Chapter 33
ASMODEUS
Simone is curled up against my side, her cheek warm against my chest, her hair spilling across my arm in a dark tangle. I trace lazy circles on her shoulder, watching the light from the sconces play over her skin.
“You're quiet,” I murmur near her ear.
“Thinking.”
“About what the girls said?”
She shifts, propping her chin on the heel of her palm so she can look at me. The sheet slips down, revealing the swell of her belly, and my hand drifts there like it has a mind of its own.
“Tell me about Andras,” she demands quietly.
I hum under my breath. What can I say about the betrayer that’s her ancestor?
“He served as one of my lieutenants for centuries,” I begin. “He was good at what he did. Disciplined. Clever. He did as he was told for the better part of a millennium without needing me to intervene.”
She frowns. “And then?”
I tilt my head against the pillow, looking at the ceiling. “Ashtaroth told me that Andras had been plotting with Belial for who knows how long. Centuries, probably. The Elioud being brought to Purgatory, the rifts, Armaros's death, now Ethan’s death...”
Simone is quiet for a moment, her fingertip drawing a slow path down my sternum. “I have no desire to ever meet him,” she whispers finally.
“He's in the Pits, little fairy. After what he did, he'll be down there for a small eternity at least. You'll never have to look him in the eye.”
She purses her lips. “And if I did?”
“Then he wouldn't have eyes for long,” I deadpan.
A surprised laugh escapes her. She presses her face into my shoulder, and I feel her smile against my skin.
She seems lighter tonight, even with all the grim news her friends brought today. But Simone is humming faintly to herself, her fingers tracing absent patterns over my ribs.
“You're happy,” I observe.
“Hm.” She considers it. “I think I am. It was so good to see them. To laugh with someone who knew me before all this. I didn't realize how much I missed it until they were sitting in our salon stuffing their faces with Forneus’ canapés.”
I love the way she says our. But her words make me consider things. Uncomfortable things.
For years, she was alone, with no one but me. First in that cave, like some pet hidden away from prying eyes. Then in this gilded cage I built for her, however lovely the bars. No friends or family. No one to laugh with. Just me, every day, for years.
If anyone ever did that to my child… If anyone took the babe growing inside her, locked them somewhere away from light and laughter, kept them caged and lonely… I would burn the world down. I would turn cities to ash, salt the ground.
And I did that. To her.
“Az.”
I blink. Simone is looking up at me, her brows drawn together.
“What's wrong? Your heart is beating like a war drum.”
I press my palm flat against her stomach, grounding myself in the life growing inside her.
“I was thinking,” I say slowly, “about what I did to you.”
She goes very still.
“Three years, Simone. I took you. I kept you. No one but me, day after day, for years.”
“Az—”
“Let me finish,” I nearly growl. “If someone did that to our child, little fairy, I would not stop until there was nothing left of them.”
She watches me, eyes wide.
“And I did that to you.”
“Az.”
“I'm sorry.” The words come out raw. I haven't said them often in my long life.
I'm not sure I've ever meant them quite like this.
“For all of it. The cave. The wards. All those years where the only voice you heard was mine. It was cruel. And selfish. And I knew it, and I did it anyway, because I wanted you, and I have always taken what I wanted.”
Her eyes shine with tears, but she doesn't look away. She swallows, her hand coming up to cup my jaw.
“It was cruel,” she says, and I close my eyes. “But… If you'd done it differently, if you'd let me go that day in the ravine, taken me back to Abaddon…”
“You'd be better off,” I say bitterly.
“I'd be scared.” She waits until I look at her again. “I'd still be looking over my shoulder for the next Thomas. I'd still flinch every time a man raised his voice. I wouldn't have this.” Her hand goes to her belly. “I wouldn't have us.”
I blink at her, awed by her generosity. But I also file away the name of her abuser, more than willing to get revenge for the scars he caused her.
“I'm not saying it was right,” she continues, shaking her head. “But if you asked me if I would undo it? Merde… I don't think I would change much. Not if it meant not having this.”
I gather her up against me, careful of her belly, and bury my face in her hair. She smells of orchids and vanilla and warm skin. The scent that's been ruining me for everyone else since the moment I first caught it on a hot wind in my brother's territory.
“I love you,” I murmur into her hair, feeling like my heart will explode from the emotion.
She tips her face up. “I love you, Az.”
I kiss her. My hand drifts down, over the swell of her belly, pausing there because I can't help it.
“Lie back, little fairy,” I order quietly.
She does, settling against the pillows with her hair fanned out around her. I move down her body, kissing her skin as I go. When I reach her belly, I press my lips there. Long. Reverent. Worshipping.
“Hello, you,” I murmur against the taut skin. “Your maman and I are very happy you're here.”
Simone makes a small sound above me. When I look up, tears are spilling over her cheeks.
I move back up her body, gather her against me, and turn her gently so her back fits along my chest. Her belly is too round now for most positions, but this is comfortable.
I pull her thigh up over mine, opening her, and slide my hand between her legs. She's already wet for me, so I notch myself against her opening and ease in. I don't stop until I bury myself to the hilt, surrounded by her wet heat.
“Fuck,” I breathe.
Simone moans. “Move. Please.”
I obey, rolling my hips as I splay one hand wide over her belly. My other hand finds her breast, then drifts down to her clit, circling there in time with my thrusts.
Simone makes a sound that's half a moan, half a whimper, her hand flying back to grip my thigh.
“Just like that, little fairy.” I press my forehead against her temple. “You feel like Heaven.”
She turns her face into my arm, and I feel her breath stutter.
I keep my pace easy, gentle, pressing into her again and again, my fingers working her clit in slow circles.
“You're going to give me another one of these soon,” I murmur against her ear, my hand moving over her stomach. “I can't wait, Simone. As soon as you're ready, I'm going to breed you again.”
A soft, broken sob leaves her throat.
“Yes? You want that, little fairy? Want me to keep you pregnant? Round and beautiful, year after year. Always carrying me inside you. Always full of my cum.”
“Dieu, Az…”
“Forever,” I whisper. My fingers move faster on her clit.
“I'm going to keep you pregnant for centuries.
You'll never not be mine. Never not be carrying something I put inside you.
Every time you walk into a room, I'll know.
Every time you take off your dress, I'll see it. Round and fertile for me, little fairy, always.”
Her thighs tremble, and I feel her start to clamp around me, the tell-tale flutter of her inner muscles that means she's close.
“That's it.” I keep my pace steady. “Come for me. Show me how much you want it.”
Simone shatters, her cunt squeezing me with gripping pulses, a long, low sob of pleasure tearing free from her throat. I work her through it, my fingers coaxing out every aftershock, my hips driving in slow and deep, until she's shaking and gasping my name.
That's when I let myself follow.
I push in to the hilt and hold myself there, pressing her tight against me, my hand splayed protectively over her belly as I empty into her with a long, ragged groan. My cum spills out of me in pulse after pulse, filling her, marking her.
Mine. Oh, fuck, she's all mine.
For a long moment, neither of us moves. Then I press my mouth to her shoulder.
“I love you,” I murmur. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
She turns her face just enough to find my mouth.
“I love you too.”
Simone slowly drifts into sleep with my hand still resting on her belly. But, as always, I stay awake, watching her, counting heartbeats.
Mine.
Both of them.
Always.