NYMPHET

PART 11

CHAPTER 1

Muffins and Technicalities

"Wake up!" Said an annoying voice, disturbing his rest and what had to be the best dream in the history of naughty dreams. The more he tried to ignore it, the more persistent the voice would become. V grunted and stirred; it was time to reposition his body and hide under the covers. Maybe that way the nagging voice wouldn't be able to find him and it would leave him alone to replay his dream yet again, at least his favorite parts. His schedule was flexible and he could afford staying a little longer in bed from time to time.

It was dark but what the dream lacked in visuals, it compensated with a world of physical sensations that stimulated his senses in delicious ways and if he ignored the growing need to visit the bathroom, everything seemed perfect; he was warm and comfortable, with his arms squeezing a small and soft body, surrounded by the familiar sounds of home, wrapped in the comforting embrace of darkness and a soft blanket so loud that almost shone in that dark, not to mention he was lying –across- a very familiar bed, that he was completely dressed including mask and boots, and that he reeked of sex, too. Yes, time to wake up, lad!

V's instincts returned from the land of dreams and used his senses to scan his surroundings automatically to make sure he was safe and alone. He was always buying time, always bargaining for the upper hand; that's what kept him alive. No, no danger in the vicinity. He had time to figure out what was going on. He yawned and stretched, letting his muscles tense to the point of trembling, like a cat after a long nap. He wanted desperately to crack every bone in his back but that would have to wait until he had everything under control. Then he remembered exactly where in his home he was and why he'd slept in a bed and a room that now belonged to someone else. He smiled, and grinned, and chuckled as the memories flooded his mind.

It hadn't been just a dream after all; this time he'd dreamed of things that had actually happened. He felt trapped between the excitement of accomplished mischief and mild embarrassment and his body could only express it by blushing. He'd blushed so much lately, hopefully he'd keep on doing it in the immediate future. His body had memory of its own and tingled wherever he had been touched the previous evening, making him giggle and squirm under the loud blanket.

He had to force himself to focus on his current situation, which included getting rid of the hated teddy bear he'd been holding for some reason. He let go of it and grabbed it by one leg to place it on the bed as far away from him as possible, not quite daring to throw it across the room and possibly break something or reveal his utter distaste for the toy. One vengeful thought crossed his mind and made him grin even wider; he'd certainly gotten far more than the bear and hoped to stay that way. There, the doll had beaten the bear and order had been restored to the universe, at least on the toys department.

He enjoyed his moment of victory and since he was already awake, he considered it sensible to think on his next move before he got carried away. Think ahead, three moves at least. Ignore the words, pay attention to actions. It was perfectly reasonable to think Evey was acting for purely hedonistic reasons –but- she could also be following her own personal agenda. Everyone had an agenda, sometimes there were no innocents. Trying to understand exactly why she did things was more complicated than he could manage first thing in the morning and he'd also learned it was useful to allow people carry on for a short while; usually they ended up blowing their own cover anyway.

So what to do next, he wondered, being practical again. He tried to remember the right protocol for situations like the one he was in and couldn't find anything that seemed satisfactory. He'd have to go out eventually and be social; after all he had invaded Evey's room and she would want it back, not to mention his bladder wasn't going to expand forever and he was famished as well. That led to another, more important question; where was Evey? She didn't know how to disable the security perimeter to go out and couldn't pick regular locks to enter rooms she wasn't supposed to visit either. That meant she had to be somewhere safe within the Shadow Gallery, probably busy with her chores or watching a film. He wasn't certain but it didn't seem polite that she should abandon him like that to the bear, to go about her business as if nothing of importance had happened just a few hours ago. At least he thought it had been important and felt a little cheated for waking up in the company of a toy he was jealous of, instead of waking up next to his… his what, lover? Guest? Prisoner? Friend? Pupil? Accomplice?

It didn't seem like a good idea to start worrying so soon and he tried to push all pessimistic thoughts into a small drawer in his mind, he tried not to fuss over the fact that after a quick exploration his hand determined that except for the spot he was lying on, the bed seemed quite cool and undisturbed. Perhaps he'd slept alone altogether, something that in a way was soothing to his sense of privacy but very uncomfortable for reasons he still couldn't name.

His senses reached farther outside the room, trying to paint a visual through sounds, vibrations and smells. Yes, the television set was on and he could smell cinnamon, no doubt coming from the kitchen. In the last years spices had become rare and difficult to find, even for him. There were substitutes but he could always tell the difference and Evey had certainly used real cinnamon, something she barely remembered before taking residence in his home. He hoped she was careful with the precious quills -literally worth their weight in gold- but after what she'd done to him, he probably would have let her light a cigarette with Mr. and Mrs. Arnolfini. Closer consideration to such idea made him shudder and he decided to try harder at keeping things in perspective.

He still couldn't locate Evey, which meant she was cheating on him with the telly, inside a room or… already at the threshold, nibbling on a cinnamon muffin and peeking inside to make sure he was still alive. A far from fresh guest didn't even want to imagine what he must look like and V was quite grateful for her not turning the lights on. The girl noticed movement on her bed at last and decided to greet him by hopping on it to settle next to him with her legs crossed, nibbled muffin still in hand. Her sticky fingers wrapped around his wrist and lifted his hand a few inches above the mattress to then release it and so evaluate his level of consciousness. It wasn't until the third attempt that his hand did not fall and only then she considered him capable of understanding human speech.

"Greetings sir" She whispered in his ear, apparently in excellent mood, wrapped in the smell of the spice and licking her fingers. At least she seemed pleased, a good sign considering he had taken over her room in a most inappropriate manner and wasn't ready to be seen in public at all. Her friendly behavior made him feel a bit more reassured, even if not completely reconciled with the thought of waking up alone. It wasn't as if she had to rush to work after all; she could have waited a little to at least say hello and be as untidy as he was. That if she'd slept there in the first place, something he wasn't sure of to begin with.

"Your breakfast…"

"Oh, don't worry about it, I managed with breakfast. And lunch." It was dark but he could tell she was grinning. Another bite of her cinnamon muffin disappeared in her mouth, that delicious little mouth.

"I beg your pardon? What time is it?" He sat up automatically, feeling with great degree of accuracy which points in his back would hurt for hours after spending so much time sleeping.

"It's still a little early for supper, sir. It seems you owed yourself a lot of sleep so I thought I shouldn't disturb you, and just checked on you every few hours."

"Where did you sleep exactly…?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I…would hate to think I displaced you." Just a little lie wouldn't hurt, he thought.

"Oh. No, you were no trouble at all. The bed is big enough anyway."

Great, she sounded so casual about the whole thing; she'd blown him senseless –almost- without his permission, took a nap, and then got up to do the laundry, cook, and watch television like any other day because after all he hadn't been any "trouble at all" and the world hadn't come to an end regardless of what his senses had said. It wasn't really what he would have expected; after all he'd just sort of lost his virginity to her, or something like it. Or hadn't he…? They didn't really –do it- so technically he could still be…technically he couldn't tell. At least she could tell him something about it, anything! She liked it? She hated it? She'd had better? She'd had better with the teddy bear? He almost remembered her saying she'd liked something but who could tell. It would be nice to hear, for example, that he wasn't a bad kisser even if that could not guarantee she'd ever want to do anything to and with him ever again. Maybe she'd been just curious or bored. If she had he would rather know already and stop obsessing about it.

She seemed to notice his predicament and giggled, squeezing his arm. "And to answer your question, I slept exactly here." She patted the spot before her, right next to him. "I pulled a pillow and slipped under the blanket with you. I love it that you are so warm, y'know. All in all I hadn't slept so well in a very long time. In the morning I put the pillow back and left Mrs. Curls in my place to keep an eye on you. It was pretty late already and didn't know when you'd wake up. I was starving and I had a mountain of laundry to press, too."

"Mrs. Curls…?" Too much information to process at once, only the part about someone he didn't know made it through.

"Yeah; the teddy bear. I call her Mrs. Curls."

Mystery of mysteries; the stupid bear he was jealous of wasn't close to being an object of desire for the girl; it wasn't even male. He didn't know if he should feel relieved or just like a fool. He settled for feeling like a relieved fool.

"Who would have thought you'd be hiding such a tasty little mouth in there."

She couldn't have just said that; it wasn't possible. He almost asked her to repeat herself but was a little overwhelmed to find the right phrasing so he simply sat there, staring.

"Not to mention other very nice bits…"

If that cinnamon muffin had been somehow conscious, V would have known exactly what it would be feeling. She wasn't simply nibbling on it; it was dark but he could still tell she was doing far more than having a portion of bakery and not long ago she'd eaten him very much in the same way. He was starting to feel very hot, perhaps if he played his cards wisely…

"I suggest you take a bath and get all pretty while I cook something light for you. Then we'll switch places and you can have your breakfast/lunch/almost supper while I take my afternoon bath."

Perhaps not, besides he really had to go. He was glad someone in that room had something coherent to say because besides a couple quotes, he couldn't come up with anything that would make him sound at least a little smart. He hated feeling like that; he was supposed to be so eloquent and composed, not to mention neat. At least he managed to nod his agreement to her plan, still thinking on those compliments.

"Oh, and by the way, you… may have one or two little bite marks on your thighs."

He was in the hands not of a demon but of a cannibal instead, one who admitted to biting him and batted her eyelashes at the same time. He was about to protest over such act of gratuitous violence inflicted upon him but fortunately the gods graced him with a few grams of insight and made him remember such things had a different meaning when placed within the context of a bedroom. She hadn't done it to hurt him or show lack of respect, she'd done it to literally mark her territory and if he expressed displeasure she'd read it as rejection and the side-effect could be the immediate withdrawal of her attention, which she seemed willing to continue providing after all.

She'd taken a considerable risk; it was a bold move. He just had to laugh; from that point of view it was as good as giving her a permanent marker and then let her write her name all over him. She seemed relieved at his slightly delayed reaction. He couldn't see her face but her shoulders relaxed considerably. He was glad he wasn't the only one nervous in that room, and he was also glad she'd liked him enough to put a mark on him.

"Branded like a calf! And where did you say I'm supposed to find these… marks?" She seemed to have been expecting his imprudent question and to his surprise, reached out and slid her hand under the blanket to caress him slowly from the knee up until reaching the sore spot on his inner thigh.

"The first one should be around here," She declared proudly as she stroked it lovingly with the back of her fingers and moved her hand, deliberately brushing very indecent places with the tip of her fingers to reach the other one on exactly the opposite side. "And this should be the second…" Her gentle squeeze of the sore spot made him hiss and wish she'd bitten him just one inch higher, and he was very close to asking her not to stop, full bladder or not. He probably would have but she removed her hand before he'd made up his mind.

"Your bath is waiting, unless you have other plans." Very interesting, he thought, she'd forgotten about her muffin and even seemed to be expecting him to do something. She was clearly suggesting he should. It wouldn't be right to run from a challenge of such nature, a challenge that could well benefit both of them. Of course she could object; it was her right to, but her playful mood invited him to be bold. Fortune favors the brave, doesn't it?

"Perhaps I do." He was starting to like the teasing game; all he needed was practice. He grabbed the loud blanket still covering him and used his quick reflexes to cover her with it and wrap it tightly around her small frame, making her yelp and then giggle delighted under the knitted yarn. "Actually yes, I do have other plans," He purred seductively in her ear while pushing her flat against the mattress, slipping one leg between hers and holding down her wriggling body with all his weight. "The first part involves getting back at you for biting me," He rubbed against her slowly to give her an idea of what he intended to punish her with, which made her moan and stay very still, perhaps expecting him to collect the debt already. "But I'm afraid -you- will have to wait because now I'll take my bath." He made sure she was still tightly wrapped in the blanket and stood up quickly to perform a proper exit from stage and run to the bathroom to save both dignity and internal organs while she was still trapped, noticing on his way out that she still hadn't objected.