Demons and Lovers (7 page)

“Or,” Belisma continued, “you may go to Annwn and continue to live as an immortal. The choice is yours.”

Aedan had difficulty finding the right words as he looked at the beautiful woman still cradled against him. “If she will have me, I would choose to live a mortal’s life with Ericka.”

“What do you mean, if I will have you?” Ericka turned and threw her arms around his neck. “I love you, Aedan. I’ll have you any way I can get you.”

She kissed him hard and hungry and he returned the kiss just as passionately. So much so that his thoughts spun and he heard only the pounding of their hearts.

Aedan jerked his eyes open and his head up and realized his feet no longer touched grass but smooth tile. It took a moment for him to realize they were in Ericka’s home. He almost laughed when he saw glass tanks now lining one wall—tanks filled with water and his collections of fish.

When he looked at Ericka, she was grinning and his smile widened.

“Your eyes are brown now, not gold.” Ericka stroked his cheek. “They’re beautiful.”

Aedan had nearly forgotten Belisma. He turned to see if she had accompanied them, but she hadn’t. Even the ever-present veil was gone.

For a moment he felt lightheaded and stumbled forward.

Ericka caught him by his shoulders, her expression concerned. “What’s wrong?”

He looked at her and this time he did laugh. “I think I’m feeling...human.”

“Wow,” she murmured. “My own demon lover.”

Aedan settled his hands on her hips. “Your human lover, you mean.”

Her expression grew serious. “I love you.”

Aedan took her face in his hands and kissed her hard. He separated his mouth from hers and whispered against her lips, “I love you, Ericka Roberts. For all of our years. I love you.”

Succubus Seduction

(Formerly published in the “Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance” anthology)

by Cheyenne McCray

Chapter 1

Lilin opened and closed her diaphanous wings, causing the air to stir and sparks to glitter in the dark as she studied tonight’s prey. Archer Dane.

She took a step closer, the wood floor cool beneath her bare feet. The human seemed to fill the room with his presence—even in sleep. She had the maddening desire to brush his black hair from his forehead, to see his blue eyes open and look up at her as their gazes connected. He would roll her beneath his powerful body and give her one of his rare smiles before he slid inside her.

A delicate shiver ran through her, causing her wings to tremble.

As a Succubus, Lilin usually had her choice of any man. They were easy creatures. See a naked woman and immediately a man hardened in greeting.

She would ride her lover of the night…take his seed…and his soul.

But this Archer Dane affected her in some strange, almost unfathomable way. After centuries of taking men to replenish herself, she had been feeling less and less pleasure. Most men proved to be little sport.

She needed something more.

The goddess Rusalka insisted Lilin bring her Archer’s soul. Odd. Normally, Lilin kept a male’s soul to nourish her until she claimed her next prey, but Rusalka was intent on having this male’s soul for her own.

For days she’d observed him. Even now, as she watched him sleep, she licked her lower lip. She gripped the corner bedpost as her wings created a draft, teasing his hair as he slept. In all her centuries of existence, no man had thrilled her so.

Stop thinking of this mere mortal as if he is more than an assignment. I will give his soul to Rusalka and move on to my next prey.

After making her wings disappear, with unusual excitement in her belly, she stepped toward Archer.

Archer’s skin prickled and his muscles bunched as he tensed. He was being watched. He kept his breathing slow but slitted his eyes enough to see.

He almost opened his eyes as surprise arrowed through him.

A beautiful, petite naked woman stood at the foot of his bed.

With wings. She fucking had wings.

A breeze brushed his face every time she opened and closed those wings. The woman licked her bottom lip and looked at him like he was a treat. Her wings drew back and vanished.

What the—

Archer squeezed his eyes shut.

Dream. No other explanation.

He opened his eyes fully.

Nope. Still there.

It had been so long since he’d been with a woman that now he was imagining a ready and willing female in his bedroom.

The dream woman stopped. Blinked. Then smiled. “Hello, Archer.”

Her voice was so clear, as if she really was there speaking to him. He frowned as he pushed himself up, swung his legs over the side of the bed and got to his feet. He towered over the small woman.

Her gaze widened. “Why did you get up?”

Too real. Everything about this felt real.

“Who are you?” He slept in the nude, and he and his damned erection faced her.

“I’m Lilin.” Her silver eyes glittered in the moonlight. She tried to touch him, but he caught her wrist.

Long silvery-blonde hair flowed around her shoulders as she moved close enough that her body heat burned into him, her bare breasts brushing his chest. Her scent was like a rain-washed spring night.

The lower half of him was asking, “What are you waiting for?” But at the same time he was grinding his teeth.

He hardened his grip. “I don’t know what you want, lady,” he growled, “but you’d better get your little ass out.”

She gave a seductive smile. “I want you.”

Even though his body was shouting otherwise, he said, “I don’t do strange women. And I sure don’t know you.”

Her lips curved into a wicked smile. “You will, Archer Dane.”

She vanished.

She fucking
vanished
.

He stared at the spot where his dream woman had been standing and let his now empty hands drop away.

* * * * *

Lilin frowned as she sat on the bank of the River of Life. The water glittered in the moonlight and made soft splashing sounds against the shore.

Her silky hair slid over her shoulders as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around her knees, holding them close to her chest. The human had rejected her. Rejected her!

She had wanted a challenge and apparently Archer was it. She would make good on her promise and the male would come to know her. Then she would bed him and drain him of his soul.

No one refused her.
No one.

Lilin rose, spread her wings and flew, the air flowing over her naked body in a light caress. She enjoyed the sense of freedom that accompanied flight. As an air Succubus, she drank in the growing wind like an elixir.

Soon it would be daylight in the Earth Otherworld.

Soon she would begin her seduction.

Chapter 2

Archer Dane gripped a set of architectural plans as he strode into Dane Construction’s headquarters and headed toward his office. Last night’s dream had been so damned real he hadn’t been able to get it out of his head.

A gorgeous naked woman with wings had come to fuck him. Yeah, right. Maybe his subconscious was trying to tell him he needed to get laid. God only knew how long it had been since the last time he’d been with a woman that way.

When he reached his office door, Archer paused to speak to his assistant.

He almost dropped the plans he was carrying and he was certain his jaw fell to the floor.

The woman from last night’s dream sat in Cammie’s seat. The nameplate now read
Lilin Night
.

Lilin. From last night.

She looked up and a sensual smile touched her lips. “Good morning, Mr. Dane.” Her voice sounded like a lover’s caress.

A growl rose up in his throat. “What are you—?”

“Your reports are on your desk, as well as the construction loan papers.” She held up his iPad. “You forgot to take this last night. I’ve also had several calls for you this morning, and I’ve logged all of them for you.”

Automatically, he took the iPad but gave her a fierce glare. “Where’s Cammie?”

Lilin looked at him with wide, innocent silvery eyes. “On vacation in the Florida Keys. You must have forgotten.”

No. He remembered everything. Especially last night. He hadn’t been able to go back to sleep, his dream, his hallucination, playing over and over in his mind. He’d been so rock hard that he still ached from it.

But here sat his hallucination. At Cammie’s desk.

He glanced to see if any employees noticed him and Lilin. Thank God everyone looked busy.

“In my office. Now,” he said to Lilin in a low voice.

“Yes, Mr. Dane.” She picked up the compact laptop Cammie always used.

He narrowed his gaze. “Leave it.”

She set it back on the desk. “Yes, Mr. Dane.” The way she said
Mr. Dane
in a sensual voice, with a slightly unusual accent, made him so hard he had to grit his teeth.

Shit.
He had to get into his office before any employees noticed how much the woman affected him. He tucked the iPad under one arm with the rolled plans then opened the door. He closed it behind them. Talking to this woman was not something he needed anyone to walk in on, so he turned the lock.

Archer pivoted from locking the door and froze. His jaw dropped. The architectural plans fell from one hand, the rolls bouncing across the floor. His iPad hit the floor, hard.

He was face-to-face with a very naked woman.

Before he had a chance to react, Lilin had her arms around his neck and her body pressed to his. Her diamond-hard nipples rubbed him through his shirt and his erection pressed against her belly. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.

Ah, God.
He almost dropped to his knees—they actually went weak. Her kiss was like nothing he’d ever experienced. He couldn’t begin to resist. His mind spun and all he could think about was laying her flat on his desk, jerking down his zipper, sliding in between her thighs, and driving deep inside her. His brain turned to mush and his body into one horny sex machine.

Damn, Lilin knew how to kiss. She tasted of woman and almonds, and her scent drove him crazy—the smell of rain after a thunderstorm.

She thrust her tongue into his mouth and made soft purring sounds. She nibbled his lower lip then teased his tongue with hers. As they kissed, she drew him with her so that they were moving backward. He stepped on something and he realized it was his iPad when he felt the crunch under his foot. Still, he felt powerless to stop moving with her until she bumped into his desk. File folders crashed to the floor and he heard another loud
thump
from a paperweight striking the carpet as she scooted her ass onto the desk’s surface.

Lilin wrapped her arms around his neck again and brought him down with her as she continued the magic of her kiss. She pulled him closer until he stood between her thighs, his hardness pressed against her heat.

He placed one of his hands on her breast and pinched her nipple, causing her to purr louder. Damn, she was so soft, so incredibly soft.

He moved the fingers of his other hand between their bodies and slipped them inside her wet core, which felt like silk around his fingers. She made small sounds of pleasure against his mouth as he rubbed her with his thumb.

He had to take her. Now. He braced one hand on the desk and reached to unfasten his jeans with his other.

Something knocked at the back of his mind as he continued kissing her, the heat and fervor between them growing and growing.

He couldn’t think clearly. The haze of lust was so strong it made his mind spin.

The knocking in his head wouldn’t stop.

Wait. It wasn’t in his head.

Someone was at his door.

The realization was enough to scatter the haze and bring him back to reality. He pushed away from the desk, away from Lilin, and shook his head to clear his mind.

The knocking grew louder.

“Mr. Dane,” came a muffled voice from the other side of the door. “Mr. Garfield’s here for his ten o’clock appointment. Is everything all right?” It was Molly’s voice and she sounded both concerned and curious. She’d probably seen him walk in with Lilin.

Archer stepped back and nearly stumbled into one of the padded chairs in front of his desk and he stepped on the iPad again with another sickening
crunch
. Lilin’s beautiful breasts were pink from his caresses, her lips swollen from his kisses, her thighs wide and exposing her soft pink flesh. A wicked smile tilted the corners of her lips.

Another knock. Archer raised his voice. “I’ve been on an important call, Molly. Be right there.”

“Get your clothes on,” he ordered Lilin in low growl. “However you were hired, you’re now fired. Don’t come back here.”

She pouted. “Don’t you want to take me?”

“Yes—
no.
Get your clothes on.” He glanced around for her skirt and blouse. The only things on the floor were the iPad with its shattered screen along with architectural plans that he had to pick up in a hurry before Garfield came into the room. Archer turned back to his desk.

Lilin was gone.

He couldn’t move. Where the hell did she go?

This woman—or whatever was happening to him—was driving him out of his mind.

He hurried around his desk and crouched to check under it. Nothing. There was no other place possible for her to hide in his office that contained only his desk, chairs, a short file cabinet, and a round conference table. She definitely wasn’t under the table.

His skin felt hot as he rose up and he went still. On top of the desk were the folders that had crashed to the floor, as well as the rolls of plans he had dropped, along with his paperweight and iPad. A very new-looking, unbroken iPad.

This took hallucinating to a whole new level.

What the hell was going on? He hadn’t been drinking, he wasn’t on drugs. Maybe he was coming down with something.

Maybe he was going to have to be committed if he didn’t stop seeing imaginary women. He could just imagine the conversation with the psychiatrist now.