Hell Inc. (16 page)

“Shit.
I hate women who cry all the time. It makes us seem so weak, you
know?” Levie said nothing and didn't move while I got my
emotions under control. “And screw you for letting me sleep
when I might have had a concussion,” I babbled at him while
inside, I was still trying to push down the vestiges of fear that I'd
retained from last night.

“What
did he do to you?” Levie asked quietly. I groaned.

“Don't
bring it up again, please. I just want to forget about it for now,
okay? Why do you care anyway? Preventing me from being raped isn't
in your job description.” Levie's eyes hardened to flints of
steel.

“What
did he do to you?” he repeated. I hadn't the strength of will
to argue right then, so I gave in.

“He
bit me and fondled my tits. That's pretty much it. You happy now?”
Levie grasped my upper arms and pulled me roughly against him. I
froze in complete shock. What was this? What was going on here
exactly?

“No,
I am not happy at all,” was his only answer. I raised my head
to look into his eyes.

“What
are you doing?” I asked him, rather confused at his abrupt
change in character. Levie appeared uncomfortable.

“Are
you not enjoying this?” he asked me. I thought about it. I
really thought about it and decided the answer was that I kind of
was. I glanced over at the sphinx who just stared blankly back at
me.

“Um,
can you go away?” I asked it. I wasn't positive about what was
going to happen, but I was pretty sure that I didn't need an
audience. The sphinx stood up and stretched.

“Why
might the captain of a ship give his wife the final space on the life
boat?” it stressed at me and then turned and trotted out of the
room. I looked back at Levie. He had a rather interesting
expression on his face, part his usual hubris and part something
else. It could have been desire, lust, what have you, but I wasn't
sure.

“Don't
you hate me?” I asked him and received a look that relegated me
to the level of idiot. “Well, you've certainly told me how much
you disliked me and how annoying you found me on numerous occasions.”
Levie glared at me.

“Ginger,”
he stated, speaking as if to a child. “A real man does not go
about randomly kissing maidens on the lips when he has no interest in
being with them.” That was the first time I had heard that one.
Maybe Levie was a chivalrous knight in his own way. I laughed,
delighted at his view of morals.

“Well,
Levie” I said. “I wish all men were as noble as you.”
I chuckled again. His words were just too good to be true. It had
to some kind of demonic joke. I tried to push away and call him on
it when he tightened the hold of his arms and brought his lips to
mine. My body responded instantly, and I lost my desire to speak.
His mouth was surprisingly soft, and his tongue was a welcome
distraction from the horrible memories that were tickling my brain
with greedy fingers. Warm hands traveled down my back and over my
ass, choking the life and all resistance out of me. I pulled back
just enough to speak. “Levie,” I whispered. “I have
to tell you something.”

He
cut me off with another kiss, and it took great effort to force
myself to stop a second time. Desire burned in his orange eyes, and
I bit my lip, unsure if I really wanted to mention my embarrassing
little secret. It was kind of important, true, but I didn't want to
ruin the mood. I shrugged and took his face between my hands,
kissing him with a ferocity that surprised even me. The area between
my thighs was beginning to moisten, and I shifted so that I was lying
atop him instead of next to him. Levie grunted in pain, and I
remembered his belly wound. “Oh no.” I sat up suddenly.
“I'm sorry, Levie.” His expression was all desperation
and hopeless, ridiculous desire.
Is that for me?
I wondered,
rather ignorantly.

“Stupid
girl, what do you think you're doing?”

“I
forgot about it. I'm sorry, really.” Levie grit his teeth at
me.

“I
didn't mean that,” he all but snarled. “I meant, where do
you think you're going?” I blinked at him. Oh.

“We
can't do ... um ... anything like this, can we?” I
gestured at our bloody, ripped clothing. Levie rolled his eyes and
put a hand to his forehead. “Look,” I said. “I'm
sorry. But you're injured, okay? How can you even ... you know
... with an injury like that?” Levie raised an eyebrow at
me.

“How
can I what?” I leaned in and whispered in his ear.

“You
know, thrust.” He let out a short bark of laughter and flipped
me onto my back. He was smiling, Levie was
actually
smiling.

“Do
you want to find out?” My heart flip-flopped, and I was having
a difficult time swallowing. I felt like a sixteen year old girl
about to get it on for the first time with her high school
sweetheart. What was wrong with me? I was a twenty year old woman,
but I was acting like a kid. I felt like I couldn't control myself
and that freaked me out. I frantically tried to find a way out of
it. It wasn't like I didn't want to do it; I just wasn't sure that I
should. Once my wishes were over, Levie would leave, and I would
never see him again. I wasn't exactly the type to sleep around
casually. I swallowed around the lump in my throat.

“You
know, we really should shower first seeing as how we're both covered
in dried blood and all.” I had meant separately, really, I had,
but Levie's smile turned even more wicked.

“That
sounds
exquisite,
” he replied, rolling the word across
his tongue like chocolate and kissing me so fiercely that I had a
hard time catching my breath.
How am I going to survive this?
I wondered as Levie scooted off of the bed and stretched his wings as
far as the bedroom walls would allow. I followed him into the
bathroom and stared at the shower quizzically.

“How
are your wings going to fit in there?” I asked him. My shower
was good sized, big for an apartment like mine but not
that
big. Levie grinned at me and the expression was no less arrogant
than usual, just a bit more pleasant looking.

“That,
stupid girl,” he replied, the insult taking on an affectionate
tone. “ Is what magic is for.” He didn't whisper an
incantation or make any hand motions, just stepped into the shower,
his wings passing through the shower door as if they weren't even
there.

“What
did you do?” I asked him as he turned the water on himself,
still fully clothed.

“Can't
this wait until later?” he asked me, holding out one, red
nailed hand. I hesitated, but my insides were aching
fiercely, and I wasn't sure if I could say no anymore. I took his
hand and stepped into the rapidly warming water.

Levie
wrapped his hands around my ribcage and grasped the fabric of the
shirt between his fingers. I raised my arms above my head, and he
pulled it up and over, tossing it carelessly above the shower doors.
I fought back the blush that was attempting to rise in my cheeks.
He'd seen my boobs before anyway, right? But this time was different;
he wasn't ignoring them now. I tried not to gasp as Levie reached up
and pushed my bra up and over my breasts, causing them to spill out
beneath the wires.

“Is
this the part where I'm supposed to say nice ta-tas?” Levie
asked me with complete and utter seriousness. I laughed so hard that
my belly began to hurt. When I looked back up at him and wiped the
tears from the corners of my eyes, he was glaring at me again.

“No,
Levie, that's okay. Thank you anyway.” Levie shook his head.

“This
is why I hate humans; they make no sense to me.” I tried not to
laugh again and distracted us both by removing his shirt.
Unfortunately, this made his injury all the more obvious. The wound
looked clean enough, but I had no way of knowing how deep it went.
My heart sank in my chest.

“God,
Levie, I'm so sorry.” I reached a hand down and hovered it over
his belly, not wanting to touch. “This is kind of my fault,
isn't it? If I hadn't wished for my mother to ... ” My
breath caught in my throat, and I pushed down the negative emotions.
Levie cupped my chin in his hand and kissed me again.

“I
am a demon. That wound is but a scratch, it will heal quickly. You
are far more injured than am I ... ” His voice trailed
off, and I finally remembered to notice the pulsing in my head over
the pulsing in my ... well.

“I'm
fine,” I lied. My ribs and back were on fire, but if I told
him that, he'd stop, and I really, really didn't want that. “I
feel much better.”

“Then
please,” he murmured, his voice catching. “I don't think
I can handle many more distractions.” I followed his gaze down
to his groin. Oh. Did I do that? Suddenly, I was nervous again.

“Levie?”
I whispered frantically. He moaned and grabbed me by my shoulders,
lightly pushing me against the back wall of the shower. He reached
for the back zipper of my skirt, tugged on it, and then slid the wet
fabric over my hips, letting it drop to the floor. “Levie.”
This one came out more as a moan as his hand slipped between my
thighs and began to slide across the wetness of my underwear.
“Levie,” I insisted. He stopped and placed his hands on
either side of my head.

“Speak
now, human, because this is your last chance. I'm not going
to stop again.” I tried to look at everything in the shower
except him. Focusing my eyes on a half empty bottle of shampoo, I
took a deep breath.

“I'm
not exactly the most experienced when it comes to these kinds of
situations,” I said slowly, still not looking at him. He
stared at me oddly, and I felt like I should explain a little better.
“I know that most people my age have already ... you know
... they've done this sort of thing a lot, but I haven't really
... you know ... had the full experience.” Levie
locked his eyes on mine, and I couldn't look away.

“I
don't understand what you're saying, stupid girl. Please, can you
use a more concise manner of speech?” I knew that I was
blushing now. God, this was horrible. I hadn't expected admitting
my secret would be so hard. And leave it to Levie to make sure that
it was as difficult as it could possibly be.

“You
really don't know what I'm talking about?” I asked him, hoping
I wouldn't be forced to say it so bluntly out loud. He sighed, and I
could see that his excitement was dwindling, if the bulge in his
pants had any say so in the matter. “I'm a fucking virgin,
Levie. Christ. Thanks for making me spell it out for you.” I
tried to shove him out of my way so that I could get out of the
bathroom as quickly as possible. He refused to budge. “Move,”
I growled, trying to duck under his arms. Levie grasped me around
the waist before I could protest and used his body weight to press me
tightly against the tile. I could feel the hardness in his pants
against my pelvis, and I had to bite my lip to keep from moaning. He
nibbled my ear while one hand traveled down and pushed my underwear
over my thighs. Levie reached between my legs and cupped me tightly.

“We're
both rather capable adults, wouldn't you agree, Ginger?” he
purred, and I shivered in delight at the sound of his voice in my
ear. “I think we can manage, don't you?” I nodded, and
he let go of me abruptly. I watched, my body nearly shaking with
need, as he removed my panties completely and then began to undo his
buttons. Levie slid both his pants and underwear down his hips and
stepped out of them. Unsure as to exactly how I was to go about it,
I reached down and wrapped my hand around his dick. Levie moaned and
pressed his body against mine. “I know that we should wait,”
he said, undoing the clasp of my bra and pulling it down my arms.
“But I'm not sure that I want to. Would you forgive me this
once if I were to forgo the foreplay?” This once? That meant he
thought there would at least be a second time. That made me feel
better for what I was about to do, but at the back of my mind, I kept
repeating to myself that he would be leaving soon and that I would
never see him again. Did I really want to lose my virginity to
someone that it would be impossible to even date? Levie lifted one
of my legs and pressed himself against my opening. The answer, at
that point, was a definite yes. I knew sex was supposed to hurt the
first time, but I figured that I was exempt as I was no stranger to
masturbation. I'd gotten my first vibrator at sixteen and hadn't
hesitated in sticking the entire thing up where it was meant to go.
Granted, Levie was a tad bit bigger than what I normally used, but I
was sure it would be fine.

He
began to kiss me again, much more fiercely this time, and suddenly I
was struck by a horrible thought. I put my hand on his chest and
pushed him away. His face was almost as alarmed as I felt. “What
is it?” he asked, his voice cracking with the strain of holding
back when he was so close.

“We
need a condom,” I whispered, feeling stupid for forgetting.
And I just happened to flush the last one in my possession down
the toilet.
“And I don't have any.” Levie's alarm
turned to confusion.

“A
condom?” he asked. Maybe demons didn't need them, but humans
did.

“Yeah,
you know, the latex thing you put over your,” I gestured at
him. “Penis. I'm not getting pregnant.” I paused then
added, “Or an STD. I'm not really sure which is worse.”
Levie let go of me and stepped back, looking enormously offended. I
hadn't meant it the way it had sounded; I didn't really think that he
had any diseases. I just didn't want to take a chance. I didn't
even know if demons could get humans pregnant anyway.

“Are
you suggesting that I am a carrier of ... of ... ” he
sputtered, and I watched, horrified, as all of the tenderness
disappeared and the arrogant, haughty, ostentatious mask reappeared.
“
Disease
.” He practically spat the last word at
me.