With his hands on her breasts, he kneaded them gently. Feeling her nipples and pinching them between his fingers. Her breathing came in sharp bursts and Joel increased the pace of his thrusting as he felt his cock being squeezed and milked inside her.

  “Touch yourself,” Joel ordered softly.

  “How?” Jenny gasped and moaned.

  “Your hands,” Joel ordered. “Rub between your legs. Around where my cock is going into you.”

  “Oh,” she said and paused, as if realizing that was possible.

  With Joel supporting her, Jenny used both hands. She slipped them between her legs. Rubbing around, brushing her fingers around the base of Joel’s cock. She lightly grasped his balls, exploring them as Joel thrust into her while she massaged her pussy.

  Luneira sat nearby, watching with a hungry expression. She never would have imagined being jealous of a woman sleeping with a man. But Joel, her master. This pinnacle of a creature so far beyond the men of her own kind. There he stood, driving the wraith into ecstasy. She currently had two fingers curled into herself. The first into her upper entrance, pleasing herself with the intense sensations closest to her clit. While the other finger slid deeper into her lower hole. The one used for breeding. It was duller, but produced a deeper, more satisfying orgasm.

  She never would have allowed a pitiful male to have bred her. But she found herself now, watching the gap between Jenny’s legs. Wishing that her master’s cock was sliding into her instead.

  “MASTER!”

  Joel grunted at the sudden scream. Then groaned as her pussy squeezed down around him. He could still thrust, but trying to pull back was like trying to pull your legs out of deep, thick mud that refused to let go. All the while, her pussy squeezed and rippled, pulsing around him as he tightened his grip on her breasts.

  There was no way for him to prepare. The sudden tightness. The texture of her orgasmic contractions. Even the way she screamed for him sent Joel wild. His cock throbbed hard, and the first spray of seed flooded the wraith’s green pussy. Whether she felt it or not, Jenny let out a keening cry as he flooded her. His balls ached with relief as her pussy practically sucked him dry from within. Until finally, like the release of a vice, Joel felt Jenny slip forward and slump on the couch.

  “M-master,” Jenny crooned as she stared up at him.

  With her legs spread, Joel could see the small line of white seed leaking out of her. And so could Luneira. Joel watched, and before he could say a word, the night hag’s long, flexible tongue slid deep into Jenny’s freshly fucked pussy.

  “Luneira!” Jenny squealed.

  The night hag wrapped her arms around Jenny’s waist and Joel’s cock throbbed as the mental stimulation won over. He shifted around behind Luneira, who was already pushing her ass out in anticipation. Joel hoped that Jess and Amanda weren’t in too much trouble by the time he joined them in Morpheus.

  Chapter Twelve

  Joel awoke to a scene from a horror movie. The stench of smoke filled his nostrils. His eyes burned in the fumes. He could barely see, and coughed uncontrollably when he sat up, which pushed his head further into the smoke.

  “Jenny!” Joel flailed. “Luneira!”

  There were no signs of them. Which Joel couldn’t decide was better, or worse. His first instinct was to reach the door. Joel remembered the childhood lessons he’d gotten. Rather than stand, he rolled onto the floor and kept low. The breathable air was closest to the floor.

  Crawling to the door, Joel reached over and pressed the back of his hand to the wood. Only to hiss in pain as the heat scalded him.

  “Fuck,” Joel growled and thought of a solution.

  The door was hot, which meant the fire was directly on the other side. Which meant getting out was going to be a problem. Then again, the window was a decent option. Joel crawled back onto the bed. The smoke was thicker, but he didn’t hesitate. Reaching across, he found the window with ease and grabbed the latch. Only to find it stuck. Joel grimaced as he gave it a tug before inhaling a lungful of smoke. That left him coughing and hacking in pain. Which was enough for him to give up on doing things the nice way.

  Pulling back his fist, Joel slammed it into the glass, shattering it. All at once, the smoke whooshed out. The wind howled in his ears as the heat of the fire blasted out behind him. The wind was so fierce, it threatened to pull Joel out alongside it. Which made it easier as Joel kicked off the bed and flew through the open window.

  And onto the bedroom floor.

  “Master!” Luneira yelped. “What happened?”

  “Huh?” Jenny sat up, looking confused from her position beside Luneira.

  Joel blinked at them before looking around the room. It… was fine. No fire, no smoke, no signs of heat. He could even see the weird sky outside informing him that he was, in fact, inside Morpheus.

  “Ah…” Joel frowned before pushing himself upright. “I don’t… Umm… Do either of you remember a fire?”

  “Fire, master?” Luneira asked, crawling out of the bed.

  She wasn’t the plump, sensual woman he’d been railing the evening before. She was still incredibly attractive, but in her battle form, it looked odd for her to appear so comforting.

  “Tell me,” Joel queried. “If there’s a fire out there in the real world. Will I wake up? Or am I stuck here in Morpheus until I die?”

  Luneira turned and looked at Jenny, who was slipping out of the bed. Her armor gleamed, and she looked like the warrior she was known to be. Despite literally just getting out of bed.

  “I’m not sure,” Luneira frowned.

  Joel frowned with concern. There were a few things to worry about here. First was what actually happened during the night. Each of them fell asleep and woke up in Morpheus. After a day of patrolling and getting the incursion chance down, they’d go back to sleep and wake up in the real world. It certainly felt like he got a full night's sleep in between. But what if someone didn’t sleep? Was it possible to have someone remain awake? Perhaps send an assassin to sneak in while everyone was in Morpheus?

  “Shit,” Joel griped. “This is complicated.”

  “I’m sorry, master,” Luneira said with a small pout. “I wish I could be more use to you.”

  “You’re plenty useful,” Joel disagreed. “And not just in bed.”

  “I am unsure how sex could be considered useful,” Jenny spoke up. “However enjoyable it might be.”

  “Stress relief,” Joel replied automatically.

  “Stress relief?” Jenny frowned.

  Joel sighed. “Okay, so… You’re upset about something. Something you can’t change, or you can, but you can’t change right now, for whatever reason.”

  “Ah,” Jenny nodded sagely. “Then we do the sex. A good distraction.”

  Joel realized he might have just given her the wrong impression. “That’s… not the only reason. It’s also about bonding, or showing care to one another. There’s… a certain pleasure, in bringing someone else pleasure, when you care for them.”

  Jenny nodded. “So, when Luneira put her tongue inside me, that was because she cared about me?”

  “Care was secondary in that instance,” Luneira chimed in with a smirk. “I just love the taste of my master’s seed, and I know he enjoys watching when women perform for him.”

  “Enticement,” Jenny said like a light bulb moment, before giving Joel a direct stare. “If I put my tongue inside Luneira, would you have the sex with me again?”

  Joel let out a long sigh. “How about we talk about this later?”

  “It appears you are uncomfortable with direct questions about the sex,” Jenny noted.

  “Humans are strange like that,” Luneira said with a shrug. “Which is strange, for a people who have so much sex.”

  “We don’t…” Joel said stuttering to a stop and frowning.

  He tried to think of a good argument. But between Jess, Amanda, Luneira and now Jenny…. He did have quite a lot of sex these days.

  “My recommendation is to speak with the first girlfriend,” Luneira suggested to the wraith. “You do not want to upset her.”

  “But she is not my master⁠—”

  “She is master’s master,” Luneira said and smirked at Joel.

  Joel frowned, but… even then, he couldn’t quite argue. Jess might follow orders out in the streets while on patrol. But it was only with her blessing he’d been intimate with Luneira at all. At least where sex and relationships were concerned. Luneira wasn’t exactly wrong. But trying to explain context to Jenny would make it sound more lame than it was. So, he let it go.

  “Alright…” Joel murmured to himself. “I’m going to head out and see what we’re doing today.”

  With the first of today’s plan in mind, Joel got dressed and headed out. Luneira and Jenny stuck with him. They didn’t bother making breakfast. Emily would already be on it. And as he pushed open the front door, Joel forced back the memory of the nightmare he’d had. Especially when he spotted two familiar smiling faces from across the street.

  “Morning, you three,” Jess smirked. “Late evening?”

  “Ah…” Joel gave a small shrug.

  “I’m just teasing,” Jess smiled as she moved in close.

  Joel opened his arms and gave her a kiss. There was a question in her eyes. One she didn’t want to ask right now. They’d talk later. First, though, Jess pulled back and gave Amanda a look. The shy rogue slipped into Joel’s embrace and received a kiss of her own.

  “Not in front of the kids, you lot,” Emily said with an exasperated sigh.

  “Sorry, Emily,” Amanda apologized, with a blush spreading across her cheeks.

  Joel could see it, though. Emily wasn’t upset. She was just preparing for Marge, who stepped out the front door with the kids on her tail. Kids being Dawn, and the teens David and Stacey. Tommy, their little brother, along with Emily’s youngest, Jason and Matthew, weren’t initiated into Morpheus yet. Beyond that first horrible night, that is.

  “Has anyone checked the incursion chance today?” Marge asked as she wandered over.

  Joel did just that.

  Name: Joel Dennison

  Rank: Lord (2)

  Level: 3

  Strength: 25

  Stamina: 5

  Endurance: 17

  Intelligence: 0

  Faith: 60

  Day: 9

  Incursion Chance: 7%

  Quest: Investigate the source of the nightmares.

  Vassals:

  Luneira

  Jenny

  ?

  Bolster: Increase strength by 10% for 5 minutes.

  Block: Negate the damage from a single attack

  Bash: Temporarily stun an opponent

  Taunt: Draw the attention of all nearby low threat enemies in or outside of combat.*

  *Secondary: #!%@ and *****!!! Will allow Joel to directly insult a specific entity and attract its attention directly.

  Joel grinned when he scanned over his status sheet. Only for something to catch his attention.

  “Oh.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a good oh,” Jess said, giving Joel a look.

  Joel shook his head before frowning. “It’s… the quest.”

  “Umm.” Amanda frowned. “Is… this about the nightmares?”

  Joel looked at her, and Jess’s eyes went wide. “So it’s all of us then,” he mumbled.

  “Nightmares?” Jenny asked.

  “Bad dreams,” Jess said.

  “We’ve been getting them too,” Emily said quietly. “I thought it was just everything going on. But the last couple nights… I swear. Last night was the worst. Our house was on fire, and⁠—”

  “Nobody else was around,” Jess murmured.

  “Let me guess, you had to break the window to get out, and everything whooshed past you?” Joel spoke up.

  The ladies all turned to look at Joel, then at each other. Joel frowned. Knowing the answer even without them saying anything. They were sharing a nightmare together. Whatever the cause, it didn’t seem to hit everyone all at once. Emily had said they’d been having bad dreams for a while now. Joel’s first had only been the night before…

  Or had it?

  Joel frowned and thought about the shopping center. The strange waking dream he was in. That seemed to be a bit of a coincidence.

  “Well, that’s some good news at least,” Joel murmured. “I was half convinced I was going to wake up, dragged from Morpheus in the middle of a house fire. Not sure shared nightmares make things all that much better, but at least I know I’m not burning to death.”

  “Unless someone’s set the whole street on fire,” Jess said. Everyone looked at her, and she winced, realizing how that came out. “Sorry.”

  “The chance the whole street is on fire is pretty low,” Emily said.

  “You talking about fires?” Marge said, as she came over. “Had the worst dream last night.”

  “Trapped alone in the house while it burned down around you?” Joel asked.

  Marge stared at him for a moment before frowning. “That’s not good. Is it?”

  “Not even a little bit,” Joel murmured.

  “Master?” Jenny nudged him. “Remember what I said about the nightmares when we burned down the store?”

  Joel was about to retort when he saw the look on her face. “You’re not just talking bad dreams, are you? You said there was something responsible.”

  “Yes, master.” Jenny shook her head. “I… can’t quite recall. But I recognize what you’re describing and… It sounds like another Achos. To affect the settlement like this, it must be bigger than the one at the store.”

  “Well, how do we kill it?” Jess asked.

  “More to the point, why is our incursion chance so low, if it’s attacking us?” Amanda asked.

  “Because it’s here in Morpheus, and not in the real world,” Joel said and his shoulders slumped in resignation. “When we burned down the shopping center. Those weird fugue states. We’ve got another kind of enemy to deal with.”

  Amanda frowned in worry. “How do we fight something that only shows up in our dreams?”

  “Well, that’s… interesting,” Joel murmured as he looked over the school oval.

  Not only was the eaer gone, but so were the webs. It was like there was no sign of the creature at all. Like it had never been there to begin with. Even in the weird purple light of Morpheus, it had the looks of a grassy field like any other. Almost nice enough to set up a picnic.

  “Come on, let’s get closer and check it out,” Jess said, before sending Buster on ahead to clear the way.

  The happy hellhound bounded across the road and leaped clear over the fence. The grass needed a trim, but that only gave the hellhound a soft landing. He was far less cautious about coming here tonight than he had during the day.

  With such a low incursion chance, Joel had felt comfortable letting people take a day off. For the most part. There weren’t any serious patrols going out. But there were always people on guard. The last thing anyone wanted was to be complacent.

  Which was why Joel was here. Checking the school oval. Not just for signs of the eaer, but for anything else that might have sprung up in its place. There was always the chance it had eggs, or something else would move in. For that reason, Joel kept an eye on the incursion of chance as they moved around. It fluctuated a few points back and forth, but there was no real difference by the time they arrived.

  Which gave Joel the confidence to climb over the fence, before turning to help Jess, Amanda, Luneira and… well, not Jenny. She blinked into view beside him without hesitation. The school was going to be an interesting place to check out. It was one thing attending during the daylight, but this perpetual twilight made it like they were doing something wrong. Despite the fact the whole world had gone to shit.

  They kept to a formation. Buster leading the way, sniffing around as he pushed through the grass. Behind the hellhound came Joel. His kite shield held out in preparation for hidden ambushes, while he kept his sword out and steady. While the incursion chance was low, that didn’t stop the dangers that were already there. The eaer didn’t seem to affect the score, and it was clearly there from the beginning.

  “You’ve got a look on your face like you’re thinking about something,” Jess said as she pushed through the grass.

  “Just wondering about the incursion chance and the effect the eaer had on it,” Joel answered with a shrug. “I’m not sure it had any effect on it at all. But I’m not sure why.”

  “You’re thinking it might have been a mini-boss or something?” Amanda asked.

  “Pretty much,” Joel agreed. “That’s why it was part of my quest.”

  “That would make sense,” Jess answered with a nod. “Does that mean the incursion chance is going to be permanently lower then?”

  Joel frowned and gave a small shrug. “No idea. But… if we can get regular patrols through town, and a presence on the highway like I was thinking… Maybe we can create an entire safe zone out here.”

  Joel had hoped that Morpheus would chime in with some helpful input. Unfortunately, it had been rather quiet lately. Even with his advanced faith score. Morpheus didn’t always respond. Or if they did, it was often not particularly helpful.

  Their group crossed the oval. They made sure to check the trees in the distance, looking for signs of life or movement. Impyle were tricky bastards and it wouldn’t be out of the question for a flock of them to be hiding out here in the grass.

  “There’s people,” Amanda said.

  Joel glanced back and saw Amanda was pointing off ahead. Joel grimaced and looked up. He had been putting all his efforts into their immediate surroundings. Which was a mistake, since the school buildings were where they could actually see movement.

  “Think they’re friendly?” Joel asked.

  “The one who’s watching us,” Jess called. “Looks like the same person you were talking to yesterday, with the grass cloak?”

  Joel narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t be sure, but it wasn’t out of the question. In either case, they weren’t pointing bows or anything at them right now, so Joel continued on. He tried to separate his attention from the grass to the approaching buildings, but wasn’t having a lot of luck. The grass, being the more immediate threat, kept most of his attention until they were climbing the small hill on the other side.