“Opium is a hell of a drug,” he responded, running his palm over his chin.
“Experience?”
Samuel chuckled. “When you’ve lived as long as I have, you try many things. Opium doesn’t affect us the same way it does a human.”
“I find it interesting you don’t consider yourself human.”
Shrugging, Samuel leaned against the door and watched her. “So, I assume your parents became addicted to opium?”
“Their use of painkillers kept getting worse and worse. I’ve heard the more you take, the more pain you feel, and it becomes a vicious circle. Anyhow, they were so medicated they couldn’t take care of me very well, so I learned how to fend for myself. I didn’t have any grandparents or aunts and uncles who could help. I met Ash when I started school, and her mom would pick me up most days to make sure I made it there. They would let me sleep over as much as possible. I’m pretty sure they tried contacting child protective services once. I remember I wasn’t allowed to see Ash’s mom for a while and she refuses to talk about it even now.” Sara bit her thumb. Paying attention to the road helped to distance herself from the memories.
“When I was about seven, my father overdosed. My mom was too high to care. They cut off her prescriptions, so she moved to the next best thing, heroin. At this point, CPS stepped in, and I entered the foster system. They shuffled me from foster to foster. Somehow Ash’s mom convinced mine to petition the courts so they could foster me. I moved in with Ash’s family when I was nine. Her parents raised me alongside her and her two older brothers.”
Sara flashed a look his way to see him still watching her. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes were soft. “I had a good life with her family. They saved the money the system paid to foster me and put it into an account for when I turned eighteen. It helped me pay for community college and living expenses.”
“And your mother?” Samuel’s voice was soft when he asked the question.
“She tried to keep in touch for a while. The last time I heard from her was when I was fourteen. I don’t know if she figured I had a better life than she could give me, couldn’t beat her demons, or simply didn’t care. I don’t know what happened to her.”
Sara gripped the steering wheel, keeping it steady, with strained effort. She felt Samuel watching her, but he said nothing in response. After a few minutes, he looked around at their surroundings, and Sara realized they had already reached the bridge leading into Manhattan. It would be a short drive to the financial district and their hotel, assuming traffic was kind to them.
By the time Sara pulled into the parking garage associated with their hotel, she swore up one side, and down the other, she would never drive in New York again. It took all her concentration to make sure they didn’t get into an accident or scrape up her precious car.
Samuel, on the other hand, had been ramrod straight in his seat, looking at all the buildings and people with fascination. She noticed his color had improved, his eyes shown brighter, and his charisma was attracting its fair share of attention even from the moving vehicle.
“What do you think so far?” Sara asked him, pulling into an empty spot and putting the car in park. She placed the parking ticket into her small wallet while she told herself to get it validated at the hotel desk.
“I have never seen anything like this before. Even from here I can feel the energy of the city pulsing around me.” Samuel unfolded himself and stepped out of the car, bending down to retrieve the dog’s kennel after stretching. Once he was clear, Sara pressed the button to close the top, then stepped out herself to grab the suitcase from the trunk.
Samuel took the handle from her and rolled it behind him with one hand while carrying the dog’s cage with the other. “Lead the way.”
“First, we check in, then we can take the dog for a walk and find food.” That’s what interested her the most. Her stomach gurgled as she led the way to the parking garage’s elevator.
28. SAMUEL
Samuel felt so alive, so vigorous, and so full of energy he was almost shaking with it. He followed Sara as she walked down the street towards the entrance to the New York Stock Exchange. She was wearing a tight sweater which came to just below her curvy little ass, a colorful shawl wrapped around her shoulders, and thigh-high boots. He kept staring at the peak of skin right under the edge of her outfit. It had been a test of willpower to leave the hotel earlier without ripping her clothes off and throwing her on the bed.
Clearing his throat, Samuel tried to concentrate on anything else. He had forgotten what the massive amounts of energy coursing through his system did to his libido. They stayed out late the night before, touring the area they were staying in. Even after going to sleep, the flux of energy feeding him didn’t die down. The last time he felt this good was during the Italian Renaissance.
Another interesting thing he noted about the power he consumed was it made the links between him and the witches’ descendants stronger. What had once been a ghostly thread, weak and hard to sense, was now a steady ribbon of power connecting them. He found that only three women remained. The amount surprised Samuel as he thought there would be more, but it made sense that several lines would die out over so many generations.
One thread was thick and headed northward while the second was thinner and headed north-east towards home. The last thread, thin and fragile looking, led to the south-west. Samuel tested them with a bit of power as he walked and observed slight feedback at different times. He theorized that the distance between him and the women caused this reaction, which meant one was here in the city.
Turning back towards him, Sara pointed to a building across the street. “That’s the entrance to the exchange.”
Samuel stood with her at the crosswalk, waiting for the sign to change, and mused on different ways to convince her to take a trip to the northern part of the city. They crossed the street, avoiding other pedestrians, as she led them to their destination.
Sara walked up to the man guarding the door to the exchange and smiled. “We are interested in taking a tour of the exchange. Can you please tell us where to go?”
“This building is closed to the public. Only official representatives are allowed past this point.” The man gave her a disdainful sneer before looking over her head like she didn’t exist.
Samuel placed his hand on her stiffened shoulder before she could speak. “But you will be happy to make an exception this time.” His voice was smooth with a hypnotic undertone that Sara must have noticed because she looked up at him with a frown.
The doorman’s eyes turned glassy and unfocused as he reached for the door behind him and opened it. Samuel ushered a perplexed Sara through the entrance.
“What just happened?” She whispered to him while looking over her shoulder towards the portal.
“I used a touch of power on him. Getting in was quicker this way. Now act like you belong here, and no one will suspect we don’t.”
“I think you don’t give people enough credit.”
Samuel placed his hand on the small of her back and directed her forward through the lobby. “I think you give them too much.”
They wandered through the halls, and after several wrong turns, found their way to the viewing gallery which looked over the exchange floor and the chaos below. Samuel’s eyes gleamed in the low light as he took in the madness. Gains or losses, it didn’t matter to him, all he cared about was the energy produced.
Running his eyes over the people, two men in the corner stood out to him. He nudged Sara with his elbow and pointed in their direction. “See those two men over there?”
“You mean the incredibly gorgeous ones who stand out from the rest? What about them?”
Samuel growled and glanced at her. He didn’t like her reaction to them, she was his. They were the same as him though younger and far less powerful. So far, they hadn’t even sensed him, which he found amusing. He knew they were there the second he stepped onto the gallery floor.
“They
are like me. Perhaps merely a century old.”
“Is that what women see when they look at you?” She slipped her hand into his and felt a small satisfaction at her possessive gesture. He squeezed her fingers as she continued, “Why don’t I feel the same way when I’m with you? Don’t get me wrong, I’m wildly attracted to you, but it’s different. I can’t explain it.”
Another group of people walked into the viewing area, and Samuel leaned down to whisper in Sara’s ear. “You gain immunity to my powers the more time you spend with me. If you were to spend weeks with them, you could see past their glamour as well.” He brushed his lips against her temple. “You also seem to have a natural skepticism about the arcane that I find endearing.”
They watched the floor in silence until the other group left. Samuel turned to Sara with a mischievous smile. “Want to have a little fun?”
“Alright.”
Samuel placed his hand against the thick plexiglass separating the viewing area from the floor below and selected several targets around the room. Concentrating, he let his energy flow into the men and women he chose.
A frenzy began below as the people jumped up and down, waving their hands in the air. The response was electric as it spread through the crowd and they amassed around one of the kiosks. Numbers flew across the monitors, and green arrows appeared next to a rapidly rising percentage on the digital marquee as the original investors gave way to new investors, driving the price up.
The energy he received from the feedback was euphoric. Samuel closed his eyes, savoring the feeling washing over him. When he looked again, he saw the two younger demons panic as the crowd engulfed them in a mad crush.
“Samuel, you have to stop it!” Sara tugged on his arm with alarm. “Someone will get hurt!”
He shrugged and recalled his power. Without his influence, the floor would calm down in due time. “They’ll be fine.” Taking one last deep breath, he smiled. He would have to come back here soon, he could have a fantastic amount of fun.
Samuel pulled Sara away from the gallery and down a hall towards the back of the building. With all the energy humming through him, he needed to find some way to release it or people on the street would start feeling the effects.
Seeing an office with mirrors on the walls to one side, he stopped outside to feel if anyone was occupying it. When he was sure no one was around, he opened the door and pulled Sara inside, ignoring her squeak of protest. He flipped the lock on the door and turned towards her.
“What are you doing?” Sara looked around the room, and he followed her gaze. There was a large table with several chairs dominating the space. Windows on the far wall peeked at the building across the street. What he thought were several mirrors turned out to be one-way windows, providing a view of the hallway without letting people see in.
Samuel pulled Sara around the side of the table and turned her, pushing her roughly against the wall. He surprised her when he bent down, covering her mouth with his in a rough kiss. At first, she resisted but after several heartbeats, her mouth opened, and she relaxed, letting him invade her senses.
She moaned deep in her throat as he slid his hands down her sides and under the short skirt of her dress, feeling the velvety skin of her backside. Breaking the kiss, he moved his lips down the side of her neck, changing his teeth as he progressed. With one hand, Samuel reached up and pulled the collar of her dress away from her neck, giving him access to the soft column of flesh. With the other hand, he pulled her against the bulge of his manhood, straining to be free from his restricting pants.
When his lips hit the area over her collarbone, he bit down, injecting a small amount of venom into her system. The right amount of poision would act as an aphrodisiac, making her instantly aroused, too much and her need would become painful. Sara groaned, digging her fingers into his shoulders and flexing her hips to be closer to him as the drug invaded her system.
Samuel hooked his finger under her lacey panties and ran his thumb over the soft engorged nub waiting there. She cried out as he touched her, and he took her mouth with his again to muffle the sounds. She reached between them and fumbled with the button on his pants, releasing his engorged member into her waiting hands. The feeling of her little fingers wrapped around his shaft sent arrows of pleasure piercing through his body. It wasn’t enough for him.
Growling, he broke the kiss and looked around the room wildly. Without hesitation, he grabbed the back of the nearest chair and flung the object to the side, moving Sara in front of the table and bending her over it. Using one hand and her scarf held over her mouth to muffle her cries, he ran the index finger of his other hand over her clit once again. He could tell she was ready for him, the fluids of her arousal slick on his finger as he pulled her panties to the side and thrust, filling her with one long stroke.
He imagined this was what heaven felt like. Every minute he spent with her, saw her smile and laugh, caused her to moan and cry out with pleasure, or held her nestled in the protective circle of his arms brought her closer to his heart.
Samuel moved inside of her, pressing deeper as the vixen below him twisted her hips, finding the most pleasurable spots for him to massage. She gripped the wrist of the hand he used to muffle her cries, digging her fingernails into the soft flesh while her other hand clawed at the smooth surface of the boardroom table.
Everything about the woman underneath him amazed him. Samuel delighted in the feelings he experienced when he heard the handle on the door rattle. His eyes flew to the portal even as he kept Sara faced away from it. Three men were standing outside with confused looks on their faces as they tried the door again.
Samuel didn’t let up. Instead, he moved with increased urgency. One man pulled a phone out of his pocket and made a call. When he finished the call, he and the other men continued to stand outside the door, speaking amongst themselves. Samuel guessed they called another person to come and unlock the door which meant he had moments to finish.
Pushing harder, he felt the slickness of Sara’s womanhood increase as she stiffened, tilting her head down and moving her free fist under her forehead. She had her eyes closed, and her thighs clenched around him as he adjusted for better traction.
A fourth man wearing a maintenance suit walked up to the door and pulled a large ring of keys out of his pocket. He sorted through them with deliberate care, much to the annoyance of the men waiting on him.
Sara stiffened and her muscles clenched around him as she reached the peak of her orgasm. Samuel groaned as the increased pressure fueled his own lust. With several more thrusts, he buried himself deep within her as his release overtook him. It was like an overfull water balloon burst as his excess energy dissipated into the surrounding area.
The janitor found the correct key and placed it into the lock. Samuel pulled out of Sara, righting her under clothes and dress with haste before dragging her to the wall next to the door. The lock clicked open.
Dazed and confused, it took Sara several seconds to realize someone was trying to open the door. Luck was on their side as the men outside spoke with the janitor before entering the room. Samuel held his finger to his lips, motioning her to silence, before fixing his own appearance.
As the three men opened the door to enter the room, he took control of their minds the same way he had with the doorman out front. They watched as the three men walked towards the table without glancing to the side towards them. Samuel pulled Sara out the still open door, letting it close behind them, and walking in the opposite direction of the janitor.
“Do you think they saw us?” Sara whispered, keeping her tone low as a scarlet blush stained her cheeks.
“No.” Samuel smiled down at her and took her hand, squeezing it.
“That was both amazing and terrifying. I think I prefer the bedroom.”
Samuel sniffed as he led her towards the stairs to the lower level and exit. “Every one of those men has had sex with a woman in this building or the surrounding ones. Sometimes it was even thei
r wives.”
“That’s terrible.” Sara giggled, burying her face in his arm for a moment as they walked.
They were almost to the exit when the two younger demons stepped in front of them, blocking their way. Both stood with their arms crossed high over their chests. Samuel knew they meant to intimidate him with their posture. He hooked his thumbs in his pockets and extended his elbows to the sides, conveying power and authority while pushing his arm in front of Sara to block her from the others.
“Can I help you?” Samuel’s kept his voice casual as he looked from one man to the other.
“This is our territory. You need to leave.” The one on the right stated, taking a step forward into the leadership position.
Samuel barked with laughter, causing several bystanders to look their way. Lowering his voice, he answered, “Puer, if I wanted your territory, I would take it. In fact, I may yet. I find this city invigorating.”
“We will do whatever is necessary to defend our stake here. We won’t be driven out.” The other man stepped forward to stand next to his associate.
Samuel sniffed and opened his mind, letting his power spill into a malicious aura around him. The two demons, their faces so confident before, fell back as fear overcame them. “I found you amusing before, but your idiocy has grown tiring. Stand in my way and suffer the consequences.”
The second demon pulled the arm of the first one, tugging him away from Samuel. The first demon, with a look of terror distorting his features, stumbled after the second while his mouth moved like a fish gulping at water though he made no sound.
With a shake of his head, Samuel retook Sara’s hand and headed towards the exit. “Pups, always thinking they are the biggest monster on the block.”
Demon in Salem Page 14
