Page 83 of The Demon Prince

And that was the reason he whistled as he worked. The reason he meandered down the halls as though he were a hundred pounds lighter.

Even though it had been hours since he’d gotten out of bed, finally releasing her from his arms because it had been harder than he’d expected, Gluttony hadn’t realized that she would walk with him for the rest of the day.

Not literally, of course. They’d parted ways as she jokingly said she should take another bath and he gloated a bit, considering he was the reason she needed to do so. But figuratively, he couldn’t get her out of his head.

No matter what he seemed to do, she was always in the forefront of his mind. And while that wasn’t all that different from the past few months of knowing her, it felt different now that he knew what she tasted like.

He wasn’t even concerned about his body going into battle form at a rather inopportune time. Because that monstrous tongue had done rather incredible things to her, and she hadn’t complained one bit.

In fact, he thought she might have liked his tongue. Even though it wasn’t even remotely human at all.

Still jauntily moving through his home, he made his way to the lab. There were only a few more tests he wanted to make with his formula before he thought he had it. Most of the reagents he was now using had responded well. Though he hadn’t tried to use the black mist he had created, at the very least to see it if would mimic what Greed’s kingdom had created, he had a feeling it would work the moment he tried. This was, without a doubt, the solution to all of their problems.

Though he wasn’t all that interested to know what his brothers had to say about it. For the first time in a very long time, Gluttony didn’t care what they thought. He didn’t want to be the brother who wasn’t the monster. Nor did he care if they thought him to be a disaster.

They were lesser in his mind in comparison to Katherine. She liked him, and that was all that mattered.

Maybe that would change soon enough once he had to talk with his brothers again. Once he saw the disappointment on their features the moment they remembered what he’d done.

But for now, he felt a little better about himself, and he would cling to that feeling like the blessing it was.

Not even the massive shadow darkening his lab would ruin this for him. He refused to look at his brother, who was, yet again, touching things that he shouldn’t. Instead, Gluttony made his way to his main workbench, sat down, and got to work.

“You’re rather happy today,” Envy mentioned as he strode closer. “Why is that?”

“I am allowed to be happy without explaining it to you.”

“Yes, you are. But generally speaking, happiness on the face of a monster is a bad thing.” Envy rounded his table and crouched in front of him.

It didn’t take long for his brother to smell it. Rearing back, Envy’s eyes flashed a deep green and his voice deepened as his emotion got the better of him. “You didn’t.”

“My personal life has nothing to do with you, brother.”

“It does if you’re fucking humans again.” Envy dragged a stool in front of him and plopped down. His massive arms took up too much space on the other side of the table, and that meant that Gluttony had absolutely nothing he could do other than stare at his brother.

Sighing, he leaned back and pinched his nose. “Can I at least enjoy this for a few moments before you ruin it?”

“Not while I’m here.”

“I’m not the only one fucking humans.” He arched a brow. “We’ve all been doing that for many years. You cannot tell me you haven’t indulged yourself in over a thousand years, Envy.”

“Never with feelings involved.”

“Oh, come off it.” Gluttony tossed his hands in the air. “I don’t think you understand anything anymore! You were just saying for me to fix it. I fixed it! Just like Lust and Greed, I am focusing on what I want. No, what I need. I’m with her. Enjoying every moment of her body that I can, as well as moments of her mind. The closer I get to falling in love, that’s the hope, isn’t it? That I will change for her?”

Envy stared at him with so much pity in his eyes it made Gluttony’s skin itch. “Do you really think Greed changed for anyone other than himself?”

No. And he’d been there to watch the whole mess fall apart when Greed tried to change for Varya.

Still. He didn’t like it being pointed out.

Hissing out an angry breath, he pursed his lips in disgust. “I don’t like you pointing this out to me.”

“I don’t like being here as your babysitter, either. But we’re both here and there’s nothing we can do to stop that. So why don’t you just be a good boy and send the poor thing home?”

“I’m not sending her home.”

“Gluttony,” Envy groaned. “You have to send the girl home. You can’t do this, and you know it.”

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