The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 90: The bring-your-lover-to-work day is always embarrassing

Chapter 90: The bring-your-lover-to-work day is always embarrassing

It was ridiculous.

I had only not seen him for a few hours, but the moment my eyes laid on his figure, my heart skip a beat. I had no idea whether I stopped breathing because I didn’t want to be found out while peeking, or because he was just that gorgeous.

He still wore his black formal wear from this morning, although his cape was neatly hung on the coat rack. What got my lung to cease functioning was the way he rolled his sleeve to his elbow, giving me a full show of his sturdy, veiny arm.

And Gods above—he wore glasses!

Was today my birthday? Why did all my fantasies come to life?

Leaning on the edge of his desk, he looked like a painting. I felt like watching a scene from a movie as he spoke with his staff and gave some orders. They seemed to talk about some mines and a suspicious movement at the border. Not sure, I was just too focused on observing Natha.

I had no idea how long I was there, crouching behind the door and peeking into the room. There were staff coming and going, bringing documents to be signed, putting down proposals, making reports... I watched him walking around the office for who knew how long, oblivious to the time.

"You can go for now," he said to the staff after some time, and then came back to sit on his comfortable-looking chair behind the desk. Seemed like he was about to take a rest?

I wondered when would be the best time to come out. Or would we just go back to the suite? I wasn’t sure if I should disturb him in the middle of his work. I looked up at Eruha to inquire about it, when I heard Natha’s voice again.

"So, are you going to ever come out?" he asked, prompting me to flinch in surprise. "Or was it more fun watching me from behind the door?"

I looked at Eruha and mouthed; ’How does he know?’

"Why wouldn’t he? His Lordship could sense our thought..." the tall demon answered casually with a shrug.

Oh...right! I forgot about it since Natha said he wouldn’t sense mine anymore. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t sense the one that belonged to my chaperone.

"You’re getting comfortable there, sweetheart?" he asked again, and when I looked at him again, I could see his silver eyes trained on me—no longer obatructed by the glasses. A smile played on his face, and I got up in reflex, peeking my head inside first with a sheepish grin.

Natha smiled wider and reached out his hand. "Come," he said briefly, and my body followed it like a command.

Or perhaps it was my heart.

I slipped through the slightly opened door and walked hurriedly across the room as if my feet were impatient. He did chuckle because of it, and when I was close enough, he pulled me by my waist, and the next thing I knew, I was already sitting on one of his thighs.

"W-what are you doing?" I hissed quietly, even though there was no one but Eruha there.

"Why?" Natha gave me an amused smile. "We always do this,"

"No, we’re not!" I replied immediately as I felt my cheeks burn from embarrassment. "...not always," I added quietly.

He laughed then, and as if proving his intention to ignore my fluster, he pulled me even closer that I let out a gasp in surprise. "We should make it a habit then, so you can get used to it,"

My Lord, why are you flirting in the middle of work hours?!

"It’s alright, no one’s here. It’s nearly lunch so I just take an early break," he said with a playful smile, as if replying to my thought.

Gasp! "You said you won’t do it again!" I let out a protest, pursing my lips in annoyance. But Natha just laughed and rubbed on my twisted lips in response.

"I’m not sensing your thought, though?" he tilted his head with a smile. "It’s just written all over your blushing face..."

I’m not blushing?! Or...was I? I pressed my lips to prevent myself from making grunting noises. He pinched my chin lightly with another laugh before looking down, and pointing to my hand with his chin.

"What’s that?"

I followed his gaze with a raised brow, just realizing that I still had the small cookie tin in my hand. "Cookies..." I kept on eating it on the way here, so it already decreased to half now. "Eruha stole it from your pantry," I tattled, prompting the Lord to raise his brow and glance toward the tall demon—who was still here, by the way.

The demon in question cleared his throat before correcting me. "Our pantry," he shrugged with a smile.

Natha scoffed and turned to look at me again. "You like that one?"

"I like all the snacks you’ve been giving me," I took one out, which was shaped like a leaf, and put it in front of his mouth. "Since I could never eat them before."

The sweet ones, the fatty ones, the sour ones, the spicy ones...every flavor was something new to me, and it was exhilarating. Even the strangest flavor still tasted like an adventure, which was miles better than bitter medicines and tasteless meals.

Natha opened his mouth with a smile, and let me hand-feed him the cookie—which I did not expect. I thought he didn’t really like them, since he rarely touch those during our tea time, and only did it as a prank. Was I mistaken?

He closed his eyes and tilted his head, before nodding. "Mm...yeah, I still don’t like it. You can finish all of them, sweetheart."

I laughed at how he swallowed with a frown, and put the remaining cookie in my mouth. So I was right—he did dislike them.

"Well, since I delivered the package, I shall bid my farewell," Eruha said with a chuckle and curtsied elegantly. "Good day, my Lord, Young Master."

"Mm,"

"Oh, thank you, Eruha," I waved my cookie-free hand at him, which he returned with a chuckle before disappearing behind the door. I turned toward Natha again and found that he’d been looking at me with an inquisitive gaze. "What?"

"Seemed like you manage to get close to my vassals," he said with a smile.

But there were also questions reflected in his eyes, so I proceeded to tell him about what happened all this morning, including my conversation with Caba.

At the end of my retelling, he tapped on his chin and looked at me amusedly. "So you even manage to conquer my crazy hound, huh?"

"What, he’s called a hound?" I tilted my head and looked up, musing in confusion. "But...he got no fur?"

Pfft—Natha pressed his head against my side and laughed with a shaking shoulder. "Yeah...he got no...fur, right?" he inhaled deeply after finishing laughing. "Perhaps we should reconsider another nickname for him..."

I giggled at that, and he pulled me even closer to him. My hands, which were already free of the cookie tin, found themselves on his chest, holding on to the sudden jolt. I could see my surprised and flustered face through the reflection in the silver orbs, and my breath hitched for a bit.

"But do you really need to learn the language with them?" he asked in that deep voice that got me confused about whether he was seducing me or threatening me. "I can teach you myself, you know."

Wow...I thought it was only the other demons’ silly conjecture, but Natha did sound reluctant. But I braved myself and told him flatly. "No, I don’t want to."

Natha looked taken aback then. Perhaps he didn’t think I would immediately reject him like that, so he even looked a bit hurt.

"There’s a saying that you shouldn’t ask your lover to teach you something," I explained immediately, so he did not misunderstand. "Because we might end up fighting."

He raised his brow—the surprised and disappointed face turned into confusion. "How?"

"Because...because you might see how pathetic I am, or become disappointed at how slowly I progress. And you might get annoyed, and I’ll get frustrated and annoyed too. And so we’ll end up fighting and...and..." I explained with flailing hands, and Natha blinked repeatedly at my conjured-up scenario. I stopped and dropped my hand to my lap, sighing. "Anyway, that’s about it."

Natha kept his silence for a while, to the point that I felt awkward. Was I...being too weird—

When I was still musing, however, he suddenly snatched my chin and pulled my face closer, and my mind ceased thinking as my lips were being claimed. I gasped against his lips, and he only used the chance to slip between them while pulling my body even closer, until we were practically glued to each other.

I grabbed the cord on his clothes as he caressed my cheek to guide me deeper, but the kiss was too sudden and I depleted my air too soon, so I pulled on his cord and he parted his lips with a deep smile while I panted slightly.

Before I could question his action, he already kissed my cheek and trailed his lips to whisper in my ears. "You called me your lover," he said with palpable glee in his voice.

"Well...aren’t you?" I replied quietly, still with bated breath, and he laughed merrily, pulling me into another kiss.

Oh, I just hoped his staff didn’t suddenly come through the door.