Lilin hated the tears in her voice. “Please give me another chance, my Queen.”
“My word is law.” The Unseelie Queen’s voice echoed in the chamber. “You are now mortal, Lilin, formerly of the air Succubae. Once you are on Earth, you shall have little time to arrange your affairs before I strip you of all memories of your former life. I will provide you with what humans require to live in their world — what they refer to as identification and the paper they use to trade for goods. I will give you new memories of living your life as a human.”
Lilin looked at the Queen, fear punching her belly. “Please, my Queen. I will not fail if you give me another chance.”
Rusalka scowled. “Do you dare contradict me? I demanded that you bleed Archer of his soul. As an Incubus he once disappointed me as you have. I will not tolerate such failures.”
Lilin’s eyes widened. Archer had been Incubae?
The Queen’s face grew darker. “After giving him opportunity to adjust to his new mortal life, I stripped his memories. He remembers naught of being Incubae.” Her lips twisted into a scowl. “Rise, Lilin, mortal.”
All Lilin felt was numb as she obeyed. She didn’t feel changed. Yet. But she was a mortal. A mere human now.
“I will send you to Archer.” The Queen’s expression became amused. “He may do with you what he will. Throw you out. Fuck you. It matters not.” She gave a slight nod to her guards who stood to either side of Lilin. “Go.”
Still stunned, Lilin stared at the Queen. She didn’t move until the guards forced her to turn and walk out of the chamber and into the Hall of the Lost.
Four
So tired he could hardly see straight, Archer entered his sprawling mountainside home. He’d spent the day on a construction site and he was hungry and in need of a long hot shower.
He’d also spent the day thinking of the woman - whoever she was, whatever she was - who’d kept appearing and disappearing in and out of his life. What happened on his living room rug had been real. But the way she’d just faded away . . . He was going out of his freaking mind.
He tossed his keys on the entryway table then strode into the kitchen.
He came to a complete stop. Again.
Lilin. In his kitchen.
This time she had clothes on - jeans and a grey T-shirt with the Grateful Dead logo on it. She sat at the kitchen table, her elbows on the surface, chin in her palms, and a glum expression on her pretty face. Her silvery-blonde hair shone in the evening light coming through the bay window. Her eyes, though, looked more grey than silver as she looked at him. She didn’t smile or get up.
He rubbed his hand over his stubbled jaw. “What are you doing here?”
Lilin gave a deep sigh. “No thanks to you I’m mortal now.”
That made Archer pause. “Listen, lady. I don’t know what planet you came from—”
“Otherworld. The Unseelie Court.” She rose and draped her forearm on the table. Her Irish accent was stronger now than before. “I was a Succubus. I failed to get your soul for her so Queen Rusalka made me mortal and sent me to you to decide my fate.”
Otherworld? Unseelie Court? Queen Rusalka? The names rang like bells in Archer’s head, as if he should know them. They had to be from fairy tales read to him when he was a child.
Not that he remembered his childhood.
Lilin kicked at the table leg with her white tennis shoe. He saw a hint of her bare ankle. God, she had sexy ankles.
He shook his head to get the crazy thoughts out of his mind. “I’m tired, hungry, and I need a shower. You know your way out.”
Lilin’s eyes glistened and his gut ached at the sight of a tear rolling down her cheek.
“No crying,” he growled. “That’s not playing fair.”
“I’m sorry.” Her throat worked as she swallowed. “I have never been human before. I have no place to go, and I don’t know what to do. There is only one thing I have ever been good at, and I won’t lower myself to do it as a mortal. As a mortal I would be considered a prostitute, using my body to get what I need. I just won’t do it.”
Archer lifted a brow. “Sex?”
She sniffed and raised her chin. “If you could remember your past, you would know exactly what I’m talking about: sex and the taking of a human’s soul. In your case, a female’s soul.”
He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger before looking back at her. “Give me a break. I don’t know what’s going on and I want some answers.”
Lilin stood and moved towards him. “Did you not wonder how I could appear and disappear? And wings — do you think mortals can grow them whenever they please?” Another tear rolled down her cheek. “I failed, damn you. Now I am as cursed as you are.”
She was close enough that Archer reached up to cup her chin in his palm and rubbed away the tear with his thumb. “Why is it I want to believe you?” He continued to stroke her cheek. “What is it about the Unseelie Court and the name Queen Rusalka that makes me feel like someone punched me in the gut?”
Her grey eyes widened. “You remember?”
“Remember what?”
Lilin leaned into his touch. “You were once Incubae, as I was Succubae. But you displeased the Queen -I do not know why -and you were cast out and given a mortal’s soul and a mortal’s life. The fact you were an Incubus was probably why you were able to resist me.”
Archer shook his head. “I should take you straight to the hospital and have you admitted to a psych ward.”
Another tear rolled down her cheek, this one bigger. “I have no way to prove any of this. Queen Rusalka said I have little time to get my affairs in order before I will be as you and not able to remember my former life.” She drew away from him and folded her arms beneath her breasts.
Those perfect breasts . . .
He snapped back to attention as she continued, more tears rolling down her cheeks. “If you do not help me, then I may as well be taken to a hospital. At least then I will have housing and food.” She sighed. “I now know what hunger is. I have not had a meal all day and my stomach makes a funny rumbling, growling sound.” She sniffled as a virtual flood of tears started.
Archer couldn’t help himself. He was a sucker for crying females. He reached for her and brought her into his embrace. She buried her face against his shirt and sobbed.
“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered as she tilted her head up to face him. “Where does a Succubus go when she isn’t immortal any more?”
He squeezed her tighter to him and couldn’t believe the words that came out of his mouth. “You can stay here for now, OK?”
Five
Today was sunny and Lilin stood on the porch breathing in clean scents of pine and fresh earth. In the distance she heard the trickle of a creek, and it reminded her of something -something she couldn’t quite remember. It had been nearly a month since she started living with Archer and already she had forgotten much of her life as Succubae. The more she struggled to remember, the harder it became.
It took a while before she and Archer fell into a routine. Lilin was so grateful to Archer she would have done anything for him, but he asked nothing of her. She had no skills - as an immortal she had even had to use magic to help at his office the day she replaced his assistant.
She would be a disaster as a human.
Archer took her step by step through small tasks. First teaching her how to cook, starting with how to boil water. That had nearly been a catastrophe when she knocked over the teakettle and water flooded the burner and snuffed the gas flame.
But she could now spread a substance called peanut butter on bread, although she had problems with jelly - wiggly, sticky stuff. She normally ended up with half on her shirt, but triumphant with the half that made it onto the other slice of bread. The taste was quite pleasant.
He was a patient teacher, but she knew when he was trying to hide a smile when she was mad enough to scream with frustration. The first time Archer grinned at one
of her blunders, she had stomped on his foot. He kept his amusement to himself after that.
Wind stirred Lilin’s hair, bringing with it the scent of an oncoming thunderstorm. She felt as if she could fly with the wind and soar through the trees.
What an odd thought.
It was difficult being around Archer and not sharing his bed. She was sure he felt the same, if the hardness in his jeans whenever he came near her was any indication. But he respected her clear desire not to use her body to gain favour. In contrast to her former life, she would no longer bed a man unless he cared for her, and she for him.
She wished to please him in other ways. For the time being. She was no longer Succubae and she would learn to live like a human. If it killed her.
Which it might if she didn’t learn how to run that infernal washing machine. The first time she tried to wash a load of clothes herself, as a surprise for Archer, she’d put too much “detergent” into it. Bubbles had flowed out as if it was foaming at the mouth. In the beginning the bubbles were rather delightful, but it wasn’t long before her delight turned to horror.
Her cheeks heated as she remembered how she had frantically used the “telephone”, punching in the numbers Archer had left scribbled on a pad next to the phone. He’d hurried home to find her rushing around with towels to mop up the bubbles that kept pouring from the machine’s mouth.
He’d turned it off and the soap bubbles stopped pouring out of it. She thought she heard him snort with laughter. The moment she shot her angry gaze at him, his features turned innocent.
Now Lilin shook her head and went into the house where she’d prepared a surprise dinner for Archer. She liked how predictable he was in coming home at the same time every day.
She’d set the table the way he’d taught her. In the centre she placed the mashed potatoes (so, they were a little lumpy and watery), peas (that were just a tad brown), and a beef roast she’d been cooking all day in the crockpot (it was on the overdone side, but never mind that). For dessert, she would grab the ice cream stashed in the freezer and the chocolate sauce from the refrigerator. She couldn’t go wrong with that. She hoped.
On the table was the jelly jar filled with wildflower blooms he’d brought home yesterday.
Lilin wondered at the happiness expanding in her chest.
Thumping noises on the steps and porch. Archer’s home!
A smile lit her face as she hurried to open the door. “I made dinner,” she said as soon as he walked in. “By myself.”
He gave her one of his sexy grins after he closed the door. To her surprise, he caught her by the waist, brought her to him, and brushed his lips over hers. “Thank you,” he murmured against her mouth, and her knees nearly gave out on her.
Wow. If he did that each time she had dinner waiting for him, she was going to prepare a meal every day.
Archer drew away and she steadied herself by placing her palm on the entryway table. He took her free hand and led her to the kitchen where they sat at the table.
If Archer was unhappy with dinner, he didn’t show it. He ate two big helpings of everything! She couldn’t help grinning as he ate.
Later, when she started to prise spoonfuls of ice cream from the container into two dessert dishes, he didn’t laugh when she flung a chunk of ice cream across the kitchen. However, she did see amusement in his eyes when she squirted chocolate sauce on her face and hands instead of on what ice cream had made it into the cups.
“Let me help.” He took her in his arms and licked sauce from her nose and cheeks. She shivered with every touch, every kiss, as he continued on to her palms and wrists. When he had licked every bit of chocolate off her, he leaned his back against the kitchen counter and brought her fully into his embrace. She tilted her face and looked into his eyes before he moved his mouth to hers.
Six
Lilin sank against Archer and moaned as he devoured her. He tasted of chocolate and male. Better than anything she remembered tasting. His scent — Goddess, he smelled good. Testosterone, sawdust from the work site, pine and fresh air from the outdoors.
In all the time she’d lived with him, he hadn’t kissed her. He’d taught her, taken care of her, bought her clothes, and had done so much for her. He’d never pressed her for anything.
In truth, she hadn’t been ready. She, a former Succubus, was not ready for sex as a mortal. The thought was so absurd she would have laughed if she weren’t so busy moaning at the things Archer was doing to her.
He kissed her thoroughly, like no human male should be able to. His big hands stroked her body as if she was fragile. He eased his hands further down until he cupped her buttocks, squeezing and massaging them.
His hardness pressed against her belly as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The ache between her thighs was fierce and her breasts felt heavy. She wanted him now, more than anything she had ever wanted before.
When he raised his head, his eyes were darker blue and his chest rose and fell faster than before. “I need a shower.”
“I’m sticky from the chocolate.” She bit his lower lip. “I’ll join you.”
“We’ll save water.” He slipped his tongue into her mouth then drew it out again. “Economical.”
He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist and kept her arms tight around his neck as he carried her into his bedroom.
Archer started the shower so the water would run warm. God, he’d wanted Lilin for so long. But he’d given her time to adjust and had given himself time to get to know her.
She had to be from another world. Or raised by wolves. She’d been like a child needing to be taught almost everything. He enjoyed her delight in simple things, like the time he brought wildflowers home for her. She’d been so disappointed when the first flowers had wilted that he brought her bouquets almost daily.
He finished adjusting the water’s temperature and found Lilin naked. As magical as if she were still a Succubus. The idea still seemed unbelievable, but everything about Lilin was unusual.
She was so beautiful. Her silvery-blonde hair tumbled to her waist; her grey eyes were wide and innocent.
He took her into his arms and felt the softness of her body through his clothing. When he kissed her, he lost himself in the moment, never wanting it to end. Only the pounding of water against marble reminded him of their shower.
Archer stripped while she watched, and he tossed his clothing onto hers. Her eyes told him she wanted him, and that she was just as filled with desire as he.
He led her beneath the spray, shielding her from the brunt of the hard blast until they got used to it. She laughed and tilted her chin so that the water sprayed her face before she turned her back to it. He reached for shampoo and squirted some on his hand before starting to soap then rinse her hair.
When he finished he tilted her face so that their gazes met. He brushed his lips over hers before drawing back. “Everything about you is beautiful.”
Lilin smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him again. “You are beautiful.”
He released her, picked up a sponge and poured gel on it to wash her body. His body ached as he touched her.
Before soaping her breasts, he paused to suckle each of her nipples. Lilin moaned and gripped her hands in his hair.
God, she tasted sweet.
The crisp smell of soap didn’t mask her scent of desire as he knelt. He used the sponge to pay close attention to her belly, thighs, legs, each delicate foot. He turned her to face the spray and wash the soap from her body.
Still on his knees, Archer nuzzled her soft mound. She fisted his hair tighter and cried out as he ran his tongue between her legs.
“Goddess. Archer.” She pressed his face closer. Her legs trembled, her body tensed, and he knew she was close to flying towards the stars. A little more and she’d go supernova.
He bit her lightly and she screamed. Her whole body shook and her face flushed with the power of her orgasm. When her legs gave out and she dropped into
his arms he felt somehow triumphant — that he had brought her to her knees.
He took her mouth in a fierce kiss, feeling a sense of ownership and protectiveness.
“I don’t know if I can get up,” she whispered when he moved his mouth from hers.
Archer smiled and kissed her lightly before drawing her up to stand. She pressed her face to his wet chest and gave a deep sigh. “I’ve never felt anything like that.” She tilted her face up. “I have few memories left, but I know that no man ever made me feel the way you do.”
The thought of any other man with Lilin sent a stab of jealousy through his chest. Maybe it shouldn’t have, but he wanted her to think only of him, as if he was her first. His touch, his kiss, his hips between her thighs as he took her.
And God, he needed to be inside her now.
Even though she wanted to wash him as he had washed her, he refused and made short work of shampooing his hair and scrubbing his body with the sponge. After shutting off the water and climbing out of the shower, they dried off with a pair of towels.
Archer picked her up and she dropped her towel before she wrapped her legs around his hips and held on to his shoulders. She kissed him as he strode across the room and they tumbled onto the bed. The need to be a part of her was so great he was in a fog of lust.
Love.
The word came out of nowhere, pressing against his mind. Could the feeling in his chest be love for Lilin?
He touched her, kissed her, slid his hips between her thighs.
“Wait,” she said, her voice husky and her eyes heavy-lidded.
“What, baby?” he murmured as he nibbled at her ear.
She gave one of her sexy little moans. “The protection you said you wanted to use the last time I came to you.”
Stunned at himself and his forgetfulness, Archer rose and looked down at Lilin, the first woman he wanted to take, screw the protection. He brushed his lips over hers. “Thank you,” he murmured.
It took him all of ten seconds to reach into his nightstand drawer and pull out a condom package.
Succubus Seduction Page 2
