Demons of Desire (27 page)

Irix gave me a quizzical look. “There are many different kinds of love, little half–breed. Demons can care deeply for most–favored humans. Sometimes that emotion comes close to what you would think of as love.” He sighed. “It’s painful to have feelings for a being that has such a short life. Many demons find it easier to put humans in the same category as lesser life forms. Others are simply incapable of caring for any who are not beings of spirit.”

That seemed kind of snobby, but as I thought of all my friends and family that would die long before me, I began to understand. How many times could someone say ‘goodbye’ before their heart hardened into a self–defensive rock?

“Do demons ever fall in love with demons?”
Or half–demons?
I added silently.

That got a short laugh that didn’t seem to stem from any sort of amusement. “Sometimes. It’s an intense ride that always ends up with one or both demons dead.”

“Always?” Surely there had to be some demon partnerships that stood the test of time.

“Eventually yes. Immortality probably contributes a bit to the violence of our affairs, but mostly it’s just that we’re demons. Selfish, amoral beings don’t tend to form solid relationships. Two selfish, amoral beings are pretty much doomed.”

Something inside me twisted at his words. Doomed. I didn’t want to explore this any further, and Irix hadn’t completely answered my earlier question.

“Were your feelings for Colette what humans would call love?”

He hesitated a moment. “Yes.”

I wondered how they’d worked that out with his incubus needs, if they’d even had sex. I couldn’t see Irix having a platonic relationship with anyone who was willing to have sex with him — and they were all willing. Would he have tied her to him, leaving her longing as he dashed back and forth to Hel and satisfied his hunger with other humans? I thought of the man in the hotel room and wondered how desperate Colette had been if Irix had left her for years at a time. A decade is nothing to a demon, but it’s a painful eternity to a human.

Irix put his arm around my shoulder and drew me close. “I don’t want tonight to be filled with ghosts of the past. You did amazing magic today, far above what others of your age would be capable of. I’m proud of you, Amber. I want to celebrate your intellect, and your power. Let’s do something special.”

We were only a few blocks from his house, I realized. My heart sped up at the thought of what special things Irix and I could do. My earlier fantasy of the stairway loomed in my mind, and I picked up the pace.

“Grab some champagne and head back to your place?”

His hand caressed my shoulder. “Ah, my elven princess, the champagne is already on ice.”

Imagine my shock when we rounded the corner and I saw the dark brick of his house in sharp contrast to the golden light pouring out the open shutters of every window. A party?

Irix followed me up the front steps, his hand dropping from my shoulder to cup my ass and urge me forward. As I neared, I could hear the music through the thick, centuries–old walls. It wasn’t the thumping base of the college parties I usually attended; this was low and deep, with a middle–eastern flavor. As I opened the door, a cloud wafted toward me — sweet and heavy, the scent swirled through my brain, slowing my thoughts and sending the nerve endings across my skin into overdrive.

“What is that?” The music was thankfully low enough that I didn’t have to shout.

He sniffed. “Cannabis.”

I raised my eyebrows. I’d smelled plenty of pot in my life, and none of it had this peculiar aroma.

“And opium. Mostly opium.”

He grinned sheepishly, while my mouth dropped open in horror. “You rob a bank, steal a car, and now you have a bunch of people doing hard–core drugs in your house?”

“Well, I hope to be doing them too. If you don’t like opium, you can always do hash instead.”

I made a series of incoherent noises while he grabbed my arm and led me through the narrow hallway into the room with golden–papered walls, an excess of dark mahogany trim, and naked people. Naked people smoking drugs from elaborate bejeweled glass bongs that looked like they cost more than my car.

“I think I’m overdressed for the occasion.” It was the only thing I could think of to say as I watched one man lean over and exhale smoke seductively into another’s mouth before closing the distance with a passionate kiss.

“Easily remedied.”

Before I realized what was happening, Irix had lowered the zipper on the back of my dress with a quick, smooth movement, sliding the thin silk from my shoulders to puddle at my feet. I opened my mouth to protest, but forgot my objections as the demon’s hands skimmed my waist. He kissed along the top of my shoulder, into the hollow of my collarbone, and my little purse hit the floor.

I knew the combination of Irix and second–hand opium smoke was blurring my judgment, but I didn’t care. Turning to face him, I unbuttoned the front of his shirt by feel as our mouths merged. Before his shirt joined my dress on the floor, I felt the hands of others on me, caressing my calves and back. Someone nibbled their way up the sensitive skin of my waist, licking along the side of my breast.

I didn’t care. Actually, I cared a lot, and it was all good.

“They’re all yours,” Irix murmured in my ear. “Six to do with what you want, and not a single one of them wearing socks.”

My monster purred, pleased at his gift and basking in the energy already flowing into me. I struggled to find some part of me still rational enough to insist that these people could hardly be considered consenting. Yeah, they’d willingly come to a drug–fueled orgy, but I doubt they’d agreed to be sexually tied to me for life.

“I can’t do it.” My voice trembled with the half–hearted protest.

“A feather light tie.” Irix’s voice was as silken as the shirt I’d just stripped off him. “Or no tie at all. You choose, and I will make sure you maintain control.”

I practically collapsed in relief. The sensation of six people caressing me with hands and mouths was more than I could withstand. I wanted to turn to them, feel their flesh against mine, and fulfill their greatest fantasies.

“No tie. Just tonight, and nothing more.”

My monster screamed in protest, but this was a test. If I could manage to do this, even with Irix’s help, then maybe I could trust myself to hold back. Next time, a light tie, then next time a bit more. If I promised the monster what she wanted in the future, maybe I could extend that future out another century or so. Maybe forever.

For now, six humans in one night should be enough to sustain me for what I needed to do tomorrow. In addition, I felt a steady flow of energy from Irix, his continued gift to me. I appreciated it. Without his energy, I would be too hungry to maintain any sort of self–control.

“I promise,” he told me.

I wasn’t sure whether I truly believed him, or was so desperate for what those around me were so willing to give. I had no choice but to trust him. Taking a deep breath and squeezing my eyes shut, I turned around, giving myself over to the press of flesh.

They surrounded me, and under the onslaught of sensation, I was dimly aware of Irix moving a few feet away to watch. I sensed his pleasure — as great as my own, and wondered if he was as aroused as I was.

“Take out your cock,” I commanded, opening my eyes to meet his golden ones. He was leaning against a tall table, watching me intently. Never taking his eyes from mine, he slowly lowered his hands to his pants and released the top button. A hand skimmed along the bulge tenting his pants, while the other slowly eased down the zipper. With a twist of his hips, the pants whispered to the floor, leaving him gloriously naked … and very, very hard.

“Kiss that doe–eyed beauty beside you,” he instructed, taking himself in hand with a slow, firm slide. “I want to see how wide her brown eyes become when you take her over the edge.”

I’m not often attracted to women, but I turned to the cocoa–skinned woman to my left without a second thought. Her skin was soft as my hands smoothed down her back to cup her ass. I met her gaze briefly before pulling her toward me and merging her full lips with mine. She tasted of peaches and honey, and my tongue explored her mouth as my hands learned their way around her body. The others stroked me encouragingly, allowing me to give all my attention to the sweet woman before me.

Her breasts were full and heavy in my hands, and she made small whimpering noises into my mouth as she fisted my hair. Breaking off the kiss, I lowered my head, dropping down to flick a dark nipple with my tongue.

She gasped. And something quacked.
Quack, quack, quack. Quack, quack, quack
. What the fuck? It was coming from somewhere near my feet. Had someone let a duck in the house? I was kinky, but I wasn’t
that
kinky.

Quack, quack, quack
.

My phone. And I knew exactly what that ring–tone meant. “Sorry, so sorry,” I said as I shimmied free from all the hands so I could drop to the floor and scrabble for my purse.

“Amber.” Irix’s voice carried a stern warning along with the promise of punishment. I shivered in anticipation, but we’d have no time for that sort of fun. No time for fun with the woman I’d been kissing either. I planted a long kiss on the inside of her thigh in apology as I yanked my phone from the purse.

“Amber! If you don’t put that phone down right now, I’m going to take you over my knee and smack you so hard you won’t be able to sit for a week.”

So tempting. I stood and waved the phone at him. “It’s Ourson. They’ve caught someone.”

27

T
he light rain dampened my hair and caused my silk dress to cling to my body as we dashed from our street–side parking spot to the sex club. I hadn’t expected the vampires to take their captive to Bliss. Honestly, I hadn’t given much thought to what they’d do if and when they actually caught someone. I guess this was more private than questioning someone along the riverfront, and he or she would hardly be likely to escape from the vampire–owned establishment.

What I wasn’t prepared for was the scene that met my eyes when Eloise led us up a set of private stairs and into a room behind a heavy metal door. Ourson and Guy the Vampire Guy stood on either side of a bald, middle–aged man who looked like he’d been dragged through a field of sticker bushes behind a fast–moving pick–up truck. He didn’t seem very dangerous at the moment, duct–taped as he was to a chair. As a matter of fact, he kind of reminded me of my high school chemistry teacher, Mr. Wilcox. I felt rather sorry for him until I noticed the blood covering the front of Ourson’s shirt.

“Oh my God! Are you okay?”

“Stabbed me with a spelled athame.” The vampire shifted his weight and winced. “Another half an inch and you’d be scraping my remains off the levee path.”

My mouth felt dry, realizing how close my new friend had come to death. I was a college student, a botany major, and I was obviously in way over my head. How had this whole thing gotten so dangerous? What if someone had been killed?”

“Jordan and her friends, Raol and Frederick — are they all okay?”

Ourson’s lips twisted with grim humor. “They’re fine. I’m the only one who got skewered.”

“But it will all be for nothing if we can’t get this piece of trash to talk.” Guy the Vampire Guy smacked Chemistry Teacher across the side of the face, raising a red welt on the man’s pale skin and rocking his head to the side. Mr. Wilcox clamped his lips together. He glared at the vampire, but his bound hands trembled.

“Here’s what we found when we searched him,” Eloise chimed in, motioning toward a stack of boxes that served as a makeshift table.

I shook my head as I surveyed the odd collection of items, hoping someone else knew what they were.

“Blessed chalk, holy water, and a stone of invisibility.” Irix looked thoughtful as he sorted through the items. Unrolling a sheet of paper crammed with squiggly lines in some kind of dark–red ink, he raised his eyebrows. “Doorway to Hel scroll. That’s … odd.”

The tone of his voice indicated that a scroll opening a gate to the realm of the demons was far more than odd. I pushed aside a small, round, button–shaped item and picked up a polished six–inch dowel inscribed with more of the squiggly lines, this time burned down the side. “What’s this?”

Irix glanced at it briefly before returning his attention to the scroll. “Chicken wand — the smaller, more portable version. I know someone who would pay dearly for that. You might want to keep it.”

I wasn’t sure what the protocol was on who owned these items. Did we give them back to Mr. Wilcox? Were they the property of the vampires? Irix had a bent towards larceny, but I didn’t exactly want to follow in his footsteps when it came to that particular sin.

Eloise shrugged. “Keep the wand if you like.”

I nodded my thanks and tucked the small dowel into my purse. How did one go about brokering the sale of a chicken wand? And what the fuck did a chicken wand even do?

“It’s one way for one being,” Irix mused, still looking at the scroll. “I could see where this man may have one going the opposite way — for summoning a demon he’d contracted for a job, but no human would want a fast, portable exit to Hel.”

“You can have that one,” Eloise said, peering over his shoulder. “Not like any of us would want to go there.”

Probably not. Demons made unreliable allies, and Hel was filled with elves — their mortal enemies. “Maybe he stole it off a demon,” I suggested, thinking again of Irix’s bad habits.

Irix shot a quick look at the human in question. “He wouldn’t be the first, although humans who steal from demons usually have very short lives.” With a quick movement, he rolled the scroll and tucked it in the waistband of his pants. “Shall we help the vampires question their guest?”

We wandered over to Mr. Wilcox, who was looking worse for wear. A thin line of blood trailed from the corner of his mouth. All three vampires eyed it with interest, and I swear I saw Eloise lick her lips. Shit, we better get this show on the road before they got any hungrier.

“Who are you, and what were you doing at the levee?” I asked, unsure where to begin.