Ben Kidder's wake up on Thursday morning was an unprecedented event for him. He was in his own bed, but he was sandwiched between two gorgeous girls and all of them were wearing just their underwear, allowing for a lot of skin to skin contact. Krista was in his arms, facing him, and Raven was sleeping with her back to his. There was barely enough room in his queen size bed for all three of them.
At first, he thought that he was still dreaming, but then he felt the tired mind of his familiar, Felicia. She was sitting on his bedstand, watching over Raven, as per his orders, lest the blonde try to do something in the night. Raven had cried hysterically last night, deeply affected by both witnessing Simon's execution and narrowly escaping her own demise, all the way until she passed out in exhaustion. Nonetheless, Ben had given the order for her to be watched.
He had been just as tired and shook up as her, so he laid her out in his bed and fell asleep right next to her. His last memory before sleep claimed him was of Krista worming her way into his arms.
Susan, his first slave, was at work, demanding attention from the employees at the call center so she could illuminate them about the dangers of alien abduction. He ignored her and focused on the mind of his second slave, Krista. He could feel she was still asleep. He opened his eyes and looked upon the face of his cute, little con artist and gambling addict. There was a bit of dry drool in the corner of her mouth, which made him grin. She looked so soft and inviting while she slept. It was a shame she had tried to rob him blind while she was awake. He was disappointed to feel her breasts encased in a bra that she had bought yesterday. It was a sexy, black, lacy thing, but he had preferred her braless.
"Oh, good," Felicia said, in a tired voice that only he could hear in his mind, "you're up. Does that mean I can finally get some sleep around here?"
Ben squinted at his familiar and then nodded yes. She stood up, stretched and then walked off the nightstand to climb into bed, waking Krista as she walked over her face to slide under the sheets. Krista moaned in protest at the rude awakening.
"What are you doing," Ben whispered at Felicia.
Felicia wedged herself between him and Krista and closed her eyes. He heard her say, "I need my cutie sleep," before he felt her doze off.
He felt Krista's discomfort as she grimaced and squinted at him. He was feeling tempted to dismiss Felicia and get himself a raven familiar instead. Those could at least stay awake for more than six hours a day. He settled for merely shaking his head in displeasure. Aside from the experience point cost, he really liked his cat and could never give her up, though she was far from perfect. Krista yawned and slid her arms out from under Felicia. She propped herself up on one elbow and gave his bedroom a bleary-eyed once over. He felt her disbelief at the dilapidated state of it.
He understood how she felt. The place was a dump that he only got because it had literally been the cheapest place on the market, back when he had been desperately scrounging for his tuition fee. Now, though, he was a level nineteen sorcerer with more than thirty thousand dollars to his name. An upgrade to his living quarters was definitely due.
He felt Krista needing to go to the toilet and she clambered out of bed to go relieve herself. As she did that, she roused Raven and Felicia both. Ben felt his familar's annoyance and ignored it. He rolled over to lie on his back and watched Krista leave. After that, he took a look at Raven. She rolled over on her back, too. After a night of nearly getting bludgeoned to death and then bawling her eyes out, she looked like a broken angel, ready to fall into the deepest, darkest pit of despair at the wrong word or gesture. He swallowed nervously. He never quite knew what to say, or do, when girls cried, and he always felt the need to help them.
His current situation was a little bit different, since he had been in the room with her when the crazy christian trio had beaten Simon to death. He had flinched at the dull thuds of the baseball bat, right alongside her. When he looked into her huge, bright blue eyes, rimmed with red, he saw pretty much the same as what he felt: the desire to not think about last night. He didn't even want to remember it at all.
She rolled towards him and put her hand over his stomach. "Thank you for saving me," she softly said.
Ben nodded. They shared a quiet look of understanding and she looked like she was going to cry again. The toilet flushed in the bathroom and they heard Krista start the water in the sink. They both grinned at the interruption and Ben said, "How about some breakfast?"
Raven bit her lower lip and nodded. "Yes, please," she said.
Ben smiled and sent Krista the order to make breakfast for the three of them. He felt her resist the order unsuccessfully and leave the bathroom for the kitchen, where she got busy with cooking. He raised his hand and put it over Raven's on his stomach. "Listen," he said, "I know that last night was a bit intense for you, what with... the attack... and all that... but, you're welcome to stay here until you get your bearings. Ok?"
Raven nodded, sniffing back a tear. "Thank you," she said. "May I go to the bathroom, please?"
"Of course," Ben said. "It's the white door in the hallway." He pointed out the bedroom door and Raven smiled.
"Thank you," she said and slid out of his bed. For the second time that morning, Ben was treated to the sight of an underwear clad girl walking away from him. He let his eyes wander from her strapless, demicup bra, down her smooth back, to her firm buttocks, covered by boyshorts. He sighed in quiet appreciation.
"Boss," Felicia spoke up, "are you forgetting about her breaking in here and going through your stuff?"
"Of course not," Ben whispered at her. "Do you take me for a complete backbirth?" In lieu of an answer, the cat kept silently staring at him. "Look, I know she's up to no good. She knows about magic. My magic, to be specific. She and that dead guy knew something about it. Plus, the only thing to disturb her last night was the killing. She hadn't even blinked twice at being teleported across town, or me appearing next to her, out of thin air. I need to find out exactly what she knows. She's my first and only lead to answers. I need to know how I got my power. Why I got my power."
"Why don't you just dominate her like Krista and order her to tell you the truth?"
Ben answered her with a reproachful glare. "Because that would be wrong," he whispered.
"You did it twice before!"
"With Susan it had been self-defense," he whispered, "and I had to dominate Krista or she'd be raped and murdered. I'm not going to just violate the mind of everyone I come across. I'm not a monster."
"I though you needed answers, Boss," the cat said.
"I do," he said, "and I'll get them. But not that way."
"So, what, you're gonna wait for her to just volunteer all the information she's got? And I guess you're going to believe her word that it's the truth?" The toilet flushed again and the sink started running. Ben put his finger across his lips and shushed at Felicia. "Yeah, that's a real brilliant plan you got there, Boss. Let me know how it works out for you." The cat yawned, revealing her long fangs, and then closed her eyes and curled up under the sheet to go to sleep.
Ben's lips twisted up in a sour grin. He suspected Felicia to be right about dominating Raven. He needed answers and he needed them way back on Sunday morning. Dominating Raven and simply ordering her to tell him everything was the smart way to go about getting them. He sighed unhappily. He had seen the girl get backhanded by Simon. He had seen the look on her face when Simon had threatened her life. He had heard her beg miserably for her life just last night. He just couldn't bring himself to violate her mind after all that misery.
Raven exited the bathroom and returned to the bedroom, drawing his eyes to her figure again. He couldn't stop himself from feasting upon her beauty. She bent over the chair as she retrieved her clothes from last night. She looked a bit hesitant to put them back on.
"Listen," he said, after forcing himself to look up at her eyes as she turned them towards him, "if you'd like, you can wear something of mine." He pointed to his wardrobe.
She looked where he pointed and asked, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," he said. "You're the same height as I, without your heels, and I think my stuff would fit you comfortably. Please, help yourself to some sweats, or something. It's all clean."
Raven smiled a radiant smile at him and it nearly made his heart skip a beat. "Thanks! I will!" She reached behind herself and undid the clasp on her bra.
