I woke up to Cindy lazily nuzzling me in her sleep, the tiny demon fully under the blankets, with her head buried in the crook of my arm. She must have sensed me stirring and responded instinctively by shoving her face against me, because as far as I could tell, she was deep in the throes of Sloth otherwise.
I took a few moments to disentangle myself from her when I heard the sound of someone moving around in the kitchen. Once free of the sheets - and the tenaciously clingy Sin Demon - I tossed on some clothes and walked out of my bedroom.
Aubrette was standing in the middle of the kitchen, pouring coffee into two cups. Her auburn hair was damp, but no less vibrant or gorgeous as it cascaded down most of her back in wild little ringlets and curls. She was very obviously freshly out of the shower, and the scent of whatever she had used to clean herself, combined with her natural fragrance of fresh plants and sweet strawberries, filled my tiny apartment.
She was also wholly unclothed. She noticed me the moment I opened my bedroom door, but rather than making any more to cover herself, she turned her head to address me, she called out over her shoulder, "I will have your coffee ready for you in just a moment, my Lord." I noticed that even as she spoke, the parts of her back and neck I could see flushed a bright red color to match the hair concealing it, but her motions remained smooth, measured, and graceful.
I took the seat on the sofa closest to the little table which presently held my laptop, made myself comfortable, and waited, watching with interest while she finished her preparations and brought over my coffee.
The redhead held a cup in each hand and as she walked over from the kitchen, I saw that the blush extended to her chest - her breasts were flushed crimson. Her nipples were also stiff enough that she was either cold, or enjoying herself. I accepted the cup she offered me, and did my best to keep my eyes
mostly
on her face as I took my first sip, before finally speaking, trying to keep my tone light. "Good morning. I'm... I'm not complaining, at all. In any way. But I am curious about, well..." My gaze flicked down over her naked body as she stood in front of the couch. "Why exactly you're naked. Again, no complaints, just wondering."
The blush the Sidhe woman was showing intensified, to the point that I was a little concerned for her, but when she spoke her voice was even. "You ordered me to strip last night, my Lord. You never gave me permission to put my clothes back on, so I thought it safer to remain unclothed until I could get that permission." She moved to seat herself on the couch, taking the cushion opposite me, then took a dainty sip of her own coffee. Coffee was apparently something that existed in Faerie, but was a luxury there reserved for the elite. That meant that prior to her exile, she enjoyed the privileges of being a Noble Sidhe in service to the royal court of her kingdom and she was in a position to drink coffee - just not every single morning.
I noticed that she did not, in her explanation, actually
ask
for that permission. She was also clearly embarrassed by her unclothed state, but wasn't attempting to hide herself or edge towards her bedroom now that I was up and about. I'm not always the most insightful man, but given her behavior the day before, I decided to let this particular experiment play out for a while.
I did check in just a little, though, because while I was pretty sure I wasn't making any major missteps, I was also inexperienced enough that I wanted to double-check. "I understand. And you... you're still keeping that second order in mind, yes?" I was referring to the second of two permanent orders I had given her: the one where I had told her to inform me if the discomfort she got from obeying any order of mine outweighed the excitement.
She bobbed her head quickly at me which did fascinating things to her chest, and said simply, "I am, my Lord."
I took another slow sip of my coffee and watched Aubrette do the same. Or at least, I stared at Aubrette's full breasts as she lifted her cup to her lips, I will freely admit I wasn't really aware of what she was doing with her coffee. Eventually I dragged my gaze away, looking up to meet her clear blue eyes. She was still blushing, but her full lips were curled up into a slight smile. I cleared my throat, took another small sip of coffee, and spoke. "Well... I should check in with you after last night. I know... I know that was a little outside of what we had talked about, but..." I trailed off, shook my head quickly when I realized I didn't know how to finish that sentence, and instead just asked, "Are you doing ok today? Any regrets, or things you want to change, or would have changed?"
The Sidhe woman's eyes closed, and she took a deep breath, then let out a happy sigh. The blush had begun to fade from her chest, and her voice was steady as she responded, "Yes, my Lord. And no, my Lord. That was... exactly what I hoped for and more. I would not have thought to ask for it, but neither would I change anything about the evening."
The flush suddenly returned in force as she added quietly, "Except perhaps to be closer. And to be permitted to... lie against you after."
A wave of dismay hit me like someone had dumped cold water over my heart. I had all but chased Aubrette out of the room the night before, after only a few minutes of attention. Granted, she and I had both clearly been exhausted, but she deserved more than water and a chocolate chip cookie.
I quickly set my coffee down, turning to face the redhead and addressed her as earnestly as I could. "I'm sorry, Aubrette. Of course you're allowed to snuggle. Do you... do you still need that? Do you want it?"
She nodded sheepishly, and I immediately motioned for her to put her own cup down, shifted a little on the couch, and beckoned her over. She complied, and a few moments later she was curled up in my lap on the couch with her legs to the side, her neck pulled in tight to put her head on my chest and her still damp hair starting to slowly soak my t-shirt. My arms were around her shoulders, one hand gently stroking her head, while her hands were tucked up in front of her. Feeling her curl into a tight ball as I embraced her, I felt suddenly very protective of this strange, beautiful, magical woman.