by Harry Nix
She was hotter this time (temperature-wise) but not quite Ori boiling puddles. We embraced and I felt myself relaxing into her, like I was letting go a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
“So, did you get Glitterbutt to join up?” Scarlet said after a few minutes of kissing that threatened to go much further.
“Yeah. Should I bring her back now or...”
I waved vaguely at the cabin, meaning something about having some alone time before I summoned anyone else.
“Bring her back,” Scarlet said immediately.
I hit the summon button, but this time it wasn’t black flames and some strange language.
My fingers wove a pattern in the air like I was playing an invisible piano but then began moving in synchronization, making loops and figures of eight. My mouth opened on its own, and to my surprise, I sang. It was high and haunting then dropped down an octave before leaping about the registrar.
I can’t sing... but apparently, the digital version of me can.
The patterns in the air made a ripple in reality, which quickly formed into a gateway of vines and flowers. My mana went to zero—summoning Delicia cost a lot more than Scarlet or Ori, who would have to wait until my mana refilled.
The arch of flowers was calming and peaceful until it opened, and a gust of frigid air blew out like it was a portal to the Arctic.
Delicia stumbled out, her lips blue and shivering. She had icicles in her hair, and her eyelashes were frosted with snow. The gate vanished, and I managed to catch her before she fell.
“So... cold,” Delicia said, her teeth chattering.
She was a radiating cold that made my bones hurt to be so close to her.
“What nonsense is Euphoria doing now?” Scarlet asked as she stepped close to hug Delicia from behind. There was a tiny hiss as her hot skin touched the near-frozen pixie.
“Not... Euphoria. Some evil thing called... Sunny. What a bad joke,” she managed to say before her eyes rolled back in her head.
“Let’s get her inside. There’s a fireplace and warm blankets,” Scarlet said. She took Delicia, holding her up while I opened the cabin.
Despite the rundown nature outside, the inside was surprisingly well preserved. There were dead flowers in a vase on the table and dust, but overall, it gave the impression of being empty for weeks rather than years.
Scarlet was right—there was a fireplace, with a good stock of wood and kindling stacked by it.
The cabin was one big room spread out from the central fireplace. Along one wall was a large bed, covered in blankets and topped with a fur. On the other side was a kitchen, a wood stove, and a table with four chairs neatly tucked under it. The floor was wood but smoothed and had been polished sometime in the past. From the rafters hung dried garlic and other vegetables I couldn’t recognize. In the kitchen, there was a long bench with a row of shelves beneath it, stacked with jars full of pickled vegetables and fruits. In the far corner was a large metal bathtub, and beside it, a pot used to boil water on the stove to wash up. There was a skylight of crystal, cleverly inserted into the roof beams, that let a beam of golden light into the cabin.
The only thing missing to make it a cozy getaway was some comfy chairs to sit near the fire.
No monster waiting for us, but I checked under the bed anyway and looked up into the rafters. Scarlet took Delicia to the bed and got in with her, layering the blankets over the pair of them.
I quickly went to work, piling up kindling and then larger chunks of wood.
“Stand back,” Scarlet said from somewhere under the covers once I’d finished building it. All I saw was her hand come out, and then she cast a small fireball that lit the wood first try. I poked and prodded it for a few moments to make sure it was going to keep burning.
By the time I was sure it was fine, I turned around to see Scarlet’s head and arm emerging from under the blankets. She had her armor and her graveyard dress, which she dropped to the floor, quickly followed by another set of rags.
“Take your clothes off and get under here. We need to warm her up, skin on skin,” Scarlet said. She tossed the Echo Knife and the graveyard spike next, both clattering to the floor.
“Um,” I said.
“Now, now! You want her to live, don’t you?” Scarlet said, waving her arm at me.
I saw Delicia’s health was below half and dropping rapidly. There was even a small snowflake symbol next to her name that I hadn’t seen before.
I stripped off, and then Scarlet lifted the covers so I could get in the bed. Scarlet’s half of the bed was hot, the Demoness warmed more by whatever Hell she’d gone to. Beside her, Delicia was like a block of ice.
“Get behind her,” Scarlet said, making room.
There was an awkward shuffle as I moved over behind Delicia. She was still unconscious, her face pressed up against Scarlet’s. I had to brace myself before I pressed my body against the little pixie.
The cold cut into me, and I shivered involuntarily.
“Wrap your arms, closer,” Scarlet said. She’d tucked Delicia’s face under her neck from that I could see. There wasn’t much light getting under the blankets.
I spooned the icy pixie, feeling the heat drain from my body.
Yes, she was naked, and so was Scarlet, and there were plenty of curves, but the ice put a dampener on any thoughts like that. The cold radiated, and soon my thighs were aching.
We lay in the darkness under the covers, and I watched Delicia’s health keep dropping. It was slower now, but the snowflake was still there.
“Okay, this isn’t working. Plan D,” Scarlet said, all business.
“Isn’t it plan B?”
“Shush now,” Scarlet said and then kissed Delicia.
“Hey, c’mon now, pixie wake up,” she said, kissing her cold lips.
Delicia stirred, and I saw her health bar stabilize.
“Come back to us pixie,” Scarlet breathed before kissing her again.
Delicia mumbled something through the kiss and then gently moved, arching her back and pressing against me.
She was still cold but warming quickly.
“What was that?” Scarlet asked between kisses.
“I said it’s Glitterbutt, get it right,” Delicia said, wriggling the butt in question.
Pressed up against her, the cold had been icing away all thoughts of something more, but now I could feel warmth spreading, or the lack of freezing cold at least. Her butt wriggle was in just the right place against me.
My thoughts, which had been broad and ranging over Bron, Rax, the spiders, and even the war I’d apparently inadvertently started, narrowed now. I was just in a bed with a hot demoness and a cold pixie who was growing warmer by the second.
“Something is poking me,” Delicia said to Scarlet.
“Whatever could that be? I only invited him in here to warm you up. It was a completely innocent request,” Scarlet said like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.
Delicia wriggled again and this time there was a tiny burst of golden pixie dust. In the dim glow I could see the curves of her body, and Scarlet too. Scarlet’s tail was gently stroking up and down Delicia’s leg, coming ever closer to the gap between her thighs.
“Definitely being poked here,” Delicia said after a moment. She kissed Scarlet again, a deep passionate kiss that left the Demoness gasping before she turned over to face me. Her skin was hot where it touched me, carrying Scarlet’s residual heat.
“Hello, have we met?” Delicia said. She kissed me before I could answer. Now she was warming, the scent of honeycakes was growing stronger. I must have breathed in some of the pixie dust too because I felt like I’d taken a shot at the bar.
The kiss was both hot and cold all at once. Her lips were hot but her tongue still chilled. One arm was warm but the other still icy. I moved my hand on her body, feeling it alternating hot and cold patches as I slid from ribs to hip.
“I’m James,” I whispered once we broke apart.
“The King of Cats,” Deli
cia said, touching my nose with a cold finger. Then her eyes widened and she gasped.
“Something is poking me again,” she breathed.
Scarlet reached out of bed and tossed some of the blankets to the floor, letting in some more light. She had one had on Delicia’s neck, the other throwing blankets... and the tip of her tail between Delicia’s legs, gently moving back and forth.
Delicia moved closer to me, my leg sliding between hers. The patches of cold were almost gone now. She blinked like she was half-drunk and then kissed me again, before gasping.
“Oh six pixies, it has been so long,” she sighed.
Scarlet stroked a hand down her side and then reached over her hip to brush against me. The demoness was burning up, far hotter than before, or so it felt. Could have been the transition from chill to warm.
“Face me,” she whispered to Delicia before kissing her neck.
The pixie moaned then as Scarlet did something with her tail and then obediently turned over, pressing her butt against me.
I hadn’t expected it to happen so quick but it was the right angle and the right pressure and hey, I was in bed with two hotter than hot girls... I slipped into her after a moment of resistance.
I was expecting freezing so was surprised when she was merely cold.
“Warm her up,” Scarlet said, reaching down to push Delicia’s hips back against me.
Maybe it was the pixie dust in the bed but I was starting to feel half-drunk myself, willing to obey. I moved against Delicia, slowly and the pixie began to gasp. She tilted her head back to allow Scarlet access to her neck. The demoness trailed kissed down it to a breast, sucking the nipple into her mouth.
“Oh, Euphoria,” Delicia moaned.
Scarlet still had her had on Delicia’s hip and was moving it back and forth in time with me. We were working in perfect rhythm, the pixie pressed between us.
The pixie went from cool patches to hot in an instant. Suddenly it was like I was in a hot bath up to my waist. I saw the snowflake vanish and then I pushed the HUD away with a thought. There was nothing else in the world now, just Delicia and Scarlet.
Our rhythm sped up and then Scarlet broke it, laying on her back and pulling Delicia on top of her. There was a moment of disconnection before I moved too, sliding back into the pixie, now on my knees. Scarlet’s tail curled around my leg, urging me on.
“Faster, faster,” Scarlet said, holding Delicia tight against her. The little pixie had her bubble butt up in the air, her face pressed between Scarlet’s breasts like she was being held in place just for me. The covers had come off but the room was warm enough between the fire and the two girls.
I had better purchase now so I moved faster, jolting into Delicia, her body rocking. Scarlet’s tailed disappeared down between Delicia’s legs, tickling at her.
“She can’t escape,” Scarlet said and Delicia moaned. From what I could see of her face, it was flushed pink, the color creeping down her neck. There were bursts of gold dust every time I slammed into her, pixie dust falling to the bed. Every breath went to my head, making me drunk, driving me wild.
At some point, Delicia’s moan became a scream, but Scarlet held her still, binding her in place. Perhaps the pixie dust slowed things for me too because it took time for the warmth at the base of my spine to grow, pushing away whatever residual chill I’d taken from Delicia.
The pixie half-collapsed, unable to hold herself up, gasping between moans, but I kept moving, lost in the golden haze of dust.
Soon enough, the rush came and it was like every nerve lit up. The parts of my body that had been broken by Rax, crushed by the ceiling, had reformed, healthy and whole, but the memory of pain was still there. The flood of pleasure crackled through me, racing to my toes and back again.
My legs gave way then too, and I barely managed to hold myself from crushing Delicia into the bed and Scarlet.
I still squished her down between us, the pixie’s face buried between Scarlet’s breasts.
Scarlet managed to lift her head to kiss me.
“I told you plan D would work,” she said.
I laughed and half-fell off Delicia, nearly going off the bed entirely. The pixie slipped to the other side, having trouble keeping her eyes open.
“That was... you can...” she said, waving a hand.
“I think she means come here,” Scarlet said, pulling me on top of her.
Normally I’d need a minute (or ten), but the heat of her skin felt like it lit a fire inside me. She tilted her hips, and I slipped inside.
If Delicia was a hot bath, Scarlet was an inferno.
“Oh fuck,” I groaned.
“Yes, that’s the idea,” Scarlet said, kissing me and wriggling her hips.
The heat of her body seemed to trigger a wildness inside me. It was like a jolt of caffeine to the heart, perhaps some demoness magic pushing away the pixie dust languor. I pushed Scarlet’s knees up, and within moments was pounding into her as she gasped and moaned. Delicia went for nearly asleep to wide awake, the flush returning to her cheeks. She stroked her fingers down Scarlet’s arm and then leaned over to kiss the curve of her breast.
For a moment, the two of them kissed, but Scarlet couldn’t hold it, not jolting back and forth like she was. She screwed up her face, and then when she opened her eyes again, small flames were burning in them. The room felt too hot, no air, but I couldn’t stop. It was like I was furious at her, but had no idea why. The only way to punish her was to fuck her senseless.
Time stretched on, Scarlet crying out, but I wouldn’t stop, wouldn’t slow. Delicia kissed her and cradled her head, almost like she was comforting her. They ended up face to face, looking into each other's eyes, Scarlet moaning and clenching beneath me.
The heat from within Scarlet was now matched by my own, my skin fire, and this time it was no warm rush but heat that shot through me as I pinned the Demoness to the bed and roared.
I must have toppled off the bed then—I don’t quite remember, but I know the floorboards felt good against my back. At some point, Delicia reached over the bed, and I shakily took her hand, getting back into it. She pulled me into position, putting herself between Scarlet and me.
There was no need for pixie dust then to stupefy me. There was a deep relaxation soaking through my body like a throb. Delicia kissed me, I sighed and then sleep took us both away.
23
I awoke to the smell of frying potatoes, which is a damn good scent to wake up to when you’re starving. I was in bed, alone and Delicia was in the kitchen, humming away, flitting about as she opened jars of preserved vegetables and moved the potatoes in the frying pan around.
The door opened and Scarlet entered, carrying some of the vegetables and fruits from outside with her.
“These ones?” she asked.
“Yes!” Delicia trilled. She seemed giddy with joy.
Both were dressed again. Delicia was using the Echo Knife to slice up things she was tossing into a bowl.
“Oh, the King of Cats is awake finally. How may we, your humble housemaids, service you today?” Scarlet said. She slinked over to me and the blood rushed but she skipped out of my reach.
“We need food... and a plan... and then, well, complications can ensue,” she said, waving a finger at me.
I got out of bed and found my clothes. I left the armor where it was for now. Delicia glanced at me one or two times but mostly kept focused on the meal, as though she was shy suddenly.
I felt it too. We’d just been in bed, connected, screwing our brains out but it was like the sleep was a reset of some kind.
Scarlet must have spotted the awkwardness because she went to Delicia, grabbed her by the arm and marched her over to me. Delicia still had the Echo Knife in her hand, dripping fruit juice.
“Kiss you two, before this gets too much,” Scarlet demanded.
“I...” I stammered.
“Quiet Summoner. You, pixie, kiss him,” Scarlet said.
Delicia hesitantly stepp
ed forward and planted an almost chaste kiss on my lips.
“No, like this,” Scarlet said, grabbing the pixie and kissing her deeply. When they broke apart, Delicia was panting. She turned towards me and kissed me like that, pressing her body against mine and nearly cutting me with the knife accidentally.
“Okay, satisfied?” Delicia said to Scarlet.
“Yes, temporarily, but you know how it is with Demonesses,” Scarlet said with a grin.
With that the awkwardness vanished like it had never been. Delicia returned to the kitchen and Scarlet gave me a kiss on the cheek before wandering off to investigate a trunk I hadn’t noticed before.
I went to the kitchen to peer into the pan. There were fat chips there frying in golden oil.
“Where did you find oil?” I asked.
“There’s a cupboard hidden behind that shelf down there. I think this place has some kind of preservation spell on it. Can you feel it?” Delicia said.
I’m not sure what I was meant to do to “feel it” so I just ended up standing there for a few moments looking around but nothing happened.
“Can you sense spells?” I asked.
“Yes. It’s easier out here because there’s not much competing. It’s like picking out a voice in a crowded room if you’re in a city. Usually there are spells everywhere, ones to keep bartops clean, weapons shiny, clothes to dry faster, that sort of thing,” Delicia said.
At the mention of city I was pulled back to Bron. I was feeling good, great, damn amazing actually but the past could not be forgotten, especially when it was still likely present. I hadn’t been able to see Bron for the trees but I knew once we found a clear spot, we’d see smoke from it burning.
“It’s ready!” Delicia said, setting out four plates. It took a second for me to realize why and then I felt like a giant asshole when I saw Ori’s face down in the HUD. I’d had a good excuse for not bringing him back before—I was out of mana—but now I was just a prick who’d forgotten him entirely.
I went outside to summon him in case he came in hot. Ori came walking out of the gateway, regular temperature, and gave me a wan smile. He was back to regular size, which was still quite small. I went down on one knee to talk to him and was surprised when the little demon stepped into my arms. I hugged him on reflex and when he stepped back I had ink tears staining my shirt.
