The Damned Demon
Chapter 589: It Must Have Been Hard

The air was brimming with unspoken tension as Lori leaned over Lysandra, her serpentine body reduced to a size small enough to examine Lysandra.

With an unsettling gentleness uncharacteristic of her imposing nature, Lori extended her fangs and delicately sank them into Lysandra's arm.

The process was unnerving, but necessary; Lori's fangs were not only weapons but tools, drawing out the venom that had spread through Lysandra's veins.

Lysandra winced sharply at the contact, her body tensing as the venom was extracted, the sensation as strange as it was painful.

However, as the poison left her system, her complexion gradually improved, color returned to her cheeks, and life came back to her previously dim eyes.

Lori pulled away and mumbled with her dark purple eyes quivering, "This…This is my father's venom…"

Lysandra saw the brief flash of horror and anger in Lori's eyes and said, "Drakar must have harvested it from whatever his father or grandfather must have stored away."

"Those loathsome rats…I will kill them all…SSHSHHH…" Lori hissed sharply as resentment flared in her eyes.

Asher, who was watching her reaction from afar, felt glad to see that Drakar had earned himself one more enemy without even realizing it.

However, Lori calmed herself down by taking a deep breath and then looked at Lysandra, "You should be feeling better already, and I have also planted my egg. But your healing will be suppressed for a while. I wouldn't worry about it though, sssss," she explained, her voice a mix of brief detachment and faint satisfaction.

Lysandra's eyes widened slightly at the mention of the egg, her hand instinctively brushing against her stomach.

The reality of carrying another being's life, especially that of a beast like Lori, was surreal and disquieting. She slowly attempted to stand, seeking to regain some semblance of normalcy, but her legs faltered, still weak from the ordeal.

"Careful," Asher quickly stepped forward, catching her by the hand to steady her. His voice was soft, tinged with concern, "Let your body regain some strength. You have been poisoned for almost an entire day."

Lysandra met his gaze with a complicated look.

Silently, she nodded, her mind racing with the implications of what had just transpired and the potential future it heralded. She wondered if she would really get pregnant with his child.

Even if this child wouldn't really be hers, it would be the second time she would be birthing one. She never expected she would have a second one in her womb like this and that which would belong to a man like Asher.

Asher looked into her dark, fiery eyes and couldn't imagine where their complicated relationship was heading towards. Why did things have to end up this way?

As they stood there, lost in the gravity of the moment, Lori's impatient voice cut through the silence, "What are you two standing around for? Get on with it."

Both Lysandra and Asher turned to look at Lori, their expressions incredulous at her brusque interruption, though Lori stared back with an oblivious look, "What now?" She asked with a low hiss.

"Are you seriously going to sit here while we...." Asher started, his voice trailing off as Lysandra's sideward glance caught him mid-sentence, the rest of his words lost in a sudden rush of awkwardness.

"Why are you two being so shy about it? It's not like people don't do this every day. Most walkers like you two don't even care about such things. But fine...I will just hide somewhere. But remember you lost a once-in-a-lifetime chance of sharing this sacred ritual with the world's most beautiful creature like myself, Ssssss..." Lori hissed in exasperation and other unspoken vexation, her body coiling as she slithered away to give them some semblance of privacy...just some.

Asher could only shake his head as he looked at this crazy old snake slither away.

When Lori's presence disappeared into the shadowy abyss of the cavern, only silence trailed into the hollow, replacing the echoing of her serpent hisses.

The tension that had faded with her departure escalated again, this time charged with a different note.

Discarding his robes to the side, Asher's muscular form stood partially bare under the dark glow of the cavern.

Lysandra briefly caught a glimpse of his half-naked torso and, for a moment, found herself unable to take her eyes off.

She never expected him to look so manly underneath those elegant robes, each of his muscles looking as if they were honed through countless battles and blood.

Following his lead, Lysandra's dainty fingers rose to the intricate button of her ornate, dark red gown.

Halting abruptly, her soft hand hovered in the air. Uncertainty was uncharacteristic of her, but her now tender body, marred by the aftermath of venom extraction, trembled vulnerably.

Asher, stripped down to his pants, caught the subtle shift in her demeanor and turned to face her, confusion flickering across his fiery eyes.

"What's wrong?" he questioned softly.

"My wounds...they haven't healed yet. Should we do this a bit later?" Lysandra, one hand clutching her neck button, the other draped across her midriff, averted her gaze in half-hearted shame.

Without a moment's hesitation, Asher reached out, enclosing her nippled hands within his large, warm palms, "No matter how your body looks, I won't think less of it. Let me help you," he reassured her, an unusual tenderness lacing his voice which lessened the heaviness she was feeling in her chest.

He knew no woman liked to expose their scars.

Gently, he moved her hands aside, his fingers traveling to the intricate buttons of her gown.

Lysandra watched him intently, her fiery eyes downcast as he slid open each fastening, exposing her beautifully sculpted curves.

Against her velvet skin, a voluptuously elegant body lay beneath the dark red silk garment, which was tightly holding her plump breasts, creating a sensual dip in cleavage.

Her delicate yet strong body, with toned muscles, and her sweat-layered skin, looked soft and glowing with allure but were deceptively strong as steel.

Her majestic and graceful dark silver wings were folded behind her back as if they were too withdrawn.

However, her seductive figure bore remnants of a deadly onslaught; bruises patterned her porcelain skin, broken by violent lash marks scattered across her arms, chest, and stomach.

Each wound made Asher feel a prickle in his chest, and they created an uncomfortable contrast with her intoxicating allure.

Lysandra briefly stole a glance at his eyes, but instead of expecting to see disgust in them, she was surprised to see a warm softness that she couldn't remember the last time she saw in a pair of eyes.

Asher looked at her face, which seemed impassive, but he could see the pain and nervousness in her eyes.

He could see that she was feeling uncomfortable displaying her body smeared with these marks before another man.

They were proof of the prison she was living in.

But as if to ease her uneasiness, Asher held her by the nape, his voice a soothing whisper, "It must have been very hard for you but it doesn't have to be anymore..." he murmured, making Lysandra's eyes ripple briefly.

Asher then leaned in to kiss her lips but Lysandra pressed her lips together and avoided his lips by turning her head to the side, feeling her heart quicken and become unsteady for a moment.

Asher could make a guess or two why she avoided his lips but he didn't think too much about it.

She then saw him lowering his head to press a tender kiss to the raised welt trailing from her soft upper breast to her neck, making her large dark silver wings contract ever so slightly upon feeling his warm lips on her bruised skin.

Then, ever so slowly, he dragged his tongue along the path of the lash mark that marred her delicate collarbone, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from Lysandra as her neck arched back slightly.

"Hn~" Lysandra hummed in involuntary response, her lips parting to release a soft moan upon feeling a wet, hot softness caressing over the stinging dark marks on her skin.

However, Asher didn't stop and moved lower, untying the dark red fabric that covered Lysandra's generous bosom while Lysandra's fingers briefly curled up but then relaxed.

Slowly, tantalizingly, he revealed her perfect pair of round breasts, crowned with rosy nipples puckered from both tension and residual pain.

Unable to resist the temptation, he bent down, pressing feather-light kisses onto the bruised skin of her cleavage.

"Hnn~..."

His lips explored her curves delicately, coaxing soft gasps and sighs from Lysandra.

Each measured stroke of his velvety tongue and warm lips sent shivers down her spine, awakening forgotten sensations within her.

Every nerve ending came alive under his skilled ministrations, responding to the gentle exploration of his mouth on her battered skin.

She found it hard to remember the last time she was treated with such warmth and gentleness.

His warm touch against her bruised skin sent ripples of unfamiliar sensations across her body, eliciting a heat that radiated from her chest, making her temporarily forget about the marks on her body.

Without pausing, Asher shifted his focus to her abdomen, peppering tender kisses over the fading lash marks etched onto her toned yet soft stomach.

As he did so, his hands found purchase on her now bare breasts, kneading them gently with just enough pressure to make her squirm without her even realizing it.

Lysandra watched him through hooded eyes, astonished at how her skin was getting warmer while her heart was beginning to pound erratically.

Usually, she wouldn't feel anything but an empty coldness after she numbed herself and silently endure and wait for it to pass.

But now she felt an unexpected surge of sensations threatening to consume her rational thoughts.

She tried to suppress the growing warmth spreading through her veins, attempting to maintain some semblance of composure.

For nearly two centuries, or for the most part of her life, she hadn't felt these sensations and never thought she would feel them again.

So why was she feeling them…why with him? Lysandra had never felt so confused before, but her thoughts were constantly derailed as Asher pulled down the lower part of her gown and warmed up the bruised skin of her thighs with his lips gently.

Asher kissed her powerfully curved, sensuous thigh by lifting her right leg over his shoulder, kissing all the way to her soft inner thighs, and dangerously letting his lips crawl toward her dark red panties.

"Hnn~..." Lysandra unconsciously kept trying to hold back her moans to maintain decorum, but it was getting harder as he tenderly kept kissing her in such sensitive spots.

Fearing uneasiness that she was feeling less like her usual self, she placed her hand on Asher's head to stop him and said with a reddish hue on her cheeks, "Let's…unite now and finish it."

Asher softly shook his head as he wrapped his fingers around her dark red panties and said, "I can't do that without making you ready first. Otherwise, it will be painful for you."

Lysandra never thought he would be this considerate when most men wouldn't even care except to satisfy themselves.

"You don't have to…I can take it," Lysandra said as a matter of fact.

"But as a man, I can't allow that," Saying so, Asher suddenly pulled down her panties before she could protest further.