BEYOND THE STARS [2]

BLOOD MOON

QUEST OBJECTIVE: Reveal your daddy issues.

Eona swallowed. Anduin was paralyzed beside her. His stillness was so impressive, Eona feared he had stopped breathing. She nodded and spoke for both of them, "It certainly looks like the place for...happy endings."

The succubus smirked, and waded through the orgy. Eona tugged Anduin forward as they followed. She kept tossing glances over her shoulder at Anduin's face. The mask and dim lighting made him impossible to read. His arm was an iron pole around her waist.

Their scantily clothed guide chose a secluded corner unoccupied by sweating bodies. She gestured at a pile of pillows on the floor. "Make yourselves at home. I'll bring some spirits, and then we'll enjoy ourselves."

The succubus prowled back into the tangled mess of bare limbs, slaps and sighs following.

Eona turned to Anduin. They weren't alone, per se, but no one seemed to be focused on them.

"I'm sure you're glad that you came now," said Eona, hoping for a laugh or at least a bitten lip.

Anduin didn't answer. He was staring at the floor. Eona grimaced at her own words.

Eona took his hands in hers and squeezed them. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said. "Just...uncomfortable."

Eona nodded. "Why don't we sit down?"

Anduin lowered himself to the ground awkwardly. It was the least amount of grace Eona had ever seen him emit. He did not look relaxed as he perched on the very edge of the pillows. Not in the slightest.

Most of the people around them had their attention...averted, but if Anduin stood out too much — or, if the succubus noticed when she returned...

Eona hovered over Anduin. "Let me sit in your lap."

Anduin obliged. He stiffened as Eona straddled his hips like she had so long ago in his bedroom. Bare skin flashed along her legs as she settled into his lap. Up close, Eona could see Anduin's face burning a bright, brilliant red beneath the mask. His sharp exhale fanned her neck.

"You seem very comfortable with all of this," Anduin said. His words were too laced with breathlessness to tell if they were accusatory or shy.

Eona bit her lip against the urge to inhale. A deep breath wouldn't relax her insides. If anything, a lungful of the aphrodisiacs in the air made thinking impossible. But even if she had the luxury of clarity, how could Eona explain simply passing through the Den of Mortal Delights to visit the advisors of the former lord of Outland?

"It's...complicated," said Eona. "And a lot of unintentionally bad parenting."

"Would you like to elaborate?"

"Not really. I don't think we have the time."

"I disagree," said Anduin, peeking over Eona's shoulder. She glanced back. The succubus had joined a nightborne and another succubus on the floor. She dove between the nightborne's thighs. A loud moan filled the room.

Both of them looked away. Eona shuddered, half from disgust, the other from a burning tingle on lower parts of her body. Anduin's arms tightened around her.

"Eona," Anduin said slowly. "I'm starting to feel...there are things I really want to do to you right now, but I refuse to do it in front of anyone else. If you have a distraction, please..."

A familiar bulge was forming on Anduin's lap. It was uncanny that he hadn't given in already; if the erotic scents made Eona's head swim, what effects would it have on a human?