by Various
Another knock. No, a rattle. And it wasn’t coming from the door, it was coming from the kitchen, from the kitchen cupboard, the one under the sink where she kept the garbage can. She’d put a child lock on the door when her cat started getting into the trash, and it looked like Freddy had somehow wormed his way inside and now couldn’t get out. Laura May had never figured out how he managed that, but it was a common occurrence.
As the kitchen cupboard bopped, Laura May pressed down on the latch, releasing the spring. The small plastic garbage can toppled over and the chocolate man fell out, packaging and all. There was nothing else in the trash, just him, and it seemed strange that Freddy should have snuck into the cupboard without the draw of meat. She waited, but Freddy never emerged.
It suddenly occurred to Laura May that, when she’d awoken to the sound of knocking, Freddy had been sprawled across her legs. When she’d sat up on the couch, he’d jumped to the arm and, as far as she knew, that’s where he’d stayed.
So, if the cat wasn’t making those rapping sounds in her cupboard … what was?
Laura May picked up the chocolate man and set him on the counter, then plugged in the kettle for tea. While she waited for the water to boil, she sat on one of her padded kitchen chairs. Her eyelids drooped, and she thought she’d put her head down for a second, just for a second …
‘Here’s your tea, Laura May. Milk and sugar?’
Laura May jerked up from the table. Her eyes adjusted slowly to the moonlight. There was a shape beside the table, a form, like a shadow, and she thought it might be wise to feel afraid, but she wasn’t afraid.
‘Ooh, can you take the mug fast?’ the shadow said. ‘It’s melting through my hand.’
When Laura May didn’t react quickly enough, the tea maker set her mug on the table. As soon as he’d put it down, his dark hand split in two. When four fingers fell to the tabletop, a scream rose from Laura May’s belly, but it stuck in her throat. She didn’t even open her mouth, just stared in horror at four brown fingers.
‘Oops,’ the shadow man said, picking up his fingers and sticking them back onto his hand. ‘Don’t you just hate it when that happens?’
When the figure smoothed his severed fingers back together with his other hand, it hit Laura May all at once: he wasn’t a shadow man, he was a chocolate man! And not just any chocolate man. Judging by the impressive length and girth between his legs, this was the candy man Marjorie had bought her.
‘Did I get your tea right?’ he asked, his voice deep and rich as his lovely chocolate flesh. ‘Milk and sugar?’
Laura May gazed into the candy man’s face. When her eyes adjusted to the moonlight, she came to a jarring realisation. ‘Devon? Is that you?’
He chuckled, baring his chocolate teeth in a familiar smile. ‘You got me. Happy birthday, Laura May.’
In the movies, people pinched themselves to check if they were dreaming. Laura May tried that, but she didn’t wake up. She glanced around her kitchen. Everything looked normal. No dead giveaways that this might be a dream. None except the huge chocolate man who looked just like her high school crush.
‘You’re chocolate?’ Laura May asked, feeling supremely stupid that she couldn’t come up with a better question. ‘I mean … how … Tabar said you were in a coma, you’d been in a car accident.’
‘All true,’ Devon said with a nod.
‘But then … how are you here?’
He shrugged. ‘Just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. Sorry I couldn’t make it to the party.’
Laura May stared at him, stunned. ‘But … OK … why are you chocolate?’
‘My body’s prone on a hospital bed. The only way I could be with you tonight was to jump into another body, and, what can I say? This one was already in your house.’ When she didn’t respond in any way, he asked, ‘Aren’t you going to drink your tea?’
‘Oh, sorry, sure.’ Laura May picked up the hot mug. The handle was sticky, but the tea was perfect. ‘Wow, you got it just right. That’s amazing.’
‘I do my best.’
As Laura May sat at her kitchen table, staring at the man who seemed so familiar, her heart warmed. His chocolate eyes seemed to sparkle as he gazed at her, awaiting her approval. Her mind buzzed with expectation. She’d gotten what she wanted. Devon was here in her kitchen, eager to please. The only problem was … well, his body was made of chocolate.
Laura May’s mouth watered. Did he have any idea how badly she wanted to taste him? Could he see the lust in her eyes? Could he feel the mad desire burning in her chest? A man in a coma had bounced bodies just to be with her on her birthday. What had she done to deserve this treatment? She felt like a queen.
‘I heard what Marjorie said, how she implied you couldn’t get a man yourself.’ Devon shook his chocolate head. ‘What a lousy thing to say.’
‘And it’s not even true!’ Laura May cried. ‘I could snag any old loser if I really wanted to.’
‘Yeah, even me!’ Devon said with a smile.
Laura May chuckled. ‘I didn’t mean you. Just, Marjorie’s always dating idiots who use her for sex or money or power, whatever they’re in the market for.’
‘That’s not the life for you,’ Devon said warmly. He brushed his fingers across the top of her hand, leaving a trail of warm chocolate on her skin.
She licked her flesh and then hummed mmmmm as the richness of sweet cocoa danced on her tongue. ‘Oh, you taste good!’
‘Thanks,’ Devon said, smiling shyly.
They stared at each other without speaking. When Laura May had blown out the candles on her birthday cake earlier in the evening, this is what she’d wished for – Devon in her house, sweet eternal moments of togetherness, gazing deep into each other’s eyes, everything that spelled romance. And what was romance without a little chocolate? Or a lot of it?
Laura May broke the silence to say, ‘I think about you all the time. I hope that doesn’t sound needy or weird. I know we haven’t seen each other since high school, but you know how it is when a big birthday rolls around. You start re-evaluating, wondering where you went right and where you went wrong.’
‘Where did you go right?’ Devon asked, clutching her hand in his chocolate fist.
‘I have a good job,’ she told him. ‘Education, work, that stuff. And I have a great relationship with my family, my nieces and nephews, everyone. So that’s good.’
‘Absolutely.’ He leaned in and tenderly kissed her forehead. ‘Now, what’s not so good?’
Laura May sighed. ‘Every night, I go to bed alone. When I was younger, I didn’t even notice, but now … I hate to admit it, but I’m lonely.’
‘I know what you mean.’ Devon offered a caring smile. ‘And it’s not just the sex, but …’
Laura May chuckled, because she knew exactly what he was getting at. ‘But you miss the sex, too, when there’s no one in your life.’
‘Exactly.’
The longer Laura May gazed into Devon’s deep chocolate eyes, the more she saw of the human boy she’d gone to school with. He was in there. She didn’t know what aspect it was, whether his soul or mind or something even more esoteric, but something of him was inside that chocolate body. And she wanted it.
Laura May rose swiftly from her chair and threw herself into Devon’s chocolate arms. She wasn’t sure whether she kissed him or he kissed her, but did it really matter? They were together, their tongues mingling like hot velvet. She tasted him strongly. His lips were chocolate, and it was divine, the greatest, richest, and most pure chocolate she’d ever put in her mouth.
His body was supple, not stiff – well, with the exception of one particular part. Laura May dared to touch his cock, and it reacted wildly against her palm. He groaned in her mouth, and she felt his resonance deep in her belly. She ached for him. After all these years, she felt like a teenager again.
‘Take off your clothes, Laura May.’
When she looked down at her party outfit, her heart dropped. She could only laugh.
The front of her dress was absolutely wrecked, smeared with dark chocolate. There was no washing out stains like those, but at least they’d always remind her of Devon.
Stripping out of her dress, she showed off her special panties for her candy man and said, ‘So? What do you think of these?’
‘Very nice,’ he growled. His voice warmed her inside and out. ‘Now take them off. I want what’s underneath.’
Laura May chuckled like a hussy while she dropped her drawers. When she’d taken off her bra, she did a little twirl for Devon, showing off a body she was suddenly ecstatic to have. ‘This is me!’
Devon grabbed her hips so hard it stunned her momentarily. When he said, ‘Jump,’ she wasn’t expecting it, but she followed his instruction. His slippery chocolate hands aided her onto the kitchen table and spread her thighs wide.
‘This is what I think about all day,’ Devon admitted. ‘A coma is a hell of a thing, Laura May, but you keep me company. You let me lick you for hours.’
‘Who wouldn’t?’ she asked, breath ragged. Her clit throbbed to feel the heat of his tongue.
‘You come again and again,’ Devon told her. ‘I love the look on your face when I bring you to the edge and you’re just about to go over. Your eyes flutter and you toss your head back. You gasp and you whisper, “Please, Devon. Please make me come.” And I do. And then I do it again.’
‘Oh, God.’ Laura May flushed at the idea of being a coma fantasy for someone as wonderful as Devon. ‘Please, Devon. Please make me come.’
He chuckled, almost a snarl, and dove at her pussy. Without another word, he licked her clit hard, like he’d been practising. He knew just what to do. He knew what she wanted, what she liked. Maybe this was a dream after all. No man had ever pleased her so keenly, so adamantly, so expertly.
‘Yes, more.’ Laura May reached for his head and brought it closer to her pussy, right between her legs. As she bucked against his face, she felt something wet against her palms. When she glanced down, she realised his head was melting in her hands. If only he had a candy coating, this wouldn’t be happening. It mortified her, but she couldn’t ask him to stop. It felt too good – the soft purr of his mouth rumbling through her body, the practised stroking of his tongue against her aching clit. She wanted this. More than anything.
Bringing her palm to her lips, Laura May licked the melted chocolate from her skin. Her mouth filled with that special warmth only chocolate could create. She swallowed sweetness while Devon gulped her pussy juice. Dark heat blazed in her throat. She wanted water, but satisfied herself with more chocolate. Every lick brought her closer to climax. Chocolate and Devon’s tongue – this was heaven for Laura May.
‘Keep going,’ she begged. ‘Don’t stop. Oh, please make me come, Devon. Please, I’m so close.’
‘I won’t stop,’ he assured her as she lapped slick chocolate from her palm. ‘Never. Not until you come.’
She knew he’d get her there. She wasn’t exaggerating – she really was close to the edge. How could she not be? His tongue painted circles around her clit, around and around, hot and slick. Her whole body buzzed with that full-of-chocolate satisfaction as it shifted into almost-orgasm eagerness. Laura May rode his face and Devon groaned like he got just as much pleasure out of the experience.
‘Yes!’ she cried, getting there, so close. ‘Yes, let me fuck your tongue. Let me ride it.’ She held his head still and writhed against it. ‘That’s right, baby. Get me there.’
His tongue buzzed and he must have been saying something, but she was too focused on her hovering orgasm to hear. She rode his slick chocolate face until a throbbing ball of arousal exploded in her belly, casting sparks like confetti through her veins. She pinched her nipples with chocolate-covered fingers and put herself over the edge once again.
‘Flip over,’ Devon instructed from under the table. ‘I’ll take you from behind, but you can’t look up. You promise me?’
‘Yes,’ she cried, turning over on the kitchen table. Anything to feel that massive cock inside her pussy. Her thighs were slick as the devil. She’d never been so ready.
Devon grasped Laura May’s hips, coating her flesh with melting chocolate. He pressed his cock head against her slit, then surged forward, driving his dick deep inside her. His unbelievable girth filled her to capacity, stretching her pussy enough to make her scream. He was everywhere – inside her, behind her, all over her. She was slick with chocolate and licked it from her fingers as he fucked her from behind. Her hard nipples pressed against the tabletop, sending lightning zaps straight to her clit every time Devon thrust in her.
He went at her fast and furious, just the way you’d expect a man to fuck after thinking about sex for three years straight. He drove his mass into her like he was trying to get through the other side. Laura May had never been fucked this way before. Devon’s sheer desire spilled into action. Lust built on lust. She’d never been so slippery, so wet with arousal, so deliciously slick.
When Devon thrust in double time, building friction in her throbbing cunt, Laura May knew what was coming. Devon was coming. His throat made a noise she’d heard before, though never from him. He hummed and yelped and grunted, all at once. His orgasm was circling. She could feel it, and she clamped her pussy muscles down on his dick to put him over the edge.
Devon froze balls-deep inside of her, groaning as he spilled … what did a candy man spill instead of come? Chocolate milk? The idea made Laura May chuckle, and she turned to ask Devon the question.
The moment she caught sight of Devon’s face, her heart stopped. She must have been seeing things. She blinked, hoping to clear her field of vision, but to no avail. The beautiful man she’d gone to school with, who’d come to her in chocolate form, now had no face. It must have melted off while he licked her hot cunt. Why hadn’t he told her? Why hadn’t he said something?
But the vision was too shocking. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Her ears rang like cathedral bells. Darkness came over her, and she fell.
When she awoke, the sun was high in the sky and the phone was ringing. She was naked on the kitchen floor. And covered in chocolate.
Laura May dragged herself to the phone, picked it up and choked out, ‘Hello?’
‘Laura May?’
‘Huh?’
‘It’s Tabar, from Kenmore High.’
‘Oh.’ Her heart sank. She’d been hoping … well, that was stupid.
‘You were asking about Devon last night, so I thought I’d let you know first. I just got a call from his mother. He’s out of his coma. The doctors say his recovery is nothing short of a miracle. No brain damage, nothing. It’ll take some rehab before he’s up and about, but I’m going to the hospital for a visit. Want to come?’
Chocolate played on Laura May’s tongue like liquid lust. Her heart warmed and grew until it felt too big for her chest. Something strange had happened here. Something good.
Before the phone could slide from her hand, she said to Tabar, ‘Let me hop in the shower and I’ll meet you there.’
Demonbound
Ellen Heights
Arianna had discovered the meadow on a drive into the country just a week ago, when she’d been exploring the moors in the south of England. It had been a humid summer’s evening, and the hum of insects amongst the grass, and the delicate sweat bathing her skin, had filled her with an enriched sense of hope.
And then she’d seen the hawthorn tree, fanning out like a great blossoming dome where the forest began, and she knew this was to be the place where she would find her lover. She could feel it in her bones, in every pore of her; like a new energy running through her veins.
Tonight, she cast the circle around the hawthorn tree by taking slow, deep breaths and clasping her hands at her navel. She envisaged a ball of red light blooming like a rose from her centre, the symbol of passion. As she shut her eyes tight she felt her energy fan out around her, until it expanded beyond the tree and spread further throughout the meadow.
Sh
e could sense the whisperings of the trees, the grass and pollen as their voices travelled on the wind. Their replies ran through her hair like fingers. She knew the meadow was listening.
But it wasn’t just the meadow listening, and, if Arianna had listened to her elder sister, she would have realised the meadow was on dangerous land for witches. She would have recalled Old Mim’s warning two moons ago at the caravans, where she and her sisters gathered of a night, and had she listened she would never have come here.
Certainly, she would have driven away when she first found the place – for her own safety. Without protection from a wiser witch, she could succumb to whatever horrors she awoke by her mere presence in that meadow.
‘On the Devonshire moors just a few miles from here,’ Old Mim had begun, crossing one leg over another. ‘There is a sacred patch far from all the roadways and industrial farms and so on, deep down the country paths. I intended to take you girls there myself so you could feel the energy pulsing through the land, but when I visited a week ago I knew it was no place for fledglings. The ground is aged with blood and war, like all the land in this country, but this particular place is one of dark magic. I could feel it warding me away. I wouldn’t dare take you fledglings for fear of awakening anything you weren’t prepared to deal with.’
Old Mim edged her seat closer to the campfire and stirred the bean pot, the rings on her fingers glistening in the glow of the licking flames.
‘I will re-map another route for us to take our gatherings, but for now I’d like you girls to stay clear of any roads south of this camp. I haven’t attempted to identify the source of the aura I sensed there, but when I do, I will do so with great caution. I am certain it is a demonic force which lurks there.’
Sister Rosa, Arianna’s friend since childhood, had glanced around the circle of sisters before speaking. She could see that Arianna’s thoughts were away with the pixies as usual, her eyes cast towards the setting horizon. She hadn’t listened to Old Mim’s words, and she had always been the most curious young witch in the coven.