Vortex Blues

by Gerow, Tina

  A laugh bubbled up from her throat along with an emotion suspiciously close to joy and echoed around the room. She leaned over him, placing a palm flat on either side of his head, enjoying the way her taut nipples trailed against the crispy dark hairs of his chest. “No one’s ever said that to me when they weren’t under my succubus thrall, Mitch. Do you know what that means?”

  He grabbed her ass in both his wonderfully callused hands. “That I get more of you as a reward?”

  She nipped his bottom lip, smiling when he hardened inside her further. “That we may both die very happy in the next few hours.” When his eyes darkened with desire and he pulled her down against him to devour her mouth, she began to move on top of him—rubbing her hot center against him until he cursed and let her up.

  “Damn, let me enjoy you a bit before you make me come again, will you? I can’t promise I’ll recover that quickly twice unless you use some succubus magic.”

  She stopped suddenly and met his gaze, surprised when tears stung the backs of her eyes. “No thrall between us, ever again.” The words startled her, since she hadn’t planned on saying them. She hadn’t realized how much it meant to her to have him want her purely for who she was, and not because she could make him want her. How did he get her to reveal little pieces of herself?

  He stroked a comforting hand over her hair and pushed up so he sat, leaning his back against the headboard while keeping himself firmly seated inside her. He reached up and cupped her cheeks in his hands and gently stroked her face with his thumbs as he gazed into her eyes. “You’ve bewitched me, Molly Beck, but there’s not a damn supernatural thing about it.” Then he captured her lips and the slow burn of passion simmered to life between them again.

  He sampled her mouth as if she were the finest delicacy, and when those wonderful callused fingers stroked and caressed every dip and curve in just the right way, she thought if she died this very moment, she’d have no regrets.

  Mitch placed a line of open-mouthed kisses down her neck on the way to take one aching nipple into his mouth. Her head fell back as if suddenly too heavy for her to hold up, and she surrendered herself to the sensations rushing through her body. Each pull of his mouth against her breast sent a line of fire straight to her aching core and she moved restlessly against him. She’d never ridden a man when they sat facing each other—she wasn’t quite sure how to do it, especially when he scattered her every coherent thought with each pull of his lips. “I can’t think when you do that.”

  “Good,” he said before trailing a line of kisses over to capture her other aching peak. Then he returned his hands to her ass and using the leverage from leaning back against the headboard, helped her move against him.

  Exquisite tension tightened inside her with each movement, and she moved faster, earning a long moan from Mitch. He released her breast and sat back pulling her tight against him, while still helping her ride him. Their lips met again in a frenzied mating of tongues and skin. The delicious friction of her aching breasts against his muscled chest coupled with his generous erection filling her over and over drove her toward the edge with dizzying speed.

  Her orgasm slapped into her like a fist, and she gasped as her world spiraled and her sex convulsed around his length. A kaleidoscope of color burst behind her eyelids and pleasure so intense it almost broke her into millions of tiny pieces flashed through her like lightning.

  When reality returned and she relaxed against him, he chuckled against her hair, and she realized there’d been no power burst—Mitch hadn’t come inside her again.

  Heat seared her cheeks and she pulled back. “Mitch, I’m so sorry. I’ve never…come before a man. Only when he comes inside me does it trigger my release.”

  His expression remained amused, but took on a possessive air as he traced circles over the sensitive skin of her lower back, causing her to gasp.

  “Don’t you dare apologize. But unless you’re tired, we don’t have to be done.”

  Anticipation swelled inside her at his husky words. Still seated firmly inside her, he lifted her and laid her down gently, his comforting weight pressing on top of her.

  Their mouths came together as if they’d scripted it, and their bodies fell into a slow sensuous rhythm that fanned her arousal to life once again. The urgency had calmed, leaving in its place a tenderness Molly had never known. She’d never seen the pleasure sweeping through her as beautiful, as something to be savored, but now, that’s exactly what it was.

  Their bodies moved against each other as questing hands savored and explored. Soft sighs and little gasps counted time better than any clock, and the thick aroma of tenderness and caring rose around them rather than the tangy scent of sex.

  She traced the muscles of his back and his ass, enjoying the way they rippled and moved under her fingers with every thrust. Her arousal hummed and simmered, but strangely showed no sign of peaking. Instead, she enjoyed the sound of Mitch’s quickening breaths as his movements became less fluid and more urgent. Pure feminine power purred inside her, and she wanted to push Mitch over the edge, wanted him to experience the same overwhelming pleasure he’d given her. All without thrall, without magic.

  “Come for me, Mitch,” she whispered against his lips.

  As if her soft words triggered his release, his cock pulsed inside her as his hot seed spilled deep. The intimate and erotic sensation of accepting his essence into her body warmed her heart even as energy thick as honey spread outward in a slow wave, flowing gently over both of them. Mitch continued to pulse inside her and she held him tenderly as they both rode out his release.

  He collapsed against her, still holding the bulk of his weight on his forearms, his face nestled against her neck. Molly resisted the urge to purr, but did hold him tight against her, cuddling in the afterglow of the pleasure they’d created.

  An insistent buzzing sounded from the floor and she groaned as she realized she’d have to share Mitch with the rest of the world once again. She wanted to be selfish and just keep him here, in bed and with her forever, but she knew how insistent reality could be. “One of these days I’m going to throw that phone into one of the vortexes and let someone else deal with it.”

  Mitch leaned off the side of the bed and fished the lime green phone out of the back pocket of her jeans. He brushed a kiss over her lips taking a moment to nuzzle her check before he said, “We’ll finish this later. I think the case is calling.”

  Warmth burst inside her chest and she stared at the phone rather than meet Mitch’s penetrating gaze. She took it and flipped it open before pressing it to her ear. “Beck.”

  “Hey, Molly, it’s Landers.” The coroner from Yavapai County was a were-cow who had a flair for science, and was one of the best coroners in the country. He just had to have backup once a month, when the full moon made him take a forced vacation for three nights of grazing.

  “Tell me you have matches for me, Landers.” Mitch nuzzled her neck and moved inside her causing her to bite back a gasp. She tightened her pelvic muscles squeezing him hard and enjoyed the way his breathing hitched.

  “Yup, DNA matches on both penises. Get this, one was a child molester and one was a rapist. I know it’s not my place to judge, but if you ask me, they deserved a worse death than what they got.”

  Molly’s brow furrowed. Succubi targeting men who commit sex crimes? A succubus vigilante? “Definitely interesting, and very ironic. You’re the best, Landers. Now I just need to give Coconino County a call.”

  “Stella’s right here if you’d like to get the scoop. Hold on, I’ll put her on.”

  Stella, the Coconino county coroner, used to be one of Landers’ students and was now his friend with benefits according to the latest gossip. Molly wasn’t surprised at finding them together.

  “Mol, Stella. Hey—same deal as Landers. The leftover man parts you sent my way were both from rapists, one with a flair for little boys. Gotta run, Landers and I have a…collaboration to work on.”

  The phone went
dead in her hand, and she couldn’t help but smile. Although, she wished they hadn’t interrupted her and Mitch’s collaboration earlier.

  “I heard,” Mitch said, the vibrations from his voice doing wonderful things to her stomach. He leaned down and brushed his lips gently over hers before pulling out of her and shifting his weight to lie next to her on the bed.

  Her body immediately screamed at the loss of the closeness, but she shoved it aside.

  Mitch pulled the comforter over both of them and propped his cheek on his palm so he could look down at her. “Know any succubi who have a particular beef against rapists and child molesters? I mean other than for the obvious moral reasons.”

  She did, but she didn’t like where that pointed. Straight back to Cleo. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Time to take a leap of trust with Mitch—although Denali had probably taken some of the choice out of her hands already.

  “I’m assuming Denali took the initiative while I was incapacitated to divulge my past.” With surprise, she realized she was relieved rather than upset with the elf. She’d never been comfortable enough to talk about it with anyone, except for Denali and Cleo. Somehow, Mitch Guthrie had snuck under her defenses when she wasn’t looking.

  Maybe it had something to do with what she’d just experienced. Who knew that having your emotions involved in the act of sex made all the difference? She hadn’t been in love with the merchant—she’d just been looking for tips on how to entice her own husband to bed.

  Love? Where the hell did that thought come from?

  She couldn’t be in love with Mitch, could she? He was human, for God’s sake, and she was a cursed succubus. Not to mention that she wouldn’t know love if it bit her on the ass. From her parents who had basically sold her into a sham of a marriage just to keep the money among the elite, to her cheating husband, and several hundred others since then.

  Cleo and Denali had been her closest friends, and she had people who cared about her, like Rocky. But love? She wasn’t so sure.

  Love only made people weak and vulnerable. Just look at Cleo and Denali. She stiffened and pulled away to sit up with the comforter covering her breasts as terror at her own vulnerability rose like bile on the back of her tongue.

  Shit! How did I let this happen?

  Mitch brushed his knuckles over her bare shoulder, and she gritted her teeth to keep from jumping out of her skin—even as her traitorous body wanted to roll in the sensation like a purring kitten.

  “Molly?” His dark brow furrowed, and his sea green eyes pierced her. The sensation that he could see her very soul made her drop her gaze.

  “Sorry, lost myself in the past there for a moment.” The lie tripped easily off her tongue, but the words tasted like ash in her mouth. She pushed that aside to return to the discussion they’d been having before she realized she’d lost her mind, or more accurately—her heart. She’d stick to safer topics until she could sort this out.

  Mitch nodded, but made no other attempt to touch her or come closer, almost as if he sensed her discomfort.

  “When Cleo found me soon after I’d been cursed, she helped me target the dregs of society who wouldn’t be missed. At the same time, the only other succubi I knew—my husband’s bevy of mistresses—preyed on the elite, and would drain them dry without a second thought. But in those days, it was easier to make disappearances look like just that.”

  “But if Cleo did this, then why would she attack Denali? Unless he lied to us.”

  Molly shook her head, still unable to meet his gaze. “No he didn’t lie. Elves don’t lie well, their energy changes and that would’ve alerted us both.”

  “Then I think it’s time we confronted Cleo, don’t you?”

  She nodded. Once they solved this case, she could ensure she had some much-needed distance from Mitch. Maybe she wasn’t really in love. He’d helped her when she was vulnerable, and she’d built it up to be more than it was.

  Yeah, and maybe Rocky will suddenly take a job as a standup comedian.

  Mitch slipped out of bed and reached for his jeans, which sat on the floor in a pile next to hers. She couldn’t help but notice the well-defined muscles and the play of sunlight over his skin as he moved. Her nipples tightened and her clit throbbed as if silently begging him to return to bed.

  “And Molly,” he said interrupting her inventory of his finer attributes. “Don’t even think about trying to avoid me after this. Something happened between us, and it wasn’t pity or a quick screw, and you know it.”

  Her temper snapped as his comment hit too close to her thoughts of avoiding him. She kicked the covers back and hopped out of bed to stand before him with her fists on her hips. “What I do with my own time is my business, Guthrie. I’ve slept with thousands of men, and none of them have ties on me, and neither do you.”

  His gorgeous green eyes swam with anger. “We’re both scared of this, but that won’t stop us from discussing it later.”

  She opened her mouth to retort when a loud pounding on the front door of her apartment echoed around them.

  She grabbed a robe from the chair next to her bed and jogged toward the door as icy fingers of dread trickled down her spine. “Great, what’s happened now?” she muttered under her breath.

  She yanked open the door, almost pulling Rocky forward on top of her before he righted himself.

  “Molly, you have to come quick!”

  Mitch’s energy buzzed at her back like a comfortable blanket. Irritated at being reminded of her foolish thoughts, she glanced over her shoulder and scowled at him before turning back to Rocky.

  “What’s going on?”

  Rocky growled low in his throat, the vibrations shaking the walls and ceilings. “While you were laid up, four ancient succubi came into the bar upstairs demanding to see Cleo. Before I could call you or anyone else, they found their way down to the Vortex level. Cleo must’ve monitored the alarms because she went down after them a few minutes ago. And Molly, I heard her call them the ‘bevy of mistresses.’ I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”

  Icy fingers of dread crawled down into her belly even as they squeezed her heart. “Shit. I don’t either.” She ground her teeth for a moment as dozens of possibilities flitted through her mind. “Cleo can’t survive against all of them. Rocky, I’ll need your help.”

  ****

  Mitch raced down the cavern stairs behind Molly with his heart in his throat. Rocky’s bulky form scraped slowly down the steps after them. Molly had tried to get Mitch to stay in her apartment, but he’d ignored her. They were partners, but more than that, he couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to her. Somehow, over the course of a day, she had become very important to him, and if the little hothead would admit it—he thought she cared for him too.

  “Damn it, Molly. Slow down for a second.”

  She cursed, but only stopped when she came to the bottom of the stairs. She placed her hand on the security pad that would let them enter the level where Denali lived and waited for the light to flash green. “Rocky and I can handle this, Mitch. Stay on this level.”

  He placed his hand on the security pad and when the door slid open, he grabbed Molly’s arm to stop her. “Damn it, I’m going with or without your blessing, and I bet Denali and anyone else I ask would say the same thing. Just tell me what I can do to kill these bitches, so I’m not totally useless.”

  A charged silence hung between them as he watched a maelstrom of emotions war inside her gaze. Finally, she pulled him forward, leaving the door open for Rocky. She led him down the hall toward the “elevator” room Denali showed him earlier. When the door closed behind them, Molly said, “Vortexes—number twelve,” and lights shimmered around them.

  Molly huffed out a breath that fluttered her dark bangs. “Ancient succubi are hard as hell to kill unless you behead them. Dissolving them in acid works well, explosions or chopping them up, but I’m not sure if we have any of those methods handy. Bullets will hurt and will slow them do
wn, but not much. Aim for the eyes and the teeth, so they can’t bite you. Poison from non-cursed succubi is deadly.” She grabbed his hand, and his gut twisted as he realized she was trembling.

  “Please, just let Rocky and I help her, Mitch. I admit it, I’m a coward and whatever happened upstairs scared the crap out of me. I don’t want you to get hurt, and I can’t do what I need to while I’m worried about you. So for once, don’t be such a pain in the ass, and just do what I ask.”

  Her grey eyes pleaded with him, and what he saw there hit him like a sucker punch. The same emotions that gripped him when he’d held her and made love to her shone in Molly’s eyes like a beacon. As impossible as it seemed, this stubborn little succubus loved him—even if she wouldn’t admit it—yet.

  He raised her trembling hand to his lips and tightened his grip when she shuddered. “And do you think I can stay out of the way with you in danger? Would you if our situations were reversed?”

  She gritted her teeth as a quick flash of guilt, followed closely by anger, and what looked like determination, streaked across her face. They stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment before the doors whooshed open.

  Instead of leaving the elevator, she grabbed his neck with her free hand and captured his lips in a searing kiss. She fit against him as if God had custom-made them as a set, and her taste and her scent filled him. Her tongue dueled with his, demanding and urgent.

  A painful stab against his lip made him jerk back, but she clung to him with an iron grip, her mouth still fused with his. He tasted his own blood—tangy and metallic, as well as something he couldn’t quite place. His head swam as heat seared through his veins, and he swayed against Molly.

  He blinked furiously, then as fast as the disorientation had come, it was gone.

  “Mitch, how do you feel?”