Hell's Kitty (Welcome To Hell) (13 page)

Ever since the night
she and Felipe spent together in the Amazon village, Jenny felt different. She couldn’t have exactly said why or how. It partially had to do with the amulet the Amazons gave her, an amulet to nullify the effects of her voice, meaning for the first time in her life she could speak freely and without fear. Her new attitude could have resulted from the night she spent with Felipe, an evening of discovery and sensual delight that opened her eyes to a whole new realm.

I now see why my aunts enjoy their sailors so much.

But those two acts alone weren’t the only things affecting her newfound confidence. She’d left home and faced danger. Survived. More than survived, she’d helped Felipe when he would have drowned. She’d done that. And she took the first step in teasing him into her bed. She’d taken charge of her sexuality and discovered pleasure.

She learned to ride a horse and was now discovering Hell.
Finally, I’m doing stuff and truly living
. But she wanted to do more. She knew Felipe and Valasca regarded her as someone in need of coddling. On a certain visceral level, she understood they didn’t mean to come across as patronizing, but they did, which was why she was determined to show them she could handle herself.

She insisted on taking a turn at night watch. Yeah, they gave her the first one, and yes, she knew neither slept while she kept guard
, but it was a start. She insisted on caring for her own horse. Helping with the fire. And, now, watering their steeds.

It
should have been a simple task. Take the horses to water. Show a little independence—after Felipe prowled up and down the shoreline searching for predators.

Still, after declaring
the area monster free, he’d left her alone. A small victory. Wouldn’t it figure something would rise from the river to fuck up her plans?

At first, when she’d seen the lone eye blinking at her through the watery current, she’d paid it no mind. Waterways held life
; that was an immutable fact. What they shouldn’t hold, though, was two squads of Undine warriors leaping up brandishing their coral swords, nor a giant electrical eel so far from the ocean.

As a singer, not a fighter, s
he did what she’d learned during her first self-defense class with Teles. She screamed. Then waited for things to fall over dead or start clawing at their eyes. Only when the sea-warriors slogged toward her, undaunted by the current, and not bleeding from any orifices, did she recall the stupid amulet, the one around her neck making her most effective weapon obsolete.

Before she could fumble it out of the bodice of her gown for removal, the first Undine was upon her, the eel was inching toward her mare
, and she was not too frightened or stupid to call for help.

Her second scream was answered by a roar, as Felipe came bounding into view all
striped fur, teeth, and claws, too late though for her poor horse, who’d succumbed to the sea serpent.

Valasca arrived a moment
after, sword and dagger in hand, yelling a battle cry. It wasn’t long before the Undines began to drop dead from the deadly action of her spinning and arcing blades. The way the Amazon wielded them as an extension of herself was utterly fascinating, but Jenny couldn’t afford to watch, not when Felipe was in danger.

The idiot, with no thought to the fact electricity could hurt and
, in strong enough doses, kill, tackled the serpent. The Undines occupied with the Amazon, and the stallion intent to stomp and indulge in his own fair share of mayhem, Jenny finally managed to slip the thong holding the amulet off. She pocketed the talisman and darted between the bodies into the warm river waters, seeing the advantage finally in the short toga as the skirts weren’t getting water logged.

Poor Felipe, his red
-and-black-striped fur alternated between matted wet and standing at frizzled attention from the electrical discharge of the second eel, which wound its body around him.

Despite his limbs getting pinned, he wasn’t giving up though. His teeth, longer than her forearm she’d swear, did their best to ravage the flesh binding him, but she could tell he weakened, the combination of squeezing, lack of o
xygen, and zaps taking its toll.

“Brace
yourself,” was the only warning she gave before opening her mouth to sing. She could only hope in her desire to save her friends—and one-time lover—she didn’t accidentally kill them.

Notes burst free.
Bright and colorful things when in her mouth that twisted and darkened as they hit the open air. She could almost see the deadly vibrations of her song as she crooned the words to a melody she’d learned at Molpe’s knee. It took a moment for the effect to hit, and despite the lack of true ears on the eels, her ability remained true.

The deadly sound waves hit the serpents. Their heads rocketed straight up on their sinuous necks. Their eyes took on a glaze
d look, and they wobbled. A low hissing noise of air escaping deflated them, and they slumped, loosening their grip. Felipe snarled and slashed his way free as Jenny continued to sing.

The serpents plopped into the water, dead or unconscious, she didn’t care which
. Either way the current took them, sucked them into its watery depths, and swept them away.

Shaking his fur,
Felipe grumbled and growled as he stalked his way to shore, the scent of singed fur following him.

With him safe, she whirled to help Valasca. But there was no help needed there anymore.

Between her deadly blade work and Jenny’s voice, of the attacking Undines, none remained standing, although a few did twitch, but not for long as Valasca took her dagger to them, slitting their throats.

Jenny didn’t prote
st this savagery. When it came to survival, as Aunt Thelxiope always said, “Never leave the enemy alive because it would suck to die at his blade later on out of a misplaced sense of pity.”

Of more
pressing concern was the blood running from the Amazon’s nose and ears. Jenny halted her song mid note, the sudden silence almost deafening after the adrenaline rush of the melody.

“Are you okay?” she asked the first female friend she’d ever truly had.

“I’ll be fine. You pack quite a powerful voice in that little body of yours. Good thing Thora gave me a talisman of my own and weaved a spell into our horses bridles. Otherwise, I and our remaining mounts would have probably joined our slimy friends here.”

“Sorry.”

Valasca winced. “Don’t be. That’s a fine weapon you’ve got there, although now that we’ve taken care of the threat, mind putting the charm back on?”

“Of course.” Feeling foolish, Jenny fumbled with the leather thong, slipping it over
her head and letting the stone dangle between her breasts.

With a twitch
of her head toward Felipe who stalked the shoreline still in his feline shape, Valasca asked, “So how come the cat’s not affected?”

The cat in question
approached and nudged Jenny’s shoulder, almost knocking her over. She reached out to scrub the fur between his ears, glad he seemed none too worse for wear. “Aunt Molpe thinks he’s tone-deaf.”

“So am I. Or so my friends claim anytime I try to sing.”

Jenny laughed. “Not that kind of tone-deaf. For some reason, either because of his shifter status or something else, my magic and that of the sirens doesn’t seem to affect him. He doesn’t hear the command or ugliness in the music. He hears what I hear.”

“Which is what? Because I have to admit, it didn’t sound like music.”
Valasca shuddered. “It was like a giant pressure built in my head, each note pushing and pushing against my brain.”

Jenny grimaced.
“You’re not the first to say that, and yet when I sing I hear—”

“
Beauty,” supplied Felipe, who’d flipped into his man shape while they talked.

He truly was deaf when it came to music.
Jenny almost snorted. Despite what she believed she heard, she wasn’t stupid enough to think or believe there was anything beautiful about her deadly music.

But who cared about Felipe’s odd
view when he stood there in the buff surveying the carnage. The man possessed a truly wicked body. A body she so wanted to touch again. If only he’d not made it so clear their night of pleasure was the only night. He seemed adamant about there being no repeat. A shame because she really, really would have enjoyed exploring the new erotic world she’d discovered a bit more. It would give her a benchmark to aim for in the future as she began her new life.

Perhaps if I made it clear to him that I won’t cling or expect anything, he might be willing to give it another go.

All great ideas, if only her newfound courage would allow her to voice them. But, given Felipe was busy leading their two remaining mounts away from the bloodbath and Valasca wouldn’t be far behind, she should probably choose a different time.

Regrouping, they planned their next step. “With only the two horses, we need to make a decision,” said Valasca. “And the most logical one is to let you have both mounts while I walk back to my village to get a new one.”

“Don’t be silly,” interrupted Felipe. “It will take you too long, and you need to get word to the capital about the portal issue. Especially if it’s a widespread one. I’ve got a better idea. My horse is big and strong while Jenny here’s just a wee thing. We’ll double up. She can ride in front of me on the saddle, but from now on, no more camping or stopping by bodies of water. I think we’ve seen enough proof that danger is still stalking her and, given this most recent desperate act, not afraid to let us know.”

A curt nod came from Valasca.
“Agreed. From now on, we will refresh ourselves in towns and hamlets. Even if the guard is corrupt, they will not allow sea denizens to kidnap or stand in the way of the Dark Lord’s minions.”

“Yes to the first part
, and as for the second part, I won’t let anyone take Jenny. She’s my mission, and I will get her to the capital.”

Sincerity rang in his voice
. What a shame it just wasn’t the words she’d have preferred to hear like,
I won’t let anyone hurt her because she’s mine.
Which, on second thought, was exactly why Felipe feared anything more than a one-night stand. Jenny decided to keep that to herself if she ever did get the guts to broach them having sex again. If he thought for one moment she might have emotions for him, he’d never touch her again.

And I do so like it when he touches me.
Even innocuously, such as now. Yes, his stallion was big, but the saddle itself was not, which meant she had to more or less sit sideways on his lap, her legs dangling off his thigh, holding on to the pommel with his chest at her back.

He didn’t hold her at all. D
idn’t attempt to cuddle or whisper sweet nothings in her ear. Heck, he didn’t even nuzzle her hair, but Jenny hid a secret smile because, despite his outward appearance of nonchalance, he couldn’t hide the very distinct and hard erection under her bottom.

Perhaps convincing him won’t be so hard after all.

They
paused their journey around the dinner hour, the town, if you could call it that with its ramshackle buildings and mortal realm Western look, boasting a rowdy inn. Felipe could have kissed the innkeeper when he claimed he had only two rooms left.

A more honorable man would have told the women to take the larger of the two to share. He wasn’t that man.
Jenny’s my responsibility.
A great excuse. One even his cat agreed with.
Mine.

He’d thought he might have to argue more
, though, to get Jenny to join him. He even had his speech prepared:
“It will be safer if you’re with me so I can protect you.”
And
, “I can handle your voice if you need to remove your amulet.”
Or his favorite,
“I’m told I’m a great back scrubber.”

In the end all he had to say was, “We should share a room.” And her prompt reply was, “Yes.”

First, though, they needed sustenance. His belly growled, especially as he could smell roasted something turning over the spit within the big hearth. What the giant basted carcass once was he didn’t care to dwell on. In Hell, meat was meat, no matter what—or who—it came from.

Seated at a table in a corner, his back against the wall, Jenny beside him and Valasca on the other side, he idly watched the patrons as he sipped some awful frothy grog. While alcohol flourished through
the nine circles, the quality diminished the farther out one went.

The crowd was much what he’d expect—demons, some damned souls, buxom waitresses
, and a few cloaked individuals attempting to blend in but standing out like a sore, swollen dick after a night spent with nymphs.

It was never hard to spot visitors to Hell’s circle. They flinched or jumped at loud noises. Their hands strayed often to their waist
s and their weapons—swords being the arsenal of choice given firearms weren’t the most reliable, given the ash and strange magics of Hades often jammed the weapons. Many an idiot thought they could prove the exception and brought a gun to battle, which, in turn, meant there was a thriving trade in eye patches and artificial limbs.

Felipe didn’t sense any danger from those present, not even the ogre with the spiked club who sat on the floor, chewing on a haunch almost as big as Jenny.
Again, the whole don’t-question-what-it-was scenario.

What appeared normal to him
, though, was new territory for Jenny.

She leaned close to him and whispered, “Are you sure we’re safe here?”

Again, a gentleman would have answered, “Yes.” Felipe however replied, “Probably not, so stick close.”

Not entirely untrue. She was safest by his side.
Did their thighs need to rub as an added precaution? Probably not, but he didn’t feel a need to point that out.

Their serving wench arrived with a platter laden with food. She made sure to bend over, way over, as she placed the offering before them. Her plentiful tits practically fell out of her loose
-necked blouse. Felipe ignored the clear invitation. Despite his earlier vow not to go back for seconds with a certain green-haired temptress, he’d since revised that plan.
Sorry but I’ve got more pleasurable pursuits in mind for the evening.

Although he didn’t show any interest in the wench,
Jenny, however, noticed. It also seemed she had a cutting tongue, even when wearing her amulet. “You should take your seamstress to task for making you such an ill-fitting top.”

“Say what?” The dark
-haired waitress frowned at Jenny’s rebuke.

A
smile threatened to curve Felipe’s lips, a smirk he restrained. Valasca didn’t bother, and she snorted. “What my friend here is trying to say is you’re being a slut in front of her man, and she doesn’t appreciate it.”

Felipe meant to reply, but Jenny beat him to it. “He’s not my man.”

Forget the fact it was pretty much what he would have said, it galled him to hear it come from her mouth.

The waitress, clearly not too bright, probably because she’d drunk too much of the brain
-melting grog over the years, thought she should take offense.

“I ain’t a slut. I’m a lusty girl who can’t help it if men find me attractive. And if he’s not her man, why does she give a shit what I’m wearing
? I’ll bet the fellow sitting with you likes it. Don’t you, honey?” The wench then proceeded to flop onto his lap and, before he could say, “Don’t involve me,” had smothered his face in her cleavage.

Ugh. As if he’d want to sniff the sweat and unbathed flesh of someone so crass. Woman or not, Felipe didn’t have a problem shoving the waitress from his lap onto the floor. What he didn’t have a hand in and couldn’t explain was why he could suddenly scent
the unmistakable brine of the sea.

Had their enemies tracked them here?

A low hum vibrated the air and rose in pitch. A damp breeze, smelling of wild, frothing waves filled the air. Felipe glanced to his side and saw Jenny standing, her eyes a blue storm, her hair a tumbling cascade of living, writhing strands, and her lips parted on a note that, had she not worn the amulet, would have probably decimated everyone within the bar.

Felipe recognized her emotion for what it was. Jealousy.
While in the past, he’d avoided women who dared to display it on his behalf—again, the whole don’t-cling-to-me thing which he abhorred—on Jenny, it was sexy. More than sexy, hot, arousing, and cock hardening.

It took a
patron shouting, “Girl fight! Get the oil!” for him to realize Jenny’s public display of her powers, and killing of an employee or, in the waitress’s case as a damned soul, painful maiming or zombiefying probably wouldn’t go over well.

People tended to remember those things and gossip about them. With their enemies obviously tracking them, Felipe should put a stop to it.

I will, in a second.
Right after Jenny, who’d somehow made it off the bench they shared, Valasca having cleared the way, stopped stalking, well more like floating as if on an undulating wave of air, toward the no longer so brazen waitress.

“I’m sorry,” babbled the wench. “I’ll keep my hands off him.”

Jenny didn’t reply, just lifted her arms and uttered another note, one high enough to make everyone wince. Again, thank fuck for the amulet. That was a definite ear bleeder if he’d ever heard one, and that was from someone who was tone-deaf.

Only once the waitress fled
, screeching out the door, did Jenny lower her arms and her feet touched the floor. Fluffing her hair, she did a slow pivot in the now silent bar, her eyes still a blazing blue. She smiled, sweetly. “Anyone else care to maul my companions?”

The remaining females in the place studiously ignore
d him after that, to the point that Felipe couldn’t even get a refill. Valasca snickered throughout the entire meal while Jenny ate with silent serenity. As for Felipe, he found himself hungry, but not for what the innkeeper offered as fare. What he wanted was pink, honeyed, and sitting right beside him.

Without further incident, they made it to their room, bidding Valasca goodnight at the door as she entered the chamber across the hall from them.

Only once the door shut behind them did Felipe loose a chuckle. “Maul? You know flirting isn’t a crime?”

“I wouldn’t call what she did flirting,” was Jenny’s sassy reply as she dropped her cloak onto the rickety chair in the corner.

“What would you know of flirting?”

Prowling the room, for what he couldn’t have said, she paused and tossed him a coy look over her shoulder, the bare one that peeked from the toga she wore. “I know that there’s no need to be so obvious.”

“So you think it better if men and women play games? Dance around what they both need instead of coming right out and stating it?”

“Sometimes.”

“But what if their time together is limited?” he asked, loosening his belt and dropping it along with the dagger the Amazons had loaned him onto the floor with a solid thump.

“Then perhaps a more direct approach is appropriate, but still, there’s flirting
, and then there’s seducing.”

“Oh really
? And just how would you go about seducing?”

A smile.
One, slow, sensuous smile with a subtle lick of her lips, a tilt of her head that set her hair rippling, and one finger tracing a line between her breasts down the fabric of her gown, stopping just short of her mound.

He swallowed. He throbbed. How he hungered.

“Perhaps you’re right,” she whispered softly.

“About what?”

“Why flirt when I can be direct?”

With a slowness and grace he tracked with his eyes, her fingers went to the clasp at her shoulder, holding the single strap in place.
A strap that she unbuttoned. A quick flick that sent her robe tumbling to the floor in a pile, leaving her in only a pair of plain panties. Moist panties. Damp with a desire he could smell … and wanted to taste.

“I want you, Felipe.”

Such simple words, words he’d heard dozens of times before, yet from her, they affected him strangely. They warmed him and aroused him. They made him forget all the reasons he’d given himself to stay away from her. He couldn’t have said how he crossed the room. He just suddenly found himself before her.

But when he would have kissed her, she placed a finger on his lips. “Not this time. Kissing is for lovers
and by your own admission, we are not lovers, simply two beings in need of contact.”

Yes, lots of contact. Naked contact.

She read his mind because she dropped to her knees, her hands tugging his breeches, pulling them down his corded thighs. At her urging, he stepped out of them and stripped off his shirt, baring himself to her view.

She sighed as she gazed upon him. “You truly have a magnificent body. But I’m sure you already know that.”

He did, yet hearing it from her made him swell, not just his chest in pride but his cock in eagerness.

She took him in hand, literally, her fingers wrapping around his aching shaft, squeezing him in her grip.
He couldn’t help but watch as she leaned forward to kiss the tip of his cock. A simple peck, yet he shuddered. Then he groaned as she licked him, running her tongue from the cap to the root and then back again. Lithe, wet strokes that explored his length and had his legs trembling. Attempting to regain some control, Felipe exhaled. She lightly bit the tip of his cock. He let out a strangled sound and couldn’t help but tangle his fingers into the silky curls of her hair.

Good thing he’d found an anchor because
Jenny next took him into her mouth, sucking his swollen head before bringing him in deep. His cock pulsed at the moist sensation of her mouth’s suction. But it was the sharp edge of her teeth dragging on his tender skin that had him purring.

In and out
she slid his shaft, her cheeks hollowed as she suctioned him, her mouth moist and welcoming. It felt so fucking good. Add to that her happy moans of enjoyment and he found himself approaching the brink much too quickly. He fought to hold back.

Extremely pleasurable or not, he wasn’t about to blow in her mouth. With regret, he popped his rod free of her mouth, almost going crossed eyed at her mewl of disappointment
. He drew her to a standing position, and despite her assertion only lovers should kiss, he ignored that. He wanted a taste. So he did. He kissed her passionately, and she replied back in kind. When her lips parted, he took full advantage, his tongue sneaking into her mouth to dance wetly with hers.

Pressed between their bodies, his cock pulsed against the skin of her lower belly, a pressing reminder that it wanted attention. Despite her initial
ly taking charge of the situation, Felipe took over. Whirling her to face the bed, he had them shuffle a few feet before he placed a hand in the middle of her back to bend her over.

“Brace yourself,” he gruffly ordered.

She placed her palms flat on the mattress, her buttocks pointed temptingly in the air still covered by the scrap of fabric the Amazons called panties.

He called them a nuisance
, and they were in his way. Not for long. A single tug was all it took to tear them away and reveal her pink center, moist and inviting. He couldn’t resist a lick.

She squirmed as he let his tongue dance along her cleft. He purred, unable to hide his pleasure at her evident enjoyment. The soft rumble vibrated against her sensitized sex, and she cried out, a shudder wracking her body.

“Felipe.” She sighed his name, and he almost came. Siren or not, when she spoke, it affected him.

He licked her some more, would have loved to have licked her until she came against his lips, but his gums ached as he fought his feline’s desire to bite.
To mark. To claim…

He mustn’t lose himself or forget himself in the moment. They were two fleshly beings in need, not lovers. No matter how right it felt.

But tell that to his cat. He took the temptation away, standing behind her as his fingers slid between her shimmering thighs. Wetting them in the slickness of her sex, he then rubbed them against her clit, circling and pinching the swollen nub until she rocked back against him with wordless cries.