by D. R. Rosier
Welcoming people was my thing, what I did. I wanted my customers to enjoy themselves, and feel welcome. But this atmosphere was corrosive. I wondered what they would think if they could feel what they felt, if that makes any sense. There was evil here, but not me, it was bigotry and small mindedness.
It made me angry, but I kept my smile on and walked through the gate and over to the other building. Last week, the crowd had been calmer, this one felt like a riot waiting to happen. I did my best to just ignore them, ignore their taunts and hatred.
At least until I felt a murderous rage in crowd. Then a voice, a woman’s voice, screamed, “Die harlot!”
I turned my head in disbelief to see a middle aged woman dressed in a woman’s business suite. She was also holding a gun. I froze, like a deer in the headlights. I was entitled to self defense, but I was in denial at what was before me. How could someone get to that point? Did her husband or boyfriend belong to my club? Did he leave her for someone? Did I sleep with him? Or was she just so hateful she couldn’t stand to let anyone else have a good time?
I flinched when she pulled the trigger and my shock was replaced with anger as she continued to uselessly empty the rest of the magazine into my shields with a demented look on her face.
I took a deep breath and then released it, as I built a sleep spell and hit her with it, she collapsed to the ground. I looked around at all the shocked faces. I half expected the crowd to go into a frenzy as violence was inserted into the situation, but almost all of them were shocked out of their anger, a look of confusion in their eyes.
I shook my head and pulled out my cell phone and called the police. That had the effect of lighting a fire under a lot of feet.
One of the ones holding a picket sign yelled, “Time to go!”
I asked in a surprisingly even voice, “Can some of you stay, give a statement?”
Most of them looked uneasy, and left. A few stayed behind. One of the leaders and a handful of women who looked… really uptight. I suppressed a smile, maybe they just needed to get laid. It was uncomfortable to say the least until the police showed up. At first the cop was suspicious of my story, even corroborated, but luckily we have cameras outside both clubs and Sam brought it out. They reviewed the evidence and took the woman away.
I realized I’d been standing there staring at the empty street where the cop drove away. I was still angry, but at myself. For freezing. It was just such a surprise. I didn’t think I would have frozen with another supernatural, but humans were different in my mind. I was foolish. Most supernaturals couldn’t take a full clip from a nine millimeter handgun without dying.
If it hadn’t been for my shield enchantment I could have died.
I sighed lightly and pasted a smile on my face and turned. The people on line at the club, maybe thirty yards away were staring at me. All of them. I walked over and took in their feelings as I greeted them, assured them I was fine, and made my way to the door. It helped, I was in almost a good mood, although no longer as excited as before, when I got to the door.
Most of the people were actually concerned and shocked, and glad to see I was fine. It reminded me that the protesters were in the minority, and the gun wielding crazy woman even more so. I’d fought that dragon, with overwhelming raw power, but I wasn’t a soldier. I was a club owner and ran a business, fighting wasn’t what I did.
Still, I resolved not to freeze again as I stepped into the club. I released tendrils of my power as I walked in, I didn’t really need to feed, but it was comforting, familiar. I didn’t take any energy, but I tasted the lust and desire in the room like a favorite meal. I also located Lily, she was upstairs. A small thrill of the excitement I felt earlier raced through my body, I had missed her. I also felt Tony at the bar. I decided upstairs first and entered the employee only door.
It felt like home, even the scent of the club, the drive of the music, all felt like a welcome home. I went down the hall and when I got to the doorway I paused and looked in with a smile. She was breathtaking and I just stared. Her aura, and magic, was welcoming, and she was absolutely gorgeous in the red tube dress she had on.
My heart sped up and I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach as her dimpled smile was reflected in her sparkling eyes as she took me in. It was a strange mixture of things, maybe the subjective year away took away the daily familiarity with her, or my close calls over the last true week brought out what was truly important to me.
But it was obvious, and I could feel Rafe’s amusement in the back of my mind as I came to the realization that Lily meant much more to me than friends with benefits. Strangely I felt self conscious, not something that happened to me very often. Could she feel the same way?
For a moment I was panicked at the idea she didn’t, and pushed it down.
Lily snickered and said, “What? Why are you just standing there?”
I suppressed a blush, one of the benefits of having full control over one’s body, and winked playing it off. This wasn’t the right time to mention my epiphany. That was my story anyway, and I was sticking to it. No cowardice here, nope.
I walked over seductively, inserted myself between her and the desk and gave her a toe curling kiss hello.
I said softly, “Missed you, the enchantments took longer than I thought they would, subjectively anyway.”
She smiled looking a little out of breath, her breasts heaving a little, “I missed you too, and Tony did as well.”
I asked, “Where’s Cassie? Did she help out? Or did you have it all handled?”
She shrugged, “Mostly handled, Cassie helped out last night, said you owed her one for missing one of her parties. You know how Fridays are. So tell me, what happened with the hot dragon.”
Over the next half hour or so I gave her a run through. Shared memories only worked with other witches so it took a little time to go over it all. She looked a little horrified when I talked about the duel, and angry when I told her about the nutcase out front on my way over to the dance club.
She frowned, “Not much of a vacation, except all the dragon sex that is. We should get out of here, maybe for a day, or at least during the day.”
I grinned, “That was the best part, but I feel pretty good about protecting a world from neighboring raiders. What did you have in mind for our escape?”
She smiled slyly, “Beach, private, lots of sun, drinks, and swimming?”
I just nodded.
She asked sultrily, “So… just how much did you miss me?”
I pushed the chair back and fell to my knees with my eyes locked on hers and slowly slid the bottom of her dress up while sending stimulating tingling magic into her body. I could already scent her arousal, and like me she didn’t wear panties.
Her eyes widened slightly in surprise and pleasure as I pulled her legs slowly apart and her body to the edge of the chair. I licked my lips, gave her a seductive smile, and then I showed her exactly how much I missed her, quite thoroughly.
Chapter 9
It may have been thorough, but it was quick. The reason she was surprised was we usually bank our lust until the end of the night, she’d just be hot and bothered again in a few hours after all. On top of that, we were supposed to be managing our business right now, not having a heart to heart or having sex. But things had changed… for me at least. I’d been almost desperate to pleasure her once I discovered my true feelings.
She asked a little breathlessly, glowing in the aftermath, “What got into you?”
I played it off again, “Just missed you, a lot,” I’m such a coward.
This was someone I’d known for years though, there was a risk, especially if she felt the same. Succubae were not immune to dangers of the heart. We were less likely to confuse it with sex or lust, but when it came to falling for someone we were just like everyone else. I gave her a soft kiss.
I made a face, “I suppose I should be next door?”
Usually we split the two clubs between us, it just made sense to have an
owner at each if we were both working, which was most of the time. It’s not like we were workaholics, just a girl has got to eat.
She nodded and grinned, “Something to look forward to at closing time.”
I gave her one more kiss, and released a spell of cleansing. It wasn’t a shower, but it would clean up the mess and we wouldn’t smell like sex all night. Not that there was anything wrong with that.
“Alright, I’ll see you later? I’m just going to say hi to Tony on the way out, just to let him know I’m back.”
I almost stood there for too long, I really didn’t want to leave. What was wrong with me? Our business came first, feeding too, at least during the late evening until early next morning hours. I turned and walked out, taking a minute to make sure I wasn’t mussed. My hair was a little out of sorts, so I used a small trickle of power to fix it and took the stairs down into the club.
Tony was looking very good, tight t-shirt with the club name on it, jeans, and a smile. I didn’t have any epiphanies with him like I half expected. I did love him, like a friend. A very close friend in fact, but as far as being in love… nope. That made me almost feel a little guilty, but he was his own man and could decide what he wanted. If he ever tried to move on, I would be okay with that, but I knew he’d always be welcome in my bed until that time.
He was way too busy for me to have a conversation with, the crowd trying to get drinks was so large it was hard to even get a glimpse of the bar. I pinged him lightly with my magic, knowing he would recognize my touch. I’d used it on him often enough in bed after all. He looked up and scanned the club, his eyes stopping on mine and he smiled and waved. I could also see the concern in his eyes, I wondered if one of the customers had mentioned the incident outside. I returned his wave and then headed back to the sex club.
I spent the rest of the night mostly nursing a mixed drink, and talking to the clientele in the den. We called it that because it was the one place no sex took place in the building, it was a place to enjoy a drink, meet other swingers, find a master or slave, and even sometimes make friends with people of a similar lifestyle.
I did make a few rounds through the exhibitionist and voyeur rooms, as well as the dungeon, just to make sure things were going well. But I was confident Sam had that well in hand. I did wind up feeding a little, just to top off the protection enchantment. It had plenty of magic left of course, hardly dented from a nine mil handgun, but it was a good habit.
Once the night was over and the doors were locked Tony and Lily joined me in my apartment. It was several blissful hours later that I fell into an exhaustive sleep.
I was so angry I was scared. The rage I felt had a feral edge to it. Then I heard the voices and came to understand I was in Rafe’s head, in my dreams. I hadn’t seen this coming…
Rafe spat the words, “What are they thinking? A punitive expedition? That’s a waste of resources, and frankly undeserved.”
I could tell whatever he was angry about was more about how it would affect him than anyone else. It was kind of dark, and I had a horrible feeling I’d made a grave mistake. It was hard under the weight of his anger to remember he did care for me and wanted me safe, if in an alien way.
Caph snorted, “I happen to agree, but the council has decided, we have no choice. Would you have me challenge? Fight our opposition one by one until they are all dead? A civil war? No, my oath as sovereign to obey the majority of the council is in place to prevent this. I have no choice, and your oath to me means you don’t either.”
Rafe growled, “I know, but I also know we will regret this. It is very likely this will start a full blown war.”
I could also sense concern about me, how I would react to what would happen. I was confused, and it was hard to think under the weight of his thoughts. For some reason I couldn’t pull out either, I seemed to have no control over the link in my sleep.
Caph waved his hands, “It doesn’t matter, we will do what we must. If the council is right it will cow them back in line where they belong.”
Rafe shook his head, “Good luck with that… sovereign.”
Rafe sat down at the table and looked around, none of them looked very happy and I wondered what they were talking about. Without any context I couldn’t reason it out, except that the dragons were about to do something violent, to someone.
I woke up shortly after noon not feeling very rested and wondered what that had been about. Did his anger drag me in? Rafe’s mind seemed calmer now, just a tinge of anger, and annoyance. He was thinking about supplies, and when the attack was, but no other details. Was he hiding it from me? I could look, dig deeper and find the memories. But did I really want to know?
I knew shifters were violent, more so than any of the other species. Dragons were shifters as well, so it was just their nature. I decided not to be nosey, what could I do about it anyway? Plus, did I have a right to do anything? Probably not. I felt uneasy, and guilty, and I wasn’t sure why.
I took a deep breath and smiled, the room still smelled of sex, and I could feel the warmth coming off of Tony’s and Lily’s bodies. It was like a calming balm to my mind as I let go of the dream, and the echoes of Rafe’s anger.
I looked back and forth and found myself in quite a conundrum. I wanted to give each of them a happy wake up, but that would just be impossible. Decisions, decisions. It must have shown on my face because Lily giggled then looked at me knowingly, she must have been playing possum.
I shrugged innocently. With a short glance we silently decided that Tony would have an extra happy wakeup call…
Tony had some things to do before work, and needed to be at the club at four, so it was just Lily and I at the beach. We took a portal right out onto the sand into a warm breeze, sunshine, and it was right around eighty degrees out on a small island in the pacific. It was a perfect day for it, or close enough. We didn’t bother with bikinis, simply leaving straight from my apartment with a couple of towels, a nice large beach blanket, some snacks, and of course, we were completely nude.
The sand felt good beneath my feet, and the water was a light blue and we could see clear to the bottom of it. The light breeze felt heavenly against my skin as I laid the blanket down. It may seem a little odd to some, succubae seeking privacy, but we got more than enough socializing from our customers and friends at work. Well, sometimes I wanted a crowded beach, just not today.
We lay down on the blanket, comfortable in the silence between us, yet I was very aware of her presence. We didn’t have to tan of course, we could change our skin pigmentation at any time, but there was nothing like the warmth of the sun against my body with a light breeze, it was relaxing. Lily reached out and took my hand and I turned my head and met her eyes.
She asked, “Are you okay? I know you’ve been through… things over the last week.”
“Mostly, I know it was less than a week ago, but in my mind it’s been eight months since I killed that dragon,” remembering my dream last night I added, “I’m still getting used to the connection I have with Rafe. Dragons are… different. Not bad, and there is a lot in common, but there are also emotions and responses that are completely alien to me.”
After a few moments she asked, “Is that it? You seem different to me.”
I opened my mouth to say yes, but the word stuck in my throat and my heart picked up pace. Of course there had been another change, but I’d been avoiding it. I guess I hesitated too long, and she probably picked up on my nerves.
Lily turned toward me, “What are you hiding?”
Her voice was more concerned than confrontational but I felt a surge of panic, which I pushed down. I knew I was being a coward and needed to just tell her. It wasn’t quite that easy.
I blurted, “I fell in love with someone.”
She gaped at me, “Seriously? Rafe?”
I shook my head and said, “The potential might be there, but no, not yet.”
Really? The confident succubus takes the twenty questions approach? I felt like
slapping myself.
Lily frowned, “Tony?”
I shook my head, keeping my eyes on hers. My stomach fluttered at the strange combination of fear, hope, and excitement at her learning the truth. Sadly, she looked completely clueless, not making the connection.
I couldn’t help the nervous giggle that escaped when she asked, “Who then?”
Apparently that was a big enough clue, because her eyes widened, then softened. We both turned away and closed our eyes, soaking in the sun. It wasn’t a rejection, or at least, not exactly. At least, that’s what I was telling myself. I could feel her confusion and practically hear the gears turning in her mind as she tried to absorb it. I couldn’t blame her, she needed to process.
She was still holding my hand, so I had to make an effort not to hear her thoughts.
My thoughts turned to Rafe as I felt anger, oddly mixed with excitement in the back of my mind. It wasn’t like the dream, I wasn’t overwhelmed, and I knew I could cut it off and pull out of his mind with a thought, but I didn’t do that. Curiosity, suspicion, and a little dread were my companions as I went over the contents of my dream had me opening our connection wider.
I didn’t see out of his eyes, not really, but it was close enough to count because I knew what he was doing, and seeing. He was in dragon form, surrounded by a lot of dragons. They were circling a village at close to a thousand feet, but his vision was powerful enough to see the expression on the faces of the people below. Some were running, some were surrounded by magic and looking up.
I felt a sick feeling in my stomach as the village got closer and I felt him take a big breath and lightning leave his muzzle. I could also see fire, acid, as well as other strikes of lightning and the loud roars of a flight of dragons as they attacked the village.
Punitive, one of the words used in my dream. They weren’t raiding this village, they were making an example out of it. But why?
