Seduced by a Demon King

by Heaton, Felicity

  He flashed his fangs at his brother for being so damned crude about his female.

  “Talk about something else,” he grunted as he managed to convince himself to move away from the door and stop blocking Ryker’s path to it. “Anything else.”

  Because he needed to get his mind off Suki for a moment. He was too swept up in her, could still taste her sweetness on his tongue and smell the warm spice of her scent, and thinking about her was liable to send him stalking after her to finish what they had started.

  He needed his mate.

  A sudden, fierce fear gripped him and he turned on his brother. “Do not mention to her that I am king. She does not know and I do not want her to find out yet.”

  Not when things between them seemed to be going so well again.

  Ryker shrugged and headed towards the crystal decanter on the oak sideboard. “Fair enough. I will go along with it, but only because it is good to see you close to happy.”

  He poured two glasses of mead, drained one and refilled it before carrying both over to Tegan. He pressed one into Tegan’s hand and hesitated, as if he wanted to say something, and then slumped onto the couch where Tegan had settled Suki on first bringing her into the room.

  His brother kicked his feet up onto it and leaned against the arm as he swigged his brew, his expression growing more pensive the longer he remained silent.

  If he didn’t speak what was on his mind soon, Tegan was going to throttle him. His brother had a stubborn streak though, and pressing him would only make him clam up and refuse to speak at all.

  While he waited out the inevitable protracted silence, Tegan stoked the fire and tried to keep his mind off Suki. Sitting in his armchair was a mistake. It smelled of her, had him remembering how good she had looked sitting in it, which led his mind to how sweet she had tasted as he had kissed her skin, studying the markings she wore to honour her mother.

  She was no stranger to pain.

  Seemed to have more than her fair share of it in his opinion.

  If he could take that pain away for her, he would do it. He had meant what he had said to her. She only had to say the word and vengeance would be hers. He would slay the incubus for her.

  “What is it like?” Ryker finally said and Tegan looked over at him, catching him staring at his mead as he swirled it in his glass. “I know what every demon is told about finding their mate, but what is it really like?”

  Tegan tilted his head back into the seat behind him and considered that question. There was only one answer that encompassed everything he had experienced since meeting Suki.

  “Unsettling.”

  Ryker looked as if he needed more than that one word.

  “Expect to be vexed at every turn and to feel as if someone has tipped your entire world on its head. The urges are strong, Ryker. More controlling than I had expected.”

  Ryker pressed his elbow against the armrest behind him and sat up straighter. “And the dreams?”

  Tegan shivered, heat coiling inside him at the memories that rose to the surface of his mind. There was only one word for those too.

  “Intense.”

  Ryker didn’t look satisfied, but Tegan wasn’t going to expand. His dreams of Suki were private. He didn’t need his brother attempting to imagine her in the throes of passion. Just thinking about his brother imagining it was enough to have his horns curling again, flaring forwards as his fangs sharpened once more.

  His brother held his free hand up. “I will not ask.”

  Tegan appreciated that as he swigged his sweet brew, but it didn’t clear the dark haze from his mind as he thought about Suki, about how close he had been to taking things further and how his brother might have walked in on them.

  “Horns are curling,” Ryker muttered into his mead. “Furious or feeling a little hungry?”

  “Both.” Tegan pinched the bridge of his nose. “I have little control over myself these days.”

  “Sounds fun.” The glimmer in Ryker’s dark eyes said that he meant those words. “Maybe one day I will find my fated one.”

  Tegan frowned as he recognised something else in his brother’s eyes and his tone.

  Envy.

  He wanted to laugh at that, the notion so ridiculous that it couldn’t be true, but the way his brother kept his focus on his brew and the awkward air that surrounded him said that it was.

  All these years he had been jealous of Ryker because he had given his brother the freedom he had once enjoyed, placing him into his former position in the Royal Legion and allowing him to do as he pleased, never pressuring him as prince and heir to the throne. He kept Ryker away from the castle as much as he could, so the court couldn’t wear him down as it did Tegan, because he wanted his brother to live and experience the world that had been taken from him.

  So the fact Ryker of all people was jealous of him came as a shock.

  “Talk about something else.” Ryker emptied his glass, pushed up from the couch and disappeared behind Tegan.

  Glass clinked, the sound of mead splashing against the goblet filling the silence together with the crackle of the fire. He wasn’t surprised when his brother drank that glass in one go and poured another.

  Tegan drained his and held it out to his right, dropping a not-so-subtle hint.

  “You have servants for this,” Ryker muttered as he refilled Tegan’s glass.

  “I sent him to the gatehouse.” He shrugged when his brother arched an eyebrow. “I will send you away too if you look at her.”

  Ryker shook his head and sighed. “Her claws are that deep into you?”

  He nodded and knocked the brew back, and Ryker topped him up again as he tried not to think about Suki. Had she found his rooms? He pictured her roaming around them, perusing his belongings, her dazzling eyes bright as she snooped, probably feeling a bit naughty for investigating without him knowing about it.

  Would she like the paintings he had selected for his private quarters? He had a Rembrandt and two Monet’s in his bedroom. The largest of the Monet’s hung above the fireplace opposite the foot of his four-poster bed. His mind leaped to picturing her on his bed, curled up on the mixture of furs as if she belonged there and was waiting for him to come to her.

  “She is definitely your fated one.” Ryker toasted him as Tegan blinked himself back to his brother.

  He hadn’t even noticed that Ryker had moved away from him, was lounging on the couch again, his black leathers almost blending into the dark violet fabric in the low light. His brother rested his arm along the gilt frame that ran over the back of the couch and stifled a yawn.

  It wasn’t that late, and Tegan’s company wasn’t that dull.

  It had been too long since they had done this, drinking into the night and talking about whatever was happening in their lives. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been able to sit with his brother and just talk, without his advisers breathing down his neck or the court needing him for something.

  He stood and walked over to the couch where his brother lazed, pushed his feet off and sat at the end Suki had occupied. He picked up her bloodstained white shirt and frowned at it, battling another surge of rage as the fight flashed across his eyes.

  “What happened there?” Ryker jerked his chin towards the shirt.

  “A fight. She was hurt. I brought her here to keep her safe.” He bundled the shirt up into his fist and gave Ryker a tight smile. “Tell me what you have been doing. I have not seen you in months.”

  “I was travelling.” Ryker swilled his brew and took another swig, his eyes glittering as he smiled. “It was good for a while. Valdaine and I visited the mortal country known as America, and then we ran into trouble with some bears in Canada. The prides are large there.”

  Judging by the grin that curled Ryker’s lips, the trouble they had run into had been fun.

  “Then we hit a few tropical beaches, met a lot of beautiful females.” Heat filled Ryker’s dark eyes, telling Tegan that his brother had done more than simply m
eet the females.

  He’d had his fill of them too.

  Had Valdaine also indulged in the females? If he had, it was about time.

  His old friend had lost his mate almost two thousand years ago, but he still blamed himself for what had happened to her, still wore the thick torc around his neck to show other demons he was a widower.

  What had happened to his mate hadn’t been Valdaine’s fault, but Tegan could never bring himself to tell his friend that. He knew how easy it was to feel guilty about things, and how difficult it was to convince yourself otherwise. He blamed himself for what had happened to Edyn after all.

  “Things were going well.” That had his brother’s smile fading and Tegan frowned as worry swept through him.

  “Did something happen to you?” He leaned towards his brother. “Is that why you returned?”

  He shook his head. “Not me. Valdaine wanted a break from the mortals so we went to a fae town and he got a little twitchy. He was acting different. I do not know what changed, and I did not get a chance to find out. There was an attack or something—”

  Tegan tensed. “A raid?”

  Everything Suki had told him came rushing back.

  “Is that what the bastards call it?” Ryker’s eyes blazed with fury and a flicker of curiosity that said he wanted to know how Tegan knew about such things.

  “It was the town near Fort William, was it not?” Tegan continued when Ryker nodded. “My female told me about raids that have happened there, ones orchestrated by a mortal hunter organisation.”

  He didn’t like the way Ryker’s expression darkened.

  “You are not to even think about going after them, Ryker. Do you understand?” Tegan bit out, his voice hard and unyielding, hopefully firm enough to make his brother see he was serious and any attempt to go after the hunters would see him reprimanded.

  “I lost track of Valdaine in that raid.” Ryker shoved his fingers through the tangled lengths of his onyx hair, the action screaming of frustration that was enough to tell Tegan that he would obey him, although he would hate him for issuing that order. “One moment he was right beside me and we were about to teleport as soon as we hit a clearing, and the next he was in the air, flying back the way we had come.”

  Ryker curled his free hand into a fist and growled as he slammed it against the back of the couch.

  “I should have gone after him.”

  Anger flared in his dark eyes, a shimmer of violet fire that quickly morphed into regret.

  Because Ryker had been forced to follow protocol as the sole heir of the Second Realm and leave, abandoning his friend in order to remain out of the hands of a potential enemy.

  As much as Tegan hated that Valdaine was potentially now a captive of Archangel, he was glad his brother had managed to escape. The thought of his friend in their hands was sickening enough. If they had taken Ryker too and realised they were in possession of a demon prince? He shut down that line of thought, unable to even think about what they might have done to him without losing his fragile grip on his temper.

  “I will speak with King Thorne about Archangel, for the sake of Valdaine and also a witch who is a friend of Suki’s. She was taken too.” He stared at his mead as he recalled how upset she had been to hear that and his heart ached to go to her, to gather her close and hold her, offering her the only comfort he could right now. “These mortals sound troublesome. Thorne’s queen was once one of them, as was Prince Loren’s mate. Perhaps they could set our minds at ease about Archangel or could somehow arrange the release of Valdaine and Agatha.”

  “I think you would have more luck asking the remaining demon realms to sign a damned peace treaty,” Ryker grumbled and toyed with the golden tip of his right horn, a sign of his frustration.

  Whenever something wasn’t going right in Ryker’s opinion, he resorted to touching the gold that had replaced the tip of his horn after an enemy had cut it off to shame him.

  Tegan leaned towards him and placed his hand on Ryker’s thigh. “We will get Valdaine back.”

  Ryker nodded stiffly. “I came here because I was going to go over all the information I have gathered in the last month so I could figure out who was behind things and plan an attack, and here you are to talk me down as always. Although, I hadn’t quite expected you to be here with company. Was she one of the courtesans? Did you meet her at the celebration?”

  “No.” Tegan scrubbed his right horn and grimaced as he realised he had missed the celebration. Suki had been in trouble. She had needed him. Ryker’s eyes narrowed on him, that flare of curiosity becoming suspicion. Tegan debated not telling him, weighing the pros and cons, and gave up when he realised his brother wouldn’t let it go until Tegan confessed. “I met her in the mortal world.”

  His brother’s face darkened. “I always wanted you to go there again, to have some freedom, but I am guessing this was not a court sanctioned and escorted visit?”

  Anger rolled off Ryker and Tegan tensed on instinct, bracing himself for a fight even when he didn’t know why his brother was suddenly furious with him.

  “You snuck out,” Ryker spat the accusation.

  Tegan admitted it with a nod.

  “What if you had been caught up in a raid? You could have been hurt or taken.” Ryker gripped the back of the couch so hard the wood creaked as he swiftly sat up and leaned towards Tegan, fire flaring in his dark eyes. “No one would have known where you were!”

  Now the anger made sense.

  “I did not think about the danger.” At the time, he had been too excited to visit the mortal realm for the first time in a thousand years. “And I was not aware of the danger this Archangel represented.”

  “You are aware of it now.” Ryker didn’t relax, remained sitting upright and glaring at him.

  Tegan was aware, but he had no intention of vowing to never return to the mortal world as his brother wanted. Suki was a fae, one of a breed that couldn’t teleport into or out of Hell through the pathways. She could freely teleport once she was inside Hell, but in order to leave it, he would have to take her home.

  Because he was damned if anyone else was laying hands on his fated one to transport her.

  Ryker’s long sigh said it all.

  He knew Tegan was going back to the mortal world no matter what he said against it.

  His brother slumped against the arm of the couch again. “At least tell me more about our future queen.”

  Tegan scowled at him. “Do not call her that. Gods, I wish things were different.”

  Ryker sobered. “Still?”

  Tegan nodded and took another draught of his mead, stood when little more than a sip emptied the glass and went to the oak sideboard. He poured a healthy glass, turned and planted his backside against the counter.

  “Wishing things were different does not change anything. It never has. You have to make things different.” Ryker sounded far too wise, sage enough that Tegan wanted to ask if he was really his brother and not someone masquerading as him.

  “How?” he snapped.

  “I don’t know. You are king… do kingly stuff.” Ryker shrugged.

  It was definitely his brother.

  He was more comfortable with this side of Ryker, the one who merely wanted to have fun and fight, feast and bed as many females as possible.

  Tegan rolled his eyes. “If only it was that simple.”

  “Do you hate Edyn?” That question came out of the blue and struck Tegan hard, had him staring at Ryker as his mind leaped on it, seeking an answer to give his brother.

  He mulled it over as he stared down at his mead, watching it chase around the sides of the crystal goblet as he swirled it. “Not hate. Maybe there is a lingering anger towards our brother… unjustified resentment. It was not Edyn’s fault what happened, but for some reason I cannot not be angry about the change in my circumstances.”

  Edyn had saddled him with a kingdom and his life had changed in the blink of an eye. Everyone had expected him to rule a land tha
t had been heading into a time of peace when his every primal instinct was geared towards war.

  “I had been happy with my life.” He sighed wearily, despising himself for being so focused on his own life when their brother had lost his and the lives of thousands had depended upon him for salvation from the famine. “I had been free to do as I pleased. I led the legions…”

  He trailed off before he started sounding jealous of the fact Ryker had stepped into his life and it looked damned good on him.

  “And now?” Ryker offered.

  Tegan averted his gaze to the fire, seeking the answer in the flames. “And now?”

  He waited for all the negatives to flood his mind as they usually did, but Suki danced into it, leaving footprints on white sand as she twirled, the golden light of evening playing over her skin and sparkling in her striking eyes as she smiled at him.

  She had breathed life into him again.

  He had been so weighed down before he had met her, shackled to his throne and bogged down in the daily business of running a kingdom. Suki was a break from all that. She invigorated him and he liked being with her. He liked that she challenged him and hadn’t thrown herself at him, and he liked that she didn’t know what he was.

  She only knew who he was.

  She didn’t see a title.

  She only saw him.

  He could be himself with her. There were no expectations between them and no fear she desired him only for his throne.

  He huffed, “Maybe it is not all bad.”

  Ryker cracked a grin.

  “You are thinking about the female, are you not?” His brother’s smile faltered, seriousness invading his voice. “Life with her might be good, but she does not know the real you.”

  Tegan barked, “The real me is all she knows. I have not lied to her or been false in any way. She knows me… not the Second King. I am more than just my damned throne.”

  He clenched his fists so hard the glass he held in his right one shattered, shards of crystal slicing deep into his palm as he bellowed.

  “I am more than just this fucking kingdom.”

  His muscles tensed and ached, fangs elongating as his horns curled and he cast the remains of the goblet to the floor.