Page 36 of Drawn to the Demon Duke
And Haures will never, ever hurt his mate.
“Are you refusing to be my duchess?” he booms.
Cute. I’m sure that would scare his subjects, but I’m not his subject.
I’m his true love.
“I’m not saying that. Not at all. It’s just… hey. You and me, let’s start over. Okay?” Stepping away from him so that there’s just enough space between us, I shove out my hand toward him. “My name is Susanna Benoit. I like Bon Jovi, David Bowie, andLabyrinthis an awesome movie that never leaves my VCR. Books are my best friends, and I spent almost half my life translating one. I read a spell, hoping it would work, and it did.” When Haures’s sudden fury transforms to adorable confusion, I slip my hand into his huge mitt, pumping my arm so that he has to shake it. Then, with a small smile, I peer up at him and ask, “You?”
For a moment, I think he’s going to give me one of those haughty shakes of his head. Maybe think his new pet human is being silly, and change the subject to something involving more dead demons that pissed him off.
But then, whether it’s because he’s actually trying, or he’s using the bond to learn me the same way as I’m researchinghim… and I am anexcellentresearcher… Haures changes his grips on my hand, cupping my fingers gingerly.
He shakes my hand again, gently, all while being careful not to jab me with his pointy claws. “I am Duke Haures, Lord of the Shadows, Sombra’s ruler. My people address me as ‘your grace’. You should call meyours. I like your”—His forehead furrows, obviously searching for an unfamiliar word—“horsetail.”
With his free hand, he uses his claws to fiddle with the end of my pony, then solemnly says, “And even if your eyes are dark and don’t shine like mine, they are beautiful.Youare beautiful.”
I gulp, another lump lodged in my throat. “Haures…”
He shushes me softly. “I waited nearly my entire existence… more than twenty centuries… for you to find me. And now that you have, I will never let you go. You made your choice today when you returned without the ashbalm flower. I make mine now. I call you mine, my mate. My duchess. My Su.”
Know what? It’s not the exact ‘promise’ that I translated in theGrimoire du Sombra, but right now, it doesn’t matter. Haures has claimed me, well and truly claimed me as his with his words and the heated look on his face, and for the first time since I summoned him to Connecticut, the bond in my chest isn’t tugging me toward him, trying to make us both understand that wearetrue loves.
Here, in this blue garden, standing beside Haures, I am at peace, and that’s because I’m with him.
I will miss Mindy. Amy, too. Dan… eh, whatever, but my friends… my family… mybookthat’s probably still abandoned in my empty house… I’ll miss them. They’ll forever have a piece of my heart.
But the rest of it?
I plan on giving to my one true love, so long as he’ll have it.
CHAPTER 12
I NEED YOU
SUSANNA
So… I’m still a secret.
I can’t really complain. He’s gotten better at needing to hide me constantly. The maids and cooks know I exist now; I finally get a balanced plate of food instead of just meat. Most of the guards that have constant access to me are aware that Haures has a human mate. Glaine, who I go out of my way to avoid, and a handful of others. Haures’s mage Sammael seems more and more fascinated by the mortal world he visited when Haures instructed him to join him so that Sammael could put me in chains. Because Haures explained it was on his orders—and that he did so to keep me contained during travel between realms since he expected his appearance to frighten his mate way more than it ever did me—I decided not to hold it against Sammael. Besides, he’s the only one who doesn’t seem to hold my mortality against me.
Well, except for Dagon.
Even so, I can tell he’s still iffy when it comes to me being a human woman. He’s satisfied Haures’s jealous side, provingthat he’s only devoting himself because of his life debt and not because he’s into me. Somehow I’ve found myself saddled with a taciturn bodyguard who barely speaks. It’s like pulling fangs here to get him to call me ‘Susanna’ on the rare occasion that he does.
To those that know about me, Haures isn’t shy in claiming that I’m his mate. I’m precious cargo these days. A fact he reiterates by installing me into my own bedroom right next to it, with a huuuge featherbed, and a closet full of the most gorgeous dresses, all in my size.
Turns out, these pair of psychic twins told him that, one day, his mate would be a human. Since he didn’t quite know what to expect, he wasn’t able to provide clothes for me until I summoned him and he—courtesy of this unique bond between the bondmaster and his one true mate—knew my size instinctively, down to the fact that I wear a size eight shoe.
Did it matter that he had no reference for what a 36C bra or size eight shoe meant? Not at all because he was able to describe me so precisely, a legion of talented demoness seamstresses whipped me up a wardrobe and shadow-woven boots during the three days I was in the dungeon.
I don’t know what was the bigger relief: being able to change my clothes at last, or that I took the longest soak in the charmed bathtub with steaming water and soap that left me smelling like cotton candy.
I’m being pampered these days. And if it kind of sucks just a little bit that I seem to spend more time with quiet Dagon than I do Haures, I deal with it. We share meals, and we invites me to watch him rule whenever the throne room is empty of anyone who doesn’t know his secret. Plus, you know…virgin. I’ve been living as Haures’s duchess for weeks now, close to a ‘cycle’ as my mate refers to a month, but while Sombra demons don’t needhalf as much sleep as a human woman does, I’ve yet to sleep with my mate yet.
Haven’t banged him yet, either.
I thought the bond gave me a little relief from the tug I constantly feel toward Haures after we both agreed to give this mate thing a try. And it did for a couple of days. Slowly but surely, though, it started to creep back in. A flush here. A hint of fever, there. My body was achy. My boobs heavy. My pussy onfire.
