Chapter 166: Prideful and Pinned
Pazuzu’s POV
"How did you manage to wrap these vines so tightly around me?" he asked, delight plain in his voice, as he was led into Luceriel’s pavilion.
On the way there, he had spent the entire walk grinning, carried along behind Luceriel like a prisoner on parade. He could easily have used the same trick as before, coating the vines in his own blood to nullify their hold, but he chose not to.
He found the whole affair rather amusing.
Besides, it was simply another chance to spend time with the mate he had not seen or held in months.
The moment they reached the pavilion, Luceriel lowered his hand, and Pazuzu dropped unceremoniously to the floor, landing hard enough that a faint crack echoed through his bones.
"That hurt rather more than I expected," he groaned, letting out a low, appreciative whistle from where he lay sprawled across the ground. "I never knew you liked it rough, darling." His voice dropped, laced with a low, teasing heat. "The thought of you hurting me has always been rather thrilling to me. I do love it."
Luceriel hauled him up off the floor and slammed his back against a row of bookshelves. "How dare you show your face before Azriel. You dared to lay your hands on the boy?"
Pazuzu blinked slowly, fluttering his lashes at him. "You care so deeply for me, then? More than you care for a human who isn’t even your mate?"
"I asked you a question," Luceriel said, tightening his hand around his throat. "What were you thinking, wrapping your arms around that human with Azriel standing right there?"
"Because," Pazuzu began, leaning down until he met Luceriel’s green eyes, "I missed you. And since you finally returned, if only for that human’s sake, I simply wished to show you how much." He pouted.
"Do not make that irritating face at me, not when I know precisely what manner of creature you are."
"Creature? Another refined little title from my mate?" he asked, then choked as Luceriel’s grip tightened around his throat. "Careful now, darling. My throat may yet suffer for it."
Those words only made Luceriel’s grip tighten further. "I warned you against going after the human, and still you did, and—"
"Very well," Pazuzu said, his tone shifting from playful to something far more serious, and in the blink of an eye he spun Luceriel around, until it was Luceriel now facing the bookshelf instead. "I do not care for how you favor that human over me," he said, wrapping an arm around Luceriel’s throat in turn.
Luceriel groaned, twisting to grab at his wrist, but Pazuzu caught it easily and pinned it above his head.
When Luceriel lashed out with his other hand, Pazuzu seized that one too, slamming it beside the first and holding both fast. "Get off me, you insufferable demon!"
"No, dear mate. I have already let you go once, for two whole months. I will not make that mistake again." He extended a single finger, sharp purple nails lengthening from the tip, and trailed it slowly down the line of Luceriel’s cheek, chuckling softly. "Had I known I would go two months without you, I would have locked you away in my castle in Loroso and kept you there, and made you my perfect companion."
Luceriel let out a dark chuckle, shaking his head. "How preposterous of you, to imagine I would ever allow you to become my mate." Then, without warning, he drove his forehead forward, cracking it hard against Pazuzu’s own with a sharp, echoing thud.
Pazuzu was caught entirely off guard. The blow sent his head ringing for several long seconds, his vision spinning.
He got me good, he thought, releasing his hold on Luceriel to rub at his throbbing skull, a faint violet light gathering beneath his palm to soothe the ache.
"I never imagined you would be this—" He never finished the thought. Luceriel seized him and hurled him bodily against the wall, planting a boot firmly against his chest.
"You may be a powerful demon, but your battle awareness leaves much to be desired."
Pazuzu chuckled. "What can I say? My mate is remarkably clever. Why should I trouble myself with such things, when you will guide me whenever I need of it?"
Luceriel punched him hard across the face.
Pazuzu felt his lip split as his head snapped to the side. "My, that is quite the punch. You really do hit hard, and—" Another blow landed before he could finish, and Luceriel grabbed him by the collar of his robe.
"I warned you not to threaten me, and still you did, in front of my own brother."
"Why concern yourself with your brother at all? He carries no memory of me. He does not even know we have met, and that human of his is not clever enough to work out who I am. So why trouble yourself over nothing, and—"
Another punch landed before he could finish.
"I am beginning to grow rather fond of this from you, Luceriel," he laughed, grin widening despite the blood on his lip. "Do go on and strike me again. Perhaps it will quench some of the hunger I have felt for you since the moment I first saw you. Perhaps it will even make my cock stop aching for you."
"You disgusting pervert."
"What can I say? I have not lain with anyone in centuries. Surely it would not be so terrible a thing, to fuck my own mate?"
Luceriel’s eyes flickered with genuine surprise for the briefest moment before he schooled his expression again, tightening his grip on Pazuzu’s robe.
"Azriel will grow suspicious of you soon enough. Knowing how curious he tends to be, he will discover exactly who you are," he said sharply, changing the subject entirely rather than hear another word out of Pazuzu’s mouth.
"And would that truly be so terrible? Let him discover I am fated to you. Why would you ever stand between us in the first place?" Pazuzu grinned wickedly. "I doubt you would go to such lengths for anyone who was not your mate. Perhaps you should simply tell him I am your intended, and leave my true identity out of it entirely. I imagine he would not mind in the slightest."
Luceriel gritted his teeth, exhaling a long, weary breath before pinning his forearm hard against Pazuzu’s throat. "Listen carefully, you foolish demon. I will not lie to my brothers about what you are. I intend to tell them exactly what you are, why you are here, and I will—"
"Go on, then. Tell them. It changes nothing. You are still going to marry me," he declared, his eyes flashing bright, and in the same breath he seized the hand at his throat, twisted it behind Luceriel’s back, and forced him down onto the floor.
Luceriel struggled beneath him, but Pazuzu held his wrists pinned above his head and lowered his body slowly over him. "Calm yourself, love," he chuckled. "You have had your fun. Now it is my turn." He grinned wickedly, straddling him with unhurried ease, then lowered his face to Luceriel’s neck and murmured against his skin. "You smell wonderful, like—"
His words were cut short as a blinding white light illuminated the Pavillion, and a soft voice followed.
"What in the world is going on here?"