His mother had no such reservations. She wept unabashedly in his embrace. "Look at you, darling," she said, her voice a little broken. "I’m so proud of you."
"For what, Mother? Growing up? I sure took my time about it."
"You’re a unique creature, Josiah." Sarahi wiped her eyes and met his gaze. "Who knows how one such as you should grow?"
"That’s what Father said," Josiah replied.
"And he was right, wasn’t he?"
Josiah made a face, but nodded.
"What?" she asked him. "Was he not a good father?"
"He’s all right, I guess. But he thinks he knows everything. And he never listens. Sometimes it makes me really mad."
"I bet," she said. "You know, I never had a father. Not really a mother either. My sisters took care of me when I was little. It seems to me that having a father, even one who doesn’t do everything perfectly, is still better than no father at all."
She was right, Josiah knew it. But he didn’t want to admit it yet. He gave his mother one last squeeze and stepped back.
"I’m really glad you’re here, Mom. I’ve wanted to meet you. I have so many things I want to know about you, about where I came from and who you are and... everything." About what could be so dangerous that you had to be separated from your child for two decades, to start with! "But it’s a little... overwhelming right now. Would it be okay... could I have some time to... to kind of take it all in? Figure out how I feel?"
The woman blinked. "Yes, of course, Josiah. I’m not surprised you need a moment’s peace. When you’re ready, let me know and I will answer any question you have. I have something I have to do right now, but come and find me when you’re ready and we’ll talk, okay?" She pulled him down and kissed his cheek. "I love you, Josiah."
She smiled, the kind of smile which warmed hearts whether they wanted it or not, and turned to go, waving at him with two fingers as she walked out of the room. Josiah sank heavily onto the bed. When he’d arrived, he’d been exhausted, worn out, and grumpy. Now he was also confused.
***
Sarahi stepped into the hallway, shut the door and leaned against it. Soon she would have to meet Lucien and Mr. Smith in the chapel. That would be... amazing. But seeing Josiah was better. She could see he felt conflicted, and no surprise. The child in him still felt the sting of abandonment, no matter how necessary it had been. And of course, he didn’t really understand yet why it had been so important. She wondered if he knew she was a succubus. Likely not. That would be another revelation. He was so confused already. She could feel a deep resentment and animosity radiating from him. Not to her exactly, or at least not entirely. Her boy was disenchanted about a great many things, if his level of rage was any indication. Part of it, she supposed, was a young man’s angst. But just from what she had heard so far, it was not entirely unjustified. Sounded like he’d faced systemic prejudice in this place his whole life. And that was before they found out he was one quarter demon. His loyalty to the Order of Clerics was far from secure. He needed a strong tie to someone in this place or he could still be lost. And neither she nor Lucien would be the one. Parents never were.
While she had been standing there, several people had passed in one direction or the other, intent on various tasks. Some of the men had eyed her curiously, making her smile. A few women had given her an ugly look, which she’d ignored. But a passing figure made her wandering thoughts gel into a sudden, radical decision.
"Annie?"
The white-clad person stopped and turned. Sarahi grinned. Her suspicion had proven true. The clerics would hate her for what she was about to do, but the stakes were too high for squeamishness.
"Sarahi, hi," the young woman behind the mask said, not realizing she had just been outed.
"Take off that mask, please, Annie. I don’t like to talk to people I can’t see."
The girl scanned the hallway and, finding it empty, lowered her face covering.
"It’s so good to see you, darling," Sarahi said.
"You too. How are you adjusting to this place?"
"Well enough, I guess. I don’t think I’ll ever really fit in here."
"Everyone is jealous of you." Annie grinned. "You have a freedom they lack."
"I’m about to give up that freedom for good," Sarahi smiled back. "They’ve decided Lucien and I need to marry immediately. In fact, I’m on my way there right now."
"Wow!" Annie’s brown eyes widened. "Congratulations!"
"Thank you." Sarahi’s smile widened until her cheeks hurt. Then she set her crafty little plan in motion. "I’m running late, and I need to get to the chapel about ten minutes ago. But I left something in the room there. Would you be a darling and get it for me?"
"Okay," Annie agreed. "What is it?"
"You’ll know it when you see it," Sarahi said.
Annie’s desire for Josiah glowed so brightly, Sarahi was amazed she’d never noticed it before. She sent a little pulse of enhancement energy into her. And then she dashed down the hall before the girl could ask any more questions.
Sarahi opened a couple of wrong doors before she found the chapel. It was at the bottom of the tower which stood in the corner where the compound met the wall of the courtyard. Three stories, it was made of rebar-reinforced concrete, painted white to match the cinder blocks of which the rest of the compound was formed. High on one wall, a small,round stained-glass window admitted a shaft of multicolored light. Two sections of red-cushioned chairs waited for Sunday service. But right now they stood empty. Only Lucien waited at the front for her, and Mr. Smith stood behind the pulpit.
"The dress, Sarahi?" the elder asked her.
"Sorry. I misplaced it. Does it really matter?" she asked.
"I suppose not. It’s not as though anyone is pretending you’re a virgin." He sighed. "Come on then."
She smiled and walked up the aisle to her lover, taking his arm, ready to make her own vow.
***
Annie stepped through the door without stopping to consider what room it was or what she was looking for. Inside she stopped dead. Josiah sat on the bed looking at her with a stunned expression on his face. She had not so much as said hello to him since that disastrous day in the meadow three years ago. Grandfather had forbidden it. But she had never forgotten. No one meant as much to her as Josiah. No one.
"Annie?" he looked at her like a starving man looks at a juicy steak. "Why are you here, love?"
"I’m not sure," she said. "Your mother..."
"You met her? Isn’t she beautiful?"
"Yes, Josiah, she is. We’ve been friends a long time."
He smiled, but it looked tired. "You should leave, Annie," he said.
"I know," she said. But she didn’t leave. She walked closer to him, drinking in the sight of him. Short, messy black hair which couldn’t decide if it was curly or straight. Chiseled, angelic features. Glowing green eyes. No darkness was too dark for those eyes. Kissable lips she hadn’t tasted in far too long. His thin black sweater clung to bulky muscles.
"Annie, leave now."
"Yes. I’m going." She walked even closer, close enough to touch. Then she sat down on his lap and slid her arms around his neck.
"Don’t do this, Annie," he said. "I’ve tried to live by your grandfather’s rules, to stay away from you, but my strength is low right now. I’m tired. And... and I want you."
"I want you too, Josiah. Surely you know that." She kissed him.
"I thought you were mad at me," he said when she pulled back to breathe.
"Never. Why would I be?"
"The meadow. I wasn’t thinking. Wasn’t listening. I didn’t mean to hurt or dishonor you, Annie."
"You didn’t. I loved how you touched me. I didn’t want you to stop. Do it again."
"Annie, if I touch you, your grandfather will throw me out."
"He won’t either. I won’t let him. We’re adults now. He has no right to interfere. I know what I want, Josiah. Touch me." She kissed him again and guide
d his hand to her breast. Then she pulled back and watched. His expression conflicted, he stimulated her nipple as though against his will. She saw the exact moment his resistance collapsed. They fell back on the little bed, kissing and touching. This time, no seduction was necessary. Each was wild to have the other.
Josiah had Annie out of her white suit in a flash, faster than she even realized he was capable of moving. Finally able, he made free with her slender, wiry body, caressing her little breasts, kissing her with wild passion as he pressed her down with the whole weight of his body.
"I love you, Annie," he whispered. A thrill shot through her belly, part sexual arousal, part deep love. How long she’d wanted to hear it. After grandfather’s ultimatum, she thought it would never happen. And now here she was, right where she wanted to be, in Josiah’s arms, naked in his bed. She felt no shame. This was meant to be.
"I love you."
She lifted his sweater over his head and pressed kisses all over his chest and shoulders. Josiah quickly returned the favor, lifting her breasts, one after the other, and nibbling them all over. She sighed with pleasure. He was a natural at this. Unless...
"Josiah, have you done this before?"
"Yes," he replied, and her heart clenched. "With you, in the meadow. You’re the only woman I want."
He scooted down her body, cupping her hips in his hands and kissing down her belly. Annie wasn’t ignorant. She and the other girls had read naughty novels and giggled. She knew how this worked. But when his tongue parted her folds and lovingly tasted her, she realized her imagination had not been anywhere near accurate. He probed and lapped at her.
"Oh, Annie," he groaned, "you taste so good." He slipped one finger deep inside her. "All mine."
She arched her hips, urging even deeper penetration, but he slipped out. She whined in protest. He returned, but with two fingers this time, slipping gently in and out while he kissed and teased her clitoris.
In no time, Annie was drenched and panting, poised on the brink of orgasm. But he didn’t stop. He eased her over the threshold into that devastating peak, where she writhed in ecstasy.
"More, Josiah," she begged. "Give me the rest!"
"Tell me what you want, Annie. Do you want me inside you?"
"Oh yes," she pleaded. "Yes, Josiah. It’s right. Don’t you feel it?"
"Yes, baby. I feel it. Here. Feel this." He guided her hand down to his straining erection. She moaned, bending her knees and parting them wide. She stroked him a couple of times and then guided him into position. This time there would be no stopping. She didn’t want him to. He rammed into her with a mighty thrust, claiming her body for all time.
Annie sucked in a sharp breath at the pain of his entry, but it didn’t stop her from lifting her hips to him, forcing him even farther inside. She wanted to be filled in every inch. He moved forward until he rubbed her deepest place.
How he held off his orgasm, she didn’t know, but Josiah was far from finished. He claimed her aching passage again and again, gliding through her wetness to her fullest depth, pulling out, and surging in again. Her own arousal had been doused by the sudden sting. But she knew, once the pain faded, this kind of slow, deep taking would be very pleasurable. Already she could feel the faint stirrings of stimulation. Next time should be phenomenal.
Josiah’s hard thrusting brought him quickly to his own peak. Annie stroked his back as he growled and ground his body inside her, ejaculating against her cervix.
As his erection waned, he slipped from her sore sex. Annie whimpered a bit.
"Did I hurt you?" he asked.
"You took me," she replied, "and I was a virgin. Of course it hurt. But I’m not sorry. This was what I wanted." She cuddled Josiah close in her arms and kissed his cheek.
"I took you because I love you."
"I let you because I love you."
Their lips met again.
"Your grandfather is going to throw a fit."
"I know. Ask me if I care."
"You should. He only wants what’s best for you."
"Let’s not talk about him," Annie insisted.
Josiah nodded. "So tell me about this costume you came in wearing. It’s not Halloween. Are you really The Assassin?"
"Yes," she admitted. "They told me girls can’t fight. I think I’ve proved them wrong."
"It’s not that you can’t. It’s that people don’t want to see you in danger."
"Josiah, we’re all in danger. Every day. Every hour. How am I in less danger if I don’t know how to defend myself?"
He grinned. "You don’t have to convince me. You’ve been better at all this stuff than me from the very beginning."
"It’s not a competition, Josiah," she said, stretching like a cat and pressing herself against him. He squeezed her gently.
"Should we get up and go face the music?" he asked.
The other boys would be occupied with food for quite some time. "Not yet," she replied. "Hold me a little longer."
"Okay," Josiah agreed quickly, snuggling Annie close and kissing her forehead. She smiled, enjoying being cherished.
***
While Lucien and Sarahi had intended their wedding to be private, the unheard-of joining of succubus and naphil drew quite a crowd. One was Nathaniel, one of the youngest nephilim, a newborn when the Flood occurred. No sooner had the words been spoken, then the golden-skinned blond man raced down the hall to a bedroom he’d passed many times, wishing. He knocked. A woman of about forty with long hair the color of tea answered the door.
Her eyes widened at the sight of Nathaniel. They nearly popped right out when he hauled her into his arms and kissed her. "Come on!" he said, taking her hand and dragging her down the hallway to the chapel.
"Nathaniel, what?"
"Trust me. Things are changing. You have to see this to believe it."
They arrived a few steps behind Sarahi and slipped into a pew near the back. The lovely woman looked up to the front of the church. Her hand tightened in his as she realized what was happening. Weddings at the compound were generally brief, and this one seemed to go faster than most. Within ten minutes the naphil Lucien and the succubus Sarahi were pronounced husband and wife.
As the happy couple tugged each other down the aisle, clearly intent on finding a bit of privacy in which to celebrate their union, Nathaniel whispered, "What about you, Mary?"
She looked at him, not understanding.
"They’ve revoked our vow of celibacy. The nephilim are allowed to take wives. Will you be mine?"
She blinked at him.
"I can’t do that, Nathaniel," she said sadly.
"Why? He asked, feeling as though his heart were about to break. "You know how long I’ve loved you."
"I know, but Nathaniel, I’m already middle aged. We have so few years together, and I already look old. It would be ridiculous."
"I’m much older than you," he said, puzzled.
"I know, but you’re ageless."
"Mary, I don’t care about that. I would rather have you for whatever time is allotted to us than miss out altogether. I love you. Don’t you love me, Mary?"
"Of course I do," she said.
"Good. Then come on." He led her to the front of the room, where a rather shell-shocked looking elder was still standing.
"Mr. Smith," Nathaniel said, "do you have time for one more wedding?"
The elder looked at the two of them, opened his mouth as though to speak, and then closed it again, replying to the request with a brief nod.
Chapter 16
In the morning, Sarahi and Lucien wandered hand-in-hand down the hallway to the dining room. Adjoining the kitchen, the massive space doubled as a meeting hall and auditorium. Every surface was white; white cinder block walls, white laminate floor, white tile ceiling. A row of narrow windows near that ceiling admitted the pale winter sunlight.
The room was full of milling clerics, nephilim, and children, like any other day, apart from an excited buzz which hummed just belo
w the surface.
Mr. Smith stared blearily into a cup of coffee as the newlyweds slipped onto the bench across the white laminate cafeteria table. Lucien set down a tray laden with a huge breakfast. Sarahi carried a glass of juice and a muffin. Mr. Smith looked up from his drink and eyed the succubus.
"I didn’t think you needed that," he said, indicating the food.
"I don’t need it," she replied. "But I can eat if I want to. It’s easier for people if I do now and again. Helps them forget." She smiled and laid her head on Lucien’s shoulder. He squeezed her gently and then tucked into his food without a word.
"Mr. Smith," Sarahi said hesitantly, "could I ask a favor of you?"
He raised one eyebrow.
"There are a few of my sisters who I think... well I think they would leave mother if we offered them sanctuary here."
The second eyebrow joined the first. "I’m not sure inviting succubae into the compound is a good idea. How do you know you can trust them?"
"They’re my sisters," she said.
"And how would they be fed?"
"The same way I was. There’s enough love energy in this place right now to feed a dozen succubae."
"A dozen?" He slapped both hands on the table and leaned forward.
She shook her head. "No. There are not twelve who are trustworthy."
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