Lust

by Hildred Billings

  That simple silence didn’t last long. Lust looked right into Mercy’s eyes, wide, wild, and whirling in that striking amber. She arched her back, pushing her breasts right in Mercy’s face and dropping that bottom lip to ask for it harder.

  Seemed only natural to give favor to such a sweet goddess.

  “Ooh, yes.” Guttural, as Mercy thrust her fingers deeper, spreading those sweet, holy folds and spreading limitless legs across the bed. “Deeper, Mercy. Tame the sin.” Mercy’s little hand was more than an honor to an ancient, forgotten goddess. It was a sacrifice, disappearing into the unknown that promised to bequeath her with a lifetime of sinful understanding. Not that Lust had a problem with that. She accepted Mercy’s sacrifice and blessed her with more. More heat. More cries of passion. An ever-expanding void of love and sex. She invited Mercy to plunder her temple and discover the source of one of humanity’s most primal sins.

  One second Mercy was raiding the world. The next? Lust turned the room cherry-red with her scream of ecstasy.

  Fingers tore into Mercy’s scalp. “Mercy.” The cry of the void they now inhabited permeated Mercy’s body. “Please!”

  Never before had Mercy felt like such a sex god. I can make a deity come like a storm. Eyes rolled back into Lust’s head. Her throat pulsed with pleasure.

  She wasn’t done yet.

  The lust was still uncontrollable. Mercy couldn’t stop. It overpowered her, and Lust could not stop – she was a sinner, and she needed taming. The bottle was uncorked. The box was opened. Mercy must discover how to control the sin reclaiming her, for both of their sakes.

  She pushed Lust to the bed and joined their hips together.

  Every ounce of red, from the color dripping down the walls to the shroud of deceit hiding Lust’s true, incorporeal form, parted as the goddess granted Mercy all the access she required. Both women entwined, limbs curling, hips grinding. Mercy found the spirit’s folds with her own and thrust against her.

  It didn’t take long for the headboard to slam against the wall. Every thump drowned out the groans flying from Lust’s throat, which Mercy continued to indulge with lowered lips that sucked every inch of skin there. Lust’s wanton heart beat beneath Mercy’s mouth. That was the heart pumping the sin of carnality.

  Mercy had already absorbed it. Now she must use it to her advantage.

  That same divine power must have been what made the sensations so outstanding. Mercy barely had to brush her clit against Lust’s thigh, and there it was, the rush of pleasure shooting from groin to brain. The harder Mercy pushed, the more intense it was. Mercy thought she would die. Unwillingly, no less. No, it was something else to be controlled. She had to take this woman’s gift and tame the sin.

  So Mercy thrust against her heavenly caller, taking in that beautiful face gazing adoringly at her, watching those breasts bounce with every thrust, and listening to those happy gasps of satisfaction. Mercy could feel it now – the true orgasm that would put that in its place.

  She welcomed it with a single cry.

  “Mercy…” Somewhere, far, far away, came Acedia’s voice as Mercy reached climax with the red demoness Lust.

  The power exploded from her, from every pore, every orifice, and every breath escaping her lips. Mercy imagined her hand clasping Lust’s heart and squeezing it, containing the sin that brought them to this moment. That kept Mercy from enjoying her life.

  Back in her mortal shell, Mercy collapsed onto the bed.

  The back of her eyelids were red. Red like the blood pumping in her veins, alive again… real like her skin, flushed with lust. Deep inside her, she felt that goddess’s gift coiling around her loins, ready to strike again at a moment’s notice.

  Yet, for now, it was tamed, and Lust sighed in relief.

  Even in this moment, when Mercy’s muscles were tired and her sensitive areas over-stimulated, she could still appreciate the excessive beauty before her. Lust lay languid across the bed, bodice torn to bare her breasts and her skirt upturned to expose her wet folds. Lust propped herself up on her elbow and licked her fingers. If Mercy were an artist, she would surely make this being her muse.

  “It’s been a long time since I did my duty.” Lust sighed, breasts heaving from the force. Heaving breasts. Mercy could hardly believe it. Not only was she thinking about heaving breasts, but she now enjoyed it. Finally. Again. “I had forgotten how good it feels for me as well.”

  Mercy perked up. “You enjoyed it?” She needed to hear the words from those red lips.

  “Of course I did. You’re a formidable lover. Any woman would be ecstatic to have a partner like you.” Lust winked, the frosted ruby of her eyelids twinkling beneath the bedroom light.

  “You say it’s been a long time…” Mercy sat cross-legged, aware of her aching thigh muscles and how wet she was as well. Yet the lust remained controlled inside of her, and she was of her mind once more. “What are you, exactly? I mean, beyond what you’ve already told me.”

  “What else is there to tell?” In ages past we healed women with our bodies. Our mistress Acedia was the one who found them for us.” Lust glanced away. “You are the first in many, many years. Perhaps over a hundred.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Lust shrugged. “All I know is that I’ve been dormant for much too long.” She smiled again. “And you’ve been dormant, as well. How long has it been since you took fine pleasure in a woman’s body?”

  Mercy blushed. “Too long.”

  “Come.” Lust leaned back, making herself vulnerable to the mortal woman. “Take pleasure in my body, for as long as you’d like.”

  Mercy did. With the lust burning faintly inside her, she conjured enough to wrap herself in Lust’s arms and cover her with gentle kisses. She explored that ethereal body, its luscious curves, its intricate folds, and the sweet smells of sweeter tastes it exuded. The spirit’s nectar was exceptionally sweet as it rolled across Mercy’s tongue.

  She could have spent the whole night indulging in sin. Lust would have allowed it. Except Mercy was a mere mortal with a body that could not put up with such strenuous ardor for long. After the hours of lovemaking and words of comfort, she fell into a blissful slumber within Lust’s arms.

  When she awoke at dawn, Lust was gone, but Mercy was not alone.

  Sitting on the end of the bed was a white figure, huddled over and staring at the beige carpet. When Mercy stirred, Acedia leaped up to her feet.

  “Wait.” Mercy extended her hand toward the goddess. “You saved my life. You sent your servant. Now you’re leaving me again?”

  Acedia exposed a sorrowful countenance. “I’m sorry, Mercy.”

  “Sorry for what? For saving me?”

  “No. For being too late.”

  “Too late for what?”

  A tear glistened on that moonlit cheek. “Too late for those other women whose cries for help I didn’t answer.”

  Acedia retreated into the moonlight, disappearing as a wisp. Mercy was alone again, but she was fine with that. Now, she had a little power. A little hope to get her through those dark nights of profound loneliness.

  Acedia may have missed many prayers, but she answered Mercy’s. Thanks to her, the healing had already begun.

  —-

  Clouds covered the moon, retreating Acedia farther into the darkness of the night. While she didn’t need a clear sky to access her true power while on the earth, seeing it disappear did not help her dour mood.

  I don’t know why I feel this way. She should have been pleased with herself for an excellent first night with Mercy. Yet Acedia knew the truth. The first night is always the easiest. Her subjects were most vulnerable during that time. Malleable. Willing to change their outlook, because anything was better than wallowing in the despair that led them to such drastic measures. If Acedia had appeared before them, then things were dire. Like jumping off a bridge dire.

  Yet Acedia was no fool. She remembered what happened last time. And the time before, if she were being honest
with herself. All it took was remembering the look on her last attempt’s face when life once again became too much to bear.

  Acedia lay upon the earth, eyes closed and essence slowly crawling across the leaf-covered ground. Soon, she would no longer know what planet she was on. For a deity, it was nothing. One moment they were walking upon the earth. The next? One with the stars, twinkling and guiding the lost and weary as they traversed the world.

  Time was as quick as a breath, or as slow as an age. For Acedia, both were always true, at any given time.

  As her inner eye opened and she gazed upon the blackened kingdom of despair, she saw her sister, the entity born to be her other half.

  They were not close. Why would they be? Deities did not often cavort with one another. They suffered their own silence and loneliness. Or they reveled in it, as was often the case for Vainglory, the delightfully treacherous companion for everything Acedia claimed to espouse.

  But they knew each other well. The dance they had conducted for the past few thousand years always saw one or the other come out on top. Currently, Vainglory scored the most points, as was clearly evident on her circlet of trophies. Amidst the shadows of her hair rested a crown of shrunken faces. Sometimes, Acedia could not gaze upon her sister without gazing into those sorrowful visages. The tortured looks and grimaces of resignation reminded her that she was not always able to save the women who prayed to her for aid.

  “Hasn’t it been a while?” At first, Vainglory’s voice was as pure as Acedia’s, but even a goddess like the one draped in moonlight knew that gunpowder awaited a spark beneath that silky voice. “I was wondering when you would bring me another sacrifice, sister. It has been so long. My crown was getting lonely.”

  Acedia shielded her eyes from the sight of sin before her. “I know you follow your destiny as I do,” she said, “but I will never condone it. I will never stand for what you do to your victims.”

  “Victims? They willingly leaped into my arms or drowned in my tears. Some danced with me as the blood left their bodies. The ones who were skin and bones ate my flesh, and those succumbing to their diseases were cured by my kiss. How can you be so cruel to me still after so long, sister?” Vainglory clicked her tongue. “I do what I was born to accomplish. Such as yourself, I’m sure.”

  Although Acedia knew this, she could never abide by the truth. What if the universe was wrong? What if nobody ever had to suffer, let alone beneath the wing of this demon? Watch your words. Even goddesses were guilty of slander. Vainglory was neither angel nor demon. She made her home in the shadows, calling to falling women to drape themselves within her embrace. Sometimes, Acedia intervened. Oftentimes, when Acedia attempted to save someone, Vainglory was in the shadows, ready to take over where her sister now often failed.

  If Acedia looked too closely, she caught a glimpse of her last attempt in that circlet of sorrow.

  “I felt the stirring of Lust for the first time in a hundred years,” Vainglory said. “There is a new woman. I suppose you will try to make her your bride before I can.”

  Their metaphors were meaningless… until Acedia inevitably fell in love with the woman she was meant to save. Could she help it, though? Watching them grow and conquer the darkness brought warmth to Acedia’s immortal heart. Yet that was also her folly. If she fell too hard, she imprinted herself upon a true mortal form to be with that woman for the rest of their natural days. During that time, she could help no others, for her heart was absconded.

  Too much of that, and people forgot about her. Nobody thought to call her.

  I have had over a dozen brides… Some lasted a few years, succumbing to disease or war. Others lasted a blessed century, where they took residence in a house of their own and eschewed the stares of those around them. The only power Acedia brought with her to a mortal form was that of cloaking and subterfuge. She could protect her love from the judgment of others, but she could not stave off the swords of battle or the unfortunate side effects of famine and plague. She was still mortal, after all.

  Vainglory had never been mortal, not for a day. Her lot was to lurk in the corner of someone’s eye, waiting for them to succumb.

  She didn’t love them. She wouldn’t love Mercy. She would promise salvation, but that came at a price. Instead of becoming one with the life force of the universe after death, they remained trapped in that circlet, forever giving Vainglory her unnatural company.

  “I came here to tell you that I will be victorious once more.” It wasn’t easy for Acedia to gain such confidence, but it had to be said. “You will see. This time, she will not succumb.”

  “We shall see, indeed. And when you come crawling to me for mercy once again, I will not be so sweet. I will twist your head and cast you out of my house, for I am weary of your tears.”

  Acedia knew as much. Still, she would not back down. This wasn’t about standing up to her sister. This was about asserting her own sins. Her pride. Her vanity. Her avarice.

  Her lust.

  “The thought of you laying a hand on her,” Acedia said, before pulling herself back to the earth once more, “swells me with disgust.”

  Vainglory did not say a word. She often didn’t. Anything she had to say was more closely guarded in the sigh blowing Acedia away.

  I will be victorious. I swear it. For my own good… And for Mercy’s as well.

  Acedia could not go easy. Nor could she charge ahead without a plan.

  She had already committed to saving Mercy’s life. All that was left was to make her Acedia’s bride, one sinful night at a time.

  TO BE CONTINUED…

  In installment two, AVARICE, now available!

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  AVARICE

  (Sins of Mercy #2)

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  Since her visit from from the first of the Seven Sinners, Mercy Devereux has been living a life of carnal sin. At first she enjoyed the renewed desires, but now they’re starting to control her life. Turns out her first celestial companion put too much sin in her system. How is Mercy supposed to survive?

  The answer comes in the form of Avarice, the greedy goddess Mercy catches ransacking her house one night. Together they can bring balance to Mercy’s sins while reintroducing her to the world of ambition and covetousness. Assuming Mercy can distract the deity from her own coveting ways, that is.

  GET IT!

  Life has not been kind to Mercy: her girlfriend is gone, she’s unappreciated in her corporate job, and depression has always haunted her. That’s how she came to stand on the bridge where she meets Acedia, the deity who oversees the Seven Sinners, bringers of peace and carnal healing.

  MERCY’S LIFE IS ABOUT TO CHANGE… FOR THE BETTER.

  Hildred Billings is a Japanese and Religious Studies graduate who has spent her entire life knowing she would write for a living someday. She has lived in Japan a total of four times in four different locations, from the heights of the Japanese alps to the hectic Tokyo suburbs, with a life in Shikoku somewhere in there too. When she’s not writing, however, she spends most of her time talking about Asian pop music, cats, and bad 80’s fantasy movies with anyone who will listen…or not.

  Her writing centers around themes of redemption, sexuality, and death, sometimes all at once. Although she enjoys writing in the genre of fantasy the most, she strives to show as much reality as possible through her characters and situations, since she’s a furious realist herself.

  Currently, Hildred lives in Oregon with her girlfriend and dreams of a cat.

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