Shop of Unearthly Delights
Chapter 10: Home
“Sinner!”
While Travis couldn’t deny the charge, he was nonetheless nonplussed to find someone accusing him of it as he tried to head into work. A small crowd had gathered around outside the Shop of Unearthly Delights with picket signs and chants about the satanic things no doubt happening in the shop.
“Um, excuse me,” he said to the woman who had just shouted “sinner” in his face. He pushed past her and headed inside, ignoring the jeers that followed him.
“What the fuck?” Travis asked.
Mr. Maroney looked up at him from where he was stacking the shelves. “Oh, you’re here!” he said. “No worries, they’ll tire themselves out eventually. We get protestors sometimes.”
Travis shook his head and went to his work job of standing around waiting for the tiny amount of customers, occasionally dusting a shelf when he got bored of his phone.
He was halfway through his shift when he got the text from Aoife.
Meet me at the following address when you get off work. Got a surprise for you.
It was followed a moment later by another text listing the address.
From then on, Travis’ shift felt like an eternity, as he found himself wondering what surprise Aoife could possibly have in store for him. This was occasionally broken up by the chanting of the protestors outside.
When Mr. Maroney left the store, he happily asked the protesters if they wished to purchase anything. They told him he was going to hell. Mr. Maroney simply gave them a strange, knowing smile and sauntered off. After that, the protesters just didn’t seem to have the energy for it anymore, and slowly the crowd dissipated.
Finally, Travis’ shift ended. He closed the store down and headed out to the now protester-less sidewalk before making his way to his car and punching the address Aoife had sent him into his phone’s GPS.
It took about ten minutes for him to get there, and he found himself parked outside a small, run-down house on the edge of town. He climbed out of his car cautiously and scanned the night air around him.
“Beth?” he asked.
She was sitting on the curb. “Hey, Master,” she said. “Aoife texted you too, huh?”
“Yeah. What do you suppose the surprise is?”
Beth shrugged. “Who knows with her?”
“I do.”
Travis and Beth turned to look at Aoife, who was walking down the driveway of the run-down house. She was, as always, wearing a simple dress and no shoes. Travis wondered if she had any other clothes.
“Come on,” Aoife said, stopping and gesturing. “You two are going to like this. Trust me.”
She didn’t wait for a response before turning around and walking back to the house. Travis and Beth exchanged glances, then Beth stood up and followed her, side by side. Beth was nearly leaning against Travis’ body as she walked, and he found himself almost unconsciously taking her hand in his.
Aoife waited until the two were on the porch. The house, for all intents and purposes, looked like exactly the sort of place a family of murder-hicks would reside in in a schlocky horror movie. It looked surreal, especially since a city was just down the road, like a block away. Travis braced himself as Aoife opened the door…
...to an immaculate entrance hall that was far too large for the house. Travis and Beth followed Aoife inside with their mouths hanging open. It was like they were suddenly inside a mansion. No, Travis realized, they were in a mansion.
“This was my mom’s once,” Aoife said. “She left it to me, but I haven’t really lived in it for a while. Too busy with my own things.” She smiled at Travis. “But I think it will do nicely for our, um, group. So I tidied things up a bit. Some space-folding spells keep it compacted inside the house, and only people granted permission by the owner can enter. Anyone else just walks into a shitty old craphole.”
“How…” Travis began, before trailing off. He tried again. “How big is it?”
“There are about 12 different bedrooms, not including the Master Bedroom; your’s, obviously. We got the entrance hall here, a dining room and kitchen over there. There’s a lounge over that way. Another lounge up there. Eight full bathrooms; six upstairs and two downstairs. Not including the one in the Master Bedroom though. There’s an indoor pool over past the downstairs lounge, but I haven’t filled it. There’s also a greenhouse. Careful not to break the glass there. The magic keeping it in the sun without actually being outside is complicated and you don’t want to put too much stress on it. Downstairs is storage, plus a vault. There’s a dragon guarding that…”
“What!?” Beth asked. “A dragon!?”
“Not a big dragon,” Aoife said. “About the size a German Shepherd. He’s been in hibernation since mom died and I haven’t woken him up yet. Don’t really feel like feeding him.”
“There’s a dragon,” Beth said flatly. “An actual fucking dragon.”
“Yeah,” Aoife told her. “That’s what I said. Anyway, we’ve also got a bar area.”
“You can’t just drop a dragon on us and then move onto a bar like it’s nothing!” Beth exclaimed. “A fucking dragon! I mean holy shit!”
“She has a point,” Travis said. “I didn’t even know dragons existed.”
“Most don’t,” Aoife said. “None exist naturally. But the image of a dragon inspires a primal reaction, so they’re constructed as guardians and stuff a lot. It’s not nearly as impressive as you’re imagining. Mom made that dragon in about a month, so it’s not like a massive and wise talking dragon or anything. He’s kind of dumb, honestly. And he doesn’t talk.”
“A fucking dragon,” Beth muttered.
“And a ballroom,” Aoife said. “Right there. See, there’s two sets of stairs going up that foyer or whatever the fuck it’s called and there’s a big set of doors beneath them. That’s the ballroom.”
“So basically this is a giant magic mansion,” Travis said.
“Basically,” Aoife said. “Also, technically, you’re the owner now. Since you own me, and I own the house, so you own the house too.” She sighed. “We’re like… co-owners, under the rules of the enchantment. So either of us can grant or revoke permission for people to enter.”
“It’s… mine?”
“Yes.”
“I can live here?”
“Yes.”
“Me too?” Beth asked.
“I would assume Master would like you living here, yes.”
Travis blinked. “Is there, like, rent or mortgage or anything?”
Aoife cocked an eyebrow. “No, who would we pay it too?”
There was silence for a moment, and then Beth and Travis both started crying.
“Wait, what’s happening?” Aoife asked.
“I’m just… so happy!” Tavis said between sobs.
“I never dreamed…” Beth said. “I mean, in my wildest fantasies, but… I never thought I’d actually…”
Travis and Beth hugged each other as they cried their tears of joy at having a home that wouldn’t cost them most of their monthly income.
“It’s like our very own mansion from a porno!” Beth said. “But like, an actual mansion.”
“A Spencer Mansion,” Travis sobbed joyfully.
“But with this less zombies!” Beth exclaimed back at him, and kissed him right on the lips before she could help herself.
“It’s just… it’s just distorted space!” Aoife said.
Travis nodded as he wiped the tears from his eyes. “But it’s our distorted space.”
Aoife just stared at them dumbfounded.
“Sorry,” Travis said as he calmed down. “You were saying?”
“Um… yeah.” Aoife shook her head. “How about I just show you around?”
The tour took about half an hour. Aoife took Travis and Beth to each room and pointed it out to them. Travis and Beth particularly liked the part where they went downstairs and Aoife pointed out the reptilian creature sleeping in the corner of a large chamber. Finally, the tour ended at the Master Bedroom.
It was a room that encompassed two stories and could be entered from either the first or second floor. The first floor of the bedroom was in fact an odd combination of a study and a lounge, with rows of bookshelves, a desk, a couch, and a television set that looked like it had come from the 1940’s, but was larger and had a clear picture. “Just upgraded it to 4K,” Aoife explained. A spiral staircase led to the upstairs Master Bedroom, a large room with a massive curtain-covered bed in its center. A nearby door led to the Master Bathroom, which had both a jacuzzi and a bathtub the size of a small pool.
Travis took all this in silently, with his mouth hanging open. Once Aoife had finished explaining all the features of the bedroom, she looked at him and smiled shyly. “Do you like it?”
He responded by pulling her into a hug and kissing her. As he pulled away, he looked down at her flushed face.
“I, uh, guess I’ll take that as a yes,” Aoife stammered.
Beth walked up behind Travis, got on her tippy-toes, and leaned her head on her Master’s shoulder. “You two should break the place in,” she said.
Travis smiled. He turned and kissed Beth. “You want to join?” he asked.
She smiled at him. “I think I’ll just watch this time.”
Travis nodded and turned to Aoife. She looked up at him, her eyes wide in an expression that was almost timid, but with edge of eagerness. She bit her lip and breathed heavily. This was a side of her that he only ever saw before and during sex. The only time she seemed willing to stop being the no-nonsense warrior that the whole world knew her as. This was the Aoife that only her Master knew.
He stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulders and neck, pulled her to him and kissed her. She hungrily kissed back, their tongues meeting one another as Aoife moaned into her Master. His hands drifted down her body. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and Travis felt her stiff nipple against his thumb as his hand passed over her breast.
Travis pulled away from the kiss and guided Aoife to the bed. She lay back and Travis climbed over her. He kissed her shoulder, kissed up her neck, back to her lips. He pulled the top of her dress down below her breasts, her straps fell down her shoulders. A hand caressed her bare tit, fingers pinched at her nipple.
Aoife’s own hands roamed her Master’s body. She felt the muscles on his back through his shirt, felt down along his arm. Her other hand went to groin and pet at the hardness beneath his jeans.
There was a slight break in their foreplay as both Travis and Aoife focused on removing his pants, but as soon as he was free the two were together again. He pulled up her dress and exposed her wet sex. Her hand wrapped around his member, and she helped guide him into her.
He thrust gently at first, savoring every moment. Enjoying every sensation of her body against and around his. He sped up slowly, putting just a little bit more force into each successive thrust.
When they climaxed, they did so together. Both shook with the intensity of their orgasms. Aoife cried out and moaned in ecstasy. It had been a softer intercourse, not the rough sex he enjoyed with Beth (or with Beth and Aoife together). It was... refreshing.
He smiled down at Aoife as she caught her breath. She really was beautiful. He held her head with his hand, feeling her short red hair, and she nuzzled herself against his palm. He kissed her again.
“Fuck that was hot.”
Travis turned to grin as Beth. She was laying on the opposite side of the bed, though with its sheer size, there was a good five feet or so between them. At some point her own pants had come off, and he hand was stuffed inside her panties.
“Enjoyed the show?” Travis asked. He felt Aoife shift under him, and moved to let her climb up. No matter how submissive she got during sex or foreplay, she was certainly not much of a cuddler.
“You have no idea,” Beth said. She pulled her hand off her pussy and sighed. “I want a bit of that.”
“Go ahead,” Aoife said. She flashed a quick grin at Travis. “I’m satisfied. Besides, I’ve got a potion I need to brew. Contract’s due tomorrow.”
“This won’t be another bimbo potion, will it?” Travis asked.
“Oh no. It’s just a baldness cure. No big deal.”
Travis pulled himself up to a sitting position, and Aoife leaned down to give him a quick kiss. “Have fun, you two,” she said. “I probably won’t be back until nearly morning.”
“All work and no play…” Beth teased.
Aoife gave her an unamused look. “I’ve already had my play,” she said dryly before leaving.
Travis watched her go, and Beth snuggled up against him.
“This is a big, clean bed, Master,” she said. “Let’s do unspeakable things over every inch of it.”
He grinned. This was the life.