Page 31 of King's Obsession

“Of course not, my love.” Dougal reached over the table and pushed a glass of what smelled like peach juice towards him. “Have some juice.”

As he reached for the glass, his senses tingled and he groaned at the interruption from his secretary, Baal. There was an insistence to the tingling that meant it had to be related to business.

“What is it?” Dougal asked all concerned.

“I need to go to the demon realm. It appears I have business to deal with.” He rose and with a flick of his fingers, his attire became formal, regal clothing.

Dougal rose with him and slipped on his large coat that had so many pockets Asmodeus lost count and couldn’t fathom why anyone would need so many. “Will we be long?”

Asmodeus’s heart swelled inside his chest until it stopped him from being able to take a decent breath. His eyes ached, and he sniffed. “You’re coming with me?” he asked tearily.

Dougal gave him a look of alarm. “Of course. I’m not letting you go there without me.” He came around the table and slipped his arms around Asmodeus’s waist, kissing him softly. “But we will need to figure out how long you need to be there, because my forest needs me, and I can’t be away from it for extended periods of time, okay.”

He nodded, sniffed again, and blamed his emotional upheaval on the baby.You better not turn me into a sissy.

Dougal’s lips definitely trembled as he looked away, just not before Asmodeus saw the amusement. He sighed. “You heard that, didn’t you?”

“My love, you’ll never be a sissy to me.”

Another kiss and Asmodeus wasn’t sure why that made him more emotional. The nudge from Baal saved him from answering. Translocating to his office, Baal was there with his pad looking harried.

“Thank goodness, Your Highness, I wasn’t sure I could hold them off any longer.”

“Hold who off?” he asked, then got distracted, watching Dougal look about frowning. “What’s wrong Dougal?”

Baal’s breath hissed through his teeth, but he kept quiet, knowing better while Asmodeus watched his blissful one roam the large chamber.

“It’s… it’s a little… sterile.” Dougal wrinkled his nose and frowned.

Matching Dougal’s frown, he asked, “Sterile? What do you mean?” Asmodeus looked about seeing the gleaming marble floors and walls. The stately furniture that, yes, could appear a little ornate, but sterile… no, he couldn’t see that.

Baal cleared his throat and raised the pad he held, as if trying to attract Asmodeus’s attention. He paid no attention because Dougal walked to a wall.

“Where’s the light?” he asked, rather than replying.

Asmodeus looked up at the stunning chandelier above them. “Why there, of course.” Was his blissful one feeling alright?

“Your Highness, I’m sorry to interrupt—”

“Then don’t,” he snapped, all teeth losing his patience when he felt a wave of nausea roll through him.

Dougal was at his side in a heartbeat. “Why don’t you sit down and…” he looked at his secretary.

“Baal,” he supplied.

“Will get you a glass of water.”

Poor Baal looked confused and terrified all at once. But with Dougal’s gentle encouragement, he hurried out of the room. Beyond the door, Asmodeus caught the full seating area. Not one chair was empty. “What on earth could they all want?” he scowled, using his annoyance to distract himself from how unsettled he was feeling. Was pregnancy supposed to be like this?

“They’ll be here, I’m sure, to see if the rumors from the ball are true,” Dougal supplied, while he dragged a chair from the other side of the room to park it next to Asmodeus. “When you’ve got your water, we should probably crack on, so we aren’t stuck here all day.”

All day was exactly how long they were stuck in the demon realm while Asmodeus consoled those who had lost someone during the ‘smackdown’. It appeared that was how everyone was referring to what had happened during the ball. Many of the old bloodlines families had wanted restitution in the form of the damn warming stones that Dougal had handed out. Word had gotten around in the demoness’s circles, and now they were all wanting some, even if their husbands hadn’t gotten killed.

Dougal appeared to find the whole situation amusing until the never-ending number of demons hadn’t dwindled by hour six.

“You need something to eat, and I need to get back to the forest,” Dougal muttered as the last demon exited the room and Baal returned.

“There are still more than a dozen demons waiting to see you,” Baal said, seemingly having heard Dougal. “I can get a meal for you.”

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