Chapter 22
“HOW DO YOU FIND THE chicken?” Vadim inquired, holding a knife and a fork over his plate.
“Thank you. It’s excellent.” I mimicked his formal tone.
During the appetizers, I’d figured out the behaviour of the demons around me. They simply weren’t accustomed to entertaining anyone on their turf. If falling back into formality made them more comfortable with my presence in their space, I decided to play along for a while until they got used to the idea of having me around.
“You have some amazing cooks here. Especially, considering that none of you eat much.”
According to Andras, Incubi didn’t need to eat food at all, which was easy to believe, watching Vadim listlessly shove the food across his plate. The only reason he had anything in front of him, I suspected, was so I didn’t have to eat alone.
“We’ve all learned to cook at some point.” He took a drink from his glass of sparkling water, and I mirrored his gesture, taking a sip of my wine.
We sat at the opposite ends of a large table covered in red velvet. Vadim wore his usual army-green shirt, and I still had my work clothes on. Despite the size of the table, it still seemed too small for the spacious room. With the only light coming from the two large candelabras on the table, with twelve candles each, the walls and the ceiling of the meeting room sank into deep shadows.
An Incubus walked in to pick up my empty plate. Silent and stealthy as a shadow too, he set a bowl with dessert in front of me. Unlike the armoured ‘robots’ I recalled from my last visit, he wore a pair of black dress pants and a white tunic.
“Did you cook the dinner?” I stopped him before he had a chance to leave.
“Yes,” he replied, with a quick glance at Vadim first.
“So, are you Purson or Agares?”
“Um . . .” He blinked, seemingly lost for a moment. “Andrei. My human name is Andrei.”
“Right. Of course. Well, thank you Andrei. The chicken was delicious.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” With a deep bow and another quick look Vadim’s way, he left the room.
“What is it with human names?” I asked Vadim when we were left alone again. “And what kind of a name is Valefor? That’s what Zayne called you, didn’t he?”
“Valefor is my demon name, the one I came here with, to this world.”
“How did you get to be Vadim then?”
“I simply picked the first local name I liked when I became the Grand Master. In this position, I get addressed in places where humans may overhear, like the meetings with the Priory representatives, for example.”
“So these names are solely for the benefit of humans then?”
“They are to protect us from them.” He placed his hands on the table in front of him. “It’s not as important nowadays. The proper rituals have been long forgotten. But the tradition to take human names goes way back to the times when demon summons was a real threat to us.”
“How?” I had a hard time imagining Vadim considering anything or anyone a threat. The confidence and authority exuding from his tall frame made me believe that being near him was the safest place on earth. “How could anyone harm you?”
“We have no choice but to appear if ritually summoned by our demon name. Once there, we are at the mercy of the one who summoned us, the conjurer. And once we are under his will, we can be commanded to do whatever they please.”
“Like their own supernatural servant?” I took a moment to consider this. “What if you don’t agree with what is asked of you? What happens if you refuse to do their bidding?”
“You can fight the summoner’s will for a period of time, how long depends on their strength, but it is nearly impossible to refuse it if the ritual is performed flawlessly.”
I shuddered at the thought of being reduced to no more than someone’s mindless soldier.
“Have you ever been summoned?”
“No. But Zayne has.”
“Really?” I nearly dropped my spoon, staring at him in shock. “How did he get away?”
“He fought. Until the monk made a mistake. Then Zayne was able to kill him and escape.”
“Kill?” I gasped.
“It was the only way to break the bond created by the conjurer to bind Zayne to him.”
Gripping the silver dessertspoon in my hand, I shook my head. “It’s hard to believe things like that are real.”
Yet, this was now my reality.
“I should not have called him by his demon name in front of you,” Vadim said with regret. “Not because he wouldn’t trust you, but because ever since that time, he has been painstaking in avoiding mentioning it anywhere near a human ear. It was very inconsiderate of me to forget it. It’s just that we have been on our own here for so long, I simply was not used to calling him by any other name.”
“I understand. And I promise never to reveal his or yours or any other demon’s name to anyone.”
Lost in thoughts about what I’d learned, I mechanically cracked the sugar crust on my crème brûlée with the spoon. “How many of you are here?”
The place seemed rather quiet. We never ran into anyone in the long hallways on the way to his room or to dinner.
“Very few now. Less than two dozen. The building used to house several hundred Incubi before.”
“What happened? Where did they all go?”
“West. Andras has been implementing the idea of a dance show there. If it works, more of us will be able to stay awake, experiencing less pain.”
“By doing a dance show?” I lifted an eyebrow at him in question.
“All-male dance show.” He nodded. “To entice the imagination of humans in the audience, so the Incubi on the stage can feed off their emotions.”
“You mean like stripping?”
“Does dancing always equate to stripping?” He tented his fingers, gazing at me with some challenge.
“No. Of course not.” I faltered. “Sorry for the assumption. I guess it’s the all-male show and to entice the imagination that led my mind to wander that way.”
“One doesn’t need to strip naked to entice. Isn’t there a human expression ‘to leave something for the imagination’ that implies some clothes on the body may actually be more seductive than full nudity?”
“There sure is.” I took another sip of my wine, my mind going straight to his body, with all its seductive parts, and the way the layers of clothing he insisted on keeping between us enticed me into desperately wishing to get naked with him, despite the danger that would bring.
The thought brought back images of his bare skin under my gloved hands, and I swallowed another gulp of wine in an attempt to calm the glowing embers of desire before they fanned into a flame.
“We have been searching for other ways to keep ourselves fed,” Vadim continued calmly, as if he couldn’t see what his words had stirred inside me. “Although sexual energy in any form is our preferred source of nourishment, there are plenty of other positive emotions in humans capable of sustaining us.”
“Like what?”
“Any of them, as long as they’re positive. Natasha had the idea of a charity project at the hospital. She’s organized a few public events, which gave us the chance to deliver treats, medicine, and hospital supplies as well as monetary donations. During the first visit, the delegation of seven Incubi spent a few hours, socializing with staff and patients.”
“Were they feeding all this time?”
“Skimming. Gratitude, appreciation, good humour are all potent emotions, especially if felt by a group of people at close proximity.”
“Interesting.” My mind latched on to the idea, moving away from lustful thoughts about him for a moment. “I’ll try to think of more places like that where there are an abundance of positive human emotions.”
“Thank you. That will be helpful.”
I considered all the things that normally brought good feelings in me, personally.
“You know, besides doing the shows your
selves, how about going to see one? Maybe a comedy show or a funny movie? Although, you’d have to be careful with your eyes sparkling in a dark theatre, like that.” I pointed at the bright, blue-white lights flashing through Vadim’s gaze on me and took a spoonful of my dessert. “Mmmm,” I couldn’t hold back a small moan of pleasure, closing my eyes. “I didn't compliment Andrei’s cooking enough when he was here. This is fantastic!”
“I’m glad you like it.” The deep, velvet note in his voice prompted me to open my eyes to catch his still twinkling blue in the candlelight. His gaze on me, however, grew heavy, his eyes hooded, unblinking.
“This wasn’t sexual,” I pointed out, squirming in my chair.
“It didn’t taste like a sexual emotion,” he agreed. “But it looked and sounded very much like it.”
“It did?” I swallowed hard, a tendril of heat licked through my chest and slipped down to my stomach, making my inner muscles clench.
The next series of sparkles in Vadim’s stare on me had an unmistakable pink hue.
“Here is another idea.” I cleared my throat, crossing my legs under the table. “How about going to a restaurant that serves good food? You could order your glass of sparkling water and feast on people’s enjoyment of their meal.”
“I prefer to feast on you.” His head low, he stared at me from under his thick eyebrows, his hands fisted into the scarlet velvet of the tablecloth. “On your enjoyment of . . . anything, really.”
Emptying my wine glass, I got up from the table.
“Is that what you have been doing? Feeding on my emotions?”
“Yes.”
I walked around the table and headed to him.
“Exclusively?”
“Yes.”
“How about the prostitutes? Do they still come here?”
I hadn’t talked to Tanya for the past couple of days, but I was fairly certain she would have called me had she been fired from the job she treasured.
“A few. As well as a couple of women who come whenever they please. The way you used to—”
“But you don’t feed off them?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want anyone else’s emotions to mix with yours inside me.”
A sense of deep satisfaction stroked my soul at his confession.
“You like the way I ‘taste’ then?” I was standing right over him now, and he lifted his head to meet my eyes, turning with his chair to face me.
“I wish I knew how you taste,” he rasped, his gaze sliding down my body. “Everywhere.”
The last word came out with a deep pained groan. Wrapping his arms around my hips, he drew me in, burying his face in my stomach.
“Vadim.” I swayed off balance in his sudden powerful embrace, my heart bursting with compassion and desire for him. “We can try again.” I hovered my hands over his head, wishing I could sink my fingers into his hair, then smoothed my palms over his shoulders instead. “We can just keep trying.”
Silent, he shook his head, his forehead pressed into the fabric of my blouse.
“No more trying. I’m not risking it again.”
“Baby.” I sank to my knees in front of him, fitting myself between his legs to get closer. “What happened then, in the seventeenth century, I can’t even begin to imagine how it must have felt . . .”
Chilling horror crept up my spine at the image of Vadim holding the lifeless body of the woman in his arms, realising what he had done the moment the passion was gone.
I closed my eyes for a second, willing that picture out of my head and the fear away from my heart because he didn’t need that from me at the moment.
“You can’t hide from your past forever, though. An eternity is too long to spend it here, all alone. What will happen to you when all the others leave? Because that’s what they are doing right now, aren’t they? Leaving, in throngs, to find love and new life out there, in the real world.”
“It’s safer for everyone if I stay here,” he replied, sternly.
“How many people have died in this building?”
“Many. Hundreds.”
I inhaled a shuddering breath, refusing to let the dark history of this place affect me.
“How many of them did you kill?”
“None.”
“Do you realise what you ended up doing?” I gripped his forearms, willing him to understand what I was saying. “You stopped it all. Why? Because what happened back then made you see the change was needed. After all the abductions and murders, you were the first Grand Master who let women walk free.”
I swept the shadows of the room with my gaze. This place didn’t scare me. The horrors hidden in these walls hadn’t touched me. My own memories tied to this building were pleasant. Could I help Vadim build some new connections with this place, too? Some that would move the grim past into the background where it belonged and finally set him free?
“Andras said you all have to wear gloves in public, to avoid taking from strangers during accidental touching.”
“True.” He nodded. “The self-control varies from Incubus to Incubus. Being in public, surrounded by humans, any situation can quickly turn unpredictable. It’s best to be safe than sorry.”
“Yet those Incubi who have girlfriends are able to touch them skin-to-skin without concern.”
“Yes, they have learned to do that.”
“How?”
He shrugged his shoulder, shaking his head. “They have practiced. Especially, we noticed that if a demon cares about the woman, he is able to stop himself from harming her. Once it happens, he can eventually learn to gain more control over his hunger.”
“You said you cared about me.”
“I do,” he said softly. His arms around me, he caressed between my shoulder blades with his thumbs. “Still, I can’t stop from harming you.”
“It’s been awhile since you fully touched someone. And the first and last time you did ended in tragedy, which was obviously traumatizing.” I slid my hands up his biceps then along his shoulders. “Let me help you build new memories filled with light and pleasure. Yours and mine.” Carefully avoiding touching his skin, I tugged at the buttons of his shirt, opening them one by one. “We’ll go slow.” I lowered my voice, trying to soothe him and keep him calm.
Leaning closer, I savoured his scent, fresh and warm, with a hint of the ocean. I kissed the hard muscles of his chest through the thin fabric of his shirt, feeling his heart beat frantically under my lips.
“You are a very stubborn woman,” he gritted through his teeth.
“So I’ve been told.” I smiled, diligently working on the rest of his buttons. “Many times.”
“Stubborn. And tantalizingly enticing.”
“That I have not been called.” I laughed, leaning back to open his shirt wide.
His hands flexed on my shoulders, keeping me at a distance.
There was no question, I could not overpower him physically and he seemed dead set on keeping me at bay.
“Stand up,” I ordered, rising to my feet.
“What are you doing?” he asked, but followed me, standing up, too.
“Come here.” I took his gloved hand in mine and tugged him to follow me to the centre of the room. “Do you know how things work around here? I want those chains down.” I pointed at the coils of chains gleaming in the shadows high under the ceiling.
“I’ve never operated them myself.” He headed to the far wall. “But I’ve watched it done many times. Let’s see.”
He picked up a flat metal box from a rolling cart and pushed a few buttons. With a low humming noise, the coils turned, and two chains slowly descended from the ceiling.
“If you want handcuffs, I can look on the shelves under that balcony—”
“No.” I stopped him on his way to one of the wooden balconies constructed along two opposite walls, with seating for spectators, I imagined. “The handcuffs will be too small for your wrists. Are there any padlocks, though?” I asked
innocently.
“My wrists?” He stopped in his tracks and turned around to stare at me.
Without replying, I sauntered past him to the shelves under the balcony and rummaged through the various sex toys and equipment laid out there.
“What are you planning to do?” Vadim’s deep voice sounded uncharacteristically uncertain.
Finding a couple of padlocks in a crate under the shelf, I walked back to him, stopping a breath away from his bare chest.
“This time, I will have you in chains, Grand Master.”
Chapter 23
HE LET ME LOCK HIM in, watching my every move, as I wound a chain around each of his muscular arms then brought his hands up and attached the makeshift restraints to the ends of two chains hanging from the ceiling.
From what I knew about Incubi strength, the chains wouldn’t hold him against his will, but I hoped they would add one more step, just a moment before he freed himself, which might be enough for him to stop.
“I don’t want you to break the chains, Vadim. No matter what I do, keep still.” My hands on the belt of his pants, I spoke calmly even as my heart raced, my emotions in turmoil.
So many things rushed through me.
Appreciation at the sight of this strong, powerful man, bound and at my mercy.
Trepidation of the danger always lurking under the surface when one was about to play with a demon.
Excited anticipation of things I knew he was capable of making me feel.
Worry. For him. Despite the strength and confidence he exuded, he was fractured inside, and I dreaded inadvertently breaking him. My aim was to help, not to harm.
I slid my hand over his shirt and up his sides.
He tensed under my palms. “Say stop and I will,” I promised softly. “But don’t stop me for as long as you can stand this. I need to feel you.”
Everywhere. I had to feel him everywhere.
I needed his hands on me. I wanted to taste his lips . . .
Patience.
I drew in a long breath and took a step back.
“It would only be fair if I had my shirt open, too.” I tugged my blouse out of my skirt and opened the small buttons. Taking it off, I unhooked my bra, too. “Even better—I’ll go completely topless.” I shrugged out of my bra, tossing it to the floor.
Grand Master (Demons, #3) Page 13