Among Demons : Succubus Divine

Ch. 28 : Beloved Succubus

I didn’t tell my brother what had happened to me to avoid worrying him any more. And I chose to spend the rest of my time off at home relaxing and tackling some paperwork I needed to do as Matron. It was safer that way for me and I was able to go through the next few days at work like nothing happened.

But on the morning of Valentine's day I was forced awake by my overly eager, energetic and LOUD best friend Nyla, who burst through my bedroom door and startled the life out of me.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY b***h!!”

“Go away!” I groaned, hugging my pillow as she pulled on my leg and slowly dragged me off my cozy mattress.

“Like I would leave you to start your birthday alone.” She scoffed, ripping my comforter away from me and pulling me to my feet.

She made me laugh as she ran around my kitchenette cooking breakfast for me and singing terribly to songs on my T.V. She even made some sunny side up eggs using cookie cutters to shape them into the numbers 2 and 5 while all the failures found their way into my trash. While I showered and got ready for work she placed my gift on my bed and ordered me to wear it, earning a tight hug from me when I saw it.

Nyla, in all her fabulous fashion loving self, made me a tight fitting sweater in a beautiful gray-ish purple color. It opened up at my elbows to form a lovely blooming flower effect and had small cut outs in the shape of triangles running along my left rib cage, which let me show off my red spider lily tattoos. The slim black boots she bought me helped tie in my whole outfit together and I didn’t forget to slip on my treasured necklace underneath my sweater and coat.

It was a silver cut out of a sun and clouds depicting the sky at dawn that spun on the chain freely and always went with me wherever I went. Though I never placed it over my clothes for fear of losing it if the chain ever snapped, since it was pretty thin. So I always kept it underneath, pressed up against my body, just under my chest where it was safe.

Once dressed, Nyla drove me to work and hinted to some kind of surprise that would be waiting for me after I clocked out. I, of course, texted her as I made my way to my office and bugged her about it as soon as she drove away. Reminding her that teasing me about a surprise was going to drive me up a wall until I knew what it was. But another distraction was brought to me a little over an hour after I had settled into my work and helped me forget about said surprise.

“Happy birthday!”

My office door was flung open and a small figure tackled me in my rolly chair, nearly tipping us over.

“Casey?” I question, looking down at the smiling young Succubus who was beaming brightly at me. “What are you doing here?”

“She begged.” Nick’s voice answered from the doorway and I smiled when he stepped in with a gift bag in his hand. “This is from her. My gift will be presented to you later.”

I shook my head at him and hugged my little Demon girl tighter, thanking them.

Casey excitedly shoved her gift in my hands and bounced as she waited for me to open it, laughing when I squealed out once I realized what she had gotten me.

“Casey!” I hissed, shoving the very revealing costume outfits she had bought me back in the bag while I wondered where she even found things one would wear for foreplay. “I’m at work!”

Nick laughed loudly at my reaction and Casey teased me, telling me that I should thank her for helping me spice up my love life. I chastised her as I struggled to find a place to hide the bag, glaring at my brother who only encouraged her. They stayed for a few hours and hugged me before they left, placing a stupid plastic birthday girl crown on my head before they prepared to leave.

“Well hello there.” Casey said in a sing-songy way as she faced out into the open common area outside my office. “Wasn’t expecting to see YOU here.” I raised a brow at her reaction as I stood up, watching her smile and extend her hand out in a handshake. “I’m Casey, the more adorable mentee of our lovely birthday girl here.”

Nick sighed as I looked out from over her head, finding Detective Marcus smiling at her with amusement all over his face.

“Birthday girl?” He echoed, looking at me in question.

“Yeah.” I groaned out, pulling off the damn crown and leaning in close to the overly hyper Succubus in front of me. “You big mouth.”

“What?” She said, turning to look at me with her most innocent face. “I didn’t do anything.”

Nick greeted the Detective before finally dragging Casey away with him, shaking his head at her when he saw her mouth out the words ‘your welcome’ to me.

“Sorry about that.” I chuckled out, smiling after they both disappeared behind the elevator doors. “They ambushed me.”

“It’s fine.” I looked up and swallowed hard, feeling overwhelmed by the warm look in his eyes. “It’s a special day, right?”

I nodded blankly and smiled back, needing to pinch myself a bit to snap out of my daze.

“Uh, did you need something?” I asked, finally noticing the papers he held in his hands.

He chuckled and nodded, showing me that he and his friends were interested in having a bit of a crash course on the basics when it came to Demons. They had all apparently agreed to using their office as a classroom of sorts during down time and wanted to know if I was willing to teach them.

My heart thumped loudly in my chest as he talked and I even felt my face flush with excitement at the fact that they were truly willing to learn more about my people. Even if it was just the basics, having such minimal knowledge would help them understand things better from a Demons perspective and help them in any number of cases they could have in the future. I was very grateful that they had all agreed to something like this. I couldn’t even stop smiling as I welcomed him into my little cave and talked it over some more. My excitement was so hard to hold back and a tiny voice in the back of my mind would occasionally remind me of the dangers of getting closer to him.

But I couldn’t stop it.

He leaned in close while I started typing up a rough lesson plan, his body hovering over mine while I sat in my chair. And when he braced himself on the edge of my desk while he talked, I could feel my mind begin to wander towards some not so safe for work thoughts as I stared at him. My cheeks flushed so many times and my body reacted all on its own when I would spin in my chair to ask him something, only to find him mere inches away from me, his breath fanning past my face.

I could tell that my closeness affected him too, and was so very grateful that he was able to hold himself back from touching me, just like me. Because if he had given in and touched me, even if it had been something innocent like a hand on my shoulder, my resolve would’ve shattered and I would have pulled him in closer. I knew I would’ve kissed him or maybe even given in all together and pulled him onto the floor, without a care for the many coworkers walking by outside my tiny space.

I was so tightly wound with the temptation to give in that I audibly sighed when Danny walked in and called us to join them in their team office. Danny made a funny face when I bolted from my seat and followed him out, catching Detective Marcus’s slightly tormented and bitter expression as I passed.

When we entered the larger office space though I groaned and stopped instantly in my tracks, looking around at the room before glaring at the culprit.

Nyla had, of course, snuck in and told them all about my birthday, somehow recruiting their help in decorating the entire room with purple and green balloons. Many different flower baskets were scattered all over the floor too and a few gift bags were tucked away in the corner by the loveseat I always sat on. Nyla even held a small birthday cake in her hands that was covered in chocolate and sprinkled with fresh strawberries.

“The gifts and flowers are from Demons in the Village.” She said, putting the cake down and slowly moving closer. “They asked me to pass them along to you since your hours are crazy.” She took my hand, still smiling widely, and guided me towards the loveseat, pushing me down on it. “And don’t be so grumpy with me, ‘kay?” She leaned in close, her eyes flicking towards the man that was eyeing my cake. “I just want you to be happy.”

I smiled a little weakly at her before looking back at the Detective whose name I still couldn’t say casually. It was clear to me that she was trying to subtly tell me that she was on my side if I decided to accept what was going on between us. That she was going to support me and help me out if I really wanted to give in and reveal the truth to the Detective.

But the danger was far too big of a risk to allow that to happen.

So I ignored her hidden meaning and calmly began opening my gifts, tuning in and out of the conversation the others were having.

A lovely dark purple infinity scarf, some long thick stockings and some gift cards later and I was smiling and feeling a little more at ease. Plus, overhearing how the team leader had also been left in the dark about Nyla’s sudden arrival and my birthday added to my amusement.

Nyla didn’t stay for long after I finished unwrapping my gifts since she had her own stack of work to get through. So after helping me put everything back in their respective bags and giving me the names of each Demon family that gave me a gift, she gathered her things and got ready to leave. She also offered to drop off all the flowers and bags in my apartment for me while still teasing me about the surprise.

“So you’re telling me that this,” I waved my hands dramatically at the room still filled with balloons. “Wasn’t my surprise?”

“Of course not!” She giggled, smiling evilly while I groaned once again. “Your surprise still needs a bit of time to be completely ready.”

I eyed her as she hoisted some flower bouquets along with my gift bags, catching the sneaky little look in her eyes that made me want to tackle her.

“You make it sound like it's a person.” I muttered, freezing when she smiled a little wider and winked at me. “Who?”

“ I don’t know.” Danny stared at her with amusement and tenderness in his eyes as he helped her carry all my stuff, looking curious as to what we were talking about. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Nyla!”

Her answering giggle made me smile and I sank into the loveseat with a huff, racking my brain to see if I could figure out who would possibly come to visit me for my birthday.

It wasn’t a long list, but I had made friends with quite a few influential Demons both before and after I became a Matron. Like the Prince and Princess of the Royal Demon family who went on an all out bender with me after they had snuck away from their guards. The children of a few neighboring Patrons and Matrons were also a possibility, but from what I could recall, many of them were too busy with their own projects to suddenly drive up for my birthday. Then there were the few Enforcers that traveled all over the states helping Matrons and Patrons in anything they needed. Quite a few of them were independently paid and were a huge hurricane of fun to be around since they had such a high tolerance to all sorts of drugs and drinks.

Of course, there were a couple Enforcers that had spent a different kind of fun with me when we met, but that sort of thing doesn’t seem like something Nyla would be happy about.

Not when my Match was literally four feet in front of me.

But as the hours ticked by and some of the balloons lost their helium, I started to feel a growing mixture of anxiety and excitement as I wondered who would end up surprising me. And I probably looked like a lunatic as I jumped out of my seat a full three minutes before I was set to clock out and rushed to my office to gather my things and lock up. The three Detectives took their time since they had different responsibilities than me and slowly started getting ready to leave by the time I was in the elevator.

My mind was still running through the possible visitors that would choose to come onto my territory for my birthday as the small metal box began to move. My heels jumping up a little and a smile permanently etched onto my face as I pictured a few good friends that I hadn’t seen in a long time.

So when the doors opened again and I stepped out, that excitement turned into laughter as I locked eyes on three large and imposing figures standing near the front doors of the precinct.