by A. H. Lee
Incubus Dreaming
Incubus Series Book 3
A. H. Lee
Published by: Pavonine Books
Cover by Starla Huchton
© 2017 by A. H. Lee. All rights reserved. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This material may not be reproduced, modified, or distributed without the express prior permission of the copyright holder. Artwork is displayed by agreement with the artists. All artists hold the copyrights to their work.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Epilogue: Six Months Later
About the Author
Chapter 1
Azrael
Laurence Nigel Crowley—Ren to his friends and Lord Azrael to everyone else—woke in an enormous, downy bed, covered in equal parts panther and books. Morning sunlight shone from a picture frame that covered most of one wall. It was an enchantment, since there were no actual windows in this bedroom, but the view overlooking the palace gardens was real enough—dewy and soft with dawn mist.
A naked young woman lay nestled under the covers against one of Azrael’s shoulders, leafing through a novel. Azrael smiled sleepily and whispered, “That one has a nice hot spring.”
Jessica’s blue eyes flicked up, crinkling with pleasure. Her honey blond hair fell in a messy halo around her shoulders. “I like the scene with the minnows,” she whispered back. “And the food sounds amazing. Does it actually taste good?”
Azrael nodded. Or he tried to. Mal’s chin and head were pressed against his face on the opposite side. One massive, velvet paw lay across his chest. Jessica rested the book across her stomach and sighed. “Oh, I don’t know. You always pick out good places. The last one I picked was a disaster.”
“It was more exercise than I expected.”
“How was I supposed to know the cows were carnivorous? If the author does not mention it in the next book, I will send a strongly worded letter.”
They spent most of their dates in the pocket worlds of various novels, created by the books’ proximity to Azrael’s collection of grimoires. Azrael extricated his arm from behind Jessica to rub his eyes. “Spoiler alert.”
“You pick.”
“It’s your turn!”
Jessica shrugged. She reached across him and snagged another volume. “I don’t want to go wandering around in this one, but we should definitely read it. I think Mal would like it, too. There are talking cats. Er. Cat creatures, anyway.”
Azrael blinked at the book. He was still getting used to having someone in his life who liked books as much as he did. “That’s one of the new batch, isn’t it?” His agents went all over the kingdoms collecting literature for him—everything from rare magical texts to novels and cookbooks.
Jessica nodded. “I picked it up off the kitchen table; was that alright?”
“Of course. There were a few magical odds and ends in that pile, but I don’t bring anything very powerful into my suite. That one’s just a novel.”
Mal finally stirred against his shoulder. Azrael could remember a time when his pet demon would have woken at the creak of a board, the brush of a whisker, the softest of muttered commands. But not since he’d returned from his four-month vacation. Not since he’d moved into Azrael’s bed. Lately, Mal slept deeply and woke up purring.
He raised his head at last and gave a toothy yawn, pink tongue curling. He was lying on top of the sheets, while Azrael and Jessica were under them. He flopped all the way across Azrael onto Jessica and licked her face, his purr vibrating through both their bodies.
Jessica gave a squawk that ended in a giggle and caught his head in both hands. “Good morning to you, too, silly.”
Azrael raised the arm that had been under Mal and flexed his fingers with a grimace. “My hand is asleep.”
Mal promptly switched to snuffling and licking around Azrael’s face and neck, which tickled tremendously and made him gasp with laughter. Mal squirmed all the way across Azrael and flopped over onto his back between them, scattering books and displacing pillows. Jessica rubbed his belly. “You are ridiculous.”
Mal purred louder.
“I am going for a swim with Yuli this morning,” continued Jessica. “I need to leave in about five minutes.”
Mal opened one gem-green eye. “What?” He shifted into a man with a ripple of black smoke, his green eyes hardly changing, his black curls a glorious mess. “Stay and cuddle with us.”
Jessica kissed his nose. “Later.”
“When later?”
Jessica laughed. “Tomorrow? Tonight? This afternoon—!” She broke off as Mal ran his fingers from her shoulder, down over a breast. He circled a nipple and then drifted lower, pushing the sheets down as he went. He exposed her stomach with its new contours of muscle—a product of her devotion to her sword practice.
Azrael’s natural inclination was towards men, but he’d spent so many years in isolation that the ability to touch or confide in anyone felt like a gift. He’d spent the two decades since he summoned Mal trying desperately to maintain emotional space between himself and the incubus he loved, but who had, until recently, been a constant threat to his life. Jessica was a breath of fresh air—more human than Mal, deeply intuitive, and willing to be patient with the complexities of their relationship. She was a lovely creature, no matter one’s tastes, and Azrael enjoyed seeing her and Mal together. Most importantly, she was his friend.
“Mal, if she needs to leave, let her leave.”
Mal spoke in a voice full of confidence and mischief. “Five minutes?”
“Mal…” groaned Jessica.
“Four? Three? Give me three minutes.”
Jessica drew a long breath. “Well, I suppose,” she said with mock-gravity.
Mal straddled her briefly, then settled down on the other side, putting Jessica between them. He wasn’t using magic at all. Mal did love a challenge. He caught one of Jessica’s hands over her head and twined their fingers together. His other hand made circles down her body, pushing the sheet farther and farther. Azrael could tell that Jessica had expected him to go under the sheet, not push it off, and her face went a little pink when he exposed the blond curls at her crotch and then flipped the entire sheet off.
Azrael started to reach for a book—not because he was bored, but out of habit, because this was how he’d always distracted himself when Mal was feeding. Mal’s green eyes flicked up and he murmured. “Don’t do that. Watch. She likes it when you watch.”
Jessica’s flush deepened. “Mal…”
Mal looked down at her, his smirk tempered with affection. “It makes her a little embarrassed and very wet.”
Jessica was flushed all the way to her nipples now and Mal drew a delicate line back and forth over her belly, refusing to go lower. Azrael was starting to feel a little pink himself. He was the only person still covered in blankets. Mal grinned at him from under his long, dark lashes. “Touch her and see.”
“Mal,” growled Jessica. “This was your idea.”
“Hmm-hmm.” His hand moved back up, cupping a breast. Jessica gave a little impatient kick. Mal’s tongue glided over a nipple and then up to her throat. “Ask him to touch you.”
Jessica was breathing deeply. Her eyes flicked desperately to Azrael. “You want to p-play?” She broke off in a yelp as Mal nibbled.
“One minute left,” murmured Mal against her neck. “Or we send you off to swimming lessons so frustrated you’ll end up eating some poor courtier on your way.”
“I am not going for l-lessons,” choked Jessica.
Azrael had touched Jessica before. Hells, she’d climbed onto his cock before. He’d just never done it quite this unsupervised. Hesitantly, he reached down to the sensitive skin behind Jessica’s knee, touching her as he would a nervous horse. He trailed his fingers all the way up her thigh, watching her chest and belly rise and fall more rapidly, until he slid two fingers inside her.
Mal was kissing her on the mouth now, and she gave a muffled mew. “You like that?” murmured Mal. “You like his fingers inside of you? He’s watching you. Every bit of you. And gods, you’re pretty, Jessica.”
She was wet. Azrael tried to make sense of all the slippery, muscular warmth. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling for, but she didn’t seem to mind his stroking. Mal moved his hand back down her body and curled around Azrael’s fingers, guiding them to a rough, feathery something further inside. Jessica gasped and pressed her body hard against his hand. Azrael’s thumb found her clit. That, he could actually see—pink and glistening between her dark blond curls.
Mal’s hands were running everywhere else—her face, her back, her breasts, almost rough. Jessica panted, bucked against Azrael’s hand. “He’s awfully good with those hands,” purred Mal. “And you know I love you, or I’d never share him.”
A little too honest, Mal, thought Azrael.
Jessica must have thought so, too, because her body stilled for a moment. Mal leaned close to her ear and murmured. “We should share you at the Revels in front of everyone.”
That did it. Her body clenched around Azrael’s fingers, his thumb still stroking. She buried her face against Mal’s shoulder, her breath coming hard and fast. An instant later, she fell back panting against the pillows, then promptly scrambled up and dragged them into a hug. “I love you both.” She caught her breath in a dramatic pause. “But that was six minutes.”
Azrael barked a laugh.
Mal made a face. “Oh, but you were having fun!”
Jessica sprang from the bed, staggered, got her balance. “I need to go!”
Mal shouted after her, “Swimming is not as fun as we are!”
“I can do both!” shot Jessica over her shoulder as she darted into the washroom.
Chapter 2
Azrael
Mal flopped back down, dark curls tangling over the pillow, always impossibly clean. Azrael sat up and reached for a tissue from the bedside table to wipe his hand. “I need to talk to my staff this morning. The first of the guests will be arriving next week.”
“I still can’t believe we’re letting those people wander around our territory,” grumbled Mal.
Azrael had to agree. If anyone had told him a year ago that he would invite the High Mage Council to tour the Shrouded Isle, he would have told them to recalibrate their scrying pool. Of course, if they’d told him that he would wake up naked in bed with Mal and a woman, he would have said they’d lost their minds.
But seven months ago, Jessica had walked into their lives and everything had changed. Now, Azrael was seriously considering Lord Loudain’s suggestion that he host a school here, and it was only natural that the families of future students wanted the Council’s blessing. It was a gesture of goodwill towards other magicians—something that Azrael had long disdained. He was feeling strangely generous these days.
Mal smiled abruptly. “There’s a Revel this evening for the courtiers. I’d forgotten.”
“Yes, I want you fed,” said Azrael. “In case there’s any trouble with ‘those people’ we’re letting onto our island. So don’t just mess about with Jessica.” He felt the latter admonishment necessary because Mal had shown an alarming reluctance to feed directly of late.
Mal yawned. “I’ll soak up plenty of energy just being there.”
Azrael paused in stacking the scattered books on the bedside table. He gave Mal an arch look. “What do you call a monogamous incubus?”
Mal sputtered.
“Hungry,” said Azrael. “And weak.”
Mal rolled over and dragged him down into the bed. “Weak? Really?” He was a wall of muscle and warm skin, his thigh sliding across Azrael’s legs, one big warm hand on his chest. The other arm slid behind his head. “You want to wrestle and see who wins?”
Haven’t we been doing that for twenty years? Azrael laughed against his mouth. “You know what I mean—” He caught his breath as Mal nuzzled under his chin and kissed his way to the pulse of his throat. With an effort, Azrael formed words. “We can’t…can’t even do this if you’re hungry.”
“I know,” said Mal. “I won’t be.” He pulled back, his green eyes electric and inches from Azrael’s face. “Come to the Revels with us.”
Azrael gave a shaky laugh. He was uncomfortably aware of his own arousal and wished Mal would just kiss him again.
“I’m serious,” said Mal. “Come with us.”
“Feeding on me will not accomplish anything, either.”
Mal rolled his eyes. “I don’t mean to feed.”
Azrael blinked at him. “I’ll be in my viewing box…”
“Reading.” Mal said the word with more contempt than Azrael thought necessary. He made up for it by moving his hand down to stroke Azrael’s cock. Azrael’s eyes snapped shut. It was still so startling to be touched casually in bed. Mal kissed him on the mouth and murmured, “You love dressing us up like dolls. Dress yourself up this time. Come play games with us and talk to people and drink enough to feel tipsy and dance! Let me dance with you, Ren. Let me pour magic into you with all that energy washing around us. Please?”
Azrael swallowed. “That sounds…”
“Fun. It sounds fun.”
“It sounds dangerous.” There were still very few people who knew the extent of Azrael’s relationship with Mal and Jessica. A sorcerer sleeping with demons might be considered too dangerous to live by plenty of people in the magical community. “Not when we’re about to host the High Mage Council.”
Mal looked disappointed, although his hand kept up a distracting caress under the blankets. “Another time?”
“Maybe.”
Mal grinned. “And then I can throw you in the pool with all your clothes on and carry you off to bed when you’re too tired to stand up anymore.”
Azrael shook with laughter. “This is a rather specific fantasy.”
“Mmm.” Mal moved over, completely on top of him, his forearms cradling Azrael’s head. Azrael gasped at the sudden weight and the pressure of Mal’s cock against his. “I love waking up on top of you,” whispered Mal.
Azrael snorted a laugh. “You also love going to sleep on top of me!”
“Did I really hurt your hand?”
“No.”
“You said it hurt.”
“Worth it.”
Mal kissed him. Azrael slid his arms around Mal’s neck, wrapped his legs around his waist and gave himself up to the pleasure of their naked bodies moving against each other, the heat of his lo
ver’s mouth, the artistry of his powerful shoulders, and the dense softness of his hair.
When Azrael was breathing hard, Mal paused to slide a pillow under his hips. They’d found a spell for lubrication—ridiculously simple, but Mal was a source of magic, not a user, so Azrael had to say the word himself while running his hand over Mal’s cock. Mal pulled back to let him do it, his eyes blinking shut. “I want to take down your wards,” he whispered.
Azrael paused. Mal had been doing that a lot lately. He’d figured out how to unpick Azrael’s wards, but he wouldn’t do it without permission. Mal was a powerful astral demon, intimately acquainted with Azrael’s magic and his personal style. It was not surprising that he’d found a way inside the wards. Azrael knew he should restructure them, make it impossible for anyone to take them down except himself. But somehow he hadn’t gotten around to it.
“Yes,” he whispered, and Mal’s fingers immediately danced over the skin of his cheek, flipping and twisting invisible strands of magic, brushing his lips and nose. Azrael’s wards lit up automatically at this intrusion. Mal raised his fingers. Twisting lines of blue light spread from them like plucked spider web, stretching…
Snap!
Azrael felt the shock over his entire body as Mal breached his wards. And then there was no space between them at all. Mal was in his head and everywhere else, pulling on his magic, the warmth unspooling through Azrael in a dizzy rush. Mal’s cock pressed inside him, hitting just the right spot—a gentle nudge at first, almost unbearably exquisite as he picked up speed.
Azrael whimpered and curled against him, wrapping his legs more tightly around his waist, panting and trembling. He wanted to do this and nothing else forever. He wanted it to end at once because it was too much, too much, too much. He wanted…wanted…
The orgasm hit him with blinding force, wrung him out, and left him shuddering. Mal murmured against his ear, “This is what you want. To feel this helpless. And this safe.”
Azrael couldn’t deny it. Not with an incubus reading his desires as plainly as Azrael could read a textbook. Mal’s cock was still inside him, and there was still a thread of energy humming between them. Any other demon with his summoner unwarded and flat on his back would just eat me up. “Mal you are so special,” the words slipped out before he really thought about them. “And I love you so much.”