Lois couldn't breathe, and her entire body had gone numb, making her lose her grip on her glass. The sound of glass shattering barely registered to Lois; her brain didn't have anything to spare as it tried to comprehend the scene it was witnessing.
Looming over Ashe like a starving wolf, the creature had its teeth embedded in her neck, making Ashe writhe around in pain; or at least that's what Lois initially thought. But then, as the initial shock faded, Lois noticed the crucial lack of blood staining the mat beneath Ashe, the heavy flush across her cheeks, and the fact that her arms and legs were also wrapped around the creature as if to keep it from running away.
In that mont of confusion, the creature looked at Lois, exposing its face and revealing a painfully familiar visage.
"Ramon?" Lois called out his na without even realizing it, as there was no doubt in her mind that the creature and her lover were one and the sa. How such a thing was possible, Lois had no idea, but she was witnessing it with her own two eyes.
"Well, shit."
Lois' rampant thoughts were interrupted by Ashe as she cursed and unwrapped her arms and legs from around Ramon, "Just as we were about to get to the good part."
"W-what's going on?" Lois stamred as she stared uneasily at Ashe, "What is that thing and why does it look like Ramon?"
"That's not for to explain, Red," Ashe shook her head as Ramon rolled off on top of her, letting Ashe sit up, "But just trust when I say, he wouldn't touch a damn hair on your head."
"Thanks, darling," Ramon sighed with a resigned look on his face as he stood up and stared at Lois, "I don't think I need to say this, but this isn't how I wanted you to find out."
Lois didn't respond right away and instead drank in the full breadth of Ramon's new appearance, the gray skin, faint markings across his body, the small horns growing from his temples, the tail coiling and uncoiling behind him. All of it was inhuman, monstrous, sothing that should have driven terror right into the depths of Lois' heart. But no matter how long she stared at Ramon's sharp, almost claw-like fingernails, she wasn't afraid in the least bit.
No, it wasn't Ramon's appearance that scared Lois; it was everything else. The questions, the implications, the secrets that she had been wrapped in, and what that ant for her, g, and the child currently growing inside of her.
"D-does g know?" Lois asked, stamring over her first words as her heartbeat threatened to drown out the sound of her voice.
Ramon nodded, "Yes, she does, and so does Patty, but none of the other girls know what I am."
"And just what exactly are you?" Lois demanded, "How is any of this even possible?"
"I'm not entirely sure myself," Ramon replied after a brief pause, "I was a human at one point, but then I died, and then I ca back as this, an Incubus."
"Y-you're a demon…l-like from hell?!" Lois exclaid, unable to keep her voice calm as she imagined so infernal spawn growing inside of her.
"I've never been to hell, I don't even know if it exists," Ramon insisted, holding up his hands, "But I can promise you that I'm not here to harm you or anyone else."
"Unless they ss with one of us," Ashe added with a smirk, still lounging on the cabana, "And I'd imagine that goes doubly for you, red, seeing as you're the first one to get knocked up."
Now it was Ramon's turn to look confused as he glanced at Ashe, who just rolled her eyes, "She hasn't been drinking, and didn't eat any raw fish. Only one reason a woman would deny herself such a good ti."
"Shit…do you think-"
"Yes," Ashe answered before Ramon could finish his sentence, "They all at least suspect it."
Moving her hand down to her stomach, Lois felt lost, "Were you ever going to tell ? Or did you just hope that the baby would co out human-looking and you could just keep in the dark?"
"I was going to tell you the mont I could give you the life you deserved," Ramon swore, "I know you want to start a family, Lois, one that can make up for your first marriage. I think that's why you got pregnant, and no one else I've slept with has."
Lois shook her head, "H-how does that even make sense? You're saying you knew I wanted to get pregnant, so you just willed it to happen?"
"In a roundabout way, yes," Ramon nodded, "My magic allows to form bonds with those that truly love . It can not be forced, and I cannot survive without them, aning that it is my instinct to do anything that will make these bonds form."
Lois glared at Ramon, "Oh, so it's my fault that I got pregnant?"
"No, if anyone is to bla, it's most definitely ," Ramon corrected, "And ever since then, I've been working to make sure you never regret having t or having a child with ."
Lois fell silent, unsure how to respond. Ramon's words felt genuine, but she couldn't possibly be expected to take him at face value. "This is all too much. I still don't know if you love for or if it's so strange demonic drive that will end up hurting in the long run."
"It's really no different from if I were a human." Ramon explained, "Everything is a mix of instinct and genuine affection. I just have a bit more incentive, as, for , love is an actual matter of life and death. But I don't view it as so obligation. I could find won who only care about money, and end it there, but I don't!"
"Really, so you're telling you love every single girl sitting down there in that bar?"
"Yes," Ramon answered without hesitation and with such intensity that Lois was surprised, "I would do anything for them, just like I would do anything for you. And it's likely I will end up doing anything and everything, because when I eventually form a bond with them, it isn't sothing that can be reversed. gan, Patty, and Ashe all know this, which is why they trusted with their souls."
Lois hesitated as she looked from Ramon to Ashe, who was watching the conversation with rapt attention, "Is that all true?"
"Sure is," Ashe answered with a fond smile as she stared at Ramon, "Even before I signed my soul over, Tiger here was willing to stick out his neck for and my farm. He guided out of so of my darkest days and went toe to toe with a sociopathic millionaire."
A flash of confusion crossed Lois' face before realization dawned on her, "That was why you were asking about the Northwests, a-are you the reason why he's missing?"
"As much as I would like to take credit for running that self-entitled piece of shit out of town, I can't." Ramon muttered before a fond smile spread across his face as if recalling a fond mory, "I did make his life a living hell, though."
"You really did all of that," Lois muttered, though it was less of a question and more of a statent as she stared at Ramon.
Instead of responding, Ramon slowly walked towards Lois, his hands held out at his sides. Watching him approach Lois's heart couldn't help but skip a beat, but she didn't move. It was possible that Ramon was lying to her, that he had used so sort of unknown ans to manipulate Ashe to go along with his bidding, or that he had so ulterior motives behind his seemingly harmless persona.
But the truth was, Lois, couldn't bring herself to believe it; she didn't want to believe that the one good thing that had happened to her over the last twenty-so odd years had turned out to be another curse in disguise.
So when Ramon's arms closed around her in a gentle, loving embrace, Lois almost sobbed as she pressed her forehead against his chest, "Thank you for trusting , Lois. I know that wasn't easy."
"Keep a secret like this from again, and I'll chop it off," Lois muttered into Ramos' chest, only to pause as she inhaled and caught a whiff of sothing powerful, pungent, and familiar. 'What is that sll?'
Taking another deep breath, Lois felt her body heat up as her hands grabbed Ramon's shirt, 'Why is it making so…'
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