BRAVING THE DARKNESS: One Night With The Demon King
BENEATH HER DARKNESS: The Alpha’s Little Demon Book 2
Chapter 45 (2) – A Heart’s Desire
PATREA.
How would I tell Lucius I could not bear a child anymore? That after I gave birth to Adora, I tinkered on my uterus to make sure that if Lucien were successful in s*e*xually assaulting me, I would not carry a demon child?
I saw Lucius’ eyes, and he was excited when he told me about wanting to have one. I knew from the beginning he was not the father-material type, but something in him changed when Lucy and Adan’s son, Luther, was born.
It broke my heart that I would not be able to give it to him, and I had no idea how to tell him. “Then Luther will have two kingdoms to rule.” He said when I asked him what if we couldn’t produce a child. But the way he was smiling, I was sure he thought it was just a theoretical question.
Lucius then captured my lips and began kissing me softly It took a while before I was able to compose myself and push any negative thoughts out of my head. My arms coiled around his neck, and I began kissing him back.
I felt his hand squeeze my ass, and I knew he wanted to take this further, and I didn’t mind. I wanted Lucius too. But before we could do more, someone cleared their throat as a strong aura swirled around the room.
My arms automatically untangled from his neck, and he instinctively placed me behind him. And I was just staring at someone sitting on a couch. I had never seen him before, but with the aura he was emitting and the way Lucius bowed his head in his direction, I think I knew who he was.
“King Hades.” Lucius’ acknowledged him before his hand went to my back and he slightly pushed me forward so I would stand beside him. “Meet my queen, Queen Patrea of Kalmerus and Athwart.”
“King Hades,” I tipped my head down and made curtsies like what I remembered seeing in the Disney movies when I was younger. I had no idea what I just did, but maybe because his aura was too strong, it terrified me, and I went with whatever first thought came to mind.
“Queen Patrea. I finally got the chance to meet you.” He said in a voice so powerful it made my knees buckle.
Guinevere’s aura was strong, but this was so much stronger that I was not even sure I was allowed to look him in the eyes. He was a powerful God after all.
“It’s a pleasure and an honor to meet you, King Hades,” I replied.
“The pleasure is mine, Patrea. Did you know Lucius had asked me twice about you? The first one was to make you his queen and the second one was to revive you from death.”
My eyes widened before I finally got the courage to look Hades in the eyes, as I knew at this point that looking at Lucius would betray my real emotions. Was it because of his wish that I fell in love with him? I had no idea if I would be glad or upset.
“And on both times, I told him no.” He added. It was only then that I let go of the breath I was holding.
I fell in love with him without any help from anyone. ‘But this demon king was not to be stopped. He sought you even when I told him I never had a queen who did not belong to my species. Just as I expected. My demons are stubborn, and they would always go after what they wanted, and Lucius was definitely my demon?
He paused and just looked at me without any expression on his face.
“But you surviving your death after his bite was not him or me, it was all you, Patrea. I will say I’m impressed.”
“Is it because you think I am not capable of being loved?” Lucius asked him, and I could feel the pain in his voice.
My hand brushing against his hand moved and took it, clasping it with mine.
“I didn’t know it was still possible in this lifespan. Have you seen any demon with a mark, Lucius? You are few and very rare, sprawled out over centuries. With Lucija being able to mark Adan, I thought there would be no one to survive another demon’s mark for decades or even centuries to come.”
“You can’t tell your heart who to fall in love with.” It just came out of my mouth.
“That’s why I’m impressed. And I would say – envious. Did you know how many females I had marked and killed in the process, Patrea?” My mouth hung open in shock. Did he kill many?
“They told me they loved me. And I know I did feel something for them, so I thought I would mark them. The underworld needed a queen, and the god in me needed a goddess. But none of them survived. Until I no longer believed it was even possible, I stopped trying.”
“You have a lifetime and an eternity, King Hades. Maybe the right female for you is not yet born, or you haven’t met her.”
“A very kind word to say. But I have accepted my fate to tread eternity on my own.”
I bit my bottom lip as I was lost for words, while Lucius squeezed my hand.
All of a sudden, a peal of laughter echoed in the air. Hades was laughing.
“This should be a merry celebration of triumph, but I was shoving my misery in your faces. Forgive me for that. Even the Gods are not spared from the bitterness of the universe.” A smile tugged on his mouth, and because of that, he looked more human than a god.
“Welcome to the Underworld, Patrea.”
“Thank you, King Hades.”
“Is there anything I may be of service to you?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”
“There’s a question running through your head. Ask away…”
“My nightmares. Will it come back?” I finally asked.
“Lucien had done something to you. He was afraid you would find a way to escape. He made a curse to give you nightmares once you step out of the underworld. And the only thing that could prevent it is his proximity. By doing that, he made sure you would come back to him. But there was a mistake in the curse he placed. He unknowingly included anyone from his bloodline.”
“So as long as Lucius is with me, I will never get those nightmares again? Him and his siblings?” He nodded his head.
“But why, when I was in the same house as Lucy or Lucija, did I still get one?”
“Lucija was not yet born when he created that curse. In the same way, Lucija was able to see you as you were, but Lucius and his siblings could not when you were still trapped here. With the same curse, he made it so that only he and his bloodline could kill you. That was also one of the reasons I thought Lucius’ bite would kill you.” My heart thudded loudly as I tried to take in everything he told me. I already knew the last part, but hearing it again and the possibility of death in Lucius’ hands or of his siblings or offspring was terrifying.
“In what way could she be killed?” Lucius asked.
“That had yet to be seen. I wish I had the answer to that. I would have delved deeper into Lucien’s mind if I knew Patrea would become one of my own. But at that time, I simply didn’t care.”
My eyes watered, but I did my best not to let the tears fall from my eyes.
“You have nothing to worry about. I am here. I will always protect you.” Lucius’ voice rang in my head.
“I never doubt that.” I replied to him.
“I think this was enough for today. Anything that your heart desires for me to fulfill, Queen Patrea?” My forehead creased before my head turned toward Lucius, who was already looking at me.
“He can grant a wish, as a welcome to being one of the Queens of the Underworld.”
“I can make a wish?” I asked, but my head was already tilted back to look at Hades. “I can make the curse go away.” He spoke as our eyes met.
But was it the one I wanted? I opened my mouth to speak only to close it again.
“Make up your mind and summon me when you already know what you want.” He added, and then he was gone.
I was still dumbfounded and just kept staring at the couch where he had been sitting earlier.
“Come here,” Lucius’ tugged at my hand, and my body just followed his words. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me into his chest before our bodies were sucked into limbo.
We ended up in our chamber in the Tower of Kalmerus.
His hands went to my cheeks the moment he pulled away from hugging me. “Are you okay?” I nodded my head. “It should be a merry occasion to meet Hades, but I guess his revelation about Lucien’s curse and his own misery about not finding a female shocked you,” I nodded my head again
“Don’t think about it. Cursed or not, I’m always behind you.”
“What if you accidentally hit me with fire? Or with your claws?”
“I’m sure that’s not what he meant by being killed by my bloodline.” He chuckled. “Don’t dwell on it. You’re not going to die on me and we will find answers.”
Lucius leaned closer and pressed a kiss on my forehead, and it made me smile. Despite being open with our desire and lust for each other, I loved the prudent kisses I would get from my king from time to time.
“Why are you smiling?” He asked, his brows rising. “I didn’t know you would enjoy these prudent kisses.”
“I do.” He smirked at me. “I enjoy all these emotions you were giving me. The calm and wild ones. You’re my peace of mind and the storm in my life.”
“Storm? Should I be offended?”
“No.” His hands went to my arms, and he began brushing his palms against my skin. “Storm, you bent me and made me stronger. Do you know about demon forms? Did you ever wonder why I got it?”
“I heard a few things about it, but not a lot.’ “It can only come out if certain emotions are felt at the same time. Ultimate rage and love.”
“You really love me?” I asked, biting my bottom lip because he was overwhelming me with his words again.
“Do you still doubt that?”
I shook my head. “But I’m still overwhelmed. Like this was all surreal. One moment, I wanted away from here and now I’m back here.”
“I’m not going to force you to stay here all the time if you want to…”
“Leave Kalmerus and let my seat beside you be occupied by some she-demons? No, thanks. I’m staying where you are,” I cut him off before he could add more, and before I could say more, his mouth came crashing on mine as he kissed me bruisingly hard.