by Kim Harrison
His gut twisted and ached as he thought about his vision of Annwn and the beach that would be his home, as long as he took Ericka’s soul.
The alternative—the constant feeling of being burned alive in the Realm of the Dead. If he didn’t take her soul that would be his future.
If he did take her soul, the Realm of the Dead would be Ericka’s fate.
Ericka didn’t pull away when Aedan touched her face with his hand. How could he make her feel this way, make her want him even more, when she knew exactly what he was?
This very moment she should push him away, tell him to not come back. Giving away her soul was not an option.
God, he was good. Playing the part so well that she could almost believe he cared. Becky, Betty, whoever she was, hadn’t mentioned that. Just the incredible sex, and then his vanishing act when she gave him what he wanted.
Her soul.
Ericka shivered as Aedan trailed his thumb over her lips and across her cheek. A thrill stirred in her belly and between her thighs, and her nipples pressed against the sheer nightgown. His eyes darkened to a deeper gold and his jaw tightened as he slipped his fingers into her hair and started to draw her to him at the same time he moved his lips toward hers.
What was wrong with playing along and getting what she wanted from him?
And wouldn’t this go over well in one of my books? My own experiences with an Incubus?
His lips brushed hers. She groaned and wrapped her arms around his neck. She couldn’t stop herself. His kiss was so exquisite she could think of nothing but him.
Aedan moved his lips from hers, licking a path to her ear. He nipped at her earlobe, causing her to squirm with desire. “What can I do for you, Ericka?”
Her face screwed in a frown. “I’m not having sex with you in any way if you’re going to leave before I climax.” She drew away and darkened her frown. “I mean it.”
He raised his head and grinned. “Perhaps I should tie you up and—”
Ericka slugged him in the shoulder. “You’re getting nothing unless I get an iron-clad promise from you. Sex with an orgasm to end all orgasms.”
He smiled, an almost sad, wistful smile.
With the aid of the candlelight, she studied his strong features and body. He was fit, not an ounce of fat on him. She loved his muscular thighs and tight ass, not to mention his good-sized erection—she wanted to push him on his back and straddle him. He was breathtaking with his long dark hair and golden gaze.
She reached between them and stroked his cock. “You have amazing eyes.”
He grasped the bottom of her nightgown. “All my people have eyes of gold or silver.”
Yeah. I know.
Any thoughts of further conversation vanished as he pushed up her sheer nightgown. It was the only one she had brought with her to the condo. She’d intended on refusing Aedan tonight. But she couldn’t refuse him. Anything.
Dear God, she was falling for an Incubus.
Am I losing my mind?
Ericka pushed away the thoughts and wriggled to help him pull the nightgown over her head and drop it on the floor.
Aedan hooked his thigh over her hip, and in a thoroughly possessive movement he brought her tight to him, flattening her breasts, and making her nipples ache more.
He rained kisses over her face. “I want to see you spread out wide for me. Only me.”
Ericka’s breath caught and her belly fluttered.
His gaze fixed on hers. “For this night you will have everything I can give you.”
A lump rose in her throat at the thought that he probably wouldn’t be back after she told him what she knew…and that he would never get her soul.
“What would you give me?” She swallowed back thoughts of him never returning. “Would you give me anything I asked of you?”
Aedan jerked back a little as if surprised at the way she’d turned the tables on him.
“Anything,” he said softly. “If you wanted my very soul, I would give it to you.”
“Your soul,” she repeated. But he was an Incubus. He didn’t have a soul, so his promise was empty. He stirred against her, the heat of his body making her mind spin with lust. She let her body take over her thought process again. “How about an orgasm instead?”
A slow, sensual smile curved the corners of his mouth. “I will make certain of it.”
She touched the side of his face and stroked his black hair. “Promise to let me climax this time.”
“You have my word.” He kissed the corner of her mouth and palmed one of her breasts. “You will have an orgasm like you’ve never had before.” He brushed his lips over hers and she sighed into his mouth.
“Yes,” she whispered, almost without thought. She craved him. Her body craved him. Everything about her needed him.
When he drew away his smile was devastating.
Ericka’s heart beat faster.
He trailed his fingertips over her breasts, and her nipples tightened and ached. “Do you know how beautiful you are?”
“You are.” She stared into his golden eyes. “No wonder women can’t refuse you.”
At first Aedan frowned, but then appeared to ignore what she’d said about other women. He moved and spread her thighs wide with his palms as he knelt between them. A yellow scarf appeared in his hand.
“Er, what do you intend to do with that?” She fixed her gaze on the scarf.
His grin was absolutely wicked.
He trailed the yellow scarf up one of her thighs and then through her folds. Intense sensations swirled through her. He continued to make his way up her body until he reached her face. She caught the scent of her musk on the scarf.
The bed dipped as he moved and he brushed his lips over her cheekbone. “Gods and goddesses you look so perfect,” he murmured.
He took the scarf and continued to trail it over her body in a feather-light caress. Goosebumps rose on her skin and she shivered.
Every caress made her want to shout out in ecstasy. In his unusual accent, he spoke softly in a language she didn’t understand, which made her hotter yet.
She needed him inside her so bad she wanted to scream.
“Soon, love,” he murmured, as if hearing her thoughts. “I will fuck you. Hard. Fast. Deep. The way you beg me for it.”
Aedan began licking her body, from her toes to the arch of her foot and the inside of her ankle. She trembled as he licked and sucked his way up her calf and made her shudder with desire when he flicked his tongue against the skin at the back of her knee. So damn slow, he made his path up to that sensitive spot between her folds and her thigh and she arched her back.
He blew his warm breath on her, then the bastard moved down to her opposite foot and began taking a lazy trail up that leg, just like he’d done with her other.
Ericka thought she’d die or go crazy. The man was driving her mad. She trembled, needing him to do something. Lick her or take her—right now she didn’t care. She just needed to climax.
When he reached her folds again, she held her breath. But no, he moved up her belly. He dipped his tongue into her navel and it sent shockwaves straight to her core. He continued higher until he reached the spot between her breasts. He had to feel how hard her heart was beating.
She made a combination sigh and groan when his mouth latched onto her nipple. It was still sensitive from last night when he’d pinched it, and that made his attention to it all the more erotic. He sucked her other nipple and the wetness of his tongue made her squirm.
“So anxious.” He moved so that his chest brushed her nipples. “Do you wish for me to take you now?”
“Yes!” Ericka nodded in fast, jerky movements. She was so wet. So ready. And she wanted him so bad.
Aedan groaned and he teased the entrance to her core with his erection. He brushed his lips across her cheek. “I do not think I can wait any longer either, my love.”
My love? repeated in Ericka’s mind a second before he slammed his cock inside her.
> This time Ericka did scream. She tossed her head from side to side as he drove in and out of her like he’d promised. Hard. Fast. Deep.
His balls slapped against her, and his chest rubbed her nipples. Her whole body was alive. On fire. She was burning. His sweat-slicked skin moved against hers and she smelled sandalwood and sex.
The way he filled her—she couldn’t begin to describe it. He stretched her, reached deep inside her.
A climax built and built until it spiraled and spiraled, like she was spinning toward some distant peak in her mind.
If he left her hanging now, she’d kill him.
Could a person kill an Incubus?
She’d sure as hell find out if he left her hanging.
The thoughts vanished as he kept thrusting into her, taking her like she’d never been taken before.
Her body shook as his hips pistoned between her thighs. His chest rubbed her nipples even harder. She’d give anything to finally have an orgasm with Aedan.
Not her soul, though, not her soul.
He jerked and fell out of rhythm and paused, his breathing harsh.
Ericka cried out with anger and frustration.
Then he started driving into her harder than ever. Hard, hard, harder!
Oh, God, she was almost there, almost there, almost there—
“Come for me, Ericka,” was all Aedan said.
Behind her eyelids, Ericka saw pure white as if her world had just gone supernova.
She screamed.
She couldn’t think past what she was feeling. White-hot fire exploded from inside her. Aedan continued to slam into her. Tears rolled down her cheeks from the exquisite sensations.
Ericka soared to places she hadn’t been to, ever. He kept driving into her relentlessly.
His golden eyes glowed and the sight made her core clamp down on his cock even more.
“Aedan,” she cried. “Please. God, please.”
She didn’t even know what she was begging for. He’d given her the most powerful orgasm of her life. What did she want now?
His look was intense, sweat dripping down the side of his face.
Her spasms went on until they faded, then started to build up again. “Come, Ericka,” he said. “I want to see your eyes when you climax again.”
She hadn’t thought another orgasm could be even more intense than the last one. But it was. It was almost too intense. Her whole body shook and she cried his name over and over again.
A few more thrusts and he shouted as he climaxed. The throb of his cock inside her made her contractions continue on way past the point she was certain she couldn’t take anymore.
Apparently she could.
Aedan rolled her in his arms and held her tight. “I wish I never had to let you go,” he said, his voice shaking. “I never want to let you go.”
CHAPTER 5
THE PAIN IN AEDAN’S VOICE AND WHAT HE’D SAID sent Ericka’s mind reeling. She stiffened in his arms.
Something was wrong. Had he taken her soul without her permission? Her heart beat faster and her throat grew too dry to speak.
He lifted his head and fear rose in a heated rush when she saw his tortured expression. He pressed his lips to her forehead, then rolled onto his side so they faced each other and she was in his arms.
He didn’t. He couldn’t have stolen my soul.
Ericka forced herself to take a deep breath. Don’t panic. Don’t panic.
“Most likely you will hate me when I tell you the truth.” Aedan brushed her hair from her forehead as her heart pounded harder. “I am not what you think I am.” His golden gaze was so intense she couldn’t say anything. “I am Incubae, and I was sent to take your soul.”
More heat prickled her skin and a slight dizziness overcame her. She opened her mouth, but he placed two fingers over her lips, not allowing her to speak.
“However, I will not take anything from you.” His features relaxed and he gave her a sad smile. “Your soul is your own. I only wish I could share your life. That would be my greatest dream.”
Relief whooshed through her and she relaxed against her pillow. He hadn’t taken her soul.
Then she realized what he’d said about sharing his life with her and a strange feeling settled in her belly.
“Aedan,” she tried to say behind his fingers, but he pressed them harder to her lips. Smells of sandalwood and sex mingled with the vanilla-scented candles.
“I must go.” He sighed. “I cannot return.”
Ericka’s eyes widened. “What—you have to come back.”
He moved his fingers and pressed his lips to hers. “I hope you will remember and think well of me.”
He started to move away from her when she grabbed hold of his hand. “Wait.” She clenched his fingers tight. “I already figured out you’re an Incubus. I won’t give you my soul, but I don’t want you to stop coming.” An ache grew tighter in her chest. “Please.”
Aedan gave another melancholy smile. “It is not my choice. I answer to the gods and goddesses and I must face my destiny.”
“What is it?” Her hand started to tremble, but she didn’t let go of his. “Your destiny.”
He stared at her for a long time and she tried to imagine never looking into his golden eyes again. “The Realm of the Dead.”
Ericka caught her breath. In her research books that place was a version of Hell. Where one burned for eternity. “No.” She shook her head as she tried to unscramble her thoughts, attempting to remember more of her research. “Isn’t there another place, a good place? An—An—”
“Annwn.” He gently took her hand from his and eased off the bed as she sat and faced him. “But I have failed in my last mission and my fate does not lie there any longer.”
“Stay, Aedan.” Her whole body felt like she was going to shatter. “Stay with me.” She knew her words were crazy. He was a demon. A demon.
“I have grown to love you.” He stroked her cheek with his fingertips. “Thoughts of you will carry me through my destiny.”
Tears burned in her eyes and she felt like she had already started breaking apart. He moved away from her and she scrambled out of bed and tried to follow him. “Wait!” Panic laced her voice. “Isn’t there something we can do?”
Aedan gave her an intense look of longing before cupping her cheeks with his hands and brushing his lips over hers. He whispered, “I love you, Ericka.”
The unreality of it all made her mind spin. “Aedan, please!” She tried to grab his arm to stop him.
He vanished.
“No, no, no.” She held her palm over her mouth as tears burned her eyes and her body shook. “That can’t be it,” she said as she let her hand drop away. “I won’t let it!”
Ericka grabbed her robe that was draped over a chair. She wrapped herself in it before running to the living room straight for her mountain of research books. There had to be a way to save him.
Aedan knew the escorts would be waiting. Hideous demons wearing cloaks that rippled like fire. Aedan didn’t bother dressing himself with his thoughts. The clothing would simply burn away even though he would not.
Jett and Kyne stood to the side. Jett’s eyes were wide and fear was on her features. Kyne clenched his fist so tightly his muscles bunched. “Give him another chance.” Kyne’s voice had a rough edge to it as the guards took Aedan by his upper arms.
“I will miss you,” Aedan said to Jett and Kyne as the guards started to take him away. “May you find much happiness in Annwn when you should go.”
Jett choked back a sob. “Aedan, why? Why throw your life to the fires for a human?”
Aedan shook his head then stared forward as the guards escorted him from the Chamber of Veils.
During the long walk down the Hall of the Lost, Aedan’s heart grew heavier. He pushed aside his fear with thoughts of Ericka and smiled knowing she would be safe.
When they reached the doorway to the Realm of the Dead, heat blasted Aedan. He closed his eyes for a moment. He op
ened them before he and the demons stepped through the rock entryway and down steps leading to another archway. Flames singed his cheeks even before the guards pushed him into fire and lava.
Hours flew as Ericka flipped through pages of book after book after book that she had piled beside the couch. Something had to be here. Hadn’t she read or heard that an Incubus could be kept from facing such a horrible fate? Or was it merely her desperate desire to save him that made her imagine things that couldn’t be?
After Aedan left, she put on a pot of coffee and even had to brew another batch as she pored over the books. Her eyes burned, her vision swam, and she was so jittery she spilled a few drops of coffee onto her robe.
She set the cup down and picked up another book, held it in her palms, and stared at the worn cover. It was merely a book of very old tales of faeries, elves, demons, and other fables.
As she opened the book to the table of contents, she blinked the tiredness from her eyes. She glanced at the table of contents and noted the section on demon fables before rifling through the pages until she reached the first tale. Disappointment tore at her gut as she saw a picture of a stereotypical demon with a hideous face, horns, and a forked tail.
Ericka bit the inside of her cheek, trying for control. She didn’t have time for tears. She flipped the next page and the next. She came to an abrupt stop when a few words caught her eyes.
Annwn. Realm of the Dead.
Butterflies batted her belly and she forced herself to slow down and read the passages. Annwn a place of beauty, almost Heaven, but not quite. The Realm of the Dead—it was Hell.
The butterflies dropped like lead as she read descriptions of each place in the afterlife.
A section brought her to a complete stop.
Stolen souls are taken to the Realm of the Dead where they serve the god of Death.
Surprisingly, Incubae and Succubae do not face the fate of the Realm of the Dead unless they fail in the tasks set forth to them by the gods and goddesses.
The only known way for a demon to escape the Realm is for a human to voluntarily release half of his or her soul and offer it to the demon. By doing so, the human will bind himself or herself to the demon. Because the demon shares the human’s spiritual essence, the demon neither fails nor completes his assignment.