Chapter Ten

Jesus Christ.

I breathed out a long sigh of relief as I stood under an icy cold shower the next morning. My whole body ached and throbbed, my voice was hoarse, my cock hurt, and I couldn't feel my wrists.

I had completely forgotten one thing about American incubi.

Their semen doubled as an aphrodisiac, and while it didn't really do much to their own kind— to another species, it could drive them insane and luckily for everyone, I wasn't sane to begin with. Instead, I had spent the whole night masturbating until I felt like my body was literally going to overheat and combust. A whole bottle of coconut liquor from the liquor store finally knocked me out and I woke up feeling like I'd gone a round against a trash compactor.

I patted my face dry at the same time I heard my phone ping, making me roll my eyes as I left the bathroom to get my phone off the coffee table. I opened a message from Kali informing me she'd gotten the samples from Polly and had sent them to mother herself. I wasn't a big fan of Kali doing things that involved mother directly. The closer she got to mother, the more dangerous it was for her.

I finished getting ready, strapping my watch on and grabbing my phone as I headed for the door. I passed D'Angelo's spirit brooding in the hallway, and he was pissier than usual considering he had to share an apartment with a sex crazed maniac for a whole night.

For that alone, I probably should've just let him go.

But I still needed to hang onto him just a bit longer.

With that in mind, I left the apartment and headed to work at The Winged Serpent. I got a final message from mother before she went off-grid, some bullshit about behaving, doing my job, and not killing anymore people.

I rolled my eyes.

So they found whatshisname in the garbage.

That's a record.

I pocketed my phone as I came up on the building, only to slow down when I realized there was commotion going on inside. Of course, whatever was happening led to Beni storming towards the doors at the same time I approached them, so I took a step back to give him room to explode out of the doors.

"Fuck you, you weasely motherfucker!"

Beni's fist actually connected with my face.

And I could've retaliated, but that wouldn't be a good look, would it?

I didn't make a sound as Beni's punch snapped my head to the side, and a second later, Antonio and Malto were charging out of the building to grab Beni and haul him back. Marsha came out as well, like she could calm Beni, who was just sobbing now.

"Wow," I murmured, rubbing my cheek where Beni had hit me, "That's not a good way to start the morning."

"Do not open your mouth," Marsha ordered, pointing a finger at me while putting a hand on Beni's chest to hold him back. I held my hands up in surrender, not saying a word as Beni glared at me, those blue eyes overflowing with tears. For the briefest of moments, I almost thought of him as pretty.

"What did you do to him?" Beni demanded breathlessly.

"Beni, baby, don't give him the time of day," Marsha said gently, waving her hands for Beni to step back, "Just back off and take five. He's not worth your job." Beni said something unintelligible; it was hard to tell when he broke off into another sob. Eventually Malto and Antonio were able to get Beni to at least cease with the violence, because now he was just sobbing into his hands before he broke away and went around to the side of the building.

"Watch him," Marsha ordered them, pointing to me, then she hurried after Beni. I watched them go, bewildered, then turned back to the security guys, who both sighed.

"What the hell was that about?" I asked incredulously. Antonio rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest.

"Listen, man, you seem friendly and all, but you won't make any friends stealing people's customers," he said, shaking his head. My eyebrows went up in surprise. Malto shrugged, giving Antonio a little elbow.

"I mean, Beni obviously wasn't treating Wren that great," he pointed out, making Antonio look at him, "What? Come on, you're not blind, man, kid's skinnier than a toothpick. It was only a matter of time. He's lucky Wren came and faced him on his own instead of Diego calling Wren's parents. That would've been even more embarrassing."

"Wait," I said, waving my hands, "Slow down, who stole who and what about Wren?"

"Wren showed up at three in the morning," Malto replied, making me raise an eyebrow and Antonio nodded to corroborate his story, "Beni came in, they were in the room for five minutes, and suddenly Wren was at the front desk, telling Marsha he needed a new server. Guess Wren found someone better."

"Who," I asked, and when they stared at me like an idiot, I played along, "It's Titi, isn't it? She's really good with that tongue thing she does."

"It's you, jackass," Malto deadpanned.

"Somehow," Antonio tacked on.

I blinked, lowering my hands as I let that information sink in and I thought back to last night.

I really hadn't intended to bring Wren to my apartment to begin with. Mother told me to watch and learn, nothing more. And I could've taken Wren to The Winged Serpent right off the bat. I could've taken him to the palace or one of the three hospitals in the city.

I could've taken him to mother, for fuck's sake.

Except I took him home instead.

I could've stopped the facefuck at any point. Wren could've stopped it at any point too. We were both in control of ourselves, for the most part. Granted Wren probably had a harder time saying no than I did, but he still could have said no or pushed me away or called for Hades. His phone had been within reach the whole time.

Instead of reaching for his phone, he wrapped his arms around my neck and held me there.

For some insane reason, I let him hold me. I let him kiss me, taste me.

For fuck's sake, I let him fuck me in the mouth.

And I'd let him do it again too.

Which scared the shit out of me.

"Uhh," I said after a long moment of silence where Antonio and Malto seemed to debate what to do about Beni, both of them staring at me oddly, "Is Diego in? I gotta talk to him."

"He's waiting," Malto said, gesturing inside. I just nodded numbly, scanning my badge and heading inside. Of course, I wasn't exactly met with fanfare considering everyone in the lobby had witnessed the scene and they were all staring. I cleared my throat awkwardly, punching the code in to get to the back rooms.

I made my way back to Diego's office and the no-named security guard was standing just outside with his arms folded over his chest. He gave me a scrutinizing stare from head to toe, then gestured with a thumb for me to go in.

I walked in and Diego was sitting at his desk. He glanced up, frowned, then looked back down at something on his tablet, gesturing for me to sit. I walked in and sat in one of the plush armchairs, getting that tickling sensation that I was about to be scolded like a schoolboy.

"Sooooo," I said slowly when Diego didn't look up right away, "Kinda lively this morning, huh?"

"That's a nice way of saying chaos," Diego deadpanned, closing the cover over his tablet and folding his hands on it as he looked at me, "Tell me, how is it that you manage to work here for only a month and have caused more trouble than Theo himself has in over a millennia?"

"Wow, that's kind of harsh—"

"Beni is a vital member of this team," Diego said firmly, making me sigh as he took on a serious tone, "He's been with us since the beginning, with me, since the beginning. He wants what is best for our community, and I understand that you probably don't have much memory of that, but let me explain to you what it means to be part of our community."

Incoming lecture— and frankly, I deserved it.

"Up until the twenty-first century, our community were kept as slaves. Objects. I watched my brothers and sisters get auctioned off like cattle. I spent centuries getting passed around like a used sex toy until I found salvation in Hades," Diego explained, his voice cracking for a moment before he cleared his throat, "Beni and I met here. We came together to form The Winged Serpent to help our community. Sex is in our nature, but that does not mean that it is our destiny. Beni understands this, and Beni cares about his clientele, contrary to how you may feel. He's also gone through a lot and has found safety here, found a place here, somewhere he can be safe to be himself."

"I understand," I said quietly. Diego frowned.

"You're very lucky that Wren specifically asked for you as Beni's replacement," he said, making me look up, "Otherwise, I would fire you. Unfortunately, Wren is our most important client at the moment and the existence of this shop, of this community, hinges on how well we please him, so do me a favor? Do anything and everything that Wren asks of you. At this point, I don't care what it is. He clearly sees something in you he likes, so make sure you utilize it well." I just nodded and Diego waved me out of the room. I stood up and started to leave, only to pause in the doorway.

"Hey, Diego?"

"What?"

"Does this mean I get the mini-fridge room?"

"Get out."

I shut the door behind me, pausing to look at the security guard. He was just replacing his glasses, blocking me from making eye contact. Not that I missed the muttering of Jesus Christ, kid under his breath. I wasn't entirely sure where to go from here, so I went to the break room to check out the list of appointments for the day.

Sure enough, Wren was scheduled for an appointment at noon.

I had four hours to prepare.

Question is, what the fuck was I preparing for?

Last night, I got a mouthful of cock. From the looks of Beni after all those appointments, I'd never seen him look satisfied or well fed or so... enraptured. That was the only way I could describe what was a slightly awkward, yet incredibly pleasant experience. What had Beni done that was different? Or maybe it was me?

It's not like I could just dip into Wren's head and find out, considering every time I made eye contact, I was caught between admiring his pretty brown eyes and listening to the noise that was inside his head.

Every so often, I'd catch a conscious thought. But it wasn't enough to give me a good reading and I couldn't remember the last time I had such difficulties getting into someone's head. Mother was always difficult, but every so often I would catch stray subconscious thoughts, just nothing meaningful to go on.

Weirdly, Milo came to mind.

Ha. He'd always been so easy to read without having to read his mind. His facial expressions were always insanely accurate and it was hard for him to hide when he was angry, or upset, or even happy. He'd been the one to teach me those facial expressions, teach me how to feel and show happiness, how to share it, how to be grateful for it.

But to actually get in there was a bit of a pain in the ass. Milo knew me, so he knew exactly how to throw me off. Not to mention, Milo was just smarter than me. That wasn't necessarily my fault, considering Milo still had an outside education and mine was severely limited by my upbringing. It would've been worse had Milo not been there for me...

Even Milo had secrets, though.

Secrets he knew how to hide very well.

I paused, frowning at the table curiously because that gave me a weird sensation that something was off, but I didn't get a chance to inspect that gut instinct further as Marsha suddenly appeared across the table from me.

Ooh, she was pissed. Like, mad pissed. Her brows were knotted tight, her lips in a firm frown, her arms folded over her chest. If there wasn't a wall between us before, there was a whole fucking dam there now.

"Diego told me to take you to your room," she said. Her tone was no funny business and I knew when I had been cornered, so I just nodded and silently got up to follow her. She walked with her fists down at her sides, curling and uncurling them, her jaw tight. She moved fast too, like she wanted me to sprint behind her like a dutiful puppy.

Except that pissed me off, so I abruptly stopped following her. She realized quick too and spun around to glare at me.

"What?" She snapped. I stared at her. She was seething, but not because she was mad at me for my mouth or for just being here. She was mad because I had hurt Beni's feelings. Beni was her friend. They on and off fought, but that was just how friends were sometimes. Seeing Beni fall apart had really shocked her to the core.

More than I think any of us expected it to.

"I'm sorry I hurt Beni's feelings," I said, and that seemed to confuse her momentarily because she wasn't expecting it, but she recovered fast and threw up her hand, even going as far as to flash her claws at me.

"No, do not apologize to me. Apologize to Beni."

"I will when I see him."

"If he sees you, he'll hit you."

"That's fine, I can take a beating."

"Ugh!" She turned and kept walking, so I took my cue and followed her. The room wasn't too far from the break room thankfully, so no long awkward silences as Marsha stopped at the door and swiped a small tag against the door, making it blink blue as it unlocked and popped open.

Inside was a very basic bedroom with drawers, a closet, and a connected bathroom. Not nearly as fancy as Beni's, and sadly no mini-fridge, but given the circumstances, I wasn't going to complain about that.

Yet.

"Here's your key," Marsha said, but instead of handing it to me, she smacked it on the table near the door, then she gave me a salute with her middle finger, "Have fun, asshole." She slammed the door shut and I sighed, then looked around the room. Definitely nothing fancy, but it was nice enough. I walked over to the bed and sat down, frowning when I saw a menu on the nightstand.

Of course, it was a list of products, costumes, toys, cleaning equipment, the whole works. Anything you could ever want for the perfect night of incredible sex. Everything was listed with prices, meaning that the customer would have to pay extra.

Somehow, I doubted Wren would struggle to pay for anything.

Beni's equipment was probably included in his appointment fees.

Nice.

I flipped through the menu, pausing to stare at the pink leather set I had seen whenever I passed through the storage room. It was a premium item, so a bit pricer than the others, but damn it would be worth it to see it on Wren. His creamy skin with that pastel pink, and if I charged an extra five credits, I'd get to throw in an iridescent heart tag.

I could already hear it jingling away as I pinned him down on the bed.

Fuck. That was hot.

In more than one way, I thought grimly as I adjusted myself in my pants and got to my feet, feeling a wave of heat climb up the back of my neck. I was still getting aftershocks from the blowjob last night, so it was a lot easier for my mind to wander back to fantasies.

I groaned, wiping my hands over my face, raking them through my hair in frustration. I snatched up my phone and sent a text to Kali.

My balls fucking hurt.

Almost immediately, Kali's response was a puking emoji and a middle finger. I smirked, walking over to the dresser and placing my elbows on it. I sent her a video chat invite and after a second of stalling, I watched the screen go dark before Kali's face filled the screen.

From the looks of it, she was sprawled on the couch in her living room, eating a bag of potato chips I had brought her. Her hair was coiled up in a bun, her blue eyes sparkling... despite the bruise on her jaw.

I frowned.

"What's that?" I asked. Kali blinked, then sighed.

"See, this is why I wasn't going to accept the call, but I knew you'd just keep calling."

"So I repeat: what the fuck is that."

"Calm down, captain worrywart," she said dryly, then paused to munch on some chips and I glared at her for stalling more before she shrugged, "Got it wrestling the kid into the bathtub, that's all." I scowled.

"Elias? Why did he need to be in the tub?"

"I wanted to show him a bath bomb."

"Jesus Christ, is that what you told him?"

"I already knew what it was, so I didn't think of how it would sound to him! My bad for not thinking about it," Kali muttered, rubbing her jaw and I grimaced in sympathy, but she gave me a smile, "No, but in the end, he loved it. I used that one you got me from New York. The sparkly one. Elias has been glittery all day and he loves it."

"How's April feel about having a glittery fairy in her house?" I asked. Kali snorted, then paused to glance off to the side with an arched brow before turning to look at me with a smile.

"Actually, I think she likes his feminine side," she said, then turned the phone to show that Elias was still asleep, but in the armchair beside April, who was also fast asleep with her head tossed back as she snored.

"So she's not giving him any issues?" I asked. Kali shrugged as she turned the camera back on herself while she dug in the bag of chips.

"Not really. I mean, she's being April, but they fell asleep while we were playing charades," she said, making me look at her curiously, because I didn't realize April had any concept of games that didn't involve brutally murdering someone, "Hey, she's the one that suggested it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she said she was tired of hearing him talk, so she told him to talk with his body instead."

"Wow. I might actually have to hire April as a babysitter... in Gehenna anyway."

"Hurhur, funny. So why are you the one calling me? I'm usually the one who has to track your ass down to see your pretty face," Kali said, settling down comfortably on the sofa with her chips. I smiled at her ease, thankful that she and Elias had a restful day.

"How's Polly?" I asked instead of answering. Kali rolled her eyes and thankfully let me escape without argument.

"She's good. She fell asleep at a decent time last night and so far, no alerts. She's still sleeping soundly, even her dreams seem peaceful. Probably helps that she has that necklace in her hand all night long," she added. I shrugged, feeling sheepish she pointed out the necklace just to make me feel special.

I hoped it wasn't the necklace, though.

I wanted her to stabilize. For real.

I wanted her to have real peaceful dreams. Dreams of walking on real grass, of seeing the sun, the ocean, feeling the wind on her face. I wanted her to dream of it because she knew what it felt like.

Because her dreams were just silly versions of a peaceful reality.

That's what I wanted.

"Any results available from the tests mother took?" I asked after a moment. Kali frowned.

"No, not that I've seen on the log, but it looks like Mother sent the tests to be analyzed over in Valhalla," she answered. I scowled.

There it was again; Valhalla. What was in Valhalla that mother seemed to be in such a hurry to get to?

"Valhalla," I said, watching Kali nod to confirm, "We have... one compound in Valhalla, right?"

"Two," Kali said, making me nod as I remembered the second one that was much smaller and not for artificials or soldiers, but scientists that worked under Tenjin.

"The second one," I mused, "That one is the one Tenjn's lackeys work at, right?" Kali nodded.

"It was Tenjin's main bachelor pad until Mother sent him to the Cresius chapter. Then he slipped away and last I checked on the reports, he was seen in Atlantis," she answered.

I let that information sink in.

Tenjin escaped during the chaos caused by Seven's escape. The Great King of Atlantis, Hannibal, had managed to track down one of our Cresius chapters. The island was a cover for another compound, which thankfully had time to evacuate. In the end, Hannibal hadn't gotten that far.

He'd gotten what he came for.

His nephew, Keros, and his son, Seven.

I liked the King of Atlantis for that reason. He was a simple god, very direct, and didn't really fuck around. He knew his job and he did it well. He was a father first and foremost, and he went into that compound with the intent to rescue his babies.

Not to thwart mother's operation.

So in the end, Tenjin escaped. He'd followed the group from Cresius to Atlantis, where he took off into hiding. It had been a hot second since anyone had seen his fucking face around, and for his sake, he would do well to keep it down.

If mother didn't find him and gut him first, he was another idiot on my list.

Mother had sent me on a stupid retrieval mission instead of letting me know that Seven had even been found. The moment I had learned he escaped, I was relieved beyond belief.

No, even better.

He'd been rescued.

Meaning someone in the world loved him enough that they were willing to face anything to get him back. In that moment, I knew I wouldn't have to worry about Seven. Hannibal was intimidating enough on his own, but with the whole of Atlantis backing him and Seven's declaration of war on mother, he was formidable. Mother wouldn't want to risk getting involved with Atlantis right now with Yhwhwa's crew leering about her fucking with Antichrists.

That meant I could focus on Tenjin.

Tracking the bastard down was hard, and I had yet to actually see the fucker's face, but I had managed to get some pings from my contacts on the outside about his whereabouts. Atlantis was still accurate, and mostly because Tenjin was too afraid to be a blip on Atlantis's radar. Atlantis's security was high, not aggressive, but they needed to know exactly who they were letting in and out when it came to godly entities and Tenjin would light their asses on fire if they suspected.

It was safer for him to stay in Atlantis.

Mother had been in Atlantis recently. Granted, it was for Elias, but she looked comfortable, like she'd been there for more than just a meeting. Thinking back on it, her clothes had been all nice and neat and pressed. She had taken time to get ready in the morning, which meant she had time, which meant she had her things with her.

Which meant she was staying nearby.

Mother had been staying in Atlantis, without somehow setting off alarms. Her constant moving in the mortal realm wasn't just to throw off her scent, but to throw off Bethany's whenever someone came looking for her. Her real set up was in Atlantis, where no doubt she was hunting Tenjin down herself.

Had she gotten to him?

She wouldn't tell me that, at least not right away. She was probably waiting for the right moment and the thought of that made my skin crawl.

I didn't like it when mother started planning things, things she didn't tell me about until it was too late.

The last time that happened, people died.

Milo died.

"Ew," Kali said, making me glance at her, "What's that look for?"

"Constipation," I replied dismissively, glancing at the time, "Hey, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure." I watched her get up from the sofa, putting the chips away and she paused to make sure April was still asleep with Elias, before she snuck off to her bedroom. I listened to the door close and watched as she walked to the bed, turning on the air purifier to provide a soft hum that would hopefully drown out the sound of her voice.

"What'd you need?" She asked.

"Find out exactly where those tests went. Find out the results. And tell me why mother is in Valhalla," I said. Kali frowned.

"You don't know any of that information already?"

"No, and that's what bothers me," I said, making Kali nod in understanding.

"Alright, but it's going to take me a second to get this information. How soon do you need it?" She asked.

"As soon as you can," I answered, "Listen, I gotta go, I have an appointment with Wren coming up." Kali paused to stare at me.

"You didn't say that," she stated and I sighed as she cocked her head, her stare intensifying, "In fact, you totally blew right past that part. Is that why you look all sweaty? Oh my god, did something happen yesterday?" I hated how astute Kali was. I knew she couldn't read my mind, but it sure felt like it sometimes.

"Yup, and now I'm gonna hang up."

"What, Jasper, are you serious—" I hung up. Almost immediately she tried to call me back and when I didn't answer, I got a text that was just the middle finger emoji and a call me back sticker. I shut my phone off and pocketed in and a second later, I heard a knock at the door. I didn't have to open the door to know it was Wren, and I took a moment to get over the way Kali flustered me.

In her mind's eye, the relationship would be good for me.

Darling would be fed, I would be taken care of, and everything would go back to... mother's idea of normal.

The problem is, I had tasted freedom.

I had tasted love. Carbohydrates, cigarettes, candy, cheeseburgers, fresh air, sunlight.

Going back was not an option anymore. No matter how comforting the illusion of peace was.

"Comfort is the enemy of growth," Milo told me once. It was how he slowly made me realize that the world around us wasn't peaceful, or safe, or normal.

Another knock, this time more hesitant brought me back and I cleared my throat, heading to the door to pop it open.

Wren looked stiff and uncomfortable in all the wrong ways. At least at first, then he straightened his shoulders a little and met my eyes, showing me that I didn't make him uncomfortable... except we both knew that was bullshit.

But it was cute of him to try.

"Well, well," I said, making Wren's eyes flash and he just walked past me into the room like he owned it, so I watched him as I closed the door behind us, "You have a lot of explaining to do." Wren kept his back to me as he shrugged off his leather jacket, folding it up and setting it on the end of the bed. I cocked my head, because I was interested in what appeared to be a ritual for him.

He didn't take off his shirt or shoes. The way he folded his jacket, combed his fingers through his hair, almost like he was hiding his face.

"Clearly I was seeing the wrong server," Wren said dryly after a moment, and I raised an eyebrow as he turned to look at me.

"What? Beni never made you cum?" I asked. Wren tensed.

"Let's get one thing straight," he said, and I smiled slowly, which only seemed to piss him off, "I didn't change servers because there was a problem with Beni. Beni is a good server and they're wasting him on someone who isn't his type." I paused to let that sink in for a moment, then smiled at him.

"So, what you're saying is that you're my type?" I asked. Wren stared at me and I just stared back, waiting for him to deny it. I went to take a peek into his head, but it was literal chaos. I had seen a cartoon once where the main character had tiny versions of himself running around in his head, screaming with things on fire. And that was exactly what it felt like whenever I tried to get into Wren's head.

And the headache spiked so hard that I actually flinched and turned away, rubbing my fingers against the sides of my nose to my forehead and temples.

"What?" Wren snapped in frustration.

"Nothing, anybody ever tell you that you're kind of aggressive?"

"Says the guy with a bruise on his face," Wren deadpanned, making me snort as I rubbed at the bruise that was already fading.

"Hey, Beni may have sucked at making you cum, but he was real good at throwing a punch," I admitted with a shrug. Wren's eyes flashed, his cheeks filling with color for a moment, like he was about to rip into me for the first part, except the second part suddenly caught his attention and his mouth fell open in surprise.

"Beni hit you?" He asked, and he took a few steps forward, his hand lifting like he was going to reach for my face. I took a step back and he froze, realizing what he was about to do and backed off, instead awkwardly reaching for the back of his neck.

Then he glared at me.

"You better not have hurt him," he warned. I snorted.

"Just touching the guy would probably snap him in two, no thanks, I don't need that on my conscience," I assured. Wren gave a sarcastic laugh under his breath as he went to the bed, shaking his head.

"Whatever," he said, then turned his face away from me and his hair made it difficult to see his facial expressions now, and with the chaos in his head, I had no fucking idea what he was thinking, "Let's just get this over with. I have things I want to do today." Wow, he sounded so enthused, like he was at a proctology exam.

And, just like a proctology exam, Wren bent over on the bed, folding his arms up and just putting his face down, not ready to face his doctor.

My first instinct was confusion, because what in fuck's name was this supposed to be? Some kind of test? Was I actually supposed to have medical experience for this position, because if so, I was about to tear mother a new one for sending out shitty recon teams. Second, I was caught off guard because it wasn't often I looked at another male's asshole and thought...

Wow, that's so pretty.

Pink and wet, a natural incubus lubrication simply called imposmen, and judging from the darkened color, he'd played with himself before he came in, so there was really no need for foreplay. He came for no other reason than to feed off my fluid, literally taking it into his body, then just leaving.

It was like walking into a restaurant, ordering a bunch of drinks and maybe a side salad.

I stared at Wren's perfectly rounded cheeks, and wondered what it would be like to beef those up with something, anything, that wasn't just a quick plug'n'go.

And here I thought Beni was the one with the issue.

Except, that's where the confusion returned. Because last night, he'd looked perfectly consumed by blasting his cock down my throat and flooding me full of aphroditic seminal fluids.

Who the fuck is this guy.

"I'm sorry, stop, timeout," I said, making a T-shape with my hands and Wren growled low in his throat, but didn't lift his face, clearly not even wanting to look at me, and why would he with his ass just pointed at me? I would say unashamed, but clearly his face still hiding resented that.

"Is this what you did with Beni?" I asked. Wren kept his face down for a moment, then groaned in frustration and shot upright to turn and glare at me, his cheeks fiery pink with embarrassment.

"Look, this isn't fun for me," he said, making me pause to stare at him with an arched brow, "This is something I have to do, or I will die. If it was up to me, I'd do it the normal way." I stared at him blankly and he stared back. I think we were both contemplating what the fuck that was supposed to mean.

"Like, dating," he said at last and when I continued to stare at him blankly, he frowned slowly, "Uhm... I don't know. Getting to know someone. Something serious. You know, normal." I considered that for a moment, because the concept of dating wasn't foreign at the compound. Technically Milo and I dated before we got married, but we were already promised to each other from the beginning. I just happened to be the luckiest person in the compound.

Or maybe the unluckiest, I thought grimly, then sighed as I raked my hands through my hair. Wren looked annoyed at my exasperation, but how was I supposed to tell Wren what normal was when not even I knew what it was? And how did he not know what normal was?

"Aren't your parents normal?" I asked with a scoff. Wren made a sound of denial that was so funny, I couldn't stifle a laugh, and that seemed to give him pause before he gave me a curious stare.

"My parents are Death and a son of Lucifer. I'm Hades's grandson. Nothing about my family is normal."

"Then why do you want something normal? Wouldn't that just make you weird?" I asked and Wren looked at me for a moment, like he was actually absorbing what I said. He averted his eyes after a moment, shifting uncomfortably.

"No, I mean... I don't want... Look, you're not supposed to judge your clients," Wren said at last, finally looking at me again, but he didn't look as fierce as before, just tired and I could easily see what this kind of sex was doing to him.

Yes, erotia lived on sex. They needed it.

But there was a lot more to it than that. Sex was just the bare minimum. Erotia were more than just sexual beings. They were sensual, they were loving, they were affectionate. They needed everything that made sex fun and exciting. A connection with another person.

Wren wasn't getting a connection. He was just eating crumbs.

"I'm not judging you," I said at last, and Wren seemed uncomfortable with that, averting his eyes again, "But I gotta say, I don't know if I can just get it up with you laying there like a dead fish." Wren flushed at that, turning to sit on the edge of the bed, giving me a nasty look as he opened his mouth, only to gasp in surprise as I walked over and got on my knees between his legs.

"What are you doing," Wren demanded, immediately grabbing a handful of my hair to stop me.

I wasn't sure who was more surprised by the moan, me or Wren.

For a split second, I almost came, until I remembered this wasn't my fucking appointment.

"Ejaculation is the main goal when feeding," I told him, watching him blink, then frown slowly, "I don't have to just plow you and call it good."

"W-Well, yeah, I know that," Wren said, clearly flustered as he tightened his grip in my hair and that only sent chills coursing down my spine, "But this is just— this is a lot, I don't—"

"I won't do it if you don't want me to," I replied, watching him pause to look at me, those nervous dark eyes holding my gaze, "How about this, anytime you legitimately want me to stop everything I am doing, as in, I will stop touching you and walk away and kneel on the opposite end of the room, just say corner." Wren blushed.

"What, like you're a kid," he said. I smirked, placing my hands on his thighs, feeling his grasp loosen in my hair.

"Yeah, if I can't behave like an adult, you'll have to punish me," I answered, leaning my head down slowly while peering up at him to make sure this was safe. Wren's cheeks darkened, but he wasn't pulling on my hair anymore, just watching me intently. I started at his thigh first, kissing the inside, noticing upon closer inspection...

Wren had freckles.

They were faded, but they were there in clusters towards his thighs. Now that I thought about it, they'd been sprayed across his chest and shoulders, and if I looked closely enough, I bet they were scattered on his cheeks.

Cute, that's so fucking cute.

I kissed a particularly dark freckle and Wren sighed, his grasp going from tight in my hair to cupping my head now, guiding me between his legs.

I could feel something stirring deep inside. It was more than just arousal. All my senses were narrowing in on Wren, my heart rate jumping.

Mine.

I was close, so close to closing my lips around the tip of him. He smelled sweet, from the adrenaline pumping blood through his system, to the natural scent of his skin combined with soap, fluid dribbling from the tip of him, releasing from the glands that sat just somewhere under...

I stroked my finger against his perineum, until I felt the little bump indicating his scent glands. I pressed and Wren gasped, grabbing my hair tight again, but it was hard to tell if he wanted to shove my mouth onto his cock again or if he wanted me to back off, so I waited a moment as he panted, catching his breath from the surprised gasp.

Teasing his gland released another wave of his scent straight up my nostrils, and it actually almost kicked my head back because it was so strong, so intense. I inhaled deep, parting my lips and taking the tip of him into my mouth.

Wren clenched his teeth now, like he refused to make noise. He pursed his lips tight, and I could feel his body locking up. Strangely, it seemed almost like he was fighting himself.

I sucked gently at the tip of him, peering up to see him shut his eyes. A muffled moan through those clenched teeth, pursed lips.

I wanted to hear him cry out again. I wanted to hear his voice ring in my ears until it was the only thing I heard. I wanted to feel his fingernails scrape my scalp as he pulled at my hair, silent pleas for more.

I moved one of my hands up along his thigh, listening to him gasp before he clenched his teeth again. I slid my hand up under his shirt, feeling along his lean body. He was definitely skinny, but there was muscle there. Wren was small weight wise, but he wasn't strength wise. His muscles were rock solid, though, there was a nice smooth softness to his dipped stomach. I ran my finger around his belly button, watching him arch his back into the touch, like he could think of nothing better.

A quick glance at Wren's face and he was definitely close.

His cheeks were flushed, his face sweaty, his teeth still clenched, but there was a bit of drool forming in the corner of his mouth. His muscles were all locked up tight, his hips tilting toward me, like he wanted to shove himself down my throat again.

Except he didn't.

He managed to keep himself still, despite the occasional twitch in his hips, like he wanted to rock them against my face until I was choking on his dick. I didn't mind that at all, but apparently Wren did.

I lifted my mouth away from his cock and trailed kisses up toward his belly button.

"What're you doing," Wren managed, tightening his grip in my hair to stop me and I peered up his body at him, his breath hitching for a moment like he didn't expect me to make eye contact from between his legs.

"Tasting you," I murmured, then paused to lick the space under his belly button, watching his eyelids flutter, his fingers loosening in my hair, "The fun part about foreplay is the exploring part." He didn't say anything to that, just tightened his grip in my hair again. I could feel a few strands come loose, so I reached up to gently pull one of his hands away from my hair.

"It's also a two-way street," I pointed out, making Wren scowl, then gasp as I drew his fingers to my lips, placing a gentle kiss on each long skinny digit, "You can touch me wherever you want... I'm your server. I am here to serve." Wren moaned as I suckled gently on his middle finger, wetting it until I could draw his hand against the side of my face. Wren's thumb stroked my cheek, like he was curious to touch me.

His touch was very innocent, very curious. He swept his thumb across my bottom lip and when I licked his finger teasingly, he gasped and pressed his thumb against my lips, like he wanted them to stay closed.

I didn't kiss or lick him for a second. I just let him explore my face. His hands ended up cupping my cheeks, his thumbs brushing my lips, my chin, just under my eyes. He was watching me through hooded eyes, his pupils blown to hell.

He seemed to be getting off on just touching my face, oddly enough. I watched his cock twitch back to life, stiffening in my face. I glanced up to see if he wanted more than just touching my face, but he seemed so enthralled in it.

He stroked my cheeks, my ears, passed a thumb under my eye, giving it a tug down like he was admiring the color. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip and I felt his cock twitch against my cheek now as I lowered my head, watching him from under my lashes.

"Am I your type?" I asked him quietly. Wren ran his thumb against my bottom lip.

"You're so soft and warm," he mumbled instead, and he sounded far away, like he was in some kind of trance as he continued to stroke my face, "You smell... so good."

"What do I smell like?" I murmured, leaning in now and kissing my way back up to his belly button. I paused to lick around it, watching his belly suck in as he gasped softly.

"Cigarettes," he breathed, and I smiled faintly at that, tracing my nose against his skin as I made my way toward a pert rosy nipple, "Hnf, smoke..." I pushed his shirt up slowly and I felt his legs closing around me as I slid up his body, slowly pushing him back down on the bed.

He moaned as I slid my hand along his chest, passing my thumb over his nipple for a moment before I leaned down, taking it into my mouth. Wren moaned, closing his legs around me and I felt his ankles cross at the small of my back, like he was holding me there against him.

Hot, I thought briefly as I suckled at his nipple, feeling Wren's hips rise to meet my own. The friction between us was met with a heated moan from both of us.

He was so hot, literally and figuratively. He had a soft creamy complexion with spatters of faded freckles and his arousal gave him a rosy pink that seemed to almost make him glow. He was a beacon of sexual energy, and I could feel his hunger boiling my blood from the inside out. His arousal, his curse, the combination was making me so hard that it almost hurt.

Even worse as he lifted his hips, grinding against me, and before I knew it, we were both moving. I propped myself up above him, panting as I found myself moving in time with him. His hands found my biceps and grabbed on, and I growled at the bruising grip he had on my arms.

Wren was noisy, I realized at that moment.

He'd never made a sound with Beni.

But underneath me, humping away with hungry desperation, he was whimpering and gasping, his grip tightening on me. His lips parted, that glob of drool in the corner of his lips sliding down and I couldn't resist swooping down to capture his lips and that spittle.

Wren moaned, his hands sliding up my biceps and the moment he connected his hands at the back of my neck, my vision sparkled and I grunted. I came so suddenly that it momentarily caught me off guard, and when I peered down to see if that pissed Wren off, I felt another fissure of arousal shoot through me as Wren bucked beneath me, coming with a cry of sweet relief.

The orgasm seemed to last forever.

My entire body hummed and buzzed with electricity. The magical charge was just as powerful as the arousal. I felt the tingling and twitching all the way inside to my stomach as it coiled tight. I groaned, savoring the feel of Wren wrapped around me, his hips rubbing against mine, his hot gasps against my face as I leaned down for another kiss.

And I was surprised when Wren's hands clasped the back of my head and yanked me down to finish the kiss.

His mouth was hot, wet, his tongue a clumsy hungry muscle with no targeted path. There was such an odd sweet innocence to his kisses, like he wasn't entirely confident in it, and somehow that was adorable. I suckled his tongue, listened to him moan as it seemed to only extend his release and I groaned as his scent flooded the room around me.

Holy shit.

Wren was a walking sex machine.

His unique incubus pheromones combined with his curse and his hunger made the whole room one big arousing hotbox. It was suddenly so warm and wet. The air was thick and the only smell filling my nostrils was Wren.

Mine. The sudden wave came from somewhere inside me. Darling's growl was unintelligible, but his demands were clear. His hunger was creeping to the forefront, and normally my instinct was to yank back on his leash, keep him under wraps, but the moment that thought crossed my mind, another orgasm tore through me and I cursed, catching myself on the bed above Wren, who was gazing up at me with such a tender satisfied stare with glazed over brown eyes.

I'd seen that look before.

It'd been a long time since I'd seen that level of satisfaction and peace.

So cute. So, so cute—

Mine!