Chapter 209

Chapter 209: Chapter 209

They returned to the cottage late in the afternoon, and for the first time in weeks, it wasn’t a gloomy gray afternoon. Although the sun’s rays were still weak, gentle red light suffused the entire meadow, casting warmth over the snow-capped trees.

Inside the cottage, Dulce was seated at a table, surrounded by Demons who were watching him intently.

The pale-haired Vampire was so pleased his eyes sparkled; when he had offered to show off what he had learned, he didn’t expect to get such enthusiastic reactions.

"Elemental spells are the most common," He rambled as he drew, filling up parchment after parchment with sigils.

"I have even been practicing the summoning spell," Dulce went on, and although the others couldn’t see it, there was a notable difference between now and his past attempts.

The room grew chilly at his words, a chill that didn’t touch the warm, happy bubble that surrounded him. No one had pleasant opinions of the Vampire’s ability to effortlessly summon troublesome Demons.

"Not that you’ll need it," Kath’tan grumbled, a tentative hold on a lock of Dulce’s hair.

He wanted to touch more of the Vampire, he wanted his marks on his pale skin too, but he restricted himself to this much.

"I am attending the magic institution to learn how to undo a summoning contract," Dulce mused, "I will have to learn more of it to get to that point."

As for the matter of summoning another Demon, Dulce had no plan to do so again, even if he wound up alone, so it didn’t even cross his mind.

Dinner was a light affair because they had eaten a hearty breakfast that morning. Even Caedos didn’t have much of an appetite, which was surprising...

"Keep me company while I sleep tonight," The Hellhound ignored his meal in favor of asking.

Dulce immediately thought of his original vision; it was snowing, and the fireplace was roaring, the stage was already set. "Alright," He agreed easily.

Asael thought little of it, a night spent with Dulce was usually one devoid of sleep and rife with a certain Incubus who dogged his steps.

But Kath’tan and Ruoxi had been turned down before by Dulce’s claims of Vampires being unable to sleep, so their displeasure was expected.

"And who is then going to keep me company while I sleep?" Ruoxi was quick to muddy the water.

Caedos had been leaning in to place a gentle kiss on the fiery mark nestled in the curve of Dulce’s neck, but at the Incubus’ words he paused. "Who has been keeping you company all this while?"

Ruoxi’s eyes darkened dangerously, his gold eyes the dimmest they had ever been. He didn’t even have a smile on his face, so infuriated by the Hellhound’s casual words that he didn’t reply.

"I’ll keep you company tomorrow night," Dulce offered without hesitation.

It wasn’t like he would let Caedos sleep on the ground at his feet, it meant that there was little difference between reading by a fireplace with a Hellhound for company and reading by a fireplace with an Incubus for company.

Ruoxi was only grudgingly satisfied by this, but he wasn’t going to turn down anything Dulce offered him.

Asael’s eyes narrowed, irked now. "And what is to be done about those who don’t sleep?" He expressed his demands for the first time.

Dulce’s good mood was far from dampened, "You could keep me company in turn." He said without thought.

In his simple way he often handled things, he had already concluded that if it was what they wanted, he would keep them company one after the other. After all, Vampires didn’t sleep, it wasn’t like his nights were eventful.

"Then it’s decided." Caedos concluded, gathering the entire Vampire into his arms instead of just settling for a chaste kiss.

The rest of the table was left with a measure of dissatisfaction. Vampire witch Mildrede would never know how accurate she had been when she pointed out how tedious it would be to share a single Vampire between four.

As it always was in Dulce’s absence, the Demons scattered, dinner abandoned in a moment.

"I can walk just fine," Dulce said again, but he made no attempts to get free.

He was taken to the Demon’s room, there was little difference between the rooms, so it mattered little whose room it was.

Dulce was placed to sit on the edge of the bed, he wore a comfortable sweater so he didn’t bother changing out of it. He watched Caedos take off the scarf he had wrapped around him that morning for the first time.

There was a bookshelf in the Demon’s room as well, so he simply rose to his feet to take a book at random.

When he returned with a book, he went to the fireplace, which was a reasonable distance from the bed. He brought a chair closer to the fireplace, drawn to heat and light as always.

Caedos had been undoing his waistcoat when he caught sight of this, "What are you doing?" He asked, coming over.

The Hellhound had dedicatedly worn every single layer of cloth Dulce had made for him the entire day, even though he ran hot.

"I can’t sleep, so I’ll sit by the fireplace," Dulce explained absently, lowering himself to the chair.

Caedos scanned his room at Dulce’s words, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Is something the matter?" Dulce caught on to it.

"I’m wary of destroying your cottage by shifting. If you sit here, I’ll sleep at your feet." He said calmly.

"You don’t have to," Dulce protested immediately, rising to his feet.

"Then stay on the bed next to me," Caedos offered. Sleeping by his mate’s feet was a minor matter, but he knew that Dulce wouldn’t let him.

Dulce glanced at the bed, he supposed he could also read in bed. "But wouldn’t I be a bother?"

"That’s for me to decide." The Demon easily dissolved his worries, going back to undressing.

Dulce kicked off his slippers, glancing down at his pants just before he got into bed. It was fine to sit in a chair and read all night, but lying down with them would be a tad uncomfortable.

He briefly considered returning to his room to change into something more comfortable, his thoughts interrupted by Caedos.

"Just take it off." He said simply like he had heard his thoughts.

The Hellhound was wearing nothing but sleep pants, he was just as bad as Kath’tan.

Dulce’s gaze trailed down from the matching bite the Demon sported to the markings on his arms, his protests dying in his throat, Caedos could certainly not feel the cold, and lying next to the Demon, he also wouldn’t.

He wore undergarments so it wouldn’t be inappropriate wear for sleeping. He wore a sweater, so there was no need for garters to keep his shirts neatly tucked.

With his pants neatly folded and put away, he got into bed with the book he had picked out.

Caedos got in on the other side, and in mere moments, his book was knocked out of his hand, and he was pulled beneath the Demon who was literally a wall of heat.

With a mostly dimmed sensitivity to cold, Dulce could wear a simple sweater in wintertime even if it was thick. Not to mention, he had barely been out in the cold, with his Demons around, he was simply transported from heated building to heated building.

So he wore nothing underneath the heavy sweater, yet he soon began to grow uncomfortable from the heat, barely fighting off the urge to squirm as he was kissed breathless.

Caedos slipped his hands into his sweater to caress his sides, rucking it high up over his collarbones to reveal his slender body that still bore the marks of lovemaking from the day before.

The Demon broke off the kiss and nuzzled lightly against his mating mark before straightening out his disheveled clothes.

Dulce’s eyes were unfocused as the Demon retrieved his book for him and placed it in his arms, right before wrapping a loose arm around his waist, his face tucked into his side, their legs tangled.

Dulce was still dazed, he was half-sitting, comfortably resting against pillows on the headboard. He still held his book and reading was possible in his position.

"You can move as you like," Caedos’ low voice came from his side, sending rumbles through him. "You won’t wake me."

Dulce acknowledged his words, the mark in his neck tingling. It felt warm against his neck, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. His book remained unopened in his hands long after Caedos’ breaths had evened out.

There had been little worry of him needing to move around, the kiss leaving him in a daze for most of the night. If anything, he was more worried that Caedos would be uncomfortable.

The Demon clung to him the entire night, deeply asleep, his dark ears slightly drooping in rest.

Dulce hardly got any reading done that night, but it was a far more pleasant night than if he had spent it reading by the fireplace. As the first ray of light brightened the sky, Dulce was struck once more with the strange urge to sleep.