by N. P. Martin
Jesus, he was completely serious when he said it, and I swallowed as I stared back at him. "You don’t even know me," I said, barely loud enough for him to hear over the music.
Lucas came closer as he leaned on the bar. "Believe me, if there’s one thing I know, it’s people. I can see what you are, even if you can’t."
I couldn’t stop looking into his eyes. "And what’s that?"
"A pure soul."
There was that seriousness again, as if he believed completely in what he was saying.
A pure soul?
"You don’t know me, or the things I’ve done. Just in the past couple of days, let alone the eighteen years before it…"
"I don’t need to. The soul doesn’t lie."
I shook my head at him, slightly embarrassed now. "Do you feed all the girls this line? I’m sure there have been many."
He looked offended for a second, and then smiled. "You think I’m being glib?"
"I think the words roll easily off your tongue," I said, unsure of why I was being defensive. It wasn’t like he said anything bad, far from it. Though, maybe that was the problem. Maybe I just wasn’t used to receiving such compliments, especially from men. All the same, how could he possibly know if my soul was pure or not? Come to think it, what does a pure soul even look like? How does one with a pure soul even behave? Not like I do most of the time, that’s for fucking sure.
"Words do roll easily off my tongue," he said. "But that doesn’t mean I don’t speak the truth. One thing you will learn about me, Leia, is that I don’t lie."
I doubted many could make such a claim without breaking its covenant. With Lucas, I believed him. There was a certain transparency to the way he behaved. He was open, and very sure of himself. No doubt he had his dark secrets, probably more than most, but essentially, what you saw is what you got.
I downed another shot of vodka, the alcohol soothing my nervous system, relaxing me. Or was it Lucas relaxing me? There was no question, I felt comfortable in his presence, and safe enough to ask, "Is there somewhere more quiet we can go? Somewhere you intend for me to know things about you?"
Lucas smiled, his eyes almost glowing. "Follow me."
27
Turns out, Lucas had an office upstairs. The office was medium sized and sparsely furnished, with only a desk with a chair either side, and a chaise lounge by the wall in the middle of the room, next to a door that I assumed led to another room of some sort.
Lucas placed two glasses on his desk and filled them with vodka. Given the amount I had drunk so far, I was somewhat surprised that I wasn’t on my way to getting shit-faced. I was barely tipsy, though, which made me wonder if my grace was somehow countering the effects of the alcohol. Not that I minded anyway. My earlier need to get full-assed drunk had lessened considerably. I put this down to the fact that I no longer felt the need to rely on alcohol (or drugs for that matter) to give me confidence or make my mind more fluid. The physiological changes that had taken place in me recently, had brought with them a sense of innate confidence that had broken down many of the walls I previously built in my mind. It would be interesting to see where this new sense of confidence took me when it came to Lucas. A telling change regarding our interaction was that despite being away from the security that can come from being in a public crowd, my grace had actually decreased since moving away from it, instead of the expected opposite, challenging everything of what I'd come to learn about my grace since Frank had come into my life.
When he handed me a drink, I took it out of politeness more than anything else. His company was all the buzz I needed right then.
"So this where you stand and survey everything that’s going on down there?" I said.
We were standing in front of a large window that was darkened on the other side so you could only see out, but not in. From this vantage point, you could see the entire club down below.
"Yes," Lucas said as he stood tantalizingly close to me. "I like to keep a watch on proceedings, as I did with you on that monitor over there."
I glanced over at the computer screen on his desk. "If you saw what was happening outside with me and the bouncers, why didn’t you stop it?"
He smiled slyly. "I was interested in what your reaction would be. I also wanted to see what you were made of."
"Oh? Did you like what you saw?"
"I have to say that I did. It certainly got my heart racing."
I couldn’t help but laugh. "Piss off."
"I’m not joking, it was fun to watch, though my bouncers would likely disagree."
"Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t intend for any of it to happen."
"No need to apologize. You won’t be hassled next time."
"Next time?" I raised my eyebrows. "Who says there’ll be a next time. I might not come back after tonight."
His eyes smoldered as he looked at me. "I think we both know that’s not true."
I stared back for a moment, then looked through the window at the dancers on stage, and the eager, lust-filled eyes of the men who watched them. "Why a strip club?"
Lucas chuckled slightly. "It’s just a convenient place to do business from; plus, I like the atmosphere."
"Hmm," I said. "So just what is your business? I’m sure there’s more to it than running this place."
He nodded. "There is, a lot more. I have interests all over the world."
"What kind of interests?"
"I’m in the information game mostly. I gather information and I use it to effect change."
"You mean to make money."
"Money? Yes, of course, but not always."
"What then?"
He stood with his hands in his pockets as he looked through the glass. "I use the information I gather to influence and persuade."
"To blackmail, you mean?" A smile crept across my face as I said it.
He chuckled slightly. "It could be perceived that way, but it isn’t how I see it. There are many powerful people out there who, for whatever reason, take delight in destroying the things that make this world so wonderful. When those people get too powerful or make too much of a mess, I work on taking them off the board, so to speak. Sometimes I replace them with others who I know will do a better job."
I nodded. "So you’re like a…what’s the word…a kingmaker?"
Lucas pursed his lips as he thought for a second. "I guess that’s one way of looking at it. It’s complicated, but not unlike what you and your brethren do. I keep the monsters at bay also, in my own way."
I looked at him for a moment. "You are not what I was expecting. I was expecting…"
"A demon?"
"Well, more of a demon. Why are you not like the other’s I’ve come across?"
Lucas’ eyes glowed a deep amber for a second as he looked at me. Then he smiled. "Who says I’m not?"
I searched his eyes, and for a brief moment, I had a glimpse of what lay beneath his charm and powerful charisma. I felt his vast reserves of power, and the breadth of the experience that underpinned it all. In an odd moment, I found myself thinking of Roy Batty, a character from Blade Runner, one of my favorite movies. At the end of the movie, Roy does this monologue that begins with the line, "I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe." That’s who Lucas reminded me off in that moment, a person—a being—who has seen and done things the rest of us could only dream about, and not just because our imaginations couldn’t come up with those things, but also because said things are, in some cases, too terrible for the average mind to even contemplate.
But this obvious familiarity with the darkness in the universe, and in himself, had not quenched the light in Lucas. It was probably for that reason that I felt comfortable in his presence. Even my grace seemed to be backing up my instincts by staying calm and softly pulsing within me. Though I was curious about his demon lineage. "Why can’t I see your true form?"
He looked confused for a second. "This is my true form. This is what I’ve always looked like."
Now I was co
nfused. "But how? I thought demons had to possess a human body in order to be here."
"In most cases, that’s true," he said. "But if you have the power, and the right knowledge, anyone can maintain their original human form, if indeed they were human to begin to with, which of course I was."
"So do you have a demon form?"
He smiled slightly as he narrowed his eyes at me. "I do, but I have no need for it, since I’m not in Hell anymore."
I shook my head. "I’m still trying to wrap my head around all this stuff. Hell and demons—"
"Don’t forget Nephilim. How are you coping with that?"
"I’m getting there. It feels more natural every day."
"Natural? You are a Divine being, Leia. There is nothing natural about you. I mean that as a complement, of course."
"Of course."
"Another drink?"
Lucas retrieved the bottle from his desk and refilled both our glasses. Our eyes remained on each other as he poured the drink, and continued to remain on each other as we each knocked back our shots. Then Lucas smiled and said, "I’m not sure what it is about you, Leia."
"What do you mean?" I asked frowning.
"Can I be frank?"
"Please no, don’t be Frank."
He laughed. "No, not that Frank. I mean, candid."
I nodded as I smiled. "Sorry. Go ahead."
"Since we met the other day, I haven’t been able to get you out of my head." He placed his empty glass on the window sill and took a step toward me. "Now why do you think that is?"
Staring up at him, I shook my head slightly. "I…don’t know."
He took another step closer, until we were just inches apart. "I think you do."
"I…"
I didn’t know what to say, and my heart beat faster as his presence seemed to envelope me. Then he leaned his head in and kissed me softly on the lips, drawing back only slightly after he’d finished, so that our eyes met. He went to say something, but I dropped my empty glass to the floor and put my hand on the back of his neck, pulling his head toward me once more. When our lips met, I kissed him with more passion than I’d ever kissed anyone. I’m also not sure what made me do it, but I jumped up and wrapped my legs around his waist as I locked my arms around his neck. He held me there firmly with one arm pressing into my back, hardly missing a beat as we continued to kiss.
The next thing I knew, he’s carrying me across the room, toward the door. We stopped kissing for a moment as I breathlessly surveyed the room he had then brought us into. It seemed to be a large suite of sorts, the center piece of which was a huge bed at the back. "This is convenient," I said as we hurriedly kissed again. If I’d had the capacity to think straight at that point, which I didn’t, I may have questioned just how many women he had rolled around with on that bed. As it was, I just went on kissing him, which seemed more preferable than thinking.
In between kissing me, he said, "You’d rather…we stay…in the office?"
I shook my head. "No," I said breathlessly.
He carried me over to the bed and all but dropped me onto it, causing me to giggle slightly, but my giggles soon turned to moans of pleasure as he started to kiss around my neck, sucking it in a way that ought to be illegal, and in a way that was being registered by my body as though he instead were sucking on my clit, causing so much heat to gather between my legs that I couldn't help but push myself into him.
"Wait," he said sitting up slightly.
"What?" I asked him, wondering what the problem was.
"Are you sure you want to do this? You have so much going on with your brother—"
"Wait…don’t say his name." I pulled his head toward me again. "Don’t stop, please…"
His eyes searched mine for another few seconds. "If you’re sure."
Jesus, does he want me to scream my fucking consent?!
My body literally ached for him. I couldn’t be any surer if he’d put a gun to my head. "Just don’t stop…"
He continued as if he had no more doubts, both of us hurriedly pulling each other’s clothes off until we both writhed naked on the bed together, our warm bodies eventually beginning to coil together like two snakes. I gasped as his hands firmly cupped my breasts, then again as he wrapped his lips around each of my nipples in turn. As he came up to kiss me again, I grabbed his face with both hands and stared deep into his slightly glowing eyes. "Can I trust you?" I whispered.
I’m not sure why I felt the need to ask him that. It just felt like something I had to do, before things went any further. He didn’t seem offended or deterred any by the question, and maintained his gaze on me for a short moment. "Yes, you can trust me. Always."
I continued staring into his eyes for another moment, trying to decide if he was telling the truth, then realized that, for now at least, it didn’t really matter. We were at the beginning of something right now, and neither of us wanted to stop for anything.
As soon as he put his head between my legs, the rest of the world melted away—even my own thoughts—until nothing existed but the two of us. For the first time in my life, I experienced what it felt like to connect so deeply with someone that you don’t know where you begin and they end.
From then on, I crested along on wave after wave of bliss and complete freedom. When I rode on top of him, I did so with pure abandon, pressing down harder on him when I saw the look of sheer pleasure and adoration in his eyes, and a part of me thought, Am I really doing this to him? Is he really looking at me like I’m some goddess riding atop him?
When I realized that he was, I took him deeper inside me, smiling to myself as his face opened up with the pleasure of it.
After I’d cum for the umpteenth time, he rolled me over onto my back while still staying inside me. His eyes locked onto mine as he began to gently thrust into me. "Your powers are beyond me," he said in a kind of harsh whisper. "How are you making me feel like this?"
"Like what?" I gasped.
The speed of his motion increased as I felt his hands on both sides of my neck while he held me firm. "Like this is…my first time."
Lucas cried out then as he came inside me, and I gripped him tightly, my fingernails digging into the skin of his back so hard I felt sure they would draw blood.
It was only when he relaxed on top of me and I pressed my head against his shoulder, that I realized there were tears of joy streaming down my cheeks.
28
After that first time, we had sex again shortly after, but slower this time as we explored each other’s bodies, still reveling in the sensations (most of them new to me it has to be said) that our combined lust and deep connection seemed to conjure up.
"I will never tire of you," Lucas said as he lay beside me on the bed, the dark red sheets pulled slightly over his muscular legs.
I snorted with laughter. "Well, that’s a relief. For a minute there, I thought you were getting sick of me already."
Lucas turned his head on the pillow to look at me as he laughed himself. "Sorry. You have me so elated right now…"
"I know the feeling." I kissed him softly on the lips. "You’re quite considerate, for a demon."
"You know, I’m not really a demon, at least not like the demon’s you’ve probably met so far."
"How so?"
"I have a soul for a start."
I frowned as I thought about the lore I’d read. "But I thought all demons were soulless."
"Not all. As I said, I’m not like other demons."
"Thank God."
"I don’t think God is the one to thank. I rely on myself, I always have."
"Is that because you had to, or because you wanted to?"
"Both. I wanted to be smarter than everyone else."
"And are you?" I raised my eyebrows at him.
"Of course not, but I used to think I was. My arrogance cost me my soul once. Luckily, I managed to get it back."
"Which is why there’s a light in you that other demons don’t have."
He nodded.
"I guess so, though I’m no angel."
"I know," I said as I gently squeezed his cock.
Lucas smiled with pleasure, but didn’t miss a beat. "We have that in common, I think."
"What? That we’re both no angels?" I wrapped my hand around him and squeezed harder this time, although my grip on him lightened somewhat due to the distraction of his fingers now firmly massaging my clit. If pools of warm moisture is what he was seeking, no current massaging was required, my own sex responding to the boldness I'd been showing in handling his cock uninvited, and in steering the course of our ministrations, where my once intoxicated and restrained mind had slipped away to reveal a desirous sexual predator I didn't yet recognize within myself.
"That we both found light in the darkness, I mean."
My hand relaxed on him. "How do you know what darkness I’ve been through?"
He shook his head slightly as he relaxed his own hand on me. "I don’t. I’m sure you’ve been through quite a bit, though."
"Not as much as you, I’d say."
"It’s all relative. It’s about how you make it through that matters. You appear to have made it through okay."
I rolled onto my back and sighed as I suddenly thought of Kasey. "But at what price? I got my best friend killed. My brother is now a demon."
Lucas sat up and leaned his back against the pillows. "I’m sorry about your friend. What happened?"
I told Lucas what happened to Kasey, and managed to do so without bursting into tears, which I felt like doing. "I know it wasn’t really my fault, but it still feels like it was…and it hurts so damn bad."
"What about your brother?" Lucas asked. "You are sure he’s a demon?"
I nodded. "Unfortunately. He paid me a visit, showed me his powers, then…teleported away."
"If Abigor used his own blood to demonize your brother, then your brother’s powers will be quite strong indeed."
I turned in the bed to face him. "Level with me," I said. "Does my brother have a chance?"
"A chance?"
"A chance at being human again, or Nephilim rather?"