Page 37 of Habibi: Always and Forever

A COZY WINTER

MATTY

M atty sighed in satisfaction as the end credits rolled, the final girl’s triumphant, still-breathing form fading away from view.

“That was a good one, right?” he asked.

A vague sound of affirmation rumbled behind him, though Nightmare’s slow, determined stroking of Matty’s bare limbs didn’t stop.

Matty didn’t actually know which bits of warmth were Nightmare’s fingers and which were his demon’s mischievous shadows petting at him. The two of them were covered in at least three different blankets, and the specifics were murky under there.

Either way, it felt nice, and a lazy sort of arousal pooled in Matty’s belly, even though Nightmare had already ravished him twice today and it wasn’t even?—

Actually, Matty had no idea what time it was. It was already dark outside, he was pretty sure, though it was hard to tell with the curtains drawn. And anyway, whether there was daylight left wasn’t saying much when it came to coastal Maine in mid-December.

It didn’t matter anyway. Neither Matty nor Nightmare had anywhere to be other than their own cozy house, with its blazing fire and all the streaming services Matty’s horror-movie-loving heart could desire.

“You know, I was thinking, Scary…,” Matty mused.

“Yes, sweet?”

“It’s December.”

“Is it?” Nightmare asked without a hint of real curiosity. In all fairness, Matty’s beloved nightmare demon didn’t seem to have much use for the mortal calendar.

“It is,” Matty told him anyway. “So I was thinking we might need to watch—” He took a deep breath, aware that what he was about to say might be truly shocking. “—a Christmas movie.”

Nightmare didn’t gasp dramatically in surprise, but then, he was always a little subdued in his reactions, unless it came to Matty or, like, vengeful murder on Matty’s behalf.

Nightmare did make another vague rumbling noise, and the vibrations tickled Matty’s back.

They were lying sideways on the couch, facing the TV, and Nightmare was curled around behind him, so Matty couldn’t see Nightmare’s face, but he could imagine the peaceful, heavy-lidded nature of Nightmare’s gaze.

“I only have one in my rotation. It’s called Scrooged , and it’s a take on A Christmas Carol but with Bill Murray. So it’s funny but also has, like, a hint of spookiness,” Matty rambled happily. “Not really horror, but there are ghosts, you know?”

He was gifted with another rumbling sound.

Nightmare’s petting had traveled from Matty’s arm to his lower belly, and the backs of Nightmare’s long, taloned fingers kept brushing against Matty’s hardening cock, which was a little distracting.

He couldn’t tell if it was deliberate or not, but he had a feeling it might be.

“Scary?” Matty asked.

“Yes, sweet?”

“Are you paying attention to what I’m saying?”

“No, sweet.”

Matty craned his neck to look back over his shoulder at his demon.

Nightmare’s white eyes were glowing in the dim light of the living room.

Also, his extremely hard cock was pressed against Matty’s butt.

Which Matty had already known, but he’d let it become sort of background noise at some point during their last movie.

They were cuddled up naked under blankets, so of course they were going to get hard now and again. It was only natural.

“Scary?”

Nightmare’s lips tilted up in the smallest hint of a smile. “Yes, sweet?”

“Do you want to fuck me again before we watch another movie?”

Nightmare’s talons pressed in hard, pricking at the skin of Matty’s belly and hip. So that was two hands accounted for, which meant the warmth stroking Matty’s upper thighs was courtesy of the shadows. Good to know.

Nightmare didn’t give Matty a definite answer, but he slid a hand around to the back of Matty’s thigh and hitched Matty’s leg up and over, baring his crease. He moved his hips in a slow tease, sliding his cockhead up against that furrow, lubing Matty up with smoky precum.

So that seemed like an affirmative.

It wasn’t like any prep was really necessary at this point. This wasn’t their first time fucking today, and Matty was so relaxed and cozy his muscles kind of felt like melted butter.

He turned his head a little more, wordlessly requesting a kiss, and Nightmare obliged, his lips soft and warm, his tongue deftly exploring Matty’s mouth. Matty sighed into it happily. It was hard to believe they’d both been novices at kissing mere months ago—they were getting so good at it.

At the next roll of Nightmare’s hips, that fat head caught against Matty’s hole, and then Nightmare was pressing in with a long, slow growl.

Matty’s body welcomed him easily. It always did these days. Never mind Nightmare’s peculiar shape—the petals that peeled back from that overly large round head—he always felt like heaven pressed inside Matty’s channel, massaging Matty’s inner walls with every thrust.

“Ohhh,” Matty groaned, breaking the kiss as his eyes fell shut, blissed out beyond belief at being filled so perfectly. “That’s nice.”

“Mm.”

It started out lazy. Easy. Languid, even. But then Matty tried to grab his cock and stroke it in time with Nightmare’s movements, and Nightmare growled a low warning. Next thing Matty knew, he was on his stomach, Nightmare crouched over him, his big hands holding Matty’s to the couch.

Matty groaned, arching his back. “Yes, Scary,” he panted. “Yes, yes, yes.”

Nightmare took that for the directive it was and drove that thick cock into Matty again and again.

It wasn’t Matty’s hands that wrapped around his cock this time but Nightmare’s shadows, squeezing and sucking at Matty’s tender appendage.

Matty didn’t know how that worked, since they didn’t technically have mouths as far as he could tell, but fuck , it felt good.

Matty moaned, his breath punching out with each thrust. He loved that Nightmare’s hunger for him never seemed to diminish, no matter how many times they did this. Loved his demon’s strength and size and the way he took what he wanted with Matty’s full, unbridled, enthusiastic consent.

Matty sank into the pleasure, mouth open and eyes closed, cheek pressed against the blanket, his fingers clutched in Nightmare’s hold.

He felt them build and build, that pressure and heat in his belly, until one of the shadows enveloped Matty’s cock fully, squeezing tight, and then he was exploding, stars behind his eyes and senseless cries escaping from his throat.

Above him, Nightmare hissed sharply, pressing in hard, and Matty felt the warmth of his demon’s release, the telltale increase in fullness that meant Nightmare’s petals had expanded and latched inside him.

Matty worked on catching his breath as Nightmare turned them carefully to their sides once more.

“We really need to wash these blankets,” Matty murmured after a moment.

“In time. Let’s watch your ghosts, sweet.”

Matty grinned, his eyes still closed. A shadow brushed his cheek in a light kiss. “You were paying attention.”

He felt a little lust-drunk and kind of giddy with happiness. He really couldn’t think of anything better than a movie marathon with his Scary while they were literally locked together. Matty didn’t care if that made them weird or codependent. He didn’t care if they hadn’t left the house in?—

Hm. How long had it been since they’d left the house?

As if in answer, there was a determined knock on Matty’s front door.

“It’s Sascha,” Nightmare rasped, placing the remote control back in Matty’s hand. “We can ignore it.”

Matty didn’t have to ask Nightmare how he knew who was at the door. Nightmare always knew. Maybe one of his shadows was acting as sentinel on their front porch at all times, or maybe it was that heightened demonic hearing of his; Matty had no idea.

More determined knocking rang through the house. “Matteo Night!” Sascha yelled. “I know you’re in there!”

Matty couldn’t help his grin. He loved when people used his married name.

“You can hide, but I’m not leaving! Good luck watching your horror crap while I’m knocking away until my knuckles bleed!”

Matty’s grin turned into a frown. His horror movies weren’t crap . Sascha must really be in a tizzy to be so insulting.

He tilted his head back to look at Nightmare, who gazed back at Matty placidly. No one would be able to tell by his face that he was technically still fucking Matty, his cock lodged deep inside and pressing against Matty’s prostate in a way that was just a little distracting.

“Um, I don’t think he’s leaving. Could you—?” Matty wriggled, indicating he’d like Nightmare to unlatch his petals, which were keeping him in place.

Nightmare groaned, clasping Matty’s hip tightly with one taloned hand. “Not if you move in that way. Stay still, sweet.”

Matty stilled obediently. He was surprised Nightmare wasn’t making more of a fuss about the interruption, but maybe he’d realized it would be a lost cause against Sascha’s stubbornness.

There was a grunt and a groan, and then Nightmare was withdrawing slowly.

Matty shivered at the loss, as well as the feel of copious amounts of cum spilling from him.

But the shadows were there in an instant, cleaning him up in their unobtrusive way.

Matty was far beyond the point of getting embarrassed by that anymore.

He thanked the shadows sleepily and climbed out of their blankets on unsteady legs, donning the robe he’d flung over the arm of the couch at some point. It was black, with little chibi horror villains on the back. Chaos had given it to him, possibly as a gag gift, but Matty loved it unironically.

He opened the front door to find Sascha on the other side of it, poised with one fist raised, as if to knock again. Kai was standing on the porch behind him, in his human form. They were both wearing fashionable winter coats, though Matty knew Kai didn’t actually need his.

“Hey, Sascha. Hello, Kai.”

Sascha gave Matty a critical once-over, his pretty pale face twisting into a grimace. “Have you been fucking for twelve days straight?”

“Um…”

Sascha gave an exaggerated eye roll. “No one has seen you for two weeks, Matty. And you’re not answering your phone.”

“Well…” Matty was pretty sure he’d let his phone die days ago. Possibly quite a few days ago. It hadn’t seemed that important to keep it charged.

Whoops.

“Seth made key lime cream puffs,” Kai said, his deep voice holding a note of reproof. “And you didn’t show up to receive them.”

“He did? Did you…?” Matty eyed Sascha expectantly, hoping to spot a Bakeshop bag tucked away somewhere on his person. It felt like so long since he’d been to his favorite bakery in town. Which made sense, since it had apparently been two weeks.

Sascha set his hands on his slim hips. “I didn’t bring you any! If you want treats, you have to leave your hovel.”

Matty frowned at him. “It’s not a hovel .”

His genuine consternation seemed to take the wind out of Sascha’s sails, if only a little bit.

“You’re right,” Sascha said with a nod, although he did pinch the bridge of his nose in the exact way his older brother Ivan did when he was trying to gather his patience.

“I’m sorry. It’s an adorable cottage. We were just a little worried. ”

Matty felt warmth at his back, and then a moment later, a pale, tattooed arm wrapped around his chest.

Nightmare had joined them, also in his human form. Matty had one horrible moment of worrying Nightmare had come to the door naked, but no, he’d definitely gotten dressed first.

Good. No one else got to see naked Nightmare. Not even Sascha.

“Why do you worry?” Nightmare asked in a deceptively mild rasp. “You think I neglect my mate?”

The unspoken threat in the suggestion might have worked to intimidate Sascha once, but he’d more or less gotten over his fear of Matty’s nightmare demon. Maybe he’d realized Nightmare would never harm someone Matty genuinely cared about.

“I don’t know,” Sascha replied, voice dripping in sarcasm. “Have you remembered he needs to consume more than cock to survive?”

“Sascha,” Matty chastised. Really, what if his neighbors heard? They’d think he was a horny degenerate.

He was a horny degenerate, possibly, but most people still thought he and Nightmare were a respectable married couple, so…

“We ordered groceries,” Nightmare said. He almost sounded defensive, which was unlike him.

“And have you used them?” Sascha asked skeptically. Probably rightfully. Everyone knew Matty wasn’t much of a cook.

“Yeah, we got easy stuff. I promise I haven’t been wasting away.” Matty reached out a hand, brushing Sascha’s wrist in apology. “Sorry, Sascha, I didn’t mean to worry you. It’s just so cold and snowy out. We’ve been having a movie marathon.”

Sascha arched a brow. “For two weeks?”

Matty shrugged. “I guess.”

Sascha gave Matty another once-over, slow and thorough this time. “You need fresh air, babe,” he announced at the end of it. “Like, pronto. Get dressed, please.” He clapped his hands. “Chop, chop.”

Matty must have really made a mess of things if Sascha of all people was declaring he needed outdoor time.

He peered back over his shoulder at Nightmare. “I guess my legs could use a stretch.”

Nightmare inclined his head. “As you wish, my sweet.”

“Okay. Two seconds.”

Matty ran upstairs to change into something suitable for the outdoors.

Maybe it was a good thing Sascha had come to check on them.

Matty and Nightmare usually took an evening walk around the neighborhood, but they’d had a big storm come through a few weeks ago, and Matty had kind of delighted in being snowed in.

And then, he supposed, they’d just…gotten out of the habit.

But now they could get a nice walk in and find out what Sascha and Kai had been up to all in one fell swoop.

Matty glanced doubtfully around at the mess of their bedroom, with dirty clothes all over the floor and empty dishes on the nightstand.

Maybe they’d indulge in a cleaning spree afterward, wash the blankets on the couch too.

And maybe Sascha and Kai would even want to watch their Christmas movie with them! Matty was kind of curious if the demons would understand the humor. He knew Chaos definitely would, if he were around.

Actually, should Matty save it for when Cooper and Chaos visited for the holidays?

He couldn’t stop grinning to himself as he donned sweats and rummaged in his closet for a winter coat. He loved holing up in his beloved home with Nightmare, but it was something special to have people that worried about them.

These days, Matty had not only a perfect mate and husband but friends—chosen family, even—who were concerned enough to show up on his porch if he disappeared for too long. People who would walk in the snow and rap on his door and refuse to leave until they saw he was well.

Matty ran back down the steps to join his people, feeling lighter than air.

Really, what more could anyone ask for?

* * *

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