Claiming a Demon (Dallying with Demons Book 3)

Chapter 13

Mistakes were made.I told Mal when we were getting ready for bed that I was a grouch when I didn’t get enough sleep. Did I regret staying up half the night riding him? No, I absolutely did not. The only regret I had was that it wasn’t my day off the following morning, so I could sleep in and start all over again. A shiver ran up my spine, remembering the way his massive cock stretched me. That thing was lethal. I shouldn’t be expected to function after that.

“Good morning, Zach.”

Brienne, my boss, was always the one to open the spa in the morning. Some people liked to start their day with a massage so they were relaxed before work, so we opened pretty early compared to most spas. When she’d brought up changing the spa hours, I’d been dubious, but it turned out we tapped into an untapped market and mornings were usually busy.

“Morning,” I mumbled into my coffee. I was still bleary and didn’t think the word ‘good’ should be added anywhere near the word ‘morning’.

“Late night?” she queried, her focus on the computer in front of her. She ran the front desk most mornings until Winnie or Laurie showed up for their shifts. Then she’d disappear into the back office to tackle the mountain of paperwork on her desk. I didn’t envy her. I’d take clients over a stuffy office any day.

I was too tired to talk, and I wasn’t in a hurry to share what happened last night with Mal. Normally, I’d be all for it, I wasn’t known to have a filter, but Mal was special. I didn’t want to share what we did together. I hummed my response, disappearing into the break room to drop off my bag. I only had morning appointments, and Mal’s appointment at the end of the day, so I’d get to go home by lunch and come back with him later. Mal promised he’d stay at my place and wait for me, and we’d go to poker night together after his session so I could meet his friends. If I had the energy to be excited, I’d be bouncing around the room right now.

I downed my coffee, tossing the cup into recycling before heading to my room to set up. Luckily, exhausted Zach had about the same energy level as work Zach. No one would notice if I wasn’t talking as much, because that was the way things were supposed to be here.

The only person who’d notice was Brienne. When I trudged out to the lobby to wait for my first client, she raised an eyebrow at me expectantly.

“What?” I grumbled.

“Don’t ‘what’ me. You’re the most bubbly, energetic person on the planet. The only time you act like this is when something, or someone, kept you up late the night before. And since you went home yesterday with that demon, I’m allowed to ask questions.”

True. Mal showed up around lunch, so Brienne was still manning the desk. I eyed her suspiciously. She wasn’t the type to get into my relationships, though, so I didn’t really know why she was asking. I was too tired to think.

“Is that a problem?”

Before she could reply, the chime over the door tinkled, announcing my first client. I put the conversation on hold, putting on my work face to greet my client. The rest of the morning was back-to-back appointments, so I wouldn’t find a minute to talk to Brienne until I’d finished with my last client.

* * *

I had one more appointment before I could go home to Mal. The thought put a little pep in my step as I headed for the lobby, faltering when I heard a familiar raspy voice berating someone.

Ugh. Mrs. Cordelia Beckerman. She had a standing appointment twice a week. I almost never had strong opinions about my clients, but her I really didn’t like. She always had something to complain about, whether in her daily life, or about something or someone at the spa itself, and she never kept her opinions to herself. I lost track of the number of times I had to remind her to leave the other clients alone. She was most likely complaining about someone”s clothing or their decision to get a massage instead of being at home having babies.

Not willing to let her continue to harass people, I hurried through the curtain that separated the lobby from the back. I was already in a bad mood, but when I saw who Mrs. Beckerman was yelling at, I felt my blood boil.

“Your kind are destroying our way of life! You should be ashamed of yourself! Go back to where you came from and leave us in peace! We don’t want any of your devil worshiping to taint this place!”

My eyes flicked to the front desk, but Brienne must have stepped away because there was no one there. There were a few other clients sitting in the lobby waiting to be called back, but none of them said a word against Mrs. Beckerman’s poison. Assholes.

“Why are you just standing there? Begone, devil!”

“He’s not going anywhere,” I snapped. Stomping across the room, I placed myself protectively in front of Mal. His mask was up, but I saw the hurt underneath. I couldn’t imagine facing this kind of behavior on the regular. I got a few shitty comments here and there about my sexuality, but it was becoming less and less common. Paranormals took the brunt of that kind of attention, and it just wasn’t fair.

“Zachariah! You can’t honestly be allowing one of those things to be serviced here! You have the right to refuse service! You don’t have to cater to him!”

“You’re right.” I felt Mal stiffen behind me, so I stepped back, pressing myself against him. “I do have the right to refuse service. You should find yourself another massage therapist.”

Her mouth fell open, shock and outrage clearly written on her face. “Excuse me? I’ve been a loyal client for years! You’re really going to act this way after everything I’ve done for you and this business? All over that thing?”

I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest. “You mean like harassing other clients or giving shitty tips? I think I’d be doing myself a favor. Your appointment is canceled, Mrs. Beckerman. Call my boyfriend a thing one more time and me and you are gonna have problems.”

That made Mal suck in a breath. We never discussed what was next after last night. I’d planned on bringing it up before we went to see his friends. I wasn’t the type of guy to sleep around very often, not unless I really needed to scratch an itch, and I really liked Mal. We would need to consider getting him a new massage therapist, but if he was willing, I wanted more than just a hookup to distract him from the crap going on in his life. Now wasn’t really the time to bring that up, though.

“Absolutely not! I am a loyal customer! I’ve had a massage at this time for years! I will not be denied service just because you’re a monster fucker!” Mrs. Beckerman screeched.

My head jerked back like I’d been slapped. I’d never heard someone use that term before, and it took me a second to react. Mal’s hand settled on my shoulder, a deep and low growl piercing the room.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Beckerman took it as a threat instead of a warning like he’d meant it to be. She pointed one gnarled finger at Mal, her voice raising and probably disturbing the whole spa.

“Did you hear that? He’s going to attack me! Police! Someone call the police! They need to put that animal in a cage!”

I bared my teeth, my fists clenched at my sides, but before I could respond, Brienne’s cool voice interrupted Mrs. Beckerman’s tirade.

“What is going on out here?”

Mrs. Beckerman spun around, pointing towards me and Mal accusingly. “That beast is threatening me and Zachariah is refusing to do his job! I’d like to file a formal complaint and–”

“That won’t be necessary. Zach, please meet me in my office. Your friend can join you if he feels more comfortable, or he can wait for you out here.”

Startled, I shot Brienne a wide-eyed look. Was I really about to get fired for standing up to a prejudiced old bitch?

Brienne’s eyes softened a little, and she tipped her head towards the back. “Go on. We’ll talk in a minute.”

I wanted to say something, to fight for my job, but now wasn’t the time or the place. I could see some of my coworkers peeking through the curtains. We were obviously disturbing people. I took Mal’s hand, pulling him along with me to Brienne’s office. It was just off the lobby, so we could still hear everything as long as the door was open. I stood by the crack to listen. If Brienne was going to give in to Mrs. Beckerman’s demands, then I needed to find a new place to work. I wasn’t going to be part of a team that was intolerant of others.

“Mrs. Beckerman, I believe your appointment was canceled,” Brienne said cooly.

“You aren’t serious! You’re going to allow that boy to refuse to do his job? What about my massage?” she demanded, throwing her hands out dramatically.

“I believe it’s best going forward if you find a new place for your service. We don’t tolerate harassment of our clients here.”

“That thing isn’t a client! He shouldn’t even be allowed in here! He’ll bring the devil upon us all!”

Unwilling to listen any further to Mrs. Beckerman’s poison, I shut the door quietly and turned to face Mal. He was standing on the other side of the room, a dark look on his face, barely tempered by his stoic mask. When I approached him, he turned his face to the side to avoid my eye.

“Mal…”

“I’m sorry. I knew you got off work around lunch. I wanted to pick you up so we could go eat together. I shouldn’t have come here.”

Putting my hand on his chest, I leaned to catch his eyeline. “Hey… You did nothing wrong. I love that you came to meet me. Mrs. Beckerman is an old bitch and you aren’t the first person she’s harassed here. I’m so sorry you had to listen to all that.”

His hand came up to cover mine, squeezing lightly, but he still couldn’t look me in the eye. His gaze dropped to the floor and stayed there. I could see the hurt underneath the mask. No one should be treated like that, and I almost wanted to go out there and give Mrs. Beckerman another piece of my mind for hurting Mal.

Since I couldn’t get him to look at me, I snuggled into his chest instead. It gave him the support he so desperately needed without forcing him to pretend he was better than he was. He wrapped himself around me, his cheek resting on the top of my head, and I felt some of the tension ease the longer we stood there.

It was the door opening that drew us apart. Since Brienne didn’t seem to agree with Mrs. Beckerman’s drivel, I wasn’t sure what she wanted to talk about. It made me a little nervous, and when she gestured to the seat in front of her desk and I sat down, my knee bounced restlessly.

“What happened?”

“She stormed out when I threatened to call the police for trespassing. She won’t be returning here again. Which means you lost a long-standing client today.”

I knew that, and it didn’t bother me. Yeah, every client counted, and I wasn’t really in a place in my life where I should be turning down jobs. But I’d never just stand around letting someone be abused like that. Especially not Mal.

“I understand. I’ll be okay.”

Brienne’s eyes flicked up from the paperwork on her desk. She was normally a calm and gentle person, so the stoney look was a little off putting.

“What?”

“How long have you been seeing a client, Zach?”