"...Vessa?"

Your former Court Mage looked almost exactly the same, barely aging a day in the two decades since you'd last laid eyes on her. She looked younger than you did now but other changes were more apparent. She was very pale, her skin almost snow-white rather than the light bronze it was before. The discoloration extended to her hair, now a silvery blonde. Even her eyes seemed a bit lighter. Overall the effect was quite eerie.

The pale quality of her eyes was actually offset by how dull they were. Vessa always had a clear intelligence brightening her eyes, now they stared straight ahead, blank and nearly unblinking. Her arms rested calmly at her sides. She looked like she was waiting for something. Waiting for orders.

You give your wife a sideways look, not quite sure how to express your concerns. Marissa smiles brightly before rolling her eyes, "She's the real Vessa Bryce, not some demon, shapeshifter, or other mystical creation." Your look doesn't let up. She continues, "...and no, I didn't use necromancy. I've just spent some time working her over."

You found your voice, "You spent twenty years working her over? I thought you murdered her and dumped her in a ditch somewhere. It was one of the dark secrets I just had to accept about our marriage."

She quirked an eyebrow, glancing over at the half elf, "Came close a few times. She's what kept me sane all those years you were being all righteous."

"I left righteous behind the moment I talked a demon into becoming my bride."

"Oh shut it, you." Marissa rose, stepping around the placid Vessa and tracing a palm around her middle. The elfin woman shivered but otherwise didn't react.

Now that you were fully awake, Vessa looked to have actually put on a bit more weight, going from stereotypical svelte elven form to a more human weight range. She didn't lose her elven proportions though, and the effect was to give her rather more titillating curves than a pure human. She actually reminded you a bit of Anna, with her perky yet voluptuous form. She wore nothing but a thin shift, nipples erect and poking through the fabric in the cold morning air.

"Lady Vessa was one tough nut to crack, when I first started I thought I'd have her broken and trained up in a year at most."

"It took eighteen years?!"

"No, of course not! She was fairly obedient after five, maybe eight. Plus a few more to ingrain some quirks without shattering her completely. Since then I've just been keeping her to myself, ironing out the kinks, making a few of my own. Working my magic, so to speak."

"Alright... so why reveal her now?"

"Aren't you pleased?"

"I..." You get to your feet, peering at Vessa. Her eyes meet yours for a moment and for an instant you see something, a faint spark of what she once was deep inside. It's gone just as quickly but it reminds you that, more than just a pretty face, you desired Vessa all those years ago because she was your tutor, unattainable and occasionally imperious. Part of you weeps for her and the torment she's gone through.

However, "I'm very pleased." Marissa purrs, continuing to glide her fingers over Vessa's barely covered body. Her eyelids flicker and there's that spark again, the faintest, barest hint of indignation that you would have expected all those years ago, "I just don't understand why you'd choose to share your... pet, now?"

Marissa giggled, "Well, in spite of your... interference," she gives one of Vessa's nipples a hard tweak as she says the word, seemingly calmed by the small noise of pain that escapes the half-elf's throat, "you've been a lovely husband as of late. Vessa's been a good girl for years now, and I fully expect to delight in feeding from my children's lust," she shivers at the thought, kneading Vessa's breast like a cat, "very soon. So consider this an early anniversary present, your reward for being such a good boy."

"Boy?"

She makes an amused sound, slipping behind Vessa and leaning over her shoulder, "Well I can't call you a 'good man' now can I? Now why don't you stop talking and hurry up and enjoy your present? All three of us have a busy day ahead of us."

You raise an eyebrow. All three of us? You wonder what that means. Of course, your wife makes a good point, you shouldn't look a gift sex **** in the mouth.