“W-what now?”

  “Now?” Joel grinned. “It’s bath time.”

  Jess blinked slowly, as Joel turned and headed back to the side where he’d left his shampoo, before letting out a frustrated sigh.

  “Fuck you.”

  “Soon,” Joel called back.

  “I’ll keep an eye on her overnight,” Marlene said as she stood next to Timothy on the front step. He had a dumb grin on his face. Not that Joel could blame him. “If there’s any problems… Not that it’ll change much, but do you want me to come wake you?”

  “Probably for the best,” Joel agreed. “Nicola’s been pretty on edge. I don’t want her doing anything dumb if she thinks it might help.”

  Marlene gave a small nod. “I think she’ll be fine, though. The venom knocked her out. A day or two for her immune system to flush it out. She’ll probably wake up hungry and thirsty.”

  “And her other injuries?”

  “I’ll do what I can in the morning. Because it won’t be in Morpheus, it’ll be a slower recovery. But… other than some scarring, she should be fine.”

  “Good to know,” Joel nodded. “Now, Timothy looks like he’s in a hurry, so I’ll let you both go.”

  “You don’t know the half of it,” she said and blushed.

  Timothy froze for a moment, looking mortified, but not upset as Marlene grabbed his hand. Joel laughed as they scurried home and closed the door behind them. Luneira and Jenny were both out in the pool, getting clean. Jenny having waited until everyone had gone back inside. Luneira having returned after helping Nicola get the unconscious Josephine out of the bath and into a bed for the night.

  Dinner was almost ready, which meant he needed to get dressed to join them. Something that Jess and Amanda had already gone to do. With a nod and the thoughts of a nice hot dinner, Joel turned and strode back down the hall. He was dressed in nothing but a towel from the pool and didn’t hesitate as he swung into the bedroom, only to freeze at the sight before him.

  Amanda lay on her back, in the middle of the bed. With Jess perched atop her. Both of them were laying with faces barely an inch apart. Amanda had her knees bent up and tucked beneath Jess’s arms. Jess was on her knees and she had pressed their pussies together while slowly rubbing back and forth. And they’d been at it for at least a little while, going by the glistening dew dripping from both their pussies.

  “See,” Jess giggled. “Look at him. He doesn’t know what to do.”

  “It’s still embarrassing,” Amanda whimpered.

  “There’s no need to be embarrassed.”

  Jess leaned in and collected a rather enthusiastic kiss from the rogue. Which was enough for Joel’s cock to harden enough to tug free the knot holding his towel in place.

  It fell to the floor in a heap as he walked in behind both ladies. Jess was dragging her pussy back and forth over Amanda’s. He didn’t think either of them was about to achieve an orgasm any time soon. But that didn’t mean they weren’t thoroughly enjoying each other.

  Jess and Amanda were moaning and whimpering softly. Their sounds heightened in anticipation as Joel climbed onto the bed behind them. They broke their kiss as Jess let out a giggle.

  “Who do you⁠—”

  “Haaaa,” Amanda whimpered as Joel’s cock slid into her.

  Joel gave Jess’s ass a light smack, making her flinch, before glaring back over her shoulder at him.

  “Don’t mind me,” Joel said with a grin, before giving her ass another slap.

  Jess gasped and got the memo. Only this time, she rubbed herself a little harder into Amanda’s pussy. Amanda stared up at Jess as she felt Joel thrusting into her. She moaned when Jess started rubbing their pussies together once more. Amanda hadn’t gone into this without a degree of trepidation. But now, with her man’s cock inside her, she was feeling much more confident about her agreement.

  “This isn’t over,” Jess whispered in Amanda’s ear.

  “Don’t care,” Amanda gasped, before Jess kissed her once more.

  Joel stared at both women. He watched as Jess’s hands roamed Amanda’s body. She pinched at Amanda’s nipples and squeezed her breasts. All the while, putting on a show, sliding back and forth, rubbing their slippery pussies against one another. He’d seen it in porn before, but never in person like this. To reward Jess and make sure she wasn’t feeling left out, Joel brushed his fingers over her opening. And when he drew back, Joel turned his wrist and speared a pair of fingers into her. Jess let out a choked moaning sound, but didn’t stop kissing Amanda or rocking her hips.

  Joel thrust slowly, but firmly into Amanda, matching the pace with his fingers as Amanda began to tremble. He felt the way she moved and knew she was reaching her end. The sapphic show, along with the physical stimulation, was proving too much. She hit her peak, and Joel grunted as her pussy squeezed around him. He didn’t stop, though, continuing to thrust firmly into her while she came. Jess switched from kissing and stimulating Amanda to actively holding her down. The smaller woman arched her back and her legs kicked out.

  Jess held her in place, muting Amanda’s cries with her own mouth. Joel sank himself deep into his newest human lover, and erupted, pumping his seed deep into her. Feeling the way her pussy throbbed, as if trying to milk him. But he wasn’t done either. Dragging his cock free, Joel angled it upward as Jess broke her kiss.

  “Did you cum in her?”

  “Yup,” Joel answered with a sharp look.

  “Wait,” Jess held up her hand.

  Joel paused, a confused look on his face, as Amanda shook her head. “You don’t have to.”

  “That was the bet, and part of the agreement,” Jess disagreed.

  “Bet?” Joel asked.

  “Let me up?” Jess asked.

  Joel pulled his fingers out of her, much to Jess’s reluctance. He then shifted back as Jess patted Amanda’s thighs. The smaller woman shuffled up the bed a little as if she was going to get up. Only for Jess to grab her hip and push back into Joel. He shifted out of her way, and then watched as the blonde leaned down between Amanda’s thighs. The petite rogue was red from embarrassment and nervousness before gasping as Jess licked between her legs for the first time.

  “Oh fuck,” Amanda whimpered. “Fuck, I didn’t think… gah!”

  “Good?” Jess asked.

  Joel was about to push her head back down when Amanda grabbed her first. She wasn’t shy as she pulled Jess back between her legs before biting her lip as she squirmed lightly.

  “What’s she doing?” Joel asked as he moved into position behind Jess.

  “Fingers,” Amanda whimpered, before arching her back. “And my clit.”

  Joel slipped his cock into position behind Jess, who widened her stance for support without stopping what she was doing.

  “Good to know,” Joel growled as he slowly thrust into Jess’s dripping pussy.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Joel awoke to the familiar sensation of thick smoke filling his lungs. He rolled off the bed, coughing and spluttering, while sucking in the fresher air near the floor.

  “Oh, fuck,” he choked out, before frowning. “Jess? Amanda?”

  He reached back, patting the bed. There were no signs of the ladies. Not even a hint they’d been there at all. Which meant…

  “Oh, fuck off,” Joel moaned and sat up. “You’ve done this one already.’

  “JOEL!” Jess’s voice screeched from down the hall. “Help me!”

  Joel blinked and tilted his head. “Where did we spend our first night?!”

  “JOEL HELP!”

  “Jess!” Joel called out. “If you are real. What was the first weapon I carried?!”

  “Please!” Jess screamed. “It hurts!”

  Joel leaned back on the bed and then stood up.

  “Joel, help me!” Amanda called.

  “Yeah, when I get my hands on you, I’m going to fucking kill you,” Joel huffed as he crawled up onto the bed.

  Despite knowing that none of this was real. He was still bothered by the screams of his lovers. It honestly sounded to Joel like they were dying horribly in this house fire. Between that and the horrible sensation of inhaling the smoke, he moved quickly. Moving over the bed, he reached the window and drew back his fist. He didn’t bother wrapping his fist, knowing the moment he was out, he’d wake up fine.

  So it was with a feeling of horror that his fist smacked into the glass. And failed to break it. Joel wound back and punched again, harder this time. The hit was hard enough that Joel felt his knuckles split. Despite that, he struck the window once more before realizing it was useless.

  “Fuck,” he grunted and rolled off the bed and onto the floor.

  There, he took a few deep breaths and thought over his options. The bedroom door was open. The last time it was closed, and had felt hot. This time, it was open, and plumes of thick black smoke wafted in. It was like a solid wall of smoke above knee height, and Joel grimaced as he realized he was going to have to crawl out into the house to find an escape.

  Doing just that, Joel made his way to the door. Jess was screaming from down the hall, where Joel’s old private living room was. Amanda’s screams were coming from the living room. And Joel could feel heat coming from each end, regardless.

  Joel chose to head to the back of the house. Making a left, he crawled down the hall. Mindful of the slowly descending smoke. He could make out the glow of the flames, alongside the agonized screaming from the not-Jess that attempted to lure him into the burning room. Ignoring that, Joel turned away from his old living room and found the back door that led into the yard.

  Palming his way up, Joel found the handle and gave it a tug. Only to find it had been locked. And when he grabbed at the latch for the lock, it wouldn’t budge. Forcing Joel to accept that the demon keeping him trapped in here, was putting in some more effort.

  “Didn’t take you for a coward,” Joel grunted as he dropped to the breathable air below the smoke once more. “Can’t even face me one on one. Weak.”

  Joel crawled back down the hall once more. The flames were still pushing, and they had entered the hall. Not-Jess was still screaming. There was no doubt she was a fake. Had the screams come from human mouths, they’d either have screamed themselves hoarse, or been consumed by smoke and flames. Joel grit his teeth and ignored it as he made his way back to the living room.

  Here, he made no attempt to be subtle. He didn’t bother checking the door. Nor the windows. Or anything else. Joel found one of the lounge chairs and picked it up. With a roar and a throw, Joel hurled the entire chair at the window. For just a moment, over the sounds of his loved ones dying horribly, and the flames rushing in his ears—there was almost an annoyed grunt before the window exploded.

  Joel felt a wave of force slam into him from behind, carrying him into the street. He hit the ground surrounded by hellhounds. They descended all at once, biting and gnashing at him. The first grabbed Joel by the wrist, another found an ankle, while a third descended for his throat. Joel kicked out with his free leg, connecting with another of the beasts, before snapping his fist out at the one aiming for his neck. The punch broke its snout, and the hellhound reeled back, howling in pain.

  “MASTER!”

  “Luneira!” Joel recognized her voice.

  Joel spun. The hellhound gripping his wrist was slammed into the ground as it refused to let go. The one holding his ankle broke free, and Joel shot to his feet in time to catch one of the beasts that leaped at him. Joel caught it around the middle as it bit and snarled at him. In a moment of shock, he held it back before spotting the two he had thrown off, coming with backup.

  “Fuck it,” he muttered.

  As quickly as he could, Joel dropped the hellhound, and caught it by a back leg. The beast yelped as he swung it around like a meaty club. The first target, he clobbered with an overhead blow. Joel grinned as the two hellhounds crunched together, with the charging animal being flattened onto the pavement. The one he held onto was silent and barely struggling as he swung it around in circles and batted aside the next one coming.

  The third held back, and Joel used that as an excuse to throw the beast, before picking up the one he’d flattened by its tail and continuing his bizarre assault.

  “MASTER WAKE UP!”

  “I’m fucking trying!” Joel snapped as he swung the hellhound like a golf club, knocking yet another charging hellhound into the air.

  Which of course, was when the impyle descended. Where they came from, Joel didn’t know. One moment the skies were clear, the next, they were filled with the animalistic screams of the winged hellions. Joel spun around, looking for a way out. Somewhere to run. To hide. Even as he watched, the houses on the street burst into flames. People ran, screaming and burning into the street. Faces he recognized. More than one of them was Jess. There was even Luneira twice, once in her curvy casual form, and another in her battle form. Like whoever had control of this nightmare hadn’t quite grasped reality.

  A scream brought Joel’s attention around to Peter. The silly, once-vegan, butcher turned farmer ran towards him. A knife in his hand. Joel watched him coming and did the first thing that came to mind.

  “Block!”

  The world pulsed. A scream echoed in his ears, and Joel watched a dark figure slam into the bedroom wall at the foot of the bed. As that happened, the door burst open. Luneira, in her battle form, charged in, throwing herself at the form that had crumpled at the foot of the bed. Jenny was only a step behind, while Amanda and Jess squealed in shock as they snapped awake in a hail of bodies and angry shouts.

  Joel was the first out of bed. He threw himself forward, yanking the blankets aside as Amanda and Jess pulled away to give him room. Luneira was doing a tremendous job of pinning down the struggling figure on the floor at the foot of the bed. Jenny was hovering, looking for a place to get in with her knives, while Joel reached down and took hold.

  “DIE!” A raspy scream echoed through the room.

  A pulse of energy washed through the room. Joel felt like he’d been kicked in the stomach, head and kidneys at the same time. He staggered, and Jenny fell to her knees. Poor Luneira, at the epicenter of the blast, collapsed in on herself. Her blob form lost cohesion, and the creature within pulled itself free.

  Where Luneira was purple-skinned, with glowing eyes and white hair. And Jenny was green, with strange metallic embellishments. This thing, whatever it was, stood at five feet tall. It was entirely cloaked in shadows. All Joel could make out was the red eyes staring hatefully at him before a pale, three-fingered hand rose up. Joel felt a hand grab his wrist and was yanked to the side as a strange yellow beam exploded out from the hand, charring a hole through their bedroom wall.

  “Don’t just stand there!” Jess snapped as she summoned Buster.

  Joel swallowed hard as he maintained his nerve. A second, third and fourth hand rose up out of the shadows. Each of those hands pointed at a different person in the room. One at Amanda, one at Jess, the original at Joel and one more hovering at Luneira.

  Which was when Jenny appeared behind the enemy. Blades high, she slammed them into the back of the shadowy creature. A deafening scream echoed through the room, and Joel was forced to cover his ears. Poor Buster was left writhing and howling from the horrible noise. How something could scream with knives in its lungs, Joel did not know. But with the creature distracted by Jenny, he made his move.

  The shadowy demon whirled on Jenny, who blinked out of sight. That put the creature’s side to Joel, who promptly tackled her into the wall once more. The plaster buckled, and the two of them fell through to the other side. Joel had a flashback of his fight with Bryson. But the being he’d just flattened clearly did not possess the same physical characteristics. It lay crumpled on the floor as Joel stood up. They were now in the living room, covered in dust, with plaster and debris everywhere.

  Jess stepped out of the hallway. Nude as she was when they fell asleep. Joel didn’t let his eyes linger as he saw that she was carrying his weapon. Joel accepted the sword and turned to the figure—only to notice it had vanished.

  “It’s a tricky one,” Joel announced. “Watch the corners, I bet it comes out of the shadows or something.”

  “Clever,” a dark voice chuckled.

  Joel snarled as he felt something stab into the back of his leg. He twisted around, seeing that the demon had fused with his actual shadow. He could make out the red eyes and then the long pale arm holding a nail plucked from the pile of debris. Which was the source of the pain in Joel’s leg. The creature seemed dissatisfied with the damage it had caused, and launched out of the shadow like a jack-in-the-box.

  Joel felt them slam into his chest and fell back. He had the mind to swing his sword, but where the creature stood, was now empty space as it vanished into the shadow of the couch. Joel kicked it, knocking the furniture into the wall as the shadowy demon tumbled free, collapsing on the floor.

  Joel stomped over and grabbed it. Only to pause as he felt a pair of breasts.

  “Are all of these enemies going to be fucking women?” Joel snapped.

  Shifting his grip, he found her neck, and squeezed. The demon, whatever she was, struggled and clawed as he picked her up. The march over to the front door was done with no small amount of kicking and smacking, before he managed to get it open. As sunlight blared in, the shadowy exterior flickered, and Joel finally got a good look at the demon he had a hold of.

  She, and it was clearly a she, was pale. Bone-white skin, with black eyes. An almost alien appearance, and yet, strangely human in figure. She had two legs and three pairs of arms, like some kind of spider, though two of those arms were shorter, near her neck, and seemed to be what was creating the shadows she was dressed in.

  And it was only shadows. As Joel dragged her out into the morning sunlight, he could see that beneath the flickering darkness, she was entirely nude. Two small but perky breasts, complete with nipples. A bellybutton, and a rather human-looking mons and labia.