Chapter 10
Ten
MORGANA
The scaly royal is obviously unused to people telling him to get fucked, even politely.
I know that the hidden girl amongst them fights back, and maybe the rest of them have found their balls since she arrived, but that’s not enough.
He’s far too pissy about being told to get lost by someone not in his circle.
Unfortunately for him, I spent a long time under the thumb of a wealthy dragon with an over-inflated ego and questionable morals, so his glare will not affect me.
I cut the last one’s head off, and if the nervous-looking girl wasn’t enamored with him, I’d consider round two.
“You don’t get to speak to—”
Snorting, I hold my hand up. “I’m no longer interested in letting arrogant dragons tell me what to do.
Everyone with a pulse knows that, Your Highness.
Rogue and I want to spend time with Kat, and the rest of the room has come to an excellent compromise.
You don’t have to go home, but you sure as fuck can’t stay here. ”
He looks even more furious at my declaration, but Rogue points a finger at him menacingly.
“I’m not exactly stable at the moment because one of my mates is missing in action.
It’s seldom that I use the magic of my hybrid side, but if I do, this room is going to get pretty uncomfortable for everyone very quickly.
Fear is good for battle, but my demon side is much better for private encounters. ”
I blink, then cover my mouth as I laugh. While I’m not comfortable with the idea of a half-Cubi infecting the entire room, and I know Kat isn’t, her threat makes the prince blanch. “Lust fog in ten… nine… eight… seven…”
The pretty demon with long hair looks at his caliphate members sternly. “Our Kit Kat isn’t ready for that privately, much less in mixed company. Get out, shoo, let’s go… all of you!”
I watch as the demons in the kitchen set their finished treats on the counter, then the ones at Kat’s feet rise.
They pat her hand or shoulder lightly, as if reassuring her, and head for the door.
I nod at my guys, letting them know I’m okay, and they move as well.
It takes another few moments, but Rogue’s men and finally, the cute foxy demon pulls the prince along.
Once they’re all out the door, I wait for it to shut and turn back to the women looking at me.
“Thank fuck. I thought Rogue was going to have to do it, and even I wasn’t really on board.
” Kat looks at me in shock, and I shrug.
“I have two of them I haven’t fucked yet because they’re earning their way into the club.
Her powers would circumvent my wishes, and that isn’t something I’d want to deal with when we get home. ”
Rogue nods sagely. “Reb being missing is even harder because we haven’t mated yet. I was sort of doing the same thing since he fought the family and stuff harder than he should have. You should think about that, Morgana. Regret is a bitchy elephant sitting on my chest at the moment.”
Kat licks her lips, her expression nervous as she admits, “I haven’t done… anything. I mean, with anyone.” We both stare at her, and she rushes to correct her statement. “I’m not a virgin; I had a bad… thing four years ago. It didn’t get handled well and um, well… I’m still getting past it.”
I frown, my gut clenching as my sense of justice aches to help her. Gargoyles and gorgons are motivated by that, much like vengeance demons, and female ones are even more sensitive to the plights of fellow women. “I’m sorry, Kat. Is that why you decided to hide who you are?”
“Fuck no,” Rogue interrupts. “This place is all dudes, and everyone I’ve ever known who was assaulted would never choose it if they had better options. The boy gag is about being here, right? It can’t be anything else.”
The small woman leans her face against the furry familiar for a moment, and I realize that it also functions as a support animal.
“Um, well, yes. Rogue is right. I had to get out of my town because I was aging out of the foster system, and I thought college would do it. My grades and stuff were perfect, but somehow, no one accepted me but here. And I didn’t know squat about it or the supernatural world until I got here. ”
Blinking, I suck in a breath as it hits me. “You were a truly lost one. One that slipped through the cracks and didn’t end up in an enclave; maybe because your demon side was semi-emerged and the Society thought you were being handled by hell.”
“Um… what?” Kat looks puzzled. “The guys have been teaching me, but I have to focus on catching up to Hell shit first. So I think they’ve mentioned a Society and that supernatural stuff up there is different and people like me are handled like…
I dunno… sleeper agents, sort of? But that’s the extent of my understanding. ”
Rogue sets the bird down and gets to her feet. “We’ve got a lot to go over, girl. Maybe we could get more comfortable and start munching on the food? I’m checking out this sweet kitchen. Which, by the way, is a lucky break. That hottie cook being your roommate and so clearly devoted? Nice.”
I chuckle as she strides over to raid the goodies and look at Kat.
“She’s right. If we’re going to have girl talk, it’s the custom to be comfy and well lubricated.
” Kat’s face looks like a surprised emoji, and I wave my hand to calm her.
“I meant by alcohol, don’t worry. Girl on girl is kind of advanced for you. ”
Oh, now she’s even more red-faced. That’s actually quite cute, and I bet her men damn near swoon in masculine pride when she does it.
“Morgana is teasing you. While I’m pretty sure we’re both pan, neither of us is hopping on anyone not in our families. Am I right, M?” Rogue is rifling through the cabinets now, obviously searching for the booze I recommended.
“Correct. Very dedicated to them, as I think you will be to your massive amount of dicks, eventually.”
“Ooh! That’s something we should talk about, too. She’s in for surprises, and I bet no one’s given her a real talk.”
The strangled sound coming from the hybrid demon makes me laugh again. “Why don’t you go find your comfy stuff and bring some for us? I think Rogue could wear yours, but you’ll need to steal your cutie roomie’s for me. I’m fairly imposing because of my gargoyle.”
“Clothes. Yes. That’s what I should do. Get clothes.” Kat gets up, scurrying away with her familiar like her ass is on fire.
I look at Rogue, sighing softly. “That poor kid. She’s got no idea what she’s in for with even one of them, much less all, and she’s so jumpy that I know she has discussed nothing with them. Combined with her trauma, they could wait eons for her to be ready without us helping her along.”
“No kidding. I mean, anatomy of demons and shifters, plus her lack of experience? I bet the girl had that one time with a very infuriating result and nothing else. She’s almost re-virginal besides maybe seeing stuff in books or media?
That’s rough, though I will say dudes adore teaching women stuff, even if they suck at it. ”
That makes me snort again, and I shake my head. “We can’t let her run into this stuff blind and have a heart attack, Rogue. Kat needs friends who are female, like Xerxes said. We can guide her and shit. But also… she’s gonna need to loosen up or we’ll get nowhere in the next twelve hours or so.”
“Agreed,” the pink-haired Fae says as she opens a cabinet and squeals. “And I’ve found the stash, so we’re in luck. Fae wine, Crunkleberry champagne, Ash Bourbon, Bone Tree scotch… this is swag.”
I arch a brow at her. “Do you think she knows about any of that? I’m not even familiar with most of it.”
Rogue grins as she pulls bottle after bottle out, then double-fists six by the neck to bring them into the living room.
“So, living with two demons and a phoenix bartender has its benefits. Plus, I have a regular room at a bondage club and a regular stool at a big supe bar at home. I’ve been around a shit ton of liquor over the years.
Some of this is used for sexy stuff by rich idiots at times, which I think is blasphemy.
I’d love a Fae cart because it’d really help this along, but I’m not sure I could find one in Hell. ”
“I, um… I have the sweats, but… I have to be really careful with things that make me intoxicated.” Our other friend comes out in the baggiest loungewear known to man with extras in her hands. “My… um, drugs were involved. If I have too much stuff, I get flashbacks and panic attacks.”
The urge to find this douchebag and make him suffer even more than Magnus is strong right now.
“Kat, we won’t make you do anything, but we will also keep you safe if you choose to let go.
We are a safe place because not only do we not mean you harm, but we also don’t want in your pants,” Rogue says as she uncorks the first bottle of Fae wine.
“That means you really can make whatever choice you want without worrying it will lead to scary shit.”
The small demon comes over to hand us the sweats, and I take mine.
As I pull the big sweatshirt on, I’m pleased to find I was right about her roommate’s size.
Undoing my clothes beneath it, I get my shirt, then bra, off and out through the sleeve before tossing them.
“Unfortunately, I’ll have to do pants in your room if that’s okay.
I feel you’ll have difficulty with semi-nudity, right? ”
“Thanks,” Kat says with a sigh. “And also to you, Rogue. I don’t want to make any of the guys feel bad because…
I am beginning to trust most of them. I’ve seen all the demons and animals now, and I have to see them semi-nude in the bathroom, but…
It’s still hard not to freak out. I want to handle things, though. I really do.”
“Knowing what you want is the first step. The next one is being able to take it, and Morgana suggested booze because it seems like your brain is the one preventing you from doing that.” Rogue waves her hand at her stack of clothes, and they swap with the ones she’s wearing as I get up to go change my pants.
“If you don’t want to, it’s cool. But it might help you turn the brain off and let your feelings and questions go wild. ”
“Oh,” Kat says as I step just out of sight in her room.
“That makes sense. I do have a lot of questions, and the doc gave me a pamphlet, but… it’s kind of scary?
I understand it logically, and I know what plain sex is, obviously, but adding all this…
extra… is very anxiety-inducing. Plus, um…
Jasper and Zav are into… BDSM. That’s like… expert level.”
Rogue snorts, then giggles uncontrollably for a moment before she catches her breath.
“By the way, I’ll kill anyone who tells people I do that, but it’s okay with you guys.
It’s harder to get and keep dude respect, even from ones who love you, because they have the whole ‘rescue the maiden’ thing drilled into them by most parents and shit. ”
When I come back, I arch a brow. “Your guys have that? I find that shocking.”
“Me too,” Kat adds. “Some of mine do, but they’re learning to listen better when I ask them to respect my boundaries.”
“Yeah, we all have to address that shit, trust.” I shut her door before I grab some of the food plates to bring with me. “And there’s always at least one arrogant asshat who fights shit tooth and nail… both of ours are dragons and Rogue’s is a Fae. It happens.”
Of course, dragons are always a bigger problem than anything else, but that’s a whole different topic.