Page 7 of Controller's Obsession

“Did I interrupt something?” Merihem asked sweetly and with a huge dollop of sarcasm, recalling he remained pissed at his friend for his situation and the current clusterfuck that ensued.

Dakata grunted, and Merihem was sure he heard Silas moan in the background.

Oh, to the demon gods, were they…

“Fuck off, Meri… oh like that…” The next moan was all Dakata before he asked, “What do you want?”

Seeing as the situation could get out of hand quickly and with his current situation, Merihem didn’t need any of Dakata’s and Silas’s sexual antics, giving him even bluer balls. “What times and days does your cleaner come in?”

“Huh… yeah…”

“Focus, Dakata,” he snapped, his hand clenching tightly around the phone.

“Erm… Monday through Friday… while I’m at work… I…”

“Does she have an assistant?” he interrupted at the next round of groaning.

“Right there…” he whimpered down Merihem’s ear. “No… what assistant?”

“Great. Thanks.” Merihem hung up and stared at the empty and spotless bedroom, his smile returning.

So, no assistant, then who was the guy?

His smile dimmed when thoughts of pulling the records of every employee that Dakata had went sailing out the window.

He plonked his ass down on the bed, deep frown lines appearing, then disappearing, as he mulled over his next step.

Spying…

Yep, that would totally work.If the guy came back.

Chapter Four

Peni

It was ten to nine the next day… roughly. Dakata had a large clock in his study that chimed every quarter hour, and if Peni strained his ears, he could hear it. Peni hadn’t got as much sleep as he’d like. Between his goat bleating what felt like everyfive minutes about wanting their mate and him straining his ears every few minutes, wondering what the demon upstairs was doing—or more specifically,whichdemon was upstairs—Peni had been awake from the moment the sun rose.

His basement spot had one significant advantage—someone had insulated the floor with some kind of heating for the levels above. It meant if Peni was cautious, he could move around and have his television on, without being heard by the people in the main house.

Dakata, if he was home overnight, was usually gone by eight in the morning, even earlier most days. His workaholic habits gave Peni a chance to have a quick shower in the tiny cubicle someone had put in the basement and then forgotten. It wasn’t tiled, only lined with plastic, but it had hot and cold running taps, and between that and the singular toilet and tiny hand sink, which sat next to the shower cubicle, it was enough for Peni. He’d always been cautious, never flushing the toilet until Dakata left for work, in case the pipes made a noise through the house. It’s not like he could be in two places at once and check for that sort of thing.

You should’ve gone up and made him breakfast before he went out. Show our mate we can be useful for more than just cleaning.His goat piped up again as Peni poured himself a bowl of cereal, adding a splash of milk that he stored in his cooler. Going over to his small mass of cushions that made up his bed and chair all in one, he sat down quietly and dug his spoon into the bowl.

A huge demon like that needs a good start to his day.

Great. Now his goat was offering tips on demon nutrition.Dakata doesn’t eat breakfast. He barely eats here at all.Yes, Peni was being deliberately obtuse, but he desperately wanted his day to be a normal one. Shower. Eat. Go upstairs and clean. His pay would be in his account once he got done for the day. Peni could go and buy a few bits of groceries and replenish his soap and shampoo before curling up for another quiet evening with his library books.

Dakata didn’t come home last night. Our mate was the one who slept here last night.

Peni stilled in the act of putting another spoonful of cereal in his mouth, his eyes darting around his space.How do you know that? It’s not like we can hear anyone moving much around the floors above.

Our demon slams the doors differently to Dakata. Dakata’s are short and sharp, as if he’s not thinking about it. Our demon does it deliberately. Bedroom door. Closet door. Bathroom door. Front door. I think he knows we’re here, and he’s sending us a message. Isn’t that sweet of him?

No!Peni didn’t even want to consider that possibility. The demon with the big balls couldn’t know he was staying in the basement.He can’t find us here. I’d get fired if he knew we were down here… and Mrs. Danials would get into trouble… Don’t you see? We’d be homeless again.

Our demon wouldn’t let us be homeless.

Yep, you keep telling yourself that, but Peni kept that message to himself. Just the stress of being put out, of having nowhere to go, was enough to give him a headache. He’d spent more time than he’d like to think about sleeping rough. The world wasn’t kind to little shifters like him.

---