Page 34 of King's Obsession

Four more bouts of heaving and he felt able to take his face out of the bucket. The mattress dipped as he sat back up and Dougal made room, offering another damp cloth to wipe his lips.

Dabbing at his lips, Asmodeus released a shuddery breath, relieved to feel his body behave. He dropped the cloth back in the bowl of cold water Dougal had brought up with him when he’d returned from the forest.

Dougal encouraged him to rest his head on his shoulder as he always did. They’d established a routine. Dougal went into the forest early, leaving him sleeping, then managed to appear just as Asmodeus started the morning ritual of saying hello to the bucket.

He gave a disheartened sigh, trying to think positively. “How much longer?” he asked for what felt like the billionth time.

Dougal’s warm chuckles rumbled as he hugged Asmodeus to him, dislodging the cloth from his neck. “It shouldn’t be much longer.”

“You keep saying that,” he grumbled, pulling a face at the bitter taste in his mouth. He wasn’t quite ready to go to the bathroom yet to brush his teeth. Magic never felt the same as a toothbrush after being ill.

“Did you have a chat with Scott about his experience?”

Asmodeus glanced sideways at Dougal, arching a brow. “You know I haven’t. He only had the baby last week.”

Was it cowardice to not want to actually go and visit when he was concerned about getting graphic details on the birthing part? Witnessing Peni give birth was something he worked hard not to think about. Although he would say the fluffy demon was beyond cute with her gummy smile.

“Then maybe it’s time to go and pay a visit. Take a gift for the baby.” Dougal kissed his head. “I’ve some saplings for George’s garden for Remi, when he’s bigger, to nurture and help him learn about nature.”

Asmodeus grinned at his blissful one and considered how many comments they’d had about the changes to his greeting room. It got more like a forest every day. “If you carry on the way you’re going, there won’t be much of your forest left here.”

He laughed hard enough to rock Asmodeus. “Is that so?”

“It is. How many of your plants are vying to come to the demon realm?”

Dougal blushed and wore a sheepish expression as he shrugged. “They like the attention they get.”

“I’m sure they do with how you have been giving potted shrubs to everyone that shows an interest.” It was quite something.

In the months since Dougal started coming with him to the demon realm, complaints were down. They sometimes didn’t need to spend the whole two hours seeing demons. Dougal had a calming presence along with his plants. It could also be that he brought with him a big flask of his home brew, which was equally popular when he used it as a technique to distract those ranting when Dougal thought the energy was bad for the baby.

A baby Asmodeus continued to keep to himself. His belly rippled under his palm. A habit he’d developed was stroking his belly unconsciously. Something Baal had noticed once or twice and drew Asmodeus’s attention to what he was doing over the last couple of weeks. Asmodeus tried hard not to touch the round mound. He failed, but he did try.

“You’re going to have to tell everyone soon.”

The ease with which Dougal picked up his thought made him sigh. “I want to keep it between us just for a little bit longer.”

He kissed the side of his head. “Whatever you want, my love.”

Four hours later, the last demon had just left, Asmodeus rose, his robes flapped apart, and Baal, who had gone to stand in the open doorway, gawped. “Your Highness, your belly! Oh my… are your pregnant?”

Dougal’s lips quivered, but he didn’t laugh at how Baal never moved his gaze. He winked at Asmodeus, who groaned.

“Yes… I am! But keep—“

“Pregnant!” Apparently, Lady Flora was right behind Baal, and she shoved him out of the way to bustle past him. She didn’t seem to care she was breaking protocol. “Why I never. It’s a miracle. A pregnant king.”

She reached out to touch his belly and Dougal was there, blocking her before she could get anywhere near him. “It’s not polite to touch what isn’t yours.”

His growly possessive voice was doing a number on Asmodeus like it tended to do. Which meant there was more than his belly on show. He grabbed the edges of his robe and tugged them together, giving Lady Flora a stern look he knew wouldn’t faze her or stop her from spreading this juicy tidbit.

More resigned than ever to the news getting out, he saw Baal had remained rooted to the same spot, staring at him like he’d never seen him before.

Lady Flora tapped at Dougal’s arm in a flirty fashion and fluttered her eyelashes. “It’s the stones. I knew it. Do you, by any chance, have any more of those warming stones?”

Asmodeus, who’d been about to snap, just as possessive as Dougal, bit the inside of his cheek to keep his laughter from escaping. Those damn warming stones. The demonesses were doing who knew what with the things—Asmodeus did his best not to think about that—but they made Dougal very popular.

Did Flora think the stones had gotten him pregnant? The demonesses was crazy, if she believed that.

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