“And besides,” Lilith spoke again, her voice soft. “Damien is obsessed with me. Now that he’s found me again, he won’t rest until he has me in his grasp. He’s not leaving.”
“If what you say is true, then we can definitely come up with a plan to deal with him.” Catherine appeared thoughtful. Christian just frowned at the thought of Damien remaining to continue chasing after Lilith. “We’ll need to come up with a detailed plan, but I think we can make this work. Come on, you two. You both look exhausted, and I want you, Christian, to be at your best once we’ve got a plan to deal with this Damien.”
***
Christian frowned as he stared at his bed and, more specifically, the many items that lay strewn across it. It was all the ordnance he had left. Next to the bed, his black weapons case seemed depressingly empty without any of its contents inside.
He’d taken to separating all of his munitions by type. Some of these items wouldn’t serve any purpose other than slowing him down. Very few weapons worked on No Life Kings. Silver didn’t affect them as it did werewolves, poison didn’t work on them since blood no longer pumped through their veins, and regular lead bullets were about as effective as pellets from an airsoft gun. The only ammo he had that would work were liquid nitrogen bullets, which were designed to deal damage to heavily armored opponents, and Liquid Sunlight bullets, the Science Division’s newest invention.
Just what possessed the Science Division to come up with such a stupid name was beyond him. There was nothing liquid about these bullets. They were specialized bullets made with Orichalcum shells that contained upwards of two-million kW/m². A single shot to the heart from one of those should be enough to put even a No Life King down—at least that’s what he was banking on.
Michael and Raphael lay next to Gabriel and Phanuel. His four specialized weapons gleamed silver and black. Lying next to his weapons of choice was the sniper rifle, which he still didn’t know what to do with. He honestly wasn’t even sure why he’d brought it anymore. The thing was useless.
One by one, Christian loaded the ammo clips that he would be using, placing them in the straps that would go around his thighs. He’d only be taking the nitrogen and sun bullets with him. He put everything else away. it was too bad he didn’t have any more sun grenades. He placed his guns on the nightstand and leaned his swords against the wall. As he finished his preparations for the coming conflict, his cell phone started blasting Dirty Deeds.
“You need something, Tristin?” he asked.
“Wha… how’d you know it was me?”
Christian deadpanned, even though the other man couldn’t see it. “You’re the only one in my phone with an AC/DC ringtone.”
“Oh, so you kept my ringtone? Yay! I’m so happy!”
“Is it just me? Or have you gotten even more childish since the last time we spoke?”
“It’s definitely you,” Tristin said before getting somewhat serious. “So, this is it, huh? You’ll be taking on that No Life King soon?”
“Yes,” Christian answered. “I would rather deal with it during the day, but I doubt that monster is stupid enough to fight against us when it’s at its weakest. I suppose we could go back to its mansion, but it would hold all the advantages there. Maneuvering in the enclosed space is difficult, and I need all the space I can to utilize my style to its fullest.”
“Right. I would wish you luck with the upcoming battle, but considering you’re you, I doubt you’ll need it. Anyway, listen, I just got through checking over Lilith’s information and wanted to tell you―”
“Could you tell me a little later?” Christian interrupted before the man could speak. “I think Lilith just got out of the shower.”
“The shower? Is she there with you?”
“We’ll talk about this after my battle, okay?”
“Wait, Christian―”
But Christian ended the call, and set his phone on the nightstand. Behind him, the bathroom door opened. He turned his head just as Lilith stepped out.
She walked into the room, drying her hair with a towel. Pearlescent drops of water trailed down her skin, glistening in the light. She still wore the nightgown from when he had rescued her. The damp red silk clung to her body, showing off her well-proportioned figure, while maintaining a semblance of modesty.
Catherine hadn’t let her return home to get a change of clothing, claiming that it was too dangerous, and that it would be better if she just stayed at Christian’s hotel. He thought the woman was being a tad paranoid, but couldn’t really blame her. They were going up against one of the strongest abominations in the world. Paranoia could only be a good thing in this instance.
And it’s not like I mind her staying with me.
“Who was that on the phone?” Lilith asked as she walked further into the room, curious eyes glancing around at the sparsely decorated interior.
“Just a friend,” Christian answered automatically.
“I see…”
“You know, I never got the chance to ask this before, because of all the excitement, but are you okay?” Lilith looked at him, her head tilted quizzically. “I mean that you were with Damien for two whole days before we found you. It must have been a frightening experience.”
Lilith smiled and walked up to him. She stopped in front of him and grasped his hands in hers. Bringing them up to her face, she pressed her lips against them. It was a surprisingly bold move on her part, but Christian couldn’t find it in himself to complain.
“I’m fine.” Lilith’s voice was only slightly muffled by their hands. “It was terrifying. Just being in Damien’s presence scares me. But, no matter how scared I was, I never gave up hope, because I knew that you would come for me.”
Christian had once heard the saying “The eyes are the window to the soul.” He’d never believed it until now. Lilith’s eyes were twin pools of azure, filled with her love. As he stared into those gorgeous and innocent eyes, he felt like he could see Lilith’s heart laid bare. It made him feel warm, and the smile that he gave her was a reflection of that feeling.
“Lilith… thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Lilith’s return smile was dazzling. Christian could honestly say that he had never seen anyone who possessed such an enchanting smile in his entire life. It caused his heart to hammer loudly in his chest. His mind nearly blanked as a strange urge overcame him, one that he dared not disobey.
Slowly, following a set of instincts that were more mimetic than anything else, Christian tilted his head. Lilith saw what he was doing, and tilted her head up in response, her eyes slowly fluttering closed.
The first contact was soft, fluttery, more of an ephemeral caressing of lips than an actual kiss. Contact only lasted for one second, maybe two. Despite the kiss’s brevity, Christian marveled at the feel of Lilith’s lips, like someone had slipped velvet on his mouth. When they pulled back, he stared at Lilith in astonishment.
“That was my first kiss.”
Lilith, the lightest of blushes complimenting the fair skin of her cheeks, smiled ever so slightly. “That was my first kiss, too.”
Christian could believe that. With her fear of men, it stood to reason that she had never kissed someone before, either.
“Lilith, I…”
“You can kiss me again, if you want to.” Lilith’s cheeks began coloring, yet she did not look away. She stared at him with those bright, vibrant eyes that were so full of life. “I don’t mind.”
Christian’s mouth felt strangely dry. He raised his left hand, and rested his calloused palm against her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, humming pleasantly. When she opened her eyes again, they contained a look that he acted on without hesitation.
He leaned down again and pressed his lips to hers. He caught her lower lip between his, while his left hand slid from her face down her neck, across her shoulder and arm, before eventually coming to rest on her hip. His right hand also found purchase on the shapely curvature of her wa
ist.
With a possessiveness that he didn’t know he had, he pulled her close. Lilith moaned into his mouth, stoking the flames of passion that appeared with startling suddenness and frightening intensity. Her hands found their way to his head, her delicate fingers threading through his hair. They grasped his wild locks and pulled him down to capture more of the sensations that his mouth was giving her.
Being new to kissing, Christian couldn’t say he knew what to do. He didn’t know what he liked, didn’t know what she liked, and just had no experience with the act in general. That hardly seemed to matter right then. Guided as he was by humanity’s instinctual need for physical intimacy, he basked in the electric feeling this singular act generated within him.
He wanted more of this feeling. And so did Lilith, apparently.
Lilith walked forward, as if doing so would grant her more access to his mouth. Christian’s response was for his hands to tighten around her waist as he moved back. His legs eventually hit the bed, causing him to tumble backward as he lost his balance. Neither of them stopped. Even as he and Lilith fell onto the bed, their lips remained firmly locked together. They didn’t even stop when their teeth clacked together as they landed.
Lilith’s hands traveled from his hair to his face. Then they slid down his neck, moved over his chest to his navel, before slipping underneath his shirt. Her two hands wandered, mapping out the hard contours of his body, feeling the small bumps of his six-pack, and traveling over the defined bricks that were his pectorals. Her fingers left goosebumps in their wake.
In response to this angel’s delightful ministrations, Christian gained his own case of wandering hands. His calloused palms moved from Lilith’s hips to her backside. She really did have an amazing butt, he marveled. Her cheeks were shapely and small, fitting perfectly in his hands, almost as if they were made to fit within his grasp. He grabbed the plentiful flesh and began kneading it as a baker kneads dough. Lilith’s loud gasp was muffled by his mouth, and the deep moan that followed sent reverberations through his body, stoking the fire that blazed within him and turning it into a raging inferno.
Christian’s enthusiasm got the better of him. The hands that grasped her delicious bum pulled her down. A jolt surged through him as her center rubbed against his erection. He felt it even through his pants and her dress. It caressed him, made him want more, made him want to pull her back down and feel her lips stroking him in ways that he’d never felt.
It also made him keenly aware of what they were doing.
“We… we should stop this,” Christian muttered in between the small, intermittent pecks that he continued giving Lilith.
“We really should,” Lilith moaned out before the last of those annoyingly unsatisfying pecks were caught in a voracious kiss. Her tongue plunged eagerly into his open mouth, stimulating him as it rubbed against his tongue and stirred up saliva between them. When they broke the kiss, a small liquid connection remained, until he licked his lips and broke it.
“This… this is wrong…”
“I agree…”
While the words spoken were against what they were doing, neither of them stopped. Christian’s tongue pushed Lilith’s back into her mouth and then chased after it, and she seemed all too happy to receive him. Her mouth closed around his tongue and she sucked on it, the action tipping him over the edge.
He ground his erection against her nether lips, which he could feel clearly through the thin fabric of her nightgown and his shorts. She was wet, and her wetness was beginning to stain his pants. That only served to make him want more.
Sometime after their mutual agreement to disengage from their activities, he and Lilith lost their clothing. Lying against each other, he and Lilith shared another round of passionate kisses.
Even within the haze of passion, Christian was amazed by how warm Lilith felt. Her body felt hot. Or maybe he was the one who felt hot. His tongue played with hers, exchanging saliva, hooking and pulling and pushing. Her hips ground into him, and he could feel her nether lips rubbing against his erection, hot and slippery, coating him in her juices and creating a euphoric feeling that he wished would never end.
“Christian…” Lilith moaned his name into his ear when they broke away for breath. Not satisfied with how they had stopped, she began nibbling on his earlobe. He had no clue where the idea to do such a thing came from, but he couldn’t deny that feeling his ears being nibbled on and coated in her saliva drove him crazy.
Christian didn’t know when their activities took that last, irrevocable step, but sometime during their satiric engagement, he and Lilith decided that they wanted more.
Straddling his waist, Lilith lined herself up with Christian and, without even a hint of hesitation, impaled herself on him, breaking through her hymen in one swift go. She must have forgotten about that protective membrane, because the second it broke, a loud cry escaped her lips and tears sprang to her eyes.
Hearing her pained cry and seeing the liquid silver leaving a trail down her cheeks had the same effect as dumping a bucket of ice water on him. The passion was replaced with worry. The need for continued sexual stimulation was doused by the knowledge that Lilith was hurting.
“L-Lilith, are you okay?”
“No.” Despite her whimpers, and the tears running down her cheeks, Lilith smiled at him. Her right hand reached up to caress his face. “But I will be.”
Now that the haze of lust induced by their passion had left him, Christian was perfectly aware of what they were doing. He could feel himself inside of her, feel their connection. Guilt settled in his stomach like a demon that refused to die.
“I-I don’t know if we should continue,” Christian gasped, resisting the urge to lose himself inside of Lilith’s warmth. The tightness of her inner walls clamping down on him made it hard to think. “This… this isn’t right…”
“Please don’t say that.” Lilith looked ready to cry again. “This is right. It is. I love you, and I want to be with you, not just spend time with you, but be with you like this, joined together as one. Please don’t say this is wrong. Please don’t reject me.”
Christian looked away from Lilith’s disturbing stare. Who knew that Lilith could be so adamant about something like this? Certainly not him. He had to wonder why she was comfortable enough to be connected with him like this. Even though he knew that she wasn’t afraid of him, never in a million years would he have expected her to be comfortable enough with him to engage in this particular act.
“I would never reject you,” Christian whispered. A pair of hands cupped his cheek, smooth palms turning his head and making him face Lilith.
“Then don’t reject me now. Let be with you. Let me make love to you.”
In the face of such an honest and heartfelt request, he found himself incapable of resisting. His defenses, worn down by days of being in this girl’s presence, of seeing her every day, talking to her, walking her home, getting to know the woman behind the enchanting fairy tale princess facade, couldn’t resist. His defenses crumbled as if they had never existed, and all that remained was his desire to please this young woman who had stolen his heart.
That night he and Lilith made love for the first time. It was awkward, stymied by the fact that neither of them had ever engaged in anything like this before, not just having sex, but also in regards to their relationship. They had taken a backward approach to things, he knew, sleeping together before becoming what most people would consider an official couple.
It also bothered him that they weren’t married. What must God think of their actions? However, he couldn’t deny his feelings and his desire to join with Lilith.
Besides, he reasoned with himself, marriage is a shallow term these days. It means less than the paper it was written on. Marriage of the heart the important thing, of becoming one in both body and spirit. Who cares if the government officially recognizes our union? They’re not God.
In spite of their odd relationship, he found peace within her arms, within her to
uch, within her. He didn’t know what lay in store for them. He didn’t know how Samantha and the other Executioners would take this. He didn’t even know where they would go from here. But in that moment, he found himself not caring. The disasters possibly awaiting them could wait. All he cared about was the woman in his arms. Nothing else mattered. No one but her.
Lilith.
Chapter 26
Knock. Knock. Knock.
He woke up with a start. Blinking several times, he tried fighting through the hazy fog that clouded his mind. It took him nearly five seconds longer than it should have to recognize the ceiling of his hotel room.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
As he became more alert, several facets of his current situation became obvious. The first was the large weight on his chest. The second was his lack of clothes.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Looking down, he blinked some more when all he could see was blond. Lots and lots of blond. It took him several more seconds to realize what—no, not what, but who all of that blond hair belonged to. Lilith lay on top of him, her hair splayed across his chest and fanning out across the bed. The only thing he could see of her, aside from those beautiful locks of long blond hair, was a bit of her bare back and her butt. That’s when he realized they had fallen asleep without covering themselves after their nightly activities. Or was it their afternoonly activities?
Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!
The knocking reminded him of the reason that he had awakened in the first place. “Hang on,” he shouted to whoever stood outside his room.
Knowing that he had to get up, Christian was about to try waking up Lilith, only to notice that she was already stirring. She lifted her head from his chest, her unfocused eyes blinking several times before coming to focus on his face. A second passed as she did nothing but stare, as if she wasn’t quite sure what to make of him.
And then she smiled.
“Good morning, Christian,” she said, inching upwards to plant a chaste kiss on his lips.
Succubus Page 29
