Page 82 of Prince of Demons
“Hmm, a bare minimum? I’m intrigued. What else do you require from a suitor, sweet Georgina?” He moved her easily around the floor, making the others step out of their way. She felt their fury, though it was squarely aimed at Arduk, not her.
She arched an eyebrow at him. He was looking at her with equal measures of interest and amusement. She was beginning to get the uncomfortable impression he saw her as something akin to an exotic pet throwing a hissy fit in captivity. “Oh, you think I’m going to do the work for you? You’re a demon lord. I’d think you’d be able to do better than your average human man putting in bare minimum first date effort.”
This time, the rumble of his laugh was accompanied by a gleam of challenge in his dark eyes. “Oh, I most certainly am able to. Now, let me see… If you pick me, pretty Georgina, I will shower you with adoration. Not a day will pass without my expressing my gratitude that you are mine. I will kiss every one of your fingers, your toes. And I will kiss you between the legs before every mounting.”
Heat flamed her cheeks as discomfort crawled up her spine. “Really? That’s your idea of courting?”
His smile heated. “Naturally. You’ll be spending a lot of time underneath me. I want you to know that I will ensure that time is… pleasurable to you.”
Why was it always about sex with demons.
“That’s great. And how about if I tell you ‘no’? Will you respect that?”
Arduk’s gaze remained fixed on hers. “Sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” She narrowed her eyes at him.
“You have a lot of fire, my lovely. It’s… refreshing. I suspect you would grow quite bored with a mate who caved to your every command, not to mention… it’s an unnatural state for a female to dictate the terms of mating. So yes, Georgina. Sometimes I will respect your no. And sometimes, you will learn to enjoy the female pleasure of complete submission.”
Considering her experience of Hell, it shouldn’t feel like a punch to the gut to be told he would sometimes rape her. But it did.
She’d been a victim then—small and helpless and tricked into signing a contract out of desperation. Here she was, in the prince’s hall, in her beautiful dress, spine straight, head held high, and powerful suitors vying for their five minutes of her time… and this demon lord still felt completely comfortable telling her to her face that he planned on ignoring her ‘no’ when it suited him.
He had to know it would do nothing to endear him to her, but he still smiled down at her, confident that this would not make her reject him.
Before she could make her mouth produce anything more than a wheezing sound, another lord stepped in between them, closing a firm hand around Arduk’s biceps. “Your time is up. Step aside.”
The black-haired demon’s lip curled up in a silent snarl at the other’s touch. The music stopped abruptly. “Get your hand off me, or lose it. Your choice.”
“Arduk. Play nice. You’ve had your allotted time. It’s Iye’s turn to court the Breeder.” The deceptively gentle chastising didn’t come from Kesh, but from Governor Maell.
Arduk’s nostrils flared wider, but after a tense moment, he released his grip on her waist and stepped back, allowing the other demon to take his place.
“My beautiful lady, I am Iye.” The demon took her hand in his, bowed deep, and placed a light kiss on her fingers. “Lord of the territory you know as Washington State. It’s an honor to meet you.”
“Um… hi.” She tried to bring her focus from the unsettling moments with Arduk to her present suitor. “Nice to meet you, too.”
“Would you care to continue dancing?”
At least he was polite.
“Sure, why not.”
He placed a hand on her hip and took her other in his, pulling her in closer—still keeping just enough of a respectful distance between them. New music flowed through the hall, a low drumbeat unlike any she’d heard before.
“Arduk gave you a taste of the music from his youth—this is from mine,” Iye said, his dark eyes on hers, drinking in her every expression.
“Oh. It’s… beautiful, but very different from anything I’ve experienced.” She frowned slightly, trying to decipher the rhythm. It went up her spine, almost primal in its nature.
“It would be. I was born more than two thousand years before you graced this Earth, my lady.”
“Wait—two thousand years ago?!” Georgia gaped up at the deceptively youthful-looking being. “That’s… wait, is that… normal?” It struck her that she hadn’t asked Kesh his age. She’d assumed he was around her age, but in hindsight… Perhaps that was why he found it so easy to detach from what they’d shared. If he were anywhere close to this lord’s age, perhaps their time together barely registered as more than a blip in his conscience.
Without thought, she glanced up at the throne. He wasn’t even looking in her direction. His focus was on his father, who stood in front of the prince, bent to whisper something into his son’s ear.
“Normal? Perhaps not quite. It is not common to reach my age. The older we get, the stronger our inherent power grows. There is… let’s call it incentive to keep your rivals from growing too aged.” Iye’s smile held little warmth. “Unfortunately for my enemies, I didn’t prove exactly easy to kill. And now I am among the eldest demons on this continent.”
“That’s, uh, quite an age gap.” Georgia glanced at him before looking back up toward the prince and his father. Kesh’s nails were dug into the armrests of the throne, drawing deep grooves into the wood. Whatever he was being told, it clearly wasn’t sitting well. Probably something about their stupid war. “I’m not really sure what we would talk about. I must seem like a toddler to you.”
