Page 33 of Drawn to the Demon Duke
He tucks it behind my ear, nestling it in my hair.
“You are mortal, Susanna. I thought I understood what that would mean, and then you summoned me, calling me to your world. And I saw you. You are…” Haures takes a deep breath, shuddering it out. “Delicate. Breakable. Unique?—”
My stomach tightens. “Weird,” I say flatly. “To you demons, I mean.”
“Weird,” he echoes, as though the word didn’t quite translate into Sombran right.
“Unusual,” I offer. “Different?”
“Perhaps. Different, yes, but also beautiful.”
This time, my stomach lurches. Not out of a sense of rejection, though, but because Haures… did he just call me beautiful?
“And that’s why this garden is yours. Because, like you, it’s the only thing beautiful in my long, long life.”
Darn. I want so badly to believe that he means what he says. Through the bond—our bond—it seems as if he’s telling the truth, but how can he expect me to reconcile this demon to the frosty duke who sent me off into the forest barely a couple of hours ago?
“I thought you wanted to use the flower to break our bond. That you din’twantto have one with me.”
Haures’s eyes dim just enough to be noticeable. “Then that was my mistake. I wasn’t being cruel. I was trying to save you.”
I shake my head. “I don’t understand.”
“Then understand this: I rule my people. I rule Sombra. So worried that you might be in danger because of who I am, I tried to ruleyou… and Duke Haures I might be, but I never should’ve gone that far.”
Nope. I still don’t understand. “Haures?”
This time, when he lifts his hand, he strokes the edge of my jaw with his claw. Gentle… he’s so friggin’ gentle. I lean into his caress as he murmurs softy, “Until our bond is finalized, until you’ve promised yourself to me, until I’veclaimedyou, youaremortal. You could be hurt.”
“So could you,” I retort. Just because he’s immortal, that doesn’t mean he can’t die, and the idea that I could lose Haures so soon after finding out he’s waited two millennia for me? I get a little loud. “Look at Dagon! He almost died twice today!”
“Demonscandie,” agrees Haures. “And locking you in the dungeon until you accept me won’t keep you any safer, my mortal. And that’s why Dagon didn’t die. I grant him to you as your guard, watching you when I can’t.”
Okay. That calms me a little. “And when youcan?” I ask.
His cheeks hollow as he sucks in a breath. “I won’t let anyone harm you. Ever.”
Later, I’ll wonder what happened inside my brain. If I lost all common sense or something because making a move on a demon twice my size… probably not my best moment. What if he was just saying things he thought a girl wanted to hear, that my read on him was all wrong, that hedidn’twant me… I shove all of my second thoughts out of my head, hop up on the edge of the fountain—thank you aerobics class!—before grabbing Haures’s face in both hands.
Then, looking straight into his glowing eyes, I pucker my lips and kiss him.
Kissing around his tusks is easier than I thought, which is a good thing since I kind of didn’t remember them at all until our mouths were smashed together. It becomes obvious almost immediately that Haures doesn’t have any idea what I’m doing, but he’ll let his mortal mate rub her lips all over his if it makes her happy. And since I do, urging him to respond a little, he eventually catches on to what I’m doing, moving his mouth a little beneath mine.
It’s not a kiss with tongues or anything like that, but it’s still a kiss, and I’m feeling a little dizzy when I’m finally releasing my hold on his jaw.
Haures blinks, too stunned to react while I brace myself against his shoulder, holding onto him before I jump down from the fountain.
My sneakers hit the cobblestones making a winding path through the garden with a slight slap. I tighten my pony, letting my hair settle over my shoulder as I look up at Haures, waiting for his reaction.
He just stares at me, tracing his claw over his bottom lip as though he can’t believe that I did that to him.
A laugh bubbles up inside of me.
Holy moley, I think I stunned an ancient, immortal demon!
“What’s the matter, Haures? Don’t demons kiss?”
“Is that what that is called? Akiss?”
