Page 125 of The Demon Prince

“I will no longer feed from anyone other than my bride.” He wrapped an arm around Katherine and she felt her face turn bright red. “If you need my help, I am pleased to do so. I will happily assist my people who need me to step in, but I will not feed from any other. This woman saved you all, and she saved me as well. We all owe her a great debt.”

Katherine could not be more embarrassed and proud if she tried. Biting her lips, she grinned at him with all the love in her heart blasting out of her being. She’d never been more proud of him. Never been so certain that she had made the right decision in her life.

He looked down at her and then gently touched the tip of her nose. “You are the queen this kingdom has been looking for, my love. Now, let me put you on a throne.”

ChapterForty-Six

Gluttony grinned at the sound of Katherine’s moan echoing through his ears. They’d holed up in his castle for a long time after their painful adventure. They assumed everyone needed a little space, and that had led to a ridiculous amount of time doing... this.

She reclined in his arms, her back pressed to his chest. Though her hands clutched at his wrists like she could push herself away from him. Or closer, he supposed, considering the things his hands had just done.

He had never been more happy than this moment. His woman, sweaty and limp in his arms, the powerful knowledge that he’d just given her so many orgasms he’d lost count at seven. All in front of a giant window that showed their kingdom spread out before them.

Breathing hard, Katherine tilted her head on his shoulder to peer up at him. “Are you quite finished yet?”

“With what?”

“Murdering me.” She wriggled in his arms, arching against him to press her bottom against him. “And you have yet to enjoy yourself at all, husband of mine.”

“Ah, well, sometimes the enjoyment is merely in listening to your cries.”

Gluttony lifted one of her hands up to the sunlight. A bright day had blessed their kingdom for once, and he watched as the sunlight sparkled off the stone of her ring. The clear crystal cast rainbows on the wall, and he watched them dance over the window.

It was a human custom, she’d said. And he was more than happy to have her wearing his mark for all to see. More than just the wounds on her neck that never quite healed. Thanks to Envy’s magic, she was never too bothered by them either. But now there was an additional mark, one that wasn’t made in blood and violence.

Although, he supposed he had killed a few traders for her ring, but he hadn’t told her that. His soft hearted wife was certainly too kind to continue wearing the ring if she knew he had murdered people to get it.

Besides, he still didn’t trust strangers coming into his kingdom. Not after what the last strangers had done.

“Wife,” he said quietly, letting the word roll over his tongue. “It has a nice ring to it.”

“I suppose it does. It sounds as lovely as husband, although I think I might call you my prince.” Katherine pressed a kiss to his neck.

“Prince?” He craned his neck to look at her. “Why prince?”

“Because you’re the prince in my story, Gluttony. The fairytale ending, just like the books we read together. My demon prince.”

Her little signs of affection had bloomed throughout his chest and turned him into a different man. He’d never thought such affection would soften him, but oh, it did. He would do anything for one of her kisses or soft smiles.

With a soft smile, he ran his nails up her thighs. Goosebumps rose in their wake, and he knew how much she loved to be touched like this. Feather light, almost as though she couldn’t feel him touching her at all.

And he just liked to touch her. Any way and any time that he could. It reminded him that she was real, and that none of this had been a dream.

She was right in front of him. Right here. Nothing would change that, even if people came to his castle to attack them. She was his forever, no matter the cost.

“Gluttony?” she asked, shifting in his arms until her hands were placed over his wrists again. “Do you mind answering a question that might be a little uncomfortable?”

“Now?”

“Well, it’s on my mind.”

He nuzzled into her hair, breathing in the scent that was so uniquely her and so comforting. “Anything, my love. You know there is nothing you could ask that I am not willing to share.”

“You said when your brothers met their partners that they...” She paused, swallowed hard, and then charged forward into the question like she was afraid of what he’d say. “They changed what spirits they were underneath. I know you all still refer to them as Lust and Greed, but you said they are no longer those spirits or... emotions.”

“They are not.” He had an idea where she was going with this, but he wanted her to ask it. “Lust is now Love, and Greed is now Benevolence. Both of them were changed once they started to spend more time, a considerable amount of time, with someone who thought differently from themselves. Us demon kings are not known for asking for others’ opinions very often and, apparently, that has been holding us back for a very long time.”

“Ah.” She traced patterns onto his wrists and up his forearms as she thought about what he said. “Are they happy as different spirits?”

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