Demonic Power

by Rena Marks

  “You popped out your goddamn teeth and stared suggestively at his crotch!” Mo-neeka yelled.

  Rena raised her eyeballs to Ace, sharing a confidence. “I prefer the Latin lover. The dark, swarthy types.”

  “Ladies, please,” Ace said, trying to produce his most sincere smile even though all they did was try his patience. “Can you produce a spell with true magic or not?”

  “Of course we can,” they said in unison, as if his question was ludicrous. “We just gotta dance.”

  Dance?

  “We were born to dance.” Trisha rose and hobbled over to a piece of machinery in the corner. She pushed a button with her gnarled old finger and tunes blasted.

  With her back to them, one bony old hip began jutting, the only body part moving, reminiscent of Michael Jackson.

  At the table, Rena and Monika began moving their heads. Rena’s slid side to side which quivered her false teeth oddly, while Monika’s bumped out and in, wobbling her double chin. Both began to rise from their seats in odd, jerky, zombielike movements.

  Trisha still stood with her back to them. “Start it slow, ladies. One body part at a time to warm up.” Now the other hip began to rock back and forth.

  The bony, birdlike shoulders of Rena began to maneuver, one up, one down.

  Monika swiveled her hand over her eyes, waving it vertically like an exotic belly dancer.

  Was Natalya kidding? These three nutcases had some sort of capability to open a portal? He rose from the table, knowing his time here was wasted. But the beat of the music had changed now, and the ladies were in full swing, cackling among themselves.

  It was a little bit like looking at a train wreck. You know you should look away before you witness the gore of death, but yet…you can’t.

  Each was in her own little world, focused on being the star of her own show.

  “Look at me, Moe,” Rena grated shrilly. “I’m still the best belly dancer around.”

  “Can’t,” panted Monika. “The salsa has me in its grip.”

  Poor Madame Treesha was busy humping a pole.

  Chapter Ten

  Ramifications

  This was an absolutely crazy waste of time. Ace strode from the room, heading out the back way, leaving the dancing old women behind. What now?

  There was a water fountain up ahead. Maybe if he looked into the water, it would help clear his mind. Maybe he’d even get a vision, like Natalya had.

  Water was revered in Luciefyiore, while the selfish human race had so much of it they took it for granted. They didn’t even bother to care for it, polluting it with harsh chemicals and wondering why their planet slowly poisoned.

  He sat down on the concrete edge and stared into the water. In his mind’s eye, he could see the image of Holly.

  Son of a bitch, it wasn’t his mind’s eye. She was there, staring back at him through the murky depths. The crazy old fools had done it. They had released a gate.

  Holly was frozen in time, suspended in horror.

  He reached in. The water had thickened like clear gelatin. He tried to pull her out, but it held tight, holding her a silent prisoner. He yanked harder and the water released with a pop, as if a vacuum seal had broke. She took a huge gasp as she sucked air into her lungs. He held her close, wrapping her shivering body against him. He wouldn’t let her go again, especially when she began to cry softly.

  “Oh, baby, it’s okay. You’re safe,” he crooned, smoothing her back.

  “Did I…did I…die? Am I dead?”

  He lifted her face with a finger underneath her chin. “No, Holly, no. You’re alive, you’re here with me.”

  “But how?” she sobbed. “I drowned.”

  He was aware he was holding her too tight, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax. “You’re on Earth now. With me. I’m going to keep you safe. He won’t get to you again.”

  “But Ace,” she said, sitting with wide eyes. “It’s not safe here. He can enter the minds of the lunatics.”

  “I know, sweetie. We figured out that’s how he got you through a gate. Humans took you through, and it had to be humans who weren’t in their right minds, because they would know it would be impossible to come back.”

  She looked serious. “I don’t want him to get to you, Ace.”

  “I’m the big bad. Don’t worry about me.” He swung her up in his arms, cuddling her against his broad chest. “Close your eyes and let me take care of you.”

  When Holly opened them next, they were walking into a motel room.

  “This is where you’re staying?” she asked.

  “Yup. I couldn’t stay with Keara and Caleb. It would be a little obvious there and I’m undercover.”

  “You’re banished here, right? On Earth?”

  “Not yet, baby. Once I’ve been dehorned. However, I snuck over here to search for you when you went missing.”

  “How did you get through?”

  “A portal. I still have my bounty hunter’s pass.”

  She seemed to be quiet for a couple of minutes as she processed this much.

  “Holly,” Ace prodded gently. “What happened to you? On the moon?”

  Her eyes glazed over, but her face grew calm. Enishka was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. And she’d run from many, many odd things during her life.

  The monster was the worst. He was the epitome of everything she’d always feared. Everything that went bump in the night. Every nightmare that had ever woken her and made her chest pound.

  Right now she felt safe enough to talk about it. She had Ace’s arms wrapped around her and his scent mingled with hers.

  Still, tears continued to stream down her cheeks. “He wants my power. He thought he’d breed with me. Now that you’re my husband, he said he has the right to give me demon babies.”

  “He does,” Ace gritted his teeth. “But I’ll die keeping him off you. He owns me, Holly. By breaking my word and marrying, I gave you to him. You belong to him just as much as I do now.”

  Holly sobbed harder.

  Ace held her to him, helpless frustration making his horns extend. “Baby, don’t cry. You won’t have to breed with that thing. I’ll slice the head from his body. He may own me, but he can’t have you. I’d rather face a thousand deaths than let him have you.”

  Holly stopped crying and leaned back. Something about his horns being extended in defense strengthened her emotions, as if her horns would rise with his. If she had horns. But even without, she saw through the situation enough now. “Ace, we have to get your soul back from him.”

  “It doesn’t do any good, Holl,” he said sadly. “It won’t do me any good. It takes so much to remove it, it can’t be reinserted. It’s his now.”

  “How painful was it?”

  “Like feeling a thousand deaths. Like watching your children die in your arms. Like witnessing your mother being tortured before your eyes.”

  Holly leaned her forehead to his, resting for a moment, giving him what little strength she could. They leaned in silence for a bit. He’d suffered so much in his dimension. And yet all these demons thought she was the one who lived in Hell.

  “Ace, what were all the little fairies?”

  Ace’s jaw tightened, remembering when Holly had seen the protection fairies. Her blood had been spilled for them to show up. “They enforce the laws for humans. A demon can’t harm a human, and they deemed you human because of the color of your blood. Enishka and the Rot Demon had to be punished for your injury.”

  “So fairies are like your police?”

  “Not ours. They’re human protectors. Policing is more the job of the Council. Remember when Keara and Natalya rearranged Enishka’s face? The Council let the punishment stand because demons are rare to breed and Enishka burned out Natalya’s eggs. Who knows how many might have hatched should she have chosen to bear children?”

  “Are they demons? The beings of the Council?”

  “Not exactly. They’r
e… Well, I guess earthlings would call them Greek gods, or something like that. Caleb, Keara’s husband, is related to Eros. They police both worlds, keeping the realities from crossing over.”

  “What are they like?”

  “They always appear around a large table. They dress in white robes, with gold ties around the waist. They’re completely expressionless, and only one of them speaks for the rest. They’re…different. But their word is law. Piss them off and they’ll mute you instantly, without a second chance. Or freeze you and force your compliance.”

  “The fairies didn’t care that I was being tricked into marrying you.”

  “No, they’re impish. Both good and evil, you know? The Council is neutral.”

  Holly remembered the viciousness of the tiny Fairy Queen tasting her blood.

  “Yeah, I do know. I’m sorry I picked you to marry.”

  “Baby, what else could you do? There was no one else for you to choose. I wasn’t upset at you marrying me, I was upset because I knew it gave Enishka access to you. And Holly, I’ll die protecting you.”

  Ever so slowly, she moved her lips toward his. She pressed to him, slanting her mouth over his.

  He opened his mouth, silently encouraging her. “I missed you, baby.”

  “I love you, Ace,” she whispered, then closed her mouth over his. There was no more holding back, not when life could be so short.

  Power erupted. She poured everything she had inside her into him, nourishing him, giving him all she was worth.

  He gasped, his eyes popping open, bright green, the color rich and full. She smiled knowingly, a woman confident and in control, for she’d done this.

  She kissed him again, touching her tongue to his and sliding against him.

  His lips curved into a wicked smile. “Baby, you’re dangerous,” he whispered. “Enishka has no idea.”

  Holly unbuttoned his shirt slowly, not bothering to resist the urge to run her palms over the muscles of his chest. His pecs twitched beneath her hands.

  God, he was sexy. He really thought she was the dangerous one?

  Sliding her hands up his shoulders, she pushed the shirt over his arms, hearing the rasp as it slithered from his shoulders and hit the bed behind them.

  Next she pulled his belt from his slacks, popping the snap of his waistband open and sliding her fingers across his taut abs. His skin was warm and clenched tight under her touch.

  Holly smiled. “I guess it’s okay that I’m using my power…because you are my husband. And unable to run.”

  “Very unable,” he agreed. “Looking forward to spending my life with you, little human.”

  “It’s a date,” she smiled.

  She had to lean down to lick a nipple, making him gasp. His hand gripped the back of her head gently, pressing her to him so she’d lick him even more. Her fingernails were lightly tracing the ridges of muscles on his chest, running along his sternum to touch tantalizingly on the inner waistband of his jeans.

  “Oh, baby, you’re wicked,” he groaned.

  She rose back up to suck on the side of his neck, biting gently and then soothing the mark with her tongue.

  “There’s so much I want to explore with you, Ace,” she said. “But it all starts with getting you good and completely naked. I want to see every inch of your body, I want to tongue every inch of you.”

  Her fingers reached the bulge in his pants. She flitted over it lightly, teasing him with her touch. He grasped her hand, holding it firmly over his erection like he never wanted her to let go.

  “That feels good,” he muttered between kisses.

  “It’d feel better if you let go of my hand so I can go under your pants. My palm against bare skin.”

  His hand immediately lifted from hers. “I like having a wife,” he said.

  “I like having a husband.”

  “Good thing, because you’re going to have one for the rest of your life, baby doll.”

  “My husband should take care of me, Ace,” she said teasingly.

  “Mmm,” he responded. “And what do you need, love?”

  He bent his head to trace the pulse near her throat. His tongue was hot, feverish with need.

  “I need you to undress me,” she gasped.

  She didn’t need to ask twice. The gauzy white of her dress slipped easily from her shoulders and slid down her body.

  “You are so beautiful. You know in the beginning I triggered your lust on purpose to get in your pants, right?”

  “What?”

  “When I first met you. I had to have you and you weren’t interested in me at all. You just pined after all the wimpy humans. So I triggered your power.”

  “And here I felt guilty for seducing you.”

  Somehow they were on the bed and Holly was writhing on top of Ace. She was completely naked and the bulge in his pants was hitting her in the most delicious spot.

  The waistband of his pants fell apart and now there was just the thin material of his boxers separating her from the throbbing in his cock.

  She rubbed against it some more, barely aware of when Ace slid down his underwear enough to expose his erection.

  Oh, blessed skin contact! The friction was awesome, the warmth of his skin hitting her sensitive clitoris. If she pressed hard and ground her cunt against him harshly, the silky liquid from inside her smeared onto him and found its way upward to moisten her clit.

  She needed more. She lifted her hips just a few inches and when his erection sprang up, she impaled herself on it in one fell swoop.

  It slid through her swollen flesh and filled every inch of her. She rested her head on his shoulder for a minute, savoring the feeling of his cock deep within her pussy.

  “This is where I was meant to be,” he murmured.

  “Me too, demon,” she responded.

  His large hands gripped her hips and moved her back and forth. “Mmm, Holly, ride me.”

  He leaned up and captured a nipple between his lips, sucking it hard enough to send tingles down to her loins, triggering her sheath to clench.

  She leaned back and lifted herself from him. He looked at her questioningly, but she only smiled naughtily. Crawling away from him, she lowered herself to all fours so her bottom pointed at him.

  “Take me like this,” she commanded.

  She could see their reflection in the mirror on the dresser next to the bed. Ace immediately rose, his cock gleaming with her fluids. Stroking it lightly, he aimed it toward her slit, which was so swollen it looked like it would cushion him. He passed the head of his shaft up and down her a few times before sinking back in.

  He pulled out and clutched her hips. He jerked her back toward him and then held her still. “Baby, you feel so good,” he muttered.

  Watching in the mirror, she saw him staring at her exposed ass. He licked his finger then slowly traced it through her crack. Finding the puckered rim of her anus, he gently massaged.

  She gasped, gripping his cock with her cunt.

  “Like that, Holly?”

  “Mmm,” she breathed.

  Very gently, his finger dipped into her rear entry. She arched her back. Just one finger in her tightened everything so deliciously.

  “Oh, baby. I want you to feel good every day,” he muttered, twisting his hips to press his cock against the lip of her cervix.

  “More, Ace,” she panted, pressing backward into the sexy demon. “Give it to me harder.”

  In and out his erection plunged, the huge head of his cock sliding against her internal walls. Explosions racked her body and she arched her back.

  Ace watched her climax in awe. She was beautiful, her spine arched delicately. He leaned forward and kissed a slim shoulder, then cupped her heavy breasts in his hands. Gently tugging on her nipples made her moan with pleasure.

  He sucked on her neck, thrusting hard into her, until his own orgasm came in a gushing spurt of hot liquid.

  Slowly he released her, where she collapsed on the bed, wrapping arms and legs around
him. “Baby, I’d love to cuddle you, but we’d end up having sex again. You relax, take a shower when you want. I have some calls to make, okay?”

  She murmured something at him and pressed her lips to his.

  * * * * *

  When Holly had finished up in the shower, she left the bathroom dressed in a towel just as Ace closed the outer room door.

  “Ace? I can’t wear the slimy dress I arrived in.”

  “I know. I called room service to bring you up a dress from the shop downstairs.”

  Holly smiled. “Do you think of everything?”

  Ace kissed the tip of her nose. “Yes. I take care of you, remember? Now get dressed, love. We have to get you back into Luciefyiore.” He handed her the dress.

  Holly dropped the towel to the floor. Casually, as if she didn’t noticed that he stared, she slid the dress over her head. “Panties?” she whispered.

  He shook himself. Then he walked over to her, dropping to his knees in front of her. He touched her thigh to get her to lift her leg, then slid her panties over an ankle. She placed that foot on the floor and raised her other leg. He slid the panties up over the second ankle and waited for her to place that foot on the floor. Then he slowly pulled them up her legs.

  She gathered the bottom of her dress up, held tight under her breasts.

  Ace made sure the waistband of her panties was straight, staying kneeling before her. Then he placed a kiss on her mound.

  She inhaled sharply.

  “Maybe we have time to trigger that lust before we head to Luciefyiore?” he teased. “Nah, let’s get you over the border, and then we can have all night in our own bed.”

  Contrary to his words, he slid the elastic of her panties to one side and licked up her slit.

  Whoosh! Heat slammed into her loins in a rush.

  “You just triggered my power. I think we’ll have to run full speed down to Luciefyiore.”

  Ace stood, smiling as he leaned forward and kissed her lips. One finger straightened her underwear and cupped her mound through the thin fabric. She dropped her dress over his hand.

  She was wet through her panties.

  He kissed her lightly, his breathing deep. “We do have to hurry. And then we’re holed up at home, in bed, for three days straight.”