Slowly, gradually, the succubus calmed back down. After two minutes of nothing but overcoming spasms and evening her breathing, she said a most upsetting word. “Provisionally.”

  “What?” Rykard asked.

  “I will become part of your harem… provisionally,” Hey qualified and sent him gre challenging him to change that stance. “You cannot expect me to just hitch my wagon to a man I just met.”

  Rykard gave her a half-lidded stare, one eyebrow raised. It wasn’t that she didn’t speak sense, it was that his life was beyond regur reason - and so was hers. The pretension that she could go back to her normal after finding him was so amusing it failed to make him ugh. There were two ways to handle this.

  Option one was to just keep pushing her. She obviously was trying to regain some control of the situation and would, just like st time, enjoy it a whole lot when he robbed her of the notion. Pushing her down and teasing her until she gave in completely was certainly an option.

  Option two was to let her harbour this idea of control for the time being. He could agree to the farce of a ‘provisional’ membership in his harem. The more he let her do what she wanted, the more he could point out that she desired him to take control again. When he finally did, it would make it all the more impactful.

  “‘Provisional’, suuuuuure,” Rykard let every bit of his doubt flow into his voice.

  Hey followed his movements with expectant eyes. A spark of disappointment showed, when he got off her. The little minx definitely had a wish for him to force her further, but he was going to let her boil in that desire for a bit. It would be all the more entertaining when he put her back in her pce again.

  Just to let her know that he was still broadly in control, he wove a spell that cleaned the remaining cum off her face, before she could get the bright idea of treating herself to that as well. She let out a frustrated sigh, “Urgh. Can you not let a dy have her meal?”

  “I’ll consider it when I feel like it,” he shot back with a gre and she flinched. The most important thing, even if he did not escate things further, was that he did not come across as servile. An easy thing, luckily, since he was a monarch born and bred. The only thing he served was the health of his realm and that was in the same way a gardener served his pnts.

  The little exchange did put Hey in the proper pce. That he was grabbing his clothes let her know that they were done with this, but their power dynamic remained in his favour. Now, she would do as all arrogant submissives did and gradually encroach on his territory to get a rise out of him.

  If Rykard had to take a guess, it would start with a mildly insulting question.

  “Since we have now stopped with the savagery…” and there it was, “...may I ask who you are beyond your name, Rykard?”

  “A difficult question. To the people of my nation, I was the prodigal son of the empire that dominated the world. To my siblings, I was the bane of the cims to the throne. To my maids and my Miyo, I was the name they screamed at night.” He stepped into his undergarments. “Let’s just start with the fact that I am very happy to be here.”

  As he got dressed, he summarized his story to the succubus. From the broad strokes of how his original world had been organized, to his personal story and his reasons for ending up as a contestant. At the end, the succubus hummed.

  “You are interesting,” she admitted. “Although your lecherous gaze does remind me of… lesser men.”

  “Lesser men just stared from a distance,” Rykard gave her left tit a squeeze.

  She clicked her tongue, as if that did nothing for her. Letting her pretend, Rykard then backed off. He also pretended he did not hear the second, frustrated click of her tongue. She really was trying to get him to react again.

  “Fact is that I am taking over this Hexagon,” he then told her ftly. “I came here for the cherub you were sent to ‘counteract’. You would make for a nice aesthetic difference among my haremettes, ‘provisional’ member.”

  Hey just rolled her eyes and finally rose from the cushions. The cleaning spell Rykard had woven earlier had not removed the sweat. That, by the miracle of demon biology, had taken care of itself. All of the slippery glisten had completely evaporated into the smell of rosewood. What a delightfully fuckable species.

  With a flick of her wrist, she conjured for herself a set of clothing. A tight leather corset covered her midriff and much of the swing of her hips. Lavender ce cd her enormous tits, a crimson piece of lingerie, her cunt. None of it was even remotely acceptable in public, and he knew that wasn’t the goal either. Those were clothes to entice, not to hide.

  Her long tail curved through the air. “Well?” she asked and gestured for him to take the lead.

  Rykard decided to oblige, at least up to the point of opening the door for her. When it came to the staircase, he insisted she walk up ahead. He had not given that fat ass of hers the attention it deserved yet. Watching her strut up the spiraling staircase gave him ample opportunity to make up for that.

  The succubus walked on high heels. Every step was a new note in a staccato. Her wide hips wiggled between the sounds, swaying left to right with such overbearing sexuality, the sheer weight of her cheeks actually swayed. Thick thighs trembled and tensed each time she lifted her body one step higher.

  ‘About now, it would be time for her to try to get on my nerves,’ Rykard considered.

  “I suppose you can’t help staring,” Hey spoke, like clockwork. “You are just a man, for all the strength of will you have. When you see a woman with proper curves, you can’t help but salivate.”

  “I can’t help but want to make her mine,” Rykard corrected, ‘and you will be, as soon as I think you can’t stand the dey anymore.’

  The even response seemed to upset the succubus, to the point that she turned her head with enough force to send her cascade of hair flying. A negative side effect was that the ocean of bck-red strands did form a curtain in front of her bubble butt. The visual feast ended there.

  A few minutes ter, the cathedral was just that rge, they emerged from the depths of the temple. Ivan gawked, open-mouthed at Hey. “What a beautiful goddess…” he mumbled, his pants visibly straining.

  Rykard watched the eyes of the man roam over his ‘provisional’ haremette for a few moments. Before he could tell Hey to stop her passive Charm, Ivan’s gaze shifted to the ground. Drops of sweat showed on his forehead, as he took several deep breaths. His dark eyes were focused on something distant.

  When he looked at Hey again, he tensed up with his entire body and took a half-step back. “Hm,” the succubus let out a little acknowledging hum. “He’s not terrible.”

  “Congratutions, Ivan,” Rykard decred, the old man slowly rexing. Once the effect of the Charme was broken, it was easier to keep resisting it for a while. “You have just proven your willpower is above average.”

  “I suppose that is something to be proud of,” the rough old man decred.

  “Okay, but why is there a demon though?” Helenn hovered towards the succubus, then circled around her. “Wooooow, I love those curves. She’s super, super sexy. You love to see that - Oh my goddess, have you seen that ass in profile?! My eyes go up her legs and it's like: thick, thick, thick, ASS, thick, ft, TITS!”

  “You amuse me,” Hey stopped the circling angel by gently pinning the point of her chin between index finger and thumb. “You seem like a wonderful pything.”

  “Hamena, hamena, hamena,” Helenn’s bubbly babbles colpsed into nonsensical sounds. A behaviour that she was rewarded for.

  Rykard just chuckled. Servile men were disgusting, but drooling shortstacks were appreciated. He would have called it hypocrisy, if he had not shared the exact same feelings. Men and women just weren’t the same.

  “I found Hey in the depths of the temple. The local clergy had summoned her and she enthralled the pigs and eventually told them to go die.” With a loud smack, he grabbed her fat ass. The mostly naked cheeks rippled, she straightened up forcefully as her enormous tits jiggled. “I let her know what a true man is like. She’s a ‘provisional’ member of my harem.”

  “Huh?” Helenn looked between the crimson succubus and Rykard. “That sounds stupid? What is that, what even is that? When Master offers his cock, you say ‘Thank you, Master’ and take it down your throat.”

  “Unlike you, little weak thing, I have self-respect,” Hey hissed. Her upturned nose cshed quite heavily with the hand she let knead her ass. “I will make MY decision on MY terms when I feel ready for it and no sooner. I will not be forced into a harem!”

  “The demon speaks sense… I live in too interesting times,” Ivan mumbled.

  ‘If only he knew how much this woman wants to be forced into a harem,’ Rykard thought, an amused smile on his lip. “In any case, that solves the mystery of the empty cathedral,” he continued the conversation. “What do you suggest we do next, Ivan?”

  “If I understand correctly, you will have this Hexagon conquered once the majority of people on it follow your rule,” Ivan stopped for a moment, to let Rykard nod.

  “In the absence of an already existing ruler to negotiate with, that is correct.”

  “Then I suggest we spend the day knocking on doors. Most of the people of this… Hexagon live around here. Spread your message and all of that.”

  Sounded like a pn.

  They spent the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon just walking around, doing exactly as Ivan had suggested they should. It was a dull affair, essentially repeating the same steps over and over again.

  Ivan would guide them to someone he knew, whether that was by reputation or personally. Rykard would knock on the door, the person would answer. If necessary, Ivan would vouch for the king, at all other times, he just went through the motions of telling them who he was, what was happening, and what he intended to do. Regurly, he was asked the same three questions. “Really?” “Is that a devil and an angel behind you?” and “What’s in it for me?”

  Yes, yes, and everything were the typical answers.

  After about five hours of this, Rykard was exhausted, in the sense that he was bored out of his mind. “I should be vishing in a bath right now, getting a pair of giant tits rubbed against me while Miyo worships my cock. A magic device keeps delivering me fine wine, as I rex…” he compined. “Not run door to door like a newspaper delivery boy.”

  “Does that scene involve me?” Helenn asked. “Since the two giant tits are obviously the jiggly succ right there and that other jiggly succ you keep talking about - Vyra, yes?”

  “Yes, and the scene does obviously involve you - you are the magic device. If I am pleased with you, I allow you to ride me to completion.”

  “Oh, I like that! Maybe my womb will stop being a bitch in that situation!”

  “Mother Lust was right, your kind really is competition,” Hey mumbled and shook her head. “How openly depraved can you be?”

  “Said the demon dressed in ce and leather.”

  Hey put a hand against her hips, her tits swaying while her weight shifted onto one of her sinfully smooth legs. “I am a creature of sex, not a toy for sex,” she retorted. “That I deserve to feel good, to be mounted and fucked until the st of my voice has been whisked away is obvious. It is mankind's duty to see my desires fulfilled.”

  “Right, so just be honest about what you want, get on all fours, and push your beautiful bubble butt out,” Helenn babbled.

  The succubus blew air out of her nose. She shifted her weight onto her other leg, causing the jiggle of all her soft pces, tits most of all, to move in turn. “Why should I have to say anything?”

  ‘About now she should voice some great frustration,’ Rykard thought.

  “It is upon the man to always know what I desire and this man is only good for humiliations and smelling good,” Hey gestured unftteringly towards Rykard. “If I had anything better to do, I would not be wasting my time with this ‘provisional haremette’ nonsense.”

  “Yeah but… you keep saying provisional?” Helenn asked.

  “Because why would I give the cherished opportunity to taint me to this random mortal? All he did was break my Charm spell repeatedly and… push me down… and…” Hey had to blink several times and shake her head. Her hand had crept dangerously close to her cunt. “As if he did not do it to enjoy himself.” She stepped up to Rykard. “Right?” she asked in a husky tone. “You just could not resist me. My Charm failed, but why would I need that when I am just… well, this.” She squeezed her tits against his chest. “You were fatally attracted to me the moment you entered my little retreat.”

  ‘Ah, we have arrived at the Illusion-lighting part of her attempt to regain control,’ Rykard thought. “I suppose it is true that I wanted you from the moment I id eyes on you,” he gave and reached up to brush some of her hair back.

  Hey stepped away before he could touch her, creating an infuriatingly smug sound in the process. “Hmph, at least we’re clear on how base you are,” she stated and looked over her shoulder.

  It was an actual test to not grab her and force her into a kiss right that moment. ‘Oh, this is going to be so satisfying when I shatter her illusions,’ Rykard thought to himself. For the time being, he let her walk away. If nothing else, he enjoyed his streak of right guesses when it came to her manifestations of asserting control. ‘On the current trajectory, she’ll try to give me an order by the end of the day, then make them progressively more unreasonable and humiliating.’

  Rykard had seen a few friends he used to have in his military academy days fall for that type of behaviour. It started with something reasonable, like washing the dishes because her foot hurt, and gradually escated to taking a second job as dung shoveller to pay for unreasonably expensive clothing. Why some men fell for that, Rykard did not understand.

  There was also a difference between those cases and this one. Those women had been the female wife beater equivalent. He would have sensed it if the demon was as rotten to the core as those harlots had been. Hey kept pushing because she finally found someone that pushed back, not because she wanted to go back to being worshipped.

  ‘Tonight… maybe tomorrow…?’ Rykard considered when it would be best to remind her that, in their retionship, he was the dominant one. ‘Wouldn’t want to wait too long. That would kill the interest.’

  In all matters of romance, timing was difficult.

  Conquest was easier.

  The northern two and the central one were under his control now. One or two more temples, and he would hold a majority of the local people under his sway. From there, he could let the news of his rule spread while he did other things. Question was only which of the temples he wanted to visit next.

  The eastern one was the closest, although it was one of the ones he knew had been put to the torch. The fire at its location had been what first armed him to the burnings in the first pce.

  The south-eastern one was important just because it was the closest one to his current holdings. It would serve him well to make sure that there were no bandits there, ready to unch an attack on Moydra.

  The two western temples held no particur significance and they were also deceptively far away thanks to the chain of hills between them. There was no particur reason to go there first, besides intuition.