There was something about cold air and marijuana that immediately made me feel at ease. The herb humans grew on Earth was nothing in comparison to the plants back in Hell — they smelled similar despite their effects being minimal. But there was something deeply nostalgic in it. Smoking reminded me of looking over Hell’s Black Sea from the onyx cliffs high above, lounging the day away.
That was before I’d started soul-hunting seriously; once I picked that up, I spent most of my time on Earth searching for my next target.
“Been back home recently?” Leon said, as if on cue. He longed for Hell so desperately that it ate away at him. He’d spent so many years cut off from everything that made a demon’s life worth living. The freedom of Hell, the pleasure of its cities, the beauty of its wilderness — I missed it myself, but I could return whenever I wished. Leon didn’t have that choice.
“Been a while,” I said. “Probably about a decade since I last went back.”
“Mm.” He took a long drag on the joint and passed it back to me, his eyes darting behind me as he exhaled. “Well, well, well. We’ve got curious ears trying to listen.”
I snapped my head back. Raelynn, the tiny woman from inside the bar, was standing on the corner outside, doing a terrible job of pretending she wasn’t interested in what we were doing. I chuckled, shaking my head.
“Shall we have a little fun with her?” Leon said. The hunger in his voice was unmistakable: I recognized the lust in his tone. It wasn’t even directed at me, and I still got a little chill. Leon had always been a vicious playmate, one of the few I’d had who could challenge my threshold for pain.
We’d shared before: men, women, other demons. But tonight, my mind was elsewhere.
It had only been a few hours, yet I kept wondering what Juniper was doing.
“Take the lead,” I said. “She’s all yours.” Leon grinned, and I cleared my throat. “Hide the teeth, kid. You’re looking a little sharp.” A little was an understatement: every tooth in his mouth had gone sharp the moment he noticed her.
Fuck, he had it bad.
He calmed himself before he called her over, and she responded far too quickly to hide how closely she’d been listening.
“It’ll be easier for you to eavesdrop on our conversation if you come closer,” I said as she approached us, her wide eyes darting between us. It was instinctual for humans to be wary of us, even if they didn’t know why. But this one’s self-preservation seemed broken: she was a little too eager for her own good.
“That’s Zane,” Leon nodded toward me in introduction. She regarded me carefully, like she’d found something new to study and wanted to absorb every detail.
“Brothers?” she said.
“I don’t think most people fuck their brothers.” Leon chuckled, shaking his head.
It wasn’t like I could pass up an opportunity to try to make the situation awkward. Being the amazing wingman that I was, I said quickly, “Some do. Bros with benefits.”
I could feel Leon’s prickly exasperation in the air. “It’s frowned upon.”
“As if you give a fuck what’s frowned upon.” I passed him back the joint. All the while Raelynn stood there beside us, smoking her sweet-smelling vape pen and gazing at Leon just a bit too keenly.
Leon was going to have a problem with this one. He was working himself up just looking at her, edging closer to her before he said, “Why did you come out here, Rae?”
“To smoke.” She was a terrible liar, so terrible it made me laugh.
Leon insisted. “No, no, no. Why did you come out here?”
Poor girl was squirming under his gaze. If she was involved with the Libiri, she certainly wasn’t very good at it: she was about to soak through her panties just from Leon looking at her for too long.
“I was curious,” she said. “About you. I was curious.”
“Curiosity is dangerous,” I said. “I’ve heard it kills pussies…Is that the phrase?”
Leon rolled his eyes before he flicked away what remained of his joint. ‘Close enough. Tell you what, sweetheart. I’ll make this game a little easier for you, a little safer. Because I like this game. I like playing with you.’
I was about to play third-wheel to these two, but I didn’t mind. I had a thing for being a voyeur anyway — just watching meant denying myself, and denial was a pleasure as much as a torture. Getting myself hard, enduring the strain, letting myself get more and more turned-on until it fucking hurt…yeah, I liked that shit. So I let Leon take the lead. I listened to him whisper filthy promises to her until she was shaking. He got her up against the wall and slipped his hand down her jeans.
The first soft sound of pleasure out of her had me hard as fuck — and it had me thinking of Juniper.
I’d moved closer to the mouth of the alleyway to keep watch. Raelynn was whimpering and squirming against Leon, arms around his neck, knees gone weak. My dick was pressed so hard against the waistband of my jeans that I dug my claws into my palm to control myself.
I wanted nothing more than to get back to the house and fuck Juniper senseless. Her body was mine to break with pleasure and pain, mine to use as I pleased. A woman like her was wound so tight it was a wonder she didn’t spontaneously combust. She craved a distraction, a release. She may have hated me, but she didn’t hate how I could make her feel.
She couldn’t let herself relax…but I could make her. I’d seen it when I’d caught her in the forest, when I’d told her the fight was over. Giving me control had relieved her, if only for a few minutes, of the desperate need to fight. I’d gladly give her that relief again.
Just to make myself hurt a little more, I kept watching as Raelynn shook, the sweet smell of her arousal on the verge of making me feral. I inhaled deeply, clasping my hands behind my back because I couldn’t manage to hide my claws.
I was going to fucking wreck Juniper when I got home. If she wanted information, she was going to scream for it.
Raelynn was losing control, and Leon had covered her mouth to muffle her moans. Fuck, he looked good like that: hands squeezed around her face, his body taut, jaw clenched tight as he worked her to her peak —
What can I say, I was just a horny fucker that wished every day was an orgy. I always needed more: more stimulation, more pleasure, more pain.
Leon had to hold her up as she orgasmed on his fingers, his hand pressed tightly to her mouth, her eyes fluttering closed. He held up his fingers as she leaned back against the wall, catching her breath, and the sight of the glistening arousal on his hand made my mouth water.
“That was fucking gorgeous,” I said, slipping my arm around his shoulders as he sucked one finger clean. He offered the other finger to me, and I took just enough time licking my tongue around it to make his breath catch.
“Always the middle finger,” I muttered.
He smirked. “For you? Always.” He was as hard as I was, and I knew he was aching to bury his cock in her. But that would give his true nature away. We could hide most of our demonic features with a little effort, but trying to make our dicks look anywhere near human was practically impossible. He backed away as she buttoned her jeans with trembling fingers. “Thanks for playing. See you on campus, doll.”
We wandered down Main Street, dodging stumbling groups of drunk humans before we turned toward the lake. There were bonfires lit along the shore, and we stood in the shadows near the trees, watching from a distance.
“You’re fucked for her,” I said, as he stared at his hand like her cum had permanently altered his skin. He shook his head.
“She’s just a toy.”
“Mm, right. At least make a deal for her soul. Make it worth your time.”
He frowned. “It’s a little difficult to honor a bargain when Kent’s got me by the fucking balls.”
We both caught the scent at the same time: the wind shifted, and the stench of rotting meat rushed in my nose, sickly sweet and cloying. I snorted in disgust, and Leon peered back into the trees.
“Fucking Eld,” he muttered. “Fucking humans too, lining up out here like a goddamn meat buffet.” His eyes were bright, a shine of gold overtaking the pale green color he usually hid behind. He flexed his claws, teeth elongating.
“Want my help?” I said. He shook his head.
“No, I need to blow off a little steam.” He cracked his neck in readiness and gave me one last glance before he disappeared into the trees. “See you around.”
He vanished, and it was time I did too. I hoped Juniper was awake when I got back to the house, because I needed to let off a little steam too.
