Promise! Promise me you’ll fight! Ash’s words came back at her. Would she need to continue fighting forever? She couldn’t live like this.
‘Yeah, Steve. I promise.”
* * * *
The night before had been a nightmare. Kampbell had wandered her apartment, unable to sit, unable to eat, and unable to sleep. She’d looked into the mirror in the morning and the bags under her eyes had bags of their own. Exhaustion was an understatement.
Thoughts of running away had zipped through her mind. She had pulled out her suitcase, sorely tempted to fill it. But her need to lay eyes on Ashton Hawkins the Fourth had stayed her hand. That same need had made her get dressed this morning and drive into work. It was already past noon and there were no signs of the new hire.
She jumped at every noise, her nerves completely on edge.
Around one o’clock that afternoon, she heard voices in the office next door to hers and her heartbeat sped up a thousand-fold. Was it him?
Sweaty palms folded before her, she stood and walked to the wall that separated the two offices, an ear to the edge. There was a deep, masculine rumble that sent a shiver down her spine coupled with a twittering female voice, which had to be Helen, their CPA. Then, she heard Helen giggle. The woman was sixty-five and as happy as Grumpy the dwarf. She never smiled, let alone, giggled.
An incubus in action?
Her nerves raw, she couldn’t wait any longer. Kampbell busted out of her office and slipped around the corner. Standing at the door next to her own, she listened in to their conversation. It was definitely him. His voice rolled over her like a warm summer day and the need for him was instant, her clit throbbing between her legs. She needed to be strong, ignore her body’s response to him. She was unsure if she’d survive another battle with him.
Her shaking hand stretched out before her and she watched it push open his door. Peering in, she held a breath as she cast a glance through the room, her body quivering with fear, anger, and need. Kampbell was so confused. Half of her was afraid it was truly him, the other half screamed for it to please be him.
Ash was seated at the large mahogany desk, hunched over a pile of papers strewn all over the surface. Helen was perched on the edge, pointing out a few details. Both were oblivious to her entry. Kampbell quietly watched him for a few moments, her fight or flight instincts warring with one another, as he didn’t seem to sense her there.
When Ash’s eyes lifted from the work, apparently feeling the heat of her stare, he locked onto her gaze. Her heart yammered in her chest and she held the breath that hitched in her lungs. Those beautiful eyes roamed over her body and back up to her gaze in an instant.
But there was no sense of connection at all. He looked at her through stranger’s eyes, as if he’d never met her before.
“Hello?” Ash raised an eyebrow as she continued to stand there looking at him, unable to speak.
Helen saved her. “Ashton, this is our Director of the Marketing Department, Kampbell Curtis. She has the office right next door, so I’m sure you’ll see her often.”
Ash rose from his chair and walked over the few spaces to meet her. He extended a large hand to her. “A pleasure to meet you.”
The lust that had tinged his voice the short time she’d spent with him was gone. She nearly sobbed at the loss of intimacy. Collecting herself, she finally managed to get her body to move and placed her hand in his. The firm shake he gave her was professional, devoid of feeling.
“Steve has told me great things about what you do in Marketing. I know you are under his umbrella, so I’m sure we will run into each other often.” He smiled at her briefly and removed his hand.
Words started to come from her mouth, but the frog in her throat caused her to cough instead. Once she was clear, her inane words seem to squeak from her. “Yes, I suppose so.”
He nodded and turned from her and went back to his seat and began to look over the paperwork. It was a quiet dismissal that she didn’t know how to accept. After standing there a few more moments, both he and Helen looked back up to her and she flushed with embarrassment.
As she walked back into her office, she tried to understand what had just happened. Had Azmaroth stolen this man’s body and released it once he was done? Could he have not been present when everything had happened and not remember her at all? There were so many possibilities. First of all, she was just plain nuts. And now, she would have to work next door to the man she’d felt so strongly for and he had no idea who the hell she was.
Kampbell was strong. Tears did not come naturally. She couldn’t recall ever crying over a man in her entire life. Now she was nearly two for two over the man next door.
Slipping into her office, she did everything in her power to keep from crying. One loose tear sprung from her eye, but she caught it quickly and wiped it away.
Chapter Six
Kampbell straightened up her office at the end of the day, preparing to leave. The place had cleared out being that it was Friday evening. Usually, she worked a while longer, the quiet in the evenings was quite productive, but she was amazed she’d even made it this long without bolting out the door. Having Ash right next door, appearing to not know who she was had tormented her all afternoon.
She pushed a few more files into her briefcase. Her week away had gotten her behind and she was a one-woman show, so she was still playing catch up. At least she had something to occupy her mind, because the whole situation here was enough to drive anyone crazy, if she wasn’t already there.
A soft knock sounded behind her and the door widened as she turned to face it. Ash stood in the doorframe, filling it completely with his huge body. His gaze roamed over her and back up again, settling on her eyes.
“Leaving so soon?” His eyebrow rose.
“It’s past five. Time to go home.” She tried to hide the quiver in her voice.
“But we have the place to ourselves. Nice and quiet. No one to hear a thing.”
Kampbell’s heartbeat quickened and her eyes rounded as she attempted to decipher his tone and his words. No one to hear a thing? Had that been an implied threat? She also looked around the room for obvious weapons and an escape route, which was nil with him filling the only door.
“I was so proud of you, Kampbell. You did exactly what I asked.”
Her brain buzzed at his comment, still unsure what was happening. “And what’s that?”
“You fought. And you figured it out. I knew you were a smart one, too good for what was planned for you. You saved yourself.”
Realization hit her that this was indeed Azmaroth. She was still in danger. Stepping forward slowly, she wanted to keep him talking until she could figure out a way out of the room. She would not cower in a corner. “So, I saved myself. For what? To have you come and chase me down later?”
“Is that what you think?” His warm chuckle didn’t have the effect she wanted it to. “Kampbell, you saved yourself—and me. Your refusal broke my ties to the Underworld as well. I’ll forever be in your debt.”
“So you aren’t here to try for round two?” She rounded her desk and stood before it.
He advanced on her quickly, his strong body inches from her own. “The only second round I want is with you in less clothing, to finish what we started and couldn’t complete. And then I’ll want a third, and a fourth, and—well, you get the picture.”
Ash’s lips descended on hers in a breathtaking kiss. Her arms instinctively went around his neck and she pulled him close, not caring if he was about to take her to heaven or to hell. A night in his arms was surely worth the risk. His heat leeched into her and she felt the temperature of the room spike. Or maybe it was her. Beads of sweat formed on her brow as they quickly began to disrobe each other.
Clothes flew around the room as the quickly exposed each other. Kampbell’s fingers shook, her need to be fulfilled too great within her. She fought with his shirt, the tiny buttons ungraspable with her shaking hands. Ash ripped the fabric away, buttons flying
around them, just before he pulled her skirt from her body, leaving her only in her black lace panties.
They were similar to the ones she’d had on when they’d been together last. Ash leaned back and took in the sight of her naked but for a tiny sliver of fabric. His hands went to his belt, tugging the leather out of the band and beating it against his open palm. Kampbell shivered as she watched him do it a few more times, the thought of him spanking her sending a current to her cunt. Dropping his pants, he stepped from them and kicked them aside, his gaze never leaving her body.
His eyes were glued to the tiny scrap of lace. He closed back in, crowded her with his heat and masculine scent. She watched as one lone finger trailed over one swell of a breast and ran the length of her abdomen. The finger slid under the band of her panties and ran along her skin. He didn’t remove them, tugging them up to rub across her clit, the friction making her hiss in delight.
A moan escaped her lips as he did it again. It was too much, too little, he needed to stop, she needed more. She needed his fingers, his lips, his cock on her, in her. Now, she had to have him now. Deep inside her pussy, she would die if she didn’t have him deep inside her pussy.
Grasping her hips, Ash lifted her to the desk, spreading her thighs wide with his own as he centered himself at her core. He lowered the band on his boxer-briefs and his thick cock bounced out before him. The purple tip reached just above his belly button as he palmed himself and stroked the length, once, twice, her eyes following the motions, her fingers itching to replace his.
Thoughts zipped through her mind. She’d watched this man, this beastly creature, turn into a demon, yet she couldn’t hold back the rising tide of lust she felt in his presence. It could be something he had done to her, made he feel this way, but unlike the evening in her hotel room, this time she felt coherent. The last, he had woven a spell or something of the sort and her mind had felt addled and dreamlike.
Today, she was clear as a bell. And she knew what she wanted. She wanted his cock, stuffed deep inside her pussy. There had been too many nights since his departure where she’d brought herself off with her own hand, her mind imagining how it would have felt to have him thrusting inside her. She had to know how it felt to be engulfed in his flame.
“You have a lot of explaining to do. But later. Right now, all I can think about is you fucking me, Ash.”
His eyes caught hers and he reached out to cup her cheek. A coarse thumb ran along her bottom lip and she drew it between her lips, suckling on the thick digit. Ash’s eyes closed in pleasure, his head dropping back as a groan sounded deep in his throat.
“Woman, you’ll be the death of me yet.”
Ash rubbed the head of his cock against the silk of her panties, the rasping delicious. Her hips moved of their own accord, willing him to rip the fabric away. Pulling the panties aside, baring her sex to his eyes, he slid his shaft along her heat, never taking her undergarment off.
“You wore these panties the night I was with you. I fantasized ripping them from your body, saw it in my mind’s eye as I came into my hand. Tonight, I think they need to stay on.”
He had ripped them from her body. She wondered briefly if he even remembered turning into the beast. The thought escaped her as he brought his cock to her channel, readying himself to rush forward.
As the tip of his shaft slipped within her, they both cried out, the echoes of their passion bouncing off the walls around them. Inch by inch, he slid in deeply, stretching her to overflowing as he surged forth. He lifted her legs over his massive forearms and then grasped her hips, steadying her as he took over. She wrapped her arms around his thick neck and held on for dear life as his hips swiveled and the first masterful stroke rammed home.
His motions were quick. He pumped his hard flesh into her, the friction of his thick root hitting every spot that needed to be hit. She moaned continuously, the fast-paced rhythm exactly what she needed. Lips descended, capturing hers in a kiss of dominance, he claimed her completely with that kiss and demanded more.
She was on the edge, her orgasm awaiting her in a stroke or two of his cock, and he slowed. Pushing her back further onto her desk, she heard pens go flying and papers fall to the floor, but she didn’t care. Orgasm was a necessity, as much as breathing her next burst of air or her heart beating its next beat. He’d shifted the pace, and now something that had been so close, within reach, was now stretched far away.
Fast and furious, she needed him to give her what she needed. Weeks had passed where she’d dreamed of this moment and she needed him to give it to her. She didn’t want slow lovemaking. Bucking her hips, she tried to urge him on, to get him to quicken again, but his languid strokes seemed to slow down even further.
“What’s the rush, Kampbell?”
“I need—” She didn’t even know how to vocalize it. She would sound like a whore, a common slut, needing a fast paced fucking. How could she crystallize her desire in something as base as words? It wasn’t just the hard fucking. She needed even more from him. “I need you to push me harder.”
Stopping, he looked down into her face, reading over her features before settling to her eyes. His lips captured hers once more and then his hips began to move, his pace quickening. A sob caught in her throat, realizing he’d understood her unspoken need.
But as quickly as he started, he stopped, his cock slipping from her body. Seconds later, he had whipped her around, laying her stomach against the desk, her ass high in the air and ready for his hand. A tremor racked through her as she locked her legs, ready for the blow.
The loud clap that sounded reverberated through her body, his hand leaving stinging flesh behind. Another soon followed and she felt her juices slide from her and coat her labia. Gathering her hands, he bound them behind her, using the narrow belt he’d pulled from his pants. Her breasts jutted uncomfortably into the hard wood of her desk, but it also abraded the tips, making them ache all the more.
He landed blow after blow to her ass, the skin on fire from his rough use. Cries tore from her lips as she took each spank, accepting that he had complete mastery of her body. Once she reached the point where she knew she couldn’t take anymore, she had barely taken in the air to speak a refusal when she felt his soft kisses and tender touches over her buttocks.
Ash stood and spread her thighs with his fingers, opening her to his perusal. She felt his cock press into her and he set a bruising rhythm with his thrusts. He pumped within her, his hand occasionally smacking her sensitive skin as he pounded into her. The punishing tempo pushed her over the edge, and she cried out as her release crested. As soon as she fell back to Earth, Ash pulled from her and she felt the hot splash of his cum on her ass.
She worked to capture her breath, unsure if she could face him after such a wide-open sexual experience. She continued to lay, face-down on the desk, unable to move. Then silk ran over her ass and she lifted her head. Ash was using the inside liner of his jacket to wipe away his cum from her body. A tender moment, she found his eyes, unable to hide a moment longer.
His eyes found hers once he was done. A light sheen of red covered his face. A mixture of exertion and embarrassment?
“You deserved better than a quick fuck on your desk.”
“But—it’s what I asked for.”
“I know. But I wanted more.”
“More?”
“I gave you what you want, now give me what I want.”
She rose from the desk, her sex-addled mind understanding that this could be all he had been after. Was he still playing a game? Stiffening, she eyed him. “What is it you want?”
“You.” He lowered his lips and dropped a kiss to her cheek. “And you can relax. There is no ploy. I know you’re worried. I can’t blame you for that. You’re the only woman in two hundred years to ever care about who I was and what made me tick, even when I was wrapping my spell around you, you fought it and asked questions—about me. You wanted to show me a fun afternoon, to pull me from the hell I lived in. I’ve never
met a female like you.”
“Two hundred years?”
“Over two hundred. I was cursed in 1799. It was the night before I was to be wed. My cousins had purchased a gypsy woman to dance for me and then hopefully to fuck me before I stood at the altar and signed my life away. That dancer was an ancestor of one of the witches from Salem, and my great-great grandfather had been her judge, one who’d sentenced her to death. So instead of what my cousins had planned, she turned each one of us into a demon and cast the lot of us into hell.”
“Why would she turn you into an incubus?”
“She had no choice as to what kind of demon we’d turn into when she summoned the dark power. She was quite irate when she realized what we’d all become.”
“But then you chose to come after the women, to seduce them?”
“I had no choice in the matter. It’s was a compulsion that was planted within me. I’ve tried fighting it before on many, many occasions, only to have the women not be strong enough to end her plight. It’s weighed on my shoulders for a very long time.”
“It must have been hard to know one woman could break your spell and to sit and wait for 200 years to find her.”
“Kampbell, I didn’t know it would break my spell. I never imagined it would. I just couldn’t stomach you being in Beelzebub’s hands. I couldn’t stomach any of them being in his hands, and for once, finally, one beautiful, strong woman was able to win and end it. You saved yourself. I was expecting punishment, not salvation.”
He’d done it selflessly. He’d saved her with no idea what would happen to him afterwards.
“And now you’re here? How? Why?” She fought happy tears that threatened to spill over.
“I don’t know how the curse was broken exactly and Beelzebub was none too happy. But I’ve a second chance it seems, and I want to take that with you.” He smiled, gathering her up in his arms. “If you’ll have me?”
She soaked in his body heat. “I’ll have you. Over and over again.”
SuiteTemptations Page 4