Chapter 39

“Viv. Please love, wake up,” she heard Mac begging.

“Hey,” she said drowsily, struggling to open her eyes.

“Oh thank gods,” Mac said.

Viv opened her eyes all the way, staring at her mate. His eyes looked suspiciously shiny, although no tears fell.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

“You passed out again. I am so sorry. We’re sticking to human sex,” he muttered, gathering her to his chest.

Viv let herself snuggle for a second, while taking stock of her body. She was sore, but it was the soreness of really good aerobatic sex, not the pain of something being wrong. Placing a hand on his chest, she pushed back enough to look at his face. “We are not sticking to human sex,” she said with a frown. “It was intense. I’m not hurt, just a little sore. Which considering I’ve never had anal before today or taken a dick that big before, is to be expected. It was amazing. I’m not saying we’re going to do that every day, but we will be having sex again in your demon form, even tail sex. It was the best sex I’ve ever had,” she told him.

Mac grinned, his demon almost purring in happiness. He could feel the smug smile on his face but didn’t think there was much he could do about it. Best sex. Go him. “You still should have a hot bath so you can soak. I have some healing cream we’ll use after the bath, just to make me feel better that I didn’t hurt you,” he added as she started to protest.

“Fine, but you’re coming in the bath with me. There’s enough room.”

Mac got the bath refilled; grateful he had an on-demand hot water heater. Once it was deep enough, he carried Viv to the tub, carefully stepping in and lowering them both into the water. Viv sighed, leaning her head back against his shoulder as her body relaxed into the heat.

Mac let them soak until his alarm went off. Getting them out of the tub was tricky as Viv had fallen asleep. “Viv, wake up, love. We need to get ready to go to D’s parents’,” Mac murmured. He used his toes to pull the plug, letting the water out. Viv grumbled but stood up. He grabbed a towel and wrapped her up, quickly drying himself off. He grabbed the small glass container of the healing cream, urging Viv to lie on the bed.

Viv sat but kept the towel around her. “I can do it,” she said, embarrassed for some reason.

Mac shook his head. “Please, love. I had my tongue in your ass, putting some cream there isn’t a big deal. Let me take care of you,” he asked.

Viv leaned back, parting the towel, and spreading her legs.

Mac looked over his mate quickly, seeing a few bruises from where his fingers had gripped her hips. He spread a little bit over those.

“Bruises,” he explained, ashamed of himself for losing control like that.

“Nope. You don’t get to be embarrassed or feel bad either,” Viv told him. “Best sex ever, remember? I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Mac nodded, accepting her words as truth. It helped that he could feel it along the mate bond. Her openings were a little tender looking, but she had been right. They weren’t injured, just had a good pounding. He still applied a light layer of cream, hoping to ease the soreness. When she sat back up, he applied a little to the bite marks at the back of her neck.

They got dressed, Mac opening a portal to D’s parents’ house. This had been his second home growing up, just like his uncle’s was D’s. He opened the front door, calling out “I’m here!” as he went inside.

The group converged on them, covering them in hugs and kisses.

“Welcome,” D’s mom exclaimed, enveloping Viv in a hug. “I’m so glad to meet you properly. D has told me all sorts of wonderful things about you and I’m so happy Mac has found his mate. Mac’s like my other son; feel free to call me Ma like the boys do. I’m so happy to finally have a girl in the family!”

Mac and Viv were headed to his uncle’s to visit for a couple of hours before everyone else came over. Luc wanted a chance to give Viv her puppy and let it bond to her before there were other distractions.

Christmas Eve was going to be so much fun, Mac thought gleefully as he helped grab the bags of presents. He was beyond excited to see Viv’s reaction to her present from his uncle. D, Thomas, and D’s parents were coming for dinner, after having their own family get together earlier in the day. For the nonhumans getting together today, it wasn’t a religious celebration but a celebration of family and bonds. He could fully get behind the spirit of love and togetherness of the holiday, even if he knew the truth behind all the trappings of the religions, not just Christianity. There were pluses and negatives to them all.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t bring anything with us? Not even a bottle of wine? I feel weird going and not bringing something for a host gift,” Viv said.

“If it makes you feel better, go grab one of the bottles of red that I have on the bottom shelf. It’s Uncle’s favorite,” Mac replied. He didn’t understand tradition of hostess gifts and the need to bring something, but he also didn’t want his mate to feel upset. He was going to be smart and let her do what she wanted.

Viv waved to some of the families that were out on the street as they walked to Lucifer’s.

“Do you guys have holidays you celebrate?” she asked.

“As demons or nonhumans in general?”

“Either. Both,” she said.

“There are a couple. In general, we don’t have a lot. Most of your religious holidays are simply another day for us. There’s a Creation Day and the Day of Restructuring. Respectfully, when it’s believed intelligent life began and when the Netherworld and Arlysium sections were formed,” Mac said.

“Do you do anything to celebrate?” Viv asked, not wanting to miss any traditions he might have.

“Not really. Uncle and I usually get together on the anniversary of my parents’ deaths and our birthdays. Otherwise, we don’t have a lot of traditions. I see him more than that of course, but those are the days we always make a point of seeing each other.”

Lucifer was waiting for them in front of the house. Mac swore that man was almost bouncing on his toes in excitement.

“Hello! Happy gift day!” he shouted.

Viv laughed but stepped into his hug. “Hello, Uncle Luc. We brought you a bottle of wine; Mac says it’s your favorite.”

“Thank you,” he said, ushering them inside the house. Mac placed the gifts in the family room, following them into the kitchen and placing the wine on the counter.

“I have some food for appetizers and a roast in the oven for dinner. Are you hungry, thirsty? Or can we do presents now?”

Mac shook his head. No one who saw his uncle right now would believe that he was the stoic, scarily lethal, ruler of the Netherworld. He was downright giddy.

Viv looked at Mac in confusion. She had no idea why he was so excited after all. “We can do presents now,” she said slowly.

“Yes!” Lucifer cheered. “Let’s do yours first. We have to go outside though.”

“What’s going on?” Viv whispered to Mac as they followed Lucifer outside.

“You’ll see,” Mac replied.

His uncle led them over to the kennels where they could hear the puppies.

“The dogs are here?” Viv asked excitedly. She knew he had Hellhounds but hadn’t seen them yet.

“Yes. The last Hellhound litter is weaned and fully trained. They’re a good batch. Some of them are joining the Enforcers.”

“Can I see them?”

“Of course,” Lucifer said, leading them the rest of the way to the kennels. “Wait here and I’ll let them out. Just a minute, I’m coming,” he shouted to the excited yips.

“Did you always have dogs around growing up?” Viv asked.

Mac nodded. “Uncle breeds them and most of them work as guard dogs or with the Enforcers. There were always dogs and/or puppies around. I even had one that followed me to school and watched over me there.”

His uncle came back with the mother and father, the puppies following. They had gotten so big! Still not as big as a fully grown adult, but they were almost to Viv’s waist. Braedon, the adult male, could look eye to eye with Viv.

“Pups, this is Viv. She’s Mac’s mate. She’s ours,” his uncle said, a bit of his power leaking into the words, letting the dogs know that Viv was family, theirs to protect.

He watched as the pup they had chosen for Viv tilted his head, sniffing the air. He glanced at Lucifer who nodded in return. The pup came up to Viv whining, looking for pets. Viv looked down and Mac swore he could see the hearts in her eyes.

“Oh, look at you! You are adorable. May I pet you?” She held a hand out to sniff.

The pup shoved his head under her hand as a response, making Viv laugh. Viv scratched between his ears, running a hand down the length of his back. “You’re so soft,” she said, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. The other pups started moving in closer, also wanting pets. Her pup stayed next to her, but his brothers and sisters were loving the attention.

“They’re so cute,” Viv said. “And you train them all by yourself?” she asked Lucifer.

“I do. That way all the commands are the same and they know I’m the leader of the pack. I’ll teach you before you go back home, but Mac knows them all as well. This guy here,” Lucifer patted the pup, “is your Christmas gift. He’s been fully trained in protection, as well as being house trained. I have the vaccination records you’ll need for the human authorities. He’s also listed as a service animal so he can go with you wherever you need him to. I can’t have my niece running around unprotected, can I?

“I’d also like to offer to add my mark to your demon band. My mark is known to all nonhumans and to mess with what is mine is to die. A horrible painful death. I’d like to add my protection, if you’re willing.”

Viv looked at Mac, who nodded, showing her his mark on his inner wrist.

“Yes, thank you,” Viv replied, holding out her arm. There was a slight inhale when the mark took hold, Mac remembered it feeling like touching a hot stove. Her pup whined, pressing his body against hers. When his uncle let go of her wrist, his mark was woven into the lines, not disrupting the decoration of the demon mark, but like it had been part of the design all along. The words Mate of Mac were still along the top of her wrist, the new marking from Lucifer on the underside like Mac’s. Her pup licked her arm quickly.

“Oh!” Viv said softly.

“Hellhounds have a healing property in their saliva. They can’t heal everything, but it works wonders on minor and some medium-sized wounds,” Lucifer said.

One of the other pups brought over a ball, dropping it at Viv’s feet. She laughed and picked it up, throwing it for the pack. As Viv played with the puppies, Lucifer pulled Mac away. “How is everything going? Is she okay after the stalker incident? I wanted to ask earlier but didn’t want to bring it up in front of her if she was doing better and risk making it worse. I made sure he was also trained to help during panic attacks and when she has nightmares, just in case.”

“Yeah, she’s talking with her therapist more and it’s been getting better. Uncle Luc, I need to ask you something,” Mac said, his face turning red.

“Anything.”

“So, um. We had sex while here, but it was way more intense than at Earth. I’m worried I’m going to hurt her. I don’t have these urges at home.”

His uncle looked at him sharply. “In demon form?”

When Mac nodded, Lucifer sighed. “Your dad said he had already had the birds and bees talk with you, so I didn’t go over it again. And for that I apologize. I should have made sure you knew everything. It only happens with mates, so you wouldn’t have had it happen before. When you’re in demon form, especially when you’re in Netherworld, your native home, and your mate is fertile or close to fertile, your base instincts will be to breed. There are several signs; increased arousal, more possessive, maybe rougher sex, wanting to breed them, plug them with your cum inside, biting. Your mate will have similar effects.”

“You’re saying I could have impregnated her?” Mac asked, shocked. The sudden image of Viv carrying his child was arousing though.

“Maybe. If it was just the once, try keeping to your human form while here to keep the impulses down or wait until you’re back on Earth to have sex. Or wear a condom.”

“Yeah,” Mac replied, still in shock. He definitely did not remember having this conversation with his dad.

“Hello?” a voice called out from the side of the house.

“We’re in the back,” Lucifer called out. “There’s no pressure, but I would make an awesome great-uncle,” he said quietly to Mac, grinning.

“You totally would,” Mac replied, giving his uncle a quick one-armed hug before walking over to the gate to let the rest of their family in.

“Hello, Lucifer. It’s so nice to see you again,” D’s mom said, coming in with her arms full of food and presents.

“Let me grab the door for you,” Lucifer said, rushing over to open the back door. D’s dad followed with even more things in his arms.

“Ma might have gone a little overboard,” D said, laughing.

“Might have?” Mac asked incredulously. He had never seen so many gifts in one place before.

“Thomas, come meet the puppies! Guess what? This one gets to come home with us! Isn’t he amazing?” Viv called out.

Mac had already talked to D and Thomas about the dog, and he knew there were a few toys under the tree at home for him. He didn’t want to bring an animal into their home without checking with them first. Luckily, Thomas had also been wanting a dog.

“They’re adorable! And huge!” Thomas exclaimed. The pups crowded around him, looking for attention. Thomas laughed, the sound light and happy, as he used both hands to pet each pup.

“Oh, Viv. He’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait to take him for walks with you. Do you think he can have a Pup Cup when we get coffee? What are you going to name him, or does he already have a name?”

Viv looked at Mac. “Uncle was waiting for you to pick one. He’d nicknamed him Faolán, which is ‘little wolf’ in Gaelic. He’s not a wolf, but that’s what he was using,” Mac said, shrugging.

“Say it again?” Viv asked.

“It’s spelled F-a-o-l-a-n, with a fada over the second A. You pronounce it, I believe, fwail-awn.”

Viv looked at Thomas, both of them muttering it under their breath. Thomas shrugged in answer to some look Viv gave him. “It’s different. There probably won’t be anyone else calling it out,” Viv pointed out.

“True.”

“I like it. Let’s keep it,” Viv said. “Faolán, my not so little pup,” she said, kissing his snoot. Viv laughed, wiping her nose as she got a kiss in return.

“Dinner time!” D’s mom called out.

They all trooped back inside, Viv’s pup following them while the rest lay down to take a nap in the sun.

Mac stuffed himself with food, listening to the stories D’s parents and his uncle told about their childhood. Viv and Thomas were laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes. The gift exchange was just the cherry on top, as the saying went. He had a wonderful night and he couldn’t wait for tomorrow’s relaxing day at home with more delicious food and gifts. Life was wonderful. A year ago, he never would have imagined this scene. Today, he would do anything to protect it.