by Cynthia Dane
“Wait,” Vincent said, holding his hand halfway up. Nala stopped, although she wasn’t sure why she listened to him. I’m already giving in. Fancy that. “Sorry. I wanted to make sure I got to drink all of you in before you said anything.”
Nala slightly cocked her head. “Why is that?” His voice almost melted against her skin. If this was how he sounded now… with a deep, almost sonorous quality that could lure a girl to sleep… well. “Do you recognize me?”
She wanted him to say yes. How could he not recognize her? She was one of his kind, a woman always on the prowl and ready to pounce on any unsuspecting prey. Surely, he could sense her aura like she could sense his.
Vincent still smiled. “I suppose you could say that. Do you come here often?”
What coded language they used. Once the people around them gave up interest and went back to their hedonistic lives, however, Nala appreciated being left alone with her handsome stranger. “It’s my first time. You?” Perhaps this was his usual hunting ground. Nala had already discovered the amount of prey readily available in such a den of sin.
Yet Vincent did not answer. Instead, he sipped from his glass of dark alcohol, eyes never leaving Nala. “It wouldn’t matter, because I can safely say I’ve never seen a woman as beautiful as you before now.”
A mortal woman would roll her eyes to hear that. Nala? She wanted to shrug, because every man told her that. She was sure they often thought that, since it was in her biology to make them think so. Of course I’m the most beautiful woman around. Why wouldn’t I be? She wouldn’t be very good at her destiny if she couldn’t seduce a man – or woman – with a single look. Nevertheless, I like the flattery. Of course she did! It made her more powerful to be recognized!
Nala laughed. “You are good, that’s for sure.”
“I must be, if you came right over here.”
Nala batted her eyelashes, but kept her hands to herself. Not that I want to. No, she definitely wanted to put her hands all over this man and turn him into an extension of herself. It wouldn’t be too hard. Wiggle her hips. Wrap her arms around his shoulders. They had to be careful. Their combined power might be too much for the others to handle. Do I care? Not really. That was the best part.
“There are a lot of reasons to come over here. Do you know me?”
Vincent’s smile faltered. “You keep asking me that. Why? Should I know you from somewhere?”
“I mean… do you know what I am?”
He shook his head, but his look was knowing. “I know a lot of things in this world. What I know about you is that you’re a gorgeous creature.”
“A creature, you say.”
“Should I call you something else? Do you prefer to be called a woman?”
“Don’t most?”
“Actual women, yeah.”
“That’s where you’re making terrible assumptions.” Nala leaned against the wall beside him, crossing her arms and forcing a sweet pout. “Regardless of what I really am, I’ll always be a woman. It doesn’t matter what you call me or how you dress me up. You think I can’t be as womanly as the others in this room?”
Vincent gave the space a cursory glance. “Just as and more.”
“Damn straight.” She let her fingertip touch the soft fabric of his sleeve. “You’re quite manly yourself. Don’t you think of yourself as a man?”
“I am certainly a man.”
“Then I’m a woman. Do you know what men and women do together?”
“I’ve heard a few things.”
“Done a few things?”
Nala almost couldn’t stand this verbal foreplay. It was foreplay, right? Please let it be so. She didn’t often beg to be with a man.
“I may have done a few things, yes. Why are you asking?”
“You are coy. I kinda like that.” Nala ran her tongue over her teeth. “Usually men fall over backward for me.”
“I’m sure they do. I think you’ll find, however, that I’m not as easily swayed. Or seduced for that matter.”
That so? “You’re the kind of guy who gets to have his pick and then goes for it.”
“I suppose you could say that.”
“I am saying that.” Nala touched him, letting herself feel the strength within his arm. Wow. This guy was strong. Too strong, almost. “You’re used to entering a place, picking out a woman for a night, and having no issue getting her into bed. Or keeping her out of bed, if you’re more into that. Let me guess…” she continued, interrupting him before he had the chance to speak. “You leave them completely worn out but still insatiable. I know that feeling well.” Men could run out of stamina, and even if they wanted to keep going, their little friends – and many of them were sorely little – would put a stop to it. But they always wanted more. They begged Nala to finish them off for good. She used to do that. Then it got harder to cover her tracks and keep the hunters off them. Now she usually left men in a stupor. Better that way. Easier. Cleaner. I don’t get as much benefit, though. That meant she had to go through more men. She wondered if she could get her fill with a man like this.
Vincent leaned his head in toward hers. “You know an awful lot about me for a woman who has just met me.”
“Naturally. I’m observant.” Nala pushed out her chest. Surely, that would get his undying attention. “So, what do you think? Am I the kind of woman you decide on and then leave completely insatiable in bed?”
“You’re bold. You don’t even know who I am.”
I know that you are like me. “I don’t need to know you. You don’t even have to tell me your name. In fact, I could go this whole night without knowing your name and be quite satisfied. Do you want to know my name?”
“I suppose there’s no harm in that.”
Strange thing to say. Nala cleared her throat and gestured to herself. “My name is Nightingale.”
“Ah, the beautiful nightingale. A bird that sings a gorgeous song of mourning. Who knew that death could be so sweet?”
“Are you a learned man?”
“I’ve been around.”
Nala wrapped her hand around his arm, indulging in how powerful his muscles felt beneath her touch. “What can I call you?”
“Vincent is fine.”
Vincent, huh? Men of their kind had names given to them at birth, but most chose their own names to go by after a while. Nala liked the name Nightingale and the atmosphere it conjured wherever she went. Vincent, on the other hand, was a strange name for an incubus to take. “I like that name. Sounds… scintillating.”
“I suppose.”
“You haven’t answered my question, though.” Nala wrapped both arms around his now, looking up into his shining blue eyes that managed a luminescence even in that dark pit. “Do I seem like the type of woman you wouldn’t mind taking out your energy on?”
“Like I said, you’re the most beautiful woman I have seen in here all night. That doesn’t mean, however, that it would be a good idea for us to go together.”
Hmph. Fine. Nala could play this game. She always seduced her target in the end. Granted, this was her first time going after an entity like her… well, it would be a good challenge, at least. “I don’t see why not. Unless you have a woman I don’t know about around here.” Nala smiled. “Fine. I don’t mind adding her to the mix. Or if you’ve got another man?” There were definitely incubi who targeted men, but they usually didn’t bother unless it was a person in desperate need of corruption, and those did not come easy in a place like this. Too bad. Nala wouldn’t mind seeing action like that erupt before her. “I really don’t care. I like everything.”
“I don’t have another woman, no,” Vincent admitted. “Nor a man. Let’s say that you’re usually not the type of woman I go for.”
“You mean because I’m… like you?”
“Something like that.”
It could be dangerous to openly admit what they were. Even if Nala was 100% certain she was dealing with a fellow creature and that Vincent recognized her as well,
stating what they were could create a rift in the universe. Nala was already shaking the dirty water by flirting with the man and trying to get him inside her. Maybe he knew something that she didn’t. Incubi could be so incredibly sexual that it wouldn’t be beyond them to track down their sisters-in-crime and have their way with them for a quick, powerful fix. Perhaps this Vincent had a bad experience before. Nala could see the results going both ways. Unfortunately, she was bored enough to find out for herself. In real time. Like right now.
“Well, that’s a real shame, and I am disappointed to hear it.” Nala pushed away from him, but only a little bit. She didn’t want to make him think she was off the table, after all. Unless you want me off the table and in bed or something. That is definitely more comfortable. “Still, I would implore you to think it over. We could have a lot of fun, you and I.”
“I’m sure we could, Nightingale. I’m sure you have experience doing what you do.”
“Yes.” She could be coy like him. “Many years. You could say it’s felt like millennia.”
“Yes, Nightingale,” Vincent said, more evenly. “I know what you are. No need to dance around it. I know you won’t openly say it, but know that I know you. I knew you the moment you came into this place and I felt your energy attempt to take it over.”
“Attempt?”
“Why, yes. Because I already had taken it over.”
“Is that how it is?” Nala grinned. “How many have you had tonight?”
“In truth?” He shrugged. “None. I’m still biding my time, waiting for the right person.”
He’s discerning, then. Perhaps she was dealing with someone older than herself. Nala was still “young” for what she was. Not so discerning. Taking whatever came her way and reveling in it. “And who is the right person? Maybe I can help you find them.”
“That would be quite the feat. I don’t even know who I am looking for yet.”
Nala looped her finger through one of his belt loops. Getting dangerously close to his zipper probably wasn’t a good idea. Even so, she would wait for him to stop her. “Perhaps she has been right in front of you all along.”
She didn’t think it would be so difficult to seduce a fellow creature. Yet Vincent remained unmoved as she came close to touching what many claimed to be cold as stone. So far, she didn’t feel so cold around this man. Then again, many said that she was made of cold and ice as well. No one had complained thus far.
“You are eager, that is for sure.”
“Well, if you know me, then you know that my existence sort of counts on shit like this.”
“Why me, though? Do you know what happens when a pair like us comes together?”
“No, what?”
He bent down and whispered in her ear. Breath that was sheer delight tickled her skin, peaking her nipples and making her mouth slightly open. “Terrible, terrible things, Nightingale. I’m afraid that not even a man like me can succumb to you. As nice as it would be to give in to the way your body moves and how your voice taunts my ear, I’m afraid it’s impossible. At some point, we would regret it.”
“I don’t see how.” Nala refused to move away until he did too. Instead, she was happiest leading his hand to her midsection, letting him feel the intense heat emanating from her core. “This could all be yours. Don’t you want it?’
Vincent snorted. “Of course I want it. What do you think I’m hunting tonight?”
His eyes bore into hers. Nala felt the weight of his judgment, and it almost made her quiver in her boots. “You’re hunting the same thing I am: the depraved sexual energy of humanity.”
“I suppose you could say that.”
“I am saying that.”
“Actually,” Vincent said, lowering his voice and turning his head to hers. “I’m looking for a more specific kind of energy. Do you feel it? It’s bouncing off these walls. It’s echoing in the hearts and loins of every man and woman in this room. It’s what drew me here in the first place. I could have gone anywhere in this city and had my fill for the night, but I came here. Do you know why?”
Nala let her fingers travel up his arm. “Because you felt a powerful energy heading in this direction. It must have been mine.”
“Yes.” Vincent pulled his lip inward, licked it, and pushed it out toward her. The things he could do to me. “My instincts said that I should come here because a divine creature was ready to meet me. Perhaps she didn’t know it yet. Perhaps she was merely on the prowl. Either way, I knew I had to intercept her here. My existence may have depended on it.”
“Have you found her?”
“I sure did. Now I don’t know what to do with her. She may test my limits.”
Nala shuddered. “I’ve been known to do that. Unless you mean some other creature walking these halls. I haven’t sensed her.” In this era, they were so uncommon that they tended to have their separate hunting grounds that they rarely transgressed. Nala’s was in this city. If another she-demon appeared, it would be grounds for a territorial brawl. Nobody wanted to deal with that, especially in the modern era. It would draw way too much attention.
So the idea that there could be any other siren song being sung in that club was ridiculous. Nala would have sensed the bitch, anyway. Vincent must have meant her. She was certainly haughty enough to believe it.
“I mean you, Nightingale. You are the one I came here for.”
She tried to not show her satisfaction. “Then what is stopping you? If you knew me and followed my energy here, then you must be interested in what we can offer one another. Surely, you’re not scared of me.”
“If I were scared of you, I wouldn’t be doing my job very well.”
Nala tilted her head. “What do you mean by that? Your job is to follow your instincts. If they led you to me, then it’s only natural we explore what two beings like us can accomplish.”
“This is what you tell me, and yet I feel pressured to tell you otherwise.”
“Why is that?” Nala wished she weren’t so much shorter than this man. She would love to plant a kiss on his cheek and show him how right she was. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking about taking your life on a different path. How would you survive?”
“It’s not that, believe me.” Vincent inched away from her. “I told you, Nightingale. I was drawn to your energy. I came here with a purpose that included you.”
“So what’s the problem? Everything works down there, right?”
He snorted again. “Oh, yeah, it works.”
Nala wrapped both arms around him. Slowly, but surely, she was enticing him into her world. “Then what are you waiting for? Kiss me, and let’s see where this story takes us.”
She didn’t think he would do it. Nala wasn’t deluding herself yet into thinking that she had him wrapped around her finger. Yet… when Vincent knelt down and kissed her forehead, she felt warmth cover her skin and try to take her to another universe. So this is what it feels like to be kissed by an incubus? If this is what Nala felt, then how did those mortal women contend? She was already swaying back and forth on her heels.
His lips moved from her forehead to her mouth, and what a blessed state of affairs, because the moment he properly kissed her she nearly fell over and died. For a demon like her, that sort of death was something she could eventually come back from.
Nala had kissed many men in her long existence. Usually she kissed them as a precursor to taking their vitality and using it to sustain her own life. Sirens didn’t need to eat, or drink really. They only did those things for pure pleasure. Mortal women quelled to see Nala drink all the beer she wanted and then chase it down with cake, never to be bothered by a thing. No, the only sustenance she really needed was the sexual energy of mortals, particularly men. Vincent wasn’t like that, but he certainly had as much, if not more, sexual energy than the woman he was drawn to.
She melted in his embrace, letting her body fuse with his the longer this tantalizing kiss lasted. Vincent tipped her head back and plundered her mouth wit
h his tongue, eating her up, devouring her like such a wretch like he did to other women who were not as strong as her. This is almost too much. Nala almost never said that, in all her years. Yet the power emanating from this man was too much to resist. She could barely stand it! Is this what my prey feels before I do them in? If Nala could harness even a bit of his power for her own, she could be sustained for years. Years.
Her thoughts disappeared the moment Vincent pinned her against the wall and proved to the whole room that she belonged to him.
Had two entities ever appeared so famished in this place? Probably, but none of them could have possibly made Nala feel as she did now, with her body opening to take this man in. Everything inside her readied for him. Her heart quickened. Her breasts begged to be touched, squeezed. Her legs opened and her hand pulled on the hem of her dress when she had the chance. All it would take was one drop of this man’s pants and they could have all the fun they wanted. It didn’t matter if it was in front of others. Why would it matter at all? Let them bask in their fucking glory.
It should have been simple. She seduced him. Or maybe he seduced her. Either way, Nala was at his mercy, or so she let him think. Many men pinned her to things and gave to her. Vincent may have been like her, but he was no different in that regard. A man was a man, whether mortal or not.
It should have been simple.
It should have been simple.
Her revelry came to an abrupt, terrifying end when Vincent snatched his hand around her neck and held her still against the wall, his other hand rooting for something in his front pocket. Nala squirmed, fighting for air and looking at him as if he had lost his mind.
When the cold metal of a collar replaced his hand around her neck, she knew she was doomed. When a leash tugged on her throat, ending in Vincent’s hand, Nala knew that the one thing she had been taught to fear the most had finally come for her. Like a fucking idiot, she walked right into his trap.
