by A. H. Lee
Jessica gasped and then groaned. “Oh, gods. Mal, Mal, Mal…”
“Awfully damn close,” purred Mal. He slid his other arm under her shoulders and lifted her enough that her head fell back. He kissed the long, elegant line of her throat, his hand moving under the blankets. Azrael thought, again, that they were the prettiest creatures imaginable.
Jessica’s arms came up convulsively around Mal’s head and shoulders. “I,” she gasped, “don’t have any wards.”
Mal snickered.
“Or any qualms about being f-fucked,” continued Jessica, trying to wrap herself around his arm.
“Can’t,” said Mal. “I’m too hungry. If I start, you’ll end up hungry, too. Or worse.”
“How very thoughtful of you,” said Jessica in a frustrated voice.
Mal tilted her head again and planted wet kisses on one ear and down the side of her neck. Jessica’s body curled around him, and she shuddered. Mal kept kissing her neck and shoulders until she relaxed.
Jessica’s eyes blinked open. She pushed herself up on one elbow and surprised Azrael by reaching across Mal to pull him down against them. She threaded her fingers through Azrael’s across Mal’s chest and grinned at him. “There,” she said. “Perfect.”
And the first thought through Azrael’s head was, “Yes.”
Chapter 51
Jessica
“Alright,” said Azrael over breakfast. “Here is what is going to happen today. I am going through the gate with Lucy to secure the far end and have a look around.”
Mal frowned at him. “I don’t think you should look around without me.”
“You,” Azrael continued, “are going to go feed yourself. Can you do that without killing anyone? Do you have enough control? Do I need to give you more blood first?”
Mal looked down at his toast and eggs. Jessica knew that he prided himself in his precise control of his own magic. What had happened last night embarrassed him. “I’ll be fine,” he muttered.
“Truly?” Azrael probed.
Mal nodded. “I’ll go down to the park. There are always a few couples there. I’ll stir things up a little, feed indirectly until I’ve got better control, then go find some actual partners to speed things up.”
“That bridesmaid?” asked Jessica.
“Maybe.” Mal smiled. “Possibly that little tailor. I think he’d really like me to pin him to the wall of his dressing room.”
Azrael looked down at his tea. “If you do that, pick up a top hat for me. I forgot to do it earlier.”
“Sure thing, Boss.”
“Do you know my size?”
Mal rested his chin in one hand and grinned. “After this morning, I know all kinds of your sizes.”
Azrael tried to keep a straight face and then couldn’t. “Are you going to be like this all day?”
Mal pushed back from the table. “Well, you won’t be around to find out, will you?”
Azrael rolled his eyes. “Mal, please do not be an ass about Lucy.”
“I’m not. I just think I’m better protection.”
“She and I will be fine. I’m not going near anything dangerous. I just need to make sure the gate comes out as close as I think it does to Kotos and make sure we can get transport into the city. Then I need to find out how far the gate is from the Bethsarian border and possibly make a jump into Calguard so that we can get to the trial quickly. It’s a short distance, and so close to the Shattered Sea, it’ll be easy to make that gate with Lucy.”
Mal frowned at him. “You’re not going anywhere dangerous, but you’re going into Calguard? They hate us!”
Azrael drummed his fingers with a long-suffering expression. “There was a time when you did what I asked without questioning me.”
“There was a time when I hadn’t held you all night.”
“Is that why you’re so argumentative? I’ll make a note of it.”
Jessica felt this had gone on long enough. “What am I doing while you spy and Mal feeds?”
Azrael glanced at her. “I thought you might need to feed, too. Mal took a big bite out of you last night when you were trying to save him.”
Jessica saw Mal flinch out of the corner of her eye. Azrael saw it, too, and seemed to finally realize what it meant. His voice softened. “Mal, I did that. I took too much. That was me, not you.”
He reached across the table and patted Mal’s hand—a little awkwardly, but he did it. “I’m planning to send Lucy into Calguard to get me some sand. She can fly most of the way. I won’t even be in the city, except for the moment it takes to secure the far end of the gate.”
Mal nodded. “Alright.” He glanced at Jessica apologetically. “Do you need to feed?”
Jessica considered. “If you want me full of magic, then yes.”
“I think that would be a good idea,” said Azrael. “The inaugural ball is at seven o’clock in the evening. Be back here by four to dress and leave in plenty of time.”
Jessica glanced at the clock on the wall. It was not quite nine in the morning.
“I don’t plan to dally at the ball,” continued Azrael. “We’ll stay just long enough to be polite, and I’ll have a word with Prince Gabriel about his proposal of accepting my protection. A face-to-face conversation should give me plenty of opportunity to evaluate him for signs of faery heritage or control. Mal, I don’t think you need to be in the room. Just stay close. I may need your magic.”
Mal frowned. “Won’t they be expecting a panther? You never let me be a man outside the Shrouded Isle. I’ve been a man so much lately…I forgot when we were buying clothes.”
Azrael shook his head. “With the local wizards so suspicious about you, I think you’re better off in disguise. Your human shape wouldn’t fool a high-level magician, but it’ll certainly fool the mundane court and any novice. Even most sorcerers would be puzzled by your aura.”
“I wish I was better at cloaking,” said Mal.
“Get Lucy to teach you sometime.”
Mal snorted. “Like she’d teach me anything unless you ordered her to.”
“She might if you asked nicely.”
“I’ll get right on that.”
Chapter 52
Jessica
Jessica and Mal left about thirty minutes later, heading into town. Azrael had already disappeared through the gate with Lucy in his pocket. “Do you think he ever gets jealous?” asked Jessica as they walked.
“Jealous of what?”
“Of you, silly. Of sharing you with every tailor and bridesmaid you happen to meet?”
Mal looked surprised. “He’s not sharing me; he’s never had me!”
“Well that makes it even worse.”
“You aren’t jealous.”
“I’m a succubus. I understand.”
“He’s spent two decades watching me fuck!” More quietly, Mal added, “And pushing me away.”
Jessica nodded. “Does he see you with other men very often?”
Mal scratched his head. “I never thought about it.”
“Does he?”
“I suppose not. Now that you mention it…mostly women. Most of the men who come as courtiers to the Shrouded Isle end up sleeping with the female courtiers or the guests. I feed off them indirectly. If they have any interest in me, though, I get around to them eventually.” He grinned. “Most of them are more flexible than they think once I get hold of them.”
Jessica rolled her eyes. It’s a good thing confidence is sexy, Mal, because otherwise you’d be unbearable. “But Azrael doesn’t watch?”
“Not those, not usually.”
“Hmm. Are you sure that he wants you to fuck him in the ass? There are a lot of other things you could do together, and if he hasn’t even seen it…”
“He’s seen me fuck girls in the ass,” objected Mal. “And he’s not a child. He’s not some innocent maiden.” Mal tilted his head up and spoke in a creditable imitation of Azrael’s voice, ‘I don’t know; can you?’”
Jessic
a barked a laugh.
“I swear he’d correct my grammar with my fingers inside him!”
Jessica got control of her giggles. “Fair enough. But not everyone likes it in the butt. You and I tried once, and I didn’t like it. I’m just saying, it’s sort of advanced for his first time. That might be why he’s so intimidated. And he is intimidated, sass notwithstanding.”
Mal shrugged. “Every time I’ve gotten a peek past his wards, that’s what he wants. Not everyone likes the same things in real life that they fantasize about. If he doesn’t like it, we’ll do something else. Without his wards, it’ll be easy for me to tell.”
Jessica nodded. “Good. Just…I know he keeps saying ‘one night,’ but please don’t think of this as your only chance to do everything you’ve ever wanted to do to him.”
Mal burst out laughing.
“I’m serious!”
Mal threaded his fingers through Jessica’s, raised them to his mouth, and kissed them. “I love you.”
“Mal…”
“I won’t, Jessica. I’ll be good.” He waggled his eyebrows. “I’ll be so good.”
When they reached the park, they sat on a bench for a while, watching. Mal delivered a running commentary on the people passing by. “That poor man hasn’t had sex in a year. He likes that woman with the small dog. I bet he sees her here day after day and says nothing.”
“Well, I bet he’ll say something today,” murmured Jessica. “Does she like him?”
Mal peered at her intently. “She hasn’t noticed him. She’s…worried about something. I can’t tell what. She’s not thinking about sex at all.”
“I bet she is now,” said Jessica.
“Yep.” Mal’s magic hummed in the air, lowering inhibitions, erasing shame, guilt, and fear. Mal couldn’t actually make people want anything that ran contrary to their natures. However, he could make them brave in ways they’d never dreamed.
Jessica watched the small dog try to hump the man’s leg, watched the two people giggle nervously, introduce themselves, begin to talk. Jessica could tell by their body language that they were flirting. After a few minutes, they began to give off sexual energy. Mal leaned back, basking, already looking for more subjects. One married couple, two college kids, and several joggers later, he got up and told Jessica he was “going to get that hat for Ren.”
Jessica sat on the bench after he’d gone, soaking up the energy from a pair of teenagers who were making out on a blanket in the sun beside the duck pond. The day was bright, not too cold. The trees were still half-cloaked in brilliant fall leaves.
Jessica considered her options. There was a lanky literature teacher at the university who would probably be in his office grading papers about now. He had impressed her the first time by making sure she wasn’t a student before putting his tongue in her mouth. There was a veterinarian who worked with the horse-drawn cabs—a little shy, always kind. There was a student of magical history, whom she should probably stop seeing, because Jessica thought he suspected what she was. But he’s so damned good with his tongue.
And then there was the painter. He would certainly be in his studio on a day like today, overlooking the gardens, with light falling in golden squares across the floor, his hands moving over the canvas like a caress. Yes, him, thought Jessica. At least, I’ll try him first. I’ll invite him to lunch—a little café, some wine, his studio afterward.
She rose and started along the winding trail, towards the park’s entrance. She’d almost reached it, when she came around a corner and saw the collection of tables and chairs where the old men of Tanisea liked to smoke and play chess and mahjong. They were out in force on this beautiful day, drinking their coffee, talking and laughing.
Right in the middle of them, sat Ania. She looked up as Jessica spotted her and grinned. She was playing chess with a gentleman in a tweed hat. She raised a hand to motion Jessica over and then returned her attention to the game.
Jessica stepped forward hesitantly. She’d never tried to approach this group. She didn’t feel that she belonged. “Oh, she has a friend!” one of the men exclaimed. “Our chess mistress has a friend.”
Jessica smiled. Ania smirked at the chessboard.
“I hope you’re not as good as she is,” said one of the men, “because she already has all our money.”
“Every single wooden nickel,” said Ania.
The men laughed. They went back to talking and playing games at other tables. Ania made two more precise moves, and her opponent threw up his hands. He stood, doffed his cap to Jessica, and moved away. Jessica felt as though she were being maneuvered as expertly as a gaming piece, but she sat down in the chair.
Ania was wearing a suede vest, shirt, and trousers today, along with fingerless black velvet gloves. They made her fingers seem to dance like separate living creatures over the chess board as she reset the pieces. Jessica found herself wondering what those gloves would feel like against her skin.
“I looked for you last night,” said Ania.
“I don’t go to the club every night,” said Jessica.
“Busy with your boys?”
Jessica frowned. “We can’t be friends if you’re going to be jealous of them.”
Ania’s eyes flicked up, her expression critical. “What are their names, anyway?”
“The curly one is Mal,” said Jessica. “Straight hair is Ren.”
“Ren…” repeated Ania. “I’m sure I’ve heard him called something else.”
“Really? By whom?”
Ania considered. “I don’t know. Someone at the club.”
Jessica bit her lip. She wondered if Mal had been indiscreet with Azrael’s name…if Azrael had been too drunk to correct him.
Ania waved her hand. “Doesn’t matter. What are you doing today?”
“Playing chess in the park, apparently,” said Jessica with a twinkle. She moved a piece.
Ania immediately countered with a move of her own. Jessica had exactly zero expectation of winning. “Do you play with these guys very often?”
Ania shrugged. “Sometimes.”
Jessica cocked her head. “Are you really a professional gambler? Because that’s amazing. I would like to hear about that.”
Ania’s fingers tapped a rhythm on the table. “I’m a dealer sometimes. At the casino.” Her eyes flicked up with a smirk. “You should see me in a tux.”
Jessica couldn’t help but smile back. Ania crossed her legs under the table, and the toe of her shoe brushed delicately over Jessica’s ankle, then ran all the way to her knee under her dress.
Jessica thought, Feed. Take Ania to that little spot behind the vine walkway that’s good for trysts, and feed. She’s offering, and I’m hungry.
But something stopped her—perhaps the way Ania danced around every question. She was attractive, interesting, but mysterious. Jessica liked to know her partners.
They played in silence for a while. Jessica got the idea that Ania was toying with her, drawing out the game. “Have you traveled much?” ventured Jessica. “Mal and I spent the last few months going all around the Shattered Sea.”
Ania looked at her curiously. “Like where?”
Jessica waved her hand, “Lately just across the Provinces, but before that, we visited the sentient forests of Karth.”
Ania’s eyebrows rose. “That’s a strange and beautiful place. Dangerous, too.”
Jessica nodded. “You’ve been there?”
“Yes.” Something about her voice had softened.
Are you from there? wondered Jessica.
“Did you actually speak with the trees?” continued Ania. “Or just the humans?”
“The trees, of course!” said Jessica. “They were amazing. Although one of them tried to eat Mal. Fortunately, he is very difficult to swallow.”
Ania burst out laughing.
“It wasn’t really the tree’s fault,” continued Jessica. “If he hadn’t been trying to seduce it—” She realized that this might sound strange t
o someone who didn’t know what Mal was.
But Ania only laughed harder.
“Although, maybe he succeeded after all,” continued Jessica. “He ended up covered in pollen. Like a giant bee. So maybe the forest was just giving him a kiss.”
Ania shook her head. After a moment, she said, “Has Ren been with you the whole time?”
“No,” said Jessica, “he joined us a few days ago. He’s an old friend.”
Ania cocked her head. “And you’re not on your honeymoon?”
Jessica squirmed. “Not exactly.” She realized that she was probably dancing around Ania’s questions as much as Ania was dancing around hers.
She waited for Ania to probe, but the other girl was silent. At last, she said, “Do you like picnics?”
Jessica was surprised. “Who doesn’t?”
Ania gave a wry smile. “A shocking number of people do not like picnics. Mostly because of ants.”
“I like picnics,” said Jessica.
“Well, then, I am inviting you to one.”
Jessica pursed her lips. “Alright, but not today.”
“Tomorrow?”
“I’m not sure. Probably not. Do you have an address? Where can I find you?”
Ania pursed her lips. “I’d have an easier time finding you.”
Jessica wondered, suddenly, whether she was in an abusive relationship, whether she might even be homeless. “Ania…are you in any kind of trouble? Because I’ll try to help.”
Ania frowned at the chessboard. “I’m fine, thank you.”
“Do you have a place to sleep?”
“Yes, Jessica. I’ll send you a note or something.” She moved a piece and looked up with a grin, showing all her teeth. “Checkmate.”
Chapter 53
Mal
Mal arrived back at the cottage just after two o’clock. He brought Azrael’s hat, as well as some food, just in case the others hadn’t found lunch. He was a little disappointed that nobody was around. Shouldn’t Azrael and Lucy be back by now?
He went to the gate and stared intently at the oval of woodland visible at the far end. It wasn’t sunny there. It was gray and snowing. Mal turned into a panther and paced. He hated being alone, except when he was hunting. Even then, he would have brought Jessica with him if she didn’t get so upset when animals died.
