~ALARIC'S POV
I left the banquet and returned to my chambers, shutting the door behind me as the noise of the court faded into distant echoes.
The silence did nothing to settle my thoughts.
Hael's betrayal and Ivara's death still pressed against the edges of my mind, heavy and unresolved.
She had died beneath silk and gold, in front of nobles who pretended not to flinch. The loud gasps and sharp intake of breath that had rippled through the hall still lingered in fragments I could not escape.
I had not loved her, but her presence would always be better than her absence.
I replayed her father's betrayal in my mind. The sting of it still burned, resulting to a bitter taste that wouldn't leave my tongue.
Just as I was sinking into the familiar ache of it, a gnawing sensation clawed its way into my chest.
It formed slowly, coiling tight beneath my ribs. At first, I mistook it for the remnants of anger and grief still clinging to me, but the feeling did not behave like my own emotions.
It did not rise from thought or memory. It arrived suddenly, pulling at me with unfamiliar urgency.
Then fear rushed through me, but it wasn't mine.
The bond opened before I could resist it, and the emotion flooded in with a disorienting force that made my breath hitch as though my body were responding before my mind could catch up.
Dove.
The realization settled instantly. Her fear threaded through the bond in broken impressions rather than images.
The sensation of rough hands. The pressure of a presence too close. A loss of balance followed by the shock of impact, violent enough to make my muscles tense.
Another influence followed close behind on my mind.
Heat.
Thick, invasive, deliberately arousing.
Incubi pheromones.
Disgust flared through me even as my body reacted against my will. I clenched my jaw, forcing control back into place as fury followed close behind it.
I did not hesitate, before rising from the desk. I closed my eyes and focused on the sensation before letting myself dissolve into shadows.
The world blurred, and I reformed in a quiet hallway, my lungs expanding with a silent breath as I took in the new surrounding.
Dove's distress pressed against my senses here, close enough to tighten my chest, yet the space itself felt wrong.
There was no active magic lingering nearby, but I knew someone had been here.
Someone powerful enough to leave a residue I could still feel. That presence was gone now, fleeing because they sensed me coming.
I vanished again and reappeared closer, the bond nearly overwhelming at this distance. Dove's scent filled the air, familiar and warm beneath the fear, but tainted heavily by incubus influence that clung to the space with persistence.
My blind eyes seemed to see through the air itself, tracking the heat signature of the Incubi flanking Dove.
My eyes turned into slits, and a shimmering force of silver fiery flame burst from my palms before I slammed it into the incubi.
His body collided with stone, the impact reverberating through the corridor. He tried to speak, his voice breaking as panic overtook his voice.
"My l-lord," he began.
I did not allow him to finish, before my flame surged again, consuming him completely, leaving nothing behind but ash scattered across the floor.
The room went silent except from Dove's heavy breathing which was uneven and unsteady, soaking the air with the scent of her arousal.
"Alaric," she whispered, the sound of my name on her lips sent a subtle jolt through me, making my groin pulse harder.
"That was so hot," she moaned, her voice husky, as she was lost in the incubus's spell.
The haze in my mind thickened with every step I made to where she was. I scooped her up into my arms, her body light and warm against my chest.
With a flicker of my power, I materialized us into my chamber, the familiar stone walls and faint echo of dripping water from the hidden fountain grounding me for a split second before the urges crashed back in.
I set her down gently on the edge of the bed before stepping away from her.
"Alaric," she murmured, her voice a soft caress that sent heat straight to my already aching dick.
I turned away, clenching my jaw while trying to fight the pull, as the residue continued to reach deeper, stirring responses I had long learned to restrain.
Even gods were not untouched by this incubi's kind. His lineage had been bred for that singular purpose, to erode control, to coax reaction from even the most disciplined minds and powerful beings.
I had read of demon gods brought to their knees by less than what lingered here now.
I would not be one of them.
Dove's bare feet padded softly on the rug, and in a moment, she was at my front.
Her hand gently touched mine, before guiding my arm to her waist, and the feel of her soft skin nearly undid me.
I pulled away from her due to how fast the bond between us was beginning to take form. I knew my brothers can't feel it yet.
It had always been this way.
The bond had been sealed with my blood first. What passed through her reached me before it ever reached them, her pain, her fear, her need pressing into my chest as if it had found the most direct path and chosen it.
My brothers would feel it later, once it diluted itself through distance and division.
Her fingers brushed my arm again, pulling me from my train of thought.
She leaned into me without realizing she had done so, her breathing unsteady, her body reacting ahead of her mind.
I stepped away at once again, breaking the contact before it could root itself deeper.
I could feel my own control thinning at the edges, the pheromones pressing insistently, urging closeness, urging indulgence.
I turned toward the shelves along the wall, reaching out for the familiar shapes of vials and glass with careful movements despite the haze threatening to dull my focus.
Elixirs. I needed something to steady the blood and calm my aching need before it betrayed me.
Behind me, Dove followed, close enough that I could feel the heat of her again, her presence tugging at the bond with every step she took toward me.
I did not turn.
Instead, I tightened my grip around the first vial I found, grounding myself in the cool resistance of glass, forcing my breathing to slow.
I gulped down the elixir immediately and it burned on its way down, bitter against my tongue, but the relief I wanted never came.
Instead, the heat increased.
It pressed deeper, curling through my chest and settling low, and I knew then that I was already losing ground.
She moved closer again.
This time, she did not hesitate.
Her hands found my arm, then my chest, fingers splayed as though she needed the contact to steady herself, or perhaps to feel that I was still there.
"Alaric," she murmured, the sound soft, and far too full of need.
This was wrong.
I knew it even as my control frayed.
I closed my hand around the empty vial, tightening my knuckles as I forced myself to remain still.
I turned to face her before she could reach for me again, intending to put distance between us, to say something, anything that might halt what was building.
But she was already too close, her breath warm against my chest, her awareness of me unfiltered and overwhelming through the bond.
Though I couldn't see her, but my mind painted her vividly, full lips parted in invitation, eyes dark with desire, her body curving in all the ways that drove a demon mad.
Then her lips brushed mine. The contact was brief, and it almost shattered what little resistance I had left.
Her lips trailed down from my lips to my neck, sucking gently at first, then harder, with teeth grazing the pulse point that made my breath hitch.
Her other hand slid down slowly, cupping my already hardened dick through my pants, squeezing with just enough pressure to make me groan low in my throat.
The pheromones roared in my head, urging me to take her, to pin her down and claim every inch, but I shoved them back, my free hand bracing against the wall.
"Dove... we can't," I rasped, even as my hips twitched forward into her touch.
She didn't stop. Her tongue continued to trace wet lines up to my ear, whispering temptations that coiled tighter around my restraint.
Her fingers slowly stroked me through my pants, while her body pressed flush against mine, her breasts soft against my chest.
Sweat beaded on my forehead, my muscles tensing as I battled the fog, the need to bury myself inside her warring with the last shreds of control.
But it was futile.
The dam broke, and I gave up.
I dropped the glass vial, and spun her against me before crashing my lips down on hers in a fierce kiss.
Our lips bruised together, tongues battling for dominance as I poured every suppressed urge into it, tasting her sweetness and soft lips.
My hands roamed up, finding her boobs, the perfect size for my palms, as I kneaded the soft flesh, thumbs brushing over her hardening nipples.
She arched into my touch, a whimper escaping into my mouth, and I pinched lightly, rolling the peaks until she gasped.
I shrugged off my silver robe, letting it pool at my feet, leaving me in just my pants.
The cool air did nothing to temper the heat building between us.
With another surge of power, I materialized us to the bed, the world shifting in an instant as I hovered above her, my body caging hers against the mattress.
I connected our lips once more, my tongue twirling with hers, delving deep to taste every corner of her mouth, from the slick warmth to the subtle flavors that made me hungry for more.
I wanted to taste all of her, to lick and suck until she screamed, insatiable in this storm of desire. I pulled our lips apart, my voice rough and lust-filled.
"Dove," I whispered, "please tell me to stop." I pleaded through strained voice with my forehead resting against hers, my breaths were ragged as I fought one last time.
But she took my palm, and dragged it down her body, over the smooth plane of her stomach, to her slick folds. The wetness coated my digits immediately, hot and inviting.
She let out a soft moan that vibrated through me, as her hips lifted to grind against my fingers, making me grunt in approval of how wet she was.
My cock throbbed painfully at the evidence of her need, and at that moment, I knew It was over for me.
Her hands found their way around my neck, pulling me closer, her nails scraping lightly at my nape, as she whispered against my lips,
"Please... don't stop."