“That’s what you told me before,” she whimpered, shuddering. “But that awful man came and took me away. At first I thought he was normal—then I saw those horns…”
“I know, Maddie,” I said, every protective instinct inside of me going into overdrive. “I’m so, so sorry. I should have explained things better from the start. There are demons in the room with us right now, but they’re not going to hurt you, alright? They’re my friends.” I chuckled. “A couple of them are way more than my friends, actually…”
“I still don’t want to look,” she whispered, shaking her head. I didn’t blame her—demons were pretty terrifying when you weren’t the one having sex with them, after all. “They’re your friends from the diner, right? Christina and Mareth?”
I stood up a little straighter, surprised. Both Christina and Mareth looked the same.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m surprised you remember them…”
A little giggle spilled from Maddie’s throat. “I remember all my customers’ names,” she admitted, clinging to the front of my robes. “Especially the cute ones. Helps me get better tips that way.”
Well. That might be a way to make this next part easier.
“Maddie...there’s one way I might be able to help you with all this. If you’ll hear me out?”
There was no response from Maddie.
“I know, I know,” I said, chuckling a little bit. “This is all really scary. But if you’ll just listen to what I have to say…”
“Luke,” Mareth said. “She’s asleep.”
Ah. So she was. In all the excitement, Maddie passed out. Well, I couldn’t really blame her—it had been an exciting few days. Now that I thought about it, when was the last time Maddie slept. When was the last time I slept?
The tiredness I hadn’t allowed myself to feel rushed in, and my knees sagged. “Fuck,” I grunted, shifting Maddie’s weight from one arm to the other. “I think we could all use a break after that little adventure…”
Both Christina and Mareth looked like they’d much rather have encouraged me to fuck Maddie back to full wakefulness rather than wait any longer. Yet after a few moments, they shared a look and shrugged.
“Let her catch a nap,” Christina said, stretching out on the couch. “We could all use one—you included.” Her tongue lolled out of the side of her mouth, as if reminding me all the things she could do with it. “You think you’ll need a little help falling asleep?”
“Nah,” I said, carrying Maddie towards the bedroom. “I’m fucking wiped.”
Someone—probably Maddie herself—had made up the king-sized bed while we were away. The sheets and pillows were pristine, as if the woman herself had been looking forward to slipping underneath the covers with me when I got back to my subspace. I tucked her in, not terribly worried about the blood all over her clothing. It would wash out.
“Rest up, babygirl,” I said, putting my fingers against Maddie’s forehead. “We’ll talk about this in the morning.”
By the time I got back to the living room, Christina and Mareth had both passed out. The two demon girls lay in a tangle of each other’s arms, snoozing peacefully. I longed to join them, but there wasn’t enough room on the couch for all three of us without waking them up and shoving them aside.
Oni sat in front of the fire, his eyes trained on the door. “You don’t need a nap?” I asked.
He shook his massive head from side to side. “I require very little rest, Master,” he rumbled, his hands on his knees. “You should lie down along with the rest of the group. You need to recharge your demonic energy. Should any demons attempt to gain access to this subspace, I will stop them.”
I had no doubt that he would. And that bed looked so fucking cozy…
Another yawn sealed the deal. I was fucking wiped. “Wake me up if anything happens,” I told Oni, retreating towards the bedroom.
“Yes, Master,” Oni said.
The bedroom was dark as I climbed beneath the covers, snuggling up next to Maddie. Karl’s blood made a mess of the blankets, but I was too tired to care. I threw an arm over Maddie’s side, holding her close, and by the time my head hit the pillow I was out like a light.
I’m not sure how long we slept. Time inside of subspace was already weird—I just know that when my eyes opened, Maddie’s body curled up next to mine beneath the blankets, I felt like a million bucks.
“Hey,” I said, kissing Maddie awake. “How you doin’?”
Her eyes fluttered open. For a long moment I could tell she didn’t remember where she was or what had happened, and was just giddy with the excitement of waking up next to me. That was a good feeling. Then memory came rushing in, and she closed her eyes and snuggled up next to me tighter.
“Are those demons still here?” Maddie asked, nodding towards the bedroom door.
“Yeah, but they’re asleep,” I said, rubbing her lower back. “Even demons need to do that every now and then. Actually, scratch that. Do you smell that?”
It had been so long since I’d experienced the scent of something as ordinary as bacon and eggs that my mouth began to water. Maddie’s stomach let out a very undignified rumble as she pressed her body against mine, and she giggled at her own embarrassment.
“I think one of those demons you’re so afraid of made us some breakfast,” I said. “Tell you what—if you want to keep your eyes closed, I’ll guide you out there. We can talk about that proposal I wanted to go over with you yesterday…”
Maddie thought it over for a moment or two, then nodded. “Sure. I’m starving. And it’ll be good to have
