16. Crimson Rage

QUINN

I felt completely at peace, my sleep no longer haunted by dark images painted from my past while I floated in the never-ending abyss. The icy chill that wrapped me up in its embrace didn't deter me from lingering within the sleep realm even longer. It was a caress that I found myself comforted by. The abyss, it seemed, was less eager to keep me here this time. Once my eyes fluttered open, I could sense that I was in a different place.

There was no longer the comforting sound of the engine running. It had been replaced by faint screams of pure agony. As I pried my eyes open further, all it took was seeing the dark walls around me for me to understand that I was no longer in the SUV, nor had I been taken back to Asher's home. Stifling a yawn, I eased upright and stretched.

While the power saturated the walls, it didn't threaten to suffocate me. Nor did I feel like I was in any immediate danger, which could only mean that Asher had taken me to the humble abode of one of his demon lords. My mind strayed in circles at the possibility of which one he had decided to visit, allowing my eyes to wander. It didn't take long until I spotted a notepad on the nightstand nearby. I reached out to retrieve it, scanning the angelic message left behind.

Delighted shivers trickled down my spine at the promise of his intoxicating embrace. I didn't get a chance to process how long I'd been at the demon lord's manor or when the prince would return to me before the sound of footsteps approached outside. The notepad slipped from my fingers as the door was cast open, slamming against the wall. My eyes widened at the sight of my bloody prince. One quick whiff was all it took for me to understand that it wasn't his blood staining his face.

It was Timothy's.

I stiffened as he slammed the door shut and stalked toward me. Memories of our early days together flashed through my head, leaving me to feel like prey he was stalking. If it wasn't for the bond we now shared, I would have feared he was coming at me with the intention of painting my blood on his skin. Although the hair had risen on the back of my neck, I didn't move.

Asher seized me by the shoulders, flinging me back onto the bed. There hadn't been much of a chance for me to explore the room to see if I could find any clothes to cover the bottom half of my body, leaving me exposed to him immediately. He nudged my legs apart and latched onto my clit. Normally, the prince would be eager to switch between the teasing sucking motion and the rough nips. Tonight, he was content to just graze his fangs along it to make my hips buck against him.

"A-Asher!" I panted, digging my nails into his scalp. The sensation was so overwhelming that my body wasn't sure how to respond. There were seconds where I was content to let him go at it while my eyes rolled up into the back of my head and then there were some where it felt like too much. The iron grip he had on my legs ensured I couldn't crawl back away from him. I was trapped, pinned while he unleashed his favorite type of torment on me.

A pleased growl rumbled from the demon's chest, although he showed no signs of changing his approach any time soon. He kept my legs pressed against the mattress while he went at my clit. The persistent torment had me shaking and my pussy soaking. Only when my juices started to leak into the bed below me did he finally leave my clit alone. He ran his tongue along my pussy, lapping up some of the juices before he pierced me with the tip of his tongue.

The sweet aroma of iron leaking into the room warned that I had already started leaving shallow wounds along his scalp, driving me to shift my hands away before I could make them any worse. When I started to release him, Asher released a guttural noise that made me freeze.

"Don't you dare move your hands." His voice was low.

I gaped down at him. "I'm making you bleed—"

He pulled away from my pussy and moved up my body so fast that I was staring directly into those golden eyes within seconds. "I am a demon, pet." His warm breath brushed against me with the smell of my juices still clinging to his lips. "We enjoy pain. It helps enhance the pleasure."

I swallowed, unable to break eye contact with those piercing eyes. "I don't want to hurt you," I rasped.

"I'll punish you if you stop, pet," he fired back.

There wasn't a doubt in my mind that the prince would follow through with this threat if I chose to ignore the warning. Not that I got a chance to thoroughly process what a punishment might mean before he disappeared back down toward the end of the bed. The air was squeezed from my lungs when he chose to latch onto my inner thigh instead of resuming his torture on my clit. The pain that tore through my veins was so hot that I completely lost my vision for several long seconds.

We enjoy pain.

They were words that spoke pure truth and I was starting to understand just how much my demonic blood had started eliminating the mortal side of me. A week ago, I would have started frantically smacking against him until he released me just because it was taking things a little too far. Tonight? The intense pain was enough to trigger the first orgasm for this round. The oxygen couldn't return to my lungs until he released my leg. "Holy fucking hell," I panted, my heart pounding in my chest.

The energy radiating off Asher indicated he was definitely pleased by my reaction. He shifted slightly and shifted to the other leg. His grip was just as tight as the first time and it wasn't long until crimson droplets trailed down toward the comforter.

I squealed, bucking against him. "You're going to make me stain these sheets! Nico will never let you bring me over ever again."

Asher ran his tongue along the wound, those piercing eyes flickering back to me. "Nico and I both know that I will take this pussy where I want. He is wise not to challenge me when it comes to you, pet." He pulled away from me, reaching out to tug me by my lower arms to pull me upright.

This demon of mine was certainly mischievous tonight. It was such a strange combination with the rage that was pulsing through his veins. I still couldn't decide whether the mixture excited me or terrified me to the core. I nibbled on my lower lip while I watched him shed all his stained clothing, gracing me with the full view of that perfectly sculpted body. Now I feel overdressed…

It was almost like the prince could sense the thoughts running through my head. He drew closer, bringing his hard cock within inches of my face while he worked on dragging the rest of my clothes off. An animalistic growl escaped his lips as he bundled up the scorched material and tossed it away. "I will take you again tonight, pet, but first… I want to enjoy tasting your juices for a little while longer." He pulled me off the bed so that he could take my place. "Come. Sit."

I blinked at him. "On…?"

Those lips curled into a smirk. "Sit on my face, Quinn Rossi."

Wrinkling my nose, I eased onto the bed beside him. "Don't use Rossi for me ever again, Asher. That part of me died long ago." I reached out to seize his cock, curling my fingers around him and delivering a squeeze that forced out a groan from the demon.

He was quick to roll onto his side, encouraging me to haul ass until I was situated with my pussy hovering over his face. With a hand firmly cupping my ass, he prompted me to lower my hips until he could deliver a nip to my clit. "Then what do you wish to be referred to by, pet?"

I jolted above him. My nails dug into the comforter until the material started to rip from the intense strain that I had inflicted upon it. Closing my eyes, I shut out that sense so I could hone in on his hungry touch. "I want…" The air rushed from my lungs as he turned his head and delivered another bite from hell on my inner thigh. "I want to be referred to…by the name…of my blood father. Until I can take…yours."

Asher grew still beneath me, leaving me with the conflicted feelings of feeling awkward from the new position and my own lust threatening to spiral out of control. "You want to take your father's name until you can use mine?"

"Y-Yes."

The prince released a soft hum that sent a strong chill tearing down my spine. He chuckled softly as I shivered above him. "Are you sure you want to give away such an important name that quickly? The Faxiss was the original ruling family. You could easily challenge me for the throne should you wish to keep it."

Something in my gut warned that's not what I wanted. Hell, it was nice to know such a special bloodline ran through my veins, but that didn't mean I wanted to take on that part of the demonic world. I shook my head and ran my tongue along the side of his ribbed shaft. As he jerked beneath me, I murmured, "I don't want that, Asher. All I want is to be accepted and included in your world. When you become king, I would much rather be by your side. That throne is yours."

Asher arched his back with a groan as I took the tip of his shaft into my mouth and started sucking hard. "You would…prefer…to let me keep…it?"

"You grew up in this world, Asher. You're familiar with politics…how it all needs to run. You asked me back at my childhood home where my loyalty rested? You have my loyalty." My lips curled into a pleased smirk as he continued to jerk beneath me. I tilted my head and nipped along the side. For every raised piece of the ribbed surface I managed to hit, the demon within me seemed to react even more. It was definitely raising my confidence now that I was starting to understand what made him hard.

He squeezed my ass, digging in his nails so much that the pain ripping through my body made my pussy leak more juices. "You'll have a chance to prove yourself, pet."

"The old ways."

The prince responded with a pleased hum.

Although there was a part of me that yearned to play a round of twenty questions with him in order to learn more about what would be coming in my future, those thoughts scattered the moment the tip of his shaft split. A startled squeal fled me as a familiar suction sensation started working its magic along my lower lip. I had been eager to unleash some more torment of my own on the tip, only his cock seemed to have other plans.

A deep chuckle rumbled from Asher's chest. "I would be under the impression that this throws you through a loop, yet your pussy…has just gotten even wetter." He angled his head back and seized my clit in between his teeth.

I should have known from the start that this was why I got those amazing sensations when his mouth was nowhere near my clit. Watching it open with my own eyes certainly did shock me into paralysis for a solid five seconds, although it did raise a curious question. I ran my tongue along it to prompt the tip to remain open, using the chance to gently nibble along the edges. All it took was one hell of a jerk for it to click that I now had an extremely sensitive area to work on. Pure delight flooded me.

The noise coming from the prince couldn't be described as anything less than a combination of a pleased growl and a shocked gasp that I had even managed to uncover such a discovery. When I delivered another nip to the suction tip, he released a predatory noise. "You're fascinated by it now, aren't you?"

Giggling, I stuck out my tongue and let the suction tip go to town on it. It was an interesting sensation to experience and it was certainly giving Asher enough juices to lap away. My clit was already getting sensitive from his own torture, which meant the time I had to play was quickly shrinking. "We're going to have to do this position more often." I dragged my teeth along the outside of the tip before taking his cock into my mouth.

Between the ribbed edges and the large size alone, I wasn't sure how much of it I was going to be able to fit. Sure enough, the tip hit the back of my throat and there was still a decent amount of length left to take. I shifted slightly, allowing the prince to play with my pussy with his tongue while I attempted to get an angle that would allow me to take more. I had just started to encourage the tip down the curve of my throat when I felt Asher stiffen beneath me.

It was not the type of tension that indicated pleasure in any way. As soon as a pained gasp escaped him, I was off him in a heartbeat. I jerked around with an ocean of emotions tearing through me. Dread consumed me. "D-Did I hurt you?"

Asher's eyes had already squeezed shut and his skin color had taken on an ashen complexion. It was all he could do just to shake his head.

My hands started to shake. "What's happening? Asher?"

His back arched while his hand found its way to his chest and a pained groan flooded the room. With his fingers curled to dig into his skin, it was difficult to see what might be going on underneath. If it wasn't for the raw pink appearance that was starting to spread from beneath it, I would have started to wonder if demons could endure heart attacks.

Horror trickled into my veins, tearing through me with so much strength that I recoiled against his hip. "Nico!"

There wasn't a part of me that understood why I would scream for the demon lord, especially when he wouldn't be thrilled to discover that we had decided to go to town on his bed. Yet, when the door burst open and he stood in the doorway, all it took was a brief glance at Asher for that to be the last thing on his mind. Nico bolted across the room, ripping the prince's hand away from his chest.

The emblem painting his skin had changed, with a unique crown taking the lion's head while symbols were curled around its feet.

Nico swore under his breath. "This isn't good."

I brought my arms against my chest. It wasn't the desire to cover myself up now that one of the demon lords was in our presence, but more of the fact that I didn't have the slightest clue what to do. Asher was in pain and I couldn't do a damn thing to stop it — especially when I had no clue what was happening. "I-I don't understand. Did I hurt him?"

The demon lord shook his head, fighting to keep Asher's hand away from his chest to ensure he couldn't slice into his own skin. "You did absolutely nothing to prompt this. It is the mark of rule being transferred to him."

"What does that mean?"

His crimson eyes flickered toward me. "It means the king is dead and Asher will ascend the throne."

My jaw dropped. "W-What?" I was reeling from the bold admission. Just from what Asher had told me about his father and the paranoia that had literally controlled most of his recent centuries, I knew it was only a matter of time before my prince would become king. That didn't mean that I had gotten the impression that it would be within hours of him paying Asher a surprise visit.

The king had been right to be paranoid. As soon as he'd left the safety of both Italy and Europe, his enemies had pounced. All it had taken was one chance for them to deal a lethal blow that would now change everything.

Asher grunted softly as the pain continued to rip through him with so much strength that a layer of sweat now painted his entire body. Even if he wanted to contribute to the conversation, it was clear that he just couldn't form the words.

Nibbling on my lower lip, I shifted my gaze toward his cock. Despite all the pain that was haunting him, it was still as hard as ever. It felt awkward just to consider giving him pleasure in front of one of the demon lords, but I was desperate to help. Perhaps the pleasure could override the agony he was enduring. I rose up with every intention of straddling him when Nico caught me by the arm.

The demon lord shook his head. "You only have a small piece of humanity left within you, Quinn Rossi. While I would be content to let Asher consume that final bit, the mark has been transferred to him. You will now have to walk through the old ways with him to prove your loyalty to his family. Which means he cannot take you again until it is time for that task."

I sucked in a ragged breath. Every part of my being yearned to jerk free and simply take his cock anyway if it would help ease that pain. It was the look in Nico's crimson eyes that kept me from going against their ways right off the bat. Breaking the rules now would only ensure the rest of the demon kind rejected me. What place would I have in Asher's life then? My head hung. "I just…He's in pain. I-I need to do something."

"The pain will pass." Nico's voice was soft. Gentle. He released my arm to keep Asher pinned down. "You remaining by his side through this is all a demon could ask for. By that alone, you have already begun to prove your loyalty."

The words were exactly what I wanted to hear, but they didn't provide the comfort I desperately needed. Neither of us could bring ourselves to break the silence while Asher continued to jerk between us. It wasn't until his movements slowed and the noises faded that the demon lord finally released him. Panic seized me as the prince's golden eyes fluttered shut. I sucked in a sharp breath. "What-?"

Nico raised a hand to silence me. "The transfer is complete. Receiving the mark takes a lot of strength from the new host, which is why it puts so much pain and strain on the body. Asher will sleep for quite some time until he regains some of it back."

I reluctantly eased back down and rested my upper body on his stomach. "I want to stay with him until he wakes up," I murmured softly.

"That's an honorable choice." The demon lord eased off the bed and smoothed his suit with a sigh. "I will have one of my maids prepare a meal for you. You will need to keep up your own strength while you remain by his side. Rest while you can, Quinn Rossi. Things are going to change."

That was exactly what I was afraid of. I knew this would be coming, yet I didn't anticipate it would be so soon. I nibbled on my lower lip and tugged the loose end of the comforter down toward us. With the rough material now covering us, I burrowed against the unconscious demon while Nico left us alone. There wasn't a part of me that expected to consume anything edible, not after what I had been forced to watch Asher endure. That didn't mean that I could ignore Nico's valuable advice.

He was right. I had to maintain my strength while Asher regained his. I refused to be a weak queen when he deserved so much better than that.

Tucking my head against his damp side, I allowed my mind to stray until the abyss reached out for me with open arms. The comforting icy chill was absent today, but I didn't resist it. As long as Asher was out cold, it could have me.

I wasn't sure how much time I had passed until a gentle nudge to my shoulder snapped me wide awake. I sucked in a sharp breath, my eyes flying open with the anticipation that I would find Asher peering back at me with an exhausted smile. When I found him still out cold, my stomach churned into a painful knot. All it took was a quick peek behind me for me to realize that one of Nico's lower demons had arrived with a tray full of food. I immediately pulled the comforter up to cover myself.

The middle-aged woman appeared only mildly amused by my reaction. "I did bring you a change of clothes, as per Lord Nico's request." She gestured at the stack folded neatly behind me. "Depending on how much the prince requires to recover, we will have to send for more in your size. His concern was the immediate moment."

I flushed from the realization that the demon lord had probably sent someone upstairs to grab my scorched outfit just so they could have the correct size. "Thank you," I managed. My throat was so dry from all the chaos. Even the embarrassment haunted me to the point where I was lucky to get that much out before it gave out.

"I will bring you the tray once you've gotten dressed." She raised an eyebrow before she retreated from the room, leaving me with absolutely no choice but to heed her unspoken command.

As much as I didn't want to pull away from Asher until he woke, I essentially had no choice. The maid was expecting me to get dressed just so I could have my meal delivered and there was no telling when Nico himself would return to check on his friend. I managed to convince myself to leave the warmth of my partial burrow just so I could pull the clothes on.

Fortunately, someone had decided to give me a pair of warm leggings with a loose-fitting t-shirt. It wasn't ideal, especially when I didn't like the sensation of cotton hanging so loosely on me, but it was comforting. By the time the maid returned with a tray in her hands, I was sitting on the bed with Asher mostly covered with the blanket.

I watched her carefully as she set the tray beside me. "So you work for…" The words caught in my throat when I realized I wasn't sure how I was supposed to refer to Nico. For Asher, he was a demon lord as well as a friend, but that didn't mean the same thing for me. Nibbling on my lower lip, I could only stare at her helplessly.

The woman didn't seem to notice my words trailing into silence. That or she had no intention of acknowledging it. "Yes, I work for Lord Nico. I help keep this manor tidy, especially the pits down below. He likes to get quite messy unless Prince Asher specifies otherwise." She pulled the silver lid off my plate, exposing a steak underneath with some mashed potatoes and green beans.

My mouth started to water as soon as the delicious aroma washed against me. "For a second, I thought you were going to bring me something more Italian."

The edges of her lips twitched. "It sounds like you've already had the honor of Prince Asher cooking for you. Not often he does that, dear." She clasped her hands in front of me and trained those blue eyes on me. "I would like to see that plate cleared by the time I return so that I could run you a bath. You still have a layer of soot on your skin from the house fire."

I could feel my cheeks growing hot with embarrassment. "How did you…?"

Her smirk grew. "It's not a secret where Prince Asher took you prior to your arrival at Lord Nico's manor, Miss Rossi. Just like I know that carcass that was downstairs happened to be one of those neighbors that played into the abuse you experienced growing up." She wrinkled her nose. "Mortal got off easy, if you don't mind my boldness."

"If I don't mind your boldness?" I cocked my head to the side as I shifted on the bed so that I wasn't bringing the tray up against Asher. The last thing I wanted to do was cause him to wake before his body was ready to release him from that dark abyss. A part of me felt guilty that I was dining on a delicious meal while he was still out cold, but I quickly buried that. I wasn't going to hold myself back, allowing my strength to fade away until he regained consciousness.

The smile grew on the maid's face, although it shifted away from the amused touch and more toward a gentleness that I wasn't used to seeing. "You are bonded to the prince himself, Quinn. While it may not be official that you are his queen, it is clear that he has the intention of claiming you as such. Which means you carry a rank just below his."

That was the moment I was relieved that I hadn't been quick enough to slice into the steak and plop some of the meat into my mouth. There was no doubt in my mind that I would've choked on it. While this woman might work for Nico, I couldn't place my faith that she would come to my rescue to unlodge it from my throat. "Are you serious?"

"Completely, Miss Rossi." The maid grinned.

As much as the news stunned me, it was the mention of my last name that threatened to weigh me down with nausea. I grimaced. "To be honest, I think I'm going to drop my birth name on that one. Quinn Rossi hasn't legally been alive for years now."

She cocked her head to the side with a hint of curiosity now painting her face. "What is it you wish to be acknowledged by then?"

My lips parted, but I didn't have the chance to answer her before the energy in the air shifted and caused the maid to clam up immediately. From the way she stiffened, I already knew who was drawing close long before the demon lord strolled through the doorway. Stifling a frustrated noise, I reluctantly continued eating on the steak.

"That's quite enough, Maeve." Nico drifted past her, giving a quick but firm glare in her direction.

She ducked her head immediately. "Yes, Lord Nico. I apologize for lingering." Once she added a bow in my direction, she gathered a fist full of her skirts and fled the room.

I sent a glare of my own in his direction "Was that really necessary? She was being polite."

The demon lord responded with a scoff. He jammed his hands into his suit pockets and drifted into the room until the weight of his magic leaned hard on my aura. Those crimson eyes simply stared at me without a single care in the world. "While I don't usually mind idle chit-chat, Quinn, now is not the time to allow it. The ruling king has been killed and his runaway daughter has strayed into the arms of our enemy. Unnecessary distractions will be the end of us all if we allow them."

"Why do I have a feeling you didn't come up here to remind me of what's going on?"

A pleased chuckle escaped him. "Very observant, Quinn. That's because I didn't come to repeat myself. I have very little patience on that, like Asher. No…" He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm afraid the Council is already aware of the king's passing, which means they know Asher has received the mark. I just received the call that they're sending someone here to oversee the tasks you will have to do."

I stiffened with a squeak, which only seemed to amuse the demon lord a little. "Just me?"

Nico responded with a dismissive wave. "Asher had to do his own tests when he reached a certain age, just to prove he was worthy of taking the throne from Salvatore. These are specifically reserved for you. Especially since you have the blood of the original ruling family running through your veins."

The direction of the conversation was certainly threatening my hunger to where I was terrified I would end up losing my appetite. Granted, I was so used to eating the bare minimum that this was nothing shy of a feast for me and I doubted that I would manage emptying the plate. I settled for getting a good fraction down before I eased the tray aside. "And the Council is concerned I'll want to claim the right to rule the throne, pushing Asher aside."

He clicked his tongue. "Technically, yes."

"Technically?" My eyes narrowed into thin slits. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you'd have to challenge Asher with raw strength. Magic, physical ability, the works. You're just not quite old enough to have that natural ability, love. If you chose to challenge him, you wouldn't succeed." Nico's crimson eyes flashed with a hint of amusement. "No, the Council simply wants to ensure that thought won't cross your mind later on down the line."

I released a weary sigh and rested my weight back on my hands. "Even if I swear I would never challenge him?"

"Hence the tests."

Of course there wouldn't be a way around them. From the sound of it, I had absolutely no choice in the matter if I wanted to remain by Asher's side once he ascended the throne. If it was a test they wanted to throw my way for iron proof, then I'd do whatever was asked of me.

Nico studied me closely while I struggled to regain control over my frazzled nerves. "There is time for Asher to prepare you for the Council, but they've made it clear that one of their representatives is in route. You have three weeks until they arrive."

I balked at him. "It doesn't take three weeks to fly."

"They're not flying." He arched an eyebrow. "Considering that is how the king's enemies finally got to him, they're avoiding all aircraft for the time being. They have just as much of a target on their backs as Asher now does."

My first thought was immediate relief for the mere fact that I had time to prepare for the Council and what they might throw at me, while also adjusting to the new reality that I faced with Asher rising to the throne. That emotion didn't last long until I remembered the way the demon lord had jerked me off the prince earlier. My jaw dropped. "Are you telling me that we can't have sex for the next three weeks?"

It took the demon lord a moment to register just what I had said before his head fell back and his laughter rang off the chamber walls.

"How is that funny?" I fumed, my nostrils flaring. I don't think this man realizes just how much I treasure my sex life after ending up in Asher's bed. I was going to end up so deprived that I would probably become too moody even for the prince. Which left me to wonder how we were going to deal with this situation.

His lips curled into a coy smirk. "The two of you will figure it out. Trust me, love, this is going to torment him just as much as it will you." Chuckling softly, he left the chamber and tugged the door shut behind him. Even with a solid piece of wood, I could still see his laughter until he'd gone back downstairs. Only then did the screams of the damned in his pit finally take over.

I let my head fall back with a groan. With full penetration sex now off the table for several weeks, one could only hope the infamous prince of demons would have some creative ways to help tide us over until penetration was back on the table. As much as I yearned for those weeks to pass in the blink of an eye, something told me that the return of sex came with a twist of its own.

I can do this…

Right?