Aurelia was floating. In darkness, in water, she did not know. There was a curious weightlessness to her limbs, with her head similarly resting in the clouds. She should probably pull herself together...but there was no urgent need to right? A voice inside told her it was alright to sink and let go. She liked to listen to that voice. Good things happened when she obeyed. It felt good to obey. 

Her body thrummed pleasantly. An unexplained energy coursed through her veins, urging her to stretch out. A happy sigh escaped her lips, it was time to wake up. 

The angel’s lithe body arched with her arms reaching above her head as blue fluttered open. 

To be met by purple. 

Maeve hovered above her with a smile that was both languid and smug. But Aurelia wasn’t indignant, enraged, or disgusted. She felt at peace, oddly; just staring into those beautiful eyes. Something warm and soft stroked her cheek. It was the demon, leaning in tenderly, searching her face.

“How do you feel?” Her soft breath whispered across Aurelia’s face.

“Peaceful.” The angel answered gently, instantly, but most shocking of all, honestly.

“Good.” Was the demon’s soft hum, cradling Aurelia’s face almost lovingly. Maeve’s lips brushed against her ear.

“Wake up.” 

Aurelia came back to herself. “What?” The angel shook her head and blinked several times. Lifting her head, she saw the bed across from her and felt a pressure on the front of her body. Was she lying face down on something? Aurelia made to push herself up. 

She couldn’t move. A glance across her shoulder revealed that she was laying on her front across a wooden bench of some sort. Her arms and legs were locked in stirrups secured to the legs of the bench…because of course they would be. She squirmed around and tested her bonds, only to find that she could not even raise her shoulders. She could only lift her head from a padded chin rest, which was surprisingly considerate. 

The angel would be damned if she didn’t at least give it another try. She heaved with as much strength as she could muster, the muscles on her back contracting and pulling with the all the might of a divine warrior-the restraints creaked and groaned but would not give. “Maeve!” She bellowed, craning her neck and casting about blindly in the all-surrounding darkness. “I know you’re watching, what are you up to this time you vile hell-spawn?!”

Aurelia jumped, the bench creaking but not bending when Maeve’s hot breath misted over her ear. ‘When did-?’

“Aww, if you missed me, you should just say so.” Cooed the demon, her words dripping with equal parts honey and sulphur. “I suppose that’s to be expected. Lost little birds like you depend on their Mistress to guide them.” Her fingers trailed slowly up Aurelia’s bare back. She delighted in the goosebumps that raised in the wake of her touch.

“I don’t serve you.” Hissed the angel through gritted teeth, her entire body tensed as she attempted to set Maeve on fire with a hateful glare.

“It’s only natural to resist at first. This is new to you after all, being mine. But don’t worry...your Mistress is here to help you accept your place.” Maeve dug her nails into Aurelia’s supple skin and dragged them luxuriously down her muscled back. The angel’s head tilted back in a strangled groan.

Something soft and prickly brushed against her ear, causing Aurelia to jerk her head away with an annoyed growl. “Cease your childish-“ Her words died out when she caught sight of Maeve and her insufferable smile, brandishing her own feather.

“Look familiar?” The demon gloated. She ghosted the edges along Aurelia’s arms and sides, tracing her figure all the way down to her thigh, where the feather circled back along the inside of her leg to glance teasingly close to her pussy.

“Drop.”

“Nnh..” Aurelia tensed for but a brief moment as she was overcome with a full body shudder. A hand pressed down on the back her head- “Drop.” -forcing the angel to acknowledge the floaty feeling that made her head sink into the awaiting chin rest.

“Good girl.” Purred the demon, stroking her golden tresses. The feather was still there, between Aurelia’s legs. The soft downy edges teased her outer lips, slipping over and around and just barely teasing above where her clit started to swell. “You remember how good it feels, don’t you?” 

“Nno…I won’t-” Protested the angel, fighting to lift her head against the heavy warmth permeating the edge of her consciousness. Aurelia’s words slurred almost as if she was sleepy, almost as if her thoughts were being stirred into a mushy slush of molten heat.

“Drop.” Maeve was insistent, pushing Aurelia’s head back down, followed by a commanding swipe of the feather along her nether-lips. The angel’s sky-blue eyes fluttered desperately, battered by the rising tide of pleasure and erotic tingles of obedience. A soft huff escaped her lips, the result of a losing battle against a pleased sigh. 

“Drop. Obedience means pleasure. Drop.” Maeve drawled again and again, leaving no room for Aurelia to gather her resistance. A hand remained tangled in her hair, keeping her down. And then there was the feather. The damned feather never faltered, constantly teasing the angel just enough to make her want more. It was frustrating how there wasn’t enough friction and pressure to properly stoke the fire within her-Aurelia gasped. 

The startled acknowledgement of her own lust caused her eyes to roll up with a defeated groan. Her body relaxed on the bench, surrendering to the haze of subspace just as her mind buckled under its defeat.

“Good girl,” cooed a frustratingly sweet voice in her ear. A full body shiver accompanied her soft moan. 

“Obedience means pleasure.” The demon repeated, deft fingers stroking between Aurelia’s legs. They peeled apart her wet, swollen outer lips and held them open with one hand. “Obedience. Means. Pleasure.” A single finger stroked up her slit with each word, rolling around her clit until it emerged readily coated in Aurelia’s need. 

“Drop.” The feather slid between her lips to stroke lazily, torturously sweet across her clit, making Aurelia’s hips twitch helplessly each time.

“Drop.” Again. 

“Drop.” And again.

The breath of a tiny whine escaped Aurelia, her darkened blues barely visible through eyes so hooded they were almost closed.

“Good girl,” Fingers combed appreciatively through her golden tresses. The angel trembled with an unintelligible murmur. Maeve’s full lips curled, flipping the feather around to dip the sharp tip in a healthy amount of the angel’s arousal. 

A cart rolled to a stop by her side, the only item on its surface a carved dark bowl of obsidian that seemed both ragged and smooth.

With a lingering pat on the angel’s head, she bit into her free arm and held it aloft. Rivulets of blood dark as midnight and thick as oil dripped into the bowl. The moment the bowl was half full, it emitted a peculiar glow that was dark at its core, yet surrounded by a misty grey-white light. Her arm already perfectly healed, Maeve intoned words of power; infernal in origin and primal in nature. 

They seemed to echo, hollow yet heavy, layering over each other with sharp hisses and purring drawls. The tip of the feather was used to stir the blood, only stopping when the colour of the mixture turned chalky white.

Now that the makeshift quill was ready, Maeve turned once more to her favourite angel. “Be sure to stay still, good girls get rewards.” Aurelia squirmed a little, and Maeve took pleasure at the sight of fresh desire pooling between her legs.

The demon took her time, running her hand appreciatively across Aurelia’s back, marvelling at the deceiving nature of her supple skin. For such delicious beauty to hold so much power; muscle and bone strong enough to win wars, magic so impressive it inspired worship. Maeve licked her lips. Now all hers to properly enjoy.

The first line scratched into Aurelia’s back drew a low hiss from the angel. Maeve caressed the back of her head almost idly, noticing how her new pet settled into her touch with a self-satisfied smirk. Each stroke of the quill required a fresh dab of ink, each stroke caused Aurelia to squirm and murmur soft sounds of pain and pleasure. Each stroke saw the rune closer to completion, each stroke chained Aurelia tighter under Maeve’s control.

Maeve appraised her work with smug pride, deciding to run the fluffy end of the feather along Aurelia’s slit one more time before putting it away. It was just too much fun to have her tremble helplessly before her. The cuffs pop open simultaneously with a heavy ‘clink!’, and Maeve guides the angel to her feet.

She sways slightly, until Maeve cradles her neck with her hands.

“Well done, Aurelia. Time to wake up.”

It takes a little bit of time, the angel’s eyes blink slowly a couple of times as her mind swims back up through syrup. Maeve could almost see her thoughts rearranging in real time, the spark of realisation lighting the fury on Aurelia’s face as she came back to herself and slapped Maeve’s hands away. 

“What did you do?!” 

The smile on Maeve’s face was wicked.

“Kneel.”

“What-?”

The demon relished Aurelia’s expression of pure surprise when her knees buckled against her will.