by Maribel Fox
“Can he touch you?” I ask.
She bites her lip.
“Can I?” he asks.
“You can try,” she says, practically breathless.
Iseul reaches out a hand, fingertips barely grazing down Lili’s arm.
She shudders.
“Guess he can,” I say on her other side, lips trailing down her other arm as Iseul’s fingers skip over to her breast, skimming around the outer curve of it, dragging his knuckles over the stiff peak of her nipple.
“Should we find out if you can feed in the dream world, querida?”
She gasps as Iseul sucks on her nipple, her back arching as she leans back on the picnic table, laying herself bare for us.
“Yes,” she pants as my lips latch onto her other nipple.
Her hands run down her body, diving between her legs, strangled cries rippling from her lips as she toys with her clit.
Lili writhes under us, moaning and arching, the soft breeze playing over all of us, the sunshine warm on our skin.
“Together,” she pants, pulling away. “You—” She bites her lip, looking between the two of us, me and Iseul, the hungry look in her eyes telling the whole story.
Iseul smirks at me, eyes dragging down my body as I start to strip for him. Lili’s playing with herself watching the whole thing, groaning when he starts stripping too.
“Probably should give the lady what she wants, huh?” Iseul says, his fingers tracing the same path down my arm, over my chest that he had with Lili. Only now it’s my body that’s lighting up with fire for him. Lighting up because I know Lili’s watching with anticipation, getting herself off on the idea of it.
Fuck, that’s hot.
“Probably,” I agree with a smirk of my own, sliding my hand down his side, over his ribcage and corrugated abs. He might be a smaller guy, but he’s built like Bruce Lee, solid muscle, serious strength.
With Lili keeping audience and egging us on, I don’t hesitate to kiss him, to thrust my tongue in his mouth, to drag my teeth over his bottom lip as he groans from deep in his throat. I kiss down the side of his neck, sucking, biting, not gentle, not soft and sweet, but he likes it. He growls and returns the favor, attacking me with his mouth, Lili’s moans echoing through the clearing as we reach for each other.
“Fuck,” I sigh as his hand wraps around my cock and rubs me against him, our bodies so close.
“Ocho,” he groans, as I stroke him, feverish need growing between us.
“Fuck yes,” Lili pants, and we both look over to see her plunging two fingers deep inside her clenching pussy. “Don’t stop,” she moans, her whole body flushed, breasts heaving, nipples sharp little points I’m desperate to suck on again. But with Iseul touching me like this, no sounds but the chorus of our pleasure soaring up into the sky, I’m stuck in place, kissing him, touching him, listening to Lili, the whole thing overwhelming and raw.
I’m not going to last. It’s too much, too strong, too damn good.
Kissing Iseul, I thrust my tongue into his mouth, tasting him roughly, deep, demanding even though he’s just as eager to give me whatever I want. His grip squeezes me, and my whole world goes fuzzy for a second, everything focusing down to a pinprick before I explode.
Lili reaches out desperately, clutching at us both, pulling us to her, lost in the throes of it.
“Now,” she commands, spreading her legs for him while I slide in to cover her with my mouth, sucking on her nipples until she’s gasping.
Is takes her by the hips, pulls her to the edge of the picnic table, and lines himself up, not having to be told another time. He starts to ease into her slowly, but Lili’s not having it, she wraps her legs around his waist and pulls him in, locking him in place.
“Don’t be gentle,” she says, fisting her fingers in my hair, yanking me roughly up to kiss her, the pain enough to make my eyes water — enough to send tremors of hot desire bolting straight for my cock again.
“Oh god,” Iseul sighs, sinking deep into her before he starts to fuck her. Fuck her good and hard, just the way she wants it. We’re a tangled mass of sweaty, hungry bodies, nothing but the pleasure we’re getting and giving on our minds.
“Fuck yes. Yes, yes,” Lili pants. “Fuck me!” she screams, her back arching up off the table as Iseul goes still inside her, jerking and shuddering with his own orgasm.
We all collapse apart, panting, sweating. I don’t know if their minds are reeling like mine is, but holy shit.
Lili coos, curling her body so that she’s laying across us both, laying her claim to us with her body.
“Well, damn. First phone sex, now this…” she mutters, giggling over at me. I grin back, happy to see her so content.
“I talked to your brother,” Iseul says, breaking through the post-sex, not caring about anything, haze.
Lili lifts her head enough to look at him and arch a brow. “And?”
“He’s agreed to provide us with anchors and to open the portal, but said you’re on your own to find a good one inside Hell.”
Lili frowns but nods. “Maal should be able to help with that. Once we have the anchors, finding an Earth-portal shouldn’t be too hard.”
Iseul doesn’t look convinced, but he also has no grounds to argue with a Hellion about the inner workings of Hell.
“Is there anything else you need before your arrival?” he asks.
Lili shakes her head. “I don’t think so… If we think of something, I know how to get in touch,” she says with a little grin. Iseul nods, still smiling, and gives her a brief kiss on the cheek, sensing that we’re on our way out.
Back in Lili’s room, I hear his voice in my head.
I will meet you, in Hell, at the portal when you arrive to give you the anchors, he says. However, I do have a very special request if you’re willing to help?
At first, I figured he was using the main channel to talk to us, but I get the distinct feeling that at least the second part is for me.
What is it? I ask.
I’ve befriended a young man named Ian who would like a particular animal — a Hellpuppy. He happens to be the younger brother of the local queen, so it would be wise for us to arrive with one.
Makes sense to me. Keeping the Fae Queen happy while we’re in her domain is definitely important. And who doesn’t want their little brother happy, right?
Besides, smuggling a pup out of Hell sounds kind of fun.
Sure, I can do that, I say, not any idea of a plan formed yet. Not even sure where I’ll be able to find one, but it’s worth a shot.
“How are you planning on doing that?” Lili asks skeptically, out loud. So much for that just being a private channel.
“Don’t worry about it,” I tell her, giving her a kiss on the temple before sliding out of bed. “Maal’s gonna help me.”
She arches a brow at that.
“Oh is he, now?”
“Yep,” I grin, heading out the room, down the stairs to find the pretty boy.
He looks up anxiously.
“My turn?”
I snort. Always so damn eager.
“No, not this time. We need to take a little field trip, come on.” I wave him after me, ignoring his confused look. I’ll explain it on the way out.
Maal might not know what’s going on, but he’s never let that stop him from going along with something, so I’m not surprised when he falls into step behind me on the way to the secret kitchen tunnel exit.
“Don’t go far,” Dima calls after us. He’s not volunteering to join us, though. Hopefully this hell puppy isn’t far enough away to trigger the curse.
“What are we doing?” Maal asks, once we’re in the dark tunnel under the estate.
I explain to him about the Hellpuppy and the Fae Queen’s brother.
“Got any ideas for where I can get one?” I ask when I’m done.
“Probably the black market?” Maal asks. “Though something like that is gonna run you a pretty penny and I don’t have those kinds of funds l
aying around…”
“You get me to the puppy, leave the acquisition of it to me,” I say, leaving the secret tunnel, out on the other side of the walls of the estate.
“If you say so,” Maal mutters, heading off down the labyrinthine paths between Hellish estates. He leads me back into the rock wall, through different tunnels, and out to a building that looks pretty ordinary — even by Hell standards. It’s maybe storage? I don’t know. It’s just a square building that doesn’t look like it has any windows or doors. Maal doesn’t let that stop him from walking right at it, set on a collision course. Just as he should be colliding with the stone wall, he disappears.
Well okay then.
Before I lose my chance, I follow him, and then I stop dead in my tracks. The hit from the curse not even really registering through the shock.
It’s dark.
Not just kind of dark, but really dark. The kind of dark you only get deep, deep underground. The faintest red lights appear to glow in mid-air in all directions, but that’s all they are, tiny, faint, red lights.
Maal heads off into the darkness, and I keep close to his heels, the air too hot to make sense for being this far underground. But it’s Hell. None of it makes sense. He nears one of the red lights, and suddenly, there’s a little stall there, wares for sale, all cast under the same red glow. But up close, it’s bright enough to see by, it’s from far away that the darkness seems to eat all the light.
We go by a few of these stalls — some with weird items, artifact-looking things, books, jars of interesting body parts from creatures I can’t identify — before the sound of critters catches my ear.
“Over there,” I whisper, pointing down the row. I hear birdsong, growling, ruffling of fur and feathers — it’s got to be the place. “Can you make a distraction?”
Maal gives me a look, and even in the near pitch-dark of the black market, I can tell he thinks I’m insane.
“Are you going to steal the pup?”
“I’m going to re-home it with a loving family,” I snap back. He huffs, but doesn’t argue as he moves over to the animal stall.
“Wow, quite the collection you’ve got here,” he says, talking to the person running the stall. I can’t see them from where I’m at, but I circle around, keeping to the shadows, letting my dragon bask in the darkness for once. “Is that an owlbear? Wow, I thought those were extinct,” he says.
“Don’t—”
There’s a snap, and Maal yelps, chuckling. “Guess he’s not too friendly, huh?”
“You lookin’ or buyin’ mate?”
“Not sure, to be honest,” he goes on, making up some story about how he needs companionship but he’s not sure which one’s right for him.
As I slip in through the back of the stall, some snake-tailed thing shakes its rattler at me menacingly, yelps and yips pouring out from other cages.
“What’s goin’ on back there?” the guy calls to the animals.
“Oooh, a gelatinous cube… Do you think they’d let me take him to work with me?” Maal asks. “Is it a ‘him’? How do you tell?”
I shake my head, rolling my eyes at him. At least he’s good for distracting.
In the back corner, I find what I’m looking for — a scared-looking Hellpup curled up in the corner of a crate. Fully grown, Hellhounds are ferocious beasts, but this one’s really young. He’s still got his fluffy coat, paws too big for his frame. His ears — which will later grow pointed and tall like horns — are still floppy and soft. He opens his eyes — two sets of bright red eyes set into his shadowy fur — and blinks at me, his tail, tipped with an arrow-head shape, cautiously starts to unwrap from his body.
“Hey there,” I whisper, crouching down to let him sniff me. He blinks. “I know someone that’s really excited to be your friend,” I continue. Even as a pup, this thing could do some serious damage to me if it wants to. I don’t want to have to fight with it to convince it to leave with me. If I can get it to come willingly, that’s the best option.
“Now, I was told that quasits make great pets for kids, is that true? I’ve got a niece that could—”
I don’t know how much longer Maal’s going to manage this.
Taking a chance, I open the crate, and stick my hand in. The pup doesn’t look aggressive about the intrusion, still scared, so I hope for the best, scoop him into my arm, tuck him into my shirt, and make a break for it. The pup yelps in surprise, but it’s the only warning the stall owner gets before he turns back and finds Maal gone too, both of us sprinting through the darkness for the portal, not stopping till we’re back at Lili’s family estate.
Lili’s there with her hands on her hips the moment we return, glaring at us.
“Is this really that important?” she snaps. “You could’ve gotten thrown back in jail, you could have tripped the curse, you could have—”
“Gotten a puppy for the Faerie Queen’s little brother?” I ask holding out the little guy. He whines, still scared, and seems kind of lethargic, blinking slowly, his head lolling.
Lili frowns.
“Is he okay?”
“I don’t know,” I admit, setting the pup down, dropping to the floor with him. Every puppy I’ve ever encountered before is more energetic than this.
“What do you think, Dima?”
“How should I know?”
“Aren’t puppies kind of a wolf thing?” Maal asks for me.
Dima scoffs. “Not this puppy.” But even as he’s sneering, he’s bending down to look at the puppy too, running his hands over the creature’s little body, checking him over head to toe.
“Has he eaten?” he asks.
“That’s a good idea,” I agree. We’ve got some extra provisions from the day we first came in, but they’re running low.
Thankfully, I can survive off of the smell of cooked meats, so just making him something will satisfy my hunger too.
After a meal, the puppy doesn’t seem so lethargic, but he’s still not interested in playing with us or doing puppy stuff. He’s curled into a little ball, one paw over his face that’s buried in the crook of his arm.
“Come on, buddy, don’t you want the ball?” Maal asks, trying to entice the dog to fetch.
Nothing.
He sighs. All of us are feeling pretty defeated at the moment.
It’s times like these when we need laughter and joy even more. Times like these…
Well, it’s been a long long time since I tried to use these powers, but maybe, just maybe, they’re good for something after all? Long ago, I made the shadows dance. Before Cortez and his men came, I put on great shows for my people, they loved the shadow creatures.
Maybe the pup will too. It’s worth a shot. I’m out of other options, and I don’t want to deliver this puppy to the queen’s brother if it’s defective.
“What’s that look for?” Lili asks suspiciously. I realize I’m smiling.
“Let’s see if it works,” I mutter, twirling my fingers in the air, forehead scrunched in concentration.
Shadows move in from the recesses of the room, all rushing to one point under my fingers, forming a swirling ball of darkness that slowly, as I poke and prod at it, takes the shape of a kitten.
All at once, it breaks out of the shadow sphere, taking off like a shot, racing over to bat at the puppy playfully.
The hell pup narrows its eyes at the shadow kitten, then tilts its head. Before too long, his tail is cautiously wagging, and then the kitten’s got him in a play bow and the two of them take off tearing through the house, frolicking all over the place like there was never anything wrong with him.
I sigh, relieved, and lean back against the couch.
“Guess he just needed the right motivation,” I chuckle, wincing at the sound of something crashing in another room.
25
Lili
“Come on, Izzy says he’s got what we need to get through the portal,” Ocho says, looking at me expectantly.
I make a face. I’m still not happ
y about the idea of leaving Hell. Especially not without getting my revenge. But I’m also very aware of my own limitations until I get this collar off. Charging off for vengeance without my full range of powers would be foolish.
“Do we know where we’re going?” I ask, eyes sliding to Maal.
He makes a face. “There’s one place I know… a portal that’s always gone to Earth, but it’s exposed. I don’t know if we can get there undetected.”
“If it’s the only way…” Ocho says, trailing off.
Maal doesn’t say anything, looking reluctant as he watches the kitten and puppy play together. They’ve been non-stop buddies since the pup got over his fear. I know why Maal’s hesitant. We’ve gotten this far, and walking into an ambush right now would be really stupid.
“I don’t see what choice we have,” I say with a sigh. It’s not what I want either, but we’ve got to hope.
That I haven’t been found by Valephar yet makes me extra nervous. Going to my parents’ house should have been a pretty obvious move for me to make. But no one has been sent to check on the estate, to see if I’m here. Why?
What is he playing at?
I don’t know, but it does make me a little more eager to get out of here and regroup where I don’t have to be looking over my shoulder every other minute.
“Fine,” Maal concedes. “I’ll do my best to take the back ways there… This is not going to go well,” he mutters under his breath, shaking his head.
“You talk like we have already failed,” Dima grunts.
“Come on, we shouldn’t waste more time if Is is coming to meet us,” I say, a twisting nervousness in the pit of my stomach. Things have been too quiet since my break out of prison, but I guess Valephar can’t very well have wanted posters plastered all over with my face on them when I’m supposed to be missing, now can he?
Didn’t think that all the way through, did you asshole?
Directing his shadow kitten, Ocho manages to get the puppy to follow along with us without a leash. Maal takes us straight into the wall, not spending time on the surface at all once we leave the estate. I never even knew routes like this existed. Everyone teleports so frequently that the thought of walking everywhere seems preposterous. It’s useful for us that Maal doesn’t think so, though. Otherwise we’d be in deep shit.
