Chapter 81

Chapter 81: Chapter 81

Dulce knocked gingerly on the right door, looking around like he was about to commit a crime. His features still retained color from the night before, a healthy warmth to his skin.

"Can I come in?" He asked right away, keeping his voice at a whisper.

Ruoxi stepped away from the door to let him in, the barest hint of the scent of lotus flowers clinging to his skin. "Running from someone?" He asked lightly.

Although they had an arrangement of sorts, he didn’t quite expect Dulce to generously present himself for the second time as a meal.

"You could say that," He mumbled, going over to perch on the bed. It wasn’t stuffy on the ship so he left all of his clothes on, waiting expectantly.

Ruoxi didn’t say anything more, turning away from the closed door. He had tried the red fruit that Dulce had once offered him, and it had been underwhelming... He didn’t look too closely at the consequence of that.

He started with a kiss, doing his hardest not to focus on the taste of the Vampire’s tongue. The kiss was a brief one, solely for the purpose of transferring aphrodisiacs.

"Don’t bite your wrist this time," He said as he pulled away, wearing only a simple dress shirt that he had worn to sleep.

Dulce scratched his head, he didn’t remember biting his wrist, he didn’t remember much, his head and limbs already turning into mush. But he would try his best not to do it a second time.

The pleasure didn’t creep up on him unawares, instead, it lured him gently into a dance, until it spun him and made him spiral away out of control, right over the edge of a bottomless cliff, where he just kept falling.

Dulce barely remembered not to bite his wrist, mindless from pleasure, he instead sank his sharp teeth into the sheets which had been crumpled into a fistful by him.

Ruoxi lifted his head off him, licking off the pearly sheen that clung to his lips. He had done a terrible job of not focusing on taste, the Vampire passed out from exertion underneath him.

He straightened out Dulce’s clothes, getting the Vampire comfortable on the bed. The fang-sized holes in the sheets made his gold eyes darken slightly and drift over to the Vampire asleep with a soft sheen to his face.

It was only a matter of time before Kath’tan and Asael made themselves nuisances in his quarters. He was counting down the days till they left, a thought that he kept in the deepest recesses of his mind. To become the only Demon by Dulce’s side.

To his surprise, neither Demon showed up, Dulce sleeping quietly in the room, even as the sun rose higher in the sky, noon approaching.

They still didn’t appear in his room, his visitor being the one Demon he didn’t expect to see.

"Where’s Dulce?" The Hellhound asked as soon as the doors opened, his hazel eyes looking into the room, thus answering his question.

Ruoxi looked the Hellhound over, holding a grudge over Dulce’s unabashed bias towards him. "Asleep." He answered anyway, about to return to lounging.

He moved languidly, all the tension gone from his powerful body. His gaze was lazy, it almost looked like he also wanted to go to sleep.

Caedos had woken up to find the room empty and after waiting for hours Dulce still didn’t appear. The Shadow Demon had pointed him here, but he had been too concerned to notice anything else.

He lingered at the door, his nose wrinkling in confusion then distaste. "Dulce doesn’t sleep."

"He does after I eat," The Incubus said without a care, yawning. He didn’t consider sleeping despite this, choosing to watch over Dulce until he woke instead.

Caedos stepped in and approached the bed, it was too small for him to get on the bed as well so he just sat at the far end. It was the first time he had seen Dulce sleep, and it was an even more calming sight.

"Why?" He asked after a long stretch of silence, certain that it was Dulce who chose this.

"Because if it were anyone else, they would die." Ruoxi humored him.

His answers seemed satisfactory enough because Caedos was no longer inclined to ask any more questions, lowering himself to the ground. After all, he couldn’t fit on the bed.

Ruoxi watched the Hellhound curl up on the wooden floor with his head resting on the bed with scrutiny. All Caedos did was promptly fall asleep again, looking completely at home in his quarters.

Ruoxi turned away with an exasperated sigh, he was anything but patient but he could wait. The others had lives to return to so they would eventually leave, while he had nothing, nothing but a ditzy Vampire who tasted better than fruit.

By dinner time, Dulce was wide awake, recovering in a shorter time. And as always, he was the only one unbothered by Ruoxi eating, seeing it as no different from drinking blood.

The air was tense at the table, the cheerful conversation from the other passengers doing nothing to liven the air.

He took out the meat from his plate to give it to Caedos like he had made a habit of doing ever since they got on the ship. The Hellhound could only eat meat, and there wasn’t exactly always excess and variety on a ship.

It was such a long journey too, it was only the second night, and they had barely left the environs of the west. But at least fish was plentiful so the Hellhound wouldn’t starve, but he might grow tired of seafood by the end of it.

It was an early night for everyone, the table emptying out after dinner. It was strange for Dulce’s room to be so empty, save for the Hellhound on his bed.

He had gotten used to having all the Demons for company through the night, but now it was just Caedos watching him read.

Paper didn’t rustle as frequently tonight because Dulce’s attention kept straying to the dark windows, lost in inconsequential thoughts.