Kept: An Erotic Anthology (27 page)

“So say
you
. If she balks, how can I send her back when I wish to keep her?”

“You’ve barely tasted her on two occasions and you’re behaving like a besotted fool. Are you the succubus, or is she?”

I gestured at him rudely and he barked a laugh as I soared from his aerie.

The lush forest below was a green carpet in my otherwise blue world of sky. I avoided the villages, with their low wooden cottages, not interested in the company of the cambions that resided in them. No rain plagued me today, so I was free to wheel above the trees, feeling the creatures below and taking stock of their scents. If I were of a predatory nature, any of the smaller creatures would fall to my speed. The larger creatures were safe enough, weaponless as I was.

Never had I wished I was more dangerous.

What weapon would work on stone skin? Likely none.

If I was to succeed in taking her, I would require stealth and speed, instead. There was no question that in open combat Silence would defeat me. What would happen then was a mystery. Would he kill me, imprison me, or was there a Warder Council that would pass judgement upon me? No incubus had ever lost a battle to a Warder, to my knowledge, but unlike them I had not been trained in combat. Incubi also worked hard to avoid the Warders. The males of my species were breeders, not warriors.

When next night fell in the human realm, I would go. If Silence was elsewhere, I would go to Shiloh and ask whether she wished to come with me for a time. If he watched for me still, I would wait until the first rays of dawn turned him to stone, then I would snatch her out of her bed and spirit her away. In the event that she hated being my slave, after a few days had passed, I would simply bring her home.

I had control over my desire for her, did I not?

When finally I returned to my aerie, I set about rearranging the chamber next to mine. The nest here, the drapings just so. Would she like the white room or find it plain? My preparations to take a human into my home took days. All could be changed to suit her preferences when she came and made them known. Excitement beat in my chest as I prepared. The longer we were apart, the less I could think of other things.

My ardent fixation was worrisome, at times.

When young, all succubi and incubi were taught that there were humans whose energy was more potent, and could make the drinker half-crazed with desperation and lust. Sometimes obsessed ones would drain their humans too often. Those slaves could become overly weary, sickly and some died from lack of temperance on the part of their owner. I was determined never to let anything of the sort happen to Shiloh at my hands.

How did Fox manage to control the obsession he had with his women? Was it a matter of becoming accustomed to them? When the slave was no longer new, did the obsession with her become more manageable?

Fortunately, in our realm, humans were almost ageless, although babes in belly grew fast enough. A well-kept slave could live with their owner for hundreds of years without truly aging. There was no need to gorge myself on her at once when we had centuries together.

Shiloh had many, many years to enjoy being my slave.

***

I’d meant to go to bed. Brad and Nate had stayed so late after I’d finished my volunteer shift at the food bank that I thought they’d sleep over, but from the look in Nate’s eyes and the subtle way he was touching my best friend, he wanted to get laid. At least they wouldn’t be having sex in my living room again.

Sometimes it felt like everyone around me had paired up and was having a happy life, while I’d essentially put myself on a shelf. I admired people who chose to be single, and were happy with it. I wasn’t one of them.

I had my romance novels, if nothing else.

As soon as they’d gone into the street, where the sun would soon be rising, I’d locked the door behind them and started flipping off the lights on the way to my bedroom. Instead of being a good girl and going to sleep, I made a nest of my blankets and grabbed my Kindle. Nothing like easy and private access to smutty books.

Tonight’s featured a handsome pirate who wouldn’t take no for an answer. Normally bodice rippers weren’t my thing, but this one was very well written and really steamy. There was only one problem—I was having trouble visualizing the antihero tonight. His face kept changing channels. The guy from my dreams, then Darius in HR, then the hottie who’d served me my coffee this morning. None of them were working for me.

As I read, the creature from my dream crept into the story, mixing features with the pirate. The he-pirate became a she-pirate. With wings. I didn’t want her to touch me, but she had me tied to a chair in the captain’s cabin. When she lifted the hem of my gown and ran a brazen hand over my calf I squirmed. She’d left me so horny a few nights ago and I hadn’t been able to dream her up again. Why couldn’t she be as easy to dream as the faceless man? I felt betrayed. I knew she was imaginary, but she’d promised she’d come back.

I laid my Kindle aside, my mind taking me off in a direction the book wasn’t going. Rolling to my stomach, I shoved my extra pillow underneath me, and rubbed myself against it, too horny to stop, but embarrassed about it like I usually was.

She touched me and I whimpered, tied and helpless and completely at her mercy. I didn’t want her to touch me. I didn’t. No… really.

I was lying to myself and I knew it, but that was between me and my pillow.

My orgasm built and I eased off, staying on edge as long as I could handle it, imagining what she would say and how she would keep me like that for ages. I got too close to the edge and went over, losing control of the orgasm and I came, a quivering, whimpering mess.

“Exquisite.” Her voice was quiet, and for a moment I thought I’d fantasized about her one too many times.

Slowly, I turned. She stood at the foot of my bed, black eyes hot enough to burn me.

A shriek stuck in my throat and I scrambled back, bumping my head on my headboard.

“Shh. We must away before the sun banishes the darkness.”

She grabbed my wrist and yanked me toward her. Not a dream? My breath came too fast and the edges of my vision started to go dark. No, no! Not a good time to faint!

“You’re real.” My voice was thready and weak, even to my own ears.

“I am.”

The creature pulled me to my feet. As scared as I was, my groin still throbbed in the aftermath of my orgasm. She’d watched the whole thing! Heat prickled at my face and I turned my head from her.

She pulled me closer. I tripped over my feet

“Your scent is enthralling,” she murmured, burying her face in my hair. When I tried to pull back, her grip tightened. “I have waited weeks to look upon you again, to feel your thoughts, to hear you cry out in pleasure. I won’t allow you to run from me, Shiloh.”

Fear chased through me, but she held me as though my struggles were a joke. All of the self-defense I’d been taught over the years escaped me and she maneuvered me toward the window.

“Stop! No! What are you doing?” I tried to pull away, but she wasn’t having it.

“Shh. I know you’re frightened, little one, but you will be happy enough when you are home. Fighting me out of pride is silly. I know what you truly desire. You must trust me to know what is best for you.” She flung open the window and a cool breeze rushed into the room, making her brief covering flutter. My t-shirt and panties weren’t much help in warding off the chill air. A pinkish orange glow was on the horizon, and when she saw it, she clicked her tongue. “The sun rises. Cease your struggles, or you will be punished when we arrive home.”

“Please, I don’t want to go anywhere with you! Leave me alone. I—I won’t tell anyone that I saw you. I’ll pretend you were just a dream!” I dug my heels in, but the area rug gave me no traction, and it dragged along in my wake like the train of a wedding gown. Despite my protests, she moved me to the window. She was going to throw me out of it and they’d be scraping me off the sidewalk.

She wrapped her arms around me and brought her lips down on mine, her demanding kiss making my legs give out. Energy fled from my mouth into hers, and soon I had nothing left to fight her off. In my exhausted stupor, I felt her lift me into her arms as though she were a large man instead of a woman who was almost my size.

“You will learn your place.” She growled, and internally I squirmed at her disapproval.

She crouched on the windowsill and pushed off. My eyes sealed shut and I screamed as I waited for the sickening crunch as we hit the pavement below. Instead, there was a swooping feeling and I peeked. We were in the sky, the ground falling away below us. There was a thinness in the air, and then we were somewhere different, trees and mountains in the distance, where moments before there’d been buildings and an entire city skyline.

I clung to her, my arms having crept around her neck sometime during the flight. Although she was the last thing I wanted to cling to, it was that or the ground. I didn’t want to escape bad enough to die for it.

This had to be a dream, though, right?

For a while we flew. Forests, lakes and villages appeared like aerial postcards below us. The mountain range never seemed to get closer until we were suddenly almost on top of it. A small gray palace was carved out of the existing stone, but with such careful craftsmanship that it put modern buildings to shame. It reminded me of the cathedrals I’d seen in pictures online.

She squeaked us through a small slit in the side of the building, and I screeched in alarm when I thought we wouldn’t make it. The monster chuckled in my ear.

“Do not be alarmed. I will not take foolish chances with you, small one. Protecting you is of the utmost importance.”

When she set me down, I looked around quickly, wondering if there was a way to escape.

“Seek all you want. A human is unable to flee from here without assistance from my kind. Not unless you consider death an escape. If you were to gain the forest floor, by some chance, where would you go? You cannot return to your former residence on foot, without the ability to thin the layers between realms.”

“Bring me home!” Exhausted from being up all night and from her kiss, I just wanted my bed.

“I have.”

She walked a circle around me, as though inspecting a sculpture she’d just bought. The tip of her fingernail slid along my ass cheek as she passed, and instead of being properly scared or angry, the desire she had taught me to have for her rose up.

Please don’t let her tie me to a chair.

The rumble of her laughter made the hair on the back of my neck rise in response. “The pleasure you gave yourself while you thought of me was intense, and yet you want more? Greedy girl. And why should I not tie you to a chair?”

My blood ran cold. “Shit! You can read my mind?”

“Not always. Only when your thoughts are… loud.” Her smile when she was in front of me again was wolfish, her teeth sharp and dangerous.

My whimper was not of the self-rescuing-princess variety. Bravery is foolish if you don’t know what you’re up against.

I’d get away, but today was unlikely.

I had to think.

***

“Disrobe.”

“What?” Shiloh stared at me, as though I had not spoken in her tongue.

“Your garments. Remove them.” I kept my tone firm, but was careful that my expression remained neutral. There was no sense in frightening the poor thing more just yet.

Her hands flew out to cover herself, as though she was already nude before me.

I made a sound of displeasure low in my throat. “If I must remove them myself, you will not like the punishment.”

For a moment she stood, gauging my expression, likely trying to determine what punishment would be hers if she chose to disregard my command. If I rushed her, my plans to train her might stall, but if I was not firm from the start, she would continue to challenge me and think it safe to do so.

I raised a brow at her and she averted her gaze, looking down at the floor. Excellent.

And yet her hands didn’t move to her clothing to comply.

Without preamble, I hooked my fingers into the bottom of her short tunic and yanked it off over her head. Her breasts bounced free, even though she attempted to grab it from my hands. I did not allow it. Her short breech was next, and I ripped the delicate thing off, rather than lowering it.

Her gasp was exhilarating. She covered her breasts with one arm and put a hand over her sex, as though she would be allowed to remain so indefinitely.

“Kneel,” I barked.

She started, but sank to her knees, nonetheless.

“Forehead to the floor.”

When she only stared, I tangled a rough hand in her hair and forced her into that position. Shiloh wriggled and fought but could do little against my strength.

I raised a hand long enough for her to see it, then brought it down to connect sharply with the soft curve of her bottom.

“Ow! Don’t!” She squeaked, then tried to escape my grasp. I held her in place for four further swats. Her reddened skin called to me, and I traced my nails over the sensitive flesh. A whimper and shiver escaped her, and the scent of her arousal was arousing me, in turn. Her body enjoyed being disciplined despite the protests she voiced.

“When you are told to disrobe, you shall do so. If you disobey me again, your punishment will not be as pleasant.”

“Okay! Okay!” She put her hands out behind her to ward off more blows.

“You will say ‘Yes, Moth’ or ‘No, Moth.’ I will not tolerate disrespect from you, slave.”

“Moth?” Her brow creased in confusion.

“My name, yes. Or Master, if you prefer.”

She snorted. “Not ‘Mistress?’ You look like a girl to me.”

“I am female, yes. I knew not the formal word for a female master on your world. The only Master I have befriended is Fox, and he is male. Females here take no slaves. Males do only rarely.”

I saw hope flare in her eyes. “So you aren’t allowed to keep a slave? You should bring me home before you get in trouble.”

“Male slaves are mine for the taking. Most other succubi choose not to burden themselves with pets. Whether I’m allowed female slaves remains to be seen, but I will deal with the Council if I must.” My glare made her eyes widen, and she bit her plump lower lip. The urge to bring her pleasure was strong, but the need to settle her into our home and ensure she knew her role was more important now. I could also feel her weariness. Only a small part of her energy had been taken when I’d kissed her, but she had stayed up late with her friend and his lover, so she required rest.