Chapter 100

Chapter 100: Chapter 100

In the few centuries that Dulce had memories of ever since he left his desert palace, he had never been offered intimacy of any kind. He avoided his own kind and with the distance necessary to cohabit with humans, that was out of the question.

He had initially hoped for a Hellhound, expecting a beast with which to spend the rest of his days quietly. Even after finding out that Hellhounds possessed the ability to shift, he didn’t lose his dream.

But his mistakes had granted him something he had never thought of: a species that wasn’t his own kind that he didn’t have to guard against. Demons were even stronger than Vampires so his only similarity to them was that they were equally immortal. In terms of diverting from the norm on Earth, which were humans, Demons were even stranger than he was.

And so although forever was a dream lost to him, he could certainly enjoy the pleasant company he had while it lasted. His optimism cracked at the thought of Asael, the Demon promised to return but even that was temporary.

"What are you thinking about?" Kath’tan’s voice broke through his thoughts.

Dulce looked at the Fiend, his jug of wine forgotten in his hand. "Asael," He blurted out without thought.

Kath’tan scowled at the mention of the Shadow Demon’s name, unlike him, the Shadow Demon actually had something to offer Dulce. "He’s gone."

Dulce’s eyes lost their light at his words, "But he will be back eventually, I still need to undo the contract." He said in a quiet voice.

Kath’tan reeled back, displeased at the beaten-down tone of the Vampire, and displeased even further that it was over Asael. He knew the Demon would be back, no Shadow Demon would agree to leave the contract standing for no reason.

"Do you care for the Shadow Demon?" He asked with narrowed eyes, drinking some more when he shouldn’t be.

He had agreed it wasn’t love, so it wasn’t his place to demand that the Vampire shut everyone else out. He knew that well, after all, Dulce had selflessly offered to remain in the Hells just so he could find someone else.

But where would he find someone else who stared up at him so openly? With not a single prejudice as in those silver blue eyes.

Dulce paused before he gave a response, Asael was Kath’tan’s assassin, and from the start, the Shadow Demon had made his intentions clear. As soon as the summons was undone, he would carry out his task.

But the Demon was also very pleasant company, caring for him on their long journey was inevitable. "Of course," He said without hesitation, hugging his mostly empty jug of wine to himself.

Although Asael was stern, it was mostly out of concern. The Shadow Demon was also distant, quiet, always with one foot out of the door.

Kath’tan placed his jug to the side and closed the distance, uninterested in speaking more about the Shadow Demon on a night like this. He stubbornly refused to look deeper into the irrational possession he felt over the Vampire, it had been there even before he admitted his attraction, there was no expecting it to be gone now.

Instead, he decided to be selfish and kiss more color into those soft red lips that had always tempted him.

Dulce glanced to the side only to be caught and pulled in close, the wine jug rolling out of his hands to the soft grass beneath. The kiss started out chaste again and without urging, he parted his lips to deepen the kiss.

He didn’t just sit back and let the kiss be led, like when he let Ruoxi eat, slowly unraveling the memory of what it was like to kiss someone else. It grew in intensity the longer it drew out and he could almost taste the anger on the Demon’s tongue as it did.

Kath’tan broke away first, out of breath, purple eyes heated. He wasn’t inexperienced, he merely had better things to do than indulge in pleasure but the difference in skill between him and Dulce couldn’t be overstated.

His claws had retracted against the Vampire’s delicate skin in the heat of the kiss, he glanced down. While Demons could protract and retract their claws at will he had trained himself to have them unsheathed at all times.

He had been caught unaware too many times without a weapon, and while his aggravators had no murderous intent, the humiliation was worse than a mortal wound.

Kath’tan quickly got over the strange feeling of his claws retracted, watching Dulce calmly get off the bench to pick up his fallen jug of wine after kissing him breathless.

"I hope I didn’t nick you with my sharp teeth," Dulce said with concern, straightening up with the wine jug in hand. His cloak had shifted in the kiss, completely revealing a pale arm. "I can’t remember my last kiss."

Kath’tan didn’t chase that line of conversation, his possessiveness was already a handful, there was no reason to tempt jealousy. He was shaken by the kiss, he was supposed to kiss the Vampire’s lips a red to match his skin, yet he had been pulled underwater without warning instead.

"Come here," He invited, doing a terrible job of keeping his composure when the Vampire came easily. He took the jug from him and set it aside, holding his wrist to pull him between his parted legs.

Dulce let himself be maneuvered around, patiently waiting, curiously watching.

Kath’tan held his other hand out, "Drink."

Dulce took a step back, protesting for the first time, "I already did-"

Kath’tan already expected the rebuttal, but his mind was set. "There’s no telling who is watching," He lowered his voice to say, "And your trances are a great way to sell your humanity."

The Vampire looked unconvinced, "I can pretend to sleep, you don’t have to..."

"I’ve lost more blood in a single training session than you’ve ever taken from me. I wouldn’t lie to you." Kath’tan pushed, putting in a lot of effort to convince Dulce.