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I’m painfully aware that I have no idea what’s expected of me today. What’s expected of me ever, really, in the demon realm.

“This is appropriate for court,” he says with a nod. “I’ll also have them bring some more casual clothing for when we’re in private.”

The idea that there’s now a clear delineation between mycourtlife and myprivateone makes my head spin for a moment. I stare at the rest of the fancy clothes on the bed for a few silent moments, not seeing them.

Two big hands settle on my shoulders.

“Allie,” Eren says softly against my hair.

“Hmm?”

“I can smell your panic.”

I crane my neck around, irritated at the reminder I truly have no secrets from him when it comes to how I’m feeling. “Well then, breathe through your mouth.”

He presses a quick kiss on the tip of my nose. “I know this is a lot, and you can take all the time you need to adjust. Today is just… unavoidable. My people are worried after what happened to Emilia. I had hoped seeing us wed and together would ease some of those tensions.”

Just like that, a lead weight settles into the bottom of my stomach. Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I nod. “Yeah, I guess I can understand that.”

He gives me a reassuring little squeeze. “After you’re presented, there’s someone else I’d like you to meet today.”

“Who?”

“Her name is Vayla, and she’s a descendant of a witch-demon pairing. She’s a sorceress, of sorts, who tends our archives and was working with Emilia before she went back to the human realm.”

“Trying to figure out what’s wrong with the bargain?”

He nods. “They hadn’t made much progress, but I thought you should speak to her all the same.”

“Alright,” I agree, calmed a little by having a concrete task for the day. “I can do that.”

Silence falls between us as we go about getting dressed, me in my blue gown and Eren in a similar pair of black leather pants to the ones he was wearing last night. Today, though, he shrugs on a handsome coat in a deep maroon fabric. He’s still shirtless beneath, and the jacket fits him like a second skin.

I circle around behind him, examining the slats cut into the design to help it fit around his wings.

“It’s easier to go shirtless,” he says, glancing back over his shoulder. “But the king of the demon realm is expected to look like something better than a heathen when he comes to court.”

“You still look like a heathen,” I murmur, running my hand over the curve of one wing where it meets his back. “Like some fearsome pagan god.”

His wings flare and his muscles quiver beneath my touch, a power waiting to be unleashed.

“Keep touching me like that and you’ll find out just how vengeful this demon god can be.”

My belly tightens at the words, but I continue my exploration, tracing the fine lines of muscle and sinew beneath the leathery black skin. When I lean forward to brush my lips against a wing, Eren’s back arches and he bites out a curse before turning and catching me to him, claiming my mouth in a sweet-savage kiss that leaves me breathless.

“Allie,” he groans against my lips. “If we had the time, I’d tie you to this bed and keep you here for a week.”

It’s instantaneous, the spark of hunger between us. Easy and instinctual, undeniable. Yet, even with the heat in his eyes, there’s also some lingering uncertainty, a question that needs to be answered.

We both know we need to talk about last night.

Still, neither of us seems overly eager to broach the topic, and with everything ahead of us today, maybe it can wait.

I wrap my arms around my demon, press my face into his neck, and inhale deeply. The scent of wood-smoke and spice fills my lungs, and when Eren purrs beneath my touch, something aching and unsettled quiets within me.

“Ready?” he asks, pulling back to look at my face.

“Ready.”