by Lia Black
“Sensitive?” Derek asked, raising his head from the kiss.
“V-very,” Kayle panted. His gaze was glassy and his cheeks were flushed under the golden hue of his skin.
How could anybody find such an exotic creature ugly? Intimidating, absolutely, but not in the least bit ugly. And so incredibly responsive. He moved with Derek’s touch, as though a thread connected his skin to the hand that caressed it. Understanding that he was causing this kind of reaction in an incubus was more than just a little boost to Derek’s ego.
“What happens if you come? Does that drain your energy?” Derek asked, realizing he’d never really considered it.
“I think…no more than it would drain yours?” Kayle’s voice was husky, caught on the verge of tipping into a sigh, but Derek did not miss it as a question.
He paused, his joints locking as he held himself in check.
“Wait, you don’t know?”
Kayle averted his red eyes.
“Orgasm isn’t necessary for me to experience when feeding.”
“And you have only ever had sex for food?” That really didn’t come out the way he’d meant it to, but he was too incredulous to consider how it may have sounded.
“Certainly not for reproduction,” Kayle’s wings stirred beneath him as he adjusted them to prop himself up on his elbows.
“But what about recreation?” Derek offered. “I mean, sex is a great way to blow off some steam, refocus…” He didn’t need a reply from Kayle to get to the fact that the sex demon had probably never experienced orgasm during sex. He was always focused to the point of tension.
“What about with—” Derek stopped himself from saying the dead man’s name. “I mean, you looked pretty wiped out the next morning.”
“I over-fed. Ramon did his job because he liked it, not because he had no other choice. And he was good at it. He was the first person to see me as close to being truly myself and make me feel desirable.”
Kayle was in danger of becoming morose if Derek didn’t do something quickly to change his mood. “Kayle,” Derek cupped the side of Kayle’s face. “Unless I have an unexplored demon fetish, I think you are the most desirable man I have ever seen.”
“Man?”
“Yes, that includes humans, Kayle.” To help illustrate his point, Derek moved his hips forward so Kayle could feel his erection pressing against his thigh. He got a trace of a smile, and Kayle’s hands moved down to cup him.
Derek bit his lip, squeezing his eyes shut as he forced himself to pull back.
“Nuh uh. I’m going to see how much energy I can drain from you before I top you back up again.”
Kayle’s eyebrows pressed towards the center of his forehead, drawing an upside-down vee in the otherwise smooth skin as Derek slid down his body. He gave a little wink before he pressed a short, sucking kiss to one nipple, rolling the metal barbell between his lips.
“Oh!” Kayle gasped, squirming beneath him.
If Kayle was this sensitive, but hadn’t experienced orgasm during sex, then his partners couldn’t have been trying very hard to please him. Likely Ramon had been the first decent partner he’d had, and sadly, Kayle had been forced to pay for the privilege. Aside from the obvious indications, Derek could tell Kayle was aroused by the spicy-sweet scent of his pheromones beginning to fill the room. He’d have to concentrate hard on Kayle to keep from falling under their spell, although touching such an interesting thing as a demon was keeping him pretty attentive.
He tongued the raised nub of the kiss-hardened nipple between the metal balls and he rubbed his thumb in careful circles around the other. Kayle’s cock was pressing against Derek’s hip, hard and leaking with such simple touches that Derek would have normally taken for granted. He didn’t know if he’d get to keep him—if Kayle would stick around after this or if it was his idea of a goodbye. Either Derek could use this to change his mind about leaving, or embed a memory so deep in Kayle’s psyche that he’d never forget the way Derek had made his body feel. And, he hoped, he could show him that sex could be more than just a meal. He wanted to show Kayle what it was like to make love, not just fuck to orgasm.
Kayle nearly bucked him off, and his hands came down reflexively, gripping Derek’s shoulders as Derek slid down and offered a lick to the head of his penis.
“W-what are you—?”
“Relax, Kayle… or am I going to have to tie you up?” That might be interesting. Derek waggled his eyebrows as he caught Kayle’s hands with his own, lacing their fingers together to keep Kayle from trying to escape or ripping him to shreds. He took Kayle’s cock into his mouth and learned something else fascinating about incubi— apparently, their pre tasted a little sweet. He filed it away in mental storage as he swirled his tongue over the exposed glans, careful not to do too much and make it uncomfortable. Kayle’s hands squeezed and released Derek’s in a steady pump, going tighter when his hips jerked up from Derek’s exploration. Derek was making little mental notes as a result: Kayle responded with small groans to nibbles along the thick vein running up his cock. He gasped and shivered when Derek tongued the slit, it made him sigh and relax when Derek took him all the way in, and held him in the heat of his mouth.
His skin was smooth and warm and had a slightly sweet flavor to it as Derek continued to taste every part of him he could. He moved a little, remembering the bruise he’d seen sucked in to Kayle’s hip, faded now or hidden inside his real skin. He wanted to mark and claim this territory as his own. Derek sucked hard on the skin until Kayle let out a sharp breath from between his teeth, his hips rising to follow the departure of Derek’s mouth. Reaching over to the nightstand, Derek pulled open the drawer, smiling a little as he watched Kayle’s fingers move down to brush the fresh bruise on his hip.
Kayle watched him through heavy-lidded eyes, licking his parted lips as Derek squeezed some lube out onto his fingers.
“This okay?” Derek asked, showing him the glistening gel slicking up his two fingers. With a slow nod from Kayle, Derek laid across his body, kissing his lips as his hand moved down between Kayle’s thighs, searching out and finding the tight passage between his legs.
Kayle groaned against Derek’s lips, his fingers gripping and releasing his shoulders as Derek circled the opening before pushing a finger inside.
The flesh yielded to him, easily taking his two slick fingers inside. The muscles here were not slack; as Derek moved and twisted his hand slowly, in and out, Kayle’s body maintained a tight grip. But it didn’t seem to cause him any discomfort, even as Derek worked in a third finger. He absently wondered of it was because an incubi’s body was made for sex.
That seemed to be the case as Derek eventually replaced his fingers with his cock. He grabbed Kayle’s legs, positioning them open and back so Kayle could rest his calves on Derek’s shoulders. He watched himself guide his cock into Kayle’s body.
Derek’s eyes rolled back as he slid in, the sensation was like nothing he’d ever felt. It was almost too much too soon as the threat of premature ejaculation tingled through his cock.
“H-holy...oh... wow...” Derek forced himself to stay still, nestled half in and half out of Kayle’s body. Kayle had his fingers interlaced across the back of Derek’s neck and his breathing was just as labored as Derek’s.
“An-any way you could ease up a bit?” Derek panted. “I don’t want to come yet. Not until you do.”
He saw the little grimace on Kayle’s face, but the tight, almost vibrating grip around his cock let up enough so that Derek could start to move. He kissed Kayle one more time along the jaw as he sunk in to the hilt, then he reached back—careful of the claws— and unwound Kayle’s hands from his neck, rising up to his knees and looking down into Kayle’s face.
Kayle’s dark eyes watched him, his lips parted and raw from their kissing. Just looking at his face would probably be enough to make Derek come, but he remained still for a few moments while he took Kayle’s cock in his hand and began to stroke him. Moving the sheathe o
f delicate flesh up and down his length, the dusky head of Kayle’s steel-hard cock slipped through Derek’s fist. Each time it was revealed, Kayle’s body tightened around Derek and the bead of pre-come grew until it was rolling down, slick and sticky against Derek’s fingers. Kayle’s chin was tipped up as far back as the horns would allow him to arch his neck and his mouth was open. Derek felt his cock surrounded by a heartbeat, squeezing and releasing, getting faster with Kayle’s pulse as he came closer to orgasm. Unable to hold back another second, Derek released Kayle’s cock and braced his hands against the mattress, elbows locked as he thrust inside of that gripping heat. He felt something slide up the back of his thigh, then between his legs, and as he was just reaching the crest of orgasm, the tip of Kayle’s tail pushed up behind Derek’s scrotum.
That was it.
Derek’s release crashed into him like a wave; every muscle locked, all of his nerve endings sparking along his skin and through his body. He could hear the roar and hum of blood in his ears, and lost all sense of where his body ended and Kayle’s began. Derek had no measure of time in his state of complete ecstasy, and for a moment, a piece of his brain registered that this could literally be the death of him.
He didn’t care.
His ejaculate spent, his body gave out, dropping numb atop Kayle like a wet dishrag. He felt the sticky heat of Kayle’s come streaked across his stomach, content in the knowledge that he’d done what he’d set out to do—he’d given Kayle his first real orgasm. As his head filled with static and his ears filled with blood, the darkness wrapped around him in the form of Kayle’s embrace, and he let himself slip away into nothing.
Incredibly, Derek woke up.
He wasn’t certain how he’d gotten into their current position, laying on his back with Kayle resting half on top of him and his long hair spread out across Derek’s chest. Every muscle ached and felt like lead. The light in the room was the shade of pale ash that indicated morning, which meant that they’d slept through at least one night. Derek assumed the only reason his bladder wasn’t ready to burst was probably because he’d come so much, he was dehydrated.
“Oh, you’re awake,” Kayle said, lifting his head. He was still in incubus form, but his wings and horns were hidden. Derek liked him just fine with them, but it did make cuddling more difficult. Kayle made as if to get up, but Derek curled his arm around him, pulling him in closer.
“No, don’t get up just yet.” Derek could barely raise his voice above a mumble.
Kayle settled back down.
“Will you tell me now about that tattoo?” Kayle’s hand was trembling slightly as he reached across Derek’s chest to touch it. It didn’t seem like fear to Derek, and he wondered if Kayle was feeling almost as wiped out as he was.
“I got it for Marc,” Derek said. “He loved wolves. After he died, I added the lock and chain. I figured I’d never fall in love again. Kind of cheesy, I guess, but that’s the kind of shit you do when you’re always drunk.”
Derek pulled Kayle further up on his chest, resting his chin on his head and lightly rubbing his back. The large pattern on Kayle’s back felt cold and hard—like glass—when Derek brushed it; not just ink on skin after all.
Kayle sighed against him, starting to relax.
“This is pleasant. Do humans always do this after having sex?”
“No. Not nearly enough.” Marc and he had certainly never reached cuddling. They’d fuck then fall asleep on different sides of the bed. There were times when Derek couldn’t sleep and he’d lay awake, trying to pick Marc’s features out against the darkness, and telling himself that he should stop wanting more. Right now, he wanted to be selfish, and not let Kayle go. He may be a fool to think that there was a future between them, but Derek wanted to remain in this darkness for as long as he could.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
When they finally got out of bed, going through their usual routines wasn’t nearly as awkward as Derek had feared it would be. It wasn’t at all like the dance he and Marc used to do where Marc avoided getting too close to Derek and Derek avoided looking too often at him. He and Kayle exchanged glances and small touches as they passed by each other, having one more quickie in the shower, Kayle’s legs wrapped around his waist as Derek thrust inside of him, using the wall for leverage.
But all good things had an end, and far too soon they were dressed and heading solemnly to the morgue.
Dr. Ray was in her office when they arrived, sorting through some paperwork. Derek’s tongue felt sticky in his mouth as he approached her.
“Evening, Doc. I, uh…” Derek was suddenly nauseous when he tried to get out the words that were in his head.
“Dr. Ray, we’re wondering if you could confirm something for us,” Kayle stepped in, taking the sheet of paper from Derek and handing it to her. “This is about the DeSantos case.”
Dr, Ray glanced over the paper, the lines in her forehead deepening.
“I didn’t sign this,” she said, frowning and handing the paper back to Kayle.
“So that’s not your signature?” Derek asked, his heart catching in his chest.
“Oh it looks like my signature, but I didn’t sign off on this.” Dr. Ray got up from her chair and went to one of the filing cabinets behind her desk
“DeSantos you said?” She didn’t wait for a reply as she reached inside the drawer and quickly came out with a folder. The name at the top was Raymond “Ramon” DeSantos. Dr. Ray sat down with the file and flipped through it, pulling out a page and handing it to Derek. It was the original version of the document Kayle held, but with a completely different signature.
“Calvin R. Davees,” Derek read, turning his head in Kayle’s direction. Kayle appeared equally as stunned, then his eyes darted to the side as he likely began to play through the same scenarios that Derek had playing in his own head.
“I don’t understand this,” Dr. Ray said. “Why would Cal sign my name?”
“We found something on the body that did not appear on the autopsy report. It may have been relevant to the case.” Derek said.
Dr. Ray looked between them, her expression faltered, drawing out the lines around her eyes. “No… you don’t think—?”
“I don’t know what to think now. We need to talk to Cal.”
“He left this morning. He was going to take some time off before he had to take the coroner’s exam.”
“Shit. Any idea where he went?”
“He said he was going to visit family, so I assumed he meant in Briggs Colony.”
“Give me his address. Maybe he hasn’t left yet and we can catch him.”
“Yes,” Dr. Ray said, scribbling it down on a slip of notepaper, “of course.” Her hand shook as she wrote and Derek couldn’t blame her. To imagine she had possibly been working beside—mentoring—a brutal serial killer was a lot to process. It was likely that she would have unknowingly taught him the techniques to make his murders so successful. At a minimum, Cal had lied, forging her name. He’d put the spotlight on her for some reason, when it wasn’t even being cast in his direction. A lump of icy lead settled into his stomach. He wasn’t ready to jump to any conclusions yet. Maybe Cal had been worried that if it came up sometime that he’d missed something during an autopsy, if could compromise his licensing. Very few people were selected to undergo training in advanced medical arts, and there even fewer slots to be filled, should they pass their testing. If Cal was worried that there was a chance he could drop off the list of candidates, he could become pretty desperate.
The other possibility...well, Derek wasn’t quite ready to think about that yet.
“Thanks,” Derek put a hand on her shoulder as he took the address from her. He would talk to her later, come spend some time with her to make sure she was all right, regardless of what the truth turned out to be.
Leaving the building, Derek felt he should say something to ease the tension that had begun to settle heavily around them, separating them by cold professionalism.
“Well, I guess I lost our bet,” Derek sighed as they reached his car.
“Bet? What bet?” Kayle asked.
“If it is Cal, he’s human, so it means the murders weren’t committed by a Variant.” Derek opened the passenger door for Kayle, and rushed around to get to his side.
“I wouldn’t be so certain that he is entirely human,” Kayle said as Derek started the car.
“You know something?” Derek asked. He was relieved to see Kayle shake his head.
“No. But it might make sense if this was the work of a single person; no single human could have moved those bodies. Especially not somebody built like Cal.”
Derek had to admit, when he’d first met Cal he thought the young man would be overwhelmed by all the heavy lifting within a week. He was one of those guys who appeared to be ten years younger than his actual age. Smaller stature, probably only needed to shave once a month or so.
“Right now we’re still speculating,” Kayle cautioned. He was right, they couldn’t afford to jump to conclusions, but they couldn’t afford to take a wait-and-see attitude about it, either.
“I’ve been thinking…” Kayle said. “This chemist; maybe he is our killer?”
“What’s got you thinking about that?”
“I’m trying to link everything. I feel like none of it is simple coincidence. There was no need to kill Ramon if they were just after my supplements. And I don’t understand what the purpose of draining blood would be.”
“Clan drinks blood—like we discussed earlier.”
“But not dead blood— as we also discussed.” Kayle was doing one of his little things that he did, drumming lightly at his lower-lip with his fingers. Derek liked these little quirks; these little, human touches that made him slightly imperfect, and a whole lot easier to understand.
“Derek, please watch the road,” Kayle said as he calmly reached over and tugged on the steering wheel, righting them from their slow drift over the shoulder.
“Sorry,” Derek clamped both hands on the wheel, forcing his eyes forward.
