Chapter Twenty-Two

Peni

In honesty, Peni’s brain was a little muddled, and it wasn’t any clearer after a long week with Merihem checking over every inch of his body every night and half the day to make sure he was all right after being in the demon realm. Peni still got to clean the house while Merihem worked at Dakata’s office, but the demon realm sat like an elephant in the living room and wasn’t budging.

The demon realm was a place Peni didn’t like. That was something he could share with Merihem, and he did a couple of times when Merihem stopped kissing him long enough so they could talk. He hadn’t seen a single plant down there. The atmosphere was full of tension. Peni enjoyed his time with Asmodeus, although… their conversation had confusing bits, too, and Peni wasn’t sure he should even mention any of that.

Not that Merihem seemed keen on being reminded Peni had spent time alone with another man anyway, so he wasn’t pushing for details. It was almost a relief when Merihem cleared his throat after breakfast a week later and said, “Would you be all right in the forest for a few hours this morning? You could spend time with Silas, I know he’d be pleased to see you. If you’re with him, then I can trust Dakata will look out for you, too.”

“I don’t mind.” Peni looked up from his plate, hoping his relief wasn’t showing. “I appreciate you understanding I’m not keen on visiting down there. You know, so soon after last time. Being in the forest would be lovely. Maybe I could let my goat out for a bit, if Silas doesn’t mind.”

“I’m not keen on leaving you alone for any length of time at all, but I want to get things organized for us going forward.” Merihem leaned his elbows on the table, looking serious, and Peni realized he was expected to pay attention. “I know you enjoy the cleaning here, so I’m going to speak to Dakata about buying this house. That way, your cute little animal side can have fun in the garden out the back here, with me keeping an eye on you, of course. But you could do that every day if you wanted to. We can always buy more plants.”

“That sounds wonderful.” Peni clapped and grinned. “I used to look out of the window in the basement in the evenings sometimes, watching the trees blowing in the breeze. My goat was always longing to go and play in the bushes out there. But I was always afraid he would eat too much, and we’d be found out.”

“I’ll make that happen for you.” Merihem used that tone that always made Peni feel special, and he blushed. “But I also need to speak to the king about my job as Controller.”

That made Peni pause for a moment. “That is really important, isn’t it? Do you have to kill people every day? Only, I’m thinking if you do, then you might need to invest in more pants, or I’ll have to do the laundry more often.”

“I don’t have to kill people every day, no.” Merihem was chuckling as he shook his head. “Gebre was a special case. Most of the time, the only fighting I do is when someone tries to get away, and that annoys me.”

“That makes sense.” Peni figured it wasn’t anything he needed to see anyway, so he could worry about the laundry later. “How will we get to the forest? Is George all right, or is he still in hospital?”

“I’ll translocate us.” Merihem got up and started clearing their plates off the table. “George is out of hospital, but apparently, he’s spending a bit of time in the forest as well. That’s what Scott said, anyway.”

“I’m glad he’s all right.” Peni sat and savored the moment, watching his mate clearing the table and stacking the dishes in the sink for Peni to take care of later. It was like a ritual for them now, and Peni loved that Merihem understood his love language so well.

“Ready to go?” Merihem held out his hand.

“Just don’t be gone too long, or I’ll worry,” Peni said, although that was more for the demon than the human side. He could feel the warm glow of satisfaction coming from the demon as Merihem took them to the forest.

Half an hour later, Peni had forgotten about the dishes waiting for him back at the house. He was following Silas along a winding river, enjoying the scent of things growing, and the sound of the birds competing with the running water.

“You haven’t been saying much.” Silas nudged him gently with his shoulder. “Yet I sense you have a lot on your mind. Are things going all right with Merihem?”

“He’s being wonderful.” Peni sighed. “He would spoil me all day, every day if I let him. It’s not the big things, you understand, it’s more that he clears the dishes when we’ve finished eating, and he makes a point of wearing pants even in his demon form, and apparently, that’s really unusual for him. He just gets me, I suppose.” Clasping his hands in front of his chest, Peni smiled at his friend.

“And yet,” Silas prompted.

“Have you met the Demon King, Asmodeus?” There was a rustle in the bushes back from the river, but Silas didn’t seem worried about it, so Peni didn’t worry either. It was probably Dakata trying to be invisible.

Silas shook his head. “No. Dakata has mentioned him a few times. It was Asmodeus who had an issue with Dakata in the demon realm after his rampage and punished Merihem for what happened during Wanda’s rescue.”

“I’m glad she’s all right, too. That must’ve been really scary for her, being down there.” Merihem had told Peni that story, and now he’d been to the demon realm, too, Peni could understand how brave Wanda had been.

“She’s doing all right. We can’t be separated from our trees for too long, and that was the biggest concern.” Silas smiled. “But we care for our own around here, and we rescued her before anything major happened. Tell me about Asmodeus. What’s he like?”

“He seemed really lonely.” Peni struggled to put his thoughts in order. “He was super interested in the idea of mates and blissful ones, wanting to know what the difference was. I surprised him when I told him they were the same thing. He said about how Dakata and Merihem had both changed since claiming us…”

Silas’s laughter made the leaves dance. “That’s because we’re special, and our demons put us first in everything. Most demons aren’t like that. Dougal, the troll who has lived in this forest since the first trees started to grow, told me about that. That demons traditionally only care about themselves.”

“See, I thought that, too.” Peni nodded. “But Asmodeus was genuinely interested in what me and Merihem did together, and how Merihem behaved with me. He said there hadn’t been a case of any demon finding their blissful ones for so long he truly believed they were a myth.”

“And yet here we are.” Silas’s giggle bounced off the trees.

“Asmodeus is well aware of that.” Peni had to giggle, too. “I was sitting in his private living room. You know, when I first saw him I thought I was going to pee my pants, but when he pulled Gebre into the throne room, and Merihem was going to fight him, Asmodeus just sat me on his arm. I felt like a parrot, I really did, and he told Merihem to come and find us when he was done. Behind closed doors, he’s really different—kind and interesting.”

“I guess that’s why he’s king.”

“Well, that and he’s as big as a house.” It was nice, wandering along, chatting to a friend who Peni knew wouldn’t judge him. “Asmodeus said he was passing on everything I’ve said to his scholars, people he has who record all the goings on in the demon realm. Apparently, you and I are really important. He even asked about our… you know, the stuff that goes on in the bedroom.”

“Oh, my goodness. Were you all right about that?” Silas draped his arm over Peni’s shoulder. “I know that’s not something you’re comfortable talking about.”

“He was really nice about it. I guess he could see how embarrassed I was. My red cheeks don’t lie.” Peni pointed to his cheeks which were heating up. “But he was asking me about children and whether or not I ever wanted any.”

“That’s not something Dakata and I have talked about yet, either, but, oh, you should come and see. We already have children. My tree has three new sprouts that have shot up since Dakata and I got together.”

Peni let Silas direct him back to the tree. “You call them your children, even though they’re your trees. Do you call all the trees around here your children, too?”

“No. No, although they feel like family to me.” Silas stroked a tree as they went past, and the leaves all rustled in his direction. “But my tree is an important part of my relationship with Dakata. You could say my demon and my tree have had relations .”

“Mr. Dakata fucked your tree?” Peni slapped his hand over his mouth and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. It just came out.”

“It’s fine.” Silas was still smiling. “It’s not like my demon stuck his dick in a tree knot or something, but the tree is part of me, and now it’s part of us, and we have three new sprouts, which is wonderful as my tree has never sprouted offspring before.”

Peni grabbed hold of Silas’s arm and stopped him walking, even though he could see they weren’t far from Silas’s oak. “Is there… is it even possible for two males to have babies?” he whispered. “Only after Asmodeus asked about kiddies, and I did say I thought that would be a cute idea, but I had no idea how it could happen, he said that he did. I thought he meant, you know, the type of sex Merihem and I haven’t had yet. But now…”

“Now?” Silas’s eyes widened and then he did a head tilt thing, looking Peni up and down. “Have you taken Merihem’s sperm into your body in any way?”

“That’s what was so embarrassing when I met the king,” Peni insisted. “We did the mouth thing, both of us, and I smelled like Merihem. Like I couldn’t smell anything else. Do you think Asmodeus could smell it, too? Maybe that’s why he did that weird thing.”

“He’s a demon, so I imagine he could smell it, but what weird thing did he do? Weirder than perching you on his arm like a parrot?”

Peni looked around, but his goat couldn’t sense anyone else was around. “First, he sniffed me, and then… and then he blew on my face. And then in this really deep voice, he said, ‘Your wish is my command,’ like some person in a movie, but it wasn’t a movie, it was me—he did that to me.”

“How did you feel afterward? Did it make you sick? Did he have bad breath?”

Silas was teasing, but Peni remembered the moment as if it had just happened. “I know it seems like nothing, but there was magic in that breath, and I felt it go right through me. All over my body, right down to my toes. I didn’t tell Merihem, and I felt all right afterward. But now… I’ve been getting a grumbly tummy in the mornings… I’m just being silly, aren’t I?”

“I don’t think you are.” Silas tugged him over to the giant oak that towered high over the forest. Resting one hand on the bark and the other hand on Peni’s shoulder, Silas’s smile grew. “I knew it, and I think you know it, too.”

“Know what?” All Peni could feel was tingles, which was probably the magic from the tree. Or maybe he needed something to eat.

“Congratulations. You’re pregnant.”

“I’m what!” Peni was sure his shout could be heard in the demon realm. It certainly scared the birds, who all disappeared in a flutter of wings.