BRAVING THE DARKNESS: One Night With The Demon King
BENEATH HER DARKNESS: The Alpha’s Little Demon Book 2
Chapter 3 – Let Me Stay
PATREA.
“Let me stay with you and be a part of your daily routine for three weeks – which means I will live in your house and stay in your bedroom.”
My eyes widened before a soft chuckle escaped my lips. “Is this some kind of joke?”
“I don’t joke, Patrea.”
The seriousness on his face immediately wiped the smile off my face. “You’re serious.”
“I don’t make deals as some kind of joke.” He looked annoyed.
“I’m not sure why you think this will work. I just got off from the underworld. For the last six months, I’ve been trying my best not to think of that part of my life, but I wasn’t succeeding.
Everywhere I turn, it reminds me of that place. Even plants remind me of that place. I always compare.” I couldn’t stop blabbing. “There are no plants as green as these in the underworld. And it’s colder here, the sounds are from cars, and not fireballs being thrown at each other… and the creatures here appear to be less frightening. I can’t stop seeing the difference.”
“Enough…” Lucius held both my forearms before his gaze locked with mine, and I knew I shouldn’t be seeing anything in those black eyes of his, but I saw the disappointment in them.
Why was he disappointed? Because I didn’t agree with his terms. Or because I talked too much.
“Regardless if you see me or not, everything still reminds you of the underworld. So what difference does it make if I stay with you?”
“Why are you doing this?”
“I want to f*uc*k you.” He said almost immediately. “Wow! That’s…” I swallowed before I tugged my arms away from his hold and continued speaking. “… a little too blunt.”
“Do you expect a demon to sugarcoat his words?”
“No. But the last aggressive proposal I got was somehow similar to that. And it didn’t end well.”
So, he told you he wanted to f*uc*k you?”
I should be pissed off with this. He was opening a wound, but instead, I kept answering him. “No. He said he would abuse my body in a way that no other man…”
“Ssshh… You don’t need to…”
“I want to talk about it!” I snapped at him. “I want to complain to someone about it. I want to get angry and scream. I have had all these pent-up emotions for the last three decades, and I can’t tell Althea or Lucy. I don’t want their pity…”
“And we will talk about it. You can tell me everything. I’m sure you can never get pity from me.”
I was sure he would laugh off my miseries, but maybe it would be better that way – someone seeing it as a fun experience that took pity on me.
“So, three weeks?” He added.
“What? Wait, I didn’t agree yet.”
“Imagine the days that you can lash out your rage at me. You can throw some spells at me too, just don’t fry my brain as you did with Guillermo.” He chuckled, but I saw his eyes glinting under the moonlight. He looked genuinely happy with what he was saying.
He’s weird. How could a demon be this laid-back? “You don’t need to decide on it now. Just think about it.”
“Until when can I think about it?”
“Three days should be enough.”
I couldn’t help the smile that slipped from my lips. This demon was being too generous with me.
“Are you up to something?” I anchored my hands on my hips as I scrutinized his expression.
“Hades, Patrea! If I’m up to something, I have done it already. Instead, I’m here in front of you, negotiating as if I don’t hold any power in me to do whatever I want. We both know I can do whatever I want at whatever pace I choose.”
“Just that, you’re acting weird.” I shrugged my shoulders and began walking with him catching up on me.
He laughed out loud, making some passersby look at us, and I immediately pulled him back as we were crossing a big window, and it would not show his reflection. Although I could see him in mirrors and through glasses, the rest of Lucy’s household, including Althea, couldn’t see his reflection.
I ended up pulling him so hard that my back slammed on the wall, tagging him along with me. He almost slammed his body onto mine, but he was able to press his palm on the wall just above my head, creating a small distance between us.
“f*uc*k, Patrea. If you want to get physical with me. Just ask. There’s no need to be this aggressive.” He spoke in a hoarse voice and began licking his lips.
I should be offended or annoyed, but instead, soft laughter escaped my throat as I slid past him and began walking when I saw that no one else was around. “I just saved you from the store window as they might see you don’t have a reflection.”
“Hmmm… Are you not aware that the Luna of this pack is a half-demon? I’m sure they are aware she has a family.”
“Well, Lucy has a reflection. We don’t want to scare them, don’t we?”
“Perhaps.” He replied curtly as we began walking.
The rest of the walk went smoothly. This time, we talked about him and how he was doing as the new king of Kalmerus. It was weird that the very place I was trying to avoid was the same place he was telling me about, giving me a glimpse of the changes that took place and making it sound like it was a piece of heaven now and not hell.
Or was he sugarcoating it?
Demons never sugarcoat, but they can lie. Right. He probably wanted to lure me to that place and trap me there.
But a part of me wanted to believe he was far from his father. Maybe having Lucy gave him a bit of humanity.
Impossible. Whatever.
“Everything is fine, except at night.” I let out a sigh as we crossed a pedestrian lane. He asked me how I was coping with human life, and I was so lost in the memory of the nightmares that I didn’t even check if a car was passing by, and it was too late when the sound of a honking car woke me up from my trance.
Blinding lights.
sh*t!
If I had not been caught off guard, I would have done something using the spirits, but I was too stunned and lost, and just when I already believed it was the end of me, I felt my body being s*cked into limbo, and we landed on the sidewalk.
A gasp escaped my throat as my body stiffened at the sight of the swerving car that almost hit us going in the opposite direction. He probably tried to avoid us and got the shock of his life when we disappeared.
“Oh Spirits!” I raised my hands as I prepared myself to chant a spell to halt his car, but a powerful wave of power surrounded me, and the car that was about to flip over slowed down and flipped back until its tires landed safely on the ground.
The car door opened, and the man driving came out crawling and began puking on the sides.
“We should help him.”
“No. He’s okay. He’s not going to die. I don’t feel a dying soul in here. We need to go.” His hand coiled around my upper arm as he pulled me away in the other direction.
My eyes remained on the man, but when I saw him pull out a phone to call someone and he looked like he was talking normally, I didn’t hesitate anymore and let Lucius lead the way into the dark alley.
“No one was around. No one witnessed that, right?” I asked him.
“There is no living soul within a hundred meters of us except you and him.”
“You saved him. I didn’t know demons saved lives unless your name is Lucy.”
“His soul is not tainted. If he dies, I won’t gain anything from him. Except for additional t*ortur*e for you if you thought you caused his death when in reality, he should have slowed down because he was approaching a pedestrian lane.”
“I have no idea you know human traffic rules.”
“Did you think I just spent centuries lounging beside my father’s throne? I traveled between realms. Stay here and there – in the Fae kingdoms, the underwater kingdom with Tritons, and the orcs’ land. And the human realm.”
“Which Kingdown did you prefer?”
“Kalmerus. Still Kalmerus, but I’m going to give the human realm another chance. Maybe I would like it here.” He chuckled as we continued to walk deeper into the dark alley. I was not even sure he knew where he was leading me, but instead of feeling scared, I felt nothing. He was right, if he meant to harm me, he had done so in the many times we were together.
“And the place you hated the most?” I wouldn’t deny that I was enjoying asking him. He seemed to just talk and not filter his mouth.
“The moon.”
“You’d been there?”
“Yes, full of f*uc*king souls of soul mates.”
“You’re probably just jealous because Selene won’t choose a fated mate for you.” This time, it was me who let out a soft chuckle as my hand slapped on his arm, and it was too late to take it back as his gaze fell on the arm that I touched, but I ignored him so I wouldn’t end up being embarra*s*sed for being too comfortable.
He raised an eyebrow and let out the familiar smug smirk that used to irritate me. “I don’t need one. I’ m not a one-mate man, but if she will give me more than one, just for a few days, and give me another set next time, then I will welcome that.”
I shook my head as my eyes rolled. “You’re not made for mates. You’re just a one-night stand kind of guy, in human lingo. Like a bachelor who doesn’t want to be tied up.”
“Maybe. It’s working well. No complaints here. Can we stop talking about me and carry on from where that car cut us off? You were talking about your nightmares.”
I nodded my head and stopped walking, and he did too. I then moved in front of him, tilting my head up to meet his gaze. “Will you be honest with me if I ask you something?”
I had this on my mind for a long time, but I wasn’t sure. A part of me didn’t want to believe he would do this to me, but I needed an answer.
His forehead creased, but he remained silent as he nodded his head.
“Have you used your incubus form lately?”
His face darkened, his jaw tightened, and at the same time, his eyes blazed red. This would terrify me if I hadn’t been around Lucien for so long, but I suppose I trusted that Lucius wouldn’t harm me as severely as his father did.
“I had never gone to you in my incubus form. I haven’t used it for many decades now. Like I told Lucija, I never took ple@sure in pounding a stiff body, although fear exhilarates my soul.”
I swallowed at his answer. But I believed him.
“Does an incubus visit you in your sleep?” His chest was still heaving, and his eyes were still red as if he were mad.
“No. I don’t know. I honestly have no idea. I don’t remember my nightmares some nights, but my body feels like…” I palmed my face and stopped talking, this was getting harder to explain when I couldn’t even identify the exact things I felt after every nightmare.
“Let’s talk somewhere private,” Lucius stated and held my forearm.
I hadn’t agreed yet, but I don’t think he was asking for permission, so I just remained quiet as our bodies were transported, and we ended up in my bedroom at the Mystic Pack’s packhouse.
“Why here?” I asked the moment he let go of my arm.
“If they see us outside, they will probably chat with us, and I don’t have time for that. I want to know more about your nightmare.” He answered as he leaned his body on the wall beside the window, his eyes following my movement as I took off the coat he gave me and hung it on the hook by the wall.
I remained silent and sat on the couch where I could see him completely.
“Talk, Patrea.”
“I don’t know if an incubus visited me or not. I was thinking it could be, but I am not sure. Lucien had visited me several times in his incubus form, so I should be aware if I am being visited now. But then I don’t know. I just want the nightmares to stop.” “Would you like me to stay tonight? I want to delve into your mind if you get one. If a demon caused that, then I would feel it.”
“Do you think Lucien did something to me before he let me go?”
“Could be.”
“Or it could just be trauma…” “Let me stay for tonight.” His voice was firm but not commanding.
“I don’t think I can fall asleep if I know you’re here. I!
“I’ll be quiet, I won’t even breath.” A smile slowly crept onto his face — this time it was a simple smile, not a smirk or evil grin, and it made him look more human.
The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!