Page 13 of Drawn to the Demon Duke (Sombra Demons)

Susanna’s dark eyes meet mine as she slowly pulls herself back to her feet. In their depths, I see calm. I see bravery.

I see defiance .

Suddenly, my cock stirs beneath my linens. I want nothing more than to take it in hand, curving my fingers, my claws around it, drawing blood if only for a little release before I come in my hands.

No.

No .

I want nothing more than to see my mate without her human coverings, laying her out on the crystalline floor, using my body to replace the tight fabrics as I nuzzle her with my tusks, spread open her cunt, and feed my aching length into her chilly body.

Once we finalize our bond by mating, Susanna will become immortal and grow warmer, more used to the Sombran fire. For now, it’s a shock to my senses every time I dare brush against my mate, stealing her ice, and warming her with my heat.

But my Susanna is not my bonded mate. Not yet. And though I had to give her the choice to sever our tie, I know that I was right in understanding that I will never let her go when she tilts her pale face up at me and announces with a dare, “Who says I wanted to be free?”

In an instant, the rest of the throne room falls away.

It’s just Susanna. Only Haures. Our bond singing between us, growing thicker, stronger, unbreakable…

at last, I open up myself to my mortal. My human.

If I had any essence to give, it would be hers.

Instead, I allow her in, knowing that it was her fearlessness in the face of my fury that sealed it for me.

She. Is. Mine.

Just then, the world narrows, surrounding only us two. The prophecies, the centuries of loneliness, the endless waiting… all of it twists into something that I’ve longed for, but never believed I could attain.

It’s love.

It’s possession.

It’s need.

It’s worship.

The gods granted me this female, and though I will forever be grateful, this tiny slip of a human has the power to bring Duke Haures, Lord of the Shadows, to his godsdamn knees.

My mouth waters. My cock pulses against my linens.

My fingers twitch, desperate and eager to grab her and pull her onto my lap. I could feast on her cunt here, learn her deliciousness, send the demons gathered away, and christen Susanna—my duchess—in this very room.

I could, but I can’t .

I nearly lost her. The story told by the hunter says that only he was in danger from the arkoda, that Susanna saved him , but what if the shadow beast had ended her at the edges of Sombra?

I was not there. She is my light. My love.

My everything… but I am the duke. I have a responsibility to my people.

To protect Susanna, I must keep the crown. But I can only keep the crown if I do my duty. There might be times when I cannot be with her, and though I may continue to hide her, it might not be such a terrible idea to allow this hunter to watch over her when I can’t.

So long as he understands that she is my mate.

Rising up from my throne, I gesture for ___ to keep his place behind the throne. As though knowing what his liege requires, Sammael lifts his hands. I glance at him, nodding once, and he begins to conjure.

Susanna gasps.

Dagon’s chin is pressed to the tile, Glaine’s blade hovering over his neck.

I flick my claws at the guard. He lifts the demonkiller, twisting the sword once before disappearing it into the edge of his own shadows. As I stalk toward Susanna and Dagon, Sammael at my heels, Glaine slips away, joining _____ behind my throne.

I plant my feet in front of the bowed hunter. “Gaze upon your lord,” I intone.

Dagon lifts his head just enough to do so.

“Do you pledge yourself to the mortal?”

Susanna starts forward. “He doesn’t have to do that?—”

Ah, my mate. But he does .

Dagon agrees. Without even looking over at Susanna, he firms his jaw, flashing his fangs. “I must. My honor demands it.”

Smart demon.

Susanna uses her wee, flat teeth to nibble enticingly on her bottom lip. “But not forever, right? Only until you, like, save me? Settle the debt?”

Smart human. She does understand why Dagon would feel the need to save her in return, and not because she is an unmated female.

Because she isn’t. I might not have formally claimed her, but I will.

I vow it.

For now, it is another vow I seek. “Do you vow to watch over Susanna when I cannot until you either repay her, or you find a mate of your own to protect?”

Dagon’s red eyes flare. I’ve given myself an additional clause to relieve Dagon of his duty, but I couldn’t have done it any other way.

I refuse to allow my mate to be in any danger so there shouldn’t be any time that Dagon will have to risk himself to save her life.

But should he find his own mate… by then, I’ll be formally bonded with Susanna.

Her immortality will be another shield, and one I can’t wait to bestow upon her.

Soon, I tell myself, waiting haughtily for Dagon’s response.

“Yes,” he grates at last, as though there could be any other response. But then he adds, “I vow it,” and the roiling anger brewing inside of me since Sammael appeared with Susanna and Dagon finally settles.

He vowed it. There is no breaking a vow in Sombra, and every demon in our realm knows it.

I smile around my tusks. “Very well.” Another gesture toward Sammael who, by now, has finished conjuring another length of charmed chain. “Then off to the dungeons with you, Dagon of Caol.”