Archipellus: God of Samhain (A Sons of Herne romance)

by J. Rose Allister

  She squirmed against him, and the swell of cleavage showing over the edge of a scooped neckline and the warm body pressed on his pounding erection practically screamed at him to claim her. He heard the little sigh, felt the shift in her body chemistry at the contact, but she bit down on his palm and he snarled, letting go. The woman—Melissa, by all accounts—raced to her sister’s bedside and threw herself over her.

  “What are you?” she asked. “Some kind of demon?” Her gaze raked over him, landing on the long, thickly veined cock that jerked in fury now that she had writhed on it. The erection would not abate until he had done what he had come for, even less so now that the sight of her in clingy jeans and a tank top were solidly etched in his mind. “You can’t have her. It’s not her time. Get out.”

  “It’s okay,” Bethany said. “Please get up. You’re hurting me.”

  Melissa jerked away. “I’m sorry. I have to keep him away from you.”

  “No, you don’t. He’s here to help me.”

  “Help you?” Melissa shot him a scathing look. “He’s the devil. Horns, bat wings, and all.”

  So, his wings were visible from beyond the veil. His time was up.

  “He’s going to free me from my pain.”

  “He was about to rape you!”

  Archipellus stepped forward. “That is not true,” he said.

  “He’s right,” Bethany said. “He asked if I wanted to. I said yes.”

  Melissa’s wrinkled nose in response told Archipellus all he needed about his appearance. She revolted him, even after their brief contact. His sexual energy should have acted on her, an essence that triggered desire in those he touched while aroused. Without the seductive influence of his incubus power, no woman in her right mind would consent to be his.

  “It’s all a lie,” Melissa said, her eyes holding his in a manner few dared. “Whatever he told you. He’s the grim reaper, luring you into death.”

  “Death would be a relief,” Bethany said in a murmur.

  Melissa’s head whipped around. “Don’t say that,” she said, picking up her sister’s frail hand. “You just have to keep fighting. That’s what you want, right?”

  “No. That’s what you want.” Her eyes flashed again, this time with the glitter of tears. “If you knew how much I’m hiding the pain, suffering all the time, you wouldn’t make me prolong the inevitable.”

  Why Archipellus didn’t just pick up the pendant and phase out of the room, he wasn’t sure. He stood there, watching the emotionally charged display when he should be making all haste to choose another before the veil was breached. But something told him to wait. If Melissa could understand that he was acting for the greater good, perhaps she would step aside and allow him to complete the ritual.

  Melissa sniffled. “You just have to hang on a little while longer. I called a doctor in Atlanta. He might know of something else we can try.”

  “There is nothing else. I’m dying, Melissa. You have to accept it. If there’s a way I can go without pain, the way he’s offering, that’s the best we can wish for.”

  She shook her head, golden curls bouncing with the effort. “No.”

  “Bethany is telling the truth,” Archipellus said. “I have felt her suffering, and it is grave indeed. Her time of passing is near.”

  The words earned him another icy glower from Melissa, her eyes glassed over now. He stepped closer anyway. “My power can transform her pain into ecstasy as she slips away. I can use her remaining energy to heal the thinned veil between our worlds, sparing many from death and suffering. It is a noble cause I am offering.”

  Melissa’s face blanked for a moment, and then, slowly, she rose from her sister’s bedside. “You have the power to heal?”

  “Seal,” he said. “I must seal the veil.”

  “No, you said heal. Why not heal Bethany?”

  “That is not within my capability. I must infuse the barrier between worlds with energy to restore it. That is my duty.”

  “Infuse it how?”

  “I am incubus, but I am also part god. So I can gather the power I summon and flood it into the veil through my horns.” He bent his head slightly. “Many lives will be at risk if I do not act, and it must be now, before the veil can be breached.”

  “Fine.” She stepped closer, almost near enough to brush the head of his aching shaft, and lifted her cleft chin. “Take me instead.”

  A drop of pearly god seed gathered at the tip of his cock, oozing down. “I cannot.”

  “You were going to sentence Bethany to death for your cause. I’m healthy. If you need energy for this barrier, you can get more out of me than from a sick girl.”

  How long had it been since he had claimed a woman in her full bloom, seductive enough to drive a man insane? By all the gods, he wanted to grab her ripe curves and plunge into her depths, release himself, make her beg for more. She would beg even as his sex drained her, and she would not care. But he did. He had to.

  “You do not understand what you are asking,” he said, suppressing a shiver.

  “I understand that you apparently don’t have time to argue about it. Take me or get out.”

  Voices rose around him, the cries of many worlds calling out now even without him closing his eyes to find them. “You would be drained of energy.”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time while trying to save my sister. Blood transfusions, bone marrow, endless nights sitting up with her. It’s been draining, believe me. This wouldn’t be any different.”

  “It would be quite different.”

  “Don’t do this,” Bethany said. “I don’t want you hurt.”

  “It’s for your own good. You’ll see.” Melissa pressed herself against him, rubbing the front of her jeans against his tormented dick. “Are you really going to tell me no? You look ready to explode. So take me and be done with it.”

  His nails dug into his palms, but the pain did little to keep his head clear. A growl rose in his throat. “This is a dangerous game you are playing.”

  “Melissa, please,” Bethany said.

  “Just one condition,” Melissa said, her lips curving into a little smile of victory. She could see it in his expression, he knew. She was winning.

  His voice came out hoarse. “And what is that?”

  “Use some of the energy you take for the veil to heal my sister.”

  He groaned. “I told you, I cannot.”

  “How do you know? Have you ever tried?”

  The cacophony rose, choirs of suffering cries rising in the distance. “I take lives, I do not give them,” he snapped above the din, grabbing her forearms. “If you consent to be mine for the ritual, you do so at your own peril.”

  “If she were to take hold of one of your horns while you release the power, could it cure her?”

  He blinked. “I...do not know.”

  “Theoretically? Just guess.”

  He pushed a strand of hair away that hung in front of his eyes. “The energy might restore her. If she did not take too much.”

  “Good enough.” Melissa glanced around and pointed to the other bed. “Here. We’ll push this closer so that she can reach your horns when, uh, the time comes.”

  “You don’t have to do this,” Bethany said. “I’m ready to go peacefully.”

  “Like hell you are.”

  Melissa grabbed a chair and dragged it over to the door, jamming it beneath the handle. Then she released the brake on the hospital bed and shoved it closer. She reached out, testing the distance between them, and gave a firm nod of satisfaction. For her last move, she once again drew the curtain closed between the two beds. “For privacy,” she said to her sister. “And cover your ears. It’ll be embarrassing enough having sex in the same room without you listening in.” Her cheeks were flushed when she turned back to him. She eyed him up and down. “Why do you wear a mask? Can you take it off?”

  He shook his head. “Why do you both insist on my showing myself?”

  “It’s just weird. It�
��s like you’re hiding something.”

  “Are you doing this for my appearance or to help your sister?”

  She frowned at him. “Fair enough. What do you say, sex demon? Is it a deal?”

  “My name is Archipellus. And I will try to do as you ask.” Without severely harming Melissa in the process, a prospect that grew more questionable with each passing moment. Watching her determination to save her sister, her full, round breasts heaving as she made a deal with the devil, so to speak, was taxing his control to the point where his limbs were quivering.

  Her hands landed on the sensual swell of her hips. “Don’t try to do it, Archie. Take me and save her.”

  There were other things he needed to say, assurances he should have before acting, but the voices were almost shouting now, and the incubus had lost all patience. He pushed Melissa onto the bed, his tongue dancing with hers in a frantic dance. His wings, still attached to the invisible veil, gave too easily with his movement, for the barrier was weakening by the moment. His fingers drove into her hair, snarling in the glimmering yellow waves, curls that wound around each digit while he explored her mouth. A gasp of surprise, followed by a moan, told him she desired him even before the first warm burst of his sweet incubus breath touched her. Her need came alive, mingling with his, and she arched her perfection against him while his erection ground on her belly. He groaned against her pliable, willing mouth. Dampness seeped between them, for his god seed leaked in earnest now.

  Archipellus reached down and yanked the top edge of her tank downward, exposing her braless breasts. Pink, ripe nipples jumped out, and he bit each in turn, flicking his tongue over them, and he felt the energy of her arousal flaring like the sun. He bathed it in, basking in the exquisite pleasure of her passion, his nails lengthening as he raked them along her arms and pushed them up over her head. Her hips pressed upward, seeking relief for her torment, a feeling he knew well. Still, her breasts were so magnificent, so large and pert, that he spent a few extra moments indulging his mouth with their delights.

  “Melissa,” he murmured, knowing his incubus breath on her nipple would heighten her lust. She wriggled and stifled a moan, biting her plump, red lip. He could tell she was trying to be discreet because they were not alone, but before long, that inhibition would be lost. Before the end, he would have her scream of pleasure, and he would take it.

  Just the thought of it undid him, and he lifted himself up to remove her jeans. He yanked them off with a rough growl. In his fervor, he tore her pink lacy panties with his nails, and his nostrils flared at her woman’s scent. Her pussy was perfection, pale, gossamer hair, pink, glistening nether lips, and creamy thighs he longed to bury his face between. But there was no time to truly enjoy her as a lover. Raw hunger and sacred duty pushed him onward, driving him to claim her and complete the ritual.

  He took hold of his thick, throbbing erection, guiding it to her, and she sucked in a breath when his cockhead brushed against her pussy curls. With a fevered thrust he buried himself, driving in balls deep. He sank into the hot, molten depths with a shudder and smiled in wicked delight. The thrill of an incubus’ conquest was hard matched, especially for one who denied himself that pleasure all year long. She stiffened, her mouth open in a silent cry, and the sight of her stopped him dead. Although the veil still needed his power, the voices around him fell quiet.

  That one moment between them, bound together in pleasure, enveloped him. She was beauty and heroism rolled into one, and being inside her made him part of that glory. It was a joining he dared not even dream of, forever out of his reach.

  “Melissa,” he whispered again, this time with his breath too far to influence her. She needed no such enticement. She was his, fully surrendered to the pleasure of his body. He could drain her while she begged for more. She would let him grind and thrust and draw out every bit of her essence, if that was his wish. And for a fleeting heartbeat, it was indeed. If only to pull all of what she was deep inside himself.

  The thought sobered him.

  Her eyes fluttered open, and when their gazes met, he felt a stab of guilt over what she might see in his. She tried to grind her hips, force him to fuck her, but he fought the urge to give into his demon side. When he settled himself over her, she reached out and tore off his mask. He gasped and twisted his head away. She grabbed his chin and turned him back, studying his face while his cock pulsed inside her, urging him onward.

  “God, you’re beautiful,” she murmured, and she pulled his lips down to hers.

  He thrust for all he was worth while she kissed him, as seduced by the mortal as she was by him. The bed groaned beneath them with each jarring drive of his hips. She clutched at him desperately at first, then softer. He felt her fading as power flowed into him, and he couldn’t stop. She faded, and he kept going, willing her to be all right while his body betrayed hers. A roar sounded, rumbling through the room. It was not from Archipellus, but in another world. A breach was imminent. Much as he might enjoy prolonging their sex, he should not try to control himself any longer. Not that he was doing a great job as it was.

  Melissa’s hands fell limp at her sides, and he saw, as much as felt, her being drained. There was a hitch in his throat, and he pulled out of her, shaking his head.

  “I cannot do this,” he said. “Damn it.”

  The lover who had just been lying still and complacent beneath him grabbed his shoulders and flipped him, shoving him down on his back. He gaped up at Melissa, her naked body straddling him while she pinned his wrists. “You can’t stop,” she said, her face flushed. “Do what you promised.”

  She impaled herself on his cock with an anguished groan, and then he was the one who felt helpless, trapped beneath her while she rode him. Her hips rocked like they were possessed, her panting breaths giving away the exhaustion of his draining effect, and as orgasm soared nearer, dark circles appeared under her eyes. Her ability to ride his cock weakened, and he grabbed her hips, thrusting upward with animal grunts. Melissa’s eyes closed, her head bobbing. But she was smiling as he finished her off.

  She screamed in orgasm, her limbs giving uncontrolled spasms even as her pussy clenched around him. The minute he felt his balls tighten, his horns flaming with heat, he tried pulling out to spare her. He didn’t quite make it. The first jets of his seed shot deep just as energy surged up his horns. As the first burst of power flew out the tips, he let one horn spear the veil while tipping his head in an attempt to offer the other to Bethany.

  “It is time,” he managed.

  He infused the barrier with his sexual power while he shouted his release, murmuring the sacred prayers.

  “Now, Bethany,” he heard Melissa say, though her voice was, judging from his brief acquaintance, uncharacteristically lackluster. “His horn is right by the curtain.”

  As more power flowed from him, he realized it was being drawn from her at an exponential rate, for he had not pulled out as planned. Somehow, at the height of the god’s orgasm, he managed to withdraw himself and shoot his pearly fluid onto her belly.

  Bethany did not respond, and Melissa, her motions drunken and clumsy, slid onto the floor and shoved at the curtain, trying to get her sister’s hand wrapped around his other horn. Archipellus managed to turn enough to see the other girl had gone unconscious.

  “No!” Melissa cried out, and with a huge effort, she shoved Archipellus toward her sister. “No, no.”

  She got his horn in contact with Bethany’s body, but her vicious push had yanked his other horn away from the veil. He felt the barrier tear immediately.

  A loud gasp punctuated Bethany’s return to consciousness, and she sat up, her eyes wide, gaping at him in shock. Melissa was on her knees now, and she dragged herself up.

  “Bethany?” she asked. “Are you all right?”

  The girl didn’t respond at first. She stared straight ahead, her mouth open in shock. Then, her lips curved into a smile.

  “I think so,” she said, moving her arms. “The pain is gone.
”

  “It worked,” Melissa said. “It might actually have worked.”

  “He relieved my pain, at least. Just the way he promised.” Bethany looked up at him as he stood over her bed. “Thank you.”

  A roar sounded in response, and he whirled around just in time to see the beast emerge out of thin air. It leaped through the tear in the veil, snarling, saliva dripping from its curved fangs. Archipellus had never seen this kind of creature, who sported red fur, a barbed tail, and six taloned legs. The feral intention of the monster, on the other hand, he was quite familiar with.

  Bethany screamed, and Melissa clung to her, shouting something Archipellus didn’t hear. He was focused elsewhere. He folded his wings, releasing himself from being anchored to the veil, and managed to draw the sword from its scabbard just as the creature slammed into him. They went backward, landing on Bethany’s lower legs, and she cried out. Archipellus grabbed the monster’s head, wrestling with it while the jaw snapped near his face. The sword had flown out of his hand, sliding across the floor. With a fierce grunt, Archipellus gave the beast a shove. It bounced off the other bed and tumbled over the far side. By the time it landed on the floor, the god of Samhain had raced for his blade and snatched it up. The beast lunged for the women who were clutching one another on Bethany’s bed, and with a smooth, but powerful motion, Archipellus sliced it in half.

  “Are you all right?” he asked the cowering women, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his forearm.

  Bethany leaped out of bed and rushed up to him. “You saved me again. Thank you so much.”

  She grabbed him in a hug, pressing her head to his chest while he stared down at her. As his cock had been sated for the moment, Bethany’s hold on him would not stir unbidden lust in her, assuming he did not allow his incubus breath to touch her skin. Nevertheless, he extracted himself from her grip and gave her a nod.

  He glanced up and saw Melissa, who reclined wearily on the bed, gaping at her sister.

  “She hasn’t been able to move like that for months,” she said. “You really did heal her.”