Page 19 of Claiming a Demon

He said it like a question, but he really didn’t need to ask. There wasn’t a chance I’d say no to another round. Not after the first one. I worried about us being compatible with such major size differences, but Zach took me like he was made for it. And it was so good, it blew my mind, wiping away all my stress in an instant. He was right, it really was the best distraction.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

ZACHARIAH

Mistakes were made. I told Mal when we were getting ready for bed that I was a grouch when I didn’t get enough sleep. Did I regret staying up half the night riding him? No, I absolutely did not. The only regret I had was that it wasn’t my day off the following morning, so I could sleep in and start all over again. A shiver ran up my spine, remembering the way his massive cock stretched me. That thing was lethal. I shouldn’t be expected to function after that.

“Good morning, Zach.”

Brienne, my boss, was always the one to open the spa in the morning. Some people liked to start their day with a massage so they were relaxed before work, so we opened pretty early compared to most spas. When she’d brought up changing the spa hours, I’d been dubious, but it turned out we tapped into an untapped market and mornings were usually busy.

“Morning,” I mumbled into my coffee. I was still bleary and didn’t think the word ‘good’ should be added anywhere near the word ‘morning’.

“Late night?” she queried, her focus on the computer in front of her. She ran the front desk most mornings until Winnie or Laurie showed up for their shifts. Then she’d disappear into the back office to tackle the mountain of paperwork on her desk. I didn’t envy her. I’d take clients over a stuffy office any day.

I was too tired to talk, and I wasn’t in a hurry to share what happened last night with Mal. Normally, I’d be all for it, I wasn’t known to have a filter, but Mal was special. I didn’t want to share what we did together. I hummed my response, disappearing into the break room to drop off my bag. I only had morning appointments, and Mal’s appointment at the end of the day, so I’d get to go home by lunch and come back with him later. Mal promised he’d stay at my place and wait for me, and we’d go to poker night together after his session so I could meet his friends. If I had the energy to be excited, I’d be bouncing around the room right now.

I downed my coffee, tossing the cup into recycling before heading to my room to set up. Luckily, exhausted Zach had about the same energy level as work Zach. No one would notice if I wasn’t talking as much, because that was the way things were supposed to be here.

The only person who’d notice was Brienne. When I trudged out to the lobby to wait for my first client, she raised an eyebrow at me expectantly.

“What?” I grumbled.

“Don’t ‘what’ me. You’re the most bubbly, energetic person on the planet. The only time you act like this is when something, or someone, kept you up late the night before. And since you went home yesterday with that demon, I’m allowed to ask questions.”

True. Mal showed up around lunch, so Brienne was still manning the desk. I eyed her suspiciously. She wasn’t the type to get into my relationships, though, so I didn’t really know why she was asking. I was too tired to think.

“Is that a problem?”

Before she could reply, the chime over the door tinkled, announcing my first client. I put the conversation on hold, putting on my work face to greet my client. The rest of the morning was back-to-back appointments, so I wouldn’t find a minute to talk to Brienne until I’d finished with my last client.

* * *

I had one more appointment before I could go home to Mal. The thought put a little pep in my step as I headed for the lobby, faltering when I heard a familiar raspy voice berating someone.

Ugh. Mrs. Cordelia Beckerman. She had a standing appointment twice a week. I almost never had strong opinions about my clients, but her I really didn’t like. She always had something to complain about, whether in her daily life, or about something or someone at the spa itself, and she never kept her opinions to herself. I lost track of the number of times I had to remind her to leave the other clients alone. She was most likely complaining about someone's clothing or their decision to get a massage instead of being at home having babies.

Not willing to let her continue to harass people, I hurried through the curtain that separated the lobby from the back. I was already in a bad mood, but when I saw who Mrs. Beckerman was yelling at, I felt my blood boil.

“Your kind are destroying our way of life! You should be ashamed of yourself! Go back to where you came from and leave us in peace! We don’t want any of your devil worshiping to taint this place!”

My eyes flicked to the front desk, but Brienne must have stepped away because there was no one there. There were a few other clients sitting in the lobby waiting to be called back, but none of them said a word against Mrs. Beckerman’s poison. Assholes.

“Why are you just standing there? Begone, devil!”

“He’s not going anywhere,” I snapped. Stomping across the room, I placed myself protectively in front of Mal. His mask was up, but I saw the hurt underneath. I couldn’t imagine facing this kind of behavior on the regular. I got a few shitty comments here and there about my sexuality, but it was becoming less and less common. Paranormals took the brunt of that kind of attention, and it just wasn’t fair.

“Zachariah! You can’t honestly be allowing one of those things to be serviced here! You have the right to refuse service! You don’t have to cater to him!”

“You’re right.” I felt Mal stiffen behind me, so I stepped back, pressing myself against him. “I do have the right to refuse service. You should find yourself another massage therapist.”

Her mouth fell open, shock and outrage clearly written on her face. “Excuse me? I’ve been a loyal client for years! You’re really going to act this way after everything I’ve done for you and this business? All over that thing?”

I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest. “You mean like harassing other clients or giving shitty tips? I think I’d be doing myself a favor. Your appointment is canceled, Mrs. Beckerman. Call my boyfriend a thing one more time and me and you are gonna have problems.”

That made Mal suck in a breath. We never discussed what was next after last night. I’d planned on bringing it up before we went to see his friends. I wasn’t the type of guy to sleep around very often, not unless I really needed to scratch an itch, and I really liked Mal. We would need to consider getting him a new massage therapist, but if he was willing, I wanted more than just a hookup to distract him from the crap going on in his life. Now wasn’t really the time to bring that up, though.

“Absolutely not! I am a loyal customer! I’ve had a massage at this time for years! I will not be denied service just because you’re a monster fucker!” Mrs. Beckerman screeched.

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