Despite everything, Logan thought today felt like a victory, especially it seemed, for Karen. No one had expected such a fierce response from her, least of all Karen herself.
He was happy for her and very damned grateful. Without her surprising intervention, the plan, his plan, might have ended on a far more tragic note, and there was no one to blame for that except himself. Had he been more concerned about making certain the prisoner was secure and less about getting information out of her, the escape attempt could have been prevented.
I have to do better, Logan thought as he returned to the cavern after disposing of the body. There is no margin for error in this place. Another mistake like that could get someone killed.
He made an effort to shake off grim thoughts and smile for Karen's benefit. He owed her that much. This was her moment of triumph, and he was not going to ruin that.
"So, Karen the slayer…" Logan winked at her.
Karen looked at her feet and blushed like a schoolgirl, but she also grinned. She had a nice smile. Hopefully, they would see a lot more of it from here on out.
"We should celebrate," Logan went on. "Let us feast! Let's see…" He tapped thoughtfully at his lower lip. "We have cooked bristle pig, smoke strips of bristle pig, and… oh yes, burnt bristle pig."
Beauty smiled. Karen giggled.
"It doesn't matter," Karen replied. "You do recall that I did not even remember the taste of meat before meeting you, don't you?" She looked up at Logan. "I'm beginning to remember a lot about me, thanks to you."
She turned and smiled at Beauty. "And to you. Logan and I would both be reduced to mist or worse if not for your quick response. This is the second time you have saved me from a demon and I have yet to thank you for it. So, thank you very much, Beauty."
"Welcome." Beauty replied.
He looked at his demon companion, seeing her in a new way, or perhaps just in the old way. Karen's assessment of the fight with Seralla was entirely correct. She might have landed the killing blow but Beauty has saved all their asses.
Before that, she had tried to pull him aside and express her obvious concerns about his interest in working with the other Succubus. She could not have known he was faking that interest to pry information out of Seralla. From Beauty's perspective, it must have looked as if he was considering Seralla as a replacement for her with all the talk of alliance and political maneuvering.
Yet, Beauty had supported him anyway. She had remained loyal and trusted that he would do what needed to be done. Two characteristics he had thought her incapable of.
I have been an idiot.
"I suppose we have a lot to talk about," he said to Beauty.
"Talk. Yes."
"I'm going to get cleaned up," he said to his demon lover. "Care to join me?"
Beauty simply nodded and walked toward the hot springs.
Logan look at Karen. "I need to have a serious, long overdue chat with Beauty. Will you be alright on your own for a while?"
"Of course," she smiled. "Go."
Man and Succubus undressed and climbed into the steaming water. Both occupied themselves with the task of washing away accumulated grime and dust. Logan sighed and finally spoke up after a few minutes of silence. "I have you to thank, as much as Karen, for saving my ass out there. Your quick tackle made the difference. Beauty, you are quick and strong, and damned effective, all without any training. With you, it's all instincts."
She cocked her head. "Instincts?"
He nodded. "It is… a part of who you are. What you are. Just like how you feed." Logan heaved a great sigh. "Which we probably need to talk about and clear the air between us."
Beauty sniffed. "Clear the air?"
"Oh, right," he replied. "It is a human way of saying that there is a topic that needs to be discussed. So, speaking of which… Beauty, you know that I was angry with you, yes?"
"Logan angry," she agreed. "Beauty not know why."
"Yeah, I guessed as much." He splashed water on his face and blinked at her. "Shit. How do I explain this so you will understand? As a Succubus, you need sex to feed. Humans need sex too but not to feed. We have different needs. It can be to show affection to someone we care about, or just for fun, just to name two out of many reasons we like to do it. Regardless, it is for pleasure. Giving pleasure and receiving it in return. No one gets hurt."
He frowned and settled deeper into the water. "It's not like that with your kind. You feed off of sex, quite literally eating a part of me every time you bring me to orgasm. And not just sexual fluids. I saw it with that poor soul caught between the two Incubi and did not realize it at the time. Somehow it is the energy, or spirit, that you consume. Perhaps even a part of my soul."
"I did not understand that and when I found out…" He sighed. "Well, it bothered me very much. Can you understand that?"
They sat in silence as Beauty pondered his words. Eventually, she nodded. "Predator and prey. Logan felt like prey?"
"Yes! Yes exactly." He smiled in relief. "I felt like prey. Like we were not friends and I was just... food. That you would eat me up until nothing was left and just… I don't know, move on to the next prey."
"No!" Beauty shook her head and reached out to grasp his hand under the water. "Logan not prey. Beauty feed but Beauty friend!" Her voice dropped almost to a whisper as she looked into his eyes. Emotions he could not identify moved behind her golden gaze. "Beauty not know word friend until meet Logan."
Logan squeezed her hand. "I know that now. And, after careful thought, I cannot see that your feeding has injured me in any way. If anything, I feel stronger now than I did when I first arrived in this place. If it becomes a problem, we will deal with it."
He smiled at her. "The important thing is that I realized that feeding on sex is just instinct for you. You were not trying to hurt me or use me or keep a secret from me. It is just a part of who and what you are. Being angry about it would make about as much sense as being angry with you for being purple. What I am trying to say is I was wrong to be upset, and I apologize. You are the best thing that has happened to me since arriving in this shit hole. I could not do this without you. Forgive me?"
Beauty slid through the water with hardly a ripple and settled her body against his. "Forgive." She smiled. "But what does "apologize" mean?"
"To regret something you did or said. To want to make it better." He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "Kind of like this."
She purred and molded her curves against his naked flesh. "I like this apologize."
"Then you will really like make-up sex."
It felt very fine to hold Beauty in his arms again. It felt right, like snapping a piece back into the jigsaw puzzle of his crazy life. They laughed and kissed. Kissing led to touching.
To his great surprise, Beauty pulled away. She glanced across the cavern at the other woman sitting in front of their tiny fire and then back at Logan. "Karen is alone."
"You're right," he grunted and attempted to ignore his erection playing periscope in the water. "What are we thinking? Maybe we can sneak away later tonight after she goes to sleep?"
"No," she smiled. "Logan like Karen?"
"Well… yeah, of course, I do."
She shook her head, still smiling but the look in her eyes was deadly serious. "No." She reached down beneath the water and stroked his shaft. Then she reached up to place the same hand on his chest, over his heart. "Logan like Karen?"
"Oh!" he replied. "Wait, is this a harem question kind of thing?"
The Succubus nodded.
His first instinct was to respond with something sarcastic or joking but the look in her golden eyes made it clear this was no laughing matter. Even Seralla had indicated that Harems were, even by the standards of Hell, something to be taken very seriously.
"How do you feel about that?" he asked her.
She looked over where Karen sat all alone by the fire, then looked back at Logan. "Yes. Is good."
He trailed a finger down her cheek. "That is an… interesting notion. Give me some time to think about it and get back to you, ok?"
Beauty kissed him and stood. He watched streams of water cascade down her generous curves and left her lavender flesh gleaming in the orange crystal light. After a moment, it occurred to him that she had spoken but he had not heard a word.
Logan pulled his eyes up from her luscious curves to look up at the amused expression on her face. "What was that?" he asked.
"Relax," she repeated. "Finish get clean."
"No argument from me," he grinned.
Logan enjoyed the view of her climbing out, then settled into the hot water with a sigh of contentment. He must have dozed off because the sound of voices startled him awake.
He looked up to see Karen and Beauty approaching the pool hand-in-hand. Logan looked from one to the other. "Hi, ladies."