"I will return for you in five hours, kitten. Do not be late," Pazuzu growled, his deep voice vibrating against my chest as he landed in the courtyard adjacent to the market.

He lowered me to the grey slate, my boots touching. Whenever he allowed me the freedom to explore, he insisted on dressing me in leather trousers, boots, and a loose tunic, with a silver choker that proclaimed me his. Not that I minded the protection, given the predominately male demon population. Especially since I wasn't allowed any weapons, other than my body itself. I didn't need to get injured fighting off some horny demon's advances. They wouldn't dare poach on their Lord's property.

At least I had the opportunity to train again. Pazuzu seemed to delight in sparring with me, although he treated it as foreplay. Every single time, we ended with my body pinned to some surface as he fucked me to the point of limp-boned satiation. I'd never been so well pleasured, so often, in my entire life. Okay, almost never. I shoved that fucking blue-haired sea god back from my thoughts. Obviously my memories were seriously flawed if I thought he could compete with Pazuzu.

"Thank you, my lord. I'll be on time," I agreed, yet still he didn't release me.

His black eyebrow rose, a half-smile on his face. "Forgetting something?"

Rising onto my tiptoes, I threaded my hands into his hair and kissed him. Never a brief peck. No, he insisted on scattering my senses, grinding my sex against his thick shafts until a fresh flood of moisture coated my core and I writhed in his arms. As I'd learned, Apkallu dragons were insatiable. But this wasn't about that. Instead, this was a claiming.

As if I didn't already carry his scent on me. Even after cleaning myself before dressing, I still felt his seed wet within me. Every demon with any ability to smell would know who had fucked me.

Moving his grip from my ass to cup my face, his thumbs stroked my cheeks. "I'll take care of this sexy body again when I return for you. It would displease me greatly if you were to touch yourself, or allow another to touch you in the interim. Your orgasms belong to me and I do not share my toys, kitten."

His dark eyes held mine until I licked my lips and nodded.

A smirk and raised black brow had me answering out loud, a shiver rippling over my spine. "Yes, my lord. I understand." Damn him, but if I'd learned anything about Pazuzu in the past fifteen days, it was that he had a will as hard as Yggdrasil's trunk. He wouldn't hesitate to spank me, then edge me to the point of climax, over and over and over, until I gave in. I'd never have described myself as submissive, but by the Norns, he ensured I bent to his desires.

Not that I was the only one. Everything in the entire realm bent to his will.

He released me, unfurling his wings from around us. Dark as midnight, with black smoke curling around them, they'd given us a measure of privacy in the busy city thoroughfare. At least, it had been busy before he landed. Now, there wasn't a single other soul in the courtyard. Not really surprising. Any demon stupid enough to disturb the Prince of the Aerial Kingdoms without cause deserved to get eaten when his lethal temper flared to supernova intensity.

With a few sweeps of those majestic wings, Pazuzu rose into the air, the shimmering black smoke expanding to entirely surround him, then his immense dragon form blotted out the sky. Obsidian scales covered his long serpentine body, lethal spikes rising along his back and tail. Fangs larger than my forearm filled his crocodile-shaped maw. The hair at the back of my neck stood. It unnerved me to be so close to his dragon form, his head more than twice the size of my entire body.

Not that that stopped him. He regularly shifted forms around me and often slept like that, curled around the bed like a young child with a teddy bear. At least it was the bed he gripped, while I had the luxury of the cushioned mattress, pillows, and bedding.

Fortunately, he carried me in humanoid form when we flew. As tough as I liked to think I was, I might panic if he grabbed me with those razor-sharp talons to fly. He scared me silent, giving me the shakes whenever he insisted on partially shifting and stroking my skin with them. One wrong move and I would be a pincushion, impaled, skewered on the foot-long lengths.

Although, that tongue. Even with adrenaline-fueled fear burning my veins, the things he could do with his tongue were... well, between the prehensile second cock, his tail, and that tongue, there was no part of me he hadn't explored and thoroughly claimed. My hand rose to my neck at the fresh hicky. I still wouldn't let him bite me. Gooseflesh rose on my skin, pebbling my nipples against the clinging fabric as I recalled his lengthy erotic play this morning.

Almost as if he'd heard my thought, a dragon smirk appeared on his elongated face. His dark eyes gleamed. Despite hovering in the air above me, he flicked that insanely long tongue down into my tunic to curl around one breast and gave it a quick squeeze. Another sweep of his enormous wings had his tongue sliding over my nipple as he withdrew and rose further in the air.

"Behave, my kitten," he rumbled in so deep a base, it vibrated my lungs. A few more flaps of his wings and he soared out over the city.

My breath released. I hadn't even realized I was holding it. Norns, he was just so damn sensuously overwhelming and dangerously unpredictable. I still wasn't entirely confident he wouldn't eat me if I accidentally pissed him off. He'd certainly eaten the occasional demon who'd angered him in his throne room over the last two weeks. Every time, the sight scared me spitless.

Pulse still pounding heavily in my veins, I left the courtyard through a set of gates and turned into an alley leading to the nearby market. I tapped my wrist, activating the brand, to check the time and my messages. Bloudwedd, Ethan, and Marcus were meeting me at a tavern for drinks in an hour. As much as I disliked the idea of a tracker on my arm, the damn thing was useful and couldn't be lost the way our Valkyrie ear cuff communicators could. It also seemed to have a vaster range, as Pazuzu's palace was several hundred kilometres away, although only minutes by dragon wing.

Distracted scrolling through messages, I didn't see the woman until I bowled her over.

"Shit! Sorry. Totally my fault," I said as I helped her gather the scattered tied silken packages, picking up the colourful bundles on the grey slate cobblestones of the street.

She shoved a hip-length fall of ebony hair back behind her shoulder as she knelt on hands and knees to pile her items in a woven blue grass basket. "No, it was definitely my fault, standing and gawking in the middle of the alley. I just can't help myself when he's around."

I met her thickly lashed golden brown eyes. Finely boned, she had delicate features and smooth umber skin. She was gorgeous, with an open, almost unconscious sensuality to her movements. I couldn't stop myself from staring. When she worried a plump lower lip with gleaming snowy teeth and glanced towards the burnt-orange sky, the urge to taste that lip had me leaning towards her before I caught myself. Pazuzu had made it very clear that while he'd likely have multiple acolytes at some point, he didn't share. I didn't dare indulge. Even if he'd left the blood humming in my veins and my arousal heightened by adrenaline. Damn dragon.

"When who's around?" I asked, distracting myself from further interest, although I allowed myself the pleasure of helping her to her feet. She was curvy like me, with full breasts and hips challenging the seams of the royal blue shift. Half a foot shorter than I, I took in her slender limbs and the silver chain around her ankle.

"Lord Pazuzu." With a long sigh and hand on her chest, she continued to scan the sky.

The jolt up my spine had me stiffening, and I looked up to see if he circled us. "You say his name? Isn't that dangerous? My understanding is he can read your thoughts if you say his name three times out loud."

I'd also heard him called the Dark Angel of the Four Winds, so while I hadn't seen Pazuzu specifically manipulate air yet as I kept my own abilities hidden during our sparring sessions, I suspected he was capable of it. That he'd hear someone say his name suggested more than simple molecular manipulation, with some kind of connection formed at the dimensional matrix used by Heimdall to see such distances. It wasn't something I was willing to take a chance with.

She shrugged, then met my gaze with a slight blush, and looked away. "Perhaps. I don't care if he does. He's magnificent."

I opened my mouth to warn her, then closed my mouth. What could I say? She wasn't wrong. He was magnificent, but also terrifyingly brutal when he chose to be. Although, to be fair, I'd only seen him direct that side of his nature against his demons, never myself or any of the domestic acolytes that cleaned, cooked, and saw to the needs of the palace. Yet, something about her made me want to protect her, to shield her. An air of almost innocence clung to her, despite this place.

Placing a hand on her arm, I waited until she looked at me again, then pulled my hand back. "Yes, he is, but also deadly."

She nodded and a small smile lifted her lips. "Yes, I'm sure. Probably not smart of me to be fascinated with him. I can't seem to make myself stop. Anyway, thanks for helping me. Claw would punish me with extra chores if I don't get back with these. I'm Anna, by the way."

In the custom of Midgardians, she held out her hand.

"I'm Mist." Despite my reservations, I shook her soft hand and confirmed by her lack of any callouses that she lacked any experience with hand-to-hand combat or weapons training. She really was a lamb surrounded by wolves and the desire to safeguard her again nudged at my conscience. "You're at the temple? I'm meeting some of my friends from the temple. Did you want to join us?" Why hadn't I seen her at the temple? Was there another temple nearby? I'd thought I'd met more than half of the almost two hundred acolytes at Dragon's Tail. Or had I seen her and not recognized her when dealing with patrons? Something about her long hair seemed familiar.

Her golden brown eyes sparkled and a laugh burbled. "Yes, the Asgardian, right?"

She reached out slender fingers to touch one my braids hanging down my chest. I found myself stilling, not wanting to move and scare her away. Like coaxing a deer to feed from my hand. Instead, I just answered her with a nod.

She continued to glide her fingertips over the length of it. "I've lusted after your beautiful sapphire braids from afar. I haven't seen you since they said a demon lord spirited you away, but I'm glad to see that you seem well." Anna released my braid to pat my forearm, her gaze returning to meet mine. "Thank you for the invite, but I haven't earned the free time yet today. Maybe next time?"

She waited, basket draped over one arm.

Unable to think of any way to help her when I hadn't yet figured out a way to safely escape the planet any time soon myself, I silently nodded.

Anna patted my arm again, her fingers lingering then slowly sliding off my skin. With a wave, she continued down the alley. I couldn't help but watch her graceful exit. She definitely had a quality that attracted. I hoped she survived her time on Muspelheim. This planet was hard on immortals, let alone fragile humans.

Especially ones that didn't have the sense to fear dragons.