Ruby Shadows (20 page)

Before I could answer, he pulled me closer,
bringing my breasts to his mouth. I wanted to say something, to
tell him to stop—but he was already sucking the tight bud of my
right nipple into his mouth, drawing hard on the sensitive peak
until bolts of pleasure shot through me, making me gasp and
moan.

Laish sucked my nipple
long and hard, his eyes never leaving my face as he took as much of
my breast into his mouth as he could. I kept thinking I should try
to stop him but he had such a firm grip on me and it felt so
good.
I was mesmerized
by the sight of him sucking me—of my berry dark nipple and light
brown breast disappearing into his red mouth.

Again I couldn’t help noticing the contrast
in our skin tones—the way his lighter tan tones complimented my own
creamy café au lait complexion. I have to admit, it was one of the
most erotic things I’d ever seen—not that I watch or read much
erotica. When you’re not allowed to do the dirty deed yourself,
it’s better not to dwell on everyone else doing it.

At last Laish released me.

“
Gods, your breasts are
sweet, Gwendolyn,” he murmured, nuzzling me with his scratchy
cheek. “Tell me, have you ever allowed anyone to suck your nipples
before?”

Hesitantly, I shook my head. I’d allowed
several boyfriends in high school to touch me there but none of
them had put their mouth on me. That seemed too dangerous
somehow—too likely to lead to other things.

“
Then I am the first.”
Leaning forward, he captured my other nipple briefly, giving it a
hot, open mouthed kiss that ended with him circling the tight bud
with his tongue.

“
Laish!” I protested
uneasily but my voice was high and breathy and the feel of his hot
tongue lapping gently over my nipple was doing strange things to me
below the waist.

“
I hope to be first with
you in many things,” he murmured, looking me in the eyes. “Starting
tonight.”

“
What are you going to do
to me?” I asked in a trembling voice. “I mean…didn’t we already pay
the Sin Tax just now when you, uh…?”

“
Suckled your sweet
nipples? No.” Laish shook his head. “If we had, you would have felt
the ripple in the air as you did on the banks of the Styx. No,
Gwendolyn, as I told you, a deeper and more serious sin is required
to move into each circle of Hell. This time a little sexual
pleasure is not enough.” He kissed my nipple again. “Tonight I must
make you come.”

“
Laish!” I protested
again. “I can’t…I’ve never let anyone…”

“
I know.” His eyes
flashed. “Which is why I am very much looking forward to it. But
first we need to get out of the bath and dry off. I want to be able
to see your beautiful body spread out before me when I bring you to
the peak.”

Fitting his big hands under my thighs and
ass, he stood, lifting me easily and stepped out of the bath. He
stood me on the cold marble floor and wrapped a big, fluffy white
bath towel around me before tending to himself.

I clutched the towel and looked away,
blushing furiously as he stripped off the soaked trousers and the
black silk boxers he’d been wearing under them. I know it sounds
silly and naïve but I’d never seen a naked man before—well, except
on a movie screen. But not up close and personal. Grams had warned
me early on how once a guy gets naked, things start moving forward
whether you want them to or not. So this kind of intimacy was
something I had always carefully avoided.

Laish chuckled at my reaction to his nudity,
apparently amused at my naiveté. Then he stopped laughing and
became suddenly serious.

“
Gwendolyn, look at me,”
he murmured.

“
I don’t want to.” I kept
my eyes averted.

“
Why do you blush
so,
mon ange?
Am
I that frightening to you?”

“
I’ve just never…never
seen a naked guy in person. Okay?” I said, feeling my cheeks get
even hotter.

“
You have seen Druaga,” he
pointed out.

I knew he was referring to the boar-demon’s
massively oversized, totally exposed genitals which, while
disgusting, were just too big and weird to seem real. They were
more like some kind of bizarre Hentai cartoon you’d accidentally
run across on the internet than something you’d expect to see in
real life on an actual person.

“
That’s different,” I
said, still looking away. “He’s a beast—an animal. And
his…equipment is so big it’s like some kind of sad, sick
joke.”

“
His kind are able to grow
out their ‘equipment’ as you put it, in the same way you can grow
out your hair. I believe what you see as a deformity, Druaga sees
as an achievement.” He cocked his head, still looking at me. “But
you see me differently than him?”

“
Of course,” I said
impatiently. “You’re a real person.”

“
Do you think so?” His
deep voice was strangely distant now, filled with some emotion I
couldn’t name. It made me look at him despite myself, though I kept
my eyes above his waist.

“
Well…yes.” I looked at
him uncertainly. “Aren’t you?”

He sighed. “Some would say I am not. You
might say so yourself if you saw me in my true form.”

I bit my lip uneasily.

“
Is it really that
frightening? Are you…do you look like Druaga?”

He gave a harsh, humorless laugh.

“
I do have animal forms
that I can take but I am not a Wendingo. A demon who is part beast
or has beastly characteristics,” he explained, seeing my confused
expression. “But neither am I as you see me now.”

“
So can you transform at
will?”

“
Into several different
forms—my true form included.”

“
Do you…do you want to
transform now?” I asked, trying to be brave. “Do you want me to see
you in that form—your true form?”

He sighed again.

“
For now I would be
pleased if you would see me just as I am—in human form. Look at me,
Gwendolyn—all of me. And do not be afraid.”

Biting my lip, I allowed my eyes to roam
over his naked body. I liked his height and his broad shoulders,
his muscular chest and trim hips. He had long, well-muscled legs
with just a dusting of black hair on them—he even had nice feet.
Then, when I had looked everywhere else, I finally let my eyes
settle between his thighs.

“
Oh,” I
whispered.

He was big—there was no denying it. Even
only semi-hard his shaft was thick and long and dangerous looking.
But at least it wasn’t so obscenely huge as to be out of proportion
to the rest of him, like Druaga’s.

“
Well?” he murmured and I
realized my gaze had been lingering between his legs just a little
too long.

“
Um…” I forced myself to
meet his eyes, my cheeks burning. “You’re very, uh,
naked.”

He gave a soft, rumbling laugh.

“
So are you…but for those
little wet panties. Which I think we must remove before we go to
the bed.”

“
What—so we’ll both be
naked at the same time?” I shook my head. “Uh-uh, no way. That’s a
bad idea.”

“
What are you afraid of?”
he taunted softly. “That I will be tempted to go too far…or
that
you
will?”

“
Either or both,” I said
firmly. “Whichever way it doesn’t matter. I’m
not
getting in bed with you if both
of us are completely naked—it’s not safe.”

“
Haven’t I just finished
explaining to you that nothing here is safe? That you are in danger
every moment?” he said, raising an eyebrow at me. “However, if it
will make you feel better…”

He reached up and did that neat little trick
of his, pulling a pair of long, black silk sleep trousers out of
thin air. Stepping into them casually, he pulled them up and tied
the silk string across his flat belly. I couldn’t help noticing how
he had that little ridge of muscle on either side, starting at the
hip bone and going down to his groin—the “V muscle” one of my
girlfriends called it. The waistband of the trousers seemed to
accentuate it, making him look even hotter dressed than he was
naked—if that was possible. Or maybe I just felt more comfortable
looking at him now that his “danger zone” as Grams called it, was
covered.

“
All right, Gwendolyn,” he
murmured, giving me a burning look. “I am dressed now—it is time
for you to get naked.”

“
I…um…” I tried to back
away but he was already peeling away my towel and reached for my
panties.

“
Come,
mon ange,”
he murmured, hooking his
long fingers in the waistband of the fragile silk and lace
underwear. “You know I will never hurt you—I wish only to see you
and drink in your beauty.”

I didn’t know how I felt about anyone
“drinking me in” especially if that someone was Laish. I didn’t
exactly hate my body but I wasn’t its biggest fan either. For one
thing, I’m way too broad in the hips and thighs. I have a nice
round butt—what Grams calls a “caboose” but my breasts are a little
too full to be as perky as I’d like.

In general, I guess I have body issues, like
any other woman. Even the prettiest, slimmest girls I’ve ever met
have them—nobody seems to be really happy with what they’ve
got.

It didn’t help that Laish was so
supernaturally handsome either. It was like I’d been asked to strip
and stand right beside a model and I definitely felt sub-par in
comparison.

Still, he was obviously
determined to see me completely naked and there didn’t seem to be
much I could do about it.
Anyway,
I told myself.
Maybe
this will make him leave me alone. Once he sees I don’t look like a
supermodel in my birthday suit, maybe he’ll decide I’m not worth
bothering with.

So I made myself stand still as Laish knelt
before me and slipped the soaked panties down my thighs. I didn’t
even try to cover myself when he stood up and looked at me, those
ruby eyes raking over my body from top to bottom and back up
again.

“
Well?” I asked at last,
feeling both embarrassed and impatient. It was taking everything I
had not to cover my breasts and sex with my hands. I don’t know how
nude models do it—it’s
hard
to stand in front of another person wearing
nothing but your skin.

Laish looked up from his leisurely visual
tour of my body and met my eyes.

“
You’re so beautiful,
Gwendolyn,” he said softly. “I wonder if you have any idea how
gorgeous you truly are?”

“
Laish…” I shifted
uneasily and he shook his head.

“
No, I can see you do not.
Well, let us see if we can remedy that tonight.”

Stooping, he lifted me into his arms again
and carried me out of the bathroom. Then, despite my half-hearted
protests, he laid me right in the middle of the bed.

Chapter
Fifteen

Laish

My little witch truly had no idea of her own
beauty. She lay there on the bed blushing and trying to cover
herself with her small hands which weren’t quite up to the job. Her
full breasts spilled over one arm and though she tried to hide the
smooth triangle between her legs, I could see just a hint of her
sex peeping out from between her fingers. Her green eyes were wide
and uncertain and she was biting her lip in agitation.

“
Gwendolyn,” I murmured,
climbing onto the bed with her to hold her. “What is it,
mon ange?
What do you
fear?” I asked, taking her in my arms.

“
You know what I’m afraid
of.” She shifted against me, clearly still not at ease. I wished
she could relax as she had when I held her in the tub. Of course
then her body had been fighting the aftershock of the devilkin
venom and she’d been too preoccupied with feeling ill to worry
about my motivations for holding her. Now she was well again and
worried—worried that I wouldn’t stop though I had promised her I
would. Worried I would demand too much of her.

“
You’re afraid I will take
more than you are willing to give,” I said, stroking a strand of
hair way from her face. “Don’t be, Gwendolyn. I give you my word
you will not lose your virginity tonight. In fact, if it would make
you feel better, I will promise to keep my sleep trousers on all
night.”

That seemed to help her feel a little more
relaxed.

“
You promise?” she asked,
looking at me hopefully.

“
I do.” I kissed her cheek
gently, savoring the softness of her skin…the warmth of her
body…her delicate, feminine aroma. I allowed one hand to cup her
shoulder and then move slowly down her side and back, stroking her
as I might stroke a cat to make it purr.

Gwendolyn’s heart rate doubled and her
breathing became short as I caressed the rounded curve of her
luscious ass, but she didn’t exactly purr. Instead she tightened
up, shifting away from me some.

“
I’m cold,” she announced.
“We should get under the covers.”

I shook my head.

“
And miss seeing all your
lovely brown skin contrasted with the white fur? No, I don’t think
so. Besides, I don’t believe you are cold. We just came out of a
very warm bath which heated you quite thoroughly.”

“
Still, though,” she said
stubbornly and shifted against me again. I could see she was
nervous—extremely so. I had promised her that I wouldn’t take her
virginity tonight so what could still be troubling her?