by Cori Vidae
She took her time discovering what made him thrust up into her mouth and what made him tremble, unable to do anything but pant her name. She massaged his balls and dragged her nails over his thighs.
Benji felt his orgasm building fast. He didn’t want to come yet. Not like this. Well, yes, like this would be fantastic, but not for the first time. “Kee,” he moaned. “Please. I can’t… it’s too much. I want—”
She rose off him with one last swirl of the tongue, and crawled up to settle over him. Her glistening lips hovered inches away from his, waiting. Benji appreciated her making the choice his; breaking past another barrier, he kissed her firmly, tasting himself on her tongue. It was musky. Wild. It drew a growl from him, which drew a happy whimper from Kiki.
He pulled her down against him. She settled her hips gingerly over his. The feel of satin on his over-sensitive flesh almost spilled him. He grabbed her thighs and grit his teeth, holding her still until he could move without coming. Her eyes sparkled. She kissed him softly. After a moment he stroked her legs and tentatively rubbed against her.
She arched an eyebrow. “Sure you’re ready for this?”
“Oh, yeah.”
She took him at his word. She quickly discarded her panties, then straddled him again. The sight of her on her knees over him, legs spread, with soft pink lips visible between damp curls, was something Benji knew he’d never forget. Centuries would pass, but this moment would be forever crisp in his mind. His breath hitched. She smiled.
Kiki slid back and forth along his length a few times. He grabbed her hips and croaked her name. She paused, then angled herself and took him in slowly. The wet heat encasing him was exquisite. His eyes rolled back. His spine arched. He ground up into her. She gently pried his hands loose and entwined her fingers with his. When the sensation no longer threatened to bring him at the slightest movement, he met her eyes.
He wanted to speak, but couldn’t think of the words. She tilted her head. Her smile was soft. Then she began to move. Slow and rhythmic, she rose and fell, rolling her hips with the movement. Benji’s breath shuddered out. It was almost immediately too much. He held on as long as he could. He even dared to thrust his hips to meet her a few times.
“Kiki, I—”
She circled her hips sharply, and that was it. Benji stiffened. Then he was pounding up into her erratically, whimpering, growling, teeth bared. She rocked on him, head back, beaming. Her mouth was slack. Coming in her was exquisite. Each blast felt like it dragged up from the pit of his soul. He cried out her name. She whispered his, over and over.
When he lay spent and trembling beneath her, Kiki leaned down to kiss him. He grabbed her and held her tight. She chuckled softly. She felt so good pressed against him, her dewy skin radiating heat.
“Well? Was that okay for your first time?”
Benji barked a laugh. “Okay? Kee, it was wonderful. This is… what we just did was…” His voice trembled, but he didn’t care.
“Aw, hon. I’m glad it was, you know… That I didn’t screw it up for you.”
Benji frowned. “Wait. Did you come? I—I couldn’t tell. I was too caught up.”
Kiki’s softness faded behind the mischievous gleam in her eye. She wriggled on his lap, making him gasp. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m not done with you tonight.”
CHAPTER TEN
Manny picked up on the change between Benji and Kiki as soon as he started his shift Tuesday afternoon. He cornered Benji at the first opportunity. “Dude! You dog! You really went for it, huh?” He clapped Benji on the shoulder.
Benji shushed him. “I don’t know if she wants everyone knowing. So keep it to yourself, all right?”
Manny promised, but that didn’t stop him from teasing Benji about it at every opportunity. Benji wondered how much pressure it would take to crush the man’s skull just enough to shut him up.
He and Kiki danced after closing. The music was slow again, and he led. They held each other much closer this time. It took effort to remember they had to leave the restaurant and drive home before they could let their kisses turn into something more. That night, their love-making was gentle. Benji watched her sleep afterward, lost in thought.
Morning came too soon. Benji pretended to be asleep to discover what she would do when she woke in his arms. He felt her smile against his chest. Her arms tightened around him and she snuggled closer. He couldn’t keep up the act. Rolling her onto her back, he kissed her until she begged him to take her again. They got to work late, but there were no early-morning customers to complain.
As the hour neared for the meeting between Ming Song and Lars Barron, Benji’s spirits ebbed. Kiki noticed. She wrapped an arm around him as he stood out back on a break. “You okay, hon?”
He smiled at the pet name. He knew it was what she called all her employees and most of her regular customers, but it warmed him nonetheless. He pressed his face into her hair and breathed in her scent. “You are extraordinary, Kee. You know that, right?”
She peered up at him, frowning. “You’re sweet. What’s on your mind?”
He shook his head. “Just worried. About my friend.” He sighed. “I’m okay.”
She looked like she didn’t believe him, but nodded. Rising up on her toes, she pecked him on the cheek. He caught her as she started to turn away and kissed her deeply, messily, holding her face between his hands. She laughed when he let her go. “Mmm. I could get used to that. All right, then. If you’re sure you’re okay. I’ve gotta get back in, finish setting up for that business meeting.”
Benji watched her go. He felt hollow. His phone buzzed: Everything on track?
Yes, he texted back to Beirak. We’ll be ready.
Good. Vegas, here we come!
Benji ran to the edge of the parking lot and vomited into the weeds. When he stopped shaking, he shuffled inside, cleaned up, and headed back into the kitchen. For the next two hours, he churned out burgers, steaks, and salads numbly. When he received another text from Beirak, he steeled himself and went out to take over the dining room.
He watched in a daze as Kiki escorted Ming Song into the Volcano Room. The deal’s plump blond broker, Bryan Arrak—Beirak—and a steel-haired business partner from Bey and Gold followed. Lars Barron arrived not five minutes later with his ebony-skinned advisor. Benji hated that Kiki would be waiting on the group personally. But Azrulbey was counting on her mutually-friendly influence to sway both parties toward signing a contract.
The dining room closed in twenty minutes. The diners would all be gone shortly after that. Kiki would be the last non-involved witness around when it came time for Barron and Song to say yes or no. Benji silently resolved to make sure she was out on a break when that happened, just in case.
Az was there to lend his own persuasion. Song Enterprises had long been partnered with Bey and Gold Financial. If Alan Bey—Azrulbey—showed confidence in the Mystic, that should ease some of Song’s worries. If it didn’t, he’d use a more direct form of persuasion. Benji cringed to remember the icy whip in his mind. Az wouldn’t take that approach with a human, of course; he’d be gentler, more subtle. But the human wouldn’t quite be the same afterward.
The last diner’s order almost burned due to Benji’s distraction. He cursed, ignoring Manny’s raised eyebrows.
“I heard that,” Kiki said as she glided into the kitchen. But her voice was amused, not reproachful. “Surf and turf all around for the big-wigs in there, boys. I’ll get the salads started.”
Benji and Manny set to work. “Sure you don’t want me to stick around a while?” Manny asked later, when the last regular diner was checking out. “These business types, they like to linger. Gonna be a long night.”
“I’ve got it. Thanks.” Benji locked the front doors after Manny and Leanne left, then went to check in on the meeting. He met Kiki coming out. A slight frown pulled at her lips. Instead of going in, he followed her back to the kitchen. “How’s it going in there?”
“Hard to say. That Arrak gu
y just finished going over the details. It sounds pretty solid, from the bits I heard, but that news about the Mystic…” She shook her head. “They say it’s all falsified documents from a disgruntled former employee. But it looks really bad. I wouldn’t touch the place with a ten-foot pole. Not right now.”
A rock settled in Benji’s stomach. “Did you tell Song that?”
She nodded. “I like Lars, I really do. He’s a good guy. And I hate that he’s got this scandal to deal with. But even he’s gotta see that the situation is just toxic right now. If Ming invests, Song Enterprises will be dragged through the dirt right along with the Mystic. She should wait until everything’s cleared up, then be the first to invest.”
She looked genuinely distressed at having advised one friend against another. Benji pulled her into a hug. Pressing his face into her hair, he bit back a groan. If Az found out Kiki had done the exact opposite of what she’d been expected to do, she was as good as dead. His heart felt like it would punch through his chest. Please, no. Let him think Song decided against the deal all on her own.
He was loathe to release her. But he could feel the tension amping up in the Volcano Room. It wouldn’t be long now. Maybe Az could still convince Song. Maybe Song would keep her mouth shut about Kiki’s advice.
“I’m enjoying this softer side of you.” Kiki played with the braid that hung down his back. “Didn’t expect you to be so damned cute about us, but I’m not complaining.”
“What did you expect?” His heart slowed.
He could hear the grin in her voice. “How about I show you later?”
“Mmm. Yes, please.” Please let there be a later.
The door to the Volcano Room slammed open, making them both jump.
“TRAITOR!”
Benji didn’t know which of them Azrulbey was addressing, but it didn’t matter. Ice ripped through his head. He managed not to fall on Kiki, but only barely. She staggered against the wall, crying out incoherently. Heavy footfalls—too heavy for a human body—stomped toward the kitchen.
Benji grabbed Kiki. He pried her fists away from her eyes and made her look at him. “Run,” he yelled. Then an iceberg slammed him to the floor. In the fraction of a second that he wavered between passing out and recovering, he lost the hold on his human disguise.
Kiki’s horrified scream gutted his soul.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Kiki scrambled backward, still clutching her head.
Benji groaned. His clothes lay in shreds around him. His wings and tail knocked over dishes left and right. “Kiki,” he grunted. “Run. Get out of here. Now!”
But she pressed herself against her office door and stared at him, trembling. She whimpered as he struggled to push himself up in the cramped space. He’d almost managed it when she screamed again. A vise-like hand closed on his tail and pulled.
Benji scraped out into the dining room backwards. He dug his claws in to resist, but it did no more than leave long furrows in the floor. The cold whip lashed his mind again. Azrulbey grabbed him by the throat and snarled into his face.
“You knew,” he hissed, spittle dripping from his maw. “You and your little tramp plotted against me! It’s not enough that you destroyed the last deal I entrusted you with. Oh, no. Now you throw my mercy in my face and do it again!”
“Azrulbey… Master, no.” Benji could hardly draw breath through the fist around his neck. “I never plotted against you. I am ever loyal—”
“Liar!” Azrulbey threw him across the room. He hit the far wall with a bone-shuddering crash. “Song told me what Kiki said to her. ‘Don’t do it.’ And damn if the little bitch didn’t value her opinion too much. Even my influence wasn’t enough to change her mind.”
Benji coughed and saw blood. To his left, the door to the Volcano Room lay open. Song was crumpled on the floor beside a chair, unmoving. He couldn’t see anyone else. Where the hell were Beirak and Kurleon?
Azrulbey loomed over him. “If you think for one second I believe you didn’t know, you’re a fool. I know what you’ve been up to with our little Tiki goddess here. I know how far you’ve fallen.”
Benji shook his head. “I didn’t know. And Kiki, she didn’t—” Azrulbey kicked him in the face. Benji saw stars. He tried again. “Master, please. Mercy. It isn’t what you think. Kiki only gave the advice she thought was best. She told Song to wait until the Mystic was cleared, not to reject the deal permanently.”
“Even now you defend her? You mock me in favor of a lowly human?”
Benji saw movement over Azrulbey’s shoulder. A flash of red. Kiki? He struggled to rise, making a bigger show of his injuries to keep his master distracted. Damn it, Kee. The back door. Run out the back door! “Master, I do not mock you. She is innocent. Blame me if you must for not getting involved with their meeting to guide it directly. But Kiki bears no guilt in this.”
Azrulbey tilted his head, yellow lips lifted in a sneer. He opened his mouth to speak, but the tip of a blade thrust through the webbing of one wing and ripped downward. He wailed and whipped around, knocking his assailant back with a powerful swat. Kiki careened against the bar. The bloodied butcher knife fell from her hand.
Benji’s heart leaped. What the hell was she thinking? Azrulbey would destroy her. He lurched forward and sank his teeth into his master’s shoulder, desperate to draw him away from her. Az would kill him now, for sure.
But you won’t lay a claw on her. He shredded the bigger Dromtsiir’s bright wing membranes. He growled as he worried at the flesh between his jaws. Azrulbey roared. He palmed Benji’s head and squeezed.
A wrought-iron, lava-lamp-topped tiki torch slammed into the side of Azrulbey’s face. The thick glass shattered. Hot wax coated his snout and neck. Kiki stood in a fighter’s stance, iron in hand and eyes blazing. “Let him go, you ugly yellow bastard!”
Azrulbey dove at her, mouth wide and throat beginning to glow. She let him almost take her before tumbling to the side at the last second. It was hardly graceful, but she managed to bring the tiki-torch up under his jaw as she did it. She jabbed him away from her, pulled back, and stabbed forward again. She just barely missed taking out his eye.
Azrulbey’s tail slammed into her side. It was only a glancing blow, but Kiki dropped the torch and staggered. Azrulbey lunged at her again. A marbled green-and-copper wing blocked him.
Kurleon muscled between them and grabbed Azrulbey’s shoulders. “Master! Cease this! Benjiishnael spoke true!”
Azrulbey snapped his jaws around Kurleon’s throat. Searing light crackled between his teeth and tore through the green scales. Kurleon thrashed. He couldn’t scream. Benji clawed his way over Azrulbey’s back and raked his claws across the lemony snout. He spotted Kiki going for another tiki-torch. He could have shaken her.
“Kiki, run, damn it! We can’t hold him forever!”
Her head snapped up. Wide eyes met his. He saw hesitation; terror. Her lower lip trembled.
“Go!”
Azrulbey dropped Kurleon’s limp body and turned toward her. The scales around his throat glowed again. Benji snarled and dug his claws into his master’s eyes. Azrulbey screamed. Kiki bashed him with the torch.
Teeth clamped on the back of Benji’s neck. He snarled. Beirak wasn’t as big as Azrulbey, but he was still more powerful than Benji. Blue hands pried his away from their master’s bloodied face. Benji couldn’t fight them both. He tumbled backward, landing on top of the other Dromtsiir.
“Fool!” Beirak shoved him to the floor. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Benji roared at him, rage flashing hot through his veins. “He killed Kurleon! He’s trying to kill Kiki! He’s insane!”
“He is your master, boy!”
“Not anymore.” Benji shoved Beirak, sending him sprawling. He turned toward Azrulbey. The great yellow bastard was eyeless, his face a mask of blood. Despite his blindness, his head tracked the sound of Kiki scrambling toward the kitchen. The light edging his scales began to brighten as he drew in a ras
ping breath.
Benji barreled into his master, wrestling him to the floor. Ignoring the renewed swing of claws and shredded wings, he clamped his teeth around Azrulbey’s throat. Frosty daggers needled his brain, but they were weaker than before. The great blue bulk of Beirak rose in his peripheral vision. Benji ignored him and bit down harder.
Beirak tackled him. “Don’t kill him, you fool!”
Benji opened his mouth and raged lightning in Beirak’s face. The older Dromtsiir screamed and fell back. Benji turned his attack on Azrulbey, tearing at his throat again. The lightning took longer, but it finally tore through scale and flesh just as Az’s light had done to Kurleon. Azrulbey thrashed, sending out frantic ice shards. Benji used the pain to fuel his inferno. Finally, his master’s neck bones crumbled.
Azrulbey sagged. The light around his scales shuddered out. Benji released the corpse and leveled a snarl at Beirak. The blue Dromtsiir gazed steadily at him, but didn’t move a muscle.
“You have no idea what you’ve done, ‘Jiishnael,” he said softly.
“Azrulbey was mad. This is far worse than a failed deal, Beirak! We have other feeding grounds, and other deals in the works. But word of his sickness will undo them all!”
“I do not argue that point. But you’ve killed your master. You know the sentence for that.”
“Who’s going to carry it out? You?”
Beirak shook his head. “No.”
Kiki gasped from the kitchen doorway. She pointed behind Benji, but it was too late. Burning black smoke writhed around him, wrapping tight like chains. Benji howled. “Traitor, Beirak!”
Beirak watched as more smoke chains writhed over Benji. “I’m sorry. I had no choice.” He turned to Kiki. “You’ll not be bothered further, human. Despite what our master thought, we know you to be innocent. You did not know of the affair you meddled in.”
Kiki blinked at him. “Wh—what the hell are you? Demons?”
Beirak huffed. “We Dromtsiirin are far older than that.”
