Page 8 of Claiming a Demon
I took his suggestion seriously, giving myself time before I sat up. I thought my mind would go back to spinning the minute he was through, but I was surprised when I sat up and stayed calm. I got to my feet, pulling my shirt over my head, and flexed my wings a little. Maybe next time I’d mention that he could touch those as well. It was a long flight from the transport tunnel I’d come through, and I wouldn’t mind if he helped there as well.
I paused, blinking a few times. There was the automatic assumption that there would be a next time. It surprised me, given how I felt when I came in here. But when Zach came back into the room, a tall glass of water and a mug of tea in his hands, I knew I couldn’t deny it. In the hands of this tiny human, all my stress disappeared. I’d definitely be back.
“You’ll want to drink a lot of water, flush out the toxins in your system. We can go sit in the meditation room if you want, or if you’d prefer more privacy, we can stay in here and chat.”
I considered it before gesturing to the table. “Here might be better. I wouldn’t want to upset your patrons.”
He waved a hand dismissively. “If they can’t be polite, then they’re the ones who should leave, not you. But if you’re more comfortable here, that’s fine too. Why don’t you sit down and drink those? Then you can answer a few questions.”
He sat beside me when I settled on the edge of the massage table, holding my water for me so I could sip the tea before it cooled. Chamomile, my favorite, and perfectly steeped.
“What do you want to know?”
I wasn’t the chatty type, and I wasn’t sure exactly what he was looking for.
“Well, let’s start with your name. I realized I should’ve asked before, but you looked so stressed out that it slipped my mind,” he admitted.
“Malakai. But my friends call me Mal.”
His smile took over his face, and even in the dark, he lit up the room. It was confusing comparing the bubbly ball of energy from the other day to the calm, serene one in front of me. I almost wondered if I was sitting with a different person.
“Malakai. I like that. It’s pretty. How do you feel right now? Did I hit the right spots? Are you carrying any tension that I missed?”
I took another drink of tea, considering his questions. “I feel… calm. You got where I needed it, which was surprising since I didn’t even know. And the only tension you missed was in my wings, mostly along the base of them.”
He wrinkled his nose in an apologetic look. “Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t know if you’d be comfortable with that and it felt rude to ask.”
I nodded. He was being polite, and there was nothing wrong with that. “In the future, I’m comfortable with them being touched as long as I’m aware beforehand and you’re gentle.”
His face lit up in delighted surprise. “So you think you’ll come back?”
“If that’s alright with you.”
He looked overjoyed, and I felt a swell of pride for being part of what made him that excited. If my schedule at the restaurant allowed it, I’d be back every day. I couldn’t, I worked weird hours and didn’t always have the time, but I had one day off a week. Hopefully, that day would work for him, too.
“That’s great. I’ll do a little research, see if I can find anything about massaging wings. I’m sure there’s stuff out there. In the meantime, once you finish up your drink, I’ll bring you up front and we can see where we’ll be able to fit you in. There’s someone here every day so–”
“I’d prefer to stay with you,” I interrupted. The massage was nice, but there was a certain level of trust involved when letting a human that close to me, and I’d feel better if I could stick with the human I knew.
He nodded in agreement and I felt myself let out a breath. I was glad it wasn’t an issue to stick with him.
“That’s fine. I’ve got openings in my schedule pretty much every day. I’ve only been working here a year and I’m basically a floater. I only have a couple of regulars. It gives me a little more freedom with my schedule.”
After I finished drinking both glasses Zach gave me, he led me out to the lobby, which was quiet now. When I looked around with a frown, he shrugged.
“We closed about fifteen minutes ago, but we never rush clients out before they’re ready. Winnie left me her key so I can lock up once I clean up the room.” He moved behind the front desk, tapping a few keys to wake the computer up. “So what days and times work best for you?”
Luckily, he had an opening on my day off. It was just before closing, like tonight. I found I preferred that, since I wouldn’t be frightening random humans who were only here to relax. And I’d still be done here before I met with my friends for poker.
Zach disappeared into the back after we were through, so he could clean up his room. I waited for him, prolonging the inevitable, and when he bounced back into the room, the energetic side of him made an appearance.
“I’m starving. It’s a good thing my favorite restaurant is on my way home. Are you hungry?”
CHAPTER SIX
ZACHARIAH
I gave Mal his first massage free, since I basically bullied him into it. He tried to argue with me, but I shut down the computer with a wink and hurried away to clean the room up before we left. I checked each room, the bathroom, and the meditation room in case there were any more clients still making their way out, and shut down all the sound machines. The rest of the team had already dealt with everything else, so I hurried out to meet Mal and beamed at him when I found him still waiting for me.