Innocent Devil’s Harem Ch. 18

Specifically, I told her what I felt like it would mean for me to change Avery.

How it would mean she'd be forfeiting her freedoms to do so.

How I felt like this wasn't a situation where I could just be nice and fix her, only to let her go off and do what she wanted afterward.

Thankfully, Gabriella understood.

She also suspected that Avery wouldn't have a problem with that being the price she'd have to pay...

"I saw the way she looked, Kai. When you said I was your girlfriend," Gabriella clarified with a sigh. "Kai, she was possibly even more devastated than Serenity was. And that's saying something. That chick has it bad for you. Really bad."

I just shook my head in disbelief. "So what are you saying?" I wondered seriously. "I mean, if I do change her, then what? She'll have to be in our lives, and she's clearly infatuated with me."

Gabriella shrugged. "Kai, I'm really not opposed to you having a relationship with her. I mean, she's been clearly obsessed with you for two years. Almost feels like she has more of a right than I do."

I shook my head again. "Okay, seriously," I said, focusing on her, not even remotely in danger of my skin graying. "Serenity was one thing, but you're really okay with me being with a third girl?"

Gabriella sighed. "It just feels right," she admitted. "Maybe it's my succubus intuition, if I really am part-succubus, or maybe it's just because I wouldn't mind having a relationship with her too."

Fuck!

I tried to keep my mind blank, speaking slowly as I probed for more information. "Okay, seriously. I thought you weren't sure if you liked women too."

Gabriella took a deep breath, leaning more heavily into her seat. "It's not that. It's Avery. There's something about her that's really enticing. Actually, it's her scent, now that I think about it."

"The flowery smell?" I commented in confusion.

Gabriella looked at me in surprise. "Flowery smell?" she repeated, looking just as confused.

I nodded. "Yeah, she kind of smells like flowers. Like roses or something, I don't know."

Gabriella just stared at me for a second. "She doesn't smell like flowers to me, Kai."

"Oh?" I said in surprise. "What does she smell like to you?"

Her brow furrowed at that. "Honestly, it's hard to think of a comparison. But something really amazing, like warm vanilla cinnamon. Sort of sharp and sweet. And really strong."

"How strong?" I wondered, since when I smelled Avery, I felt like her scent was about as faint as a normal person. Only more floral than I was used to, not counting when people wore floral-scented perfumes.

Gabriella's red eyebrows were knitted together, her arms crossed underneath her heavy chest now. "Well, I noticed it when we pulled up to the bank," she admitted. "Like, when I told you I could hear better, and that you smelled really good. I also smelled something else too, but didn't know what it was at first. And then it was so strong when we actually entered the bank that I thought someone had walked away spraying everything with perfume or something." She sighed. "I didn't fully realize it was coming from her until they started leaving the bank. Her mom has a similar scent, but it's not nearly as strong."

"And that's how you knew Avery was involved in the accident," I suddenly realized.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah, I realized I could smell that scent again faintly, making me wonder if they were stopped in traffic too. But then when I focused on it, I suddenly realized she'd been involved in the accident, because there was something else with it -- tainting it."

I nodded slowly. "Probably fear," I suggested. "You probably smelled her scent tainted with fear."

Gabriella shrugged, clearly having no idea.

"That's just so strange though," I continued. "She smells different to you. I wonder why that is."

"Well, the difference between us is that I might be part-succubus. So then, maybe she's part-succubus too?"

I shook my head. "No, I can't imagine that being true, because then wouldn't she smell as amazing to me as you do?"

"Oh, right," Gabriella agreed, her brow furrowed again. "I really need to get ahold of my mom. I'm surprised she hasn't called me back yet."

"Think she's okay?" I wondered seriously.

"Oh, yeah I'm sure she's fine. I mean, it's Saturday, so if she was up really late last night, then she might still be asleep."

"Partying?" I said in surprise, assuming that's what she meant.

Gabriella grimaced. "Umm, no. Ever since I moved out of the house, Friday night kind of became their designated domination night. So, umm, she probably had a guy over."

"Oh." I wasn't sure what to say to that. It was just so weird to think about. "And I assume your dad is aware," I added.

She nodded, her voice a little strained. "Umm, yeah. He would be watching the whole time."

I sighed. "I really am glad you aren't like that," I admitted, only to clarify. "Not that I have a problem with your parents. I'm just saying, I'm glad you aren't wanting our relationship to be like that."

Gabriella frowned. "I think it's partly because I want to be the one to watch," she admitted.

Well, fuck.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she quickly added, realizing gray was showing on my neck. "Umm, fuzzy pickles!"

I laughed, shaking my head. "Why is that now your go-to distraction?" I said in disbelief.

She grinned. "It's kind of funny, actually. As long as you don't think too much about it. Otherwise, it's kind of gross."

I chuckled again, seeing that traffic was finally starting to move up ahead. "Well, I guess I'm glad you're okay with me possibly inviting Avery to join what we have going on. But I would still need to ask Serenity."

"I think she'll be fine with it," she replied. "But yeah, I get it. We're kind of your two main women, so we both need to be alright with you adding another."

My knuckles were white on the steering wheel now, feeling like I was in a twilight zone just from the mention of Serenity being classified as one of my main women. Never mind the fact that I was in a situation where I might have three women in total.

Fuck.

It seemed too good to be true.

Was this really even happening?

I mean, I knew it obviously was, but how was it that I was lucky enough to be in a situation where my fiancé and housemate both loved me enough to want to share, and also allow me to have relationships with multiple women? Was it because of my gold eyes? Were they truly hypnotic? Or was there something else about me that was so alluring?

Something else that made women want to please me?

Honestly, I didn't know, and the idea kind of made me uneasy, to be honest, because it made it feel like maybe their behavior wasn't natural. However, alternatively it sounded like Gabriella grew an interest in Serenity even before she met me. And of course, while my housemate had been around me all my life, from what I knew, she didn't change when I joined my family and she subsequently met me.

Certainly, Serenity was thrilled to have a younger playmate, and to dote on him, but she'd already been like that when she only had dolls to play with.

So then, maybe their behavior was natural.

Like, Gabriella obviously had an invested interest in being with both me and Serenity. And from the sound of it, there was something that was especially enticing about Avery for her as well. Which meant this wasn't just about me having three women. This was also about Gabriella having two women she was interested in, along with her man.

It wasn't an unequal situation, at least not between me and my fiancé. She wanted us to have a four-way relationship, not only one between me and each woman.

My phone vibrated then, only for me to see that it was Serenity telling me which hospital they were at. Honestly, I was kind of surprised they'd already made it, but then again I supposed we'd been sitting here for a good ten or fifteen minutes at least. Plenty of time for an ambulance to get to the hospital.

"Anyway," Gabriella continued, interrupting my thoughts. "If we are going to consider changing Avery, then we need to try to figure out what caused it to happen to me. Because I'm beginning to suspect that Serenity isn't going to change from my bite."

"Really?" I said in surprise, finally merging lanes so I could go around the accident. "What makes you say that?"

Gabriella seemed pensive. "When you bit me, I felt sleepy right away, like you'd injected me with a drug. And, I don't mean lightheaded," she clarified, glancing at me. "But actually sleepy. And I just feel like my overall sleepiness last night wasn't normal. I sincerely felt drugged, and it was difficult to stay awake. So then, either the problem is that my bite doesn't work, or it was something else that caused it to happen."

I frowned. "So then, it was definitely the bite," I clarified. "Not something like sex."

"Right," she agreed. "But if that's the case, then we need to consider what was different. Obviously, the first difference was that it was you doing the biting, but was there anything else that was different?"

I considered that. "Well, the only thing I can think of is that my mouth was bloody from chewing on the cables."

"Oh!" Gabriella said in surprise. "That's right! So then, what if that's it? What if it's like a bloodborne pathogen? Or maybe just something special about your blood itself?"

"My blood," I repeated hesitantly, trying to think it through.

"Yeah," she continued. "I didn't have blood in my mouth when I bit Serenity, and you might have basically injected me with your blood when you bit me."

I sighed. "I mean, that would certainly make changing Avery easier. We'd just have to try to snag a syringe at the hospital, and inject my blood directly into her. Think we should try that first?"

Gabriella focused at the digital clock on the dash. "Maybe. Let's wait and see what happens to Serenity before we do though. If she's still not showing signs of changing when we get to the hospital, then we'll go from there."

I rubbed the back of my neck as I thought about that. "The only problem is, Serenity can't hang around all day if she is going to end up changing. Because if she starts transforming, she won't be able to control it. At least, not for the first hour or so. And I also don't want to leave her by herself in case she ends up doing what you did."

Gabriella frowned. "Yeah, that might be an issue for Avery too, either way. Which is really problematic, since she can't leave the hospital if she's paralyzed, yet also can't exactly stay in the hospital alone while she's changing."

Fuck. She was right.

So then, what could we do?

"Maybe I can stay with her," Gabriella continued. "Like, if the blood works and Avery falls asleep, then I'll stay at the hospital as late as I need to, even overnight, in order to keep her from attacking anyone."

I frowned at that, not thrilled by the idea.

Granted, I wasn't sure there were alternatives. After all, it wouldn't be a good idea for Serenity to stay, whether she was still normal or not, and I definitely couldn't stay overnight. At least, I assumed I couldn't, since I was a guy and clearly not her family.

Then again, being eighteen now might mean I could get away with it, maybe if I just claimed we were dating, but I felt like having Gabriella stay truly might be the best option.

"Think you can overpower her?" I wondered seriously.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll be fine. And honestly, when she wakes up, she might still be paralyzed. She might not be healed right away."

"Well, your wound was already gone," I countered.

"Oh," she nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's true." She sighed. "So then, I'll just have to keep a close eye on her and maybe slap her or something to wake her up. After all, it was you hurting my jaw that snapped me out of it."

I grimace. "Sorry about that."

She shook her head. "No, it's fine, Kai. I'm glad you did."

I nodded in acknowledgment.

"Okay," she said firmly. "That's what we'll do. We can snag a syringe and inject her with your blood. Worst case, and her body will treat it like an infection, and she'll get a little sick. Best case, and she starts feeling sleepy like I did."

"And what if it doesn't work?" I wondered

"Then it has to be your saliva instead, though I feel like that's unlikely," she replied. "But if that is the case, you can just inject her with that, rather than biting her." She frowned. "You definitely shouldn't bite her, if it can be avoided, since they'll end up noticing that in the hospital. There's not a lot of privacy there, especially for someone who is paralyzed. They'd likely see it even if you bit her someplace most wouldn't look."

Unexpectedly, what she was implying made my hair flash white. Here, I'd managed to stay looking normal throughout this whole conversation, and just like that, she pushed me over the edge.

"Kai!" she exclaimed. "Get your mind out of the gutter!"

"Well don't say stuff like that!" I retorted, glancing around to make sure no one saw. "I get aroused just from you touching me, and here you are talking about me biting her someplace intimate!" Granted, I was more embarrassed than anything, rather than aroused. I then scoffed, lowering my voice, my hair beginning to shift back to its normal color. "I mean, there are only a handful of places where 'most wouldn't look,' as you put it."

She was immediately apologetic. "Sorry, I guess that wasn't very careful of me."

I sighed, taking a few seconds to calm down. "No, I'm sorry." I sighed again. "And I wasn't trying to think about that, but you talking about it made me visualize it." I glanced over at her. "You know I have an extremely vivid imagination, right? And this is a girl I've sat next to for years."

"Oh..." Gabriella paused. "Sorry, I didn't realize that. Although, now that you mention it, I think that sounds reasonable, considering you have heightened senses."

I nodded. "Yeah, I've seen her in enough tight clothing to know exactly what she would look like naked, never mind the sounds, smells, and everything else that bombards my senses. Like, before she started taking birth control a little over a year ago, I knew when she was on her period, could hear the difference between a pad and tampon, and could smell when she was just beginning and when she was toward the end. It was always a good smell to me, which I now realize is because I apparently need blood sometimes." I paused. "And my memory seems to be stronger with my sense of smell and hearing in particular. Like, just thinking about Avery causes me to vividly recall her scent, as well as how her heart sounds when she's flustered, and what her voice sounds like. Plus, we just saw her today, so I have a fresh image of her in my mind."

"That makes sense," Gabriella agreed.

"Not that I even need the recent exposure to her," I continued. "Considering I've seen her almost every day for the last two years." I sighed. "But my mind pieces it all together into a powerful representation of her. Like, if I think about touching her arm, I can almost feel it, as if it was real. And thinking about biting her makes it feel like her skin is already between my teeth, her taste already against my tongue..." I paused, glancing at her again. "Obviously, I have no idea what her skin actually tastes like, but I can assure you that my mind is very good at using her scent to come up with a pretty realistic taste in my mouth. And honestly, it's probably an accurate taste too. Like, if I did bite her, then I probably wouldn't be surprised by the real thing."

Gabriella nodded. "Makes sense," she repeated. "And I'm sorry," she added. "It's just that sometimes you don't react to things that I think you might, and other times you react to stuff I'm not expecting you to."

I nodded, focusing on the road. "I understand. I think it was the surprise more than anything. I wasn't aroused. Just embarrassed."

Gabriella spoke up again. "But I guess that explains why I was so arousing to you." She turned in her seat slightly to look more fully at me. "Because, just from being near me, you could probably imagine pretty easily all the things a normal person shouldn't know without actually experiencing it."

I sighed, leaning back in my seat more, feeling thankful we could have this kind of discussion now without it affecting me a ton -- at least, when the subject was her.

"Yeah, pretty much. I could imagine what you felt like, what you tasted like, and even had a pretty good idea of what you looked like underneath your clothing. Granted, experiencing the real thing was far more amazing than I would have ever anticipated, but I still wasn't really surprised by anything."

She frowned. "So then, how did you manage to sit next to Avery day-after-day for so long without transforming? Because it's pretty obvious she's extremely hot. Like, it's to the point that I was sincerely shocked when I saw her in person. The way you talked about her made it seem like she might be a little above average, not freaking to the moon."

I shrugged, knowing that her assessment wasn't just her opinion. Avery really was that hot, enough that it would be difficult to find someone who disagreed.

"Well, for one, I have a different mindset at school. I'm more guarded with my thoughts, and I'm much more restrictive with my focus." I glanced at her with a small smile. "Granted, if you had walked into one of my classes, I still would have found it hard to ignore you. Your scent alone would have been enough to demand my attention. And yeah, being completely honest, Avery is really hot, but her scent is only average to me. Different than most people, but still average in its potency."

"Well, not so average to me," Gabriella mumbled, only to laugh, seeming to change subjects slightly. "You know, I never thought my natural scent would be how I'd get a guy's attention." She chuckled some more. "And that would be a funny introduction too. 'So, how did you two meet? Oh, well Kai fell in love with my scent, and the rest is history.'" She laughed even more, seeming to really find it hilarious. "I'm kidding of course," she added, a big grin on her face.

I gave her a small smile in response, focused more on the road now.

We were turning on the street to the hospital, and I needed to figure out where to park.

Thankfully, there were clear signs for the nearest parking garage, and getting inside was pretty straightforward.

However, it became obvious right away that noon on a Saturday wasn't a great time to find a decent spot. Granted, I supposed that made sense, considering the weekend was likely when most people visited their loved ones.

And once I did find a spot, and I'd put the black chest in the trunk, we found that there was a ton of activity inside the building, with people coming and going, and the occasional nurse pushing a patient around in a wheelchair.

Pulling out my phone, I called Serenity to find out if they were in a room yet, discovering that they just moved Avery to a bed after doing a series of scans on her head and neck. She also told me that the doctors weren't considering surgery at this point, and that she would explain more when we got there.

Now that I had Avery's room number, I used the hospital signs for directions and we began making our way through the maze of hallways, getting on an elevator and then making our way to the appropriate room. I would have had no problem asking someone for directions if needed, but it was all pretty straightforward thanks to the signs.

When we walked in, I was thankful to see that it was a single-bed room, instead of one with two beds, since that would have only complicated everything. I hadn't even considered that being a problem, but now realized it would have made it difficult to talk to Avery about the decision she would be making.