Chapter 26

Adam was only mildly surprised when Delilah got into the shower with him. They had walked by the bed where his mother lay, so deep asleep that she was dead to the world. Erin was breathing deeply and evenly, clutching the sheet up under her chin. For all that, she had a faint smile on her face.

“I still can’t believe that just happened.”

Delilah turned on the shower, then quirked an eyebrow at Adam.

“I can’t imagine why not. Even with the warning I gave you last night, I knew I was only delaying the inevitable.”

“Your confidence in me is very reassuring.”

Delilah laughed. She stepped close, and rested her forehead against Adam’s chest as the water cascaded over them both.

“You’re doing well, Adam. But human nature is human nature.”

Adam shivered even under the warm water. He stared down at the top of Delilah’s head.

“That’s not something I want to hear considering what I saw this morning.”

Delilah looked up at him.

“Your father and Todd? Or...”

“It’s the ‘or’. Although dad was pretty unpleasant.”

It was Delilah’s turn to shiver. She put a hand on his chest, curling her fingers so that her nails dug lightly into his skin.

“What you said. Is it possible you were ... mistaken?”

“No. I saw it. However much of it was real ... I don’t know.”

Delilah slid her arms around Adam’s waist, hugging him to her. For once it wasn’t sexual, for all that her soft breasts were pressed against his skin. In a rare moment of vulnerability, Delilah was seeking comfort from Adam.

After a moment’s hesitation, Adam put his arms around the shivering woman. Holding her.

“Sorry. It can’t have been easy to hear that.”

“No. It wasn’t. And you only know the barebones of my past.”

Adam took a breath. He looked blankly at the wall of the shower, tracing the tiles with his eyes. He was about to ask Delilah more about her history, but then his dick throbbed. Hardening against her belly.

Delilah blinked, looking up at him. Her lips quirked.

“Really? I had hoped your mother would have worn you out.”

Adam cursed softly, stepping away.

“Sorry. I don’t mean to — I wasn’t even thinking of that. It’s just —”

“Eldritch power, plus a teenager’s libido. Not much to be done about either.”

Delilah reached down and casually took hold of Adam’s dick. Her expression was evenly amused as she stroked him in her hand.

“I hope you don’t mind if we forgo sex? I’m not in the mood. Plus, we might wake your mother.”

Adam’s voice was slightly strangled. His dick twitched in Delilah’s grip.

“Then why are you...”

Delilah sighed. She reached over to the nearby shower shelf and picked up a bottle of shower gel. She dextrously flicked the cap open and squirted some over Adam’s chest and shoulders. Delilah started to rub it in, her hand soft, as she washed his upper body. Her other hand never ceased stroking him.

“It’s probably a little more floral that what you usually use. But at least your next partner will appreciate the scent. As for this ... well, I’m not immune, Adam. It feels good to be close to you. Pleasuring you. Annoying though it is to admit it, it helps me stay calm. And it’s hard for me to remain calm right now.”

Adam clenched his fist at his side. The intimate nature of what she was doing — both washing and stroking him — made it difficult to keep his mind on task.

“Maybe that’s true. But if you’re trying to distract me again...”

Delilah laughed.

“Boy, if I wanted to distract you all I would have to do is turn around, bend over slightly, and ask you to fuck me. You’d be inside me so quickly that — ah!”

Delilah’s thighs trembled as Adam reached down and cupped her crotch. He slid a finger between her lips, stroking her slick insides. He raised an eyebrow at her.

“What? It helps me stay calm.”

Delilah stared up at Adam, her eyes wide. Her face flushed. She bit her bottom lip for a moment then let out a shaky laugh. She gently let go of his dick, stepping back.

“I’m not used to being bested like that.”

“You wouldn’t be if you didn’t play games.”

Delilah looked to one side.

“Only slightly. And not with ill-intent.”

They were both quiet for a moment, the only sound being the water from the shower. Delilah glanced down at Adam’s erect dick.

“Do you want me to...?”

Adam shook his head.

“No, it’s fine. It’s not like having an erection means I need to have sex. And I thought you said you didn’t want to.”

“That was before you — fine. It’s for the best. I just don’t particularly want to hear about ... what you saw on your sojourn into the Cave.”

Delilah picked up the shower gel bottle and squeezed some into her hands. She started to wash Adam more thoroughly, her hands gliding softly over his skin. She was careful, perfunctory; even when handling his dick and balls. Unlike before, she withheld herself from touching him sexually.

Adam shifted awkwardly on the spot. Having a gorgeous older woman wash him so intimately took some getting used to.

“You don’t have to —”

“Hush. It’s fine, Adam. It’ll keep my mind off ... things. Now tell me quickly before I change my mind.”

Adam went into greater detail about all he had experienced in the cave earlier that morning. Unlike before, he told Delilah what he had felt, the sensations of that other entity taking control of his body. What it had thought and how it had spoken. Delilah trembled through his rendition, but kept silent. Letting him finish.

Adam took a deep breath.

“So you see. Did your grandfather — if that was him — ever mention anything like that? Or write about it?”

Delilah finished washing Adam, and hugged her arms tightly around herself.

“No, never. Like I told you before — he became cagey as he grew in power. Hiding details or changing them. He was paranoid. Perhaps rightly so if what you saw was true.”

Adam eyed the trembling woman for a moment. Then it was his turn to pick up the shower gel. He squirted some onto his hands and started to gently wash Delilah. Her skin was absurdly soft, silken and flawless. He turned her around to face away from him, running his hands over her shoulder and upper arms.

Delilah looked over her shoulder at him.

“You don’t need to do that, Adam. I washed before you came here, and I didn’t spend the last hour or so having sex —”

Adam gave Delilah a half-smile, repeating her words.

“Hush. It’s fine. So you think that was your grandfather?”

Delilah looked at him for a long moment, then turned her head back to the front. She leant back against Adam’s chest. His hands wandered around to her front, caressing her belly. The backs of his hands brushing on the underside of her heavy breasts.

“I think so. Or a copy of him. We never ... spoke. Not like that, not about what he thought of his ... women. But it’s how he treated them.”

“Oh?”

Delilah nodded. She absently picked up Adam’s hands and placed them on her breasts. He started to soap them up, gently hefting and holding them.

“There were so many women. Girls, really. But very few he bothered speaking to after ... he claimed them.”

“So it was an actual community? Not just...”

“Slaves? No. There were families. No men though. Boys either. But I grew up with childhood friends. Not wholly innocent, but not worldly either. Until...”

“You ran?”

Delilah sighed. She leant her head back on Adam’s shoulder, closing her eyes as he fondled her chest. Adam wasn’t exactly washing her anymore, but neither was he callously groping her.

“Yes I ran. It was more involved than that, but I saw things that ... that I couldn’t bear any further. So I left to find help.”

“ ... will you tell me about it? I need to know.”

Adam’s voice was soft. He was trying not to push, regardless of how much the need to know burned within him. Adam could sense how much emotion was in Delilah from the trembles in her body.

“Yes. Tonight.”

Adam blinked, frowning.

“Tonight? But you said —”

Delilah turned within his arms. She looked up at him, her eyes intent.

“I did. And I will. But priorities, Adam. This is a long story and I will not rush it. And I need time to get my thoughts in order. It was a long, long time ago for me. And asides from all that, there are things we must deal with closer to home.”

Adam’s frown vanished as he took her meaning. He took a deep breath.

“Todd.”

“Yes, Todd.”

“I don’t disagree, but there was time to arrange all that ... sex?”

Delilah lightly hit Adam on the chest with a closed fist.

“I was protecting your mother. I told you that. Erin ... would not have fared well if she was trapped. Treated like you saw your aunt being.”

Adam shuddered. He didn’t disagree. He reached up and turned the water off, grabbing a towel and starting to dry himself off.

“What should we do? I thought you could kick him out of the Retreat...”

Delilah hesitated.

“It’s ... an option. But I need to make a few calls. Hopefully he is laying up, still injured from your fight. But in the meantime you need to do a few things.”

“Why can’t you just kick him out? Wouldn’t that be safer?”

“If you want to unleash him on the world in general.”

Adam paused, giving Delilah a look.

“I thought you didn’t care about that.”

Delilah sighed. She took a towel and started to dry off as well.

“Just ... don’t. That was before all these new ... revelations you brought to me about what you have seen. It would have been best if you had just killed him during your fight.”

Adam baulked, looking unsure he had heard Delilah right.

“Killed ... Delilah, I couldn’t do that!”

“I didn’t say you should. Just that it would have been ... easier. Neater. Covering up one disappearance would have been far simpler than dealing with a mind-controlling sociopath.”

Adam stared at Delilah.

“Have you — have you done that before?”

Delilah bent down and pulled on some underwear, letting her thick hair cover her face.

“I told you, no one else had stumbled across the Cave until you did, Adam.”

“Not that part. Have you made someone ... disappear before?”

Delilah eyed him steadily, her expression unreadable.

“Ask me no questions ... Anyway, Adam. You need to make sure all your ‘friend’s’ are alright. Take your mother back to the apartment as well. No one yet knows that she is staying there.”

“Delilah, I —”

Delilah raised her voice slightly.

“Adam. Make sure everyone is safe. Check on your cousin. Let me arrange some matters, then I will get back in touch with you.”

Adam hesitated. It wasn’t the worst plan of action — and he had left Holly, Kendra, and his sister alone with Fiona hours ago.

“Can I use your phone? I should call them, let them know I’m coming back.”

“Of course. There’s an internal phone system for each room. Let me get the apartment’s phone extension...”

Erin woke up to voices outside of Delilah’s bedroom. She cracked on eye open, blearily peering at the door. It was open a crack — perhaps an accident in not being properly closed.

“What time is it...?”

There was a clock on Delilah’s bedside table. Some time had passed but not too much. She had slept almost an hour. Or been unconscious.

Erin’s cheeks flamed as she recalled what had happened after her son had unexpectedly shown up at Delilah’s door. She’d been practically naked, cuddled up with Delilah on her sofa, and then...

“I really am the worst mother in the world...”

Strangely enough, Erin didn’t feel all that much guilt about it. She thought she was guilty but didn’t feel it. Maybe it wasn’t that surprising though. It was hard to regret something so ... extraordinary.

Erin hadn’t known what to think when Adam had joined them. Delilah had ... taken charge. Directing them both. Not leaving Erin any room to voice an objection. Not that she would have. Her reaction when her son had appeared had been ... powerful. Like everything had immediately become better.

And then...

“How — why — did that happen?”

The three of them had been sitting on the sofa, just talking, and then Delilah had kissed her. Erin had been mortified at first — excited too — at being kissed so close to her son. Adam would have to have seen them! But Delilah had pushed them further and further, encouraging them, until...

Erin shifted in the bed, wincing. She was so sore! Not just between her legs — that was a pleasant ache that made her feel deliciously decadent — but everywhere. She wasn’t as flexible as she had been when she’d been younger. Changing positions so many times, letting Adam mount her over and over again...

“Oh god.”

Erin sat up in bed, leaning over, and covering her face with her hands.

She’d had sex with her son. Over and over again.

The mother shivered. And she’d do it again. Over and over again. It had been the most intense moment of her life — even more so than her time with Delilah, and that had been something that Erin thought she would remember for the rest of her life.

Louder voices outside, coupled with the sounds of movement, made Erin look around for her clothes. She didn’t have much to wear, but thankfully someone had thoughtfully collected them and placed them on the foot of the bed. Erin hurriedly covered herself, pulling on the t-shirt and shorts. She felt undressed — the outfit was far more casual than she was used to wearing. She didn’t have a bra, just her bikini which was unfortunately still damp from their morning swim. Luckily her t-shirt was dark, so it didn’t reveal too much. Erin still felt slightly debauched though, sure her breasts were on full display for anyone that should happen to look her way. In fact, if Adam looked at her, Erin was sure that he would be able to see —

“Dammit, no...”

Erin grimaced, covering her chest with an arm. Just thinking about Adam like that had caused her nipples to harden, protruding noticeably through the fabric of her t-shirt. She was looking around, thinking about just wearing her damp bikini top, when the door opened.

“Erin? Ah, I thought I heard you moving around. How are you, Lovely?”

Delilah walked in smiling. She closed the door partway behind her — not quite blocking Adam out, but creating the illusion that it was just them talking.

“I’m — I’m okay. I guess I was pretty tired...”

Delilah nodded cheerfully. There was something off about the other woman, but she was hiding it — keeping a smile on her face. Delilah sat down next to Erin, giving her a one-armed hug.

“Worn out, you mean! You hung in there longer than I thought you could.”

“Delilah...”

Erin blushed. Coming face to face with her friend made Erin regret things all over again — regardless of how aroused she felt, even now. Delilah cupped her chin, turning Erin towards her, and gave her a swift kiss.

“Don’t be like that. It’s a lot, I’m sure — but don’t let society’s hangups get you down.”

“Society’s ... Delilah, I can’t just pretend nothing happened!”

Delilah gave her an eloquent shrug.

“I’m not saying you should share it. But I don’t judge you, so don’t you do it either.”

“It’s not that easy. I — I’m terrible. How could I even look Adam in the eye?”

Delilah gave her a shrewd look.

“Instead of thinking of it like that, perhaps you should consider Adam.”

“ ... what do you mean?”

“Well, do you want him to feel guilty? Make him feel like he did something wrong?”

“No! No, I ... never.”

Delilah gave her another hug then jumped to her feet. She held out a hand towards Erin.

“Excellent! Just focus on that.”

“Wait! I — I need a moment to compose myself. Or I —”

Delilah shook her head. She reached down and took Erin’s hand, pulling her to her feet.

“Best not. Don’t give yourself time to second guess. Just smile, act like you don’t regret it, and push forwards until you can make it true. Come on, you can go back with your son to the apartment. You can take the ATV. It’s not hard to drive.”

Erin blinked as she was towed out of the bedroom. She saw her son, standing there watching her, but she was too surprised to do more than smile at him.

“Wait, we are going?”

“You two are. I’m afraid something has come up and I need to ... do some work. It shouldn’t take me long, but there’s no point in the two of you being bored while I’m busy.”

“What’s going on?”

Adam walked over and pulled her into a gentle hug. He held her softly, like he was unsure how he should embrace her. It made Erin happy even as she blushed to feel his strong arms around her. When he bent his head and pressed his lips to hers in a light kiss, Erin almost melted.

Adam smiled at her. Like Delilah, Erin thought there was something going on behind her son’s eyes.

“Delilah said she had a few things to do. We were just contemplating waking you when we heard you get up.”

“I — yes, I was just tired — I mean...”

Erin flushed. She felt so disconcerted that she didn’t know where to look. Delilah took pity on her, and hugged her. It didn’t have the desired effect though, as for one brief moment Erin was sandwiched between the other woman and her son.

“It’s fine. Trust me on that. Adam, maybe I’ll let you drive the ATV back to Serenity Falls. I don’t know if you have your license, but you have to do little more than steer. Just don’t go too fast.”

Erin just watched as Adam and Delilah arranged matters. It wasn’t that she was being passive — she was collecting herself. Watching. She hadn’t been fully aware that Delilah and her son had known each other so well. It was obvious in retrospect. It should have ... not angered her, but at least it should have concerned her. It didn’t. On the contrary, Erin felt even closer to Delilah.

She wondered at it.

As Delilah waved them off, and Adam carefully began to to steer the vehicle down the road to the Retreat, Erin thought she saw something. A figure, crouched in the undergrowth. Erin frowned, turning in her seat to stare back the way they had come ... but she couldn’t see anything.

It had probably just been a shadow.

“Britt? Hello? Anyone there?”

“Don’t just yell out, Kendra.”

“Well I’m not just going to stand here!”

Emily sighed as she watched Holly take the pretty blonde to task. They were at the bar area of the Retreat, looking for someone — a bartender apparently.

The three of them had spent all morning sitting around the apartment, nominally watching after her cousin, Fiona. Waiting for Adam to come back. When her brother had finally bothered to get in touch with them, it was just to string them along even longer. Telling them that he was coming back, but he had some things to do first.

Emily folded her arms, looking grouchily to one side as Holly and Kendra bickered. Adam had a lot of nerve. First her brother had ... strung her along? Emily remembered the night before, and flushed. If only she hadn’t had so much to drink, hadn’t got on so well with Kendra. Then she would have been sober, and her and Adam could have ... gone further.