by Susan Hayes
Panting, he tugged her back into his arms as he lay back on the bed, dragging the sheet over them both. Keri snuggled into his side without protest, her red hair fanned out over his shoulder as she laid her head on his chest. Her fingers traced over the ridged line of his stomach and she laughed softly. “You certainly feel real.”
“As do you.” He twined a lock of her hair around a calloused finger. “Did you think that somehow I’d vanish in a puff of smoke when we were done?”
She laughed at him and turned her head to watch his fingers as they played with her hair. “I don’t know. Can you even do that? Vanish that is? Or do you just wander into random women’s dreams and then appear in their beds? And how is it that you know my name?”
“So many questions, where do I begin?” He lifted his head to grin at her briefly before laying back once more. “I know your name because I have been inside your mind and touched your thoughts. I can’t conjure smoke, but I suppose I could vanish if I chose to, at least it would seem to you that I vanished. And to answer the question you haven’t asked yet my trusting and sweet Keri, I am no threat to you, I swear it.”
Keri raised herself on one elbow and gazed down at him. “I think I’m going to need something to drink to get through this conversation. Would you care to join me?”
“It’s been a very long time since I’ve enjoyed food or drink, I’d be happy to join you.”
She kissed his cheek and left the bed, and he watched in appreciation as her curvy form walked away from him towards the door.
As she reached the threshold she turned back and grinned. “I will only leave this room if you promise to still be here when I get back.”
Alistair raised one hand off the bed and placed it over his heart. “You have my word Keri, I couldn’t leave this bed if my life depended on it.”
***
CHAPTER 4
Keri stood naked in her kitchen and tried to wrap her brain around what had just happened. The most gorgeous man she’d ever seen had just stepped out of her dreams and into her bed, and she’d enjoyed every wanton, amazing minute of it. She never did things like this, ever. She pinched her arm sharply and winced at the sting. Well, at least I’m not still dreaming.
She gathered up her wits and set about making a midnight snack for them both; red wine, fresh bread and some of the cheeses she’d bought at the market that afternoon. Setting it all on a tray, she carried it back into her bedroom, her cheeks heating as she realized that in her daze she’d never put on as much as a bathrobe.
He had remade the bed while she was gone, folding the heavier blankets at the foot board and stacking up enough pillows for them to lie back on.
The sheet was pulled up to his waist, leaving his upper torso bare to her gaze and he grinned as he patted the bed beside him. “Bring that over here and I’ll answer your questions as we eat.”
She placed the tray between them and snatched the first thing she could find out of her lingerie drawer, stifling a groan as she realized the concoction of cream lace and satin she’d blindly grabbed was more enticement than camouflage.
Keri joined him on the bed and tugged up the sheet as quickly as she could, trying to ignore the flash of amusement in Alistair’s eyes as he took in her outfit and actions.
“You’re beautiful Keri, but if you insist on covering up that beauty, I’m glad you chose this.” He reached out and brushed his knuckles over the lace covering her breasts.
She felt her cheeks heat and ducked her head, struggling to focus on pouring the wine instead of how much that single caress affected her.
“I’ve got that.” He took the glass from her trembling fingers and poured them each a generous measure. Watching her over the rim of his glass he suddenly asked, “Are you afraid of me?”
“No. Well, maybe. Not of you, but of all of this. It’s just a lot to take in and I don’t understand what’s happened. I’m here having a glass of wine with a figment of my imagination, it’s all very damned weird.”
She took a drink of her wine and tried to calm herself. “What are you, and why are you here?”
Alistair took a sip of the wine and flashed her a comforting smile that made her heart skip a beat. “I am an incubus, what you would call a demon, and I am here because about two hundred years ago a cold hearted bitch of a sorceress cast a spell that imprisoned me.” He reached out and knocked on the carved headboard. “I’m bound to this bed until I find a way to break the spell.”
“You’re a demon?” Fear flared deep inside her and she tensed as she tried to decide which way to bolt.
He nodded. “Yes, but that doesn’t make me evil” He lifted a hand to reach out for her, touching her hand with the gentlest of caresses.
“I’ve already given you my word I’ll not harm you. It pains me to see fear in your eyes, just let me explain.”
She downed a goodly portion of her wine and then nodded in consent. “Alright, explain.”
“You know of demons, so I imagine you know of angels too?” She gave him a slight nod and he continued. “We’re really the same race, but we have differing needs. We call ourselves daemons. In simple terms, what you think of as angels feed on the light side of the emotional spectrum, while demons feed from the dark side. We’re not like humans; we live on energy, not food and water, though we can enjoy both. Different types of daemons feed on different energies. Angels feed on the higher emotions like love and courage, while demons feed on other, more primal emotions like anger, fear, pain, and....” His voice lowered and he let his gaze wander over her lace covered cleavage as he added “...lust.”
“So you’re a lust demon? Seriously?” Keri’s shoulders hunched forward and her eyes lowered to the tray of food. Inside her head the negative voices began to taunt her. See? He doesn’t want you; you’re just the woman who happened to buy the bed he’s trapped in. He didn’t choose you; you’re the only meal on the menu.
“Incubus.” He corrected her, concern showing on his face as she lowered her gaze. “I can only feed on the sexual energy of the woman I am with.”
“That explains why you look like sin incarnate; you’d have to be to get what you need to live.” Keri popped a cube of Havarti into her mouth, her eyes still downcast.
“We have the ability to change our appearance, to become that which our partner most desires. It’s something all of my daemon type can do, along with touching another’s thoughts or dream walking.” Alistair set down his glass and reached out to cup Keri’s chin, his thumb grazing her lips as he coaxed her to lift her head.
“Why are you hurting? I can feel your pain without even entering your mind.”
“I’m just being a goose, it’s nothing.”
She finally lifted her head to meet his gaze, her green eyes carefully shuttered to hide any emotion.
“I can take the information from your mind, or you can tell me yourself, but either way Keri, I am going to know what has upset you.”
“I’m an idiot, that’s all. I should have known that the most amazing, handsome man I’ve ever met wasn’t really interested in me. I’m just the only woman around and you needed to feed.” She turned crimson at her confession and turned her face away from his caress, downing the rest of her wine in a few short swallows.
He stared at her in obvious surprise and then shook his head. “You’re not an idiot, and I am not only with you because I needed to feed.” Ignoring the tray between them he reached over and hauled Keri bodily into his lap, cradling her close.
“I sensed you days ago, the first time I’d sensed anything in so long I thought I had finally gone mad. Your energy woke me and I called out to you. You must have heard me, Beautiful, for here I am, awake and corporeal. I’m only here because of you.”
“I felt something.” Keri admitted softly, her back tingling where his hands smoothed up and down her spine, soothing her. “I heard something like a voice, only it was too quiet, and then I found the bed and when I touched it I
heard it again. I knew I had to have the bed, bring it home and restore it.” She let her head sink into the cradle of his shoulder, her cheek on his chest.
He kept up his caresses and her body responded, softening and melting a little at a time as his voice rumbled by her ear. “You saved me Keri. Daemons are more or less immortal barring violence, but only if we have the will to continue. I was nearly lost when you found me.”
“I’m glad I found you. I’ve been a bit lost myself lately, it’s a horrible feeling.”
“Neither of us is lost anymore.” He threaded his fingers through her hair and tipped back her head to steal a gentle kiss from her lips. “Now, where was I? Oh yes, daemons aren’t all bad, and you think I look like sin incarnate.”
“Which makes sense, since you can look like whoever I think is sexiest.” She gave him a half smile and offered him a morsel of cheese. “Now the question is why you look like that, and not like Gerard Butler.”
“I don’t know who that is, but as it turns out, this is my true form. The transformation is instinctive, I don’t control it. But right now you’re looking at the real me. I’ve never had that happen before.”
“You’re perfect.” Keri informed him and pressed a light kiss to his chin. “So you’re what my ideal man looks like? No wonder I’ve never found him. And I thought demons were all pointy ears and tails and horns? Or is that all wrong too?”
Alistair laughed. “There are many different types of daemons, and yes, some of them have very strange and often terrifying appearances. Would you still think I’m perfect if I had pointy ears or horns?”
“I suspect it would take more than a tail or Mr. Spock ears to mess with your looks.”
“Good.” He scooped another morsel from the tray, this time feeding her. “Then one day I may show you my horns.”
“Wait, you actually have horns? Keri nearly choked as she spluttered in shock. “Oh now you have to show me.”
*****
Alistair found he was enjoying himself, laughing and teasing the beautiful woman in his lap. There had been women who had invited him into their lives before but he’d never wanted to do so.
He had always craved pleasure and sex, not laughter and flirtation. He set those thoughts aside with a mental wave of the hand. He’d been alone too long, that was all.
“If I show you my horns, what will you do for me? Hmm?”
Keri appeared to consider his question for a moment before making her offer. “I’ll show you my world.”
“You can’t do that, for I cannot go more than five paces from this accursed bed. The world is denied to me Keri, both yours and mine.”
“Well, I can’t help you with your world, but I can help you explore mine. Things have changed since last you were here, and I think I know a way. But first you owe me the rest of your story, and I still haven’t seen these horns.”
“How can such a pretty little thing be so demanding?” Very well, I agree to your terms.” Alistair leaned down and slanted his lips over hers, kissing her until they were both breathless. When he lifted his lips from hers she opened her eyes and gasped softly.
“Horns.” She murmured in amazement and lifted a hand, pausing it near his cheek.
“May I?” He nodded and she brushed her fingertips over one, her gentle exploration sending a bolt of heat straight to his groin.
“They’re the same color as your hair,” she observed as she let her fingers continue exploring, following the curve until it ended in a sharp point almost lost in his dark hair. “I don’t think you’re perfect anymore. Now I’ve seen these, I think you’re smoking hot.”
Laughter rumbled up from his chest and he felt a rush of satisfaction flow through him as he leaned in and whispered. “I take it that’s a good thing?”
“A very, very good thing.”
“I’m glad you like them. I’ve never let one of your kind see them before. No mortal but you has ever seen me as I truly am.”
“I’m honored,” she finished her examination and flashed him a pleased smile. “It seems odd, but now I really believe you’re a dem— er, daemon and not just a very strange man.”
She settled herself deeper into his lap and let her head rest on his shoulder again. “Now, how did you get here?”
“My father is a powerful daemon, and I was the first son born to him in a millennium. He made sure I lacked for nothing and was given the best teachers and training he could arrange. I mastered the art of shifting between planes when I was still young, only a hundred or so years old. I reveled in my abilities and spent the next century exploring every part of your world, growing stronger but not much wiser. That’s when Cora sent her summons and captured me. I had been warned time and again that human sorcerers were dangerous, too powerful for all but the strongest of us to face alone. The spell she acted like a lure, and I foolishly thought I could handle her. I was wrong, and she kept me for her entertainment for another hundred years before she disappeared and I was left alone.”
“For her entertainment? You mean you and she—” Keri trailed off and gestured vaguely to the bed.
He shook his head in the negative. “If she had let me get that close to her I’d of killed her with my bare hands. Using me that way might have been her initial plan, but when she realized how angry I was she simply enforced all the spells binding me and kept me alive as a pet. She was a sorceress, and she’d found a way to feed off of sexual energy in a way similar to a daemon, only she used the energy to power her spells and to keep herself young and beautiful. Because of that she surrounded herself with sex. While I was her prisoner she ran brothels and pleasure houses, leeching energy off of every depraved act.”
Keri wrapped her arms around his chest and hugged him, “I’m so sorry. That must have been hard to face every day.”
“She perverted everything we are and twisted it into something cruel and ugly.
If I ever get free of this prison I will do everything in my power to hunt her down and destroy her for all she’s done.”
He fought back the wave of anger and pain as he tried to deal with the memories of his capture, burying his face into Keri’s soft curls and inhaling her sweet fragrance until he felt he was calm enough to continue.
“If it’s too hard, you don’t need to tell me any more.”
Alistair realized they had changed roles, now she was comforting him, her hands stroking him just as he had done for her. Not since he’d left his mother’s home had anyone cared for him like this. It was another thing Cora had stolen from him, time with the friends and family he loved, and who loved him. So long as his personal gate to his home plane of Daemos stood, they knew he lived, but where he was or what he had been through, none of them knew or could know until he freed himself and returned home.
“No, I promised you I would explain it all, and I will.” Alistair’s voice was low and rough as he nuzzled her hair again. “I just have not had another soul to tell this too before.”
Keri encouraged him to continue, “So she was a madam, surrounding herself with sex all the time to stay young. So why did she keep you? I don’t understand.”
“I was something of a pet to her, an amusement. But I could also be used to give her powerful doses of energy. She would starve me, leave me alone until I was too weak to resist, and then she’d bring in a woman, some bored wife or socialite’s daughter who wanted a night of rough and ready sex with no witnesses or risk of discovery. They paid richly for the privilege of spending a night with me. I didn't desire them, but being starved of energy is unpleasant and I would have done anything to ease my hunger.” He paused and shifted her in his lap so he could hold her even closer.
“She always watched my encounters, in the room but far enough away she knew I could not reach her. She would let me take their essence, but she would steal part of mine as well, enough to keep me weakened.
I think it was like a drug to her, absorbing so much energy at once.”
“Then what happened? You said she vanished one day, why?” Keri’s fingers slid through his dark hair, smoothing back the lock that fell into his eyes. “She kept you prisoner for all those years, and then just abandoned you?”
“Her business would always be discovered eventually, usually she would be careful enough that it took years to come to the authority’s attention, and years more before the bribes stopped working. I think she got careless, or someone more politically powerful than she was came after her. I only overheard bits and snippets of conversations and thoughts, most of it happened outside the small sphere I am bound to. There was a raid, arrests were made and Cora fled the city. The property sat idle for a long time, but eventually the city sold it, but by then I had been too long without feeding and I’m not really sure what happened. I drifted in a void, too weak to shift to this plane and too stubborn to give up and die, at least not right away.”
“If I had you prisoner in my bed, I’d never have left you behind.” She gave him a half smile and kissed the corner of his mouth. “You’re amazing.”
He felt a stab of sadness as she smiled up at him, her green eyes so gentle. She didn’t understand, not yet. “But you do have me prisoner my Beauty. The bed belongs to you, and I am bound to the bed.” He gathered her small hands in his larger ones and cradled them near his chest. “My life is in your hands.”
Keri’s mouth formed an “O” and tears sparkled in her lovely dark green eyes. “I don’t want to keep you prisoner. If we found a way to free you, what would you do?”
Alistair’s voice was a low growl when he answered, his words roughened by emotion. “I’d go home. My family are waiting for me there, my life is there.
When I return home I will gather my family together and we’ll hunt down Cora and destroy her, if she still survives.”
Keri spoke so softly her words were more breath than sound, “I’d miss you.”
Her next words were rushed, as if she were trying to talk over what she had just confessed “If there’s a way to free you, we’ll find it. I don't know anything about magic or daemons, but I will help anyway I can. And this is the first time you’ve been free to go over the bed without someone interfering. Maybe we’ll find something that was missed before.”