Demons and Lovers (8 page)

Really, Dr. A woman who wants to fuck me keeps appearing and disappearing. And sometimes she even has wings!

He raised his fingers to his nose—the fingers that had just been inside her—and smelled Lilin’s musk. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

Now his hallucinations included her scent?

* * * * *

Lilin grumbled beneath her breath as she walked from the Chamber of Veils that connected them to alternate Otherworlds, such as the Earth Otherworld. She continued down the The Hall of the Lost. Her long hair caressed her naked buttocks, the air felt cool against her breasts, and the marble floor smooth beneath her bare feet. Sparks fluttered and winked out as she opened and closed her wings.

Barely aware of the beauty of the hall, she crossed her arms beneath her breasts and frowned. She’d been summoned to the air goddess’s court. No doubt because of her failure, Rusalka wanted to speak with her. Rusalka had granted Lilin the ability to go to the Earth Otherworld during the day because she wanted Archer’s soul so badly.

But why?

Lilin shook the question from her head. She knew she’d almost had Archer.
Almost had him
.

By the gods, there would be no resisting her tonight.

Providing, of course, that the goddess would not punish her for her failures to seduce the mortal by not allowing her to return to the Earth Otherworld.

She stopped cold and went entirely still for a moment. What if the goddess sent her to the fiery Realm of the Dead for her failure?

No, dear goddess. Rusalka wouldn’t send her there.

Would she?

Lilin’s throat grew tight at the thought of the endless labor she would be forced to endure with fire and lava constantly licking her skin. It was where those who failed in their duties were often sent. It was also where humans went, those who had traded their souls for pleasure, power, or worldly possessions.

A tremble shivered her wings and she took a deep breath and continued walking. Her shoulders tensed and her skin tingled as she drew near the dark-green skinned guards. Both muscle-bound males had pointed ears, sharp teeth, and fierce expressions. They carried even fiercer weapons.

Without looking at her, the guards drew open the massive gold-leafed doors of Rusalka’s receiving room. Lilin headed along the intricately carved footpath that led through the chamber to the air goddess’s throne. Walking into the chamber was like walking into the forest, complete with trees, their silver and black leaves winking in the dim light. The chamber smelled of fresh earth along with the scent of the wildflowers that bobbed on either side of the path.

Heart pounding, Lilin slowed then came to a stop when she reached the dark stone dais and the goddess.

Rusalka was like all goddesses in that her features were ageless but she had been around for many millennia. The air goddess had a cold beauty and bore a darkness in her bearing and in her appearance.

A crown of white-gold thorns was perched upon her long black ringlets, blood-red rubies glittering amongst the crown’s thorns. Her hair tumbled down around her pale features and her ears peeked out of the locks. Each of the many gowns she wore were different and lovely, but always black. Black gemstones sparkled on the bodice of her gown today, and a diaphanous skirt sheltered her small, perpetually bare, feet. Her black gossamer wings were splayed out behind her.

Her black bird of prey perched close to her.

Today the goddess’s expression was more unreadable than usual and Lilin felt a queer twist in her belly. She knelt before the goddess, the stone hard beneath her knee. She lowered her head.

“You have been unsuccessful.” Rusalka’s sharp tone echoed through the trees in the chamber and a slight shudder traveled through Lilin’s wings. “Twice. I commanded you to retrieve this mortal’s soul and bring it to me. But you failed.”

“Yes, Rusalka.” Lilin wanted to rush to explain what had happened this second time—the interruption that broke her hold on Archer—but she bit her tongue knowing that would gain her an even worse punishment.

A dangerous growl rose within Rusalka’s throat. “Fail again and I shall see that you are sent to Underworld and the Realm of the Dead…or see you suffer a mortal’s life. Do you understand?”

The Realm of the Dead or becoming a human
? Dear gods and goddesses.

Her entire body shaking, Lilin lowered her gaze. “Yes, Rusalka. I shall take Archer Dane’s soul. Tonight.”

Chapter 3

Archer stood at his wet bar with a shot of whiskey in one hand, the half-full bottle in the other. What the hell had happened to him last night in his bedroom and then this afternoon at the office? He hadn’t been able to concentrate all day and it could have cost him the deal with his client. Fortunately he’d managed to pull it off.

The more he thought of Lilin and her appearances and disappearances, the more absurd and surreal it all seemed. He’d imagined a woman named Lilin naked in his bedroom during the night and naked again in his office today. Last night he had even imagined she’d had wings.
Wings.

He was losing his mind. The whiskey probably wasn’t helping. Maybe he’d be able to drink the imaginary woman out of his mind.

For a moment he closed his eyes and swore he could still taste the sweetness of her mouth on his tongue. He was nearly certain he could smell the rain-washed perfume of her hair and the scent of her musk on his fingers. He opened his eyes and let out his breath.

In one swallow he downed the whiskey, then poured another shot as the drink burned his throat and warmed his chest. If he was going to lose his mind, he might as well do a good job of it.

He downed the second shot and grimaced at the direction of his thoughts. He turned toward his fireplace—and almost dropped the whiskey bottle.

Lilin stood inches from him, her naked skin pale in the firelight, her diaphanous wings slowly opening and closing. With his hands full, he had no chance to react as she reached up, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him to her for another earth-shattering kiss.

Something about her kiss drove all thought straight from his brain. She teased him with her tongue, darting it inside his mouth and drawing it out again. She nibbled his lower lip and he groaned. Then she pulled him down so that he landed hard on his knees on a throw rug on the hardwood floor.

Damned if his knees hadn’t been giving out on him anyway. When he and Lilin were kneeling, never breaking their kiss, Archer set the shot glass and the bottle to one side of them. As soon as his hands were free, he tried pushing her to the floor, but somehow she took control and rolled him onto his back so that she was on top.

Her pelvis rubbed against the front of his jeans in a slow, tantalizing movement. At the same time she purred and nipped at his lower lip again.

Archer groaned and cupped her breasts. Soft with large, hard nipples pressing against his palms. Lilin moaned and rose enough so that he could suckle one breast then the other. Her skin tasted unlike any woman he’d ever known. Just like the exotic perfume of her hair that was different than any other scent he’d ever experienced.

Definitely too many clothes on him. Lilin was perfect. Perfectly naked.

The fact he was kissing a strange woman who’d appeared and disappeared in and out of his life for the past two days—and freaking had wings—barely registered as she moved her mouth to his ear and darted her tongue inside. “I want you, Archer.”

He groaned, moved his hands from her breasts to her back and all he felt was the smooth silky skin of her back. Her wings were gone. He continued on, skimming her flesh to her hips then cupped her firm ass.

Lilin licked a path from his ear, along his stubbled jaw, to the base of his throat, her tongue teasing his flesh. She unbuttoned his shirt and tugged it out of his waistband so that his chest was bare. Her hands never stopped exploring him. Her touch—magic. Every inch of his skin that she caressed sparked as if a small electrical charge ran through him straight to his groin.

Her mouth, her tongue—he wrapped his hands in her silky hair and gripped it in his fists as she worked her way down his chest, kissing, licking, nipping his skin. He hissed as she bit one of his flat nipples and she gave a soft laugh that sounded like wind chimes.

Lilin continued, her tongue tracing a path from his abs to the top button of his jeans. She unbuttoned them and tugged the zipper down. He didn’t wear underwear and she made a sound of pleasure as she released his cock.

A growl rose in his chest and he clenched his hands in her hair as she took him in her mouth, so warm, so wet. He was flying. His body wasn’t his own. It belonged to Lilin, a woman he didn’t even know.

The thought jarred him a fraction of a second before she took even more of him inside her warm mouth, took him all the way to the back of her throat.

She slid her mouth off him, dug her fingers into the sides of his jeans, and dragged them down. He reluctantly let go of her hair while she tugged off each of his boots then stripped off his socks and his jeans. He rose and ditched his shirt, leaving nothing but skin against skin as she crawled up his body.

Lilin’s musk was strong as she rubbed herself against him, bracing her arms to either side of his head. “Do you want me, Archer?” she said, her accent stronger. Irish?

What the hell. He didn’t care who she was or where she came from. He just wanted to be inside her. But they needed protection.

She gave a cry of surprise as he rolled her over so he was on top. God, she was beautiful. Her silver eyes were filled with desire. Her skin was so fair but pink wherever his hands touched her. Silvery-blonde hair surrounded her like a halo against the forest-green rug they were on.

Archer pressed himself against her—he was dying to be inside her. “Condom,” he barely managed to get out as he pushed himself onto his haunches. He felt almost dizzy, lightheaded as he tried to think of where he’d left his condoms.

For a second, Lilin looked panicked, but the expression faded as she gave him a smile. “I am protected.” She held her arms out to him. “I won’t get pregnant.”

Some of the haze in his mind started to wear off and he narrowed his gaze. “I don’t fuck a woman without a condom. Period.”

“Come.” She reached up to draw him to her but he pulled away.

Something wasn’t right. Something about all of this was off.

He blinked and shook his head. “What the fuck am I doing?”

She looked irritated. “You were about to have sex with me.”

“Like hell.” He got to his feet and she stood too. “I don’t trust a woman who argues against using condoms.”

Lilin sounded sad and looked on the verge of tears as she said, “Goodbye, Archer.”

She faded away until all that remained were a few sparks in the air and then those winked out.

“Shit.” Archer pushed his hand through his hair. He didn’t know what was happening to him, but he was afraid it might mean a visit to the shrink.

His gaze drifted across the room. His clothing was scattered across the hardwood floor and the bottle of whiskey lay on its side, a puddle of liquid surrounding it.

As he stood in the middle of the room, he swore he could smell Lilin. He was still moist where her mouth had been on him and he was buck-naked.

He dragged his hand down his face. He was losing his goddamned mind.

* * * * *

For the first time in her long life, Lilin was in tears. She hadn’t known what it felt like to cry until this very moment. Strange how the water leaked from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

She stopped and wiped her eyes as she stood in the Hall of the Lost. She straightened her shoulders and raised her chin before she passed through the doors into Rusalka’s chamber. Lilin found it difficult to walk in the face of the goddess’s disapproving glare. The goddess looked beautiful as always, but it was a harsh beauty and it almost hurt to look at her.

The moment Lilin knelt before Rusalka, the goddess’s voice cut through her like a blade, slicing through to the very core of her being. “You failed, Lilin of the Succubae. You were given three opportunities, and you are found lacking.”

Lilin hated the tears in her voice. “Please give me another chance, Rusalka.”

“My word is law.” The goddess’s voice echoed in the chamber. “You are now mortal, Lilin, formerly of the air Succubae. Once you are on Earth, you shall have little time to arrange your affairs before I strip you of your memories of your former life. I will provide you with what humans require to live in their world—what they refer to as identification and the paper they use to trade for goods. I will give you new memories of living your life as a human.”

Eyes wide, Lilin looked at the goddess, fear punching her belly. “Please, Rusalka. I will not fail if you give me another chance. Just one more chance.”

Rusalka scowled. “Do you dare argue with me? I demanded that you bleed Archer Dane of his soul. As an Incubus he once disappointed me as you have. I do not tolerate such failures.”

Lilin’s eyes widened.
Archer had been an Incubus?

The goddess’s face grew darker. “After giving him opportunity to adjust to his new mortal life, I stripped his memories. He remembers naught of being an Incubus.” Her lips twisted into a scowl. “Rise, Lilin, mortal.”

All Lilin felt was numb as she obeyed. She didn’t feel changed. Yet.

But she was a mortal. A mere human now. Two more tears squeezed from her eyes.

“I will send you to Archer.” The goddess’s expression became amused. “He may do with you what he will. Throw you out. Fuck you. It matters not.” She gave a slight nod to her guards who stood to either side of Lilin. “Go.”

Still stunned, Lilin stared at the goddess. She didn’t move until the guards forced her to turn and walk out of the chamber and into the Hall of the Lost.

Chapter 4

So tired he could hardly see straight, Archer entered his sprawling mountainside home. He’d spent the day on a construction site and he was hungry and in need of a long hot shower.