He laughed and then took my arm. “Come on. If we’re not going to feed ourselves properly, we can at least eat food.”
* * *
After we shared nachos and wings at a pub, I forced myself to leave Daron and return home alone. When he was close, he was too tempting. It had been an excruciating long three days that I’d been battling the yearning for Daron. Being around him earlier exacerbated the intensity. It took all my willpower to walk away and not extend an invitation to my place.
Alone in my bed that night, his scent tormented me, stirring fantasies. I pictured the things we’d done. The things we could do…
No, I would fight the urge. I flipped onto my stomach and pulled the pillow over my head.
It didn’t matter how much I craved him, I wouldn’t succumb to this hunger. My physiology demanded energy, but who I took it from was my choice. My body was my own. I wasn’t some pussy cat writhing in heat, calling for a tomcat to mate me.
I’d decide who I’d be with. Who or what in the universe that was trying to fuck with me could piss off. Whatever the hell this bond was wouldn’t control me.
But, damn it, it wasn’t easy. Daron consumed so many of my thoughts, he was like a computer virus duplicating itself and wreaking havoc in my brain.
Too many thoughts swirled of how good it felt when we were together. How pleasurable it would be if I gave in to the lust and returned to his bed. He’d brand me with a look, declaring that I was his. And follow that up with a stroke of his fingers that promised no one else could ever make me feel the same way. My fingers traveled over my jawbone and down my neck.
A deep wave of longing flowed through me and I didn’t bother stifling a sigh.
I wanted him.
Fuck. I was doomed. A succubus controlled by her sexual desire.
No, I’d find a way. I should stop this.
Still my hand lingered below.
Damn Daron for stirring this need in me, for waking this consuming, carnal hunger. I should drench myself in an icy shower to douse the flames. But, I didn’t pull my hand away. Instead, I roamed down, over my breasts, caressing and pinching my nipples the way he did before he brought them into his mouth. I closed my eyes to envision it. He’d tease me until I writhed with agony on the brink of orgasm.
Daron would slide down my body, licking and stroking my flesh. My breath would come in short rasps as he moved down between my legs and blew a hot stream of air that drove me wild. I’d wait. Wait and writhe as I hoped he wouldn’t leave me a quivering, needy mess.
He’d slide a finger inside me and ask, “Is this what you want?”
“I want you.”
“How?”
His mouth, his hands, his cock. “All of you.” I’d grab his shoulders. “Don’t make me beg.”
“But, I like it when you beg. You’re so fuckin’ hot when you tell me you want me.”
My breaths would turn ragged. “Want you. Need you.”
“Beg,” he’d command.
“Please!” I’d dig my fingers into his shoulders. “Take me. Fuck me. I don’t care how. Just do it!”
That look would return. The possessive, satisfied one that signaled he had me where he wanted me. “Of course.” He’d dip his head and reward me with a long, hot stroke of his tongue that would put me out of my agony.
Wait. A strange awareness came over me. An odd sensation that I wasn’t alone.
This wasn’t a fantasy. Daron was with me.
I opened my eyes. My room in the safehouse looked the same. Nobody was there.
Yet, I still sensed him. I wasn’t conjuring dream Daron. He wasn’t in my head. It was his hands. His fingers. His tongue.
And by the gods, would I soon feel his cock invading my body?
No matter how much I separated us physically, we were still joined.
My tormented body rejoiced with a jubilant whisper as I sank back into the bed and closed my eyes—finally!
* * *
Daron
Selena called me to her.
Not in the way she had before with showing up at my door, but in my mind. Somehow, she’d invited me to be with her. Despite the physical distance, I felt her. I tasted her as she squirmed beneath me. Her cries of wanton desire reached my ear as surely as if she was in the room.
As I brought her to the brink again and again, she writhed on the bed, tousling her black hair. Eventually, I pushed her to find the release she so desperately craved. She arched her back and cried out with her climax and then fell back onto the bed.
I crawled over her, teasing the tip of my cock into her entrance. “You’re so wet. Always so wet. I love it.”
She gazed at me with wonder. “How are you here?” Her voice sounded like a whisper in my head. “And not here?”
“You called for me to come.”
“How did I do that?”
“I don’t know. Do you want me to leave?”
“No, Daron,” she cried. “I’m fighting this so hard. But, I need you. At least, fuck me and put me out of this misery.”
Selena’s honey brown eyes glowed with a reddish-gold hue, as her demon side came through. Her passion raged for me, as mine did for her.
“Hell yes.” I slid the head into her hot pussy. As I pushed deeper inside, a low groan emanated from within, rumbling up through my chest. Sweet nirvana. Why did she struggle so hard to keep us apart? We were so fuckin’ good together. Or sexually compatible at the least. The fireworks were explosive. So why couldn’t she admit that it was mutually beneficial to us both to spend this time together?
“Don’t fight it, Selena.”
“I have to.”
Why did she keep doing this? Didn’t she see it was a losing battle? “Can’t you feel how right it is?”
At least while we were both in town.
“Uh huh.” Her hands fell onto my lower back and she guided me deeper in.
“Let me in.” I was already buried all the way inside her pussy, so I hoped she understood the way I meant it. Into her arms. Into her life.
Into her heart.
“Don’t talk, Daron.” She raised her hips against mine. “Just fuck me.”
My demanding little minx. If she wanted my cock, I’d give it to her—even if it was from this strange metaphysical distance. I draped her legs over my shoulders and drove into her until she screamed out that she couldn’t take it anymore. Then, I flipped her onto all fours and pulled her hair back as I murmured into her ear. Calling her my little slut. My minx. My one and only succubus.
One and only. That was a first for this incubus. Then again, we were a first for each other.
I fucked her until we both collapsed.
As we came down from the high, heartbeats racing and breath coming quick, I slowly became aware of my physical body again. Far away from her in my hotel.
For the first time in my life, a fist of loneliness squeezed me. Why?
Chapter Fouteen
Selena
Another day, another bout of longing. This mate business was bullshit.
I wandered through downtown Salem, still trying to process what the hell had happened last night. Daron and I weren’t physically together—yet we were.
After the strange way we’d had sex last night, I had to admit that our connection was far deeper than I understood. Maybe Eloise was right. And Daron, as well. Would it kill me to spend a week with him?
It was even less than that now. Daron was right—I was being stubborn. What for? To torment us both.
I teleported to the exterior of his hotel. No sense in materializing in the lobby like some phantom of the inn. As I ascended to his floor in the elevator, my brain looped over the question, What am I doing?
The door opened and I stepped out, catching my reflection in the mirror. The furrowed line between my eyes revealed my wariness, yet my body tingled with anticipation.
What am I doing? The question remained unanswered.
Outside his room, I stared at the door. Was he inside?
What was he doing? My body trembled as I considered my next move. It was crazy. What could I do? I was tired of fighting it.
I knocked on the door. “Daron, guess who?”
He answered with a curious expression. “What a surprise.”
His blue eyes captured me, and I lost myself in the ocean-like variations of color. The world felt right being near him again. I exhaled and blinked slowly. Behind him, the king-sized bed with numerous fluffy white pillows all but whispered an invitation.
That had to wait for me to announce the reason for my mysterious arrival.
“I’ve been thinking. Perhaps, you’re a tad right.” I motioned with a small gap between my thumb and forefinger.
“About?”
“Me being stubborn. Just a smidgen,” I emphasized.
“Uh huh.” His tone rang as skeptical and his amused expression called me out as being far more than a tad or smidgen.
“After what happened between us last night, I figured why the hell not?” I waved as if it was an easy decision and not one that had tormented me. “It’s now less than a week, right? Plus, who’s stupid enough to turn down multiple orgasms?”
He chuckled. “True. It would be foolish to deny what has been so satisfying to us both.”
I exhaled. He hadn’t declared my bullshit wasn’t worth it and slammed the door in my face, so I kept going with this exhilarating, albeit terrifying endeavor. “So, one question remains.”
“What’s that?”
“Your place or mine?”
* * *
We chose my more spacious, private safehouse, rather than his hotel room, which was no surprise. Since Daron packed even lighter than I did, it didn’t take long to move his belongings over—simply a pack with clothing, toiletries, a laptop, and a book he’d picked up on the witch hunts in Salem in the seventeenth century.
Once we’d moved it there, I stared at him. “This is weird.”
“What is?”
“I’ve never lived with anyone before. Well, not since I was young.”
He gazed off beyond me. “Neither have I.”
“Do you think it will take some time for us to get adjusted?”
He snorted. “We don’t have much of that. This week will be over before we know it.”
“True.”
“What I think we should do is make the best of it.” He flashed that roguish smile that left me hot and gooey.
Rather than making a move on me, which I thought he would most certainly do next, he strode into the narrow galley kitchen. I eyed him, gaze dropping to his backside. What was he up to?
He opened the off-white country cabinets and scanned inside. “One of the things I’ve gotten good at after living on my own for so long is learning how to cook.”
I tilted my head. “Right now, you’re going to—cook?” Not throw me on the bed for another round of ‘make Selena squeal’? I swallowed the disappointment.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“It’s time you see me as more than a fuck machine; someone who’s only here to kill time giving you multiple orgasms.” His smoldering gaze did nothing to kill that perception.
I pursed my lips and then opened them to say something. But, what? That’s exactly how I’d treated him. That’s basically what I’d said when I’d invited him to stay. He called me out and I deserved it.
He fumbled through the fridge and cabinets. “Just seeing what I have to work with.” After a few more seconds of rumbling, he said, “Not much.” He turned to me. “I’m going to the grocery store. Any requests?”
“Um.” I glanced around the kitchen. “Not that I can think of. What can I do to help? I could go pick up a dessert.”
His gaze darkened with that devilish glance I knew too well. “Sweetness, you’ve already taken care of that.”
“Daron?” My brows tightened in question.
“You are the dessert.”
* * *
Daron
After I scoured what I had to work with in Selena’s small country kitchen, I wandered the aisles of the supermarket, considering the options to prepare something she’d like. We’d devoured the meat-lovers pizza, so I rolled my cart down to the meat section for ideas on the main dish.
When Selena appeared on my doorstep a couple of hours ago, I thought I might be fantasizing, especially after our distant sexual encounter last night. If it was a fantasy, wouldn’t it include some bad music and her wearing far less clothing before she stripped, and we got right on down to business?
No, I was confusing that with some of the bad porn I’d seen.
Selena had been at my place agreeing to give us a go—at least for a short while. This gave me a new opportunity. Because what I’d been discovering, as slow as a turtle crawling through molasses, was that I didn’t want to end our time together.
At least not yet.
What the sorceress said I took to heart. We had something rare, which was likely even more so considering we were both sex demons who had multiple partners. It wasn’t something to destroy, like killing a virus with antibiotics. Selena and I had both looked at our connection as a problem, something to overcome as soon as possible. Why the rush? We were immortal. We had plenty of time to explore what the world had to offer.
Or, in this situation, less than a week.
The only way I could convince her that our connection was more than lust was for us to do more than fuck. Why not start with something else that I was good at? I could treat her with a good meal. Who didn’t like to eat?
After examining my options, I chose chicken breasts. I could prepare a mean chicken cordon bleu. If I paired that with some rice, salad, and wine—and some chocolate dessert before my aforementioned sexual one—we’d have a decent spread. I continued through the grocery store and picked up the ingredients to go forward with my new plan—convince Selena not to break the bond just yet.
When I returned to the safehouse, Selena wasn’t there. That was all right. I was used to cooking alone, listening to music as I did so. I stripped down to a pair of black shorts and played a Rat Pack mix projected from my phone as I prepped the chicken. Although I often listened to classic and alternative rock, at some point I’d started to play Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and more while in the kitchen. It was an odd habit that had stuck. I hardly used my phone for anything else other than listening to music or checking maps.
Since I moved often, the three things I checked out in each location were outdoor attractions, like hiking paths or watering holes, nightlife where I’d find humans from whom to feed, and bookstores to keep me entertained between those other options. My life was simple in that regard. I checked on my property, cooked, listened to music, spent time outdoors, read, and fucked. None of that had changed much in almost thirteen years.
Until I’d met Selena. Odd, I hadn’t screwed around with anyone since I’d met her. Hadn’t even wanted to. Something I never thought possible was that I’d ever be monogamous.
But I didn’t want to be with anyone else. Sure, it might have been the bond talking, but I started to listen. Could we create something more?
Chapter Fifteen
Selena
When I returned to the safehouse, the scents of an appetizing meal added a sultry spice to the September night. I entered, but Daron hadn’t heard me as he sang along with Frank Sinatra to “Luck be a Lady.”
I watched him and a smile spread across my face. He moved like a professional chef in the cozy kitchen space as he prepared the meal, except he wore nothing but shorts. His enticing image would be suitable for a calendar on Dashing Demons or Demon Domesticated—one of those spreads with half-naked men in action that would make women swoon. A calendar with him would sell out faster than an ice cream truck at a playground on a hot summer day.
How odd. This domestic vision of him was incongruent to what I figured incubi were like. Didn’t they simply jump from one bed to another, never letting their dick reach room temperature for long?
&
nbsp; “Smells delicious.” I announced.
He glanced up with wide eyes. “Selena. I didn’t hear you come in.”
“That’s because Ol’ Blue Eyes had your attention. Can’t blame you.” I gave him a conspiratorial wink. “What’s with the outfit?”
He glanced down at his bare torso. “Oh, habit, I guess. I don’t like clothes getting in the way as I cook.”
I arched a brow. “Spilling boiling water or sauce would make you rethink that.”
He raised the black spatula in his hand. “I won’t spill those then.”
“Sounds like a good plan, although somewhat risky.” I chuckled. “In other words, the way you roll.” I lifted the bag I held in my hand and pulled out a package. “Hope you like tiramisu.”
He moaned with pleasure. “Who doesn’t?”
I cocked my head. “You never know. There are some strange people in the world who—gasp—don’t eat dessert.”
“I’m happy to take their share. In fact, we can have double dessert tonight.”
“Oh?” His delectable promise from earlier returned to me, something that I had been anticipating as much as the meal. No, definitely more so. “Is that an innuendo?”
“It wasn’t meant to be, but now that you mention it, why not?” He gave me a suggestive grin. “We have two options. I picked up some chocolate cake when I went to the supermarket.”
“Ah, I see.” Then I pouted and teased, “I hope that doesn’t mean your original suggestion of dessert is off the table.” That would be a tragic letdown.
“Not at all.” He walked over and took the box from me and placed it on the counter. Then he leaned down and kissed me on the lips.
“We can save one of the desserts for another time.”
He ran his hands down my back and then pressed my body against his. “Or, we could sample it all tonight.” He squeezed my butt. “Don’t worry. I know some tricks. We’ll burn off plenty of calories later.”
SCORCH: An Incubus versus Succubus Demon Romance Page 10