AN: Hey all, Hope you all had a great weekend! This Chapter touches on SA. We will finally get to see the other contract and a new opponent has entered the fray. :)

Cheers!

There was some comfort in knowing she had come up with what she called safe words. He truly didn't want to hurt her, but after his little hunt and the built up needs, he knew he would need to be rough, need to draw pain. A high he was very familiar with, like torturing those that tried to stand against him.

His tendrils wrapped around Ellen, covering her arms and legs with a few around her torso. Now it was all about him, and the sound of her screaming his name still echoed in his ears, only adding to the pressure of his already aching manhood.

He could feel the heat emanating from his skin. A small voice suggested starting slow and gentle but he easily ignored it sliding into her until he was fully sheathed. He bit back a growl. No matter how many times they had lay together this feeling never ceased to be exhilarating. He picked a relatively quick pace before he leaned down his tooth nicking the skin on her left collarbone. He pulled greedily, the sounds of her moans mixed with the smell and taste of her arousal and blood was intoxicating.

He sat up panting, but refusing to slow down. His claws dug deeply into her flesh at her hips, helping him plunge even deeper into her with such force the bed shook. Her deer form may have added to the more animalistic desire to take her roughly, she was a sweet little doe an unparalleled match to him. The chances seemed near impossible but fates seemed to have been on his side for once. A perfect mate.

She sat up, her arms wrapped around him, her own claws gripping into his back digging in deep. He hadn't realized the tendrils had slipped from his mind. Her quickened breaths in his ear almost sent him over, but he refused to let go yet. He was just getting started. Her hips rocked to meet his tempo as one hand moved up to his hair gripping like her life depended on it. In a movement that surprised him, she pulled his head back placing small bites down his neck. He shuddered in delight. He never wanted this feeling to end.

She had a way of getting to him, he was going to have to tie her down again or she would surely make him climax sooner than he wished. His tight lipped smile grew as he watched the frustrated pout on Ellen's face as his tendrils secured her back to the bed. He was already so close, but he felt like he barely got to play. He quickened his pace, now getting erratic as he was having a hard time stopping himself from reaching his end. His body demanded release. His claws dug deeper, he was almost certain he felt bone. One hand moved to her throat, instincts taking over, his grip tight. Her heart was racing, her breaths short gasps. He was so close. His eyes closed. He could feel her pulse quickening in his hand, the pace surpassing his own. Every beat added pressure to his throbbing masculinity. A pressure he didn't think could hold back much longer. He could feel the light trickle of blood over the claws on her neck. Warm and wet just like her. He was ready to release, ready to expel himself into her with such force he would paint her insides white.

"Scarlet" It was barely audible.

For half a second he thought about continuing to his finish, he was already so close, but the worry of having caused her pain quickly killed the thought. He almost threw himself off of her, tendrils gone, he now sitting beside her on the bed, not even touching. He watched unsure of what to do. She only stared at him, eyes wide in shock.

"Did I hurt you?" He tried getting a read of her face, her emotions but all he could see was shock. Her eyes started to water and his stomach twisted.

"No." A hushed whisper.

There was some inner turmoil that she seemed to be fighting with, but he had no idea of what. He hesitantly reached out, resting a hand on her cheek, wiping the tears that slipped from her eyes. She was shaking.

He continued watching her, hoping to find the reason for her distress. She said he hadn't hurt her, but he couldn't shake the feeling he had. He pushed her too far. His shoulders fell, his hand falling into his lap. "I hurt you."

She shook her head pulling him to her. He wrapped his arms around her and she broke down into tears. Her body shaking, sobs filling the room. There was no pain, no fear, no anger. He couldn't tell what had caused this kind of reaction.

He wrapped himself around her like he could protect her from whatever was causing her grief, a hand slowly petting her head in an attempt to comfort her. This wasn't something he had ever done before. Comfort someone. He had to draw on memories he had long thought gone, of when his mother had comforted him as child. He whispered apologies, words of reassurance, whatever came to his mind, into her ear, though he didn't think she was actually listening, her mind lost elsewhere.

He didn't want to hurt her, he warned her about how rough he was going to be, but he must have pushed too hard too fast. She never got the chance to call gold, going straight for the scarlet. He couldn't explain what he was feeling. Disappointment? Shame? They didn't seem right.

Slowly her sobs lessened into a few hiccupped breaths. She pulled back, wiping her face. His stomach twisted more when she didn't look at him. She hadn't really looked at him since he stopped.

"I'm sorry I ruined the mood," she mumbled.

He couldn't understand why she would feel the need to apologize for such a thing. If anything it was he who should apologize for pushing her past her limit. He very gently pulled her gaze to his, not trying to hide the vulnerability behind them. He wasn't an overlord right now, he wasn't the Radio Demon right now. Right now he was simply Alastor, her husband.

"You have nothing to apologize for, my little doe." He hoped the endearing term would help lift her spirits a little bit. "Are you sure you're alright? You're not hurt?"

She pulled her head from his hand glancing off to her right. She still seemed to be shying from his gaze. "I'm not hurt. Just…" She left the sentence unfinished. She shook her head. "Thank you Alastor."

He gave her an incredulous look. What was he being thanked for? He couldn't get a proper read on her. "I don't understand what is going on."

To his surprise she let out a small shaky laugh, wiping her nose. "I'm just rediscovering hope in humanity. In Hell of all places."

His head tilted to the side, still confused. That didn't seem like something that would cause such distress.

"You stopped when I asked."

"Yes?" It was what they agreed on, not a complicated thing. 'Stop' had a very clear meaning. Why was that significant?

"I've never had someone do that before. I never mattered enough I guess. Finishing always came first."

His eyes widened in horror, the pieces now finally coming together. "It's a simple concept."

She just shrugged.

He pulled her back into his arms holding her tightly to him. He understood now her hesitation when he first brought it up. He wished there was something he could do for her. How could one not stop? Did they not care for her? He pushed his anger down, now wasn't the time for that.

He rested his head on hers. "Earth has become such a wretched place." He muttered bitterly. "I'm sorry my dear."

He could feel her smile against his chest. He couldn't understand how she could still be so open and willing to care for another with the horrible past he was slowly learning she had. Something Rosie said to him popped to his thoughts. If it's with the right person, it's well worth it…. Did Ellen believe it was worth it for him? He was no saint, but he would never treat a lady like that. All the past pain and heartbreak, the mistrust and vulnerability, was it all worth going through to find the right person that was worth it all? Surely not.

A soft brushing at his ankle pulled him from his thoughts. He chuckled lightly, discovering Ellen seemed quite content in his arms, her tail twitching in merriment.

She pulled back to look at him confused.

"Apologies darling, your tail is tickling my leg."

"Oh." She let out a small laugh but slid over so she was no longer in range. "Did you want to…finish? I know you didn't get your last one in."

He shook his head. All desire for intimacy was now long gone. He was done with his rut, to his relief and knowing that she followed him he knew she was finished too. "I'm done. Hopefully for a few more decades if luck should hold."

"Yeah, I think I'm good for a few decades myself."

He slid himself from her, grabbing his clothes. He never liked being naked and now that he had a clear head he was feeling even more aware of his nudity. He ignored the fact he could feel her eyes watching him. Surely he would get used to the idea of her watching in time, now that they were wed, but it would undoubtedly be a very long process. Not one he was particularly keen on if he was being honest.

He turned away from her, pulling up his trousers when she asked, "Do I regenerate like a sinner like this? There's no marks on me. Or on you for that matter."

He finished buttoning up his shirt before he responded. "All part of the contract."

"The marriage contract? How do I get a hold of it?"

"You haven't read it yet?" He was a bit surprised. It had been almost a week, he would have thought her curiosity would have piqued before now.

"I don't know how to summon it."

Ah. Yes, that made more sense. He finished tying his bow tie before snapping his fingers, the gold parchment appearing out of thin air.

She scowled at it. "I tried that," she mumbled under her breath. She grabbed it and unrolled it.

"Will it be acceptable to leave you on your own for a while? I have some business I wish to attend to." He finished pulling his jacket on. While he could not help eradicate her earthly past, there was one particular demon he was inclined to mercilessly tournament and now knowing more of Ellen's unfortunate past, he would enjoy this all the more.

She nodded, shifting so she was sitting cross legged on his bed. His cheeks heated and he quickly glanced away forgetting she was still naked. A quick snap of his fingers had her fully dressed with a glass of water on the bedside table.

"I will find you when I am done. Don't forget to hydrate my dear." He turned on his heels moving to the far corner of his room to the staircase that led to his radio tower. This broadcast was sure to be a very entertaining one.

Binding marriage contract.

Upon signing both parties agree to the following terms and conditions;

Ownership. Upon reobtaining their soul, party (b) shall forfeit it to party (a) where they shall, in turn forfeit their own soul to party (b). Neither party (a/b) will use the ownership to overpower, control, manipulate or otherwise force the other party (a/b) into a situation, circumstance or position in which they would not willingly be in or part of. Upon the permanent death of any party (a/b) the other's soul will be returned.

Privacy. Both parties (a/b) will respect each other's privacy in regards to, but not limited to;

i. Intimacy

ii. Personal matters, as determined by party (a/b)

iii. Belongs, as determined by party (a/b)

iv. Personal spaces, as determined by party (a/b)

v. Anything parties (a/b) disclose to their discretion

Protection. Party (b) will protect, care for and look after all and every need of party (a) for all of eternity. They will ensure no damage or harm comes to party (a). If the need or scenario arises where proper or adequate protection can not be provided, then party (b) will temporarily forfeit the amount of power required to provide the necessary protection to party (a) to ensure no damage or harm occurs. Should party (a) acquire powers of their own, they too will protect party (b) from damage or harm temporarily forfeiting their powers to adequately protect them from damage or harm if such a need or situation arises. To better aid in the protection of party (a), party(b) will be granted the ability to sense and feel the relative emotions of party (a) including but not limited to;

i. Anger

ii. Fear

iii. Nervousness

iv. Pain

v. Panic

vi. Shock

Intercourse. Shall only occur when/if both parties (a/b) agree to participate in the action outside of consummation. Any damage or harm acquired during such events will heal immediately after intimacy.

Cohabitation. Both parties will not share living/ sleeping quarters, having separate beds unless party (a/b) specifies otherwise or physical/sexual intimate actions occur. Physical/sexual intimate actions are listed as, but not limited to;

i. kissing

ii. petting

iii. cuddling

iv. caressing

v. intercourse

Rings. If/when the confidentiality of the marriage announcement is deemed null, by party (b), rings will be provided to both parties to wear from that point on for eternity.

She had to reread the part on protection a few times. So that was how Alastor had known she was in trouble. He could feel her emotions? She wasn't sure how she felt about that. It made sense on paper but in real life it seemed odd. He wasn't really an 'emotional' kind of guy so would this mess up his judgements? And the part about forfeiting power? How did that work? Would she get priority, because it seemed it would be best he kept it. Surely it was more useful that way. It's not like she would know how to use it. Heck, she didn't even know how to summon the contract.

A loud scream made her jump. It came from above her. There wasn't any room above her, this was the top floor. The last time she heard a scream like that was… she wracked her brain trying to pull the memory. It was her first day in hell, her first time meeting Alastor. He was making a broadcast. Was that where he went off to? He had a radio station attached to his room?

Another scream caused her to flinch again. She didn't think she would get used to that. She rolled the contract back up and gave it a small toss up into the air. It disappeared into a poof of smoke. She rolled her eyes. Of course it was easy to get rid of.

She grabbed the glass of water taking a small sip but spilled it all over herself as another scream caused her to jump. They were all male voices, unlike her first day in hell.

She placed the glass back onto the table looking down at her now wet shirt. It would dry in time. She looked over to the stairs. How many times had she been here and she never noticed it? Did he not want her up there? He never said she couldn't. She sipped off the bed and slowly made her way to the bottom of the stairs. Looking up she saw a red glow was resonating from the top. She was just about to take a step up when a loud knocking stopped her.

"Ellen? Are you in there?"

She glanced at the door. It was Charlie. She was not at Alastor's door but hers. How would she get there? She could just ignore her right?

Another knock. "I know it's kinda early but I really need your help with something."

Her stomach dropped. She looked around the room trying to come up with a plan. If she just walked out of Alastor's room she would definitely get asked questions. What answer could she possibly give that would explain her presence in the Radio Demons room. None that she could think of.

She went to the door and decided to bite the bullet. It was just Charlie after all, she was too nice to make a big deal out of something like this. She could handle the few odd looks she'd get for the next few days. She opened the door and in an instant regretted it. She should have checked the peep hole first. Her stomach dropped.

"I FUCKIN KNEW IT!"

Ellen tried her best to hide her cheeks as she closed the door behind her. Everyone stared at her. Everyone stood at her door.

"What do you need?" She tried pushing to the urgency.

Most had mouths agape, all except Angel who looked smug, arms crossed over his chest.

Charlie was the first to recover, answering. "We have a bit of a problem."

"Yeah we wanna know what ya were doin in Al's room." Angel raised an amused eyebrow.

"Nooo. That's not our business." Charlie gave Angel a look.

"Yeah, I think I need that explanation." Husker added, giving her a suspicious look.

Ellen quickly thought on her toes. "None of my normal clothes fit in this form so I asked Alastor to summon some for me."

"uh-huh. And ya needed to be in 'is room for that?"

"He invited me in and I wasn't going to say no."

Angel wagged his eyebrows, "So that means you went in in your clubwear?"

Ellen's face heated.

"Okay Angel enough of the interrogation." Vaggie pushed him to the back. "We have a small problem and we need you to help."

"Why me?"

"No one knows who you are and after a bit you won't exist in this form so the V's won't be suspicious."

"The V's?"

"Other overlords in hell." Charlie explained.

"And Alastor can't deal with other overlords because…?"

Everyone turned to look at each other before Vaggie answered. "He doesn't get along with them."

"They're more like rivals." Angel corrected.

"And everyone needed to be here to explain this to me?" She glanced at the group.

Charlie's face turned red. "Well no. But-

"- we was wonderin why yous were so close to smiles." Angel finished.

Ellen scoffed. "Unbelievable. I already told you Angel you're looking for something that isn't there."

Angel turned to look at the group, one set of arms still crossed while one thumb jabbed her direction. "They're definitely fuckin."

"ANGEL!" Charlie looked at him horrified.

The rest of the group turned to look at Ellen with incredulous looks.

She bit her tongue in hopes of keeping herself calm. She put on as serious of a face she could muster before trying to save this ship she was sinking on. She was never any good at lying. " That is an insane accusation to make considering we all know what Alastor is like. It would never happen."

She was drowning. She couldn't save face, no matter how hard she tried to keep it all under wraps. The only thing that could make this worse was if Alastor appeared. The accusation alone would have him pitch static and disappear into shadows, making it clear they were correct.

"Holy shit." Husker stared surprised. "You are."

"Not you too." She whined. "Guys can we stay on task? I am not having sex with Alastor, we're just friends, okay? There's nothing else to the story."

Husker leaned back to Angel Dust and whispered something causing them both to chuckle.

"Ooookay." Charlie clapped her hand together, trying to get everyone back on track.

"Alastor picked out Ellen's dress for the open house." Nifty waved her hand in the air like a kid raising their hand in class.

"WHAT!?" Ellen's eyes widened. She'd always known it seemed too coincidental the two looked like they matched.

"Yeah he picked the dress and colour then asked me to make a suit that matched. You looked cute together." She giggled.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Ellen ran a hand through her hair, pushing her ears back forgetting she had them. Everyone seemed to be in her business. "Jesus, does no one else have anything better to do?"

She pushed her way through the crowd, headed for the stairs. Headed for some sort of escape.

"Wait where are you going?" Charlie made a few steps toward her.

"Out." She responded harshly. "Oh and since we're all picking apart everything about me, go ahead Husker, tell them I hide away on the roof, might as well just let it all out, right?" She let the door slam shut behind her storming down the stairs quickly. She made her way down to the lobby and straight out the front doors.

She was smart enough to keep away from crowded areas. There was no way she wanted to deal with people right now. She pressed forward with no real destination in mind. She just needed some time to cool off.

As the anger slowly slipped away she started getting nervous about the streets around her. She was alone out here, no one to back her up if needed. She should be fine. Not like she was causing any trouble.

She pressed onward, though her ears were paying more attention to the sounds around her. She watched a few demons eyeing her as she passed, but she ignored them. A quick flash of movement caught her eye and she found a shadow darting away. Alastor probably sent his shadow to find her. She pressed on. Some of her nervousness easing. Alastor appeared beside her, keeping pace but remained silent.

When she finally slowed her pace, Alastor linked his arm with hers now directing them down the street. She watched as demons crossed streets to avoid them, giving them a wide berth. She had a vague memory of some of the buildings they passed. It all came back to her as they walked past the sign 'Cannibal Town'.

He led her to a small little bistro where the host greeted him by name and took them to a table in the far back of the shop, out of view and ear shot of the rest of the floor. He didn't make any order, but two cups arrived at the table shortly after they were seated.

She took a small suspicious sip of the cup in front of her worried it may not be tea. She was gladly mistaken. She sat and nursed the cup for a few minutes before letting out a sigh.

"Angel knows, and everyone else probably suspects it as well now."

"Hmm?"

"Us." She put her cup down, her gaze following it. "I really tried to deny it without looking obvious, but I'm a bad liar."

"It matters not." He took a sip from his cup. "A difficult thing to hide for eternity. They were bound to discover the truth eventually."

She glanced up at him. "And were you ever going to tell me you purposely matched me for the open house? Nifty let that out."

He put his cup down, leaning back to cross his leg. "I had no intention of mentioning it, I only made a selection I figured you would make. You could have easily selected another dress in a different colour and it would have made no difference to me. Although red really is your colour darling."

She nodded, glancing away to watch the staff for a little bit.

"Is that what upset you?"

"They cornered me, Alastor. I felt trapped. Not to mention I couldn't even deny anything. Every time I thought I was back on my feet they threw me another curve ball."

"That doesn't seem so bad."

"I guess in hindsight it's not. But they had some urgent problem they wanted me for and they just dropped it to hound me about our relationship."

"What could they need from you?"

She waved the question off lamely. "Something about issues with other overlords."

He took a sip from his cup. "Interesting, that would be something more suited to my expertise." He looked away in thought. "They didn't happen to mention names, did they?" He eyed her suspiciously.

"They just said the V's. I don't know what that means."

Alastor's eyes narrowed. "I see. Yes I suppose I wouldn't be well suited to deal with them. Not all of them on my own anyway."

"Them? Who are they?"

He sat up, no longer interested in his drink. "No one I care to spend time talking about. Who was it that asked you for help?"

"Charlie?"

"Smart girl." He muttered to himself. "And what did she want you to do exactly?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, the topic got set aside. All I know is she wanted me in this form to do it."

"Hmmm." He sat thinking for a few moments before getting to his feet. "Come my dear, it seems I need to have a chat with Miss. Charlotte." He held his arm out for her to link.

She looked down at the cup of tea she barely touched before getting to her feet. "Don't we need to pay for…" She pointed to her cup.

"There are some perks being the Radio Demon, my dear."

She hesitated for a second before linking her arm with his and the two sank into shadow.