Page 34 of Drawn to the Demon Duke
Again, he says that with an unfamiliar intonation, as though it’s a word he’s never used before.
I nod.
“But… why?”
Good question.
Um…
How do you explain a kiss?
I tuck a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “I don’t know. It’s something you do to show a guy you like him. That you care about him.”
Suddenly, he’s right there. Taking up every ounce of my personal space, he rests his big hand on my shoulder now.
I have to tilt my head up to see the confused expression on his face as he asks, “You care about me?”
Madonna help me, but I do. I shouldn’t. A stalwart romantic at heart, I was ready to go all-in as soon as he came back. He was my true love, right? I wanted so desperately to believe that my beloved spellbook wouldn’t have led me wrong.
Of course, then my hopes were shattered when, instead of Haures being my very own Jareth, come to whisk me away to the Underground, he ordered me to an oubliette instead, keeping me in the dungeons for days before I had to go into the dark forest earlier—and, now, the garden…
I could say it was showing me the garden oasis that changed my mind. In a way, that has a lot to do with it. But what really tipped me over, urging me to give Haures a second chance was his moment of vulnerability just now. When he admitted that he’s waitedtwo friggin’ thousand yearsfor me… I’d be a heartless human not to give him a second chance.
“Yes,” I tell him, and the surprise that wells up in my chest… it’s not mine. That’s coming from the duke. Despite being open and honest with me, it’s like he doesn’t know how to act when the same sentiment is returned.
I’m Susanna Benoit. I was always the quiet girl with her nose in the book, but when I spent the last two years of high school carrying a spellbook around the school—because the cruel kids taunted me that it was one even before I ever realized that’s what the pentacle meant—I became the weird girl.
So maybe that’s why I had a bit of an off reaction when I thought Haures was calling me weird. I mean, I’m used to it.Nerd. Geek. Dork. I’ve heard it all, and I stopped letting it bother me—for the most part—more than a decade ago.
It doesn’t bother me. Haures, though?
The big, powerful demon edges away from me.
“But I am… also different.”
I raise my eyebrows. “And?”
“I am a beast, Susanna. To my people, I became the duke to hide the fact that I was an abomination.”
Oh, Haures…
My heart breaks for him. It really does. If you asked me, his uniqueness makes him more attractive to me. I like his differences, from the way his large bottom teeth rise up instead of the other demon’s fangs biting down past their lips to his long white hair and massive size. When he says he won’t let anyone hurt me, Ibelievehim.
I think back to what Dagon said to me earlier. About how taken aback he was by my overall humanness. Maybe that’s why Haures and I are meant to be together. Neither one of us technically fit in in Sombra, but if he can call me beautiful, I can appreciate his uniqueness, too.
With a teasing grin, I say, “So you have white skin and white hair and tusks. Look at me. Dagon seemed disgusted by my…” What did he say? Oh, right. “...rounded ears, flat teeth, and dead eyes. If you don’t mind me being a human, I don’t care that you’re different.” I shrug. “In fact, I dig it.”
I always thought that his glowing blue eyes were the only spots of color on Haures’s face. Beneath the dual moons, I notice that his sharp cheeks are turning just pink enough to be noticeable.
For a hot second there, I think it’s because he’s slightly embarrassed—or maybe please—with the way that I hit on him. But then he blows air through his nose, and snaps out, “I’ll end him,” and I know I got that way wrong.
“Because he pointed out I was human when he’s never seen one before?”
“Because he insulted my mate. He deserves to be returned to the shadows.”
My cheeks are probably just as pink now as I start to flush. Now this? This is the side of Haures that just might be my true love.
Even so, I say, “I appreciate it, but please don’t. Not when I went to so much trouble to save his skin in the first place.”
