The Demon's Change

by Donna McDonald

  The mirror showed him about what he expected. There was some redness where the gut wound had sealed. There was a small exit wound in the back, something he hadn’t felt when Anx has stabbed him. All in all the body didn’t show too much wear for what happened. At least his bonding organ had begun behaving. The extreme pain he’d experienced really had taken care of that uncontrollable problem.

  He instinctively went to the door when heard the knock, his heart picking up a solid rhythm of hope again. How many times had a female come to his door that wasn’t the one he wanted? But he wasn’t disappointed this time. He was just surprised to see her looking well so fast.

  “Praise the Creators,” he said, as Angel bowed her head to him. “It does my eyes good to see you in that body again. There really is nothing like visual information being sent to the brain. I find it far more satisfying than energy reading.”

  “I am pleased to see that your body is healing,” she said.

  “Get in here and let me look at you. How did you get your body out of stasis? Did your nails survive? I put healing skin over the bad places hoping it would slow the decomposition until you could effect better repairs.”

  He stepped back to let her enter and watched with pleasure as she glided over the threshold.

  “Meen died. Again. I let it happen this time. It seemed proper and Captain Synar was ready for it to be a fact,” she explained.

  “Were you ready for that reality?” Malachi asked.

  She shrugged in answer and walked through his room. “It was Meen’s time. Or at least it seemed so to me.”

  Malachi snorted. “You don’t seem completely sure.”

  Angel smiled. “There was no one to ask, so I acted as best I could. He may be my first death, though I remember a time when I intended to let Rena Trax’s body die. I was even willing to let Seta Trax die. They sent an intermediary to counsel me. That was also why Ania was given control over me.”

  “Does the emissary communication chain shut down at night or something?” he asked. “No seriously—I just wondered why there was no one for you to ask.”

  “Are you jesting because you’re apprehensive about why I came to you?” Angel asked. “I can understand that I might be making you nervous. You tend to stress my sensory inputs as well.”

  “Do you think you might one day stop talking like the voice avatar for our ship’s computer?” Malachi asked. He felt a little bad for teasing her when she bit her lip with a serious look on her face. “What are you thinking now? I was jesting. And yes, you make me nervous.”

  “I am thinking that the actual reality of doing a thing is much more frightening than the mere contemplation of it. I am wondering how corporeal beings gather their courage enough to act when they feel such fear all the time.”

  “Emotional investment,” Malachi said, returning to the mirror. He might as well finish his checking if all they were going to do was talk.

  “You understand this?” Angel asked.

  “I understand it from Ania’s point of view.”

  “I’m sure. That looks very painful—again,” Angel said, gesturing between his legs.

  Malachi laughed. “I have been getting them several times a day until I got stabbed. However, it happens every time I see your host body.”

  “Would you like to test how it’s supposed to be used?” Angel asked.

  Malachi’s hands dropped from his task. “You mean test my erection?” He watched her nod. “Yes, actually. I really would like to do that. You’ll need your clothes removed first. May I assist?”

  Again she shrugged. It seemed to be the only reaction he was going to get from her. Walking over, he lifted her hand and led her to his sleeping platform.

  “Lights on one-third. No, make that twenty percent,” he ordered. He lifted her chin when she ducked her head. “Despite your offer, I sense hesitation. Explain it to me.”

  “Are we back to the debate about which of us will obey the will of the other?” Angel asked.

  Malachi ducked his head and pressed his lips to hers gently. When he raised his head, her eyes flashed. “Demons are evil. I plan to take your lack of resistance as permission.”

  “Very well,” she said. “I should warn you that I have never really done this before. I mean in reality, with a body. I’ve only observed. Even then, I didn’t really participate. I just sort of filed notes away in case I chose to do this with you.”

  His finger froze on her chin. “You’ve never? Ever?”

  When she shook her head, his fingers quivered on her. “How can that be?”

  “I was only fourteen Earth years old when I converted. Most corporeal females only lived to their early twenties back then. It was a primitive time on my planet. Bodies were routinely lost to just normal living such as bringing children into the world,” she explained.

  Malachi stepped closer, reaching down and lifting his erection until it was pressed between their physical bodies. “Rena’s body has experienced the act many times. I actually removed a lot of her physical memories while I was removing the ones of abuse. Perhaps we should wait until we create enough minor memories to make the thought of my full invasion more appealing.”

  She lifted a hand to his mouth and traced the outline of his lips. “It is already appealing. Undress me, demon. Your nudity practically requires that I match you. I’m growing irritated with my clothes.”

  Malachi toyed with the fasteners on her shirt. Was he hesitating? Of course he was hesitating. What if he did something wrong? What if she hated the act?

  What if she grew to hate him?

  Perhaps it would just be better to leave things as they were. He could take care of his body’s need fairly well on his own now. Technically, he didn’t need her assistance.

  Her hand dropped between them, her fingertips tracing the length of him. Okay. He needed her assistance. There was no use trying to be noble about it.

  “If you don’t stop that stroking, I will have to relieve myself before I can get inside you,” he said. He felt her fingertips exploring again, but at last she pulled away.

  “Undress me then,” she ordered. “The Greggor used to tear the hygiene straps from the Sumerian. Sometimes he used his teeth. She complained, but she also enjoyed being desired that much. I would like to know what that is like with this body. Do I need to do anything to help you feel that way?”

  “I can never anticipate what is going to come out of your mouth. May the Creators guide me,” Malachi prayed, putting his forehead on the top of her hair. He could see the tips of her ears poking through on each side. It was both amusing and appealing.

  “There is no need to bother them. I will guide you into me, demon. Let me remove my clothing first and—”

  “No,” Malachi said, dragging her fingers from the front of her shirt. “I’ll do it. I want to do it. I’ve waited at least a couple thousand years to do it. Do you know how old I am?”

  She was silent and still as he unfastened her top, his unsteady fingers making slow work of it.

  “Yes I do. You are two thousand two hundred and forty one Earth years old,” she said.

  Malachi snorted. “Fine. I should have known you’d be a math person. How old are you?” he asked. “You can make something up if you like. I don’t care about your age, really. I’m just making conversation so I don’t rip your clothes off too fast.”

  Angel smiled and lifted her fingers to feel her own face. “Smiling always feels so strange. You made me cry once. I had never cried before. I was very afraid of you then. I feared you had used your demon power to beguile me.”

  “How did you feel when I kissed you?” Malachi asked.

  “Stunned. I felt bound to this body. I suddenly wanted to be in it after hating it for so long,” Angel said.

  He brushed quivering fingers over the hygiene straps covering one small, perfect breast with its tiny, jutting pink tip just begging for his touch.

  “If I go too fast, or you don’t like what I do, just tell me and I wil
l stop. There are so many ways to achieve pleasure. There is no need to do a single distressing thing. I am happy just to touch you. In fact, it has been so very, very long since I’ve known anything so wonderful. Beguiled is a great word to describe my condition. I desperately want to be beguiled by those perky little breasts of yours.”

  “I am grateful that this body pleases yours,” she said.

  Malachi stopped stroking her breast and lifted her chin so she’d have to meet his gaze. “I liked Rena Trax. Without the weight of her bad memories, she was capable of great joy. But I never took these liberties with her. I have only taken them with you. I know that makes little sense to someone as literal as you are.”

  “Do you wish Rena Trax had stayed?”

  Malachi smiled and shook his head. “No. She was not for me. You know how I am. I have gentled myself for the sake of communication, but I am still a demon. I carry all the images of all the things any male I’ve known or killed has ever done or felt. Plus I hold those things that I took from Rena, from Kefira, and from other darker females. Does any of that bother you?”

  Angel took his hand and lowered it back to her breast. It made the end stop aching when Malachi stroked it.

  “No,” she said. “I care only about the choices you are making with my host body tonight. The nature of change is that you get to choose what to make of it in each present moment. You can choose from all those things you know, or bring something new to me. I will accept what you bring. That doesn’t mean I won’t reject you later if I don’t like what you do. I am allowed the same free will you get to exercise.”

  Malachi laughed. Her logic was going to cause him to explode before he ever got into her. How could he be her first breach? She was brilliantly simple and the most complex creature he’d ever met.

  “How old did you say you were?” he asked again.

  “I didn’t tell you. This may take some time to calculate. Be patient with me.”

  She ducked her head while Malachi slowly and meticulously broke each hygiene strap and stroked her breasts. His actions were extremely pleasing.

  “I am approximately eleven thousand seven hundred and sixty-nine. Counting wasn’t invented when I was first converted, so I can never be sure. I think you are the first being who ever asked me that question.”

  Malachi hissed as she stepped into him and pressed both breasts hard into his palms. “You like this, Angel?”

  “Yes. Very much,” she whispered.

  “Can I—?”

  “Yes.” She laughed because she could see him doing it in her head long before Malachi dragged her down and fell on her breasts. His mouth was blissful as it tugged on the ends with enthusiasm. His mouth was also whispering compliments the whole time. Her breathing was ragged when he lifted his head. The demon’s eyes were blazing, but she still wasn’t afraid of what they were doing.

  “I’m worried about my self-control,” Malachi admitted, pulling away to meet her gaze.

  “Why am I still wearing clothes, Malachi? It is my turn to exercise my will. Obey me, demon. I wish to be naked with you,” she ordered.

  Her eyes crinkled in amusement when he swore. What did he think he would do her?

  The pants Malachi wrestled down her legs, but he ripped her remaining hygiene straps off with one hand, the other lifting her hips as he greedily put his mouth to the ache growing between her legs.

  “Well, that must be why females like that so much. The pleasure is beyond description,” she whispered, her breaths coming in short bursts when he paused.

  Malachi laughed against her thighs and raised his head from the task that had owned him.

  “Must you be so innocent? Can’t you pretend for my sake that you’re jaded and angry at all males? I don’t think I can do this if you keep—hey—.”

  The breath left his body in a huff as she rolled him over and climbed onto his body. She guided him inside her as deftly as if they had done it many times. Yet the groaning she did as she worked to take him in completely had him swearing beneath her and dragging her down on him until finally, finally he was seated completely inside. His relief to be fully joined with her at last was so intense, he felt sick with it.

  “What is this power you seem to have over me? I am ill in spirit and this body is ill for want of you. I don’t know how to do this sensual act with a female who has no carnal knowledge. I’m just not nice enough.”

  Angel decided to ignore his complaining as she impaled herself further. It was just fear of the unknown anyway. Malachi seemed to panic when first faced with any new challenge. She could help him with that. She peered down into his very handsome, concerned face.

  “Somehow I thought there would be more pleasure to this act than you are showing me. The Sumerian seemed to get quite a bit from the Greggor. Is he better at this than you?”

  “By the Creators, I swear the Greggor is nothing,” Malachi declared.

  He rolled her over and shoved his way home, holding her still with his hands as he filled her as tightly as he could. His head spun with his success. Maybe his body wasn’t completely healed yet, but his spirit was soaring.

  “You are going to either be the real death of my host body or the best thing that has ever happened to it. Kiss me and I will show you pleasure—more than even the Sumerian had. You have my sacred vow.”

  Realizing she couldn’t quite reach his mouth, she kissed his chest instead. And then she kissed his arm. “Your body is very pleasing. You’ve done quite well with its care.”

  Malachi laughed and dipped his head, twisting until he could reach her ear. “Did you know that the body you inhabit has pleasure zones in unexpected places?”

  He whispered “my angel” in her ear and ran his lips the length of it. She responded with a moan and wrapped her legs around him. He ran his lips to the top of her ear, then kissed the tip, lingering there as the first vibration left him and went into her.

  “Don’t fight it—feel it,” he whispered.

  She held her breath until a deep throated groan escaped and her body arched beneath his. He gathered her to him wondering how to get closer as her climax washed through both of them. It was great, but it was not enough. Maybe he was never going to get enough. There were limitations to physical bodies, regardless of how pleasurable they seemed.

  “Are you doing okay?” he asked.

  “Yes. That vibration was physical pleasure?”

  “Yes,” Malachi said, laughing at the mild disappointment in her question. “Did you not enjoy it? I’m doing my best here.”

  “It feels like there should be more than that. Is there ever more?” she asked.

  Malachi laughed loudly in her ear and felt her wince away in surprise.

  “More? You want more, you little tease. Yes. There is much more. When you passed your energy through mine the other day, it was the only time I can ever remember feeling absolutely content with any sort of connection. Maybe we could try that again sometime. Maybe that is the more you seek.”

  “Okay,” she said, instantly agreeing.

  Malachi lifted his head to check her sudden stillness and saw her very wide eyes looking at him. “I can see the panic in your gaze, Angel. Please don’t try to separate us. My body has been hurt too much already. I need to find release first. I don’t know how I’m going to manage it. You’re just going to have to trust me until I figure it out.”

  “Okay, but trust me first,” she ordered.

  Malachi saw her gaze glowing bright blue just before an explosive vibration racked his form. The energy of her blazing light permeated every cell of his body and every tiny spark of his energy. It was a wildly spinning, mind-altering connection. His bonding organ throbbed in response. He tucked his head near her ear as his body spent itself within her.

  “You have my undivided attention, my loyalty, and my full compassion. Please stay with me for the rest of my existence,” he pleaded.

  “I liked that pleasure much better,” she said, sighing in bliss. “And I have alr
eady promised that I would stay with you. Why ask me to swear it again?”

  “Yes, I know you’re staying, but will you serve as my mate?” Malachi demanded. “Answer me with something other than spiritual wisdom or logic.”

  “Would you like to share my energy again? It’s all I can think of at the moment,” she said.

  Malachi groaned and gripped her body so hard that she squealed. It made him laugh. “I’m going to impale you on my erection every chance I get no matter how you answer me.”

  “Okay, but will you also torture my breasts?”

  “Yes,” he promised.

  “Will you kiss me again between my legs?”

  Malachi groaned at the thought. “Yes,” he said hoarsely. “I will do anything you ask just to have access to your body. There. Are you happy? I have admitted my weakness for you.”

  “Weakness? But I feel your strength returning, demon. I feel you filling me again. Shall I send you another vibration?”

  “No. Not yet,” Malachi said, shifting on her. “Let me enjoy my relaxed state for just a little longer.”

  “Perhaps I could sing to you in ancient Zuala. I memorized the Sumerian’s songs. Her mate seems to enjoy them,” she said.

  “Being with you has exceeded every expectation I ever had,” Malachi said, tucking her hair behind her lovely pointed ears.

  As her singing rose around them, he realized Angel was mirroring his actions and stroking his hair in return.

  He would probably never envy the Greggor again. Tomorrow he was sure that would be a highly disturbing thought.

  Chapter 33

  Telling herself to get over her reluctance, Seta reached out a hand and shook the still sleeping male. No one should look that good first thing in the morning anyway. Ji probably looked that good all the time. Maybe part of the addiction to a Siren involved thinking that they were somehow more handsome than all other males.

  He blinked open his blue eyes and even the demon in her fluttered in feminine reaction. It made her greet him with a frown. “I’ve been summoned to meet with Synar. I woke you up to say goodbye. I didn’t want to be rude and just disappear.”