Stolen by Her Demon King Mate

Chapter 8: Comfort

All my expectations were averted when Grayson pulled me to him. He wouldn’t touch me all day but this was his most embracing hug yet. When I told him I killed someone I didn’t expect him to react this way. I thought he’d send me straight to a room as far from his room as possible. I thought it would make him trust me less. He might have heard the pain in my voice as my soul cried out. 

He glared at his guard. “Leave us now. She’s staying by my side in our room. Let Tobias know I will be seeing him in half an hour.”

“Tobias and Payana?”

“No. Tobais and only Tobais.” He picked me up and I wrapped myself around him as he carried me to our room. 

“You’re not scared anymore?”

“I was never scared of you Aria.” Grayson sat down on a couch with me on his lap. “I was being overtly cautious. I see you as my equal in many ways my love. When I learned you had the power to end my life as quickly as I could end yours it was troubling. I realized we truly were equals.”

“I don’t think that makes us equal. You value power but I don’t. I value compassion, empathy, and self-awareness even though I’m still working on those things. I can’t end your life as easily as you think. I told you it would require you to let me.”

Grayson kissed my shoulder. “You can’t kill me solely with your ability. If you drained me of most of my energy I wouldn’t be able to stop you from killing me another way. With a weapon maybe.” Why was he giving me ideas? I wouldn’t do that of course but why was he telling me? “You could easily render me defenseless. When I saw the look on your face as you admitted that you’ve killed before… I felt something… I’m risking everything to give myself to you Aria. I’m risking the stability of my kingdom.” He lifted his legs to bring me up and he buried his face in my breasts. I wrapped my arms around his head. “Tell me you feel something for me.” I couldn’t. The only things I felt came from the mate bond which wasn’t that strong on my side or it came from my longing to know him. 

“When I was in that dungeon I accepted death… A part of me feels like I accepted death long before then.” I inhaled his scent. “If I die will my family still be protected?”

“I won’t let you die.” I still had the feeling he might kill me. 

“What if you killed me? Would you-“

I was cut off by his snarl which caused my breasts to vibrate. He pulled his head away and glared at me. “I wouldn’t kill you.” His entire eyeball turned black which happened to every demon whenever we felt a strong emotion, especially anger. It was a state I was in some of the time while I was in the dungeon.

“So, you trust me?”

“I wouldn’t kill you unless you clearly betrayed me. Only if you made a move to kill me.” He avoided the question like he avoided every important question. “Don’t accept death because then you won’t fight to stay alive when I need you to.” He paused. “I’m going to make you happy Aria. I promise you I’m going to make you want to fight to live.” He stood up and put me down on my feet. “I’m going to meet with Tobias. I’m taking you out tomorrow. I’m going to take you to the capital. It’s the closest city to us. I know you traveled a lot but didn’t really get to truly experience where you were.”

It was thoughtful. “Can Vaness and Grace accompany us?”

“Yes.”

I watched him leave. Grayson confessed he had feelings for me but I couldn’t return them. Is it because I’m being stubborn or do I really not have real feelings for him yet? Mates usually fall in love within 24 hours. They don’t need all this extra time to figure it out, I did.

I think I knew why it was easier for Grayson to have feelings for me. I've opened up to him about my past, I’ve grieved in front of him, explained my acceptance of death, and told him the secret that I've killed someone with my ability. I even wanted to explain to him why. He’s getting to know me and the mate bond is strengthening on his side but I didn’t know much about him. Cane explained a little but from Grayson, I've only heard very basic incompletely things about him with little to no detail. Most of what I know is how ruthless and paranoid he is.

I do know how he feels about me in detail so that was nice. 

I wondered what he needed to speak to Tobias about. It seemed urgent. I watched tv until I fell asleep on the couch.

When I woke up I was in bed spooning with Grayson. He was behind me with his arms holding me tightly. I could feel the huge bulge in his boxers against my bottom. It was barely contained by his boxers. I started to move around so I could get out of his grip. I turned to face him and his eyes were half-open.

“Good morning my love.” He pulled me closer so my face was buried in his chest. His head rested on the top of mine. He slowly let me go and I sat up not responding. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah…” I usually did when I slept with him. That was the main reason I didn’t want my own room. I knew I’d get s**t sleep without him like I used to. “Don’t you have someone to kill or something?” I murmured bitterly.

“Not today.” He chose to respond to my sarcasm seriously. There were small knocks on the door. “Come in Grace.” I was a little nervous for Grace to see us in bed together but he didn’t mind.

Grace opened the door and closed it behind her. “Aria?” She dashed to the bed and climbed in. She sat down in the middle of us. “You moved into this room Aria?”

“She’s my mate Grace, remember how we talked about mates?”

Grace nodded. “You told me to not be like Vaness and wait for my mate. And you said our mate is the person Satan chose for us to be with forever. Like a best friend.” She smiled and looked at me. “You’re my Daddy’s best friend?” I hesitantly nodded in response. “So that means you’re going to be my mom too?”

“Don’t you have a mom?” I asked which made Grayson close his eyes tensely then open them back up.

“No?” Confusion engulfed her tone then her expression dropped in realization. “Oh you mean-“ she was cut off by Grayson’s hand covering her mouth.

“Enough of that kind of talk.” He pulled his hand away. Grace was probably going to tell me who her mom was and Grayson didn’t want me to know. “I’m glad you’re dressed Grace, we’ll meet you in the dining hall. We need to eat breakfast first then we’ll leave for the city.”

Grace sprang out of bed. “Yay Okay!” She zipped out of the room. 

Grayson pulled me closer to him. “Why do you look dissatisfied? Grace’s mother is irrelevant.” I still had a strong feeling it was this Delilah woman. 

“She’s not irrelevant if you slept with her.” I snapped then sighed. “Sorry.” Grayson chuckled. Somehow he was amused by my jealousy. 

He took a shower first then I did.

Once we were dressed we made our way to the dining room. We all sat down and ate. 

After we were done we all walked out through the gatehouse. 

“Why is a guard coming with us?” Vaness asked. “Guards never come with us anymo-“ she stopped herself when she realized it was probably extra security since I was coming along. Vaness saw what I could do and she knew Grayson was anxious about me trying to run away. “Can I choose where we go first?” She changed the subject.

“Sure.” Grayson opened the car door and we all got inside. There was a driver already in front. The guard got in the passenger seat while the four of us got into the back that had two rows.

I had never been in a car before, only on trains. When my mother told me stories of the human world she told me that cars and other vehicles were the main sources of transportation there. Demons could move at inhuman speeds but when traveling in groups it was normal to use vehicles especially with children since they were slower and got tired quickly. Vehicles to us were simply a luxury that wasn’t a necessity because we didn’t need them to get around. They were just relaxing and simple. 

I gasped at how soft the seats were. “Wow, it’s like we’re on a moving couch.” I looked out the window. “Can I roll the windows down? They go down right?” I looked to the back row as I heard laughter coming from Grace and Vaness. It was in response to how I reacted. Grayson reached over me and rolled the window halfway down. His scent caused chills as usual. 

“I’m glad you think the seats are comfortable,” he said. The car started to move and I grabbed Grayson’s arm. “You’re okay.” His gaze was soft. 

I noticed the entire car ride Grayson was mesmerized by me and any reaction I gave to my first car ride. His gaze never left me and I held onto his arm the whole time. 

When we got out Grace tugged at her father's pants. “Can I get on your neck?”

“Grace you’re getting way too big for that,” Vaness pointed out, annoyed. Grayson lifted Grace and put her on his neck. Grace stuck her tongue out at Vaness. 

As we walked around the capital I was shown landmarks and other interesting things. 

“Can you do something for me?” Vaness asked when we were in a clothes store. 

“Of course,” I said.

“My brother is really obsessive about what I buy.” So Vaness and Grayson were siblings. That made a lot of sense. “Can I pick some stuff out and you can have him buy it as if it’s for you? Please??” 

“Okay, I can do that.” 

Vaness smiled from ear to ear. “Yes!” She whispered. I looked over to Grayson and Grace as he put her down so she could find stuff she liked. He walked back to me and patted the top of my head. 

“You should buy as many clothes as possible. You didn’t bring much back yesterday.” We couldn’t carry more than one bag when traveling with the community. He looked at Vaness. “You can’t buy anything as punishment for stealing your things back and for your involvement in Aria trying to leave.” Zake must have reported everything to him. Vaness pretended to look upset and didn’t go back to searching for things until he wasn’t looking.

I didn’t look at the things Vaness gave me to have bought for her. I just placed her things in the cart with mine. When we got to the register I realized the kind of things Vaness had gotten. There were lace push-up bras with lots of padding, fishnets, thongs, and other sexy lingerie pieces. I looked away embarrassed because of the satisfaction in Grayson’s expression from the thought of it being for me. She had also picked out lipstick and false eyelashes.

We drove the streets of the capital so I could see more of the city. When we walked we had a lot of stares and pictures were taken of us. No one would approach us because of Grayson’s dominant aura. He wasn’t exactly approachable. 

We went to a nice restaurant for lunch.

This was so far the best day I had living at the castle so far. Vaness and Grace made things a lot more fun. I even gave Grace a piggyback ride for a while. 

When we got back to the castle it was time for dinner. There were five plate settings instead of four. “Who else is having dinner with us?”

“My mother,” answered Grayson. I looked at the double doors as they opened. I was able to meet my future mother-in-law.