How to Love a Blue Demon

by Story, Sherrod

  Yes, my dear. I shall eventually lay claim to everything about you.

  Cass pondered that statement. It implied a level of intimacy she’d never experienced, nor ever really wanted, if she was honest. She’d never even considered it. Never seen hide nor hair of it outside song lyrics, movie reels or the pages of a book. But as she shook Eyoen’s brother’s hand, she realized if this was a book, she had fallen into the perfect love story.

  “What a pleasure to meet you,” said Materen, kissing the back of her wrist as was custom. “She is lovely, brother. Shall we go? The rest of the family is waiting to meet you,” he told Cass.

  “Ready?” Eyoen asked her.

  Hell no, she thought, but she nodded and smiled.

  Chapter fourteen

  The palace was sick. Absolutely ridiculously beautiful, and huge. They poofed in at a distance – Eyoen knew she’d want to see it from the outside – and Cass had to force her mouth closed. It was a pure creamy white and littered with thick columns like an antebellum plantation. It had to be at least a mile long. The front doors were at least 50 ft high, the knockers looked like gold and were bigger than her head. Two huge red creatures stood guard on either side. At first she thought they were statues, but then one rumbled and stepped forward as Eyoen approached.

  Cass stopped and gaped. “Is everything here outsized?”

  Materen laughed. “These hutrei resemble your dogs, but they are closer in DNA to a dragon. They’re domesticated and loyal, but not really tame, thus they must be kept outdoors.”

  “Security?”

  “Yes, my dear,” Eyoen said, nodding at a light blue skinned servant who bowed and opened the door. “My family is waiting to meet you inside.”

  “Where’s my luggage?”

  “Inside. Don’t worry. All is as it should be.”

  When the doors opened, Cass thought for a moment that she would faint. There were a dozen blue demons lined up to meet her. One seemed familiar. He was so tall and stately she knew he must be the King, and he stood at the head of the procession. Everyone was dark haired and beautiful, and thankfully smiling in welcome as they looked at her.

  “Give me my bag,” she hissed to Eyoen.

  “Right here, my dear.” And when she turned she saw that he’d manifested a table and her suitcase lay open on top.

  “Greetings, King of Cyanus,” she said in formal Cyani, as Eyoen had instructed her. “It is my great pleasure to visit your land. I humbly bare this small token, which I hope you will accept. That’s all I know,” she added in English, and everyone laughed.

  The King smiled and stepped forward to shake her hand like an American, then he kissed both her cheeks and forehead as was Cyani custom.

  “Greetings, friend of my son,” the King answered in English, accepting the box she handed him. “It is my great pleasure to welcome you to my land and to my home. What is this?”

  Eyoen had told her that his father was a strategist and liked games of chance, so she took a chance that he would be good at chess and had spent a grip on a set with beautifully carved black and coral marble pieces and a velvet lined box to house them.

  “It’s a chess set made of marble and a book explaining the game and detailing the playing strategies of great players like Bobby Fischer.”

  “Thank you, my dear.”

  “Please call me Cass.”

  The King nodded and stepped back, and the Queen stepped forward. She was the exact opposite of Carlow. Still tall, but as slender and delicate as he was broad and strong. Her skin was a slightly paler shade of blue and her hair wasn’t black but a rich dark red unlike anything Cass had ever seen.

  “Queen Siri, this is a swathe of raw silk in lavender to match your eyes.” Eyoen had approved the color and fabric. It was enough to make a dress, and the material was unlike anything the natives normally wore, which made it utterly suitable for a Queen.

  Siri grinned and rubbed the silk against her face. “Marvelous, my dear. Thank you very much.”

  Cass passed out Christian Louboutin stilettos to one fashion forward sister who squealed and immediately ordered a servant to help her put them on. She gave Materen a vintage Camaro model car that had to be assembled. Another sport mad brother got a baseball, bat, glove and a book on the game. There were hats, more books, perfume, Alexis Bittar jewelry, an elaborate make up kit, a box filled with different kinds of playing cards and instructions on gaming, a handheld electronic game and a bottle of extremely expensive Glen Livet whiskey for Eyoen’s oldest brother Cinque who he’d told her was a bit of a tippler.

  When Cass finished handing out the gifts, only the two of them and Rierdane remained in the hall. Everyone else had vanished to play with their toys.

  “My work here is done,” she grinned, dusting off her hands and sneezing three times in succession.

  Eyoen frowned. “It’s bad enough I’m feeling poor. Now you’re sick?”

  Cass shook her head. “Nah. I’m never sick. Must be the change in environment. Ya’ll got any Kleenex?”

  Eyoen manifested a box and handed it to her, watching with concern as she blew her nose. He snapped his fingers and disposed of the used tissue.

  “Sire, your father asked that you visit the healers.”

  Eyoen wanted to refuse, but Cass began to shoo him away.

  “I’ll just get settled in my room. Unless you want me to go with you?”

  He did want her to come, but he didn’t want her to be alarmed at anything the healer might do to rid his body of the last of the steel poisoning.

  “No, my dear. You rest. I’ll have a servant show you to my suite and bring refreshments.” He nodded at a girl nearby, and she bowed and swept her arm toward the back of the room.

  “Sire, perhaps you would give Miss the ability to speak and translate the language,” Rierdane said smoothly. “In case she should desire anything specific that is not provided.”

  Eyoen shook his head. “Of course. I am so tired, I can barely think.” He waved his hand at Cass, who blinked.

  “Did my head just tingle?”

  Eyoen smiled. “Perhaps,” he said in his language.

  “Are you very weak, baby?” she asked, then started when she realized the words she’d uttered were in Cyani, not English. “Well, shit! That’s awfully clever.”

  She hugged him gratefully and kissed his cheek.

  “You’re very sweet,” he whispered, enjoying her shining brown eyes.

  “I’m on my best behavior so I don’t shock anybody,” she whispered back. “I hope nobody heard me cuss just now. When you come back we’ll take a nap and eat, and you’ll feel better.”

  “Yes, my dear,” he said wearily. He didn’t bother to explain that he likely would be completely restored when he returned. Why deprive himself of the joy of her fussing over him? “I will see you soon.”

  Cass thought she would fall down dead when she saw Eyoen’s suite of rooms. Her entire house could fit in his parlor, and her house wasn’t small.

  “I damn sure ain’t gon’ need to work out. Just getting from room to room is a mile either way,” she muttered.

  “Did you say something, miss?” the servant asked.

  “No, no,” she answered in Cyani, smiling. “Everything is wonderful.”

  “I will leave you to settle in. Refreshments will be here shortly. The bathing chamber is through that door should you like to refresh yourself.”

  After the girl left, Cass walked to the door she mentioned, thinking it would be a good idea to see what she looked like after her first time space traveling. She raised her hand to push open the door and was shocked when it opened on its own.

  “Damn.”

  The bathing chamber was ridiculous. Decorated in pale gold and grey marble, or what looked like marble, sections were blocked off with clever dividers, and in the center was a pool. To the side was a smaller pool, both deep enough to accommodate steps.

  When she stood over the smaller pool and looked down she saw the bottom grad
ually grew deeper. It had to be at least six feet deep. Probably more, she realized, since Eyoen was so tall. She could swim laps in the big pool.

  She stuck her hand in and laughed when the water tickled her fingers. She looked at her hand and frowned. She held her other hand beside it and realized the one she’d trailed in the water was not only completely clean, her skin looked softer, as though it had been conditioned. A hang nail she’d had on her thumb was gone.

  “Geez.”

  She wondered what else the water did. She sneezed twice.

  “Too bad it can’t keep my cruddy nose from running.” She sniffed loudly. She went over to one of the marble dividers and found a water closet and a bidet with no buttons and towels of all sizes but no toilet paper.

  Routed, Cass shrugged and sniffed. If worse came to worse she’d have to make use of one of those plush gold towels. Hopefully Eyoen was back before it came to that.

  She wandered back into the main room and followed her curiosity through another self-opening door and found Eyoen’s bedroom. The bed was like nothing she’d ever seen. The size of two or three beds put together, it was piled with soft, fluffy, oddly shaped pillows and was so high off the ground she had to climb six steps to get to it. Until she walked around the side and saw the steps the thing looked like it was floating. She kicked off her shoes, climbed up and lay down, yawning.

  It wouldn’t hurt to grab a quick cat nap. Eyoen might be finished by the time she woke, and they could take a swim in that big ass tub…

  Eyoen grinned when he saw Cass. She’d fallen asleep with her legs hanging off the bed. She was snoring lightly, lips parted. Apparently her nose was still bothering her. He could fix that.

  Cass woke to find Eyoen undressing her, and she smiled, seeing the bright happy shine in his eyes, the ease with which he now moved. He was obviously feeling better. Even his blue skin seemed more vibrant.

  “Somebody’s feeling better.” She sneezed, the sound muffled in the shirt being pulled over her head.

  Eyoen frowned and manifested some Kleenex for her. “Come into the pool, my dear. Perhaps we can wash away whatever irritant is upsetting your nose.”

  “That water, is it treated somehow?”

  He laughed tugging her up from the bed naked. “In a way, but I think spelled might be more accurate. It’s magically treated to clean and condition the skin without soap. It helps with star burn, insect bites, a host of minor maladies.” He led her into the pool and sat her down on the steps when she was submerged up to her neck.

  “Can you fix my hair back if I get it wet?”

  “Of course.”

  Cass dipped her head back until she was completely underwater. “If that doesn’t do it, nothing will.”

  “If you are still afflicted there is a pool I will take you to beyond the yard that is renowned for its restorative powers. It will sort you out if need be.”

  “Is it just me or is this water tingling?”

  He grinned. “It is massaging you, my dear. Does it feel good?”

  Did it ever. If she sat here too long with the clever water lapping at her naughty bits she might not need Eyoen anymore.

  “Yes, you will,” Eyoen said, pulling her into his arms.

  She threw her arms around his neck when the steps were no longer beneath her feet, but couldn’t tread water because her legs kept bumping his.

  “Just hold on,” he whispered.

  Smiling, she wrapped her legs to match her arms and nuzzled his throat. “You’re completely healed?”

  He nodded.

  “I’m so glad. You don’t know how scared I was when you were sick. I didn’t know what the hell to do.”

  She’d never been so helpless. There they were in a major metropolitan city with some of the best hospitals in the country, and she’d been deathly afraid they wouldn’t be able to help him. That a relatively simple stab wound might – she shied away from that thought.

  “All I could think was, how can they treat him effectively when they don’t know he isn’t human, and I can’t tell them? That literally was one of the worst moments of my entire life, Eyoen.”

  He kissed her when her voice broke. “Don’t think of it anymore, my dear. It will take a lot to get me down that way again.”

  “A lot or one piece of steel.”

  “I’ve brought the steel home so our scientists can work on an antidote.”

  “And what happens in the mean time?”

  “In the mean time we keep the incident a secret. There is no such mineral on Cyanus.”

  “No? But it’s a big wide world we live in. I learned that the hard way. Someone could bring it here.”

  “That’s true. But forewarned is forearmed, right? And now that I’ve been exposed I’ll be able to sense it.”

  She nodded, rubbed her nose back and forth against his skin, comforting herself with his smell. “I guess I thought of you as invincible. Seeing that you weren’t,” she shrugged.

  “No one is invincible, my dear. But I’m pretty close,” he laughed. “Besides, now I’m fine. As strong as I ever was, and more than strong enough to fuck you in my bathing pool.”

  Cass giggled. “You said fuck.”

  “If you insist,” he whispered, and filled her with one deft twist of his hips.

  She gasped, her eyes nearly doubling in size. “This water is fabulous.” He was far too large to do what he’d just done without foreplay or some major lube, but there hadn’t been one twinge of pain. All she felt was a wondrous fullness.

  Her heart kicked up its beat as he began to move inside her. For a moment she wondered how he was keeping them afloat and moving his hips like that at the same time, but then practical thoughts vanished in the pleasure he was generating between her thighs.

  She began to pant as the water surged around them, soothing and stroking her skin as sure as he stroked her with his cock. Cass arched, flexing her hips as she pushed her face into his throat. It always felt as though Eyoen was making love to her entire body; he never neglected a spot, never failed to kiss and touch and squeeze any and everything she thought she wanted touched, but the water. It was like Eyoen times two.

  “There is another quality I should tell you about this water,” he whispered, making her shudder with desire and need as his nose trailed a wet path from the hollow of her throat to her ear lobe. “It can intensify pleasure, essentially multiplying a sensation and causing whatever you feel to reverberate before it eventually fades.”

  He nipped her earlobe, and she cried out as an orgasm shook her every which way but loose. She was like a rag doll flopping in a child’s fist. It was just as he said, the sensations built and spread before fading. Every part of her, from her spasming pussy, to the diamond hard tips of her breasts, to the hand fulls of her ass that he continued to squeeze in time with the pulsing of her body, stretched and danced with delight.

  The pleasure was like blood, it ran all through her. She laughed, gasping for air, but still laughing as she squeezed him close.

  “You’re still hard,” she whispered.

  “Yes.”

  “So. You said the water soothes all minor maladies.”

  “Yes.”

  “So, if you bang the hell out of me, I won’t even be sore later.”

  He smiled against her neck. “No.”

  She leaned back until she caught his eye. She wondered if he knew how beautiful he was to her. “I love you.”

  It was the only thing in her mind at that moment. There was no, oh, God I said it first, or does he feel the same. She wasn’t worried that her little confession would change anything, make him want to flee from her in fear, or take unfair advantage of her tender feelings. There was only joy in his presence, joy that she was with him, and gratitude that he was well again.

  When he smiled at her it felt like cartoon birds were chirping over her head. Every cliché applied including the bubble of warmth spreading through her chest like a cheesy song lyric. And he said the most perfect thing ever in
return: “I love you more.” Then he cut loose.

  Cass couldn’t remember him ever making love to her like that before. She couldn’t even remember him looking at her like there before. She wondered if the intensity came from him being home and healed, but she didn’t think so. Eyoen wasn’t the type of person to let a physical ailment get him down. He’d been in the hospital, flat on his back, and still talking shit. He certainly didn’t believe in showing weakness.

  In the days before they left for Cyanus, he didn’t favor his belly or behave in any way out of the ordinary. His lovemaking had been less rough and tumble, but he still moved her body around like she was a chess piece. Legs spread, arms stretched out, knees bent, mouth open, forward, back, pushing, pulling, she tried to get him to take it easy, but he’d just kiss her, or get close enough for her to get a nose full of his fan-tabulous pheromones, and that was all she wrote. She could never resist him.

  But this was something else. This was harder than he’d ever made love to her before. This was fucking. No holds barred, take me, bitch, until you beg for mercy screwing. Water sloshed over the rim of the tub. He grunted after every strike. She came once, twice, three times, and still he kept on.

  He told her that he loved her, then wrapped a hand around her throat and squeezed as if to cement that he was there, that she was his. He whispered that he thought of her endlessly, that he craved her. Then he fisted a hand full of her hair, pulled her head back until her throat was almost painfully arched, and bit her.

  At first she didn’t believe it when she felt his teeth sink into her flesh. Then that fourth climax started rattling through her body like a freight train out of control on its track; she screamed. Then there was nothing.

  When she came to they were in bed and he was kissing the inside of her thighs. He was gentle now; the beast in him had been sated. She was both glad and saddened by this. The pleasure that followed his bite had been stunning. Mind blowing even. But the gentleness he gave her now felt like love, and that was even more amazing.

  It went on. They moved back and forth between the bed and the bathing pool. The loving felt so good her eyes seemed permanently rolled into the back of her head. Occasionally she’d call a halt, needing to rest or eat or just bask in the afterglow, and he’d subside reluctantly. After awhile, after she’d been feed and watered like a pampered plant, he’d nudge her onto her back and start all over again.