It wasn’t what he’d intended. But there was no going back now. He had Ume exactly where he wanted her. Along with her cousin and a mate-hungry wolf.
A few minor hiccups for a demon in lust.
Chapter Four
“There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.”
“There’s snow face in Rome? You’re babbling, Ume. That doesn’t make any sense.”
Ume shook her head at her cousin. Here they were, in the middle of nowhere, sitting by a campfire across from a giant nudist and the warrior from her cyber-fling, and Julie was being cute.
The men were talking quietly amongst themselves, both of them eyeing her and her cousin with expressions that made Ume feel distinctly like a rack of tasty lamb.
It made her tails twitch.
“Julie, it may have escaped your attention…but I have a tail. Three in fact.”
Julie covered her mouth to hide her smile. “I noticed that. I also noticed other, um, prominent features that I don’t remember you having.”
Ume groaned, looking down. When she’d created her avatar, she’d modeled it after herself, as much as she could. But when it was time to choose a body type, she couldn’t resist. It had been a game after all. An anonymous, fun game. Now she’d gone from A cup to the perky prow of a ship in one, insane leap.
She buried her head in her hands. “Don’t you get it, Jules? We’re in the game. In. The. Game.”
It was true. She recognized everything, even though it no longer looked computer generated. The luminescent flowers at her feet that she knew flew around the glade like fairies every morning. The large and small moons, glowing red and gold in the sky. The eerie, whispering sound the trees made, like trapped souls or children laughing. It looked rich and vibrant. Real. Terrifying.
“It’s happened. I’ve gone crazy.” She looked up with a gasp. “Or I’ve had an aneurysm. Maybe I’m dead. I’m not ready to be dead yet, Jules. I’m really not.”
Julie knelt in the dirt, huffing in exasperation as she pushed the long, flowing princess skirt she was wearing out of the way. “Listen to me, Ume. You need to calm down. You aren’t dead. And if you’re crazy, then so am I. Something happened that we can’t explain yet.” She pursed her lips. “But after the big guy and I have a talk, I’ll have more information.”
“The big guy?”
Julie nodded. “Liam. He’s the cameraman from the show I was telling you about. He’s here too. That can’t be a coincidence. He was on the phone with me when this happened. I have a feeling Saint has something to do with our current situation, and I bet Liam knows exactly what’s going on.” She hesitated. “I’m not sure who the other guy is.”
“Sinner,” Ume shrugged helplessly at Julie’s confused expression. “The warrior from the other day.”
“The one you…?”
“Yep.”
After a speaking glance, Julie stood up as gracefully as she could and raised her voice. “I need some water to boil if I’m going to make us something to eat.” She pointed to the giant nudist, and Ume’s eyes bulged. “Take me to the nearest stream or brook or whatever.”
Liam leapt to his feet as though poked with a cattle prod, the flush on his cheeks and fever-bright eyes making Ume nervous. She tugged on Julie’s skirt and whispered, “Don’t leave me. We’re safer together.”
Julie pulled away and squared her shoulders. “I’ll be fine, Liam would never hurt me. You’ll be fine too. At least you have a sword. Just don’t move until I get back, okay?”
Ume nodded and pulled the blanket she’d been given closer around her, as though it could protect her. She watched her tiny cousin disappear with the behemoth and marveled. Julie was usually so shy. Apparently all she needed was a crisis of epic magnitude and a pink frilly dress to find her inner Amazon. Ume on the other hand had never felt so lost.
“I found you.”
The warrior’s voice pulled her out of her own thoughts with a jolt. He was even sexier in person, damn him. And real. How was this possible? How many times was she going to ask that question before she started irritating herself? “What?”
The warrior tilted his head, his dark hair falling across his eyes. “I’ve been looking for you for days. You left so quickly.”
Ume blushed. “About that. I, um, you see—I wasn’t myself. That is, I’m more myself now than I was when we—oh hell, you don’t know me.”
He slid from his spot on a downed log to his hands and knees, watching her with hunger in his gaze. “I know you.” He moved closer, slowly, as if he didn’t want to startle her. “I know how wet you can get, how hard you came when I was inside you. The sounds of your pleasure.”
He crawled toward her like a panther, and Ume was having a hard time catching her breath. Days spent fantasizing about him, one climax that had only made her want more, had lowered her resistance.
She shook her head, and he froze a few feet away from her. “I’m not normally like that. I don’t sleep with strangers.” She pinched the bridge of her nose with two trembling fingers and closed her eyes. “Or figments. You seem nice, but truthfully? You’re just a character in a video game. Or an illusion created by my disintegrating mind. I’m not exactly sure which.”
“Does it matter, Ume?”
Her eyes popped open at his solemn tone. “What did you call me?”
He lifted one shoulder, gesturing toward the woods. “It’s what she called you, isn’t it? Ume. Plum. If I am not real, then when I bury my face between your legs and make you come, when I bend you over and spank you until you are begging for my cock…does it matter?”
“Uh…” Ume gulped.
Sinner smiled cajolingly. “I assure you I won’t be offended if you use me for sex. There are several stops between this place and the Demon King’s lair, many opportunities for me to make you co—“
“The Demon King! The quest!”
Ume stood up and threw off her blanket, her mind racing as she paced back and forth beside the kneeling Sinner. “That has to be it, doesn’t it? This quest. I saw it on my laptop before we were zapped. We have to find the demon’s treasure to end it.” She chuckled a little hysterically. “That is assuming this is actually happening, and that Jules is right about it being a little prank by the quote unquote real demon creator of the game. What do you think?”
When he didn’t answer, she placed her hands on her hips and glanced down, “Yoohoo? Any thoughts? Where did you go?”
He was staring, wide eyed at her cleavage. Her barely covered cleavage in the leotard-like body suit she’d foolishly chosen for her avatar.
“They were, um, bouncing.”
Ume bit the inside of her cheek to stop her smile. “They do that.”
His throat bobbed. “It’s distracting. I can’t think about anything but…”
She tapped her booted foot. “But?”
“But fucking them.”
Ume threw up her hands, pretending disgust when inside she was melting from the heat in his gaze. “Men.”
She turned away in desperation, scanning the tree line for her cousin. “I wonder what’s taking them so long. Julie isn’t exactly fond of nature.”
Sinner’s pained groan had her glancing over her shoulder. Suddenly, she felt like groaning too. Her tails, obviously having a mind of their own, were caressing his bare arms and neck enticingly. But he wasn’t looking at her tails. In the process of fondling him, the furry fiends had revealed the bottom half of her outfit to his view.
She sighed. “I forgot about the thong.”
Her warrior growled. “I didn’t.”
Hopefully there was a trading post on the way to the Demon King. She really needed an outfit change. She could deal with insanity. Could even deal with magic and demons. But she’d lose it if she had to walk around in this triple-X torture contraption for one more day. Or the one-track minded warrior would.
She’d try to convince herself that she really didn’t want that to happen.
Saint w
as one horny devil. He chuckled derisively at himself. Of course he was, it was his nature. Sex was all his father had been interested in, and now that Ume was so close, it was all Saint could think of.
What came as a surprise were the other feelings that came with the lust. The pride when she finally decided to jump into the illusion and finish the quest instead of falling apart. The humor when she teased her cousin for emerging from the woods with branches in her hair and a love-struck wolf slave close behind. The profound happiness when he saw her reveling in the freedom this body had given her. The freedom to move, to run, that he knew she hadn’t felt in years.
Saint had a feeling the human half of him was falling hard for this woman already. His demon side was just plain hard.
They’d started early, walking until the sun was high and they’d hit one of Saint’s favorite towns. The one where all the best sins grew and thrived. This was where he usually came to eat, drink and be merry. Only now he’s wasn’t alone. He had his own party, such as it was. The wolf, the writer, the kitsune and him. The liar.
Lies. Demons did that well. What exactly did he think would happen when she found out who he was? That Sinner was also Saint? That he’d brought her here to find out more about her power. To have her again. Mostly to have her again. What would she do?
This was not his best plan ever.
“I feel so much better.” Julie Wu came out of the trader’s shop dressed in snug leather pants and a leather jerkin, a beaming smile lighting her face. Saint also noticed she’d gotten a small quiver and a light ash bow. Ready for anything. Clever girl.
Julie twirled. “It was wonderful. I couldn’t find what I wanted in my size, but after I described it to the trader, it appeared like magic. Isn’t that fantastic? No more pink princess for me.”
Liam shuffled his feet, grinning. “I liked the princess.” He winked. “She was more…accessible.”
Julie giggled, and Saint looked away, jealous of their ease around each other. What had happened to the shy girl from the castle? The one who’d run away?
He was also confused. He narrowed his dark gaze on the tiny woman. “Are you sure it wasn’t there before?”
Liam looked over at Saint, startled. “Saint must have put it there for you. I told you he wasn’t a bad guy.”
Julie sniffed. “We’ll see about that. He can send me all the clothes he wants, but until I know why he dragged us into his little game, I’ll withhold my judgment.”
Saint met Liam’s gaze and shook his head. He hadn’t put anything in there for Julie. He’d been too distracted by Ume to focus on anything else. He had to get a handle on this. And quickly.
Julie turned and clapped her hands, drawing his attention back toward the shop. “Look out Xena, warrior princess.”
Ume made a face. “At least it’s better than my last look, Manga Barbie. Though I do wish your Saint had thought of breast reduction trader stalls. The trader kept drooling all over them.”
The trader was a player. Shit. That meant he couldn’t kill him. He could, however, send a band of nasty ruffians his way. Maybe a computer virus. He took a deep breath, assured of vengeance, and studied Ume’s new look.
It hadn’t helped. She was in thigh-high boots, a leather and metal skirt concealing her thong, and a sturdier top, but she was still a distraction. He’d be swatting players away like flies.
His frustration made him grumpy. “I thought you were planning on covering up.”
She frowned in his direction. “I can’t help it.” She shrugged at the others. “My tails kind of limit my fashion options. It’s better than the leotard, isn’t it?”
Saint saw the thong underneath the short skirt and felt a pulse pounding at his temple. The sky darkened, storm clouds appearing from out of nowhere. He took a breath. He had to remind himself he was the program, it reacted to him. He needed to gain some control.
What he really needed was to get this girl bound and on her knees before he started a cataclysm. Be nice, he told himself, forcing out a rough, “You look good,” before walking ahead of them toward the inn.
Liam caught up to him, newly dressed himself in black biker leather. “You okay?”
Saint snarled. “Why shouldn’t I be? I’ve obviously made another successful match. You and Julie are together now, right?”
Liam tugged on the curls at the nape of his neck and lowered his voice. “Not exactly. She let me kiss her. It was amazing. And I kept my breathing shallow like you said, so I wasn’t overwhelmed by her scent.” He made a yearning sound in the back of his throat. “She smells unbelievable. She’s mine. If I had a doubt, it’s gone.”
“So what’s the hold up?” Saint didn’t have time for this. He had plans for Ume tonight. Plans that didn’t involve babysitting this overgrown puppy.
“She’s human, that’s the hold up. Cats like Thomas are different. With wolves, it can get wild. And then there’s the bite. I don’t think I can have her without needing to bite her.”
Saint sighed. He knew Liam. He was an Alpha, a leader. This was what losing your head for a woman did to you. “Look, she wants you. And where we’re going, by the time the night ends she won’t be able to resist her desires. Trust me. I created this place, didn’t I?”
Liam frowned. “I want her to want me without any of this bullshit.” He swore under his breath. “I know how I’ve been acting. How I sound. She’s just so small and vulnerable. I feel like a monster beside her.”
Saint placed a consoling hand on his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. “That’s because you are a monster, bro. But she doesn’t seem to mind. And she doesn’t seem all that vulnerable right now. Just because she’s human, because she had an abusive ex, doesn’t mean she’d be turned off by your brand of romance.”
Liam opened his mouth again but Saint shook his head. “Trust me.” He lifted his arms and turned, walking backwards to face the women behind them. “And welcome to the Inn of the Drunken Lotus.”
When he pushed open the doors he felt his shoulders relax. This was his baby. His favorite spot. It reminded him of his younger, demon days. After facing pain beyond imagining, there were always places of pleasure to recuperate. Good pain. Good sex.
Good sin.
Females and males of all shapes and sizes, and in various states of dress stood in the far corners of the room, dancing to the sensual drumbeat of the music. The air smelled of sweet hookah smoke and sex, and the ground level tables were framed by soft, silken pillows. There were large doors on either side that led to a thousand-and-one delights, each kinkier than the next. It was enough to make a demon cry with happiness.
“Now there’s a familiar face. Haven’t seen you around here lately.”
Saint saw Manx and smirked. Of course he would be online right now. The technofile had a sixth sense for trouble. And he loved this place as much as Saint did. For a non-demon, the man was impressively debauched.
He placed a finger over his mouth, and indicated Ume with a subtle head bob. Manx’s grin grew, and he winked. “Sinner, who do you have with you?”
Saint let out an inward sigh of relief. Manx would keep his secret. For now. But from the way he was looking at Ume…he may be hoping for a reward in return for his silence.
An idea formed in Saint’s mind that was too arousing to resist.
“Why don’t you join us, and I’ll introduce you properly.”
The tall, blue-haired mystic bowed. “I was hoping you’d ask.”
Chapter Five
Ume had to admit, she was enjoying herself. If this was what crazy felt like, maybe it wasn’t so bad. She’d given Julie the benefit of the doubt. Saint had somehow pulled them into the game, and the only way to find out why was to reach his lair. What could be simpler?
Especially when she had this strong, healthy body. She’d never been faster, or felt more alive. The kitsune aspect of her character must be responsible for that, as well as her new, intensified sense of smell.
Sinner, for example, smelled del
icious. Mouthwateringly delicious. She’d had to stop herself from dragging him into the woods several times already. Since they’d entered the inn it had gotten much worse. He stayed protectively close to her as they pushed through the crowd, close enough to lick.
Lick? What was wrong with her?
The same thing that was wrong with Julie, she’d noticed. The energy between her cousin and Liam was electric. From her new, altered senses, it was clear to Ume that the wolf shifter was in love. Just as clear that he was overly careful around the petite Julie.
Ume wished she could tell him. Julie had always been complicated. One of the only girls in her brood, overprotected and shy at first glance, but Ume knew better. Beneath the silk was all steel. When Julie wanted something, she found a way to make it happen. Ume may be louder and more careless, but Julie’s quiet determination had moved mountains. Liam wouldn’t know what hit him.
“Ume, I want you to meet my good friend Manx. He is a mystic. We have fought together many times. Manx? Meet Ume, warrior kitsune, and her friends, Liam the Wolf and…” Sinner glanced over at Julie, an eyebrow raised.
Julie bit her lip, blushing. “Jules the bard. Are there bards here? Is that right?” She looked over at Ume, who nodded. “Okay then.”
Sinner turned back to his friend quickly, but Ume caught the mirth in the look he shared with the stranger. “Jules the bard. Lets all find a table and get off our feet.”
Ume tried to catch her warrior’s gaze. There was an undercurrent in the air, a darker, smokier scent to him, as though he were excited. Because of the mystic? She studied the new man as they all lowered themselves around a table.
He was as handsome as her warrior was beautiful. A strong jaw and brilliant indigo eyes were framed by a shock of long blue hair. He was also covered from top to bottom in blue tattoos, and little else.
What was it with this game and nudity? But Ume had to admit, he smelled pretty damn good too. He smiled at her, his eyes dropping to her breasts as they bounced with every movement. She liked that look, and she wasn’t sure what to make of her reaction.
My Demon Saint: Shifting Reality, Book 2 Page 4