Page 12 of Hellfire & Bowties
Oren exaggerated his pout to a comical degree, stroking Beast’s skeletal head. “But he looks so sad.”
Luc stared down at the hellbeast, whose craggy mouth was split into a perpetual smile that wrapped around the front of his muzzle, all the way to the place where his horns met his head.
“Right.”
“I’ll take responsibility for him.” Oren gave him thatlookagain.
Luc threw his hands up. “If he attacks someone, that’s on you.”
Oren cheered, popping up to his feet. Beast rolled back to his, as tall as Oren’s chest when standing, staring up at him adoringly. Oren stroked a hand over the mats of hair that were randomly scattered over the hellbeast’s body, glancing around the room. “Where’s his leash?”
“Leash?” Luc repeated.
“You know… to take him on walks,” Oren said. “Like a dog.”
“He’s not a dog. He’s a hellbeast.”
“Well, he should still get to go on walkies. I’m sure there are some nice firepits he’d like to visit. Maybe that’s why he was such a cranky-pants before.”
Luc stared at Oren in disbelief. How was this person here right now? Luc felt like he was in a fever dream. He’d like to skip ahead to the sex portion of it, thank you very much.
“What?” Oren asked.
Luc shook his head, moving to look for something suitable for Oren to take Beast out with. There were the chains under the bed, but they were bolted to the floor and no doubt destroyed, considering Beast was out and about and loving on his new favorite thing.
Luc stepped into his closet, hearing Oren follow him. He had to be the nosiest creature in both Hell and the living world.
There was a saying about curiosity killing someone. Maybe that was how Oren had really died.
Luc kicked a few whips out of the way that had fallen when he’d retrieved the bedding Oren hadn’t wanted and moved tothe left side of the closet. He was eyeing the various leathers and metals, contemplating some harnesses when he felt Oren’s presence at his back. He turned his head to look at him and found him peering at the gear Luc had in his closet.
“Is that for BDSM?” he asked, eyeing a spiked collar attached to a ball gag.
Luc raised an eyebrow and smirked. “You like that?”
“Never tried it. Never tried much of anything really, before dying,” Oren said, reaching out to grab the ball gag, bringing it to his lips and opening his mouth as if testing the size of it. Luc felt a stirring in his dick that he wasn’t even going to fight. Oren had to be fucking with him at this point. “I think this one’s too big for me. I watched a documentary on BDSM, and it said not everything will be for everyone, and that it’s best to try things before deciding what works for you. It was pretty fascinating.”
“And do you think you might want to try things for yourself, hon?” Luc couldn’t stop himself from asking in a purr.
The thought of Oren being untouched did things to Luc. He was a possessive creature by nature—an entity made up of all the sins humans came to Hell for. He knew them all intimately.
Oren flushed to the roots of his hair in response to his tone, but he looked intrigued. Luc found himself reacting to the mental image of Oren spread out on his bed, collared and restrained, begging for his touch…
What was he looking for again?
With some effort and concentration, they eventually found a leather collar and chain belt combination that would fit around the hellbeast.
Oren held the chain happily once it was done, still petting and fussing over Beast periodically while Luc called his head demons for the meeting.
He gave them five minutes to get moving before leading Oren down the corridors and through the skull garden. Beast tried hisbest to get Oren to play fetch, but he was eventually persuaded to move after he was allowed to take a tibia from the piles.
The gardener was going to have a field day with Luc once he found out. He was very particular about the placements. Something about summoning a creature of untold wrath and destruction and blah, blah, blah… After eons, it was hard to retain every piece of information, and harder to take it seriously when the words ‘wrath’ and ‘destruction’ had been invented specifically for him.
Luc led the way into the meeting room, which was a brimstone cavern with fiery chandeliers lighting up the space overhead. He did a quick headcount, clocking a few notable exceptions; Tana for one. She rarely turned up to anything she didn’t want to, and it wasn’t worth the risk of maiming in the workplace if he forced her.
He spotted Zorun off to the side, his big body posted up against a magma wall, a brilliant bright spot in the room that drew eyes. Four in particular. The lithe onyx bodies of the twins were curled up against him, barely reaching his shoulders. They had him cornered and surrounded and were chattering away in tandem, pushing and prodding as they messed around with the straps across his chest, like everything was just there for their express amusement.
Azoth and Tarik took delight in annoying the entirety of Hell, but they especially loved to rile Zorun up whenever they got the chance.
