Page 17 of Her Demon Daddy

“I have a good teacher,” I respond through heavy breaths.

My heart is racing, and I feel myself starting to sweat. We continue to spar in the arena, backing away and toward each other to try and predict each other’s movements. I’m learning that he likes to hit low, so I try to go high when I can.

For most of the sparring session, he wins our duels. When he begins this round, I try to dodge his hit and trip over myself, falling onto the sand. He stands over me and quickly places the tip of his stick onto my neck, pressing down on it lightly.

Something surges through me, more than the typical adrenaline. It’s almost a feeling of want, a desire for him to press it deeper onto me. It’s a dark thought coupled with an odd sense of sexual tension. I shake it off, telling myself I’m dizzy from the fight and hungry since we’ve only snacked today.

He removes the stick from my neck and extends a hand to me. I grab it and stand up, feeling his cold hand wrap around mine. I haven’t touched him before, at least not enough to notice how much his touch sends shivers through my body. Again, I tell myself it’s the adrenaline.

I’ve been through a lot since I’ve been here, and I wouldn’t be surprised if my body and mind are playing tricks on me. We circle each other again, and I try to peer deeper into his hood, but all I see is darkness. What trips me up when I think about his face under the hood is I can never tell which part of me he’s looking at, if he’s looking at all.

I think he’s about to strike, but he holds out a hand instead, motioning for me to lower my weapon. I exhale and wipe the sweat from my brow, slightly grateful that he’s had enough. My muscles are starting to ache, and sweat is dripping through the tips of my hair.

“Clean yourself up,” he states as he takes my stick from me. “You’ll have to be pristine for dinner tonight.”

Dinner?I watch him walk to the wall and hang up our rods. We never have dinner together. Typically, he has it served to me in the new room he’s gifted me. I stare at him with confusion and cross my arms, leaning my weight on my right leg.

“Will we be eating in one of our rooms?” I ask slowly.

“No,” he turns around to face me. “You’ll be joining me in the grand dining room.”

My heart thuds as I wonder why he wants me to be in the dining room. The nervous part of me thinks maybe it’s something bad. Perhaps he’s bored of me and wants to give me a last supper before he takes my soul. The rational piece of my mind tells me it’s just a dinner, not a death sentence.

All I can do is nod before walking out of the arena and up to the main level. He doesn’t follow me, and I wonder why, but I don’t dare to turn around. The fear rushing through me is too severe to look back.

I climb to the third floor and walk to my room, closing the door behind me and leaning against it as I sigh and close my eyes. When I open them, I look at the door on the other side of my room and grin slightly.

Asmodeus put me in the room next to his, and the door joins to his chambers. He told me he would never use it unless I knock on it first if I ever need something. Knowing he’s available anytime is nice, but a small part of me wishes he would use it unexpectedly. I don’t know where these racy parts of myself are coming from, but I shove them down as I notice a dress on my bed.

I walk toward it and notice it’s black and sleek with gold specks on it. It looks expensive, and the fabric is smooth. It has one shoulder strap and a cutout on the side of the torso atop the train on the bottom. It’s as racy as this new side of me, but I guess this is the demon’s way.

I hear a knock on the door and open it, being greeted by Drar'ran with a kind smile.

“I’m here to get you ready, miss,” he states in his dark voice.

“Thank you, Drar'ran,” I say as he walks inside.

It’s still odd to undress and be cared for by a blind servant, but he’s very respectful and does an excellent job of caring for me. Most mornings, he'll wake me up and tell me where Asmodeus wants me to meet him, being informative and helpful if I forget my way around the castle in the morning.

I shower, and I wonder about dinner again while the hot water hits my face. It seems very formal, and part of me is praying we don’t have any surprise guests. I’m not sure I’m ready to meet another demon. they already surround me.

I get out, and Drar'ran fits my dress onto me. Looking in the mirror, I’m stunned by how well it fits. I’ve never worn something that makes me feel sexy before, but I like the feeling of power the dress gives me. The powerful feeling strengthens when he pulls out the stilettos from under the bed. I feel like a sexy, confident woman instead of a captive who has lost considerable weight in a dungeon.

Drar'ran braids my hair as my mind races faster. Before I can calm down, he leads me out of the room and down the steps. My heart pounds in my chest, and my palms sweat, but I keep my head high as we approach the dining room doors. Here we go.

10

ASMODEUS

The swirls lining the dining room table turn upward and toward the center. I’ve never noticed them before, but I’ve been sitting and staring blankly at them for at least an hour now. The more time that passes, the more stupid I feel. Why did I have to ask her to dinner? She must be wondering what the occasion is, and I’ve debated making up a false holiday to excuse my weird behavior.

I’ve felt more of an attraction forming toward her for the last few weeks, something I don’t know that I’ve ever felt before. She feels like a drug to me. All I want is more. More time, more conversations, more company. Tracing the swirls on the table with my finger, I think about earlier in the arena.

There was a moment when she was on the ground, looking up at me, where I swore I saw something flicker through her eyes, a moment of attraction. That, coupled with her seeming excited to see me each morning, gives me hope, even if it is false, a fictional tale in my mind.

This is the worst place for a woman like her to be. A human shouldn’t be surrounded by these many demons consistently. Moreso, it’s a worse idea for her to be so close to the King of them all. I also know if the demons residing in this castle, or this planet, found out I was having dalliances with a human, they would rebel against me quickly.

There were two specific instances when I reamed out my brothers and other demons for taking human brides. I always thought it was disrespectful to our kind to mate with them. Humans used to be nothing more than objects to me, useless flesh capsules that should be thrown aside, almost how Tolmond talked about her the other day.