by Marie Mistry
He shoved inside me and I gasped at the invasion. He stilled instantly.
“Hurt?” He ground out, and I knew he was worried about this only being my second time.
I shook my head and he pushed onwards, using my hips as leverage to bury himself inside me to the hilt. The fullness was incredible, and I moaned.
“You are mine, Lilith.” He punctuated each word with a thrust. It was the most primal way to take a woman, and I was helpless as my arched back pressed my upper body into the mattress. It didn’t stop me looking back at him, even if my eyelids did keep fluttering closed at the perfect friction of him pounding into me.
“Prove it.” The animal part of me dared him.
His pace increased, and I clung on to the bars of the headboard to keep from being driven up the bed.
His cock hit that place inside of me with every frenzied thrust, sending me closer and closer to the edge. Just as I began to orgasm, he stilled completely inside of me. This time I cried out.
“Move, damn you!”
“Bad girls don’t get orgasms,” He reminded me, pulling out and leaving me achingly empty. “Now lick me clean and suck me dry, Succubus.”
I was manhandled around once again, this time lying facing his shining manhood, my eyes level with it as it bobbed heavily, purple with blood.
Unable to resist, I took it in my mouth, tasting our combined flavours.
“Damn, Baby Girl, that’s good,” he groaned, as I swirled my tongue around the head. “Deeper. That’s it.”
I took him down to the hilt and stopped, swallowing to let my throat muscles massage him.
With a strangled cry, he jerked, and I felt the hot pulse of his semen explode in me with the accompanying rush of power that threatened to overwhelm me. My channel pulsed with emptiness, reminding me that despite the power rush, I was still aching for an orgasm.
He withdrew quickly, tapping his still semi-hard cock against my lips. “Clean me up,” he ordered. “Then promise that you’ll let me protect you next time and I’ll consider letting you come tonight.”
I stilled mid lick, then looked up at him. “I want to come now.” Was that husky voice my own?
He shook his head. “You had your chance. Now if you behave and let me care for you like a good little mate, I’ll give you your fill tonight. If not…” He placed two fingers in my entrance and pumped them twice, stirring my arousal, then removed them straight after. “We’ll try again tomorrow.”
I moved my hand towards my clit, seeking relief, but he caught me before I managed it. “Nope. No relief for you till tonight, if you’re good.”
I moaned in frustration. “You bastard.”
He smirked, drawing me up and into his arms. “You shouldn’t defy me, then you could have all the orgasms you want.” He kissed my forehead. “Good morning, Baby Girl.”
I settled my head into his chest, despairing at how mercilessly turned on I was.
We embraced silently for a few minutes, and I breathed in his coffee and sandalwood scent, letting the lust clear from my brain.
“You broke into my room,” I realised, wondering how he had gotten past my locked door.
He nodded. “Controlled hydrokinesis,” he explained. “You freeze the water in the lock then use it like a key. It takes finesse though.”
I glowered. “Contrary to widely held belief, I am entitled to privacy.”
He took my chin in his grasp. “If you put a locked door between us, I will remove the obstacle. Now explain this project on your wall to me. I read the letter my mother sent you, they’re all past demons, correct?”
I was furious at the invasion. “If you already know, why do you bother asking?” I demanded, breaking free of his embrace. “I can’t live with this Aeron. I’m a private person, you can’t just blast your way into my life like this!”
His raised brow told me what he thought of that statement, and I gave a small scream of frustration, pushing up off the bed entirely. “I’m going to breakfast,” I announced. “Go away.”
Of course, he just sat there smirking, but I’d had enough. With a blast of power, I used a shield of psychokinesis to lift him and carry him off the bed whilst more power opened the door. The shield deposited him in the corridor and disappeared, replaced with a new one preventing him from getting into the room.
I slammed the door behind the shield, leaving him naked in the corridor, looking angry as all hell.
I showered, finishing what he had refused to by myself, because I wasn’t going to stand for his high-handed behaviour. When I got out, I used a combination of aerokinesis and pyrokinesis to dry my hair before I brushed it. Feeling especially pissed off, I left my horns completely bare, and created a severe French plait straight down the back of my skull. Looking in the mirror, I decided it was an edgy look, so I complimented it with knee high black boots and a dark choker.
When I got into the great hall, my nemesis-mate wasn’t there, and I breathed a sigh of relief, one that was short lived when I sat down at the table.
“Is it true you and Aeron are exclusive?” Ryon asked as soon as I sat down.
I groaned. “It wasn’t my idea. I’m not talking about it. He pissed me off.”
“Then you’ll be happy to know your first lesson is cancelled,” Nelly told me. “Maddox has disappeared, and word is he won’t be back till tonight.”
I shrugged into my cereal, effectively ending the conversation. When the bell rang, I let everyone leave before I stood and made my way out of the hall, just in time to see Bane standing in a corner, Aeron opposite him. I ducked out of sight, behind the very gargoyle Aeron had dragged me behind to threaten me after I saw his parents together. I was ashamed to be eavesdropping, but after the ass Aeron was being this morning, I didn’t let myself feel the guilt.
“Have you tried treating her with respect and apologising?” Bane asked.
“She needs to get it into her head that I’m going to protect her now and let me get on with it. Lilith is in so much danger, and she doesn’t even know it! Plus, she’s got some stupid idea about privacy. I’ve seen Dad and your mother. There is no privacy there, they go everywhere together.”
“Yeah, but that kinda bond takes years to form. Plus, we’re not cavemen anymore, banging her on the head with a club and telling her she belongs to you isn’t going to work.” I resist the urge to snort. “Have you tried telling her something you like about her?”
“Of course.”
“Saying she has nice tits doesn’t count.” Bane guessed his half-brother’s meaning easily. “Why not compliment her intelligence or –”
“How do you know she has nice tits?!” Aeron roared over him.
“Calm down.” Bane sounded exasperated. “God, you need to get a grip. Now, as I was saying, buy her some flowers, or a book or chocolates. Then apologise for being an asshole, explain that you were concerned over how her parents treat her, and explain that you didn’t like the distance because you feel protective of her. Then grovel for her forgiveness.”
I could feel the force of Aeron’s displeasure. “How am I to blame? She shut me out, emotionally and physically!”
“But why would she do that? Lilith may have a temper, but she isn’t the type to blow hot and cold, you must have hurt her for her to want to shut you out like that.”
There was a moment of absolute silence. “Hurt her?” Aeron sounded strangled.
I chanced a peak, confused when I saw his expression caught between pain and disbelief. Surely, he had known he was hurting me? It had been pretty obvious.
Bane seemed sympathetic. “I know you would never mean to. But she’s a person, treat her like one.”
“I don’t know how. You had Father and a mother to work out how to interact with your mate. I had no one.”
“Professor Saxon tried her best.” Bane’s tone turned very cautious, like he knew this was a topic that could set his brother off easily. “She was traumatised by rape and confused when you were young…”
“And now I’m an adult, she can just about look me in the eye and have a half an hour conversation with me once a week. Progress.” The sarcasm dripped heavily in the air. “Look, thanks for the advice about Lilith, but I’ve got to go. I haven’t seen her leave the hall, she could be in trouble.”
I saw Bane’s arm sweep out to catch Aeron as he walked away. “For what it’s worth, brother, I’m glad you found her.”
I pressed myself into the stonework, praying to remain hidden until they’d both left. Somehow, neither of them saw me, and I allowed myself to breathe a sigh of relief.
It was no real surprise to me to learn that Aeron was struggling to communicate. But I was shocked to hear of his mother’s neglect. By all appearances, they had a good relationship. It made me wonder what else I didn’t know about him.
I wasn’t ready to face him yet, so I knew the library – where I had been planning to spend the morning –was out. It was the first place anyone who knew me would think to look for me. I thought back to my wall of notes, and my destination clicked.
Chapter 15
The main keep at Vice, like all demonic buildings, had a chapel devoted to the Strange God. In ancient times, people would worship fervently, but demons had pulled away from that kind of worldview in the past few hundred years. Most people only entered the temple when they wanted to be married or conceive a child, neither of which could be done without the correct ritual and the Strange God’s blessing.
The door creaked as I pushed it open and stepped into a dusty corridor. By my estimation I was somewhere at the back of the castle, but I had become hopelessly lost twice in my attempt to find the chapel. Now, as I walked down another unused stone hall, I sneezed from all the dust and my eyes watered horribly. If the door at the end of the hallway wasn’t the chapel, I resolved to end my search and go back to the library. As I walked, I examined the stained-glass windows, sure that these were a sign I was going in the right direction.
They showed endless scenes of violence and carnality, and above each one was a portrait of a hooded figure, eyes hidden in shadow but mouth curling in a smile. The traditional depiction of the Strange God.
I reached the end of the corridor, and opened the large, heavy door.
“Finally,” I grumbled, as I beheld a room bathed in coloured light.
It was laid out much like a human chapel, except in place of crosses there were large discs of polished crystal brimstone etched with heptagrams and framed in gold, and dark statues of hooded, cloaked men in place of colourful statues of saints. That enigmatic smile followed me as I walked around, my heels echoing on the floor. I was certain I was alone, but a figure surprised me as I walked between carved stone columns.
“It’s not often someone visits the shrine of the Strange God.” A hooded priest startled me, and I whirled around so fast I almost tripped over my own feet. “What brings you here, child?”
I examined him, cloaked exactly like the statues, and decided that I’d never seen this man around the school. Did he live in the chapel?
“I am searching for answers.” I traced a finger along my horns.
“You won’t be wanting the Strange God’s blessing then?”
I read the disappointment in his tone and decided if I wanted any more information out of him it might be best to get on his good side. “Bless away.”
The priest moved towards me, although how he saw where he was going in that cloak was a mystery. I was trying to catch a glimpse of his face in the darkness, but it was nearly impossible because of the cut of the hood.
A youthful hand, clutching a goblet full of dark liquid, appeared from beneath the fabric and offered it to me. “Drink and receive the Strange God’s blessing.”
I took the cup hesitantly, and gulped down the wine... Only it wasn’t wine. It was something worse.
“Blood!”
I coughed and gagged while the priest looked on, still bored with the entire affair. “I would have thought one marked by the Strange God would be more accustomed to his rituals.”
My vision began to blur. I groped around for something to hold myself up with, finding the edge of a long bench just in time.
“What was in that?” I slurred, slumping into a pew.
“What you came looking for.” I heard the words, but they were distorted. For a moment, it was like I was drunk, and then in an instant of piercing clarity, I felt my consciousness shoot from my body like an arrow from a bow. When I opened my eyes, I was a ghost; a faded, transparent version of myself floating in the domed ceiling of the chapel. I half expected I was imagining things. But when I looked down, the priest was carrying my physical body out of sight. The sight was so strange it jarred me out of my disbelief.
“Disorienting, is it not?” A voice like a thrumming of the air commented.
I whirled around, searching for the source of the voice.
“Over here.” I spun around and around, looking everywhere to decipher who was speaking.
“Where?”
“Now, now, this won’t do.” The voice seemed to come from all around me all at once. “So blind.”
“Who are you?” I demanded.
“Let’s just call me your benefactor.”
My motion stopped suddenly, and I’m left staring at the statue of the Strange God. “Are you…”
“I don’t like labels.” He replied impatiently. “Now, for the purposes of our conversation, you will refer to me as ‘Benefactor’.”
“Fine. Why am I like this? How do I get back?”
There was an amused chuckle. “Were you not, only moments ago, hoping for a way to evade your mate problems? Linger a while, ask the right questions.”
I rack my brain for what my ‘benefactor’ could mean by that. “How am I blind?”
“The real question is, have you ever been able to see?”
My surroundings blurred. Soon I was in an office with modern art hanging on the walls facing out over the familiar skyline of London. It was such a cloudless day that I could see the Gherkin and St Paul’s from the window. It was such a normal, bland environment that I was confused by it for a second. At an oval shaped conference table, a familiar woman stood up, surrounded by fuzzy figures. I did a quick count in my head. A total of nine people, unidentifiable because of their blurriness.
“The Carazor girl is a Succubus,” The Tester confirmed, addressing the room. “Before Vrosis put a bounty on my head, he told me he would kill to keep the truth from coming out. It is obvious he intends to unite the fragments of Lust Caste behind her and bring the others out of hiding.”
I frowned as another familiar face came into focus. “My son is involved, and he suspects me,” Professor Saxon announced, standing as well. “If he tells his father of this suspicion, all my work on trying to get Kellert to divulge the other Succubae and Incubi locations will have been for nothing. I’m so damn close. Once I have their locations we can move on Lust and crush the last flickers of resistance from them. Sloth and Gluttony will fall in line thereafter.”
“I have faith in your ability to retrieve those answers, regardless of your son’s interference.” A blurry figure at the head of the oval with a distorted voice answered. “Tell me more about the Carazor girl.”
Professor Saxon frowned. “Surely she’s nothing. Just a girl marked by a long-forgotten God.”
“She’s a figurehead for rebellion,” the Tester retorted.
“Or, a symbol that can be broken,” the head of the table replied.
Suddenly the scene blurred, and I was back in the chapel.
“What was that?” I demanded of the empty presence surrounding me.
“That is a group of demons plotting the destruction of all you’ve known in their century-long quest for power. But, by all means, continue to worry over a pair of horns and your petty teenage problems. Honestly, three centuries ago people were so much more mature by the time they reached your age.”
I was offended enough that I would have crossed my arms and h
uffed displeasure, if I had the body required for both actions. “I am mature. It’s not as if I knew about any of this before just now.”
“Still not asking the right questions.”
I grumbled about where he could shove his questions but pondered it a little longer. “Okay, so if we’re at war, or will be soon, where are our allies?”
“You’ve been at war since your sub-caste was wiped out.” I might have been imagining it, but I thought I detected a thread of approval in the voice. “You have to find allies, some are closer than you think. I’ve gifted you seven bonded protectors, you’ve found one, find the others.”
