Page 32 of Controller's Obsession

“He’s not cute. And could you please put on some pants? I’m sure when you shift, you could do it wearing pants to stop folks gawking at you, it’s not right when you’re mi…”

This time he couldn’t hold back the chuckle at how peeved Peni sounded at anyone looking at his naked body. “I’ll try harder to remember,” he answered, doing his best to sound contrite.

He huffed. “That would be a start.”

Merihem glanced quickly over his shoulder and caught Peni eyeing his backside with a look that made his cock plump. When their gazes locked, Peni blushed. “Pants. Pants would be good.”

As Peni had dressed in the few things he’d deemed to bring from the basement, he turned and in the blink of an eye Merihem had on sweats and a T-shirt. A look from Peni when his gaze traveled down his clothed body showed…confliction.

Merihem could work with that.

Then Peni placed his fisted hands on his hips. “I think it’s time you and I talked about why you’re here.”

“Huh?” Changing track, Merihem’s head tilted. “Why now?”

“Tell me, please.”

Something was most definitely off. Merihem tucked a hand under Peni’s elbow. “You need food, and so do I, let me make us something and we can talk while I cook.”

“You’re going to cook?”

He didn’t resist, but he sounded doubtful of Merihem’s skills in the kitchen. “Yes, I know you’re vegetarian, so I’ll make a pasta dish that works for you.”

Once in the kitchen and Merihem had helped to seat Peni, getting him a fruit juice, he then went to retrieve everything he’d need for a vegetable pasta dish. Taking a moment to wash his hands, he gathered his thoughts. Peni sipped at his juice, watching him closely.

“Silas’s sister was taken to the demon realm, kidnapped because of me.”

“You?” Peni croaked, spitting out a mouthful of juice.

Merihem nodded and got a cloth to wipe the counter, knowing Peni wouldn’t like it messy. “Well, not me exactly, but it might just as well of been. I asked Kisha, another demon, to help Dakata find Silas. It led us all to the forest. Kisha has a big mouth, and he told some other demons about Dakata’s blissful connection to a dryad. Only he didn’t make it clear that the blissful one was a male, not a female, so evil demons who wanted to hurt Dakata went into the forest and took Wanda.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Merihem watched Peni mull that over as he chopped up mushrooms, garlic, onions and egg plant. Before making a tomato sauce. The sounds of bubbling came from the two pans on the stove and broke the silence between them.

“How is that your fault?”

Merihem layered sheets of pasta into the base of a big oven dish. He added the vegetables grated cheese, then the tomato sauce. “I didn’t consider how Kisha was.”

“So you brought yourself up here as penance?”

“No.” Merihem sighed as he picked up the cheese sauce, and poured it over the top layer of pasta. He picked up the packet of grated cheese and sprinkled it liberally over the top of the sauce when he was finished. “I helped Dakata find Wanda, and understandably, he took his vengeance out on those who’d wanted to hurt Silas, and subsequently Wanda. Dakata left a trail of destruction, and the king of our realm wasn’t happy.”

“Oh…”

“Yep. I should have gone to him. Taken five fucking minutes to clue the king in on the situation as my position deemed, and… things would’ve been different.”

We would’ve missed out on meeting our blissful one,his demon snarled. But Peni had other things going in that delightful head of his.

“Position? What position is that?”

Merihem turned to look at Peni, who wore a deep frown. “I’m—or was—Controller of the demon realm and the human realm. My role was to deal with those who worked outside the laws by inflicting harm—death on those who didn’t deserve it,” Merihem explained, thinking he was probably digging himself a grave with how Peni’s forehead was a mass of wrinkles.

“So, like a police officer?”

It wasn’t technically lying to say yes, but Merihem wasn’t going to lie. However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t take a minute to figure out how to explain what he did without scaring Peni. He placed the dish in the oven and covered it with a lid, setting the temperature. When he couldn’t avoid it any longer, he turned to glance at Peni. “In a manner of speaking. Only with greater authority.”

“Greater authority?” His brows rose and Merihem could see the cent drop into the slot. “You kill bad people,” Peni declared breathlessly.

He nodded. What more was there to say?

---