The living room was quiet now, the last echoes of laughter and counting fading into the night. Poornima curled under the soft blanket, her face relaxed, finally allowing herself to drift into sleep after a long day of classes, internship, and mischievous punishment.

Veeresh lay beside her, a rare calmness settling over his dark features. His muscles ached faintly from the sit-ups and push-ups, but instead of annoyance, a slow smile tugged at his lips.

> “Did it pain?” Poornima had asked before drifting off, her voice soft, sleepy.

> “No, Ruby,” he had replied, voice low but warm, the first hint of softness she had heard in a long while from him.

Her quiet smile had been enough to make his chest tighten in ways he refused to name. Watching her sleep now, he remembered every giggle, every playful remark, every moment she had perched herself on his back as he struggled through push-ups.

For the first time, Veeresh realized that obedience could be pleasurable when it came to Ruby. Not in submission to fear or duty, but in her simple, joyous dominance — the way she laughed, the way she commanded, the way she made him part of her world without even trying.

His mind wandered, plotting a small act of redemption — or perhaps indulgence.

> Tomorrow… her favorite cake, he thought, a dark smirk forming. She’ll see… even a devil can remember.

He adjusted himself slightly, careful not to wake her, and let the quiet of the night envelop them. Side by side, they slept — one dreaming of freedom, the other quietly learning that obsession could be a strange, tender thing when it came wrapped in the warmth of Ruby’s laughter.

And for Veeresh Deewan, the underworld king feared by all, tonight was the first night he had slept with a genuine smile on his face.