Page 5 of King’s Obsession (Obsessions #5)

Dougal

Present Day

Two weeks later, Dougal was wrestling with his feelings and his troll.

The demon had come twice more—the visits were getting more frequent.

The passion burned between them as hot as it ever was, even more, in Dougal’s opinion, although after the demon had gone, Dougal was still left with empty arms and an ache in his heart that just wouldn’t ease up.

There were times when Dougal was out among his trees when he tried to convince himself that those increased visits meant something between them was changing. That his demon was feeling the urgency to be with him, and wanted him with the same longing Dougal felt every second of every day.

His troll was a patient being. Only someone with infinite patience could watch as rocks formed slowly into mountains, before eroding into sand once more. That wasn’t something that happened overnight.

Seeing trees grow from a tiny seed into the tall, majestic masterpieces they became, sometimes centuries later, took a masterclass in patience and the troll excelled at it.

Back in the beginning, Dougal believed that patience was his secret weapon—that one trait he had that would see him through the painful journey that the demon had led him on.

But now, in the war between patience and pain, the pain was winning. Dougal spent so much time alone. His mind was finding it more and more difficult to reconcile his need for the one person in existence who would complete him, and the pain his need and the accompanying rejection caused him.

His screams across the ocean were valid.

He damn well deserved more than the crumbs his demon gave him.

Dougal knew this, even so, his troll side preached patience. That their demon was learning more about blissful ones. He was just waiting for confirmation from his academics.

“Confirmation about what, exactly,” Dougal had raged in his hut just the day before, confident no one could hear his one-sided argument with his troll side.

“He knows about blissful ones. He sees it in his own demons. Dakata. Merihem. Scott. Christa. What can the scrolls possibly tell him that the demons he rules haven’t done through their own actions already? ”

He’s just confused. Scared. Worried. His father’s death…

“His father died centuries ago, and if our demon hasn’t processed that grief by now, then that’s on him for not coming to us about it.

” Dougal thumped his chest. “He does not trust us with the fears you claim he has. He doesn’t trust us with anything—not to protect ourselves or to care for him—he does not trust in our bond.

Our mate trusts nothing and no one. How much more are we expected to endure? ”

It's hard for us both, but we’ve waited this long…

“Answer me this, then. What are we waiting for?” Dougal gestured angrily at the stone sitting where it always did next to his pillow.

“You’ve seen the life he leads the same as I.

You know the way he behaves the same way I do.

His academics will never find the answers he’s looking for, despite centuries of seeking through their damn scrolls, because they fear him.

“They fear the ruler who set them the question. They don’t even understand the context of his half-assed question, so they do what academics who don’t know the answers do best. They dither.

They keep dithering in the hopes their king will forget he ever asked the question in the first place.

He’s looking for his answers in the wrong place.

It’s always been there, if not with us, then with the demons who’ve found their blissful ones since… ”

The realization hit them both at the same time. That they were the answer their demon had been seeking and if they were the answer, and they were still being rejected, still relegated to the shadows of their demon’s life…

Dougal gasped and then groaned, doubled over in pain as his troll finally saw what Dougal had been trying to say.

His shift came unbidden, his troll side needing his voice.

His bellow shook the walls, almost bringing down the ceiling, and yet through it all, when Dougal felt the pain and shock from the forest and the life around him, he and his troll did their best to hide it from those they protected.

Their pain—the pain they had tried to ignore and keep at bay for centuries—had the power to level the forest and all who dwelled there, and Dougal would not do that.

Neither would his troll side, because when it was all said and done, the troll and his human half were one and the same.

Just as it was for their demon.

A sobering and yet painful reality.

Kneeling on the floor, the troll rubbed his massive hands over the planks that now covered the spot where the demon had left his first “deposit”, sending calming vibes through the earth below to the roots of the trees and beyond, even as his heart shattered.

It’s all right. We are fine. It will be okay. You are safe.

The forest sighed in relief, but as the troll slowly got up, and Dougal’s human side emerged once more, they knew there was one last thing that had to be done. Even then, there was no guarantee they would ever be fine again, but they still had to do it.

The demon came at night like he always did, strutting through the deep shadows formed by the trees that were considerably bigger than when he’d first walked the same path. Leading with his erect cock, arrogant and cocky, eager and horny, hunting the fuck he was confident would be waiting for him.

Hidden by the deepest shadows, Dougal watched and appreciated the form, even though he figured it would be for the last time.

The demon had always been a physical match for them in size and strength.

It was tempting to take what the demon was offering, and Dougal knew he probably would’ve done, except there were words burning the back of his throat that had to be said, and the demon never stuck around afterward for conversation.

Which meant the words had to come first—the words that would sever it all. Dougal rolled the demon stone in the pocket of his huge overcoat and then stepped into the dim light of the moon.

“Your hunt is over, Asmodeus.” Dougal could see the use of his name shocked the demon king. In his bid to be the mate his demon deserved, Dougal never used it, preserving Asmodeus’s need for secrecy. “I want you to shift.”

“Why?” Asmodeus looked around as if worried others might see him. “We’ve never done anything in that way before. I haven’t got a lot of time—”

“Shift!” Dougal hardened his voice even as the confusion on Asmodeus’s human face tugged at his heart. “Shift and face me in your true form. I have words your demon needs to hear.”

Asmodeus held up his hands. “If this is a bad time, I can come back—”

“Shift, damn you, and face me, demon!”

The shift came, the demon form towering over Dougal’s human one, fully embodying the king he’d grown to be. There was an aside, a part of Dougal’s brain that could glory in how powerful their mate had become, but Dougal quickly squashed it.

“We have no need for words between us, troll.” Asmodeus came closer, reaching for him.

“This time there will be words.” Dougal scowled as he held up his hand, the demon stone glowing against his fingers. “This tree,” he patted the bark of the tree shielding them, “this one was a mere seed when you first hunted me out. Do you remember?”

The demon took a step back, his head tilted slightly to one side. “It’s a tree. A tree like many others here. Big. Strong. Healthy. Capable of taking the weight of our bodies when we smash them together.”

Dougal snorted. “You have a one-track mind, Asmodeus. It’s on me that I failed to see that.

Listen carefully to my words because they will not be repeated.

I will not join with you again in the shadows.

Our bodies will never find pleasure together again if you do not acknowledge what is between us. ”

Asmodeus’s glower was likely menacing to others. “You seek to give me an ultimatum? You, of all people. Don’t you know who I am?”

“I’ve always known who you are, even before you knew it yourself,” Dougal snapped back. “You are the king of the demons, ruler of the demon realm… and my mate . Acknowledge that—give me that, at least.”

The demon was shaking his head before he’d even opened his mouth. “You don’t… you can’t… the scholars haven’t found the… you can’t say that yet!”

“I can and I will.” Dougal took a step closer.

“I’ve always known you are my mate, the same way as I know you are king, the same way I know now, in this moment, how little I mean to you.

See this face?” He waved his hand in a circular motion in front of his face.

“Look long and hard. See the pain in my eyes? See what your rejection of me and who I am to you has done.”

“I have never rejected you.”

“You have never acknowledged our bond. Not once to others, not once to me.”

“The others…” The demon looked around again even though Dougal knew their only witnesses were the trees. “I can never stay long. They will miss me. Surely you understand this. I have a realm to rule,” he begged.

“And so do I.” Dougal held up his hand—the one with the stone.

“Will you acknowledge, under these trees, that you are my mate, as I am your blissful one? Will you acknowledge that, at least between us, that we have a bond with each other that we’ll never find with another because we are always meant to be? ”

The demon stood like a statue, his eyes boring into Dougal’s, the dark orbs black and filled with an emotion Dougal couldn’t decipher. Or maybe there was nothing there at all. The moment stretched out, hanging heavily between them.

“I guess your silence is answer enough,” Dougal said at last, fighting to make sure his voice didn’t break.

“There will be no more trysts between us. I will no longer be your dirty secret, your casual fuck, your stress release on those days you can’t handle the realm you rule.

Should you ever wish to be with me again, then you will come to me, and you will finally say the words my heart has waited a hundred lifetimes to hear.

You will acknowledge the fated bonds we share that you’ve disregarded so callously thus far. ”

“Dougal…”

Dougal’s heart leaped at hearing his name for the first time on his demon’s lips. He waited— was this finally it— but the demon’s jaw snapped shut, and if anything it tightened.

Swallowing hard, Dougal said softly, “You claim to be seeking answers. So was I, and even though I might not have liked the response I got this evening, I know it to be true, for those who are mates cannot lie to each other. I guess that means our time is done.”

Under the demon’s gaze, Dougal transformed his hand into that of his troll’s, his chunky fingers closing over the shiny orb, covering it, crushing it, the way Asmodeus’s indifference did to his heart. When the orb was nothing but dust, Dougal brushed his fingers off on his coat. “Go. Be well.”

Asmodeus, still in his demon form, shimmered and then disappeared.

Alone once more, Dougal stood, much like Asmodeus had done, frozen in time, not daring to move even a finger, so certain that if he did, his heart, body, and soul would shatter apart into a million pieces.

Throughout the night, Dougal stood rigid, alone, clinging to his sanity with every ounce of strength he and his troll possessed—not to break down.

Not to let go. Not to scrabble among the leaves and debris on the forest floor for a speck of the dust from the one tangible gift Asmodeus had given him.

The one thing he might have had left apart from his memories.

It wasn’t until the sun’s rays started to color the horizon beyond the trees that Dougal moved stiffly and quietly to his cabin, closing the door firmly behind him once he was inside.