by Kat Cotton
Nic glowered at me. “I give the orders here.”
“I was just making a suggestion.”
“Well, don’t.”
Kisho slowly slipped the t-shirt over his head. Nic nodded, then walked around Kisho, sizing him up. I leaned against the wall, not sure what my part in all of this was. Kisho had his head lowered. Did he not want to meet my eyes, or was that was just part of their routine?
“Kneel,” Nic ordered.
Kisho got down on his knees. He placed his hands, palms up, on his knees. He wasn’t bound, but he stayed perfectly still. The muscles in his forearms bulged. Those forearms entranced me. The whole image of him like that, on his knees, his strong body not resisting the punishment to come, made me woozy.
“This isn’t going to be fun,” Nic said. “The Demon Child puts us all at risk. You understand? You could die. I could die. The entire pack could be obliterated if we are exposed.”
His voice rang out like cold metal.
Kisho nodded. “I’m sorry.”
Nic put his hand under Kisho’s chin and raised his face. I couldn’t see his eyes, I couldn’t read anything.
Slap.
Nic’s hand struck Kisho’s face. Hard. Kisho reeled. His cheek glowed red. It wasn’t a play slap by any means.
“Thank you.”
Nic slapped him again.
That was fucked up. The whipping was one thing, but slapping someone’s face, that kind of freaked me out. He didn’t just want to hurt him, he wanted to humiliate him. I got that now. That’s why he wanted me here to watch. I wondered if he normally did this in front of his pack and I was just a convenient fill-in.
Nic slapped him again. I jumped, just the sound enough to put my nerves on edge. So much louder this time. There was some power in that slap.
I knew it was hopeless to tell Nic to stop. He wanted to humiliate me too. Not by hitting me but by making me watch, making me deal with my reaction. Because, even though it horrified me, it also turned me on. All of it. The pain, the humiliation. It made me into a person I didn’t recognize.
With the next slap, I squirmed. Nic moved to get something. The crop? No. A cane.
Kisho twitched, just a little. A movement easily missed. Nic didn’t miss it, though.
“Stay still. You failed. You know you failed. You must never fail again.”
The cane swished through the air, the swish a completely different sound than that of the crop.
Then the snap on the flesh. The red marks on Kisho’s upturned hands proved this was no game.
Tears came to Kisho’s eyes, but he didn’t move a muscle.
Nic swung the cane again. Harder this time. Swish. Crack. Swish. Crack. The only sound in the room was the sounds of the cane. Not one whimper came from Kisho. Nic would have to stop soon, though, or his hands would be a mess.
“Stand up,” he ordered.
When Kisho stood, Nic moved behind him. With a decisive motion, he undid the buckle on Kisho’s pants and unfastened it so his pants fell to the ground. I wanted to see if Kisho was aroused, but Nic spun him around before I could see.
Nic raised Kisho’s hands above his head and clipped the chains from the bed frame to the cuffs. Only a thin pair of boxers covered his buttocks. I wanted to slip those boxers down to leave him totally exposed. Instead, I raised my hand to my mouth, biting on my finger.
Nic ran his hand down Kisho’s back, softly trailing it over the hard muscle. The gentle movement just seemed all the more perverse in contrast with the punishment I knew would be coming. A false lull.
Then he moved in a line of small circles, over his shoulder blades and up his arms. A guttural sound came deep from Kisho’s throat. With that, Nic slapped him sharply across the buttocks.
“No noise. No movement. You’ll stay still until I’m done with you.”
Kisho nodded his head.
The gentle movements stopped. Nic hooked his fingers through the waistband of the boxers and pulled them down. Totally naked, Kisho’s body was more magnificent than I’d imagined. I ached to touch him. Without thinking, I moved closer. I waited for Nic to say something, but he just smiled, as though that was what he’d wanted all along.
He handed me the cane.
Was that I what I wanted? Could I do this?
Deep down, so much stirred within me. Parts of me I never knew existed. Holding that cane, I had a power that filled me with a massive wave of lust. But did I want to cross that line?
“I’m not sure…”
“You’re trying to convince yourself that you’re not aroused, Clem Starr, but you’re lying to yourself.”
“It’s horrible.”
Nic walked toward me. My body shuddered with apprehension. What did he want? He stood close to me and whispered in my ear.
“Is it? You can’t see his face. He might enjoy this. How do you know?”
Kisho strained all the more. Even though he wasn’t gagged, he said nothing.
I stepped in front of Kisho. I needed to know if he wanted this. Without knowing his history with Nic, I couldn’t tell if this relationship was consensual or not. No matter how I felt, no matter what Nic said, without Kisho’s consent, I’d go no further.
When I got in Kisho’s line of vision, he tried to turn his head from me. I grabbed his chin in my hand, forcing him to look at me. His eyes pleaded, but was that pleading for me to stop or not? It confused me all the more. Then he gave a slight nod of his head. He wanted this. If that nod didn’t convince me, the sight of his massive erect cock did.
I ran the cane down his body and nudged the head of his cock. He tensed, as though about to groan, but stopped himself.
Toying with him like that was a whole different matter than actually hurting him. He wanted it, I wanted it. So why did I hesitate?
There are some lines you can’t cross because, if you do, there is nothing but darkness.
I looked at Nic. His eyes glowed now, but some of that initial anger remained. He wanted to punish Kisho, but if Kisho enjoyed this, what was the punishment? And with me too, why was he so keen on opening up this side of me?
He stood behind me. Resting his chin on his shoulder, he whispered in my ear.
“You know you want to.”
He moved my body, positioning me, adjusting my stance and my grip on the cane. It was as though he was teaching me a sport, like golf or something. His body touched mine lightly, every movement assured.
I gulped. Nic moved away, motioning at Kisho’s body.
“Aim for here,” he said, rubbing his hand over Kisho’s buttocks. “Or here.” He touched the shoulders. “Not here.” He indicated the lower back.
I nodded. I thought about walking away. This was a line. As much as I wanted to cross it, I knew it meant no turning back. Nic gave me a half smile, tempting me to continue. It seemed he could look into my soul and know what I wanted, more than I knew myself. I could sense that, I just didn’t know why.
Kisho gave a small groan, a sound of longing and need. I flicked back the cane and snapped it onto his perfect round butt.
He flinched a little.
My stomach dropped as though all feeling in my body jolted to my vagina. Oh God, that was just amazing. I hit him again. He writhed under my strokes in a way he never had for Nic.
“Don’t let him move like that,” Nic said.
“But I like it.”
Nic smiled at me. That smile sucked me in. It held so much. Approval and belonging. I’d been a loner all my life, but suddenly I became wrapped in something I’d never known I’d been missing. Even though I knew it weakened me, my need to belong overwhelmed me. Being part of this suddenly seemed more right than anything I’d ever done before.
Before I could strike Kisho again, Nic took the cane from me.
“You’ve had enough fun now.”
Emptiness flooded me. I hated that vampire. He’d given me exactly what I needed, and now he took it away.
Nic unchained Kisho and like before, Kisho dropped
to the floor, sobbing. There was something more there this time. Kisho held something back. Even with the crying, he didn’t fully let go.
“Tell me,” Nic said.
Kisho shook his head.
I strained forward, needing to hear his answer. Had the entire game been leading up to this point? It seemed that way, that Kisho’s answer to that question held something vital. And that Kisho had needed to be stripped of all his defenses before he could answer. Nic stroked his face, his touch firm but gentle. Kisho sobbed all the more.
“You have to tell me.”
Kisho’s body stiffened, but he seemed to give up fighting. Nic drew him closer.
“He was there,” Kisho said. Nothing else. With that, he went fluid, sinking further to the ground.
“Who?” I screamed.
“That’s not for you to know,” Nic told me.
It seemed like a key piece of information to me.
“If it involves the Demon Child, I need to know. You can’t expect me to hunt him without having all the information.”
Kisho looked up at me with a different kind of pleading in his eyes. A pleading that said not to push this. I fucking hated mysteries. I hated not knowing things.
“Your job is to kill the Demon Child. The rest of it is outside the scope of your job description.”
Ouch.
“Fine, but if I don’t kill the Demon Child, it’s because you’re withheld information from me.”
Kisho lay crumpled on the floor, his tear-stained face too much for me to resist. I ran to him. If Nic could ignore his need for comfort, I couldn’t. I bent down to him, but Nic grabbed my shoulder. Even though I struggled against him, my strength was no match for his.
“No. There is no redemption for you. This is my world. I make the rules. You’ve angered me. You failed.”
Kisho buried his head in his arms. The two of us both needing each other, but kept apart.
“You are still in my bad books. You won’t get to do this again until the Demon Child is destroyed. You have to do whatever it takes to destroy him. Do you understand?”
Chapter 16: Demon Fighter Council
Kisho bought in my coffee and sat in my office looking pretty. Hell, what would I do when this case was finished? He wouldn’t want to keep working for me, and he’d made such a difference to my work life.
Neither of us had mentioned the whole nightclub situation
or what had come after it in the last three days. I’d had a pesky incubus to deal with and had been out of the office for a while, but Kisho didn’t seem to explain or justify these things. He just went about his business as though it was nothing special.
“Hey, at the club the other night—”
He gulped. He had worried I’d ask him about that. But there was something completely different on my mind.
“The Demon Child. He didn’t attack me. He could’ve. He jumped into my arms, and I couldn’t move that well. But instead of going for the jugular, he just stroked my face.”
“He’s got a crush on you.”
I covered my face. No. That could not be right.
“Don’t say that. It’s gross. He’s a little kid. I wasn’t like I tried to charm him or anything. I wouldn’t. Couldn’t. Not with a kid like that.”
“He’s over a hundred years old.”
“So? He’s too old for me and too young at the same time. You said it yourself. He’s immature, even for his human age. All he does is eat and sleep. He does not have a crush on me.”
“You don’t have to charm someone for them to have a crush on you.”
Did he blush when he said that? God, I hoped he blushed. I hoped he meant that exactly as it sounded. I drew in a breath.
“He’s stuck in permanent puberty, so he has all kinds of weird hormonal reactions. He won’t attack you,” Kisho continued. “Not unless there’s extenuating circumstances. Like if you had an open cut or something. The bloodlust would overrule everything else.”
I didn’t think having a crush on me was a weird hormonal reaction. Sure, I didn’t want the kid crushing on me, but I could see how he would.
“The Demon Child will need to feed soon,” he said. “It’s been too long.”
“We need to find him first,” I said. That might be stating the obvious. “Speaking of which, I have to go to the gym. I’ve been getting slack and this is no time to be out of shape.”
Lucky vampires, not having to work out or put the hours in at the gym. All that eternal life and super strength and shit made it easy. I gulped down my coffee and grabbed my gym bag.
Less cake, more sweat. Maybe I’d come up with some genius idea for tracking the Demon Child at the same time.
Three sweaty hours later, I had no more ideas, but my entire body hurt. My legs could barely walk me back to the office, and my arms felt like floppy noodles.
I walked in the door to hear Kisho talking to someone. A client? Or someone with a juicy lead on the Demon Child? I could only hope.
“Hello?” I called.
Kisho walked out of my office with Bob Kelpie. I grinned. I hadn’t seen Bob in a long time. Then the grin dropped to the floor.
Bob. Bob with Kisho.
No.
Not good. Totally not good. In fact, that was all bad.
Bob had been my mentor when I’d gone through demon-fighting training. Because Bob worked for the Demon Fighter Council. That wasn’t the bad part. The bad part was this: I was not allowed to work for demons. I was not allowed to work with demons. And Kisho was a demon. Even if his vampireness was not strong, he was still a vampire.
What the fuck had they been chatting about while I was out?
Bob smiled back at me, so hopefully it wasn’t anything too convicting. I had to get Bob out of here. Fast.
“Hey, Bob, great to see you. Let’s get a coffee. There’s a great cafe down the street.”
I grabbed his arm, trying to herd him out of the office.
“That’s okay, your assistant made me one.”
Shit. Not good. I shot Kisho a look, warning him.
“But aren’t you hungry?”
“Nope. I’m good. I really wanted to check out your office and see how you were getting on.” He beamed a smile at me.
Hell, that smile, he hid something. The Council knew I was working with vamps and had sent him here to investigate me. I was screwed.
I showed Bob through to my office.
“Take a seat,” I said, moving a pile of junk off the chair. “I’ll be with you in a minute.”
I ran back to reception and grabbed hold of Kisho.
“Take the rest of the day off.”
“But…”
“Don’t argue. Go out, enjoy the sunshine. Well, don’t enjoy it too much, because…” I made a sizzling noise, then looked around to make sure I hadn’t said it too loudly.
Kisho opened his mouth. I knew he would explain that vampires don’t actually burn up in the sun. I clamped my hand over his mouth and pushed him to the door.
“Wait. What did you say to Bob before I came in?”
“Nothing.” Kisho shrugged. “He said he was your mentor and asked about cases.”
“Hell. You didn’t mention Nic? Please say you didn’t mention Nic.”
“I didn’t mention Nic. I just said you’d been busy lately.”
Phew. That made me feel better. Oh shit, there were files sitting around in my office. Bob could be reading them. Had I put anything in them about working with vampires? I was pretty sure I hadn’t, but sometimes I write stupid things. I rushed back into my office.
Bob smiled at me again as I slid into my seat. That scared me. Bob wasn’t a smiler. Bob had smiled at me maybe a dozen times since I’d known him, so twice in one day rang every alarm in my head. Bob was here to investigate me, no doubt about it. Someone had reported me to the Council. McConchie? The mayor? Some other busybody. I’d been far too free and easy about going to the vampire house. Far too careless about hanging out with Kisho too.
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“Interesting assistant you have,” Bob said.
Shit, he’d guessed it.
“Yes, he is very organized.” I kept my face neutral.
“Makes a good cup of coffee too. Where did you find him?”
“Umm, he just wandered into my office one day. You know how it goes.”
I’m pretty sure Bob didn’t know how it goes. My office had become stuffy. I’d open a window if I knew how. But then stuffy was good. The stuffier, the better. It’d make Bob leave sooner.
“You don’t seem that pleased to see me.”
I tried to grin. “Just had a massive workout session. I barely have the muscle strength to smile. So, why are you in town?”
“Just passing through, thought I’d pay you a visit.”
That turned the alarms up to maximum. Why was he “just passing through”? That wasn’t a Bob thing to do. He wasn’t an impulsive person by any means.
“That’s nice. Do you have any other work in town? Anyone else you’re popping in on?”
“Well, the mayor asked me to visit.”
Hell, that made things worse.
“Ah, the mayor.”
“Interesting guy, don’t you think?”
“Yes.” Keep it short and sweet. That was much better than voicing my true thoughts about the mayor.
“Then this other woman, Portia Manchelli, called me. Both wanted to consult me on this case. The Demon Child. The mayor said you’d been on site.”
“Just after the attack. I don’t know anything more than the mayor. Nothing much, really. In fact, Demon Child, not even on my radar. No one paying me to fight him, so I’m keeping my distance.”
“Still, you must have some professional interest. It’s a lot different from the normal cases you get here. Seems he’s a lot different from the usual vampire.”
I shrugged. It was better not to say too much. I struggled to change the subject. Did Bob have kids? I could ask about them. No. Pets? Plants? Surely Bob had something in his life we could chat about.
“So, what do you think about the Demon Child?” I asked him. Yeah, turn it back on him. That was the best.
“It really is a difficult case. But I really just wanted to pop in and say hello. Make sure everything is on track for you.”