by Eve Newton
“You will not be tainted; do you hear me?” I bellow at her.
She flinches at the sheer rage emanating from me. It is visible as a haze around me in the dimly lit room.
“Wait,” she says, catching on. “You were watching me?” She steps back with her hand on her stomach, looking slightly ill at the invasion of her privacy.
“You are my asset,” I state stiffly. “I have a lot invested in you.”
“Your asset?” Axelle repeats and quickly regains her composure. “Well, you screwed me out of a potentially good fuck, you owe me.”
My eyes narrow to two thin slits, but she stands her ground.
“If you require your carnal needs to be met, my dear, Yasmine will be happy to oblige you. I’m fairly certain she will give you a better time than Evan,” I drawl, suddenly calm now that I have the situation under my control.
“Yasmine?” Axelle asks and then looks over to the chaise where the twin is lounging, naked as usual, waggling her fingers at her. “Look, Luc, as much as I enjoy some girl-on-girl every now and again, let me make something very clear to you. I. Like. Cock. I like sucking it, I like my hands wrapped around it, and I like riding it. Got it? Either you take me to bed yourself right now and show me that the fantasy that I have of your sexual prowess isn’t the lame intercourse we have engaged in previously, or you send me back to Evan to get the job done!”
In a flash, my hand is around her throat, squeezing tightly. She can’t speak, she can’t breathe. I lift her off the ground and the gagging noise she makes pleases me.
“You do not make demands to me, bitch,” I say, deathly quiet. “You will do as I ask, or I will hand you over to Darius to be his sex slave for the rest of eternity. And believe me when I say that the rumors you have heard about his cock are all true.”
I’m just blowing smoke up her ass, as Darius is—despite his hideously Demonic form—an anatomically correct male. I wouldn’t throw my precious vessel to him to defile no matter how much she pisses me off with her attitude. However, it has the desired effect, as Axelle blanches even further, the fear is showing in her eyes.
“What is it that you ask of me?” she chokes out eventually, knowing that she can’t win this. She is outmatched by me, the Prince of Darkness, and rightly so.
I loosen my grip on her, and she drops heavily to her feet. “That you remain untainted by the male form,” I say mildly. “Take your pleasure from Yasmine or do it yourself. I’m not an unreasonable creature, Axelle. I, above all others, understand the need for sexual release.”
“But why?” Axelle asks quietly, her hand clutching at her bruised throat.
“One day you will see why I must protect you from the taint of others,” I say cryptically. “Now, go back to the Reaper and tell him to leave. I will be watching,” I warn her.
I flick my hand at her, and she reappears back in her apartment. I watch her through the projection with narrowed eyes. She is a Seductress. There is only one way this ends for her and it isn’t with me giving her one. She will find the loophole that I, unfortunately, have given her. I would curse myself if I thought it would do any good, but sadly, no fucker is more damned than I am, so I’m just going to have to see how this plays out. There is little I can do about it without showing her this side to me that is, quite frankly, unnerving.
Evan is pacing fretfully around in a circle. He looks relieved to see her. “Where did you go?” he asks her carefully. “The power to move yourself is…”
“Not mine,” Axelle interrupts him. “Luc wanted me.”
“Pah,” Evan scoffs, causing me to grimace at the little shit.
Silence as they glower at each other.
“You and he are…?” Evan asks eventually.
“An item,” Axelle finishes quickly, making me snort in amusement. “He doesn’t like to share.”
“Yes, I am aware of his possessive tendencies,” Evan remarks coldly.
I hiss at the projection. If he so much as breathes a word of our acquaintance, I will flay him alive. Axelle doesn’t need the stress of it in her condition.
“So, it begins,” Evan mutters before Axelle can respond.
He storms past her out of the apartment, leaving her alone.
I carry on watching with interest. It seems that she hasn’t figured it out yet.
“Damn Devil,” she mutters, loud enough to be heard.
I chuckle, making sure she can hear it.
“Dammit!” she shrieks into the empty apartment. “Damn you to… fuck, there is nowhere to damn you to, you infuriating beast!”
I settle myself in the sitting area of my bedroom, and keep watching her storm around the apartment, making deliberate movements and muttering to herself, knowing that I’m still here.
I decide out of the blue to pay her a visit tomorrow and try to smooth things over. I’d been harsh with her this evening, but my anger at seeing her with Evan had been too close to the surface. No one has the right to touch her, only me, and even I have to wait until she is cleansed and prepared. I wish I knew why I cared that she’s upset with me. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t give a rat’s ass, but there is just something about her that has gotten under my skin. It isn’t just the amazing strength she is showing me, just by continuing to survive every passing hour as the binding ritual passes through her. I haven’t been this enamored – no, I won’t use that word, ‘intrigued’ is a word I’m happy with – with a female since Jezebelle. Centuries have passed without me caring about the females I’ve bedded, and it hits me harder this time than it did the last.
I switch off the wall projection, giving her the privacy that she has been muttering about, even though I’m desperate to keep watching her. I can wait until tomorrow. It is only a few more hours.
Just a few more hours.
~ CHAPTER NINE ~
Dashel
I stand in the bright white room and feel my stomach twist into a knot. The Demon is surviving and getting stronger with each passing hour. I have only ever felt this strength from one other female. I breathe in deeply and close my eyes. I lean heavily on the back of one of the two chairs situated on either side of the white desk. The connection I feel with this one is stronger than the last. I feel like I can reach out and touch her. She is blonde and blue-eyed. Quite beautiful. One would never think she was an evil so vile, it makes me shudder to think of this connection that I have with her. I believe it is strong enough for me to enter her dreams. I have resisted because I don’t want to see that deep inside her head, but on the other hand, it would be useful to see what she dreams of. Does she want to be the Devil’s bitch, or does she go along with it because she has no choice? If there is even the slightest resistance, I can latch on to it and attempt to sway her. It is why I have been bestowed this gift. If you could call it that. It is my job to prevent this prophecy from coming true. It is my job to protect this side from the events that will no doubt come true if Luc finds who he is looking for. I have never had to go past this stage. The last one that had been this strong failed, painfully and miserably, before I had the chance to make contact with her.
I don’t think that will be the case with Axelle. She appears to only be getting stronger. It means that I have to push the revulsion I have for her aside and do what I was made to do.
I need to save her from herself before she makes a big mistake and follows the Devil blindly down this path of destruction.
I grip the back of the chair and push against the barrier of her mind.
I feel it give way fairly easily, but her guard is down as she sleeps.
She is tossing and turning, dreaming of past events that she was a part of back on Earth.
She wishes to be back there, causing mayhem and tormenting humans.
“Axelle,” I murmur, grabbing her attention.
In her dream, she turns to me.
She blinks and then frowns. “Who are you?” She licks her lips and comes closer, unafraid of the intrusion into her innermost thoughts.
>
“I am Dashel,” I tell her, letting her get close to me. I can smell the Demon in her. It is crawling away from me, knowing that I destroy its kind. She squirms and flashes rapidly as the Demon fights against this intrusion.
“What do you want?” she calls out before she flickers to almost nothing.
“To save you,” I reply, holding my hand out for her to take.
She stares at it, but then she is gone.
I’m jolted out of her dream, staggering slightly at the force with which I was shunted out.
I sigh. Luc has discovered my presence and booted me out. I didn’t think she was with him. I didn’t see past her to him. She drew my full attention to the detriment of doing my job properly. I cannot let that happen again. Luc will be expecting this now. He will go to great lengths to keep her from me.
“Unacceptable,” I growl to myself, angry that somehow, I missed the Devil’s presence near her. “I will get to you again. I promise I will give you another way.”
I keep my eyes closed as the white light of the room suddenly feels too bright for me. Her face swims into my mind’s eye. Those cornflower blue eyes, that sultry smile…
I quickly open my eyes, my heart racing.
What is happening to me?
Axelle
I wake up in my bed, but still in my work clothes from yesterday. After Evan left and I’d cleaned this apartment from top to bottom to let off my frustration, I’d crawled onto the bed and I must have fallen asleep. I groan. My head is aching. I’d had a really strange dream about a gorgeous man with the greenest eyes and shoulder length blonde hair, dressed in a tan leather jacket, a white shirt and tan pants. I think he was an Angel trying to save me.
“Fucking weird,” I mutter and open my eyes.
I see a manly leg covered in a navy-blue pinstripe suit. I raise my eyes higher and see Luc sitting on my bed, watching me sleep with a smile on his face.
Great. Now he has taken to watching me from centimeters away. Man, that is so creepy.
“Good morning,” he says. “Sleep well?”
“Whatever,” I mumble. My head is now splitting, and it is just too bright in here. “Can’t you do something about the lights?”
Luc clicks his fingers and the light dims to almost darkness.
“Eh?” I ask, sitting up and peering out of the window. Days and nights down here are a somewhat interesting concept. Time moves the same as on Earth, but as there is no sun or moon or stars, the days are just orange hazy skies, which turn black when it is ‘nighttime’. Right now, it is morning and it looks more like evening.
“It’s all just an illusion, my dear,” Luc says.
I stare at him in awe. But, of course, he has the ability to control the illusion. He’s the Devil for fuck’s sake.
“Neat,” I drawl and then roll over to ignore him. I’m still annoyed with him for not only denying my needs, but also for humiliating me in front of a twin and an imp.
“You are upset with me,” Luc says. “I understand that. I’m sorry for the way I acted last night.”
I wait a beat as I’m pretty sure I just made all of that up in my head. As I slowly turn my head to look at Luc, he is waiting expectantly for me to say something.
“The Devil knows how to apologize?” I scoff.
He narrows his eyes. “Don’t get used to it,” he growls.
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it,” I say breezily. “So why did you get so mad at me for doing something that I didn’t even know was wrong? It’s not like you have given me a sheet with the rules on it.”
“It’s complicated,” he says, brushing it off.
“Then un-complicate it, Luc. What is going on with you? Us?”
“I’m not ready to share,” he says dismissively and stands up to turn his back to me. “Did you take matters into your own hands last night?” he asks with a wicked smile, turning back to me. “I will really regret not watching that if you had.”
“No,” I say glumly. He hadn’t been watching me? “There’s no fun in that.”
“I disagree,” he says seductively, giving me a raking once over, still clad in my crumpled work clothes.
“Oh?” I ask tartly. “You would get off on seeing me work myself up?”
“I certainly would,” he murmurs, his blue eyes hooding sexily as he continues to watch my movements.
“Interesting,” I mutter, gaining a predatory air about me now that I find myself in familiar territory. Nothing like a good flirt before a roll in the sack. “And here I thought you weren’t attracted to me.” I pout and lower my eyes coquettishly.
“Whatever would make you think that?” he asks. “I did give you that form, remember?”
“You won’t touch me,” I whisper dangerously.
“I can’t taint you,” he whispers back.
“Have you heard of condoms, Luc?” I ask with a bite to my tone.
“I can’t risk it,” he grates out, the sweat starting to form on his brow.
“Then I guess I will have to take matters into my own hands,” I say in a normal tone. “And see if you can resist me.”
~ CHAPTER TEN ~
Luc
Axelle wiggles out of her skirt and blouse to stand naked before me. She crawls onto the bed and I lick my lips. I’ve never been a creature of restraint. That is for the righteous and sanctimonious. It is going to take everything that I have to sit here and watch her get herself off and not do anything about it.
I seat myself on a stool, still furious that the ‘other side’ has latched onto my Demon Bound. Luckily, I caught that Angel fucker in time and booted him out of her head. But I know he will try again. I try to push it out of my mind as I fix my eyes on Axelle’s glistening pussy as she rubs her fingers over her clit. She throws her head back and arches her back as the pleasure kicks in.
“Oh, yes,” she moans.
I can feel how stiff my cock is. I shift uncomfortably as I watch her. I part my lips and my tongue—my real, serpentine, forked tongue—slips out of my mouth and tastes her arousal. I want to kneel in front of her and lick her. Flick her with my sensitive tongue. I feel my eyes shift to their natural state, but I pull back. She cannot see me like that, not yet. I hiss as she reaches her climax quickly and clamp my mouth shut, transforming my tongue back to my human one.
“Mesmerizing,” I say to her as she lifts her head and regards me closely.
I stand up trying not to let her see the effect that her performance has had on me. Unfortunately, my cock is quite visible through my suit pants and she has definitely seen it.
“He has passion after all,” she drawls.
“More than you can handle,” I mutter darkly.
She snorts. “You are going to have to do a lot better than those clinical performances you have thus far thrust upon me, to convince me otherwise,” Axelle says.
“The ritual was very specific,” I say mildly insulted, but knowing that my performance wasn’t up to my usual level of excellence due to the instructions and my own reservations about trying it again.
“Ah, yes, the mysterious ritual,” Axelle says, flashing her bracelet at me.
“Eat up now,” I say, ignoring her efforts to get me to talk.
“Why do you keep wanting me to eat?” Axelle asks sauntering still naked, over to the freshly supplied breakfast I have provided.
“You need your strength,” I state.
“What for?” she asks, biting into the top of a muffin.
“The next phase,” I say and wait for her reaction.
“How many phases are there?” she asks after she swallows.
I hadn’t been expecting that. I’d been expecting an inquisition on where, how and why. “Six,” I say blandly.
“Of course,” she mutters before she takes in more muffin. “Am I the only one?” she adds, well, I think that’s what she said with her mouth full.
“At the moment, yes,” I answer. I see no harm in her questions thus far.
She nods, taking that
in. I can see she is pleased with that answer. I’m starting to get how she thinks, and I’m sure she feels that it wouldn’t be worth it if she was in a line with others.
“You said ‘at the moment’. You have done this ritual before?” she asks carefully.
“Many times,” I reply, just as cautiously.
“How many times?” she whispers.
“Several hundred,” I whisper back.
“Just females or males as well?” she asks.
“Only females,” I give her a smile.
“You looking for a wife here?” she asks with a chuckle.
“No, definitely not,” I say with a moue of distaste.
“Is it dangerous?” she asks, seemingly losing her happiness from earlier.
“Very,” I remark seriously.
“They have died?”
“Their essences have gone,” I say slowly.
“What phase am I in now?”
“Three.”
“How many others have got to phase three?”
I pause. I shouldn’t tell her anything else. She needs to concentrate on keeping herself strong, not worrying about what might happen to her. But she is waiting anxiously when I don’t answer her.
Eventually, I sigh. “One,” I say, my eyes fixed on hers.
“One!” Axelle chokes and replaces the muffin on the countertop. “One?”
I nod.
“Out of several hundred?”
“Yes.”
“Shit,” she breathes.
“Indeed.”
“And phase four?” she asks.
I can’t help the look that passes over my face. It is grim and full of doom.
“None,” she states.
I nod again.
“My chances of making it aren’t good, then, are they?” she inquires, straightening her back.
I shake my head slightly.
“It is important to you? This ritual?” she asks.
“Very,” I reply immediately.