Chapter Five
Later that night, I lay in bed beside Killian. It was his night with me, so it was only him and me. We made love, and I went to shower. When I got back into bed, he was passed out.
Staring at his blissfully sleeping face with envy, I tried to figure out whether I should let myself fall asleep or not.
With a sigh, I rolled onto my back and transferred my stare to the canopy over my bed.
I could get up and have a drink. Or three.
But that wouldn't protect me from Star. I'd tried that route already. Plus, my body had other ideas.
Sleep crept up on me so slowly that I wasn't sure when I fell into it. All I know is that I went from thinking about having sex with Killian in the garden to standing in another garden, staring at a bunch of exotic plants.
Naked.
I flinched when a pair of red hands tipped in long claws slid around my waist and a barbed tail wound around my right calf. Astaroth bent his head into the curve of my neck, his left horn tangling in my hair, and bit me there lightly.
For a second, I remembered to rebel, and I went tense. But then the thought vanished. My body flooded with desire, sending me arching into the Demon King's arms. Hard muscles supported my back, and something even harder pressed itself between my buttocks.
“Seren,” Star growled as he lifted his head. “Always come to me like this. You're beautiful out here, your bare skin glowing in the moonlight.”
Someone had said something similar to me recently. Who was it? Killian's face came to me, but before I could latch onto it, it faded. This was my time with Star. My men shared me. All but this one. The King of Hell was possessive.
Star found his way home, angling himself up into my core even as he hooked his arms beneath my thighs and lifted me.
His cock, larger in this form, surged deep and stretched me enough to make me cry out, but only with surprise.
Star brought me down the length of his shaft, going even deeper.
I reached back to grab him behind the neck, my breasts bouncing with every thrust.
Yes, this was perfect. Pure. No thoughts intruded but those about my lover. I needed this. Had been waiting all day to feel this release—not the sex, but the freedom of my emotions. When I was with Star, I felt lighter. I could be wild. I could be loving. I could even be wicked.
My Demon King stood, thrusting into me for several blissful minutes, driving himself with his powerful hips as I clung to him, my legs spread wide.
I wasn't worried about anyone seeing us.
The garden was his private oasis, just off his suite.
It was full of the plants he favored—things of beauty that obeyed him and flourished under his touch.
Several vines came at his call and wove together, forming a wide hammock large enough for three—or for one woman and a Demon King.
With almost magical dexterity, Star lifted me off himself, turned me around, and laid me on the hammock.
The scent of tropical flowers burst into the air as he hooked my feet into the weave of the hammock, high to the sides.
Framed by my legs, my Demon looked brutal—his red skin a warning that his muscles were more than capable of following through on.
Broad through the chest and narrow in the waist, his physique was a larger version of his usual form.
But normal Star didn't have all the extras of this demonic Star.
Like the wings that whooshed open to block out Hell's sky, or the clawed hands that wrapped around my thighs to pull me onto him, or the barbed tail that rose to stroke my cheek.
The normal Star certainly didn't have black bull horns emerging from his temples, nor did he have sharp canines.
This Demon version would have been terrifying—especially when he grabbed the base of his massive cock and eased it into me—if not for those eyes.
Jewel-green eyes with rings of inner gold that came alight as I watched.
Star's eyes were the same in both forms, and even when he was furious with me, they held love.
Beyond that love, always hovering near the surface, was something stronger.
I wouldn't admit it while awake, but there, in that purely mental world, I couldn't deny that there was something stronger than love binding us.
Souls.
The energy that was us.
All this flesh and bone, all our blood and nerves, were just toys for our souls to play with.
They were the path to experiencing things like love.
Tools for the intake of sensations like the ones Star lavished on me.
My flesh shivered in response to his talented hands.
Within that shivering, a cloud passed, holding a truth I couldn't grasp.
Something was wrong with this. This wasn't real flesh that shivered.
The sensations I felt weren't as strong as they should be.
But my mind blew the cloud away and told me that I was wrong.
I sighed, letting the cloud go, and embraced the pleasure of the moment.
Star knew how to use his tools well. But as I said, these were only toys.
The true connection that we celebrated with our bodies was that of our united souls.
They were always connected. Had been from the moment Star gave me a piece of his Demon magic to survive the bite of the Devil's Dagger.
Astaroth had saved my life that day. He had also bound our destinies.
We'd been fools to think we could ever ignore that bond.
Souls are not toys. They are not flesh-covered bones that can grip and then release.
There is no releasing once souls are connected.
Star had known that, but he had saved my life anyway.
Anu once said that when Star saved me and gave me that piece of himself, I purified it. The rest of his soul was then fated to follow. In other words, I had made Astaroth king. Or at least, king-material. You couldn't rule Heaven or Hell without a pure soul.
I knew all of that there. With Star. That was why I couldn't deny us in this place. There was no one between us, blurring my mind to the truth. This was inevitable. Astaroth knew it, even when awake, but he'd been patient with me.
Until now.
His words came to me from a memory I didn't recognize: “You have thirteen days.”
I flinched as Star sped up, thrusting harder as he bared his teeth.
This is a dream!
Star narrowed his eyes at me.
It's a dream!
He gripped my hips, the hammock swinging me with his movements.
A dream!
“Star!” I pushed at his chest.
With a roar, Astaroth locked up against me, his body bowing back and his hands clenching.
Somehow, he kept from cutting me with his claws, but if I moved too much, I might wound myself.
I went still, staring up at his primal beauty as the dream offered me sensations that didn't exist. This wasn't really happening.
Despite my certainty, heat filled me, Star's cock pulsed, and then, our pure souls merged, his drawing mine into it, mimicking what I did with his flesh. My epiphany drowned in him.
Star shifted back to his normal form as he leaned forward, his skin fading from red to golden brown, his black hair shortening to a modern style, and his Demon accessories vanishing—the horns, claws, wings, and tail. All of it left as he rolled with me in the hammock to bring me into his arms.
I lay my head on Star's chest and sighed. The hammock cradled us, holding us together while a nearby bird sang us a lullaby. It was perfect. I wound my legs with his and decided to stay there with him forever.
“Seren,” Star's sex-deepened voice gave me shivers. He brushed his lips across my forehead. “I want more than this.”
I went still. “What do you mean?”
He leaned back to look at me. “I want you to be my queen.”
I frowned, memories flitting through my confused mind. When I had first gone to him, I wasn't his. Not truly. But now I was, wasn't I? Was I?
“Aren't I already your queen?”
Star lifted an eyebrow, his expression shifting into the sardonic mask he often wore. “You don't know?”
“No,” I whispered, suddenly scared. “Why don't I know?”
He sighed and brushed my hair back. “Because you won't accept it.
I'm here with you fully. I know where we are and what this is.
I've accepted that this is all I can have of you for now.
My mind isn't caging me. But you, love, have too much holding you back.
You can't accept that you want me, that we're fated, so you block out everything that holds you back.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Seren, I've languished in this paradise with you for too long.
You've learned how to separate yourself from your other life while you're here. Your denial is so great that it manifests here.” He nodded toward the wall around the garden.
“You've built walls around us, my love. And I've let you.
I've let you because I wanted it. I wanted you to forget them and focus on me.
I was selfish. I don't want to share you.
I won't!” His grip tightened. “But I want more than this.
I want more than your dreams. More than fantasies in your mind.
You and I are more than lovers. We were never pawns in God's game. We recognized each other from the start. Who else have you shared that kind of connection with? Tiernan? Raza? How about Killian?”
Each name struck me as a lash, making me flinch. Their faces came to me. I gasped as I remembered. “This is a dream!” I shoved him.
Astaroth held me still. “Stop, Seren. I would never hurt you. You know that. Just stop fighting me.”
I stilled. “Star, I can't do this.”
“Answer the question. Did you recognize any of them when you first met?” Star put a finger to my lips when I started to speak.
“No, not Danu's Call. Not even Anu's. You know what I'm talking about, Seren.
It was different with me, wasn't it? You know in your soul that if you'd met me first, none of them would have gotten through to you.
It's the reason they're so opposed to me.
You have special bonds with each of them, but what you have with me is different.
We are the apex. Take away the magic and the whims of the Gods, and we are still here, still deeply drawn to each other.
This is more powerful than love. It's untouchable. It's—”
A chime interrupted him.
Star frowned. “Seren?”
I blinked.
The chiming got louder.
“Seren, don't go!” He grabbed my upper arms. “No! Not yet! Seren!”
I felt myself slipping through his hands.
“Twelve days, Seren! I will come for you in twelve days!”