NOVPUBThe wind changed again. It carried a sharper bite this time.
Tsukihana's nose wrinkled as she let out a small squeak, shifting under the blanket against his chest, while Aurelia moved slightly in her sleep, brushing the edge of his collar with her tiny hands. Velmina, though, didn't make a sound or noise even once.
The overlook had gone silent. The citadel operated continuously in the depths below. The sound of hammers echoed from the forge yard at a distant location. A person in the distance gave commands, but no sound reached this location.
Yumiko stepped forward.
"It's time..."
Asmodeus didn't move.
Yuina approached as well. She held out her arms, not rushing him. Her voice was soft, a tone she rarely used around anyone but her daughters.
"We'll be back. Once things are ready here."
He looked down at them again. Three girls, barely more than swaddled warmth, a few hours ago. Now they felt like something he couldn't hold long enough.
Still, he handed them back. First Aurelia, then Velmina. Last was Tsukihana. Her little hand reached up as she left him, grasping at nothing, and let out a quiet whimper that made something twist in his chest.
His hand hung there for a moment longer than it should have.
Yumiko gently tucked Tsukihana into her hold and met his eyes.
"You were careful with them," she said. "Like you've done it before."
He didn't answer.
Yuina leaned closer and kissed his cheek. Just once.
"You looked good like that," she said. "Too good."
Her voice dropped as she added, "You're still ours. Even when we're not here."
Then Yumiko stepped in, her lips brushing just under his jaw.
"Don't let this place wear you down," she told him. "We'll return. Just make sure they have something real to come back to."
The words sat quietly between them.
They didn't linger after that. They turned, one with a twin in each arm, the other carrying her fox child with quiet ease.
Asmodeus didn't call out. He didn't move.
But with each step they took away from him, something warm inside his chest began to tighten. It wasn't panic. It wasn't pain. Just a quiet ache that spread slowly, wrapping deeper with every footfall.
It was nothing just hours ago. A conversation that hadn't happened. Children whose names he didn't know.
Now, they were gone.
And something small in him reached out.
Not to stop them.
Just because he missed them already.
——
Asmodeus woke to the feeling of warm skin and tangled limbs.
The bed was a mess of soft breathing and slow-moving heat. Vinea's leg was heavy over his thigh. Serena had one of her tails wrapped lazily around his ankle. Velvet's arm rested across his chest, fingers twitching now and then like she was still halfway in a fight.
He didn't move.
Not because he couldn't.
He just didn't want to, and beside him, Erika's thighs brushed against him.
The beautiful woman lay on her side, extending her legs and rubbing him slowly, her lovely eyes watching him from below.
"Darling, You up?"
Erika's rough voice sounded as she brushed some loose hairs behind her ears and curled her lips into a smile.
"Ah... we should probably move, otherwise everyone will wake up."
Asmodeus nodded, while taking Erika's extended hand, careful not to wake the others as they slipped off the bed, and stepped into the side room.
The side room was dim, the curtains half drawn. A silver tray of breakfast waited near the window. Someone had come in early and left without a sound.
Erika grabbed a robe from the chair beside her without securing it properly. The robe revealed her thighs through its open front as she moved barefoot across the room.
She selected a fig from the plate before placing it in her mouth while she prepared two cups of tea.
The low table became his seat when he placed his arm on the edge while observing her without speaking.
She spoke through a mouthful of food when she noticed him staring at her.
"I'm allowed."
She handed him the tea before taking her seat across from him, with her leg folded under the table, while she reached for his other leg.
Erika took a sip of her tea before commenting about the morning silence, which she had forgotten.
"No one barks orders. No drills. Just food, heat, and you looking like that."
"Like what?"
Erika leaned to the side with a faint smile. "Like you haven't decided what kind of day it's going to be."
"I haven't."
She gave him a small, lazy grin. "Well, if you want to stay in here a bit longer before facing the world, I won't stop you."
Her foot slid a little higher along his leg.
Asmodeus set his cup down.
"Tempting."
"You're not even pretending to say no."
"I never said I would."
Erika leaned back, robe slipping a little more as she picked up another piece of fruit, eyes locked on his.
"Might be a good day after all."
She leaned back, before grabbing another fruit, something that resembled an apple and bit into the flesh, a soft, wet juice seductively dripped from her lips as she leaned on the table. Her robe had slipped lower, one shoulder bare now. She made no effort to adjust it.
"I still remember when we first dated... you sat with me in the middle of a dangerous forest..." Erika's tongue licked the juices from her fingers as she bounced from her chair, moving closer to Asmodeus, who listened to her. "Do you remember?"
"How could I forget? It's like the first time I got a real girlfriend."
"Hahaha, even though you slept with other women before me?"
Asmodeus couldn't help but smile wryly. He didn't know how to explain it, but Erika was his ideal girlfriend, the style, attitude and way she acted. "Yeah, you were my ideal type."
"Ah~ Did you like my short skirt?"
Her smile twisted as she leaned in, robe slipping open. Her breasts swayed with the shift—bare, full, begging for his eyes.
"Or maybe it was these?"
She let the words hang. Just looked at him.
"They're not the biggest…" Her fingers brushed the underside, casual—like she wasn't trying. "But if you're into it—how about a taste?"
She dragged her tongue across her lips, slow. A shine catching on the tip.
"Don't you like them?" she whispered.
His gaze locked on the nipple slipping from her robe—barely covered, still teasing. Even after everything, his cock throbbed... tight and aching like he was still some desperate virgin.
She caught his stare and didn't bother to hide it. If anything, she shifted just a little more, letting the silk fall wider across her chest.
"Oh? Still hard?" she murmured. "Didn't get enough earlier?"
He said nothing. His jaw clenched. He was watching her, but not just looking. Like his thoughts were slipping somewhere darker. Slower.
Erika took another bite of the apple, lips closing around it in a slow, deliberate drag. A bit of juice ran down the corner of her mouth. She caught it with her tongue.
She didn't smile. She knew exactly what she was doing.
"Maybe you're just greedy," she said around the bite. "Or maybe I'm just that good."
Asmodeus rapidly stood from his chair with enough force to make it drag along the floor, but Erika didn't flinch and only deepened her smile. She kept lounging against the table, one leg crossed over the other, letting her robes hang open like a dangerous temptation.
He walked up, stopped just in front of her.
Close enough to smell the faint sweat still on her skin and to reach out and grab her.
"You talk too much, Eri."
She grinned while looking into his aggressive eyes.
"Yeah. And you like it."
He didn't answer. Just reached forward, slipped a hand under the robe and cupped one breast, squeezing without a word.
The weight of it settled into his palm perfectly, soft and warm.
Her nipple was already stiff.
She sucked in a breath, sharp through her teeth.
"Oh... there he is."
He couldn't control himself and gripped her hips, lifting her off the chair with a thud as it fell.
Asmoedues pressed himself against her, causing Erika to gasp, his length pressing against her hard enough to sink into her belly.
"I could ride you again," she whispered. "Right here. Just lean back and—"
He didn't let her finish.
Asmodeus lifted her off the chair like a beast and pressed her against the table, her legs kicking out in the air.
She gasped for air in shock as he pushed himself against her... his stiff, hot length pulsed against her stomach.
Erika's eyes widened because she couldn't move or resist.
Nor did she want to.
Using his thigh, he pried her legs apart, the soft, golden hairs between her hips glistening with sticky threads as he gazed up, enjoying her turning away in shame.
Asmodeus decided to get some revenge, pushing his knee against her inner thigh...
Erika's lips parted with a lovely moan.
"After last night... you're this wet?"
Erika bit her lip, but the sound still leaked, a low, needy whimper that sent a violent pulse through his cock.
Asmodeus didn't smile.
He dragged his fingers across her soft breasts, sinking into the hot and squishy flesh as he spread her legs without patience or care, feeling her thighs trembling against his.
"It's only morning and you're already this desperate."
Asmodeus grunted with a rough voice and close to her ear. "Then, if you want more, what do you say?"
Unable to speak, she could only pant with her mouth wide open.
He leaned closer, letting his fingers crush her breasts, squeezing her pink nipples tight.
Then growled. "Say it, or I'll stop."
