by Jason Herc
Festus stopped in front of a door made of white bone or ivory.
"Your rooms," Festus said. He handed me and Ember each a wooden ring. Ember slipped it around her finger, so I did the same.
"And your rings," Festus continued. "I'm dreadfully sorry about those ruffians out there. I try to run a classy establishment, but…" He waved his hand. "You know how it is. Business is tight."
"No, we're the ones who are sorry," Ember said. When I didn't say anything, she glared at me.
"I didn't do anything…fine. I'm sorry for being so damn good-looking."
Ember giggled. She reached for her coins, but Festus stopped her.
"No, the rooms are on me," he said. "Consider it an apology for the poor reception."
"Oh, that's sweet of you," Ember said.
I nodded. "Thanks, Festus."
Festus left us, returning back the way we had come.
"How do these keys work?" I asked Ember while holding up the wooden ring on my finger.
"It's a key ring," Ember said. "It lets the wearer open the matching door."
With that, she pushed on the bone door. It swung open.
We went inside. It was a cozy round room with just enough room for the single bed standing in its center.
I closed the door. When I turned back, Ember was right next to me, a worried expression on her face.
"What was that back there?" she asked. "It felt…delicious but also dangerous. I thought you were the sensible type."
I shook my head. She was right. I had escalated the situation in an instant, or I would have, if Ember hadn't stopped.
It didn't matter that the bull man had been a moron. I was a human in a land of strange beasts, and I would be better off staying low until I figured things out.
"I'm not sure," I said. "I felt a rush of power and anger, like before, but stronger. Each time, it comes to me more quickly."
Ember gazed back at me with large eyes. "I've heard of Seekers becoming corrupted. The poison from the fire gnats might be related to that."
"Corrupted?" Yes, corruption might be a good way of looking at the darkness within my Flame. "But it makes me stronger, more powerful."
"Even I know that power has its price. You should be careful about using this…power."
She was right. Until I learned more from Master Beastley, I would have to restrain myself from indulging in that raw power without reason. At the same time, I didn't want to let go of it. It was powerful, no doubt, and I wouldn't give up power so easily.
"I'll try to hold it back," I said. "But what about you? If what's inside me is so dangerous, do you still want a taste of it?"
Ember stepped closer to me, wrapping her arms around my neck.
"Of course," she said. "I thought you'd never ask."
I pulled her to me. "Come. Taste me, then."
CHAPTER 8
Our open mouths met, both of us sharing our panting breaths.
A heavy warmth enveloped me and I reached up to touch the leathery wings that embraced me, running my fingertips along the soft yet durable surface.
I fluttered my fingers along the membrane.
"Stop! It tickles when you do that!" Ember squeaked with a giggle. She kissed me harder, trying to distract me.
My hands roamed down the sides of her body, below the hem of her dress, then back up along her smooth skin until they rested on the supple flesh of her ass.
I gripped each cheek firmly, kneading them, then spreading them apart.
Out of curiosity, I let my left hand wander further behind her and slightly up until I seized her tail. I pinched it, and the tail lashed about playfully, wrapping around my hand.
Ember laughed. "I caught you!"
I shook my hand free from her tail, then picked her up in my arms, cradling her. "No, I'm the one that caught you, remember?"
I moved to the side of the bed and set her down before crawling over her. Ember spread her wings, arms, and legs open at the same time, all spread eagle, in an open invitation.
Her wet slit glistened under the light of the candles set in the room's walls. It was smooth and hairless, and I wondered briefly whether succubi shaved or were naturally like that. The lips were slightly engorged and a shade darker than the surrounding pale skin. I reached for her lips with my fingers but stopped myself as I changed my mind.
"Open yourself for me," I said.
Ember smiled and reached between her legs with her right hand, spreading herself open with her fingers to display the wet pink inside.
"Enjoying the view?"
My pants were growing too tight and uncomfortable from the erotic display. "Lovely," I said as I stripped off what remained of my tattered pants and boxers.
"What about this?"
The tip of Ember's tail waved suggestively at me, then approached the entrance to her womanhood. Her tail was slim and flexible, about the thickness of a tiny snake, but the tip was larger. She slowly slid the tip into her spread pussy, moaning as she did.
"Even better." I watched as Ember pleasured herself.
She withdrew her tail with a small gasp, then inserted it again, repeating the full insertion and withdrawal over and over again.
I crept forward on my hands and knees, pushing her knees apart further.
"Don't stop," I said as I bent down to kiss her mound. I massaged the crest of her mound with my lips, then flicked my tongue along her clit as she continued to penetrate herself with her tail.
Ember moaned again. She grabbed my head with her other hand, locking her fingers tightly about my hair, but I batted it away.
"No touching," I said. "Put your hands behind your back."
"Oh my." Ember did as I had asked. She slid both hands behind her back while continuing her pleasuring. I nibbled along her groin and mound, then focused again on her clit, swirling my tongue around it.
"Amazing," Ember gasped. "Not just your mouth…I can feel a trickle of your Flame inside me."
In response to Ember's comment, I closed my eyes for a moment as I continued to work on her clit. With hardly any effort, I could see my Flame blazing brightly with my mind's vision.
Something was happening, and not just to Ember's pussy. My Flame was definitely burning, if burning was the right word, more than it had before. I noticed, though, that the black portions of Flame had grown in proportion as well.
Pleasuring Ember seemed to feed her, but rather than draining my Flame, it seemed to strengthen it.
What the hell was going on? And if this was all from a little foreplay, what would happen once I fucked her properly?
There was only way to find out. I had wanted to see her mouth wrapped around me first, but I decided that I couldn't wait any longer.
I moved my head away from Ember's crotch, but she pushed her hips upward into the air, trying to match my head's movement.
"No," I said, pushing her back down onto the bed. I also grabbed her tail and pulled it out of her pussy. "I don't know about you, but I'm done waiting. Onto the main course."
I crawled over Ember while still between her spread legs. "You can move your arms now, if you like," I said with a grin.
"Maybe I don't want to," Ember said impishly, still hiding her arms behind her back.
She wrapped me again in her wings, though, which were surprisingly flexible. She stroked my back with one wing. The other cupped itself around my ass, squeezing.
Ember laughed. "See? I don't need my arms."
I chuckled. "Suit yourself."
I lifted Ember's black dress higher to expose more of her firm, toned stomach. Then, I shifted to let my throbbing cock's head touch her moist entrance.
I rubbed my cock's head up and down the slippery slit several times before pushing myself between her lips.
I tried to push deeper, but Ember winced slightly in pain.
"Too much?" I asked. There was plenty of natural lubrication, and she was clearly aroused. The problem was that Ember was incredibly tight, and I was having trouble slidin
g all the way inside.
"No, don't stop. I want you to fill me up. Make me stretch open for you. Stretch me wide."
Ember didn't have to beg me. I wanted her as much as she wanted me.
I thrusted slowly, feeling the smooth walls of her pussy stretched taut around me. As I stretched her pussy open wider, Ember's mouth opened wider and wider as well.
"Oh…oh!" Ember gasped. "More! More!"
I slid deeper into her small hole, but I had only gotten the first half of my cock inside when my head met resistance.
Damn. Her pussy was tight and short. It was fucking tiny as hell.
Ember shivered underneath me, and her pussy's lips suddenly gripped the middle of my shaft even more tightly. A trickle of her warm juices dripped down onto my balls.
She squeezed her eyes shut, opening and closing her mouth rapidly, her wings fluttering, her tailing flailing about. Her thighs tried to pull together, but I pushed them apart with my hands. At the same time, I thrust downward but still couldn't go any deeper inside her.
I changed direction and pulled out a small amount, then thrust inward again. I began pumping, slowly, rhythmically, moving a little further in and out each time.
Ember inhaled sharply each time I plunged deep into her. "Your Flame," she croaked. "It's leaking into me, stronger than before."
I felt it too, my Flame surging against some invisible boundary, eager to escape and tunnel into Ember's body. The urgency of the swelling Flame increased as I approached my own climax, the grip of her tight pussy driving me to go faster and faster. Alongside the waves of pleasure coursing along my member, a fierce warmth grew within my torso, just beneath my stomach.
I bent low to kiss her, and my Flame churned. It was a living thing now, traveling into Ember, traveling through Ember.
Ember's frantic panting grew louder and more desperate. I wrapped my arms around her head, holding onto her two horns as I pounded her even harder.
I couldn't hold it in anymore. I stopped pumping and plunged deeply into her one last time, my cock's head pushed firmly against her inner wall. My cock twitched, then released load after load of hot fluid into her body.
At the same time, my Flame flashed brightly, blinding me for a moment, even though my eyes were open.
"I saw it, too!" Ember shrieked as her face contorted in orgasmic pleasure.
I had given her more than my seed. When I looked to her, probing with my mind, I felt a pulse of my Flame inside her. It was weak and tentative, but it was there, within her belly.
"There, right?" I massaged her tense abs around her belly button.
"Yes," Ember replied in a breathy tone.
I sat back, content for a while with my cock still halfway inside her, admiring the display of sensuality. My Flame lingered inside her as well. Ember smiled, spreading her legs a little wider and lifting up her dress to display her full breasts.
"You're mine," I said. "You know that, right?"
Ember nodded eagerly. "Always."
From what little I had learned so far about Seekers and succubi, what Ember and I had shared was rare if not unusual. We were changing each other, and our fates along the Path of the Flame, whatever that meant, would be intertwined.
If I was going to seize power in the Abyss, I would do it together with Ember. That much was clear.
Even after she had orgasmed just now, lust and desire were still painted fresh on her face. She was mine, as I had said.
"My Ember," I whispered. "My succubus."
I bent over to kiss her lightly on her nose.
She spoke softly. "I felt…I think there's more we can do."
I chuckled. "Of course. There's so many ways to fuck you, aren't there?"
Ember blushed. A succubus blushing? I chuckled again.
"No," Ember said with a shy smile. "As you were filling me up, with you cum and your Flame, I felt like there was a way for you to go deeper."
"Deeper?" I raised an eyebrow.
"I can't explain it, but I think your Flame can do more." She paused as she thought about it. "It's obvious your Flame can do more. What I meant is it can do more to me."
"And you want me to do that? Will it help you?"
"Yes. I already feel stronger, like a new life is brimming inside me. Let me show you."
I finally pulled my cock out of her pussy, Ember shivering one last time as my head left her lips. I stepped to the side as Ember got off the bed.
She closed her eyes in concentration.
"There's something here," she murmured. "There has to be."
She raised one palm facing upward. Her palm glowed red, the light encompassing her entire hand.
Ember opened her eyes. "See! I knew it!"
The light vanished as she jumped up in excitement. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on her hand again. The soft red light returned for another few seconds before disappearing again.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Flame, like a Seeker." Ember's voice was rushed and giddy, as if she was a young girl receiving a new present. "Seekers can manifest and control their Flame to make themselves stronger, or to develop new abilities altogether."
"So I can do that, too?"
"Yes, you should be able to."
I stared at my own open palm, trying to visualize my Flame appearing in my hand. Nothing happened, though.
"I don't know what I'm actually trying to do," I said.
"Neither do I," Ember said. "Succubi shouldn't be able to cultivate. I don't think any of my sisters can do this."
My head started aching from trying to turn my hand into a red night light. I gave up and lowered it to focus on Ember's new ability instead.
"What can you do with your Flame?"
Ember saw my disappointed expression. She reached out to pat my shoulder. "It's really your Flame, you know."
"Don't worry. I'll get to the bottom of this Seeker stuff, once we reach Duskfall. Besides, if you're stronger, I'm stronger. You're mine, remember?"
"Indeed, I am. Now, watch."
Ember moved to the side of the room where a lighted candle sat in an iron holder bolted to the wall. She snuffed the candle out with a pinch of her fingers, then removed the candle and set it aside.
After bracing herself against the wall, she yanked hard, ripping the candle holder from the wall.
"You gained the power to remodel bad interior design?" I asked.
Ember giggled. "No. I could already do that. Wait."
She gripped the iron candle holder in both hands and twisted hard, the muscles of her arms straining.
I raised an eyebrow as she twisted the metal. I had known she was stronger than a human, but I hadn't known exactly how strong. I whistled in appreciation.
Ember grinned. "Hold on. I'm not done yet."
She paused in concentration, and her right hand lit up with the red glow. She held the iron candle holder in her right hand, then closed her fist, bending it in half with ease.
"Well, damn," I said. "That is impressive."
Ember gave an exaggerated bow. "See? Your Flame makes me stronger."
I nodded, studying her. How strong could I make Ember, and what did it take? If I became stronger, if I cultivated my own Flame, would she gain benefits, too?
I smiled at another thought. Could I share my Flame with more than one succubus? Having a bevy of superpowered succubi at my call did sound appealing.
"What are you thinking?" Ember asked coyly, licking her lips.
"Just imagining the possibilities. You mentioned that you thought there was more."
"Yes, just now, while we were climaxing together, I felt like your Flame was blocked. Like it could flow through me more easily. I can't quite explain it."
She described our sex in a detached, almost medical tone. I tried not to smirk as I remembered what had happened.
"Are you sure you were in the right state of mind?" I teased. "You didn't seem quite in control of yourself."
Ember laughed. "Perhaps. But I think ther
e is something more beyond what we did."
"I don't doubt there is." That final kiss before our climax had changed the way my Flame interacted with Ember. There was obviously much to learn for both of us.
"One last question," I said. "When you came to Earth, originally, then left in that portal. There was a red light, kind of like what my Flame looks like in your hand. Is that related?"
Ember pursed her lips. "You want to go home, don't you?"
Did I? The longer I stayed here, the less interested I was in returning to my deadbeat job back home. For my whole life, I had been waiting for fortune to find me, and she finally had. In my case, fortune's name was Ember.
"No, but I want to understand how Flame works. What it's capable of."
"To answer your question, yes, there was Flame involved, but not mine. I used a portal ring that allowed one roundtrip between your world and the Abyss."
Ember raised her hand to show the wooden key ring. "It's similar to this, but it opens a more powerful door. The ringmaker infused a small portion of his Flame into the portal ring."
"I see." That meant Flame didn't just make living beings stronger, and it wasn't transient. It could interact with inanimate objects over long time periods. That could be useful.
"So what now?" I asked. "Will we be moving on?"
"If you like." Ember slinked over to me across the bed like a cat. "Or, we could try round two?"
"Well, technically, this is round three," I said, "although the first one was rather short." I had pulled my pants back on already, but I moved to unbutton them again.
A loud banging sound on the door interrupted Ember's reply.
Voices shouted from outside our room. "Open up! We can smell your scent, human! Open up!"
"What the hell is that about?" I asked as I drew my sword and moved to the door.
"No!" Ember pulled me back. "I was afraid of this."
"What? They want to continue what they started in the dining room?"
"Worse. Humans aren't supposed to be in the Abyss, remember? Human flesh is a delicacy here."
They wanted to eat me? Fuck that. I took a deep breath and reached inward for my Flame. My black Flame surged to the front, and a fit of rage threatened to consume me.
Cowardly bullies. Punish them. Show them true power.
