Demon Lovers: Succubi

by Lori Selke

  Anna paused, overcome. Finally, she choked out the words, “That was my moment of clarity.”

  ~ ~ ~

  A Different Approach—Jason Christopher Hosler

  Succubi are creatures of deception. They must be, in order to get close to their victims, to lure them in, to bring them willingly into their embrace. Do poor humans even stand a chance against them? For even when we expect deceit, we may still be misled.

  In “A Different Approach,” Jason takes us to a foreign land of strict morals and religious precepts, a place where a pious man truly struggles with unwanted temptation. For Josef, who is immersed in his religion, a demonic seduction seems the epitome of evil. But in spite of all his culture has taught him, it might be that evil is relative, after all.

  Who can know the truth, when deception is the currency of the day?

  A Different Approach

  The sun vanishing behind the distant mountains cast a line of red light down the length of the main road of the village of Ghar. It caused Josef’s shadow to loom large and monstrous before him, and it seemed to lurch and undulate towards the large multi-color building that dominated the end of Ghar’s muddy main street. The highest of the three bells ensconced in the high steeple of the House of Lights chimed twice.

  The clear piercing notes bounced off of the wood and daub buildings that lined the wide, muddy square whose entire western side was dominated by the House, and struck Josef from every direction. He twisted the brim of his hat nervously as he paced the wooden sidewalk, anxiously waiting for the women’s service to disperse.

  Only a couple of minutes after the last of the high-pitched echoes died away, the ornate bronze doors of the House swung open and a colorful pack of women exited. They tromped down the twin sets of stairs and spread along the planks of the sidewalk, carefully avoiding stepping in the places where the reddish-brown mud had been splashed up onto the raised walk. Josef could also hear the creak of wagons and the noises of haulbeasts as the husbands of the dispersing congregation emerged from the Common opposite the House and began untying the beasts from their stays. Numerous children accompanied them and Josef was thankful when he noticed an opportunity to slip past the last large knot of women and into the now mostly vacant House of Lights, avoiding the growing crowd.

  As he entered the building, he was momentarily blinded by the curtain of red light that bathed the vestibule. It glared down from a mirrored concentrator at the top of the steeple. The red light made his skin crawl, and he shuddered involuntarily as he quickly stepped through into the main hall. He was surprised to see a woman still in the House after services had released, and he paused uncertainly. The woman, whom he didn’t recognize, was speaking to the Prelate in hushed urgent tones. The holy man laid his hand on the woman’s chest and murmured something with his eyes closed. The woman sighed and a small smile touched her lips as the prelate finished his prayer and stepped back from her. She bowed slightly and quickly retreated down the center aisle of the church.

  Josef stepped well clear of the woman, and she passed into the red light of the vestibule without so much as a glance at him. Once she was past, he strode purposefully down the aisle to where the prelate stood patiently.

  “O Lightbringer,” he said, head bowed in reverence, “I seek your aid and protection.”

  The prelate nodded acceptance of this greeting and spoke, his deep and resonant voice seeming to cause something to vibrate deep in Josef’s frame. “How can I aid thee, supplicant?”

  Josef did not raise his head, and continued to twist the brow of his hat as he responded. “O Ye Holy, I have been set upon these past three nights by a spirit most unclean and malicious. I do not know why it has selected me thus, for you know that I am a faithful and chaste man. I have prayed and chanted as prescribed by the Tome, but to no avail.”

  A look of concerned darkened the Prelate’s expression, and he rumbled, “I hear thy troubles, and understand thy concerns. When this spirit appears to you, what is its intent?”

  Josef visibly trembled and said, “It seeks to seduce me and lead me into wicked ways, Holy One. She appears to me in a cloak of shimmering motes, as the Beacons are described in the Tome, and speaks in a voice that I would attribute to an enlightening spirit, but the acts she suggests and the actions she seeks to take are written of as the vilest of sins in the Tomes, so I know that she is naught but a devil in disguise. I have foresworn her these last three nights, but she has a gilded tongue and is tireless in her pleas. My heart quavers with the knowledge that I do not have the strength to continue to resist her temptations.”

  The prelate nodded knowingly, a sad smile curving his lips. He pressed his hand to Josef’s chest and closed his eyes. He murmured a prayer in the old tongue and Josef felt the warmth of the Holy Light through the coarse material of his shirt. After a moment the prelate chucked Josef under the chin to get him to raise his eyes. Locking gazes, the prelate said “Fear not, mine spark of the Holy Light, for you are shielded from the shadow of evil and walk forward bathed in the glory of the Light of Truth. Fear ye this succubus no longer.”

  Josef nodded gravely and muttered his thanks before turning and heading back down the aisle towards the now dark vestibule. He had only walked half the length of the aisle when the Prelate called out to him. “Josef, have you perhaps thought that this visitation is a sign of greater need? I know that you have opted out of the marriage pool for the last two seasons, and never attend the social meets. Perhaps by being so isolated, you have exposed yourself to these salacious temptings.”

  Josef’s jaw dropped in surprise. He had no idea that the Prelate would have noted how much he unintentionally avoided the company of women. It wasn’t something he had actively chosen to do, but there was always something more pressing that needed to be done. “Sir?” he said, turning. “You are correct that I have not made myself as available as most men my of my age, but that is not proscribed by the Tome. Why would my delay, by only a few years even, expose myself to such devilment?”

  The Prelate’s smile broadened, actually touching his eyes briefly. “It is not a question of deserving the temptation, merely of allowing oneself to be in a position where one may be tempted. Remember the proverb, ‘Light may shine through even the smallest crack.’ Likewise, darkness may seep in through the smallest opening as well. Regardless of cause, you have found yourself in this situation. I have faith that you have had the strength to avoid the temptations of all the women near on, and that you will find within yourself sufficient reserves to shun this demonic temptress as well.”

  Josef smiled slightly and gave a sharp couple of nods. “I certainly hope so, Prelate. I pray for it.” he said softly. He placed his hand on his chest where the blessing was bestowed, and bowed deeply. The Prelate nodded in reply and turned to begin gathering up the accoutrements of the women’s service that lay on the altar. Rising, Josef slipped out of the House through the dark vestibule.

  Emerging from the House, he paused for a moment at the top of the stairs to watch the dim shapes of the last of the family wagons disappear from the main street. He smoothed the brim of his hat and settled it squarely upon his head. For a moment he quavered, fear of his own bed shaking his resolve, but he focused his thoughts on the warmth of the Light the prelate had blessed him with, and a few moments later he had control of himself again.

  He quickly marched down the darkening walk towards the hitching post hidden between a chemist and a barber shop. He untied the reins of his steed and swung up into the saddle. Clucking to urge it forward, Josef made his way out of the town and along the dirt track that passed closest to his family stead. His thoughts were so consumed that he didn’t even notice as night fell across the land. If his steed hadn’t known the way home, he would very well have continued on well past the break in the berm that marked the limits of the steading.

  The sight of his darkened family home brought back the ominous foreboding that had struck him outside of the House. He dressed down the animal for the
night and poured out some feed in its stall. Blowing out a sigh thick with worry, he locked up the barn and trudged up the slight slope to the house.

  Josef entered the cabin, and stoked the fire back up from the embers. He lit a couple tapers and spread the light around the single room of the cabin. He prepared a quick supper of bread and soup and, after eating, he changed into his nightdress and made his final preparations for bed.

  He blew out the last candle and spread the embers of the fire to dim them, but just as his vision began to adjust, the darkness was suddenly banished by a swirl of reddish lights from the far side of the room. With great trepidation he turned to face the fading vortex of light.

  A figure stood there, and Josef was terrified to realize that he was facing a creature related to, but not the same as, his visitor of the prior evenings. They were very similar in face and overall body, but his previous visitor wore a revealing yet demure gown of white, while this one was dressed in a delicate filigree of thin leather straps. Her hair was black as pitch, except for small flashes and streaks of yellow and red. She smiled slightly at him, the right corner of her cherry red lips quirking to show a quick flash of brilliantly white teeth.

  Clutching a fist to his chest where the Prelate had bestowed his light, Josef called out to the being, only the slightest tremble in his voice. “Halt, she-demon! Do not attempt to lead me astray with your vile suggestions. Even this night I received a blessing of Light from the Prelate to stave off your darkness. You cannot pull me from the path of virtue and chastity.”

  The woman before him smiled more broadly, an odd twinkle in her dark eyes. “Perhaps, Josef, what you see as darkness, is not such a bad thing after all.”

  Josef began edging around the room, his eyes never leaving hers, and said, “How can leaving a path of chastity be a good thing before I am wed? What you tempt me with is strictly forbidden in the Tome.” He reached his bed and sat down, taking a corner of the comforter in hand. “To bed outside the bonds of matrimony makes one unclean and impure.”

  She laughed, a soft pleasing tinkling sound, and gyrated slowly towards him. “The Tome? Are you sure you’re remembering that quote right? And what if I told you that the fate of everyone you know may hang in the balance?” She ran one hand slowly down the smooth brown bedpost of his parents’ bed.

  He looked at her incredulously. “I don’t understand,” he stammered. “How could my virtue rule the fate of the world? And why have you changed your dress and presentation?”

  “Oh, Josef, I’m so touched you noticed.” She purred, inching closer to the edge of the bed, both her hands caressing the post as she slowly turned around it. “That obviously wasn’t working, so a different approach was called for.” The woman took a step towards him. “You may call me Senta.”

  Josef felt cold, nervous sweat break out on his brow and in the small of his back under his nightdress. He could smell a gentle sweetness of perfume that seemed to waft from her and fog his thinking.

  “And the treasure of a virtuous man is a much rarer and more powerful thing that you seem to realize, my dear.” She smiled at him winsomely, and he was shocked to feel his heart actually speed up a little. Everything about her, even her brazen attitude and lascivious nature, somehow appealed to him on the basest level, and his shame at that burned in his heart.

  “I could tell you why you are so important, but I doubt you would believe me. It is a tale most fantastic and stretching back before your father’s father’s time, but quite outside your realm of experience. And it wouldn’t resolve your moral dilemma.” His was trying to keep his eyes on the floor and off of her, although he couldn’t resist the occasional stolen glance at her smooth red skin, and the way the leather straps of her garment would stretch or slide against her as she moved. Keeping his eyes askance, however, meant that he was completely surprised when she suddenly sat down on the edge of the bed next to him and dropped a small hand over his.

  This close, the smell of her perfume was even more confusing and delightful. Goosebumps crawled up his arm as her slightly pointed nails scratched lightly along the back of his right hand. He bit his lip and looked away from her again. In a quiet, tremulous voice he said, “The Tome says any sexual contact outside the bonds of marriage is a mortal sin and would doom me to the Dark forever. The Prelate says that…” Her laughter, a warm rippling sound that made her body jiggle in even more alarming and distracting ways, drowned out the rest of his argument.

  “The Prelate!” she exclaimed, “Surely you have guessed by now that we couldn’t have identified you alone? It is your ancestry that is special, and namely the fact that your family is the only one in the area that can be traced back more than three generations cleanly. You are the distilled history of your people, and that is part of what makes you vital. Without the Prelate we would never have been able to know you were the key to proving the lineage of everyone you have ever met.”

  Josef’s hope and resolve began to crumble as she espoused the Prelate’s betrayal. Could he have betrayed me? He is a man as well, and possibly not immune to a similar seduction. Tears glistened in his eyes as he looked up at her. Immediately her laughter died away, and she softly cupped his cheek in her hand. “Oh, my dear, I didn’t mean to crush your faith in the man. He is a good person who honestly strives for the best for all of his flock. But he is a man, and men do tend to be a bit more free with their tongues after some careful persuasion. And I would remind you that we really do have your best interests at heart. Both yours and the town’s.”

  He pushed her hand from his face and blinked back the tears. Angrily he stood, towering over her as she remained on the bed. “I think you are a liar and a vile temptress. You seek to lead me down the Path of Shadows by spurring distrust in the Prelate and my own beliefs. Begone from my bed and my home and bedevil me no more!” He stood ramrod straight and pointed to the door.

  The woman on the bed sighed deeply and absently tucked a loose strand of raven black hair behind her ear. “Is it my appearance that bothers you so?” she asked, raising from the bed. “Perhaps it is too alien for you?” She stepped towards him and another cloud of luminous sparks in a rainbow of colors swirled around her for a second. After a blink of his eyes at the sudden brightness, the lights were gone, as was her outrageous outfit and demonic coloring. Now a beautiful, normal-hued girl in a modest nightgown stood before him, dangerously close. Her perfume still pervaded his nose and thoughts, calling forth happy memories of summer days spent running through fields of wild flowers and exciting nighttime rides through the forests near the mountains.

  Josef drew away from her, visibly trembling with the effort. He drew in and held a breath while covering his eyes and began praying to himself. He repeated the Litany of Sanctity twice all the way through before releasing the breath and, as he started on the third repetition, began to think that maybe the prayer had worked, and he had actually driven the succubus away. Allowing himself a small smile, he nearly screamed in surprise at the feeling of her nails raking his chest through his nightshirt.

  His hands fell away and his dark eyes opened to see Senta’s face less than a hand’s breadth from his own. Her arms stole around his chest and she drew him tight with surprising strength. Josef’s head swirled dizzily as he breathed in her wondrous perfume. With shame burning in his cheeks, he dropped his head, and her lips pressed against his. Her lips and pressing tongue tasted of honey and something almost bitter, but enticing nonetheless. He yielded to the kiss and shivered from the tingling sensations of Senta’s nails on his back.

  She purred slightly as they moved against each other, relishing his growing excitement. Deftly she maneuvered him to the bed. Breaking the kiss, and with a small smile pricking the corners of her mouth, she pushed him down on top of it. He hadn’t heard the rustle of fabric sliding off of her shoulders, but when he chanced to open his eyes, she stood nude in the flickering candlelight before him. One at a time, she slowly undid the buttons of his shirt. He offered no resistance, jus
t laying there watching her. A swirling storm of emotions moved across his features as shame, guilt, happiness, trepidation, and excitement fought for control.

  The last button slipped from its hole, and she casually drew open his nightshirt. He was so embarrassed at this exposure that he flushed red from head to toe. This did nothing but highlight the one part of his person that was literally growing in anticipation of Senta’s next outrageous act. She began tracing her pointed nails around his nipples and through the curly hair that covered his chest and abdomen. He noticed that she was flushing red herself, although he was unsure if it was due to her own excitement, or the mask of the village girl that she still wore slipping away. She kissed him again deeply, and it was with an almost obvious mental shrug that he threw off the last of his restraint and returned the gesture with genuine passion.

  Their mating lasted the next thirty minutes, before Josef groaned and released. A lazy smile spread across Senta’s face as she felt her own shivering orgasm keyed from his warmth, dissipated as it was. He raised his head, bleary eyed, and saw her give him a sharp wink before vanishing into another blur of silvery light. He sighed and dropped his head again, feeling drained, body and soul. He might suffer for this moment of weakness, but he was sensible enough to realize that there was nothing he could do about it now. He used what little will he could muster to force himself not to think about the repercussions and just float in the afterglow while he could.

  * * *

  “Lieutenant Breaton!” The ship’s PA system echoed tinnily off the brushed metal walls of the teleportation chamber even as Lt. Senta Breaton of the Unknown Biologicals Survey phased into being. The smile still curled the corners of her mouth as she straightened the robes that her return teleport had been configured to clothe her with.