s grin wouldn’t leave his face. “The trees thought it was funny, too.”

“Hang on a minute.” Asmodeus tugged on Dougal’s hand, causing him to stop. “Are you telling me that when you had me pushed up against that bark just the other week—on that tree right there—we were being watched by a million leaves?”

“Technically, not a million. A couple of hundred thousand leaves, maybe. The ones over there, for example, couldn’t see, and nor could any of the ones away from our cabin. Keep walking.”

Dougal could tell Asmodeus was slowly connecting dots. “When we were playing hide and seek…”

“Fun times. I’m sure we’ll do it again real soon.” Dougal nodded as they walked.

“Yes. But so, when we were playing hide and seek, the trees were all communicating with you and with each other. They’d have to, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have known where I was all the time.”

“You give off a powerful energy no matter where you go.” Dougal nudged his mate’s arm, happy to be under the trees just walking along. “I feel that power the moment you come through the portal. And yes, in answer to your question, the trees communicate with each other through the roots in the ground, and the swish of the leaves on the breeze, and they all communicate with me as well.”

“There. Right there. See, I was right then. That has to be a million leaves knowing every time we have sex.”

Dougal thought for a moment and then said with a perfectly straight face, “Actually, it’s two million, four hundred and seventy-two thousand, nine hundred and twenty-four leaves. And that’s not including the blades of grass, or the ferns, succulents, flowers, or fruits that also grow in this forest.”

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