Demon Discord by M.J. Haag

Chapter Nine

It took foreverto fall back asleep after Azio left, and dawn came far too soon. Exhausted but knowing I needed to get up, I stumbled from bed. It was only when I reached for jeans that weren’t there that I remembered I had no reason to get up so early.

For a brief moment, my heart ached for what I’d lost. I pushed that aside and focused on what I’d gained. I was free to sleep in as late as I wanted, or I could shower first thing in the morning like I used to do before the world fell apart.

Torn, I hesitated for a moment before the urge to shower won. I was already out of bed, anyway.

I went downstairs for the clothes I’d washed and found my jeans and shirt folded neatly on the dryer. However, the bra and yesterday’s underwear were missing. Frowning, I started searching the laundry room for them.

“Terri, would you like eggs for breakfast?” Azio called from the kitchen.

That brought an immediate stop to the search. It’d been ages since I’d had eggs.

When I entered the kitchen, Azio’s gaze dipped to my chest, which was moving a bit too freely in my rush to verify he had honest to goodness farm fresh food.

“Are you serious about the eggs?” I asked, fighting the urge to cross my arms.

He lifted his gaze and nodded. His direct attention made my pulse leap, but it wasn’t enough to distract me from what he’d said.

“Then, yes, please. I’d give anything to have eggs again.” I hesitated a moment, then forced myself to add, “Did you, by chance, see my bra in the laundry? I can’t find it.”

He turned his back to me, pulling things from the cupboards as he answered.

“I saw you didn’t have much to wear and left to find you more. Groth stayed. You were safe. I took your clothes with me to compare sizes. I found more but lost your bra. The new clothes are in the bathroom if you want to shower while I make breakfast.”

When he’d admitted to opening the door last night because he’d been worried that I’d left, I hadn’t known what to think. But hearing that he’d gone out in the middle of the night, which we’d already established was dangerous, just to get me more to wear? His thoughtfulness gently pierced my heart. Yes, losing the bra sucked, but outer clothes were so much more important.

“That was really nice of you to do that for me, Azio. Don’t worry about the bra. I’m sure I’ll be able to find another one.”

He grunted, and eager to see what he’d found, I left him in the kitchen.

A small stack of clothes waited in the bathroom. Underwear, as promised, shirts, and shorts. The items were far from the sturdier clothes I’d been imagining. I picked up the vivid pink thong and chewed on my lip. A thong was at the bottom of the list for preferred undergarments, but beggars couldn’t be too choosy. Clean was clean.

The shorts were a little abrupt for my taste, too, and the shirts could barely be called shirts. Made out of threadbare material, they wouldn’t preserve any modesty. Especially without a bra. It would be like wearing nothing at all.

I felt so bad that there wasn’t anything in the pile I wanted to wear and wondered how offended Azio would be if I reappeared in the same clothes I’d worn to bed. Maybe I could get away with wearing the shorts with yesterday’s shirt.

Hoping that the compromise would be enough to prevent any possible ripples in our tenuous cohabitation, I stripped and got to showering. Maybe there were some thong wearers in town who’d be willing to trade for a regular set of briefs. I didn’t need sexy. I needed sturdy.

Wait. Did I?

I’d already acknowledged that I didn’t have the same responsibilities here. In fact, I’d spent the entire prior day watching movies. Not exactly a strenuous activity. And a thong would work in my benefit if or when I finally made up my mind about having a baby.

I rinsed my hair and imagined propositioning Azio while wearing nothing but a thong. Every scenario that I ran through my head ended with me terrified and close to passing out. That made-up terror bled over into reality so much that I had to turn off the water, brace my hands on my knees, and give up that line of thinking.

Disappointment bit into me as I dried off and acknowledged I wouldn’t be pregnant any time soon.

Moving on autopilot, I bent for the clothes I’d removed. They weren’t on the floor. Confused, I looked at the closed toilet seat then the counter where the new clothes waited.

“What in the hell…”

My clothes, my safe underwear, were gone.

I reluctantly reached for the thong. However, the moment that string penetrated my crack, I shook my head and hurried to tug them off.

“Nope. Not happening.”

Leaving the rejected thong on the floor, I snatched up a pair of shorts. The bottom half of my butt cheeks hung out when I checked the mirror. It wasn’t awful, though. Between that and the exposed curve of my lower back, I felt kind of sexy.

The addition of a see-through t-shirt did nothing to make the outfit more respectable. There was no way I could walk out the door in this.

“Azio?” I called.

“Yes, Terri,” he immediately answered from the other side of the door.

I frowned and suspicion flooded me.

“Why are you in the hallway?”

“To see if you like the clothes I found you?” He said it like a question. As if he wasn’t sure why he was in the hall, which only made my suspicions climb as I looked down at my clearly visible nipples.

“Did you lose my bra on purpose?” I asked.

Silence answered my question, and my stomach churned with worry. He’d gotten rid of my bra and gifted me hoochie clothes. Why? The answer to that seemed pretty obvious, and my thoughts turned to how I’d just been thinking of sex and babies…and how badly those thoughts had ended.

I wasn’t ready.

Suddenly, I wasn’t sure if I would ever be ready to have a baby with one of the fey.

But I didn’t have anywhere else to go.

“Am I still safe here?” I asked.

“Yes, Terri. You are safe.”

“Why did you take my clothes?”

“To wash them.”

“So I’ll get them back?”

There was a beat of silence before he answered, “Yes, Terri.”

“I’m very grateful that you went out to get me more clothes, but I’m feeling very exposed in this kind of shirt. Is there any chance I could wear the one that’s on the dryer?”

“I lost that one.”

“I just saw it this morning.”

There was a longer length of silence.

“I’m trying not to feel afraid, but I don’t understand why you’re taking my clothes away and leaving me with very little. I mean…I think I do understand, and that’s why I’m starting to feel afraid.” I twisted my hands in front of me. “I don’t want to be forced to have sex yet. Can I please have some more time?”

Something thumped outside the door, and I jumped.

“I’m sorry. I promise I’m trying. I just—”

My vision tunneled, and I gripped the counter as my knees buckled.

Nothingness swallowed me whole.

It never took me long to come back from a faint. Five minutes was the longest, and that had been in high school. Usually, once I started coming to, I wasn’t disoriented.

This time, though, I felt myself moving sideways, and that screwed with my head in a big way. I remembered the bathroom and the clothes and freaking out that Azio was preparing me for a good time—his good time—and then fainting. My movement should be downward or still.

I opened my eyes and looked up at Azio.

He wasn’t looking at my head, though. He was staring at my chest. Dazed and confused, I followed the direction of his attention and saw my nipples. Seeing them made me aware of the air caressing half my ass.

A small sound escaped me. Part fear. Part gasp for air. And my gaze jerked back up to Azio, and the blatant hunger in his eyes.

He slowly met my gaze. The hunger disappeared, replaced by…nothing.

My pulse fluttered wildly, and I knew I needed to calm down and ask some questions. Like why he was carrying me and what he meant to do, but I didn’t get the chance before he stopped walking and leaned forward. The moment my back hit the mattress, my eyes went wide.

A choked sound wheezed from my throat.

“You are safe,” he said.

“She does not believe you. You are scaring her.”

I shifted my attention to the other fey at the foot of my bed. While his words sounded like he was ready to be my hero, he was staring at my very visible chest just as hungrily as Azio.

Two fey.

First, they took my clothes.

Then, they carried me to bed.

Together.

My vision started to tunnel. I opened my mouth to scream but nothing came out.

* * *

The soundof worried voices greeted me as I slowly swam back to consciousness. Again.

“We keep scaring her,” a male voice said.

“Uh, the Terri I know wouldn’t dress to show her tits to the world,” a familiar voice replied. “No, shit you scared her if you took her clothes and left that for her to wear. What were you thinking?”

While I recognized Brooke’s voice, I didn’t recognize the man who answered.

“They wanted to see her breasts.”

“They move more without the bra,” the first male, Azio, said. “Ghua said that breasts have tips called nipples and nipples are sensitive and pucker when they are ready to be licked or sucked. I only wanted to see them so I would know when she is ready for my mouth.”

I remembered Azio and Groth, but everything was still swimmy and not making sense. Why were they talking about licking nipples?

Brooke let out a frustrated groan.

“Out. All of you. I’ll sit with her until she wakes up.”

“But—”

“Out, before I nut all of you.”

There was a shuffle of noise and then silence.

Brooke sighed and took my hand in hers. I waited a moment with my eyes closed and let everything come back to me. Once it did, I winced at my stupidity.

Passing out twice in a row broke all the rules. And staying out long enough for Brooke to get here? Well, it was a damn miracle I was still alive. Anything could have happened. Raped by two fey would have been the least of my worries if there’d been another infected breech.

“Is that wince because you hurt something or because they’re making your brain hurt?”

I opened my eyes and looked at her.

“How am I still alive when I pass out every time something scares me? My fears are going to kill me.”

She nodded slowly.

“I think you might be right. Azio said you passed out in the bathroom because he switched out your clothes. He’s not sure why you passed out the second time.”

I slowly sat up then stood up, doing a slow turn for her.

“Yeah,” she said. “I figured that was the reason for the first time.”

“The second time was because I came to with two of them leering at my chest while putting me in my bed.”

She made a face.

“I can see where you’d misunderstand the situation.”

“Misunderstand? Everyone knows they want women. They dressed me for sex, Brooke. What’s to misunderstand?”