Chapter 7

Derek slept deeply, slipping into the land of dreams with ease. A massive throne room stretched out in front of his mind's eye, filled with thousands of men and women facing him. Kneeling and saying words he couldn’t understand. Eyes willed with devotion and love, he looked down and saw that he was naked before them. The throne behind him was inlaid with gemstones made to look like shooting stars falling down upon the Earth. On the steps leading up to his throne were three women, each of them bowing with their heads to the ground. Wearing thick collars, yet he could not see their faces.

Waking up with a start, he sucked in a deep breath of air and looked around wildly. Xrn was still in bed with him, curled up into a ball and pressed against him. As if to absorb as much warmth from him as possible. He shifted and wrapped his arms around her, all while his head screamed in protest. That Ornelian Sunset was a fun drink but gods what a hangover. Every movement was painful. Closing his eyes again Derek tried to relax enough to go to sleep but his headache would not abate.

Extracting himself from Xrn slowly but surely he **** himself out of bed. Her duvet covers were extremely soft, and her hands reached out for him as she continued to sleep. Grasping for him while he stood at the side of the bed. Moving carefully out of their way, he began to get dressed. No matter how much fun he had last night he still had work today. As he slid on his jeans and began to zip them up Xrn’s eyes fluttered awake.

“Going somewhere handsome?”

Her soft voice echoed through the room causing Derek to turn around guiltily. Her half open eyes didn’t look upset though, just teasing. She pushed herself up with her arms, causing the duvet to slip off her chest and expose her breasts to the morning light. He began to blush as he admired her body and then remembered that she had asked him a question.

“Work in an hour or so, I’ve gotta get some clean clothes…I wasn’t trying to sneak out.”

Slightly defensive, he tried to explain himself. She just laughed and waved him off with her upper hands.

“You’re cute when you’re nervous. Don’t worry I have work today too, why don’t you come back for dinner tonight though? My treat. I…I enjoyed last night Derek. A lot.”

Upper arms wrapped around her chest nervously, a blush spreading across her own face now. Before she flopped back down onto the bed and grabbed the pillow he had slept on, shifting it to wrap her arms around it to cuddle in his absence.

“Now you’d better get going before I drag you back into bed, mister.”

Thoroughly chastised, Derek threw his shirt on and made his way out of the bedroom. Wondering whether or not he should profusely thank her or if that would be making a fool out of himself. Just as he opened the door he realized he hadn’t answered her about dinner.

“I’d love to come over for dinner tonight!”

He shouted behind his back before closing the door softly. It was still rather early in the morning and he had to be courteous of other people still sleeping. Definitely not because he had been called for a noise complaint a few months ago for getting a little too excited at a DracoFight 4 victory early in the morning. Regardless he made it back to his apartment quickly, hopping in the shower even faster. Hoping that the water would wash away not only his hangover but the scent of Xrn. The last thing he needed was his boss smelling so much of her on him. Especially after how oddly she acted the night before.

Checking his phone for messages, he saw a notification on the social media app Glyph. Someone had…tagged him? Gimble? What the hell? There was an article attached to the post, the headline read.

The Ancient House of Andilet, Reduced to Animals?

The article went into detail about a starving vampire, known as Edmund Andilet, who intentionally refused blood to push himself into a state of starvation. Apparently to get in tune with his raw vampiric instincts, whatever the fuck that meant. A lawsuit was brewing against the Andilet family apparently, a class action by the looks of it. Gimble’s tag blinked up at him as he combed his hair. Still reading the article as he **** himself to look presentable.

Lawyers were asking people who had been attacked to step forward and add their evidence and weight to the suit. They had about a hundred people so far, and the public was taking it pretty seriously. This was not a good look for Paeth, let alone the Andilets. He wondered if he should join the lawsuit, or was controlling Lady Andilet good enough to make up for the attack. It wasn’t like he had to decide right then and there. With the tap of a finger he liked Gimble’s tag to let the dwarf know he had seen it.

A few moments later he was out the door, hair still slightly damp, and squinting into the morning light that was just now peeking into the dense citystape of Paeth. Watching the few vampires that were still out fleeing the rays of the sun did make him smile a bit. Especially after being reminded yet again of the attack. The thought made him shiver a bit, but the warmth of the sun helped a bit, especially the knowledge that he was safe within its light.

Riding up the elevator to his floor, he was greeted by a few people on the sales team instead of his usual silent and lonely ride to the top. One of them, Thomas, if Derek remembered his name correctly. Clapped him on the back and wouldn’t stop talking about how much help he had been crunching those numbers. In fact when the elevator stopped and he was about to get off, Thomas waved goodbye.

“See you later today buddy!”

Derek waved back halfheartedly. Honestly, he wasn’t used to having many friends in the real world. Slumping down at his desk, he prepared himself to push through the rest of the day. Settling in for the grind, his oldest friend pushed his head over the top of the cubicle once more.

“Did ya see that article lad? Crazy stuff happening around these parts. Why I remember half a century ago, Paeth was a fookin bloodbath! Besieged by the damn Weretribes! Before your time, before your time. Didn’t have much back then, damn animals.”

The dwarf spat on his own side of the divider, hopefully into some kind of trashcan Derek thought to himself. Trying to lean back as much as possible into his chair.

“I saw it, what’s the world coming to these days gramps?”

Gimble gasped in feigned indignation. Placing a hand over his head before grinning down at him.

“Ya ya, you just stay safe eh? Them vamps are a bit tall to take a chunk out of ole me. But you’re just their height.”

Not wanting to admit to the man that he had been attacked already Derek let it hang there. Booting up his computer and getting to work. Grumbling, Gimble sank back down behind the divider.

Just as Derek was reaching some kind of flow state again sorting data into a new worksheet that he had designed himself. Taking into account the degradation of runic enchantments across multiple projects to aggregate their maintenance times so that they could send out repair teams more efficiently. A chill spread down his back, the Ice Queen tapped on his shoulder. Standing behind him, arms folded just under her chest in a black blouse that accentuated her curves.

“Uhhhh, can I help you?

Derek’s brain took a bit to catch up with what his mouth was saying. Internally cringing, he gestured to his computer. Couldn’t she tell that he was working?

“My office. Now.”

His boss’ tone brooked no argument, and she looked rather serious. Her breath carried tiny frost crystals on it, huffing and puffing like the dragon she was. He grunted and got up to follow her, walking slightly sullenly behind her. Many eyes followed him, assuming that he was in trouble somehow. A few people shot him looks of sympathy, and Gimble poked his head out from the side of the dividers and scowled at the Ice Queen. Clearly on the verge of making a rude gesture. She opened the door to her office for him and followed inside. It was cold inside, enough to give Derek goosebumps.

“So, why did you bring me in here? I’m not in trouble are I?”

Celia snorted, then broke out into actual laughter. It was stuttered and awkward as if she was unused to laughing. Then she faked wiping tears from her eyes for a moment as the windows fully frosted over. Blocking out the curious eyes of his coworkers while they took their seats. Her behind a desk, and him in one of the slightly heated cloth chairs.

“In trouble? No. You did so well yesterday that if I could give you a promotion I would. You’re due for one soon thought. No you’re here so that I can tell you to not mention anything about last night. To anyone.”

Eyes like frostbite glared at him. If looks could kill or at least maim, this one definitely would.

“What about last night? That you went home with the-?

Celias fingers scraped down her wooden desk, tearing a rent through the top layer. Tail swinging back and forth with potent frustration while she interrupted him.

“Yes. I would prefer it if it went unsaid. It's just a casual thing, no need to make it messy or complicated with HR. I don’t need to tell you how…beneficial it could be to me if you did this for me? Showing up a little late, good words with upper management, maybe even a few other things…”

She stood up from behind her desk and strode over to him as she spoke, her tail now shifting from furious twitching rage to a much slower and sensuous curling around her body to tap his leg. All while Derek shifted nervously in the chair and wished by the grace of the gods that this wasn’t happening.

“Uh-Y-yes I think I m-m-might just f-forget all about it. If that's okay with y-you Celia.”

Stumbling through his words, Derek tried to pull his leg away from her tail but all that did was **** her to get closer. She leaned over, putting a hand on the back of the chair to let her tits hang nearly out of her blouse right in front of his face. They swayed back and forth at her sudden movement. Making it obvious that she wasn’t wearing much in the way of support. Then she moaned softly, and his mind went blank.

“Good, I like the way our relationship is developing Derek.”

Almost purring, she stood back up. Walking back to her desk, clearly swaying her ass back and forth to put on a show for him. The Ice Queen sat down and waved her hand casually, back to business.

“You can go now, I’ll let you know when I need you again.”

With this confrontation all wrapped up, Derek couldn’t make his getaway fast enough. Almost bursting through the door to get away from Celia’s knowing smirk. The worst part was, he actually thought he could turn the tables on her. Just use the app and all his problems would go away with time. Just grind the obedience score to 100, and she’d be wrapped around his finger. It would be too easy. It might be the only solution. Once he had made it back to his cubicle Gimble noticed his harrowed expression and assumed the worst.

“Today your last day lad?”

There was a sad look on Gimbles face as he looked down at Derek from over the wall that separated them. Then Derek laughed. It started small, but grew and grew until he was clutching his sides and trying not to cry, he was laughing so hard.

“No buddy, not my last day. Not by far.”

Looking puzzled, the dwarf ambled around the side of the divider and crossed his arms over his chest but under his glorious red beard. Clearly not moving without an answer.

“She just wanted a favor, and said I could start showing up late.”

The dwarf's eyes widened dramatically as he let out a long whistle. Shaking his head in awe.

“I didn’t know you had that in you boyo, let's go get a drink or ten to celebrate this weekend. One round on me you little showboat. Get in late…why I oughta…”

Gimble trailed off, returning back to his own cubicle still muttering about this and that. All while Derek pulled out his phone and began to plot. At the end of the week Isabella would have her second event. Perfect timing to add someone to his little group the next morning. Then he’d need to talk to Xrn about everything soon if he kept adding people at this rate. That wasn’t a conversation he was looking forward to.