by A. H. Lee
It was ambrosia. Undifferentiated magic. Jessica suspected that turning such a monster into ambrosia had required a great deal of magical energy from Mal.
Her suspicions were confirmed when Mal flopped down onto the sand. He said something, probably a joke, because Azrael laughed. Then he whistled for the horse, who’d remained remarkably calm during all this. Azrael retrieved an object from his saddle bags—a vessel that siphoned up the ambrosia the instant Azrael touched it to the puddle.
He left the last bit, scooped it up, and held it out to Mal. Mal stood to lap the ambrosia out of Azrael’s cupped hands. Then he raised his head the short distance to Azrael’s face and licked him just as enthusiastically. Azrael jerked back, but he was laughing.
“There’s something they wouldn’t have done before,” remarked Tod.
Jessica smiled. “They are so happy.”
“I don’t know if you realize how unusual that is.”
“I’ve been told.”
Tod glanced at her sidelong. “Do they really…? I mean, I know they want to, but can they…?”
“Fuck?” supplied Jessica. “Well, yes. Now that they’ve figured that out, Mal puts him to sleep with sex and wakes him up with sex and interrupts him with sex…”
Tod was shaking with laughter.
Jessica spread her hands. “And Azrael just…lets him! He was so lonely for so long…” She broke off. “You won’t tell anyone I said that, will you? Azrael is really worried about people finding out.”
“Of course not,” said Tod. She knew she could trust him. She’d trusted him with bigger secrets. And besides, it was her life, too. She had to be able to talk to someone about it.
“And you’re…happy in all this?”
Jessica waggled her eyebrows. “I am involved in all this.”
Tod laughed again. “I can’t imagine. In fact, I can’t even imagine Azrael and Mal. I can’t imagine Azrael and anyone!”
“He’s shy and secretive,” said Jessica more seriously. “Even if he hadn’t summoned an incubus—if he hadn’t been forced to stay celibate to control Mal—he might have ended up alone. But he’s a dear creature…once you get past all those wards.” She decided not to mention that Mal could take them down.
Tod shook his head, as though Azrael being a “dear creature” was also something he couldn’t imagine. “Are you planning to stay on the Shrouded Isle permanently, Jessica?”
That question again. Jessica wrapped her arms around her knees, around the loose fabric of the trousers she’d worn for hiking. “I think so.”
She caught Tod’s smile out of the corner of her eyes and felt suddenly guilty. “Tod, am I…keeping you too busy? I mean…” Am I keeping you from finding someone else? Someone who could give you more of herself than I can?
“No,” he said, “I just…” He curled a freckled toe in the grass. “The courtiers are so interesting and beautiful. But they leave after four years. I used to get kind of attached to some of them. When they left…” He shrugged. She could tell he was trying not to make a big deal out of something painful. “People say they’ll write, but they eventually stop. I can’t blame them. They remember this place like a dream. Most of the permanent residents are older than me. Some of the staff are my age, but I don’t find real friends very often.” He wasn’t looking at her. He was trying to keep it light.
Jessica put an arm around his waist and squeezed. “Yes, I want to make my home here.”
He gave a sigh of relief and hugged her back. “I don’t need to be your one and only,” he said into her hair. “We don’t even need to fuck! I live on the Shrouded Isle. Sex is everywhere. But I…I so hoped you’d stay. And if you’re hungry. Ever hungry.”
Jessica pushed him back on the grass. They hadn’t done this since she’d come home two weeks ago. It felt good to touch him again. “I missed you, too.”
Tod brushed a hand over her face. “But Jessica, truly, are they what you want? I mean, I see that you’ve solved a problem for them, and the three of you are having fun right now. But…you told me once you want children.”
Jessica stopped. She’d thought they were just going to have a welcome-home romp, but this was a more serious conversation. Her hair, still damp and braided to keep it out of the way, fell down across Tod’s collar bone. The expression on her face must have looked like pain, because Tod said quickly, “We don’t have to talk about it. I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”
Jessica had been about to crawl on top of him. Instead, she settled down beside him and put her head on his chest. “No, it’s a fair question.” She took a deep breath. “I really love them. And I missed this place, Tod. It’s hard to be a demon out in the world—harder than I thought. This is a good place for me and Mal. I want to make it work here, but you’re right. I’m worried about that—about wanting kids. Maybe I have to give it up? I hope…I hope that doesn’t make me bitter in the end. Right now, I’m so happy, but… I don’t know.”
Tod petted her hair. “Have you talked to them about it?”
“Not exactly. Mal and I can’t have babies. You probably knew that. We can only have children with mortals. Azrael gave us infertility charms before we left. Mine is under my skin—pretty hard to get out, I imagine. Anyway, if Mal and I can’t have babies, that leaves…”
Tod’s breathing stuttered. “Oh, gods, Jessica.” Tod sat up and stared at her. “He’ll never say yes!”
“He does seem quite set against the idea of me ‘making little demons,’” said Jessica gloomily, “with anyone.”
“Let alone with him!” exploded Tod. “And if other magicians found out…? A sorcerer and a succubus? What if the kid is a demon who can use magic?”
“I know, I know,” muttered Jessica. “I sort of…brought it up sideways at one point, and he was not receptive.”
Tod’s red-gold eyebrows drew together in concentration. “You should bring it up directly. Soon. Before you’ve spent years here with them.”
“I know,” muttered Jessica. “I’m just nervous, alright? This is so perfect right now. It’s everything I wanted. Except…”
“Except in a few years, you’re going to want to have kids, and by then, it’ll be much harder to leave. Also, if Azrael doesn’t want more demons in the world, if he knows that’s why you’re leaving… Jessica, he’ll have you locked down so tightly by then…!”
Jessica screwed her eyes shut. “Don’t say that. He wouldn’t—” She bit her lip. Wouldn’t he? An uncomfortable memory flashed through her head: Azrael calmly asserting that he would erase her middle name from the memories of the people who’d given it to her so that no one could bind her. No one except him. He was only trying to protect me.
Ania’s words: “He’s a controlling tyrant, who thinks he should make all the rules about how other people use magic.”
Jessica took a deep breath. “But maybe Azrael is right. Maybe I shouldn’t have children. Maybe I’ll get over it.”
“Maybe you won’t.”
Jessica gave an exasperated hiss. “I thought you wanted me to stay.”
Tod’s brown eyes looked sad. “I do. I’m trying not to get excited about the idea of you staying. Because no one ever stays.”
Jessica leaned forward and brought her mouth to his.
“I’d make babies with you in a heartbeat,” he said between kisses, “but that wouldn’t solve your p-problem if—” She pulled on the sexual energy radiating off him. Tod groaned. He finished his sentence in a rush. “If Azrael objects to demons in general. Oh, gods, Jessica! Have you gotten better at that, or have I just missed you?”
She snickered. She had gotten better at feeding slowly—at keeping the thread of energy just taut enough to enhance pleasure, but not enough to leave her partners weak afterward. Jessica slid a leg over Tod’s lap, still kissing. His hands came up to her thighs, sliding back and forth, then around to her ass. “Did you really not watch us swimming?” asked Jessica.
He was breathing deeply. “No, I
didn’t.”
Gods, I believe you. “Too nice,” said Jessica against his mouth. “You’re too sweet; it’s ridiculous.”
He responded with a hint of sarcasm. “Not everyone can be Mal.”
“Thank the gods,” said Jessica.
Tod laughed so hard he stopped kissing. They looked at each other, their faces inches apart, pink-cheeked, the sea breeze ruffling their hair. “Undress me,” murmured Jessica, and felt his cock go hard against her thigh. But his fingers did not tear at her clothes. He unfastened her trousers with only the hint of a tremble and slid one hand inside, still over her panties, warm against her sex.
It was Jessica’s turn to groan. “More than that.”
Tod took his hand away and started unbuttoning her shirt. He got it completely open and bent his mouth to a nipple. “Oh!” Jessica leaned into him. “Oh, that’s good. You sweet, sweet, overly-polite werewolf. Oh!” He nipped her. Before she could decide whether to punish this, he wrapped both arms around her hips and pulled her in tight against his body—her soft breasts pressed to the firm muscles of his chest, her sensitive nipples hard against his warm skin, rubbing over the curly red hair. Jessica tipped her head back, sighing with pleasure as he kissed her throat and shoulders. Her hands wandered up and down the sliding muscles of his sides and back. She pushed his shirt down and he flung it the rest of the way off. Then he did the same with hers.
Tod’s hands ran warm over her breasts and back, rubbing and caressing, sliding under the band of her trousers. When they were both so frustrated they could hardly stand it, Jessica backed up so that they could shimmy out of the rest of their clothes. Tod managed this a bit faster, probably because his clothes were simpler.
“Let me help with that.” He peeled Jessica’s panties off her, and then nudged her down onto her back in the grass. His fingers slid between her legs—the sensation startlingly intimate. “May I kiss you here?” he murmured.
“Oh, yes! Gods, yes!”
Tod pushed her legs apart. He kissed her knee, her inner thigh, the place where her leg met her body. Jessica wanted to wrap her legs around his head and pull him in. She wanted him to lick her, fuck her. She wanted to keep pulling on his magic, because it was so delicious—something wild, almost feral. She wanted to eat him up.
No, Jessica told herself. Not that. You don’t want that.
Tod’s warm mouth covered her clit, licked into her tight heat, and Jessica bucked up against him. He licked and sucked until she really did wrap her legs around his head. Her back arched and she gave a whimper as pleasure rippled from her groin through her belly and thighs.
Tod raised his head and looked at her, pupils dilated, cheeks flushed, his lips pink and wet. “Come here,” murmured Jessica. She pulled a little harder on his magic without quite meaning to, and Tod’s eyes blinked shut.
“Jessica, I am so close…”
She gave a breathless laugh. “Sorry.”
He straddled her body on hands and knees. Jessica smirked up at him. “I could make you come without even touching you.”
“I know,” he said in a whisper. He blinked again as though to clear his vision. “Can you…can you…get yourself there again?”
Jessica thought about it. Mal could. “Maybe with a little help…” Jessica sat up and pushed him gently over, leaning back on his elbows in the grass. She straddled his hips and rubbed the length of her wet pussy along his erection. Tod’s head dropped back and he gave an entirely unpremeditated moan of exquisite agony. The energy between them jumped, and Jessica could feel the tightness building in her crotch again. “Do you want me to fuck you?” she purred. “How bad do you want it?”
“Jessica, please, please,” babbled Tod. “I’ll do anything, anything, please…”
Jessica rubbed herself up and down his shaft, teasing him, teasing herself, getting closer. “Can I say that you have puppy dog eyes? Because you do, and they’re so cute.”
Tod raised his head and tried to look indignant. “If you were anyone else, I would tell you to fuck off.”
She leaned forward, her voice full of mischief. “Puppy… I just made you sit.” She spoke between kisses. “I know I can make you stay. And I bet I can make you…”
She changed her angle and pressed the length of his cock deep inside her. Tod sobbed against her mouth. Jessica tasted the wild sweetness of his magic as the orgasm crashed through him. And she came, too, thighs clenched savagely around his hips, her hands gentle on his face.
Chapter 6
Azrael
Azrael had planned to spend the afternoon in his tower, working on methods to make sure his own spell-work did not mingle in some disastrous way with that of his guests’. However, he stopped by his apartments to change clothes and to pick up a few things first. When he and Mal came through the door, Lucrecia was sitting at the kitchen table, writing a letter. She was dressed, as usual, as though she intended to attend a soirée. Her gown was pale blue today, velvet for the cooler temperatures, with her perennial mink half-cape draped across her shoulders. Her silky white hair hung in waves, darkening to pepper at the tips
Mal rolled his eyes when he saw her. “Is she just wandering around now?”
Azrael did not dignify this with a response. He had, in truth, left a clothespin around the bulb of Lucy’s perfume bottle, so that she could come and go at will. This arrangement gave her more freedom, but of course she could have also caused a lot of mischief. Azrael trusted Lucy, her long-time rivalry with Mal notwithstanding. The open bottle did leave her vulnerable to magical attack, but Azrael wasn’t worried about that in his own rooms. With the possible exception of Mal, and I don’t think he’d risk my hurt and anger.
Lucy looked up and gave Azrael a toothy grin. For just an instant, her peacock-blue eyes flashed as golden as her dragon scales. “Darling, how was your ride?”
“Invigorating!” said Azrael. He knew he sounded uncharacteristically enthusiastic. He didn’t care. “We disposed of two chimeras from the spell traps. It’s good to be home.”
Lucy’s eyes drifted to Mal as though it pained her. “Yes, well, I’m glad to know that the perimeter wards, at least, are still in place.”
Azrael had to stop himself from flinching. He hadn’t told her that Mal could take down his wards. It should not have surprised him that she’d figured it out. Lucy was looking at Azrael as though she knew exactly what he was thinking and was about to express her opinion on this course of action.
Instead, Mal spoke in a malevolent rumble. He was still in panther form, and his teeth flashed white against his night-black fur. “Yes, Lucy, the perimeter wards are unbreached. Nothing is anywhere that it shouldn’t be.” He did not bother to keep the smirk out of his voice.
“Is that so?” murmured Lucy, matching his combative tone. “Are you planning on doing any magic of your own to entertain the guests? I’m sure they would find that fascinating in the extreme.”
Mal came forward and put his front paws on the kitchen table, leaning into her face. “I don’t know, but I’m sure I could perform the trick of putting you back in your bottle.”
Lucy flickered, as though she were thinking about turning into a dragon. Azrael felt a stab of frustration through the haze of his happiness. All these years, and they still pick fights with each other. Mal was, without a doubt, the stronger demon. There was no surprise in this, since he was an astral entity, and Lucy had a mortal parent. Indeed, the odd thing was how evenly they were matched when she was well-rested. Aloud, Azrael said, “Stop antagonizing each other.”
Lucy returned her attention to her letter. Mal took his paws off the table. Lucy spoke to Azrael without looking up, “His aura is shot through with your magic, and he can’t cloak worth a damn. The High Council will find that alarming. You might want to stop making it worse, at least until they leave.”
Azrael shut his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose. Of course. I wonder how many other ways I’m embarrassing myself without realizing it. “Noted.”
/> Lucy continued in the same neutral tone without looking up from her page. “Can Jacob come with Loudain and Lady S?”
Mal reacted first. “You want to invite a demon hunter onto the Shrouded Isle?!”
Lucy ignored Mal, raising her eyes to Azrael. He hesitated.
Mal paced around the room. “A demon hunter who knows my name? Have you lost your mind? Wait a moment… That’s who you’ve been writing letters to, isn’t it? Hell’s teeth, are you still seeing him? Is he your boyfriend? This is not alright!”
Azrael ignored Mal’s histrionics and looked at Lucy. “Jacob was already coming with the main group. You want him to come early?”
Mal’s voice rose an octave. “He was already coming?!”
Lucy nodded, still looking at Azrael.
Azrael considered. Jacob was a powerful sorcerer, perhaps with as much innate skill as Azrael himself, but Jacob was far older. He had strong views about astral demons, whom he believed were abused by sorcerers and should be returned to the astral plane for their own good and everybody else’s. He’d made an exception for Mal, at least partially because of Lucy’s influence. Jacob didn’t trust Mal, though, and Azrael didn’t trust Jacob. He’d been surprised when Lucy kept writing to the man. He’d been even more surprised when she started receiving letters in return. Azrael had forced himself not to read them. “You trust him?”
“I do,” said Lucy, her voice still neutral. Her aura showed no emotions. Lucy had always been excellent at cloaking.
“Alright,” said Azrael at last. “I’ll invite him. Or you can. Does he know Loudain and Lady S?”
“He does.” Lucy returned her attention to the page. Azrael almost wished Mal wasn’t here so that they could have a real conversation about this. Later.
Mal had stopped pacing. He came forward and tried to read over Lucy’s shoulder. She promptly turned the sheet over and folded her slender, be-ringed fingers above it with a long-suffering expression. “You can’t hide desire from me,” growled Mal. “I’m an incubus.”