The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Author's note: In hindsight, the story has to begin on Monday night. I believe I have put in references to it being Sunday, but things only make sense to me if chapters 1 -- 3 take place on Monday night. 4-5 are Tuesday, with 6 -- 9 comprising Wednesday. The following chapter opens up in the late hours of Wednesday night.





Chapter 10



Friends Help You Move. Real Friends Help You Move Bodies.



"Mom, I'm okay, but I got into kind of a fight and I'm in the hospital right now," was very much not the way Michelle wanted to end her night out.



It had been a good day at work. Her meetings had gone well. She was able to talk the vendors down a couple of extra percentage points in price through sheer determination to wade through details. Moreover, she'd had a record day of compliments on "looking great" and "seeming really upbeat."



Stewart, her boss, had dared to ask quietly if she had started seeing somebody. He wasn't the only one. But what was she going to say? That she'd just been having a string of disturbingly naughty but wonderful dreams lately? That she hadn't gotten laid in years, but woke up the last couple mornings feeling like she had?



Michelle was getting appreciative looks and stares, too. Everyone was professional and respectful at the office, but she knew she was being noticed. The sales guys were pretty friendly and flirty that night when everyone went out for drinks, too. Conversation was getting a bit racy, but not uncomfortable. The thought occurred to her, talking with Eddie from accounting, that certainly Alex could handle the "I'm going to go over to a friend's house tonight" message.



And then, sure enough, her phone rang, and less than a minute later Eddie -- playing designated driver -- was taking her to Harborview Medical Center instead of back to his place. "Michelle, he said he's okay," Eddie reminded her for the third time as they rolled up toward the emergency room entrance.



"He said he'd been shot," Michelle said flatly. "God, I was always worried that I'd get a call about him being smashed on the freeway, not this."



"If he said he's okay, he'll be fine. I'm going to pull up and let you out at the curb and then go find parking. I'll call you when I've found a parking space, alright?"



"Sure. Thanks, Eddie," she said, and then jumped right out of the car before he'd even come to a complete stop.



Michelle was a strong, self-controlled woman. She'd endured and ultimately banished a cheating husband, raised her child on her own, and finished her MBA and worked her way up the corporate ladder while she was at it. It took all of that control to keep from screaming, "Where is my son!?" the second she walked in.



The front desk was mobbed. It was a busy hospital. The prospect of having to stand through that line (if one could call it that) to find out where Alex was seemed like the perfect recipe for wrecking those last bits of self-control, but in the event, it wasn't necessary.



"Mrs. Carlisle?" a voice asked. Michelle's head jerked sideways to see a strangely familiar face. It took a second to recall the name, though. The girl seemed to understand. "I'm—"



"Taylor, right?" Michelle said.



"Yes," Taylor nodded. "I'm here with Alex. Can I take you to him?"



"Yes! Is he okay?"



"He's going to be fine. They'll let him go home tonight." They were already walking, dodging gurneys and wandering patients.



Michelle recognized him from behind. He sat on a hospital bed in an open room, talking to a police officer with a clipboard. His shirt was off. There was an ugly bruise on the lower right side of his back and a few other scrapes, and some bandages wrapped around him horizontally. A couple of other people were in the room, but Michelle didn't even notice them right away.



She rushed through the doorway, calling out his name as she threw her arms around him.



"OW!" he yelped. She jerked back. "Mom? Jesus! Ow, be careful."



"I'm sorry, I'm -- you said you'd been shot!"



He kept himself sitting bolt upright. Michelle saw now that the bandages wrapped around his torso were there to keep thick gauze over a spot under the left side of his chest.



"Ma'am, please don't touch him right now," someone in hospital smocks told her firmly. "He's going to be fine."



"Okay, I'm sorry, okay," Michelle said. She looked at Alex in amazement, then around the room. There was the police officer there. The hospital worker. Taylor. And a tall, majestically beautiful woman with long black hair. Something about her gave the stressed mother a shiver, derailing her thoughts for a moment. Michelle looked at her, stunned, and then blinked it away. "What happened?"



There were awkward looks in response from everyone but the nurse. She seemed used to these things.



"I think I've got everything I need here," the cop said. He gave Alex and Taylor a couple of business cards. "Call me if anything else comes up. You can expect a call from Detective Ruiz tomorrow." Before he left, he said to Michelle, "Ma'am, you raised a really tough kid. You should be proud."



Michelle blinked. "I'm sorry?"



He gestured to Alex and Taylor. "They just put two armed felons in the hospital and another one in jail. The case for sending all three of them to prison seems pretty solid."



More blinking. "Alex did?"



The cop nodded, shook Alex's hand and Taylor's, and left.



"I should really be going, too," Taylor said.



"Right, right," Alex nodded. "Thanks for coming with, Taylor."



She smiled. "I'll be in touch. Promise." She leaned in, kissed him lightly on the lips, then grabbed her purse and headed out.



Michelle saw this and looked at Alex with a smile of pride threatening to disrupt her shocked expression. It wasn't as if she hadn't known about his high school angst. "You and Taylor?" she mouthed.



"Um, Mom," Alex said, figuring that now was an appropriately horrible moment to get it out of the way, "this is Lorelei. My girlfriend."



Michelle's mind ground to a halt. This woman had to be ten years older than Alex, maybe more. She was dressed in designer clothing. She looked like a supermodel, except supermodels needed makeup and airbrushing.



Later, she would feel awful about it, but the only thing she could think to say was: "Seriously?"



"Wow. Thanks, Mom," Alex sighed.



"Ladies," a voice broke in, "I'm going to need some room. I need to put a better wrapping on him. Could you step outside?"



"Sure," Michelle said, trying to come back to reality. "What's wrong? I don't even know how he's hurt."



"Cracked rib, bruised kidney, generally knocked around," the nurse shrugged. "He needs to stay home tomorrow at least and take it easy for the next couple of weeks." She then looked expectantly at Michelle. Lorelei was already stepping out. Eventually, the mother understood and walked out of the room.



"Yeah, this is gonna be awkward," Alex sighed.



"Honey, if I was your momma, I wouldn't believe that woman is your girlfriend, either."



*



Outside the room, Michelle became very, very aware of two things: she was immediately, inexplicably uncomfortable in being with this woman alone -- even in a busy hallway -- and she there was a subtle, unwelcome, pleasant sensitivity between her legs.



"Mrs. Carlisle," Lorelei began, "I'm -- we're both sorry that you and I are meeting for the first time like this."



"How long have you been seeing my son?" Michelle asked, still quite stunned. "I didn't know he was seeing anybody. He's never had a girlfriend."



Lorelei smiled softly. "We only met a few days ago. Several men had accosted me. Alex saved my life."



"Are you -- are you serious with this? When did my son become a superhero?"



Lorelei's smile twitched a bit. "I wouldn't call him that, but as the officer said, he's an extraordinarily brave and unselfish man."



"He's--? He couldn't sleep without his stuffed pony until six years ago! The football coach cut him for flinching too much!"



"I can hear you, Mom!" Alex's voice reverberated through the window next to her. Michelle winced, tossed an apologetic glance over her shoulder, then looked back to Lorelei.



"There is a difference between common machismo and courage," Lorelei shrugged smoothly. "Alex is often cautious because he is intelligent and does not take unnecessary risks. But faced with a worthy task, his inner fortitude is quite inspiring."



The mother's eyes flared. She had no doubt what this stranger meant by 'inspiring,' regardless of how subtle her shift in tone was. "Look," she said, "you're obviously a very sophisticated, older... b-beautiful woman. I mean, I think the world of my son, but he's just a year out of high school. This doesn't compute."



"Does it have to?"



"Of course it does! This is just... what would a woman like you want with my son?"



Lorelei simply shrugged. "I want to make him happy."



*



She didn't come home with Alex and Michelle. At least, not that Michelle saw. They faked a goodbye. All it had taken was a wordless glance for him to understand that she would catch up to him later, undetected.



"I don't want to sound so critical," she said in the front seat of Eddie's car, "but that woman seems just so... I don't want to say this, but—"



"Say it, Mom," Alex frowned. He sat in the back seat, as straight as he could manage for the benefit of his cracked rib. The conversation was unfortunate, but he wasn't angry about it. This was bound to happen. He couldn't blame his mother for reacting like this.



"Doesn't it seem just too good to be true?"



"I'd think that if things went more smoothly," her son mumbled grimly.



"That's the other thing. I mean, she got you shot! Three guys came to kidnap you and that Taylor girl -- and what's up with that, by the way?"



"Those guys were looking for Lorelei because they thought she knew someone they knew, Mom, I told you already. Just like we told the cops. And Taylor and I are just friends."



"Honey, 'just friends' don't say goodbye like that. Her name came out of your mouth twenty times a day for years. I'm surprised your head didn't explode in there."



"I don't have an explanation for that, Mom," he sighed. Not that he was going to tell her right now, anyway. Michelle was normally much cooler. The isolated "hook up in a store dressing room" would have shocked her and would easily have been well into "too much information" territory, but in the end she would have laughed it off. There was just no way to put it into context now.



"That didn't seem to bother Lorelei," Michelle noted.



"Not a whole lot does."



"Are you sure she isn't just using you for something?"



"Like what? My money? My awesome social connections? Can we talk about this later, Mom?"



"I'm sorry," Michelle sighed. She looked at Eddie. "And I'm sorry you're here for all this."



Eddie just shrugged. "It's not my business, but I can't really blame your mom, Alex," he put in, glancing up at the mirror. "This is your first relationship, right?"



"First girlfriend label, yeah. Not that we've really discussed it. I just didn't know how else to introduce her."



He nodded. "Look, only a fool would try to tell you to stop seeing someone like her," he said -- as much for Michelle as for Alex -- "and an age gap like that means less and less as you get older. It's just odd because you're so young. I don't want to discount the idea that you're really just happy together and everything will work out great, but that gap is going to be its own challenge."



"Don't I know it," Alex muttered.



Michelle frowned, resenting the fact that Eddie was right. There was no way to tell someone her son's age not to date someone like Lorelei if the opportunity was there. She turned back to Alex. "Are you in love with her?"



He glanced meaningfully at the back of her co-worker's head, as if to remind her that he'd met the guy all of once before if ever. "We haven't used that word."



"But are you?"



"I don't know. I get how weird this is. Better than you do, Mom," he said, shrugging glumly. "But I'm not going to let go of something good just because of what might happen. I'll be careful, but if I get my heart broken, I guess that's just the way it goes, right?"



Michelle's frown did not abate, but she really couldn't argue with that. He'd learned it from his mother.



Lorelei's car was parked just up the block from Alex's home as they pulled up. Complete with broken window, he thought. Alex wondered if she were sitting inside it, but couldn't really go look. Instead, he got up gingerly out of the car and walked with the two of them to the entrance to the condo complex. He found Lorelei waiting there, standing by the front gate with a single finger held up to her lips. She winked. A laptop bag hung from one hand. The others obviously couldn't see her.



"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Eddie," Michelle said. "I'm probably going to go in late in the morning."



"I can't blame you. Sure you don't want to take the day off? Everyone will understand."



"I don't know. We've still got to wrap up those contracts. And I'll have to go get my car, anyway. Thanks so much, Eddie." Alex had already buzzed himself and the mostly-invisible succubus inside. Michelle paused to kiss Eddie on the cheek before following them.



At the elevator, Alex asked with a smirk, "Is that how co-workers say goodbye, Mom?"



"Oh, you're one to talk."



*



"Holy shit," Alex said with his hands over his face as he lay in bed. "I can't believe my mother just tucked me in. It's like I'm supposed to be eight years old again."



Lorelei kept her amused smile to a minimum. "It's understandable. Moving is painful for you at the moment. You could have been killed. She feels the need to be a mother."



"Still. I should've known she'd freak out about you." His hands fell away. He looked up at her, now standing over his bed in the relative darkness. A gibbous moon and reflected street lighting through his window provided enough light to see her.



"We could have done a number of things to mitigate this. It is not too late. I could look younger to her and others, and convince her to remember this night slightly differently. Some degree of deception is necessary, given the reality of our situation."



He sighed, considering it. "I don't want to hide you or what you are. Or what you are to me."



Lorelei smiled softly. "What do you want, Alex?"



"I want you. I want to be with you," Alex answered. "I don't want to hide with you in my bedroom in my mom's house anymore."



"I had assumed that last part," Lorelei said. Her intensified smile showed how pleased she was with the rest of his answer. "I can help ensure your mother comes to terms with it. There is no harm there. We can acquire a new place for you -- us -- to live fairly easily."



"We accomplished basically nothing we went out to do tonight," he grumbled.



"I am rather amazed at all that you have accomplished," Lorelei replied. "Priorities often shift regardless of intentions. And I am at least in possession of my own finances and transportation again, along with a few other helpful things. The rest will come quickly. Master, I am terribly sorry for what happened to you and Taylor."



"You've said. A bunch of times. You don't have to apologize, I know you didn't plan all that."



"I would like to make it up to you," she said, slipping off her jacket.



Alex smiled. "I'm sure I'd really like that," he said quietly. "Just don't make me move my upper body."



Lorelei smiled back, dropping the jacket on his desk chair. "Tonight you mustn't move a muscle. Just relax and let me take care of you, master. I think you'll find that I am very skilled in physical therapy." She reached for his stereo and pressed a single button. It was pop music, soft, sexy and turned down comfortably low. Lorelei began to sway. "Among my other talents," she added with a smile.



Alex watched as she slowly ran her hands over her own body, starting from her legs and moving upward to draw is attention to every delicious curve. She had quite a few of those. She hooked a thumb under one shoulder strap of her top, pulling it free.



"You set this up ahead of time," he said quietly.



"I didn't know I could get you relatively immobilized... but I had the better part of two days here to myself," Lorelei conceded in a hushed tone. Both shoulders were bared now, and with her arms crossed over her chest, she leaned forward to give him a teasing view. "I'll be setting up many things to please you."



"Like Audrey?"



She laughed, just a little. The succubus straightened, continuing her slow strip-down. "Yes, master, like Audrey. Though I suspect that was more about you than you might believe. I felt you with her. It was lovely for me. You enjoyed her, yes?"



"You know I did."



"I do. You have resisted so much of what I have to offer. I hope you know now that my designs are in line with your conscience. I know what you can and cannot accept." Her crossed arms rose, lifting her top up over her head to reveal her magnificent chest, covered by a lacy purple bra that she hardly needed for support. The top fell to the floor.



She kept her eyes on him. For what seemed to be the millionth time, Alex was blown away by the recent turns in his life: this woman, stripping for him before she had sex with him, was asking with lusty interest about the last women he'd had sex with. Encounters she was largely responsible for. And she called him master.



Lorelei delighted in his gaze. It was plain in her smile. She seemed to let out a quiet laugh -- she was too dignified to giggle -- and her eyes sparkled. "I also know that you enjoy watching me," Lorelei said. Her thumbs slipped under the waistband of her jeans, sliding around them to draw attention to her hips, her alluring belly, and the sexy depressions between.



"I feel your desire. That hunger feeds me, and your inevitable satisfaction will give me much more. I taste gratitude, and affection, and... possessiveness." She winked, and added, as if the word pleasured her, "Master."



The top button on her jeans came undone. The zipper came down. Alex caught only a hint of the blue lace underneath before she turned away, still swaying, now showing off that ass they both knew he found mesmerizing. The jeans started to slide down, revealing blue lace and flawless flesh. "I like that lace thong, by the way," he smiled.



"You learned a thing or two tonight, didn't you?" Lorelei winked over her shoulder.



"Audrey brought me in that dressing room and did a little of what you're doing now. Differently."



"You don't have to make comparisons," Lorelei said, pulling one leg out of her skin-tight jeans and somehow making what should have been a struggle look smooth. "Did it work for you? Please you?"



"It really did."



"Then that's all that matters." When she turned for him again, she put one leg up on the desk and caressed its full length. Alex wanted to reach out of the bed and take that leg, along with the rest of her, but he understood his role here.



His partner's grin smoldered. "Tell me," Lorelei said as she teased at lowering her panties, then stepped away from it and continued to sway, sliding her hands over herself here and there, "what about Taylor?"



"Did you know she would be there?"



"I had no idea. But I could feel your sudden desire for her. Knowing your desires as I do, I knew it could be no one else. You seemed to have handled that quite well all on your own."



"I'm not sure how comfortable I am talking about her. I don't want to betray her trust. But she knew that I would tell you it happened, and was okay with that."



"I felt you make love with her, master. That is what it was, regardless of context. I felt it all, as if I were part of it. So much genuine affection and passion. You need not worry about me betraying your trust. I shall consider her as protected as any close to you, master. Your time with her was amazing." She snapped open the front clasp of her bra. "You seem to have parted on very good terms despite tonight's incident.""I'm amazed at that. She said she just wants to be friends, but she doesn't want to lose touch again. Taylor, um, seemed interested in hooking up again in the future, though."



Lorelei's eyes glittered with interest. "Oh?"



"If my girlfriend doesn't mind," Alex said with a slightly sheepish smile.



"Oh, Alex," Lorelei said, "I may want that even more than you."



"Is it that enjoyable for you?"



Lorelei nodded. "I have told you that your desires and pleasures empower and heal me, master," she said, slipping off her bra and letting it dangle from her finger over him, then letting it fall. Her other arm caressed her breasts. "The feeling of you together was a rush of energy like nothing else, and could not have been better timed."



Leaning forward over him, Lorelei moved her upper arms together to push up her breasts even as her hands slid her panties down. So much of her came close to Alex's mouth, but he didn't try to rise to it. This was just part of the show.



Then she slipped around to the foot of the bed, placing one knee on it. "What happened tonight brought great strides in my recovery."



Alex's lips twitched in a smirk. "So it was good for you, too?"



"Oh, yes, master," Lorelei confided. Her hands slipped up his legs now, then his hips, and finally pulled free the blanket that he lay under. He was dressed in simple gym shorts. "I am eager to show you how good."



She slid forward along his legs again. One hand moved up the middle, taking care specifically to move over his sac and his very hard manhood before she pulled the shorts down and away. She crouched down and kissed his feet, looking to him as if to convey a provocative message by doing so, and then began to kiss and stroke her way up his legs.



Her right hand moved over his genitals again, sliding around his cock and stroking it while her left caressed around his hip and his leg. Her lips continued to trail soft kisses and licks all around. She seemed to slide along him more like a snake than a person; Lorelei didn't need to shift weight from one limb to the next, nor prop herself up on hands or elbows. Her body was draped sensuously over Alex's bare legs, and before long her tongue was trailing up and down his cock. It seemed too big for her to accommodate with her mouth, but he knew better.



"You're amazing," he told her.



"I know," she grinned. "I can feel that in you, too." She licked and kissed his cock as she said, "You will never stop lusting for me as intensely as if you had never had me. I know your mind and your heart will never truly look down on me as your slave. You see me as an equal and a partner. I will never be taken for granted... but instead always with great gratitude... and tender affection... for my service... my devotion... my loyalty... my all." With that, his head and shaft disappeared entirely into her wet, hungry mouth.



Alex groaned loudly in total surrender to his slave.



It was better this time than previous. He felt more connected with her than ever, more at ease. Alex had always thought of oral sex as a chore a woman would perform out of whatever motivations she might have, but not for fun in and of itself. He doubted it was especially pleasing to women. Whether or not that was true of normal women in general, Alex understood now how sincere Lorelei was. Their intimacy in and of itself rewarded her as much as it pleased him. Putting his cock in her mouth was a mutually affectionate and pleasuring act. As she took Alex in and out, devouring every inch of him regardless of how impossible it looked, Alex's emotions ran wild.



He lay still for her, moving only his head on occasion as he alternated between looking down at her and closing his eyes. Sometimes, when he looked, she looked back up at him. She wanted this act to be a defining part of their relationship, something he understood just from that gaze. At other moments, he looked down and saw nothing but a dutifully, zealously bobbing head, eyes closed and lips concentrating on their work.



"God, I want to... I want to give back," he moaned.



"You are giving back," she said. "You know this now. I can feel it."



"Still."



"Relax, master. You must mend. Time enough to toy with my body later. Let me serve."



As she continued, building into a sensuous, controlled frenzy, Lorelei began to moan as much and even more than Alex. The bed didn't shake, and he was held tightly enough to be kept still while Lorelei fucked him with her mouth as fiercely as if she were straddling him.



When his climax finally came, sending pulses of joy throughout his body and his limbs, he moaned -- and she all but screamed. The only things muffling her were his flesh and her need to swallow. Her body trembled and tightened against him. Lorelei came just as he did, despite doing nothing to stimulate herself.



It seemed for a moment as if it would last forever -- Alex would not have protested at all, couldn't have even thought of it -- but eventually, the intensity abated. She drew greedily from him, too focused now to look up, but he was coming down enough from that height of pleasure to stroke her head and her shoulders with his hands. They weren't twitching anymore.



His fingers ran through her hair. Something else did, too.



Alex opened his eyes, looking down at her. Swaying across her back from just above the crack of her ass was a long, thin, darkly-colored devil's tail.



"Wow," he whispered, completely unsure what to think. "Lorelei, your... you have a tail."



"Mmh-hmm," Lorelei concurred.



"What does that mean?"



She pulled her mouth from him with obvious reluctance, but not distress. "As I said, master, your pleasure and satisfaction allow me to heal." Her voice, as always was filled with both warmth and sexuality. "Others will not see it. You will rarely see it yourself... and I can always conceal it if you prefer. You don't seem the type to develop a fetish for tails... but I did not expect you to be bothered, either."



"I'm not," Alex said, a bit surprised to hear himself say it. "I'm just glad to hear it's a good sign."



"It is. As Rachel said in the graveyard, symbolism means much to beings such as us. The loss of supernatural features brings with it a loss of power. This shows significant recovery. I am more grateful than I can say."



"Long ways to go yet, though, isn't there?"



"Yes," Lorelei said, "a very long way. I don't think there will be such easy shortcuts again. We have much... work ahead."



They shared a look of unmistakable affection before Alex lay his head back down on the pillow. "Best get to it, then," he encouraged her. He didn't feel the least bit selfish about it at all.



*



Michelle knew the dreams would come again.



Getting settled for bed, her thoughts had been in a tug-of-war between Alex and Eddie. She felt a touch guilty about that; her son had been shot, for God's sake, and turned out to be running around with a woman so plainly, ridiculously out of his league that it was maddening. He was headed for a crushing heartbreak with that one. With all that, she shouldn't have been thinking about her own flirtatious relations, but there it was.



Thoughts of motherly concern and the excitement of getting such pleasing, intriguing attention from an attractive gentleman (and wouldn't it be fun to get him to be less gentlemanly?) carried her through shedding her make-up, brushing her teeth...



...and fell away along with her clothes as she shed them in front of the mirror.



She undressed slowly, watching herself as her hands roamed her own body. Michelle didn't deeply question how she'd lost that weight, toned up her figure, improved her complexion. Her breasts had more sag in them before; how could that get better on its own? It was curious, but she did try to take care of herself. Something within told her not to look the gift horse in the mouth.



Egotistical as it sounded, Michelle felt turned on just being herself over the last couple of days. She looked good, knew it, felt energized. And if nobody knew that watching herself in the mirror turned her on, tapping into desires that she had never felt before -- or, at least, never admitted to -- where was the harm? It didn't impact how she treated others.



Michelle slipped into bed nude and turned on, with no one to take care of it but herself. For tonight, at least, that sounded just fine. She had a twinge of guilt and self-deprecation about it, but only a twinge. At forty years old, divorced and dateless for years, Michelle was genuinely excited about being alone in her own bed. Directly across from the bed was a mirror over her dresser, placed there out of practicality but now a vivid enhancement to her solo fun.



She stacked up her pillows pushed away the comforter and the top sheet, settled in against the soft cushioning behind her, and closed her eyes. Her hands slowly roamed all over her body while her mind entertained various naughty thoughts.



She envisioned Eddie crawling up onto her, naked and... well, probably in better shape than he actually was, but it was her fantasy. At least his gut didn't sag over his belt like most men their age. That said a lot. So did the repeated subtle "adjustments" she saw him making in his trousers tonight when she flirted with him at the bar.



Eddie had a very nice face, and seemed like a very nice man. If he was a few years younger than her, what of that? It wasn't anything like the difference between her son and his new girlfriend.



Mm. Alex and his new girlfriend. That was like shifting up two gears at once. Michelle's breath got heavier, and while one hand still slid up and down her body from inner thigh to breast, the other was very dedicated to the increasing wetness and pleasure between her legs. So shameful to think of her son like that. Alex replaced Eddie in her mind, upright before her on his knees, hands possessively gripping her ass while his cock split her open.



She whimpered. Such thoughts were beyond naughty, and were accompanied (perhaps heightened?) by no small amount of guilt, but then, nobody needed to know.



Visions of rolling in the bed with Lorelei danced in her head, too, and that was about as privately scandalous. Yet she'd had to come to terms with both of these tracks within her over the last couple nights. Michelle had felt attraction to other women in college, but smothered it because of her upbringing. She'd even denied it to her husband -- who would've only sought his own gratification with such knowledge, anyway.



But looking at herself in the mirror, fingers now swirling away over her clit while others teased the rest of her wet flesh, she couldn't deny it. If the woman in the mirror came onto her (and how great was it to actually be that woman?), she'd have to go for it. Figure out some way to meet up, keep things private, have some fun. Why would Lorelei be any different?



A half-formed fantasy of "discussing" the relationship between Lorelei and her son with the dark-haired beauty entered her mind. Standing close enough to feel one another's breath, murmuring softly so as not to be overheard... "I realize you two are going to do whatever you want," she'd say as she slipped her fingers under the shoulder-strap of the other woman's dress, "but I could be convinced to let things run their course without my interference..."



Lorelei wouldn't balk at that. She seemed experienced, collected. Such an aura of sexuality there. Somehow Michelle just knew that that woman would have no objections to another woman's attentions.



That fantasy, and the orgasm that soon wracked her body, brought Michelle to sleep after a very busy day.



In her dreams, however, she got very thoroughly fucked again.



Lorelei came to lay over her, sliding skin on skin and face to face with the mother of her master as she slept. Michelle didn't entirely awaken but wasn't entirely asleep, which was what Lorelei wanted. The succubus slipped over Michelle to bring her damp, needful pussy up against Michelle's. The mother would need more direct stimulation than that, of course, but that was partly why the tail was so useful.



Her first kiss awakened Michelle's lips, coercing them into opening for the invasion of Lorelei's tongue. Weak and mostly asleep but still very appreciative, Michelle's arms closed around her fantasy lover as they kissed. Her hands roamed, as did Lorelei's. The two writhed together in passion. As with the rest, Michelle didn't question the sensations between her legs. She simply gave in to whatever was touching her so arousingly.



Fingers ran though Michelle's hair, gently pulling her head back. She obliged, exposing her neck to Lorelei and getting the gentle, sucking kisses that resulted.



"Tell me your secrets, Michelle," Lorelei whispered to her.



Michelle panted in a mix of pleasure and shame. "I'm becoming a slut."



"Ssshhhh, it's okay, it's okay," Lorelei soothed her with kisses and whispers trailing all around her ears, her neck, her mouth. "Trust me. Tell me."



"I'm so horny... I want sex so bad... I need you so bad."



"I'm here. We'll take care of you, don't worry," Lorelei grinned audibly. Her tail gave a long stroke of Michelle's lower lips, and the mother shivered. "I won't leave you 'til you've cum again."



"Thank you," Michelle managed to say before her mouth was devoured by another long kiss. She couldn't stop moving against the body laying on top of her. Every inch of her felt so wonderful. "I put on a show for my son today," she confessed in whispers. "I was a such slut right in front of him. He had to have seen so much. I'm so bad."



"Your son doesn't see anything wrong with a woman being slutty," Lorelei's smile brushed against Michelle's quivering mouth. "As long as you're discreet. Were you slutty for anyone else?"



"Just you. Just you. Oh..."



"Good. You don't have to be a slut for your son anymore, Michelle."



"Mnh. No?"



"Only as much as you like. I won't ask anymore."



"Are you mad?"



"No," Lorelei breathed, kissing her encouragingly. "You did very well. I just had to see... if it pleases you, do as you like. But now I know that you'll be a slut for me, won't you?"



"Yes. Oh yes."



"Don't be ashamed. Your son would approve, if he knew. Don't feel ashamed at all."



"He would?" Hands continued to roam. Their bodies rose and fell with one another's pleasures.



"Yes. What's wrong with being sexy? Having sex? Even if it's lots of sex? Alex just doesn't want you hurt. Were you slutty with others?"



"No... just Alex and you. Mostly with you." Michelle moaned loudly and uncontrollably then, a product of Lorelei's rewarding touch.



"Not even with Eddie? He seems like a nice man."



"Oh. I like Eddie. I thought about it, but we got called. Alex was hurt."



"Yes. But tomorrow?"



"I should stay home with Alex tomorrow."



"No, Michelle. You need to go to work and talk to Eddie again. Alex will feel bad if you stay home with him. He'll be fine. I won't mind if things start between you and Eddie. We will still have our time. Not every night, but you'll be satisfied."



"Hhhhh. Maybe. Maybe." Her hands went to the sides of Lorelei's breasts, sliding to cup and fondle them. Lorelei rose up a bit on her knees to allow for it.



"What else, Michelle?" A tongue snaked under her ear, darting under her lobe.



"My son's... girlfriend. Lorelei."



"Mmmm, yes."



"I don't trust her, but I... I want her."



Lorelei's eyebrow rose appreciatively. "Are you comfortable with that?"



"No. She's another woman. Am I... am I becoming a...?"



"No, Michelle," Lorelei chuckled soothingly. "You are what you've always been, but have always denied. Enjoy it. Would you steal her from your son?"



"No. I don't want to hurt him. I want him happy. She just seems so beyond him."



"Give them a chance," Lorelei whispered. "Maybe it will work out fine. But if you want her, but wouldn't steal her, then what are you thinking, naughty girl?"



"Nothing," Michelle breathed back. "Just fantasies. She's so beautiful."



"So are you," Lorelei said into their next long, passionate kiss. Lorelei ground herself against Michelle, letting up in neither her kiss nor her attention to Michelle's building climax. She had accomplished everything she needed here. Gratification could be found, surely, and she enjoyed Michelle and all, but there was an ever-closer bond of pleasure and... more in the other bedroom.



The grunts, moans and sighs of Michelle's orgasm erupted directly into Lorelei's kiss. The succubus lingered long enough to soothe and settle her partner back into slumber with soft kisses and affectionate tones. With a last look at Michelle's naked, sated body, Lorelei left the bedroom quite pleased with herself.



*



"The preliminary tests say Sergeant Carlisle is fine, but we know the Goa'uld have tricked us before," Dr. Frasier said. She stood over the young airman's body where it was strapped to his hospital bed. As with most everywhere else in Stargate Command, the infirmary was darkly lit and not terribly comforting.



"Dammit, Alex saved our lives out there," Colonel O'Neill snapped. "That's gotta be our boy."



"Or part of a Goa'uld plot," Dr. Daniel Jackson put in. "Jack, you know as well as we do. The System Lords wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice a couple dozen Jaffa to make an infiltrator's insertion into our ranks look believable."



"I concur," Teal'c said emotionlessly. "Sgt. Carlisle fought admirably in disrupting the Jaffa ambush. Yet if he has been taken over by a Goa'uld symbiote, then his rescue of SG-1 was all a spam."



O'Neill's hands, once covering his face in frustration, now slid down so his eyes could look upon Teal'c. "Scam, Teal'c. I think the word you're trying to use is 'scam.' Or maybe 'sham.'"



"Doctor, how soon will you know for sure?" General Hammond broke in.



"Give me a couple hours to run some more tests," she shrugged.



"Right. Well, people, we've got a briefing, so let's get to it."



As they left, Major Samantha Carter paused to grasp the patient's shoulder. "Hang in there," she said, and then left. Soon, it was just Dr. Frasier, Alex, and all the straps and restraints keeping him imprisoned on the bed in case he was inhabited by one of their enemies.



"So, uh... what more can I do, Doc?" Alex asked. "I mean, I know you can't just take my word for it that I'm not carrying a symbiote."



"Well, Sergeant," Dr. Frasier said, walking to the door and closing it -- and, oddly, locking it -- "our autopsies of a few people possessed by Goa'uld symbiotes when they died gave us the chance to see how they effect the human body. There's at least one way I can verify right now that you are or aren't a Goa'uld host... but if you aren't, you'll have to give me your word that you won't tell anyone about it."



"Sure. Okay."



"Although, if you are a Goa'uld host, no one would believe you, anyway." Pointedly, the lovely older woman took off her surgical gloves, washed her hands, and then rubbed them with... something?



"Right. Well, I'm not, so I give my word. I won't tell anyone. Gotta be top secret stuff, right?"



Dr. Frasier hid a smirk. "Yes, Sergeant. Highly classified information."



"Okay. What do we... um... doctor?"



She didn't answer, merely raising an eyebrow as she slipped a hand under the folds of his hospital gown between his legs. Her lubricated hand caressed his nuts, found his penis, and began to play and stroke.



"This is a test?" Alex asked, trying to keep his breathing steady.



"Yes," Dr. Frasier nodded, though clearly her own breath was a bit heavy. "Goa'uld symbiotes cause a discoloration of semen. That," she said, and then smiled tauntingly as her hand encircled his now very erect and engorged cock, "and something tells me no System Lord could stand being sexually controlled by a human woman."



Alex groaned in pleasure. The beautiful doctor had a touch that did much more than heal. "Their loss," he huffed.Dr. Frasier's manipulation of his cock grew more sensuous yet more firm, and as she looked from his eyes to his groin it was clear who was in charge here. "Despite this personal familiarity, Sergeant," she said in a professional tone well out of any correlation to what her hands were doing and the intense share that they shared, "I expect that you and I will be able to keep up proper military decorum on the base."



"Oh, yeah, sure, ma'am," Alex breathed. Her attention to his cock never let up in speed or grip. His eyes rolled back into his head. Alex's hips pushed up the full quarter-inch of give allowed by the straps. His breath grew shorter and quicker until he finally let out a loud grunt. Dr. Frasier was quick; she had a hand towel at the ready.



She looked down at the towel, then at Alex. His pleasure gave way to alarm. "What?" he asked. "Is something -- oh god, ma'am! Doctor, please don't tell me I've got one of those things inside me!"



The doctor reached up to her neck with her left hand to pull loose her regulation tie and unbutton the collar of her uniform shirt. "No," she said coolly, "but as you're such a robust, young, healthy male of such obvious discretion... and you're still quite aroused," she went on, unbuckling her belt and looking him in the eye, "I think I'd like to have this thing in me."



A moment later, several -- but not all -- of the restraints were undone, allowing Alex the use of his hands and some freedom to his hips. Dr. Frasier climbed on top of him, her pants gone and her shirt undone. She leaned in close to his face and whispered, "Also, when we're alone like this, I'd prefer to be called Janet."



Alex awoke to the oddest sensations around his genitals. Just as when he'd gone to sleep and as he'd awoken yesterday, he was mostly enveloped by Lorelei's mouth. One hand was wrapped around the base of his cock, while the other lay against his hip. Yet there was strange pulsating feeling within Lorelei's mouth, and the feeling of her breath coming out in a sharp rapidity against his groin as she was... giggling?



He grunted, and she pulled off of him. He had never heard her giggle before, and with her head now buried against his left hip, he couldn't be sure that was what she was -- no, she was definitely giggling.



Realization hit him like a pie in the face. "Oh, no," he groaned.



"Master, were you dreaming of being in a... television show?" Lorelei laughed quietly. Her eyes turned up from under the veil of her hair just long enough to confirm her suspicions. Alex blushed a beet red. She laughed again. At him. Not cruelly, but definitely at him.



"You can watch my dreams?"



"In this act, yes. If I serve you in your sleep and you dream of desire. And really, you would not likely dream of much else."



"God, I don't remember all my dreams," he said, one hand covering his face. "Are they all that embarrassing?"



"No, no," she said, stifling her laughter. "That one was just so developed and definite in its imagery that I did not think it could be from a book or pure imagination. Master, you have nothing to be embarrassed about."



"Yes, I do," Alex groaned.



"Perhaps a little," Lorelei conceded with a grin, and then a giggle as Alex groaned and added his other hand to the one covering his face.



"The matter will never be shared with anyone," Lorelei said with a sweet, solemn smile. Her hands began to slowly caress him, nails dragging sensuously across his groin. "I would be very happy to play Doctor Frasier for you, if you like."



"Hah." He wasn't mad at her. Couldn't be mad. But just... wow. "You must think I'm such a geek."



"My feelings and desire for you are not diminished in the least," she assured him sweetly. "Although I admit your entertainment value has increased this morning."



Alex sighed. She was kissing and licking him again. How could he be mad when she did that? "So you saw other dreams?"



"I did," Lorelei said, pausing to tease the head of his penis with a brief enveloping kiss. "Others were more vague, more down to earth as it were... though I am curious... this tall green woman with superhuman strength? 'Jennifer?' She is a comic book character, yes?"



This time, he pulled one of his two pillows over his head entirely and groaned very, very loudly. Lorelei just laughed.



"Hey, are you awake in there?" his mother's voice came through the door. Alex yanked the pillow down from his head to look at Lorelei in alarm.



She simply winked at him. "Lie still. She won't notice me," she whispered, and then pulled the bedspread over her head where she lay atop his legs and groin.



As was quite typical, Michelle knocked twice and opened the door without waiting for an answer. They'd had to talk about this before, but she seemed incapable of understanding how annoying that was.



His mother was once again dressed for work. This time, she was all put together. Though her skirt was just short enough and at a level to invite an involuntary look between her legs as she stepped close to the bed, there was much less of the shameless exhibition from yesterday.



"Morning," Alex grunted, hoping to appear a bit more bleary. He wasn't going to bring up the knocking issue. It would only make her feel bad.



"Hey, sleepyhead," Michelle smiled, putting her hand through his hair. "How are you feeling?"



"Like I got in a fight with three guys last night," he admitted. "I'm more sore now than I was when I got out of bed."



"Well, make sure you take plenty of those painkillers. You're going to stay home and take it easy today, right?"



"Yeah, I'm gonna call in sick as soon as there'll be anyone at the office. I'm gonna be good and lay around the house, Mom. Either I sit or stand up straight or I lie flat, 'cause everything else kind of hurts my chest right now."



"Mm-hm," Michelle nodded. "Well..." she frowned, looking down at him as if coming to a decision. "If you want to go lie down on my bed, it might be more comfortable than yours. And at least I've got a television in my room."



Alex blinked. "You sure?"



She just shrugged. "It's fine. Anyway, I'd stay home with you myself if I could. Just -- if your girlfriend comes over to give you some tender loving care, I better not find any evidence of shenanigans on my bed, mister."



That only made him blink more. "Um. Wow."



Michelle rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm sorry if I was rude last night. I was just freaked out and probably still a little tipsy and I feel like I made a complete jackass of myself. But she just seems so... Not only is she older than you, but it's like she comes from a very different world, y'know?"



"Oh, I know," Alex said. He felt Lorelei's grin as her cheek tensed against the skin between his inner thigh and his junk.



"I don't want her taking you off to be her kept man for however long that amuses her and then have it mess up your future."



"Not even an issue. We haven't even talked about anything like that. I'm going to college 'cause I want to, remember? I'm being careful, Mom. Careful as can be. Okay?"



"Okay," Michelle nodded. "I'm still suspicious."



"Go ahead and be suspicious," Alex shrugged, and then winced at the pain it produced.



"That bad?"



"Probably be a lot better tomorrow. I'm just being a big baby for today. I'll tough things out for school even if I'm still hurting."



She smiled a bit. "Good call," she said. Then she returned to the other subject. "Anyway, I just hope you're being a gentleman with her."



Alex felt Lorelei's lips press sweetly against his flesh. "As much as she'll let me," he nodded.



Michelle cocked an eyebrow, figuring she knew what he meant by that comment. "Look, I know what young men do with beautiful girls as soon as they get the chance. I'm just saying you can always talk to me about anything. Even if it's complicated or if it's about sex."



"I know," Alex said. "You're going to be late for work."



Michelle sighed, then leaned in and kissed him on the forehead before leaving. Lorelei and Alex remained as they lay until they heard the front door close. "That was less awkward. Thank you," Alex remarked dryly.



"You're welcome," Lorelei smiled, casting aside the blanket again.



"Did you have anything to do with her calming down like that?"



"Not to that degree, no. I asked her to keep an open mind and give things a chance, but I didn't push things. I am as surprised as you are."



"Did I, um," Alex asked, dreading the answer, "did I dream about...her?"



"Yes, once," Lorelei answered, her smile becoming both more controlled and more seductive. "You may not want to hear about it given your wishes earlier."



"No, probably not."



"As you wish. I am grateful to have observed. It was very beautiful."



Alex let out a long breath at that. He needed to change this subject. "Any other dreams?"



"You dreamt of our wedding," Lorelei said, her smile now shifting into a mischievous grin.



"Wow."



"It was a rather sweetly pornographic affair. Your side of the wedding party was hardly involved at all. My maids of honor did much more for us both than stand with me, both before and after the ceremony. And my dress was imaginatively whorish." This time, she was laughing with him.



Her hand was stroking his manhood again. "Have you been married before?" he asked.



"Several hundred times," she answered with a shrug, "though never for very long, of course. It's not my usual approach. Ceremonies such as weddings are often problematic for my kind."



"How so?"



"Holy ground can be spectacularly inhospitable to my kind, depending on the sincerity of the faith among its caretakers and the worshippers who frequent it. I have been wed in churches, synagogues, temples and mosques. Easily handled if the flock or the shepherds are far from religious virtues. Other times, faith has been strong and I have had to engineer different plans."



"I'm not, you know, trying to pressure you or anything," Alex said. "I hadn't even consciously thought about this. I hope that dream didn't seem like a hint."



Lorelei took to her hands and knees, crawling over him with her hair spilling all around his head again. "Alex," she said, "it was a dream of shameless fornication with a naughty theme, and one that I enjoyed. Nothing more. I am wholly loyal to you, and would do anything you asked of me. But you need not concern yourself on this matter in the least, for I am not troubled."



"Is there anything that does trouble you?" he asked softly. "I asked the other night, but you never asked. Is there anything I shouldn't do? I don't want to hurt you, Lorelei. Ever."



She looked away for a moment, seeming thoughtful, distant, and reluctant. Alex had the thought in that moment that some things were difficult to reveal. "I guess maybe that's a little too sensitive to just ask, huh?" he frowned a bit. His hand reached for her hair, stroking it. "Kind of like I'm asking you how to hurt you?" Lorelei nodded, still saying nothing. "You don't have to answer that, then."



"Sodomy."



Alex blinked. "I'm sorry?"



"Master, if you were to get rough with me sexually, I am certain I would enjoy it. But if you were to beat me or torture me... it would be exactly that." Her voice was strained with echoes of more than a little pain.



"I would never—"



"I know, Alex," she whispered. "I know. I know you. I have no fear of you. But there are associations with sodomy beyond sex for me. It would be greatly, darkly pleasuring to you. I would not deny you this. I could not. But for me... there are sensations of pleasure, but also great pain. Humiliation. Punishment." Her voice trembled. "Such acts are used to keep one such as I in line in Hell."



"I had no idea."



"How could you?"



"You didn't have to answer."



Lorelei shrugged, finally looking him in the eye again. "I trust you."



"I will never do that, Lorelei. Not if it hurts you. And you have my every wish that if I'm, I don't know, drunk or stupid or something and I try that, you stop me, okay? Please. I mean that."



She nodded softly. "Thank you, Alex. It will not trouble me if you do this with others."



He nodded, still stroking her hair and looking at her tenderly. "I'm so crazy about you, Lorelei."



Lorelei nodded back. She cast her gaze at his clock, plugged back in now but silenced. "It would be good if I could make a few phone calls in roughly an hour or two. I imagine you will call in sick at about the same time. Until then," she asked with a hungry intensity, "may I suck your cock, master?"



That gave him a thrill. "You think need to ask permission for that?"



She felt his reaction and grinned. "I think we are both becoming very comfortable with the range of equality and control in our relationship."



"Just doing this isn't boring you? You've been at it awhile already."



"I could do literally nothing but this for days on end without interruption and be very, very happy, master." She had one hand stroking him again already. "In fact, it would be lovely if we could make a date of it sometime soon."



"There's nothing you'd like me to do?"



"For now? No. Today, you must relax and enjoy what I provide. Let your mind drift. You will recover more quickly with more diligent rest, and then we can move to things more vigorous."



"Kiss me," he whispered, "and then take me in your mouth."



She grinned encouragingly. "As you wish, master."



*



"Wow! But you're okay, right?" Diana's concern and surprise was evident through the phone.



Hell yes, I'm okay, Alex thought. His right hand held the phone to his ear, but his left was in Lorelei's hair as her head slowly bobbed up and down. "I'm fine. The bullet just glanced off a rib. Doctor said it was amazingly lucky. It's cracked & bruised but not snapped or anything. I'm sure I'll be fine by next Tuesday, but I'm staying in bed today and I'm probably going to take tomorrow afternoon off just to be safe, if that's okay."



"Hey, that's fine. The file room can run without you for a little bit. Wow, that's crazy," his office manager said. "Well, listen, I'll let everybody know. But just so you know -- if you need a lawyer in this mess for anything, the firm can't really represent you but we know good people who can. And Jim's done a lot of criminal stuff. I'm sure he'll want to hear the story from all this when you come back to work."



"That's really good to know, Diana. Thank you."



"We'll be thinkin' about you. Take it easy."



"Will do. Bye, Diana." He folded up his phone and put it back on the nightstand. "Wow," he breathed. "This feels really decadent."



"Hm?"



"Calling in sick to work while you're doing that to me."



Lorelei withdrew, having brought him off not long before. "I have not yet begun to shower you with decadence," she grinned. Then she rose up on her knees, sweeping her hair back with both hands, deliberately making a show of herself to him as always. Then she got off the bed and moved over to her jacket, where she retrieved her phone.



Alex just watched her, enjoying the sight of her naked glory and her smile... which, for the first time ever, seemed just a touch self-conscious. "You're staring at me," she observed without looking up from her phone's touchscreen.



"I am. I love looking at you."



She tossed her hair back on the right side of her head, raising the phone to her ear. "I love being looked at by you," she admitted quietly.



"Good."



"You know, just two days ago I found this sort of behavior to be violently disgusting," Lorelei said.



"And now?"



"I am a demon. Hypocrisy is the least of my evils," she winked. "Courtney, hello," Lorelei then said, her voice taking on a less sultry and more friendly but professional tone. "It's Laura. How are you?"



Alex forced himself up out of the bed. He winced a bit, with the bending and twisting necessary being the part that irritated his chest, but it had to be done. Glancing around, he thought to grab his own phone as he rose to his feet and moved out of his room to resettle on his mother's bed. His bed had become a touch small for him as it was, and he'd have been grateful for Michelle's offer on that basis alone -- even if he didn't have someone to share it with. But he did, and he was conscious of the need for extra room regardless of Lorelei's claim that she didn't mind.



"I'm quite well, but I had a bit of a minor disaster last night and I was hoping to rely on the expertise of you and your staff in digging me out of it quickly." She paused, reaching out to stroke Alex from shoulder to ass as he walked by. Then she followed him into the other room and watched as he slowly laid back on the queen-sized bed. Then she slipped up next to him, sitting up on her knees with her calves tucked under her.



Their eyes met, confirming their mutual thought: they needed a much bigger bed of their own as soon as possible.



"My car was broken into last night. I had just come in from out of town and a good deal of luggage was inside. Yes. They just smashed the passenger side window to get in. So now I have a car with a broken window and practically nothing to wear, along with several other missing vital items. I'd rather not wait on getting all this resolved."



Alex's hand slid over Lorelei's thighs, and then between them. She looked down at him as his touch became increasingly bold. "I drove to my new boyfriend's place. I'm staying there. No, no, that ended awhile ago. This one's much younger but much better in every way." She winked at Alex again, whose fingers were stroking moist flesh.



"So I need a temporary wardrobe. Four days or so? Mostly casual. Underthings and all -- and I do have someone to impress. We might want to add in a party dress. Something for a night out, at least. You know, keep his eyes glued to me. But my plans are very vague right now, so versatility is good.



"More importantly, do you think it's possible to send someone to pick up my car and get that window replaced? We're in the north end of Seattle. Wonderful." Her eyes fluttered a bit as Alex's fingers slid within her, but her voice did not waver as she gave the address.



"Yes, absolutely I'll wait a moment." She tapped a button on the phone, and almost instantly her eyes rolled back into her head and she moaned loudly, rising and falling a bit on her knees.



"Wow," Alex smiled.



"Master, thank you," she said, her free hand touching the wrist that disappeared between her legs. "You are so good to me."



His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "So are you faking now or are you faking on the phone?"



Lorelei shook her head, eyes still fluttering as he touched her. "I cannot deceive you, master. Your touch is so wonderful. I am merely able to deceive others."



"But you could hold up that poker face and casual tone if I asked you to? Even during sex?"



"I could, master, if you asked it of me. If it pleases you. But inside I swear I would still be on fire."



He smirked. That could be kinda kinky.



"Master," Lorelei said hoarsely, softly bucking against his hand, "Courtney is a very attractive woman. Would you like some variety to your company today?"



Alex blinked. He had no doubt as to what she was offering. "I think I'd like to be alone with you today."



A blissful, quivering smile spread across her lips. "As you wish, master." She moaned again, and then Courtney's voice could be heard on the phone. Lorelei tapped the screen and raised it to her ear. "Yes, Courtney? You can? Wonderful. You're a lifesaver. Just have whoever comes for the car give me a call when he arrives, I'll bring him the keys. Oh, and I know I am asking for a lot here, but... yes, I expected you would say as much. Could whoever comes for the car possibly bring breakfast for two? Nothing fancy. A few treats from Whole Foods or PCC would be lovely. Wonderful. Thank you so much." Her thumb closed the line, and then the phone simply fell from her hands as that calm eloquence was replaced by nonsensical vocalizations of pleasure and gratitude."Lorelei," he smiled softly, "I want to taste you."



"Mmh. Master?"



"Kneel over me where I can taste you."



A shiver of delight ran through her. She crawled into position to kneel over his face, straddling his head. She was turned away completely from the rest of his body, understanding from the tone of his desires what he wanted. Their eyes met as she lowered her sex to his loving kiss, her body trembling with anticipation.



There was no teasing this time, no exploratory nibbling on the inner thighs. His lips met hers, drawing from her a great moan and forcing her to fight to keep her eyes open as she held his gaze. "Master," she pleaded over and over again, failing to form any other words. His hands slid up her body, possessively roaming over her ass and hips and reaching up to claim her breasts.



He relented, softening his attentions and allowing her to regain some semblance of composure. She clutched at the two hands on her tits, holding them there encouragingly and desperately. They gave her something to focus on.



"Lorelei," Alex said against her labia, nose teasingly close to her engorged clit. Having his arms stretched out pulled a bit on his chest, but the pain was more than worth it.



"Master?" she whimpered.



"How long until they come for the car?"



"She said... perhaps... oh... an hour and... perhaps half again?"



"Then you will enjoy my attentions without any attempt to reciprocate until they call."



She shuddered.



"You will cum freely as your pleasures take you," he said with a maddeningly warm, adoring voice, clearly having rehearsed this in his head. "You are to enjoy without exaggeration but also without restraint. And you will move against my mouth however it feels good. Am I understood?"



Her voice was strained, overwhelmed with emotion and desire: "Yes, Master!"



His kiss returned, gentle at first but building in intensity and directness. The attentions of his tongue shifted between licking rapid swirls around her clit and plunging into her cunt whenever she moved up and down against his mouth, until he wrapped one arm around her thigh and applied his fingers to her tiny button.



Honeyed fluids began to drip into his mouth, slowly at first, then in proportion to the spasms that began to rock his demon partner's body. Alex didn't let up. His eyes often opened to drink in the sight of her towering above him. There was no sensation better for any of the senses than that of Lorelei cumming for him.



She was pleasured out of her mind when he did this. Lorelei panted and screamed and sang out orgasm after orgasm. Her heart pounded in her chest, emotions running wild within her. It was so much better than the first time, and even that had laid waste to her composure. Fragments of thoughts and feelings flew through her mind and her heart that were supposed to be unknown to the fiends of Hell...



...but there they were.



It wasn't time. It wasn't rational. But she would have told Alex, confessed her every feeling, if only her mouth could form coherent words.



Instead, she let herself cum and cum, just as her master had so wonderfully commanded.



Ninety-two minutes later, when her phone finally rang, Alex grabbed it first and said, simply, "Ssshhh." His panting partner looked down at him deliriously as he opened the phone and simply said, "Hi, are you here for the car? She'll be out in just a couple minutes. Thanks." Then he put the phone aside.



Lorelei's eyes went wide with awe. Alex just smiled softly. His hands caressed her body in soothing strokes. "I just wanted to give you a moment or two to cool down," he smiled.



She did cool down, at least on the surface. Lorelei paused for a shuddering breath or two, lowered her face to kiss him briefly, then got up to grab a towel from the bathroom before leaving to find her car keys. Alex stretched out on the bed again feeling quite pleased with himself as she calmly went downstairs. He heard the door open briefly, a pleasant exchange of words, and then the door was shut again. Everything sounded perfectly controlled.



The Lorelei that returned to him, however, was in a barely-controlled frenzy. She leapt upon him, throwing all care for his injuries to the wind as her mouth devoured his and her hands grabbed and clawed at him. Her drenched pussy slid up and down against his cock, teasing it with the inevitability of what would happen. Lorelei's fingers wrenched his head to one side, allowing her to bite and nibble at the side of his neck, his jaw, and his ear.



It hurt him a little, but he didn't care. Being assaulted and mauled like this was far more pleasure than pain.



Lorelei's hips shifted to bring his cock directly under her cunt and then pushed against it, claiming him assertively. Her breath was hot in his ear as she hissed, "You're mine."



"Is this a revolt?"



"Yes." Alex was absolutely cooperative, his breath broken by the rush of being drawn inside of her. "You have none to blame but yourself," taunted the lips at his ear.



Lorelei began to ride him with increasing ferocity, though her upper body never left his. "I want your flesh, and your lust, and your satisfaction," she grunted. "I want your every feeling for me and I want it all in your cum inside me."



"I don't... oh god," Alex managed, gasping as she took him without mercy. "I don't know how long I can do this."



"I know. You must heal. So don't hold back," Lorelei growled softly. "Give yourself to me."



She made a compelling argument. They moved together, relishing one another's body. Dominance had shifted; it was now Alex's turn to be overwhelmed with pleasure. Moans escaped from his throat as Lorelei worked him over. He lasted longer than he expected, but not by much. His orgasm, great as any before it, was so focused that his cock felt powerful as it released into her just as every other part of his body felt wonderfully weak. It got her off again, too. Alex could feel it as she tightened around his flesh, but she held herself together to watch his expressions.



The first words he managed to gasp out were, "I'm yours, Lorelei. I've fallen so hard for you."



She smiled, kissed him passionately. "I have such feelings for you as well, I think," Lorelei confessed. "I don't... I cannot lie to you, but that isn't why I do not say more. Alex, so much of what I feel with you is beyond my experience. In all these centuries, I've never felt this. I do not want to mislead you out of confusion, or use the wrong word out of passion. But to say that I have fallen... I have," she finished simply and meaningfully. "All that I have and all that I am is yours. Willingly." Her gaze lingered on his, and her smile seemed very vulnerable.



"I must let you heal," Lorelei reminded him. Alex didn't let her up.



"Not yet," he said, holding onto her despite the discomfort. "Again, Lorelei. I want that again."



*



It wasn't The Night Alex Put Three 'Bangers in Jail. It wasn't That Time Alex Was a Big Damn Hero. Nor was it even The Night Alex Hooked Up with Taylor, No Really.



Rather, Alex's circle of friends on Facebook and various chat programs decided that Wednesday night had been The Night Alex Got Beat Up and Shot.



His disappointment was fairly minimal. All of this unfolded over status updates and comments shown on Lorelei's laptop, which was on the bed with him and the naked succubus lovingly sucking his cock just as she'd threatened earlier. A couple of plates holding the crumbs and stems from a scone and fruit from breakfast sat nearby.



It hadn't taken long to surpass the decadence of merely calling in sick while she serviced him. What's more, none of this had been his idea.



"My God, are we sure who's enslaved to who here?" he sighed contentedly.



"This is why it's good to secure a slave's devotion," she winked before returning to her "work."



His eyes rolled back into his head at the sensations she gave him. For awhile, all he could do was enjoy it and breathe. Eventually, though, his other senses returned to him.



"Would you like to meet my friends?" Alex smiled at the sweetly affirmative noise she made. "Several of them are playing pool tonight... wow," he mumbled, having trouble forming words again. "Think I'll be up for that at the rate I'm... um... feeling better. Guess there's a party on Saturday night, too."



Her lips formed into a smile, and Alex shivered as teeth gently scraped across his cock as she pulled off. "Master," she asked "what of the rest of our weekend?"



"I think we'd both really like to spend the weekend in a frenzy of passionate lust," Alex grinned. "Probably have to squeeze some homework time in there, but mostly I'm becoming obsessed with sex."



"Indeed. May I make arrangements for a hotel room?"



"Later?"



"As you wish," she said. "What sort of party is this?"



"Birthday thing. High school classmate who went to UW. Not too many of us left town after graduation, so we all sometimes run into one another."



Indulgently, Lorelei kissed his erection again, and then asked, quite innocently, "Have you heard from Taylor today?"



"Not so far." Without thinking about it, Alex went -- as he so often did -- straight to Taylor's page, and blinked. "Huh."



"Hm?"



"I didn't know you could have your relationship status say you were single and that it was complicated, but... oh, jeez. Wow, I guess she and Gabriel really have had things brewing. He's going off and she's ignoring it. This is ugly."



"Gabriel?"



"Her boyfriend since high school. Basketball star. Guess he's been playing the field with his groupies, though. She said this might blow up."



"Has she told him about the two of you?"



He tapped one-handed at the laptop. "I don't think... oh. Huh. Yep. He says he's gonna kick my ass if he sees me. Guess she told him after all."



"You don't sound too concerned."



"What, he's gonna risk his basketball scholarship to defend his honor in a relationship when he's apparently been cheating, too? His page is full of chicks who are jumping up to... aaand now I'm blocked. Meh. She told me to stay out of it, anyway."



"There is only one thing to do about this, master," Lorelei suggested seductively.



"What's that?"



"Confirm your attendance at that party, and then put it out of your mind for now." Alex shuddered as her hot, warm, welcoming mouth took him again. He managed the few actions necessary on the laptop to follow her advice before he was too overcome with pleasure to do anything else but twitch.



He didn't really question why Lorelei was telling him what to do on his Facebook page.



*



"Ah was good an' freaked out when ah got hit," Wade said, waiting for his shot. "Ah mean, it jus' slammed into me, an' ah was fixin' t' throw a grenade. Ah still threw it, 'cuz whut else was ah gonna do with a live grenade, y'know? Got th' guy ah'd been goin' for, too, but then ah'm fallin' backward an' th' guys are yellin' about flankers an' that's when ah noticed ah couldn't stand up right an' ah'm slippin' all over the place."



Neither Jason nor Drew were really playing pool at this point. They were simply listening to Wade talk. He was dressed in simple jeans, a hoodie, and a John Deere ball cap. Since middle school, they and Alex had worked to break Wade of his southern accent. By graduation -- a year past, for Drew, being the eldest in the circle of friends -- Wade had mostly lost it. Then he went and joined the Army, and it came right back to him.



He had only come home a few weeks ago. He had been to basic, infantry school, jump school, a handful of other training locations and then many months in Afghanistan. He had brought home that reinvigorated southern accent and a slight limp.



They knew he'd been hurt. Shot, specifically, and the limp implied where, but he didn't really talk about it. It was only now, waiting for Alex to show up at the pool hall, that he was unexpectedly opening up about it.



"Sounds really scary, man," Jason said after scratching his shot. The skinniest of the trio was clad in his Green Lantern t-shirt and jeans.



"It wuz, but it wuzn't, y'know? Ah mean, it hurt, but ah could tell right away that it wasn't nothin' vital. Medic was right there, said ah'd been shot in the ass but ah'd be okay. But you hear things, like about infections, an' how it's your femoral artery that gets cut an' you can jus' bleed out. An ah'm like, ah know the femoral's down in your thigh, but don't that mean the vein's gotta run through your ass at some point? An' that's what freaked me out."



Drew shook his head. He was the largest of them, muscular and much better dressed. He looked over the table to plot his next shot. "I'm just glad you're home, man."



"Ah am, too, but ah'm not, which is weird. Feel like ah'm lettin' the guys down by sittin' this out. Ah mean, ah was surprised they gave me disability an' discharged me. Ah thought ah'd be up for active duty again by now. Prob'ly could be." He shrugged, sitting on his bar stool at the small table next to their pool table, and looked at the menu. "Army logic, ah guess."



Jason and Drew glanced at one another, but said nothing. Neither really felt like they had the right to counsel Wade on this. As happy as they were to have him home alive and in one piece, there was a palpable sense among Wade's circle of friends that nobody had been where Wade had, and didn't really know how to relate. All they could do was keep him close and be ready to listen.



"Y'all're lookin' at me like ah'm traumatized or somethin'," Wade grinned without looking up from the menu. "Christ, all 'at happened wuz ah got shot inna butt. Wanna see the scar?"



"Knew we'd walk in on an awkward comment," came Alex's voice.



"Aw, hey, Alex," Wade smiled, looking up and then blinking. Drew glanced up to say hello before taking his shot, then promptly sent the cue ball off the table as he did a double-take. Jason, for his part, simply looked on in shock.



"This is Lorelei," Alex said, tilting his head to the phenomenal beauty holding his hand. "Lorelei, this is Wade, Drew and Jason."



As if her tight slacks, bare midriff and low neckline hadn't done enough to dominate the room for all three of Alex's lifelong friends, her confident smile settled the matter. "Hi," was all she said.



It took some effort to get conversation going again after that.



*



"You hadn't told me you tried to enlist in the military," Lorelei said with a slightly surprised smile.



"Tried," Alex shrugged. "Didn't." He stood on the other side of the pool table, waiting for Jason to make his shot. Lorelei and Wade sat at the small bar table nearby. "It didn't really seem like something worth mentioning."



"Quack quack," Jason smirked.



"Naw, it's true, he did," Wade said. "He went through enlistment processin' with me. We wuz supposed t' go to boot camp t'gether, too. It's one of those things they can do when they draw up your papers."



"Why didn't it work out?" Lorelei asked, intrigued. She held her drink -- merely a soda, as alcohol was restricted to a marked-off corner of the establishment -- just below her lips, stirring and looking entirely at Alex while the group talked.



"Alex failed the underwear duck test," Drew put in quicker than Alex could speak.



"Sleepwalking," Alex frowned. "The questionnaire they had us fill out asked if I'd ever been sleepwalking, and I did it, like, twice when I was in fifth grade. But I was all worried that they were gonna know somehow or something, so I checked 'yes,' and then when we were doing the whole formal screening process the crusty old doctors running everybody through the tests got all freaked out about it."



"And then he fell down while doing the duck walk in his underwear," Jason snickered. Wade laughed, too.



Lorelei's interested smile did not diminish. "Explain," she told Wade.



"Hell, this is like having my mom bust out an album of embarrassing baby photos," Alex grumbled.



"So they give Alex all this shit about sleepwalkin', right?" Wade began. "But they let 'im continue on, an' they do all that stuff where they check your vision, check your hearin', pull you in a back room to turn your head an' cough." Jason and Drew, as if on cue, both grabbed their groins, turned their heads and coughed. Alex grumbled again.



Wade continued. "But there wuz this one test. Ah don't know how or why this makes sense t' anyone. Maybe either they check t' make sure every little bit of you bends right or they jus' tryin' to get embarrassin' footage of everyone. Anyway, they line us up against the wall in this big, empty room, an' there's like a half dozen old, old doctors sittin' on folding chairs on the other side of the room. An' they tell us to strip down t' our skivvies. Stand on one foot, then th' other, that stuff. Then they have everyone squat down as low as they can an' walk like a duck from one end of th' room t' the other."



Lorelei just listened with obvious mirth on her face. "I still say that's just a hazing ritual," Drew put in. "No way is that a combat skill."



"Well, ya never really know what's gonna come up in combat. Ah mean, y'all might have t' crawl aroun' here, climb there, suddenly do some jumpin' jacks in a firefight," Wade said sarcastically. "Strip down t' your underwear an' duck-walk out t' the enemy. Ah imagine th' Taliban are terrified by that, but mah unit never tried it."



"And so Alex failed this test?"



Wade nodded, grinning widely. "Motherfucker fell down twice. Knocked people over."



"I lost my balance," Alex frowned.



"Apparently," Jason giggled.



"You laugh like an eight-year-old girl," Alex retorted.



"You duck-walk like a retard," Jason countered. Drew got a kick out of that one. So did Lorelei.



"So yeah, between that an' the sleepwalkin', they sent Alex home," Wade finished.



"And then I didn't have any of my university applications together in time, 'cause I really didn't think I'd have a hard time getting into the military," Alex sighed, "which is how I landed where I am today."



"Aw. I'm glad that you had such trouble on that test," Lorelei said affectionately. "Otherwise we may never have met."



"You say that now," Jason nodded, "but someday you'll be watching a Donald Duck film, and you'll turn to Alex driven wild by passion and ask him if he can--oh look, Alex scratched on the eight ball," he grinned. "Can't imagine why. Guess that's game. Rack 'em."



Alex sighed, glaring at Jason, and then grabbed the rack.



"So y'all ain't from 'round here," Wade said to Lorelei finally.



Lorelei grinned, her elbow on the table. "Naw," she said.



"Y'all makin' fun of mah accent now?"



"Reckon ah am," she drawled sweetly. Her own accent was perfect.



"I like her," Drew declared as he picked his glass up off the table for a gulp.



"I'm still suspicious," Jason shrugged. He looked to Alex, who was finishing up racking the balls. "She's too good for you. I'm guessing she's a relative. Cousin or aunt or something."



"Could I perhaps assuage your concerns by making out with my man?" Lorelei offered, dropping the southern accent.



"See, now she sounds British 'r somethin'," Wade said.



Alex rolled his eyes, walked over to Lorelei and kissed her deeply. She was more than happy to accept him, wrapping her arms around his neck and slipping a leg up against his.



"That doesn't prove anything," Jason shrugged.



"Hey, Alex, y'all gotta let 'er up. It's her break," Wade noted.



Laughing, Lorelei slipped out of Alex's arms. She picked up a cue stick, strutted to the end of the table, and put half the balls on the table into pockets right off the break. With barely a glance at the guys, Lorelei strode from shot to shot, sinking every ball in turn until finally she declared, "Eight ball, corner pocket," and stretched across the table before sinking that, too.



Alex wasn't terribly surprised. Drew, Jason and Wade all looked on in stunned silence. "Perhaps it would be best if I let someone else break next game?" she asked.An hour later, she fit in just fine. To say that she was "one of the guys" would have been far from the mark. Lorelei clearly had little in common with them, and was quite spectacularly not a guy. But she held her own, neither seriously flirting nor being standoffish. Lorelei may have been there as Alex's girl, but soon enough she was everyone's friend.



She had them talking openly about topics that were normally sensitive -- Drew's mixed racial heritage, Wade's experience in the war. Even conspiracy-minded Jason had given up theorizing how Alex's "date" could be some sort of prank or stunt.



Over the course of the evening, Alex couldn't help but notice that each of his friends had found occasion to rescue Lorelei from the clumsy and sometimes rude attentions of some other patron of the pool hall. He wondered if that was the handiwork of her centuries of social acumen; it wasn't like they'd ever had cause to not bring dates to the hall before. Yet somehow Lorelei was indebted, slightly, to each of his friends for a small display of chivalry.



Eventually, Lorelei beckoned Alex close to her with a finger. He came over, smiling at her. "They like you," he noted.



"I know. I'm glad. Alex, they'll want to talk to you a bit without me present."



"About you, you mean?"



"It's natural," Lorelei shrugged. "I have arrangements to make for the weekend. The hour is late, but not for what I have to handle. Would you like me to give you some space?"



After a moment's thought, Alex nodded. "Might be good, I guess."



She leaned over, kissed him, then made her goodbyes. "He's gotten to lay around all day while I've been taking care of business," Lorelei said simply. "I'd like to call it a night. Can someone do me a favor and take him home for me?"



"Yeah, we got him," Drew nodded. "Really nice having you out with us. You coming to the party Saturday night?"



"It's a plan," Lorelei said, flashing them all a winning smile and kissing Alex as she sauntered out. Most of the patrons of the pool hall watched her go. The only one who didn't, really, was a slightly heavyset man in a cheap suit seated near the bar behind the roped-off "twenty-one and over" section. With no one looking his way, he went unnoticed as he ate.



The guys moved into a two-on-two game with Alex partnered up with Drew. "So now that she's gone and we can cynically talk about her behind her back..." Jason observed dryly.



"Yeah, yeah. What's on your mind?"



"That story about you two meeting serious?" Drew asked. "Guys had jumped her, you came to her rescue?"



"Pretty much," Alex nodded. Then he looked up from his shot at the table and sighed. He was getting a resounding chorus of "what-aren't-you-telling-us" stares. "So the thing is, I was over by Sacred Heart cemetery when it happened, which was where those guys were dragging her," he said very quietly. "And then the funeral parlor there caught fire from something, and Lorelei really didn't want to talk to the cops."



"And why's that?" Wade asked, now suspicious.



"Because she's had some nasty associations in the past."



"Like the dudes who jumped you and Taylor?"



Alex looked to Jason's questioning frown and nodded. "Exactly like that."



"But you don't think she's got trouble with the cops themselves?"



Alex shook his head. "No. She had no problem talking to them last night. Identified herself and all that. Would've preferred not to, but when she had to there were no worries."



"Huh," Jason said. The guys looked at one another, particularly Wade and Drew.



Wade lifted his head curiously. "Show us," he said.



Unsure what Wade meant for a moment, Alex finally shrugged and put down his pool cue. He looked around the pool hall furtively -- it was growing fairly empty at this point -- and then unbuttoned his untucked shirt and peeled off the bandage over his wound.



All three guys took a look. Wade whistled appreciatively. "God damn, you are one lucky sumbitch," he chuckled.



"You don't know the half of it," broke in a scratchy voice. Alex fixed his shirt and the guys all turned toward the newcomer. He had strolled up as they talked, probably listening in despite the music on the PA system and the other customers...



...who, now that Alex glanced around, were very few indeed. And those who were still present seemed to be packing up.



"Help you with something?" Alex asked.



"Yeah. More to the point, I wanted to see if I could help you guys with something. You all seem to be a bit in over your heads tonight... you in particular, pal," the stranger said, eyeing Alex. His words were friendly enough. He had a nice, disarming smile. Yet all four young men found themselves feeling rather unsettled in Rob's company.



*



"The honeymoon suite is available? Yes, I've seen it. Such a lovely view of the Sound. We'll absolutely love it. Yes, same information as before," Lorelei said into her cell phone, strolling back and forth in front of the pool hall. "Tomorrow through Sunday. Yes, check out on Monday."



The street was lightly busy, with the wet sheen of Seattle's frequent drizzle on just about everything. Lorelei kept her eyes on her surroundings as she spoke. "Lovely. Thank you, Jeffrey. You're a doll." At that, she tapped her phone off, and strode across the street.



"Rachel," she said clearly, "we must speak."



A moment passed. Then another. Lorelei waited until, finally, Rachel stepped out from behind a parked SUV. Her white dress clung to her lithe figure from the moisture in the air, with her blonde hair hanging damply from her head. The angel's beautiful face was set in a sulky, suspicious frown. "What do we have to talk about?" she asked.



"You could have come inside. Joined us." Lorelei's voice hinted -- barely -- at compassion. "You look like a forlorn puppy out here."



Rachel's pouty frown deepened. "I'm not bothered by a little rain."



"Of course not."



"What do you want?"



Lorelei took a deep, steadying breath. "Our master asked that we attempt to put aside our hostilities," she said coolly. "I am compelled to honor that. By more than just our bond."



The angel's eyes narrowed. "He's not mm—" Her voice trailed off.



Lorelei merely nodded. "You feel it now, don't you? It is as you said in the cemetery. You were affected less than I, but your own bond strengthens over time. You are as inextricably linked to Alex as I."



They stared at one another for a long moment, Rachel with suspicion and Lorelei with patience and confidence. "It's not as terrible as you might think. He is a good man, Rachel. A very good man."



"What do you know about goodness?"



"I am learning. Rachel, you and I must come to an accord, for the good of all three of us. Yourself most of all."



"And you care so much about me because...?"



"He cares deeply for you. I am directly connected to such feelings. And I want him to be happy," Lorelei answered evenly. "One of the friends he is with inside smokes. He will likely come outside at some point, potentially with Alex. To be seen would interrupt us, and to conceal ourselves would waste power when we could simply walk together. He is with friends. Shall we?"



The angel glanced at the pool hall, then back at Lorelei. She kept her eyes on the succubus as she turned slowly to walk with her. "I'm watching you," she warned.



*



There were those who were ready to be approached by a demon, and those who were not.



It was a fundamental principle of life for being such as Rob Gorge, as well as Lorelei and her kind. The protection of a mortal's guardian angel (or the important lack thereof) had some impact on this, but the matter was largely a concern of what choices a mortal had made in life. Hell did not inspire all evil, or even a majority of it; most of humanity's darkness came from within. It was only among those who had already begun to slip that demons could find prey.



Benevolence and a virtuous life were far more effective in warding off the attentions of Hell than religious piety. Even a devout atheist, such as Jason, was generally safe from visitations from the Pit simply if he didn't do things to make himself vulnerable. Moreover, those who were not ready to receive Hell's overtures typically felt an instinctive repulsion. There could be fear, suspicion, even hostility as their subconscious mind felt the soul's reaction to danger and evil. Subtle powers of manipulation were of dubious reliability at best in the face of that defensiveness.



Rob knew this in approaching these young men. They weren't ripe. He'd been a little crazy since last night, though. Lorelei's bullying and refusal to bargain stuck in his craw. She may as well have made him roll over and beg. But now, however, he figured he'd seen the weak point. He could score an amazing coup here. And then the succubus would learn her place... underneath Rob.



In Rob's mind, and in the mind of most demons, working mortal marks was all just a matter of timing and circumstance. He had great faith in mankind's ability to fall. One just had to coax them along correctly.



"That girl of yours, son," Rob said to Alex with a paternalistic smile, "she's trouble."



"Show us a girl who isn't," Jason said flatly.



"Point," Rob sighed. "How much do you know about her?"



"Everything I need to know," Alex said.



"I kinda doubt that."



"Sorry, who the hell are you?"



He shrugged, offered his hand. "Pleased to meet you. Hope you guess my name."



"Oh, so you're Satan," Alex scoffed.



"I always figured Satan would look more like Ozzy Osbourne," Jason frowned.



"Man," Drew put in, "I always thought Satan was Ozzy Osbourne."



Rob chuckled, swallowing his resentment as he withdrew his unshaken hand. "I'm Rob. Rob Gorge. She didn't tell you about me? Can't say I'm surprised. We come from intersecting social circles, let's say. Anyway, I'm Rob. And I'm the owner of this establishment."



"Owner's an older guy named Ahmed," Drew said.



"No, the owner was Ahmed," Rob corrected. "I bought the place out half an hour ago. It's a nice place." Rob glanced around at the last few people on their way out. "Spent a bit of time buying out everyone's tab so we could talk, too."



"Y'all bought the pool hall and paid everyone else t' leave so you could talk t' Alex?" Wade blinked. "Don't you think that might seem just a little creepy?"



"Oh, I was hoping to talk to all four of you. It's about Alex and his girl, sure, but I figured maybe you could help me show Alex some logic once you'd heard things out. See, I know a guy can get kind of blinded by a pretty ass when he's the one riding it. But you three might be able to see things a bit clearer and help Alex realize what kind of trouble he's in."



The music was off. None of the guys had noticed that at first, but the silence was punctuated by the sound of the last waiter in the place walking up with a bottle of scotch and five shot glasses. He put it all down at the table without looking up at anyone, then walked away.



"Mister," Wade said darkly, "are y'all threatenin' our friend?"



"No, no," Rob said dismissively. "I'm not. That girl is, though. Lemme ask, what's the name she gave you, hm? Don't wanna say? How about Lorelei, is that close? It's Lorelei, isn't it? Yeah," he nodded. Nobody had confirmed it for him, but he didn't need them to.



"You need to start explaining yourself," Alex said. His throat was dry. This was freaky.



"So last night I ran into little Lorelei there out at the mall. Had a talk with her about... mmm, things you probably wouldn't understand. It wasn't pleasant. She can get kind of bossy, you know? Controlling. Arrogant." Rob poured five shots, taking one of his own. Nobody else accepted the drinks. "And then I find out that there's this whole incident in the parking lot. Bad guys with guns. Some nice, poor kid gets shot. So I start putting two and two together."



"How'd you find us here?" Alex asked.



"That, my friend, is a combination of pliable members of the Seattle Police Department and the almighty dollar," Rob smiled proudly. "After that, it's just legwork and more money. I know everything about you, kid. Your school. Your job. Your home. That mom of yours is a damn hot—"



"None of this makes me want to sit here and talk to you," Alex broke in.



"No, but you'll stay and listen, 'cause you know what's good for you, kid." Rob took up another of the shot glasses left on the table and downed its contents. Behind him, the waiter left the pool hall and locked the door behind him.



"Or at least, you probably mostly know. But anyone can be tempted. You've been fuckin' her, right? Sure you have. Gotta be fuckin' her. Anyone would, and I'm sure she's been throwing it out there at you.



"Kid, listen. Pussy comes and pussy goes. Unless you let it control you. Now I know she's probably some hot snatch, but take a real good look at where that's landed you. You've already been shot once. You know there'll be more trouble. I've seen the kind of trouble her kind makes. Believe me, you don't want any of that."



The others were silent, looking between Alex and Rob. "You're making an awful lot of assumptions," Alex said.



"Nah, educated guesses," Rob shrugged. "The only things I haven't figured out yet are how she came to be with a nice young man like yourself. Bitches like her are usually drawn to bad boys. Real bad boys. You've met a couple already, right?" Rob said, waving a finger at the side of Alex's chest. He downed another of the shots.



"So I've seen how she looks all out of sorts right now. Like something rough happened to her. Oh, you can't see it, but I can. And she was askin' about certain things last night, which makes me figure you might be the kind of thing she was askin' about."



"What the hell's he babbling over?" Drew frowned.



"Hell if I know," Jason shrugged.



Alex just listened, trying to maintain a poker face to conceal his deepening alarm. He wondered what this guy could know, or what he could be.



"Listen to me, Alex. All of you. She's just one girl. Just one piece of ass in a world full of it. All you need is the right tools and you can go out and get whatever pussy you want, and you don't have to compromise for it. I can make that happen for you. All the hot, willing pussy you could want, and anything else, too." His voice shook, just a bit, like he was getting overexcited and having a hard time controlling it.



Rob's shaking hand reached into his pocket. He pulled forth a fistful of small diamonds and let them fall on the table. "I'm here to offer you a tidy sum for this... troubled asset you've got on your hands," Rob grinned greedily. His hand continued to shake. He drew from another pocket a stack of hundred dollar bills wrapped in a paper ribbon. "We can do cash. Just wanted to show variety. These stacks don't look as impressive as they used to, what with everything going electronic and all. Anyway, I can make it untraceable. All we need to do is come to an amount for you and your friends here. So, can I take this problem off your hands, pal?"



"This 'problem' is my friend," Alex said after a long pause. "And I can't think of a single god damn reason why I should want for anything more than I've already got. Unless it's an opportunity to show my gratitude for having her in my life."



"That's sweet," Rob said with a hint of a chuckle playing at his voice, "but let's be real, eh? Everybody's got a price. Whatever that price is, I can meet it. Don't think of it as giving something up. Think of it as trading up. I'm offering a lot more than just pussy here. And no pussy is better than the pussy you've bought, and you can buy more than you would imagine with what I'm offering."



Drew's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Everyone's did, in fact, save of course Rob's. When Drew spoke, he asked, "Did you just come in here and offer to buy another person off my friend?"



"Yeah. Yeah, I did, kid. Way of the world, believe it or not. Don't go making it into a racial thing. But it's either buy now or cry later, 'cause if you aren't selling there'll be trouble for sure."



"Those are my options?" Alex asked. Rob nodded. "Sell to you, or you make my life a living hell?" Again, Rob nodded, somewhat cockily. "That's all I've got to choose from? You're sure?"



Rob opened his mouth to answer, but Alex didn't wait. He promptly grabbed the bottle of scotch and smashed it over Rob's head.



*



"You sent me home with Alex on the night we all met despite our obvious antipathy," Lorelei said. "Why did you do that?"



"What else should I have done?" Rachel frowned. They walked together with an uncomfortable space between them. The drizzle had stopped, but everything around them was wet. "I had to report back. You aren't a threat to him, regardless of how I might feel about you."



"And how do you feel about me?" Lorelei's voice was calm, measured and cool.



The angel snorted. "You're a succubus. Do I even need to say?"



"Rachel... is there any reason for you and I to be hostile, other than that? I am a succubus. You are an angel. Yet neither of us works toward cross purposes any longer."



"I still serve the divine. I will always serve the divine."



"Yet I do not serve Hell," Lorelei said. Rachel stopped and looked her in the eye. Lorelei met her gaze without concern. "I serve Alex. I cannot begin to tell you what an immeasurable improvement that is upon my existence."



Rachel snorted. "I know how you serve him."



"Do you? There is sex, yes. There is also affection, companionship, trust, support and protection. I like him. I adore him. The words are alien, and I hesitate to misrepresent my feelings to myself, let alone to Alex. But whatever there is between us, I cherish it and would not willingly relinquish it for anything. Not for the highest crown in Hell and my freedom along with it."



"You say that," Rachel frowned, "but only one of us in this conversation is capable of lying."



"Yes. But you know I am telling the truth." Lorelei held her gaze for a long moment. Her tone softened. "He has changed me. I resented it at first. Now I continue to change, and I embrace it. I mean you no harm. I am no longer your enemy. I may never be 'good' by Heaven's definition, but if I no longer take the sort of actions you are meant to combat, why should we be hostile?"



Rachel's innocently beautiful face was thoughtful as she watched Lorelei. "What's your idea of less than hostile?"



"In the time that we have had this conversation, how many ways have you imagined destroying me?"



"One thousand two hundred eighty-one."



"We might start there."



"...eighty-seven," Rachel corrected.



*



Drew had a good chance to unload on Rob when Wade and Alex grabbed the heavyset man's arms from behind. He was a fit, muscular guy with several years of kung fu and more than a few street fights under his belt, and he understood better than most the need to keep an opponent off-balance and hurting. He pummeled Rob's face, chest and gut with rapid-fire blow after blow, committing everything he had into each punch and kick.



Battered by this assault, Rob fought through the pain to wrench himself free of Alex's grip, then twist mightily to hurl Wade bodily into Drew. Free to move, Rob swatted Alex backward over the pool table behind him with a rough arm.



Jason had been waiting for it. There hadn't been room to help, nor was he the trained combatant that Drew and Wade were. But he was smart, he was loyal, and he had found more than one barstool that had Rob's name on them. The second he had a clear shot, he smashed one across Rob's chest.



Rob staggered, but then lurched forward to grab Jason by the neck to shove him to the floor several yards away. It was enough time for Wade and Drew to recover; Drew put his foot into the side of Rob's knee while Wade tackled him.



The fight had gone on like this for several minutes. No one had any illusions that they were getting anywhere. There were plenty of broken pool sticks, stools and overturned tables, though.Alex struggled to get to his feet. He found an eightball on the floor and grabbed it as he rose.



Rob had forced Wade to the ground, stomping on his side. "Didn't wanna do things this way with you punks," Rob growled, "but now I guess I'm gonna have to shove my money down your—!" Alex cut him off by thrusting the eightball into the side of Rob's jaw.



Rob gasped and grunted under the constant assault. It wasn't like he was unharmed; things were simply not going anywhere. His strength refused to wane. Alex had a sinking feeling that he knew what Rob was -- and that finally gave him an idea of what to do.



Drew went at Rob again, giving Wade a moment to recover. Jason was already coming back. Alex turned to Wade, looking him over until he finally found what he was looking for. Outside of school (and, sometimes, even then), Wade never went anywhere without a pocket knife. A good one.



"Jason," Alex croaked, "see if there's a meat cleaver in the kitchen."



"What?" Jason blinked.



Alex yanked the knife off of Wade's belt, then hauled his friend back to his feet with Jason's help. "I'm serious! This isn't just a brawl!" Jason nodded and limped off, quickly as he could, to the kitchen. Then he said to Wade, "Need you to pin him down for just a second. On his belly. I've gotta get at his back."



"Okay?" Wade mumbled. He'd been a bit too thrown around to question the request. It sounded reasonable to him. He tackled Rob from behind, wrestling with him in an effort to grab onto one of his arms. Rob countered, slipping free and bashing Wade back, but by then Drew had figured out what Wade was trying to do. It seemed like as good an idea as any.



Drew grabbed Rob's arm, twisted, and then wrenched him into a pool table at the hips, causing Rob to double over. He kept the twisting hold locked in as tightly as he could, one hand clutching Rob's wrist and the other pressing him down firmly onto the table at the shoulder. Wade recovered and grabbed at Rob's other arm.



Coming up behind him without any hesitation, Alex pushed the material of Rob's sport coat up out of the way and then yanked Rob's dress shirt and undershirt free from where they were tucked in under his pants. Thankfully, Alex saw, Rob was the type to wear suspenders rather than a belt.



"What're you doin'?" Wade asked. He could feel Rob's strength returning. They wouldn't be able to hold him down but a second or two longer.



Alex roughly unclipped Rob's suspenders, then pulled them down for some slack. Finally having a clear shot at Rob's backside, he put the knife flat and sideways against the older man's skin right above the crack of his ass and shoved up and in.



The sudden roar of rage, pain and panic that burst from Rob frightened all four young men, but nobody let up. In the kitchen, Jason spotted a meat cleaver and hustled back to the others. Holding their opponent down on the table, however, Drew and Wade looked on in shock as Alex kept cutting.



Something had appeared, almost in an eyeblink, over the skin where Alex cut. Alex grabbed at the long, flailing bit of flesh, wrapped it around his wrist a couple of times, and then pulled as he continued to cut with the knife. Rob continued to scream. Desperately, Alex put everything he had into his right hand as the knife continued to slide through muscle, tendons and skin.



A moment later, Alex had cut the demon's tail free. Rob's roar of anger turned to a wail of agony and humiliation. Drew and Wade, still holding Rob down, found their job was easier now. Rob had suddenly become noticeably weaker.



Jason returned in time to see Alex throw the tail down on the table. Alex grabbed at Rob's coat and started cutting. "There'll be wings, too," Alex grunted. "Jason, gimme the meat cleaver."



"What the fuck is this, man?" Drew burst.



"Demon."



"Demon?!" all three of Alex's friends repeated.



"Yeah. He is," Alex huffed. He looked up at Jason. "He's got horns, too, and they gotta go. Think you can find a hammer? One with a claw head?" He took the meat cleaver from Jason and then glanced at Drew and Wade. "Okay, I didn't tell you everything before, but you guys would not believe the week I've been having."



*



"He has lain with me, yes. And two other women, one of whom he has longed for deeply. I believe there is strong potential for that relationship to grow."



"And you'd step aside for that?" Rachel asked.



"I believe if things were approached correctly, there would be no need. Nor need for deception," she added after seeing Rachel's sour look. "I must ask: are you jealous?"



"I don't -- I don't know," Rachel frowned finally, looking down at the ground. "I care about him. He's such a good person. I want him to be happy. If he's happy with you, I can accept that. It's not jealousy that I feel, I don't think, because I'm not angry that he's with you. But I'm frustrated and resentful that... that I can't be with him," she admitted softly.



"Why not?" Lorelei asked. "Angels have occasionally loved mortals before. Allowances have been made. I would imagine our situation would be a perfect case."



Rachel went pale. "Are you on crack? Do you know what has happened to those angels?"



"I do. Tell me, Rachel: were your feelings for Alex strong enough, would that deter you?"



"I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself."



"I know desire. You have not explored yours yet. Nor has he explored his feelings for you. Yet he has a burning desire to be with you, quite apart from his feelings for myself or Taylor or anyone else, and that feeling is terribly strong and exquisitely beautiful... much as his feelings for Taylor, and for me."



"Desire isn't love."



"No, but love often includes desire, and I've enough experience to know that what I sense in him -- in us all -- is something I have never felt before in all my time in this world. Given my activities, that tells me all that I need to know."



"You aren't afraid of being pushed out?" Rachel asked. "I'm pretty awesome."



"You are," Lorelei nodded, "but no. I do not fear being pushed away. I am quite confident in my relationship with Alex. If I did not know him so well, I would not be speaking to you of this now. Are we settled that we need not be enemies?"



The angel looked at the succubus thoughtfully. "Maybe. I wouldn't push past that."



"And you're not jealous?"



"No. Well. Only of time, maybe. Opportunity. But I'm not bothered by his relationship with you."



"Rachel, you might well be amazed how much room there is in his heart... and in our bed."



Rachel gasped. She glanced around, blushing, and then looked at the stars, or more pointedly away from Lorelei. The succubus stepped closer, her breath hot on Rachel's ear. "Alex wants you, Rachel. The two of you have such great potential for joy. I would not interfere. I would even help."



*



Stripped of his tail and wings, and with his horns smashed off of his head, Rob gave the guys no further trouble. He lay crumpled on the floor, gripped with agony. It gave them a breather, during which Rob was fitted with a makeshift sock-and-duct-tape gag. They put Jason's noise-canceling headphones on him, too, blasting Tool at max volume so Alex could breathlessly summarize his situation with Lorelei and Rachel.



"If she's your guardian angel, why didn't she show up?" Jason asked.



"She can't see me when I'm with Lorelei. Maybe she can't see me with this guy so close by, either."



"Well, so what do we do?" Wade asked. "Ah mean, we can't just smoke this fucker, can we?"



"Wow, man," Drew blinked. "That's harsh."



It was a reminder of how far Wade had been from home. "Yeah, but... we got another option?"



"I don't know how we can," Alex shrugged. "Lorelei says if she takes a tumble off my bike it's not that big a deal. I mean this whole thing with cutting off his tail and wings hurts him more 'cause it's symbolic than because it's an actual injury if I understand right."



"Can't you call Lorelei and ask her what to do?" Jason offered.



"I can't," Alex said, scratching his head in embarrassment. "I don't have her cell phone number. Fuck."



"What about the angel chick?"



"What am I gonna do, walk away from here with a cardboard sign saying, 'Rachel, I need you,' and hope I get far enough for her to see me while you guys stay here with this douchebag?"



As he spoke, Rob groaned. He had just slipped the headphones half off. "I know what you're thinking. Go ahead and kill me, it won't matter," he said, spitting out blood. "Shoot me, run me over, drop me off a bridge. Soon as my spirit gets back to Hell, I'll tell everyone. Everyone. See how much peace and quiet you and that bitch get after that."



"Oh, well, now y'all're just goading us, asshole," Wade huffed. He looked to Alex. "Can't we take him to a priest and exorcise him or some shit?"



Rob laughed bitterly, but then stopped when Alex said, "Lorelei said holy ground's really bad for demons." Everyone noticed Rob's sudden attempt at not reacting. "Just gotta find a place that's actually devout."



"What happens there, Robbie?" Drew asked. He grabbed Rob's hair to turn his head so he could look the demon in the eye, but Rob pointedly kept his eyes shut. "Nothin' good, looks like. So where do we go?"



"Does it matter what religion?" Jason asked.



"I don't think so," Alex said, shaking his head. "Lorelei and Rachel have both kind of said that it's about how much faith there is, not specific denominations or whatever."



"You'll never find a church pure enough in this town," Rob hissed.



"No reason not to try," Wade said. "Can't bring him in my car, though. Not enough room for us to watch him."



Drew promptly put his knee into the small of Rob's back and began patting him down. He pulled out a wallet and keys. "This looks like an SUV."



Wade took charge from there. He had everyone pull off their belts to put together restraints, then got the dismembered parts of Rob collected into a trash bag. He scrounged up disposable latex gloves from the kitchen and got everyone to wear a pair. Together, they hauled the battered and wounded demon to the front of the pool hall, unlocked the door, and watched for a moment to drag him out to the only SUV in the parking lot without being seen.



Jason took the driver's seat with Wade riding shotgun. Drew and Alex, after taking a moment to fold over and shove back a couple of the seats, pushed Rob to the floor and took up spots on either side of him where they could hold him down.



As Jason hit the ignition, the Escalade's stereo blared:



"Sweeeeet Caroline!" (bam bam baaammm!!) "Good times never seemed so good! "I've been inclined (bam bam baaammm!!!) "To believe they never would!"





Jason quickly found the stereo controls and shut it off. Four pairs of shocked, horrified eyes looked down at the demon on the floor. "Tell me that was just a radio station," Drew managed.



"No," Jason breathed in fright. "That's a playlist. Neil Diamond is devil music."



"Sick fucking bastards," Drew said.



*



Rachel's breathing grew heavy and deep as she fought to keep her eyes on the stars. She didn't know why she was just standing still like this. She felt vulnerable before a woman whom she could bounce down the street like a basketball. One thousand, two hundred eighty-eight.



"We are bound, Rachel," Lorelei whispered to her very, very closely. She stood behind the angel, a few inches taller and seemingly older despite the marked disparity in power. "The three of us are bound together. Alex and I have found such joy in that bond. Such intimacy." Lorelei's quiet, seductive voice at Rachel's ear was joined by fingers that gently combed through Rachel's scalp just past her right temple, pulling wet hair over her shoulder. The angel closed her eyes and shuddered.



"There is no reason why you should not share in that joy," came slow, soft words directly into Rachel's ear. "I no longer serve Hell. I serve Alex. I do whatever I can to make him happy. You yearn to do so as well. We need not be enemies... we could ourselves become very close. I promise you that would make Alex happier than any of us would imagine, and by extension that happiness would come to us.



"But first you must explore your own feelings for him," Lorelei finished. "With him."



Lorelei's lips were very, very close to Rachel's neck. She murmured something. "What was that?" the succubus asked.



"One thousand, two hundred eighty-nine," Rachel hissed.



"You might consider other things you might do with me," Lorelei suggested softly.



"Ffffifty-three," Rachel let slip.



Lorelei smiled. "And with Alex," she added.



Rachel nodded, almost in a trance, but then her eyes snapped wide open. "I can't see him!"



*



"This is my life from here on out," Alex thought aloud as they drove.



"Huh?" Drew asked.



"This. Last night. Probably gonna have things like this happen all the time from here on out. They both said, once you have a run-in with the supernatural, chances are it'll keep happening. I'm gonna have to deal with one black-hearted piece of shit after another."



Silence reigned in the Escalade for a moment, until Jason finally said, "Cool."



"Not cool," Alex snapped. "What if this is what's in store for you guys now, huh? What if one of you gets hurt?"



Drew shrugged. "Take my chances."



Wade twisted in his seat. "Ain't like we couldn't have cut and run on you back at the pool hall if we'd wanted to, man," he observed. "You don't see us bailing out now, do you?"



"No," Alex said. "I really don't know what to say."



"Say thank you," Drew suggested.



"Thank you."



"You're welcome. Now quit trippin'. This is what friends are for."



"Hey, Alex," Jason piped up. "The angel chick? Rachel? Is she smokin' hot, too?"



"Yes. Unbelievably."



"So you're wrapped up in a fight against evil with two smoking hot women glued to you and your buddies along for the ride? Dude. You're like a Joss Whedon show, man."



"I am not," Alex replied.



"You totally are."



"Jason, stop it. I'm serious."



"I'm just sayin'."



"Jason," Wade broke in, "y'all realize that if he's a Joss Whedon show, y'all are the most likely candidate to get killed off in some climactic moment for no other reason than to punch up the drama, right?"



Jason fell silent. "Like he said," Wade finished, "not a Whedon show. Turn up here."



"Episcopal?" Drew blinked.



"Yeah," Wade nodded. "Good as any. I know some nice Episcopalians."



"You don't know for sure that this particular congregation is devout, though," Drew frowned.



"Ah don't. We'll find out in a sec, I imagine. This don't work, we go look for a different church. But ah figured this'd be a good place to start."



Rob began to twist and roll violently, though, foaming at the mouth from behind his makeshift gag. "I'm guessing that's a good sign," Alex mused grimly.



With that, Wade pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt, jumped out of the Escalade as it parked and ran up the steps to the front door.



"Hope there ain't a night watchman," Drew fumed, watching.



"Doesn't look like," Jason gulped. "This is a nice neighborhood. Shit like this doesn't happen here. Who breaks into an Episcopal church?"



"People who don't like Episcopals," Drew scowled. "I'm just sayin' this is some fucked up shit." His expression softened as he glanced at Jason and Alex. "Not that I've got any better ideas."



Alex shrugged, looking away for a moment. He was out of ideas, too. He glanced around the SUV and noticed a sleek briefcase pushed under the passenger's seat. He pulled it out and twiddled with the latches until it popped open. There were files and a few snacks, along with what looked like old, leathery parchment with words written in red ink.



"Ohmygod," Alex blinked. "Are these...?" he looked at Rob and yanked the headphones off his head. "Are these contracts? Are these deals you've made with people?"



Rob's eyes went wide with panic at the sight. He was still gagged, so all he could do was spew muffled screams at Alex and Drew while thrashing around on the floor of the Escalade.



"Let me see," Jason asked, snatching one of the parchments. "Looks like Latin, maybe. This word is soul, this one means money. Holy crap," he mumbled. He handed the parchment back to Alex with a trembling hand.



The guys looked at one another with the twitching demon between them. Alex swallowed hard, thinking of Raymond Cordingly and wondering how many beings much like Rob were already angry over how that had turned out...



Wade slapped the window of the SUV, scaring the hell out of all of them. The guys yelped. Wade rolled his eyes and opened the passenger door. "Ah don't think there's an easy way in. Gonna have to go through a window an' try ta open the front doors from th' inside. Drag this guy up to th' doorstep an' be ready."



Drew looked over to Alex. "You sure about this, man?"



Alex shrugged, opening the side door of the SUV and grabbing the briefcase with one hand and Rob's bound ankles with the other. "Can't think of a better reason to be arrested, anyway."



The three young men hustled Rob out of the Escalade. The demon writhed in captivity, alternately growling, crying and trying to plead through the gag. He was heavier than he looked, creating a difficult burden complicated by the need to carry the briefcase and the bag of his wings, tail and horn remnants.



Of the four of them, only Wade's heart had been hardened enough to do something like this without doubt. But each of the others found a moment, in turn, to look down at the crumpled remnants of demonic horns sprouting from Rob's head and the baleful rage in his eyes to remind them of their lack of options.



As they made it to the front door, they heard the crash of a window being broken around the corner. "Hope to God this works," Jason muttered.



"No kidding," Alex agreed.



"Ow!" Drew snapped. He dropped Rob's shoulder, letting it hit the ground. "He's smoldering!"



The others looked down, realizing smoke was coming off of the demon. Hot boils appeared on his skin, his flesh bubbling up and then bursting. His cries became increasingly desperate. The sound of Wade working the locks from within caught their attention, and an agonizingly long moment later the door was pushed open.



"Wow," Wade blinked at the sight of Rob.



Nobody wanted to touch him, but Alex shrugged. "Gotta finish this," he grumbled, and each of the guys took hold of Rob's bonds while doing their best not to touch him directly.



They hauled him inside the dark church, and then found themselves unsure of what to do.



"What now?" Jason wondered.



"We just leave him here, maybe?" Drew suggested.



"Maybe we're supposed to bring him to the altar?" Alex thought. "Do they even have altars in Episcopal churches? I've never been here before."



"That's probably fuckin' sacrilege," Wade countered. "Get us in just as much trouble as -- oh!"



Lights came up, from everywhere and nowhere at once. The chapel was illuminated without any of its lamps turning on in what quickly became blinding. A voice boomed, "Step back from the fiend!"



Frightened, they did so. Rob fought to rise, managing to get to his knees just before the angel appeared. He was tall and muscular, shining with light and glory as he strode from beside the pulpit down the aisles of pews. "Creature of the Pit, you do not belong here!"



Rob screamed, and then the angel drove a great sword of light through his heart. His body began to crack and smolder, looking much like a burning coal, before he finally began to crumble to ash. The bag of demon bits in Jason's hand suddenly ignited. He dropped it on the floor on reflex, then watched it burn away to nothing without even leaving ashes behind. Rob's ashes themselves floated away on a wind to seemingly nowhere.



Alex blinked, opened the briefcase, and then stepped away from it as the contracts within also ignited and burned into nothing.he four battered, weary, frightened young men then turned to the blindingly bright angel. They couldn't make out much in the way of features. "Your part in this is done," the angel's voice boomed. "Go in peace."



"Uh," Wade began, "if y'all're actually an agent of God, ah got some questions—"



"Wade," Alex hissed. "They don't answer questions. You're just gonna piss him off."



"Seriously? But he's like right there! Ah got serious theological issues!"



"Angels can't even tell you straight if God exists, man."



"Wow. That makes no sense."



"Welcome to religion," Jason said, eyes rolling.



"I will show you out," the angel finally sighed.



*



"You've been sleeping with him for days and you haven't even exchanged cell phone numbers?!"



"He hasn't exactly been far out of reach!" Lorelei snapped back.



Rachel fumed. "Rub it in, why don't you?" she muttered under her breath. The two picked their way back out of the wrecked pool hall, frustrated by the lack of clues but grateful for the lack of bodies.



"Have you tried to see him again?" Lorelei asked. As they walked out of the pool hall, the succubus instinctively turned the corner to get to her car. Rachel followed, having no more appealing option.



"I've been trying to see him since I realized my sight was blocked. If he's not with you and I can't see him, it has to be either magic or some other demon. Odds are it isn't magic," she added. "You sure you don't have enemies?"



"Only one other from the Pit even knows I'm around, and he would know better than to challenge me, even if... Rachel," she winced, turning from her.



"What?"



"You're glowing. Brightly."



"What?"



"Your halo."



"Don't fuck with me," Rachel snapped, "my halo's been diminished since... since... Monday," Rachel's voice trailed off as she cast her eyes upward. There was indeed a holy light emanating from just above her head. "I can see him," she gasped.



*



Outside on the steps of the church, the angel's light was less bright. "You have served a greater good this night than you know," he said.



"That'll make us feel better when we get arrested for all this mess," Drew sighed.



"You four shall suffer no mortal ills because of your actions tonight. Look upon yourselves. Your wounds already heal. Leave the vehicle behind. No mortal authority will trace it to you, nor your battle earlier."



"You saw that?"



"Heaven sees much, Jason McAllister. Moreover, I see tonight's events in your memories. Perhaps you will yet find your faith."



A single car came up the hill at a rapid clip. It slowed quickly upon approach, brakes squealing as it came up to the church. Alex recognized it immediately. Both doors opened; to his surprise, Rachel leapt out of the passenger's side and ran up the steps. Lorelei was there, too, stepping out of the driver's side but quickly stepping back. She held her hands up to block out the light of the angel at the church, but a moment later that light faded.



"Rachel," the voice said as the light went out, "we must speak." With that, all sign of the other angel vanished.



Rachel had only paused momentarily at the sound of the voice before she threw her arms around Alex. "Are you okay? We were so worried!"



"We?" Alex blinked.



"Yes, me and -- Lorelei," Rachel said, catching herself. She looked down to the street, where Lorelei stood well away from the curb. The guardian angel was silent for a moment before she made a decision. "Come on," she said, tugging Alex to follow her down the steps.



"Hey, Alex," Drew asked, "is this...?"



"Yeah. Guys, this is Rachel," he said as they walked. "Rachel, this is Drew, Jason and Wade. They're my friends."



"Hi," Rachel waved over her shoulder. "I'd really like to talk, but I'm kind of in a rush." She dragged Alex (who wasn't exactly resisting) over to Lorelei. Then she let go.



"What--?" he blinked.



Rachel nudged him. "Hug her, dummy. She can't go on sacred ground."



Alex looked at Lorelei, herself a vision of fading worry. He reached out and took her into his arms. "You had me concerned," Lorelei said, blinking back a tear.



"He said his name was Rob," Alex mumbled.



"Yes. That's what he claims."



"The angel killed him in there, I think. Does that mean he'll be back? He said if he died, he'd tell everyone in Hell about us and—"



Lorelei shook her head against Alex's shoulder. "If destroyed on holy ground, a demon is gone forever. He will trouble us no more. I am so sorry you had to deal with this without me. I tried... I was hoping to shield you from this."



"It's okay. I've got more friends than just you. It's okay."



"You are so much more than my friend, Alex," she whispered.



"I know. I know."



Lorelei pulled back a bit then, breathing deeply. She looked up to Rachel. "Your time is short?"



"It is," Rachel nodded. Alex looked to her, amazed to see them being so cordial.



"Talk to her," Lorelei told him. "I'll be here with your friends."



Surprised, Alex nodded, kissed Lorelei lightly, and then reached out to take Rachel's offered hand. The two walked back toward the church.



"Wish I had your problems," Jason murmured with a wink as Alex passed.



"When did you two start getting along?" Alex asked Rachel.



"We don't. But we talked, about twenty or thirty minutes... well, when she walked out of the pool hall. That's why I didn't come to your rescue. Oh, Alex, this is twice now. I suck at this job."



"You do not."



"I do. I'm the suckiest guardian angel ever."



"Stop. Why were you and Lorelei talking?"



"Because you asked us to bury the hatchet. We're trying."



Alex blinked. "Really? You'd... you're doing that for me?"



Rachel just nodded. She turned to face him in front of the church, now holding both his hands. She was wet and disheveled and achingly beautiful. "Tell me what happened," she said simply.



Alex relayed the evening for her, as detailed as he possibly could in light of the numerous sudden shocks and blows to the head he'd suffered. Her eyes widened as he spoke. "Gorge," she said.



"Yeah."



"And you saw all his contracts burn up inside."



"Yes. The ones he had in the briefcase, anyway."



She held his hands tightly. "Alex, you don't know... you can't have any idea of what a big deal this is," Rachel breathed in awe.



"We kinda just didn't all want to die," Alex admitted.



"No, it's -- it's more than that." She looked like she had to make an effort to choke back a tear. "You did way more than survive an attack from a piddling little temptation demon."



Alex blinked. "That guy was piddling?"



Rachel nodded, then shrugged. "That's a major accomplishment for four mortals with no preparation or foreknowledge. These things don't just happen every other decade. Alex, this is a really big deal." She stepped closer to him. "You did a lot of good tonight."



"Do you have to go?" Alex asked.



She nodded. "I do. There'll be fallout from this. You're kind of scandalous, really," she winked, saying it as if she liked that. "I need to manage it. It might be a few days before you see me again, but when I can, I'll find you. We need to spend more time together. Alex, thank you."



"For what?"



"For being a good guy," she said as their lips came together.



Across the street, Lorelei and Alex's friends saw them talk. They each glanced up in surprise when they saw the kiss, all of them very aware of Lorelei's presence.



"Uh," Wade stammered, not really knowing what to say in that moment. "This is, uh. Wow. This is awkward."



"No," Lorelei said, shaking her head slowly and watching as her mouth spread into a very satisfied smile. "It's beautiful."



The guys looked to one another in shock. "Now that just makes it even more awkard," Drew deadpanned.

Chapter 9



The New Normal



As it happened, Lorelei was correct. Even in the cool Seattle in September evening, wind blowing under an overcast sky as they drove toward downtown, Alex felt completely warm. It was an easy thing for Lorelei to accomplish exactly in the manner she'd hinted at. The succubus simply lounged in the front passenger seat, looking hot and occasionally stroking her fingers down his neck, or sometimes across the hardness in his pants.



Were Alex a cooler, more confident guy, he might have had his right hand outstretched around her shoulders or perhaps draped over the back of her seat. He might have let the stereo blast something.



Instead, he was a nineteen-year-old driving a car worth more than he could make in two or even three years at his part-time job, with his own personal sex slave staring adoringly at him at his side. He kept both hands on the wheel and his eyes on the road.



Despite his nervousness about the car, he was feeling good about the relationship that had put him into it. Very good. The thought of having incurred the wrath of some sort of demonic power for having done the right thing with Cordingly (and it was unquestionably, he felt, the right thing given the circumstances) had been banished by Lorelei's straightforward assessment of his courage. It was the first time he thought that he might actually, in some small way, be worthy of her attention. Perhaps it didn't measure up to his awe of her, but it was something.



Maybe, something said in his mind, he wasn't entirely a goon who'd simply gotten lucky. Maybe he had more to work with than just Lorelei's magic in dealing with women. It wasn't like he'd never gotten a date in his life. Much of his loneliness could fairly be chalked up to bad luck. And for all the lusty stares and flirtation he'd received lately, it wasn't like Rachel seemed affected by it. She seemed to like Alex for himself...



...which brought to mind the things she'd said that morning. He wondered how good he'd feel about his relationship with Lorelei if he addressed that.



"Something's on your mind," Lorelei observed. Her tone and her smile were sultry, but almost everything with her was at least a little sultry. Alex somehow knew she didn't suspect he was thinking about anything sexy.



"I kind of wonder if we should be explicit about what's okay with me and what's not," he forced himself to say. Rachel was right. He had to get this done, for peace of mind if nothing else. If it displeased Lorelei, he'd have to live with that. Too much was at stake.



"There will be no more Raymond Cordinglys," Lorelei assured him smoothly.



"It's not just that, it's..." Alex fought for the words. He wasn't even sure how to begin. "I don't want underage girls throwing themselves at me, or being thrown at me," he finally said. "Ever. Off limits. No matter what it might seem like I desire, eighteen and relative emotional stability are bare minimums."



"Ah," the succubus smiled, "the rules. The Laws of Alex." She had been leaning somewhat against the door behind her, but now she shifted in her seat to lean lightly against his right shoulder. She didn't sound bothered at all, but rather very interested. "I hear and obey. What is thy will, master?"



"Okay, now you sound way too close to Darth Vader and that shit's freakin' me out." Lorelei laughed, very much with him rather than at him. He felt a bit better. She was good at making him feel better. "I mean it, though. I know age is arbitrary, but it's good enough. No jailbait for me."



"I cannot help it if you earn such attention all on your own, master," Lorelei said, "but I swear that I shall do nothing to encourage it."



"So that effect that I've been having on women since we met won't hit them?"



"Ah. That can't be narrowly defined. It's derived from our base desires, and those do not check anyone's driver's license. However, it is partly directed by the depth of your attraction. As you are less interested in younger women, they will be less affected." She chuckled a bit, adding, "Given our earlier activities, you may find that 'effect' especially potent tonight."



He smirked a bit. "I'll try to be careful, then."



"You might consider having some fun with it," Lorelei shrugged. "It would make me happy. That 'effect' isn't domination, or even mind control. It's just an improved communication of sex appeal. No one would do anything that would put themselves in danger or that they could not be persuaded to do otherwise. Consider it an advantage... perhaps a cheat, but not brainwashing."



"You're assuming that these women would be interested in me if I didn't have this going for me."



"And yet you do have it going for you. More to the point, they won't regret it when they learn some of the things that I know about you." Her hand stroked along his erection. "But back to your commands, master," she whispered into his ear.



"No married women."



"Aw," Lorelei pouted, lightly but somewhat genuinely. "Not even unhappily married women who deserve a little illicit fun?"



"Look, on the off chance that 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife' is for real, I'm willing to forego the women with rings on their fingers in favor of the ones who haven't made vows. Unless there's a cheat sheet on what is and isn't a mitigating circumstance."



She shrugged. "Not that I can recite to you, no. But if they already have an... understanding with their spouses? A clear arrangement?"



"How common is that, really?"



"More than you might think.You and I will likely be together for a very long time. I like to be prepared to seize an opportunity rather than waste time pondering," she grinned audibly.



"Well, really the primary interest I have here is in not hurting anyone, emotionally or otherwise."



"You have made that clear already. I have kept that in mind all along in anything I've done."



"Speaking of," Alex said, and then swallowed. This one worried him. "My mom."



"Hm," Lorelei intoned tauntingly. "Before you speak on that, master, may I ask something of you?"



He gave a grumbling sigh, but she was hard to resist. "Can't guarantee I'll be okay with it."



"I have broken none of these commands thus far, and I shall not. You have voiced that you wish to trust me, and I long for your trust. May I keep a few secrets to myself?" Her tone was as dripping with teasing sexuality as it had been at any other time since they'd met.



Alex stiffened in his seat, trembling from something other than the cold. "Now I know something's going on."



"No, you strongly suspect," Lorelei corrected with a grin, "and the unknown is almost always more exciting than the truth. Almost. Master, as I said this morning, your mother is harmed in no way and the only alterations that have occurred since you and I bonded are that she has become happier and more confident. She is every bit as safe from me as you are -- moreso, in fact. So, the question becomes: if there is... something going on... do you really mind?



"I think we both know that you were rather appreciative of her appearance this morning," she added, still smiling.



Again, he gulped. "I don't... want that to go any farther than that. I'm not going to lie to you, she looks great and if that makes her happy then I'm happy for her, I just don't want to... um... you know." Alex was soon at a loss for words.



"Don't want to be backed into a corner."



"Yeah. Um. Is she, uh, acting like that with everyone?"



"No," Lorelei answered softly. "I cannot guarantee that she won't flirt or get attention -- she certainly will, especially the latter. But no, Michelle truly feels safest and most comfortable alone with her handsome, loyal, loving son."



"You're going to drive me insane."



"You have impressive self-control, master. I have faith in you." Her hand slid down between his legs again, as if to relieve his shivering. Neither had any doubt that the tremors going through his body came from being cold.



"Still. Maybe we'd better just... move on."



"Oh, I can dance around this particular pole all night if you wish."



"Puns. You're making puns. That's awesome."



"What else did you want to talk about?" she asked sweetly.



"So, your money. I don't want to go spending your money, but..."



"Your money now, master."



"No, really. I don't want to take things from you."



"Master," she said, a bit more seriously. "Imagine that my life could be dramatically improved if I only had more dried leaves. For whatever reason, I cannot collect many myself. You could, however. They're often all around you. Would you not share whatever leaves you found? Given your affection for me, wouldn't you gather them in great bundles, well beyond my actual need, simply because you know that as a gift they would be appreciated and provide me with luxury?"



He thought about that for a moment, and realized he couldn't argue it. "That's really what it's worth to you? I would've thought demons might be a bit more materialistic."



"It's a fair comparison. I enjoy a bit of luxury, but I can do without it freely. Wealth is merely a means to an end, and I have power, age and experience that mortals do not. I can always acquire more."



"I just don't want it to go to my head. I'm already being spoiled beyond anything rational as it is just with sex. You want to add money to that, too? I'll go nuts."



"If greed was one of your driving motivations, I think we would be having a very different conversation, Alex. Perhaps over a dead man's bank accounts."



"Who says I won't become greedy over time?"



"Anything's possible, but again, I rather doubt it. You do not strike me as the materialistic type. Many people want only enough money to provide general security and some small measure of amusement, and are satisfied with that. They simply don't get talked about."



Alex thought about it and shrugged. "So you said I wouldn't object to your money. Is it legal?"



"More or less," Lorelei nodded. "I don't exactly have a birth certificate or social security number. A government accountant might find some discrepancies in my taxes. The money itself comes from legitimate business... more or less. Again, nothing you would object to, or I would confess it right now. Leave this matter to me as another secret?" she asked, again very sweetly. She kissed his neck.



"How many secrets do you want to keep?"



He felt her smile against his neck. "Only matters I might engineer to eventually provide entertainment for us both, master."



Alex couldn't object to that. He didn't want to, really, mainly because he didn't want to disappoint her. He frowned. "Alright. But where are we going, anyway? You said downtown, but not where."



Lorelei leaned back thoughtfully. "I would suggest a few boutiques, but they may take more time than we want to spend. We also haven't decided how to present our relationship to others. Pacific Place should be fine for now."



*



"Oooooh, shit, man! Look! Shit!"



"Fuck—what? What?" J'Von grimaced. The jostling hand on his shoulder made him squeeze his Big Mac too hard, spurting goop out one side. He worried that it had gotten onto his baggy pants or his Air Jordans. He stepped around, looking down hoping not to see special sauce on anything but the sidewalk.



"That bitch right there!" Tony continued, urging and pointing out at the convertible waiting at the light. J'Von and Mike both looked over across the street and the car.



"Damn, now that's a piece of ass," Mike observed sagely.



"Yeah, but you gotta go grabbin' me like that?" J'Von said, his expression still pointedly disapproving. The last thing he wanted was a stain running down his pants all night. It annoyed J'Von that Tony wasn't looking at the plainly very intimidating stare he was giving.



"That's the bitch who fucked Damon to death last year!" Tony said. He kept his voice just controlled enough so as not to be heard across the street.



J'Von's scowl only deepened. "What?" he said in a high-pitched, skeptical tone. But Tony was off running already, headed up the block to watch the car as it made a left turn and headed around the block. "Crazy fuckin' cracker," he muttered. J'Von sometimes took a lot of heat from other friends for keeping a white boy like Tony around, but he stood his ground on the topic. He and Tony had been tight since they'd been thrown out of middle school together, and J'Von was bigger than all that racial bullshit.



Only sometimes Tony would go acting like a crazy white boy in front of other people. J'Von knew it wasn't because he was white; he knew crazy black folks, too. But that didn't make it any easier to defend Tony when he went running off after cars in the middle of downtown claiming that one of the occupants had killed a homey with her snatch.



"Your boy's trippin', man," Mike said, shaking his head. The two watched as Tony stood at the corner looking on at the convertible.



"Yeah, don't I know," J'Von muttered, and then called out, "Tony! Man, get back here!" He got a good bite out of his Big Mac as Tony jogged back to the other two men. Doubtlessly, settling whatever was up Tony's ass might take until his burger cooled, and that would make J'Von even more irritated.



"They just went into the mall. That's her, I'm sure of it."



"What the hell are you talkin' about?" Mike asked.



"Last year? Like, at that New Year's party, right? It was just after Tyrel got popped by the cops for bustin' a cap in—"



"We know," J'Von said firmly. He also knew it was really Damon who'd been the shooter. Tyrel was nowhere near it, but there was no telling the cops that without ratting out Damon, and nobody wanted to be a snitch. Even if it meant Tyrel would go to prison. Everyone had pressured Damon to come clean or something, all to no avail, and then Damon turned up dead a few days later. "What about it?"



"Look, I know you was in lock-up, but at the party there was this fine ass white girl. She hooked up with Damon -- told his girl, Kimesha to sit down and shut up and she did, man, his girl shut right the fuck up -- and then she just went upstairs to Damon's apartment and they started goin' at it, man. Fuckin' screamin', bed makin' all kinda noise, like, 'Oh! Oh! Fuck me, Damon! Oh shit!'"



"Tony!" J'Von frowned, "Don't make me slap you."



Tony waved it off, but pointedly he calmed down. "Right, so they were up there the rest of the night, right? Only I had left my phone up in Damon's apartment before the party, 'cause we were all playin' on his X-Box. So I had to go back there, only I go up and I hear 'em bangin' away still the next damn day, man. Only I didn't wanna interrupt, 'cuz that's not cool, so I left.



"But Kimesha? She interrupted, man. Like a lot. Or tried to, anyway. She went shoutin' and knockin' at that door like three different times that day and the next, she said, and she kept hearing the same shit, too. More poundin', more fuckin'. She's yellin' at them through the door an' neither one of 'em stop for nothin'."



Mike seemed to think it was amusing, and it would've been to J'Von had it not been for his poor, neglected Big Mac. Instead, he just stared at Tony. He'd heard something of this story before, but not in such detail. Damon hooked up with some white porn star-looking bitch at New Year's and then was found dead in his apartment a few days later, nothing more.



"An' then the next day, it's like day three now, I go by his apartment again 'cause he ain't answerin' his phone, an' I still hear fuckin', but I don't hear Damon no more. Not like I did before. Just a bit of wheezing or something."



Mike laughed, and made a mimicking motion and wheezing noise to give his impression of an elderly man giving it to a woman from behind. He smacked an imaginary ass with a shaking, arthritic hand.



"And then the next day Kimesha went by again and smelled somethin' awful in his apartment, and got the landlord... and Damon was stone cold dead, motherfucker."



J'Von sighed. "So?"



"So, man, that bitch fucked him to death." Mike burst out laughing again, but Tony was serious. "And nobody saw Damon's stash or any of the money he'd been sitting on after that, remember?"



J'Von frowned and nodded. He did remember that part. He didn't know about this story of Damon's death, though, because nobody had told him about it. Nobody had asked Kimesha for her side of things, because nobody really liked that angry bitch anyway. The one silver lining in Damon's death was that Kimesha didn't come around anymore.



The thing was, Damon had died while moving more than a little coke. The other side of the deal swore after his death that he'd been paid -- they had wanted the coke in time for New Year's Eve in the first place -- but nobody on Damon's side of it had seen their shares of the money yet. Most had assumed that the cops had seized the cash when they collected Damon's body, and nobody wanted to expose their knowledge or involvement by trying to find out.



Neither J'Von nor Mike were gullible enough to believe that Damon had died from too much pussy. That was just stupid. But the notion that he'd brought a woman as hot as that one up to his apartment and had her there just before he'd died was believable, especially if for some reason she knew about all that money. And there she was, riding around with some white boy in a Lexus convertible.



Damon had died. Tyrel had gone to jail partly because Damon wasn't around to clear his name -- not that he'd have ever done so, realistically. And all that money just disappeared.



"They went in the mall parking garage?" J'Von asked.



*



Lorelei smelled him almost as soon as they came off the escalator from the bottom floor. She knew what he was from the scent, though not who specifically, and had a pretty decent idea of where in the mall she would find him if she was right. There were better than even odds that he would not be so quick to detect her presence, at least not right away. But turning around would do no good; once aware that she'd been around, he might realize her condition and consider her vulnerable. This had to be dealt with, quickly and decisively... and preferably not in front of Alex.



"I would guess that you don't have a clear idea of what sort of clothes you'd like to see me in," she said coolly, "at least in public."



"Not really," Alex shrugged. "I figured you should just wear whatever you like. You look really good now, but I'd bet you'd look good in anything. I'd be happy with you in jeans and a t-shirt."



"Hm. You do prefer a bit of glamour, though. That much is plain."



"Well, I don't know who doesn't appreciate someone going to the trouble of looking good, but I wouldn't expect that all the time. Can't be wine & roses every night of the week."



"Silly master," she smiled.



"Hey, you should really call me Alex," he whispered to her.



"Oh, no one's listening to us... Alex," she added as a concession. "What you mean to say is that because you do not go to great effort for fashion, you wouldn't expect it of others."



"I try to look good sometimes," he mumbled defensively.



"You love various goth looks," Lorelei said, "and also business casual with a hint of sexiness. You have several heart-pounding memories of girls in formalwear from a couple of dances in high school. I imagine you would rejoice if all the world's hipsters died in flames?"



"I wouldn't want to use that turn of phrase in front of someone like you, but yeah, I can't stand hipsters. Trying too hard to make a point of looking like they're not trying. Past that, I just... guess I just like whatever works for a given woman? If you want me to pick out clothes for you, it's going to be a disaster. I want you to get what you know makes you look good. I'm pretty sure that's just about anything."



Lorelei nodded. "I can accept that." She slipped her hand in his. "However, we should begin at the beginning." Lorelei started walking with calm, confident purpose toward a shop that Alex hadn't dared set foot in since he was ten years old and at his mother's side.Um," he tried to protest, "this is a lingerie store."



"It's not especially racy. There is more here than lingerie."



"Yeah, like five tight shirts and some hand lotion," Alex said. She did not slow down; they were really going into this trendy, spacious store for things that Alex honestly didn't know how to discuss with other women without sounding perverted.



"I would prefer a more upscale store specializing in much more alluring intimate wear," Lorelei admitted, "and the selections here for women with my endowments are a bit limited, but we were going for casual, right?"



"Isn't bringing me in here going to be... um..."



"Awkward? No. Many ladies bring their men in here to explain what they'd like to see in the bedroom. Isn't that right?" Lorelei asked the sales associate that was suddenly right in front of the couple.



In point of fact, her appearance wasn't sudden at all, but Alex wasn't even sure where he was supposed to be looking. He was pretty sure that his presence here must make half the customers feel very self-conscious (not that he was paid any obvious attention), and was even more sure that he was the only male in the whole store -- well, apart from the guy over there, but even that dude had obvious man-boobs. So he wasn't looking where Lorelei was leading him until the other woman spoke.



"Not at all," she smiled boldly, getting right into the spirit of things. Alex's gaze rose up from the floor to trace quickly up those shapely legs in black lace stockings, a tight, knee-length black skirt, flat belly and ample bust under a black tee, where his eyes finally settled on her rather pretty face. Pert nose, smooth skin, short, curly black hair. Amusement in her almond eyes.



"Hi, I'm Audrey," she said, offering her hand. "I'm the store manager."



Alex blinked. Store managers didn't offer to shake hands. She was clearly fucking with him only because this was so embarrassing. He considered dying, right there on the spot. Instead, he simply shook her hand and mumbled, "Hi, I'm Alex."



Audrey winked. Then, as Lorelei spoke again, her expression seemed to change. The hot lingerie store manager started looking at Alex like he would make an exciting addition to her bedroom furniture.



"My boyfriend here has been a bit deprived," Lorelei said to Audrey. She was standing a bit closer to the other woman than she needed to, speaking almost directly into her ear. Alex was a bit too out of sorts to really pick up on it. "He's -- well, forgive me for being so forward, but he's a thrill a minute in the bedroom. I'd do literally anything he asked of me, but he just doesn't know what to ask for. No idea what to call things, really. Religious upbringing."



"I see," Audrey nodded. Her eyes were locked on Alex's.



"So now that he's free to enjoy himself, I'd love make sure he has a good time. You know, wear the right things to drive him mad. I couldn't blame any woman for throwing herself at him... Anyway, I think he knows what he likes, but he could still stand an education from an expert."



"I'd be more than happy to help," Audrey offered. Her chest rose and fell a bit heavily.



"I've got a lot of shopping to do, and the mall won't be open too much longer," Lorelei said. "Could I leave him in your capable hands? I'm sure he'll show a lot of gratitude."



"Absolutely," Audrey said. She still had his hand.



Lorelei leaned over and kissed his neck. "Let go and have some fun, master," she hissed. "It will be good for all three of us."



"What -- are you leaving?" Alex blinked.



"I've a couple of other places to visit here, and not much time tonight," Lorelei said as she walked away. "I'll know when you're ready to leave."



*



J'Von, Tony and Mike were wandering the balconies of Pacific Place when they spotted Lorelei leaving the store alone.



"We gonna go get her?" Mike asked.



"What, right here in the middle of the mall?" Tony frowned. "This is a rich people's mall. Cops'll be on us like flies on shit if we screw up."



"He's right," J'Von nodded, "but we ought'a let her go, anyway. Think I saw her boy still there in the store. She'll come back."



"So what? You wanna wait?"



"If that bitch really did do Damon, she gotta be, like, mob or somethin'," J'Von thought aloud. "For real. But her boy there, he look like he's her kid brother or somethin'. He's the weak link. We grab him, it don't matter if we get her right away or not. She'll have to play ball."



"The fuck's he doin' in there, anyway?" Tony grumbled.



J'Von's eyes slid over to regard his friend nonchalantly. "Maybe homeboy needs some new panties?"



*



"These are thongs, and these are what we call boy cut panties, which is what I generally prefer," Audrey explained with that cool, teasing smile. She played the whole lecturer angle fairly straight, but her grin, the look in her eyes and the way she stayed well within in Alex's personal space hinted at much more of an educational experience than simple vocabulary and visual identification.



Alex felt like he could die. This was embarrassing. Kind of hot, entirely because of Audrey's physical nearness and the looks she gave him as she took him through her store, but still embarrassing.



"You see a little bit more skin with thongs, of course, but there are times when less is more. Boy cut panties hold a little more obvious sex appeal."



"Huh," he managed rather eloquently.



"It's probably best if I just give a hands-on demonstration," she said, a little more quietly and a little more closely. "Maybe something a little more intimate."



Okay, perhaps this isn't something to die over, Alex considered as he felt her breath on his right ear and the side of his neck.



"Alex Carlisle?" a familiar voice asked.



He glanced over to his left. Across the table full of thongs and lacy boy shorts was the tall, lovely girl who'd occupied at least a quarter of his higher brain functions over the course of his junior and senior years. She had (unwittingly and innocently, and he knew it) caused him to lose hours of sleep, give away his winter formal tickets, turn up late for his second crack at the SATs when she'd had a flat tire and called him in a panic, join the Japanese club even though he wasn't taking the class and never had, and miss pretty much every decent play his high school football team made on the field because he was paying more attention to her in her cheerleading uniform.



He hadn't seen her in over a year. She had gone to the University of Washington. He went to community college. Same city, but it hardly mattered. They didn't even turn up at the same parties. There was nothing but brief, distant communication online.



Now here she was in snug black slacks, a similarly snug black tee, a headset over her tied-back black hair and a nametag that read, "Taylor."



This was now definitely something to die over. Right here, right now. Heart attack. Stroke. Brain aneurysm. Aaaany second now.



"You two know each other?" Audrey said, needing only a second to recover.



"We went to high school together," Taylor said warily.



"Um. Hi, Taylor," Alex managed. "How are you?"



"What are you doing here?"



"Alex here is shopping for his girlfriend," Audrey smiled, "and she asked me to help him out a bit."



Taylor looked at him with obvious disbelief. She managed to keep her jaw from dropping. "You have a girlfriend? And you're buying her lingerie?"



"W-well, we hadn't really gotten to talking about the labels yet, y'know?" Alex offered awkwardly. He desperately didn't want to be dishonest with her; that was the only thing that prompted his correction. He wasn't remotely capable of more sophisticated thinking than that at the moment. "I mean, we just met recently. Um. How are you doing? Did I ask that already?"



"You did," she said, eyes narrowing suspiciously. She couldn't help but notice that Audrey was holding Alex's hand.



"Taylor, I'm going to take my dinner break now," Audrey broke in. "While I'm gone, could you count down the registers? We've done a lot of cash today."



"Sure," Taylor nodded slowly. She moved off without breaking her gaze right away.



*



It took her longer than it should have, she realized, to figure out where he was. She left Alex in the store to stride along the walkway that wrapped around the five-story open atrium of the mall. In part, it was because her senses were as dulled as the rest of her abilities. That was most of the reason she wanted to confront this: she didn't trust in her ability to conceal herself. Not yet.



There was no telling how long it would take before she could begin recovery in earnest. That was entirely up to Alex and his ability to overcome his inhibitions and enjoy what she could offer. He was finally on his way, and she felt better already, but there was a long way to --



She felt something from him. Desire. So much desire. Sharper, much more intense than the mere lust-on-sight that she'd left him with. This was deep, serious longing. Aged, at least relative to his short span of sexual maturity. Knowing his desires as she did, Lorelei had a deep suspicion of whom he'd encountered. That was intriguing. Refreshing, too. Then the feeling was muted, faded but did not die. Longing like that, born at such an early age, would never entirely fade. In the moment, though, he was distracted by that earlier, newer desire.



It took awhile, and so did looking around for the source of the scent that had drawn Lorelei out... but eventually, that desire began to build in anticipation. Alex wasn't running away from it at all. She felt him embrace this current lust.



That was when she realized where the smell was coming from. It was upstairs, in one of the restaurants. They ranged in quality, but nothing beyond the reach of anyone with basic employment with a desire to splurge a bit. Lorelei got onto the escalators, ascending to the top of the mall.



The Asian seafood buffet. He was in there. That made sense. He had even established wards around the place. A week ago, she could have crushed such defenses with ease, but now it would take effort. Once inside, she would be under constant assault on levels no mortal would sense.



She gave better than even odds that he'd know she was present now, but she waited anyway. It made sense to take advantage of the delay, see if he'd come out to meet her or if she'd have to go in. Timing often made all the difference in the world. It wouldn't show to observers, but this confrontation would likely be very draining.



A small shiver ran through her, nothing visible to any of the many observers looking her up and down but certainly very welcome. It wasn't satisfying, but the sensations would continue. Satisfaction would come, as would nourishment.



There. Right there. Oh, so good. Good boy. Very good boy.



Feeling better prepared, the succubus walked into the restaurant.



*



"It's all a matter of how things come off," Audrey explained softly to the guest seated on the cushioned chair in front of her. She swayed a bit and touched him more now that they were alone, shielded from scrutiny by the tall dressing room door and the Kylie Minogue music piped through the store PA system. "Anticipation makes it better."



The store manager turned around in front of him, gyrating just enough to be inviting. She took Alex's hand in hers and guided it to the zipper on her skirt.



He no longer looked like a deer in her headlights. He'd at least accomplished that much. Part of him was still very conscious that Taylor was out there somewhere, but he had put the worst of those feelings behind him a while ago. That wasn't going to happen now, and probably never had any chance anyway. She had gone to UW with her basketball star boyfriend, the one he hadn't known about until they'd gone on two dates that Alex didn't know weren't dates. She went on to UW. He went to community college.



Life wasn't all about eventually finding true love with your unrequited crush from high school. That fairy tale sold movie tickets, but it wasn't real. Reality involved getting burned a few times as you grew up, and going through multiple experiences with other people before finally figuring out who you wanted to be with. You didn't owe anyone loyalty or monogamy until you had both agreed to it, and until then, there were other fish in the sea.



Some fish had skirts that slid from their hips to reveal lacy black boy shorts and thigh-high stockings that all together highlighted a nice ass.



"Like how that comes off?" she grinned over her shoulder.



"I do," Alex nodded. He was cooler about this now. In the moment. Audrey had never burned him and wasn't expecting anything but some fun. Maybe she'd always fantasized about taking a guy into the dressing room. Maybe she'd done it before. As Lorelei had said, this wasn't mind control.



"Don't be shy," she said, shifting her stance this way and that to give him a good look. "Visuals are important, but this is also a full-contact sport."



Alex smirked, appreciating her sex ed act, and brushed her hands up her stocking-clad legs, over her hips, along the small of her back. She sighed in appreciation. "I should see how these come off," he suggested.



"You really should," Audrey breathed.



His fingers hooked under the lace, slowly lowering them as she bent and twisted to accommodate the removal. "Wow," Alex smiled softly. "I do like these. They enhance the big reveal... but most of that comes down to who's wearing them."



"It does," Audrey said, turning and lowering herself to him. She took up the fabric on both sides of his neck in her hands and pulled him into a passionate, hungry kiss. His hands continued to roam but drew her in very close.



She broke off, needing to come up for air. Audrey inhaled heavily, eyes wide as she looked at her playmate with an excited grin. He had gotten her in his lap, almost grinding against him, but she'd thought better of that. She pulled her weight off of him. "See what I mean about anticipation?"



"Certainly," Alex nodded. He didn't have anything on his mind other than showing her some real appreciation. Even the worry about someone busting the two of them in this dressing room had disappeared from his thoughts. Admittedly, there was much less blood in his brain than there had been before. It had flooded to a more immediately useful organ.



Audrey could see that much in Alex's eyes. Saw it, reveled in it. She grabbed at his belt, jerking it open and fighting to release his flesh. "I think you still deserve a full demonstration of the payoff for dressing effectively," she grinned. His hands were still on her hips, right where she wanted them, and as soon as she had his organ free and had tugged his pants down, those hands pulled her very close.



They didn't need to fumble much. Both of them were quite ready, having indulged in an alternative sort of foreplay for the last ten minutes. Audrey discovered that Alex's inexperience with lingerie didn't equate to unfamiliarity with anatomy. She hadn't really been thinking about what to expect, but in the moment she understood that there might have been a bit of a bend to him, maybe a little give to his flesh. There was nothing of the sort. She didn't expect the solid, large, unyielding stiffness that gloriously penetrated her as he pulled her hips up onto his.



Audrey grunted helplessly. She wasn't normally noisy, but she couldn't help it. Her eyes didn't normally roll back, either, but they did this time because this guy felt so god damn good. She probably could've leaned backward, no hands, and stayed seated just by virtue of being wrapped around this magnificent cock.



Mister Right Now rocked her forward onto him, giving her another flesh-splitting rush. She grunted again, hands clutching at his shoulders, wanting to kiss him and laugh out loud and beg for more all at once. She ground up and down on his cock again, and again, wanting it to go on forever. His hands spread over her ass, helping her steady herself, taking some of her weight and making her feel deliciously dirty.



She was going to cum hard, she realized. Hard and fast. He'd just gotten started, and didn't seem like he was going to stop anytime soon. This fling was going to get her off more than once. His mouth wrapped itself around the side of her neck, right below her ear. "Oh fuck me," she breathed.



"Gladly," Alex hissed.



*



Lorelei found him at a table by himself. He'd probably had guests -- there were other place settings -- but they were long since gone. The demon sat alone in his cheap suit in front of a broad spread of food and a rising stack of now-empty plates. A waiter passed by and looked on with obvious disgust, but only behind the demon's back.



He looked up as she entered. He was good-looking, at least in this guise. His body was a touch on the bulky side. It was a jolly image. Disarming. He could charm, and would have to be good at that, but he wasn't made to seduce. At least, not with flesh. He looked up, chewing, and grunted in acknowledgment while he dabbed at his mouth and goatee with a cloth napkin.



Heat and fierce, smoky winds wafted off of him, not that it affected anyone who lived only on the mortal plane. Approaching this one was like trying to walk casually through a sandstorm. She had to look calm, though. Make it seem easy. Too much depended on it.



"Hello," the succubus said, sauntering over to the table. "I thought I sensed someone up here, but I'm afraid I don't know what name you prefer."



"Rob," he responded when he could. He gestured for her to take a seat opposite him. "Robert Gorge. Figured I felt another presence here myself. You're Lorelei, aren't you?"



"I am," she nodded.



"You look like you've seen better days, honey." No real sympathy in that voice. She didn't expect anything of the sort.



"I have. I am on the mend," she conceded, running one hand through her hair. That was the truth. The raw, straightforward fucking three floors down healed and revitalized her all at once. She could practically share the sensations of Alex's cock giving that happy, adorable little slut a ride like she'd only dreamed of. Lorelei watched "Rob" break a crab leg open and draw out the meat with practiced ease. He'd obviously had a great many. Yet she felt no less self-indulgent at that moment.



"As they say," Lorelei shrugged, "you should see the other guys."



"Hah! If they look worse than what they did to you," Rob grunted, waving an empty crab leg shell at her, "then yeah, I'd like to see that."



"What is left of them," Lorelei trailed off dismissively.



"There gonna be trouble?"



"I had thought to ask you the same. Truly, I hadn't expected to find anyone here."



Rob chewed thoughtfully. "I'm the first person you've asked?"



"I've always had a bit of an independent streak. Reporting back every little bump and bruise isn't my style."



"Hunh," the other demon nodded. He looked at her for a good, long moment. Pushed against her with that ethereal sandstorm.



Don't hold back, master, she thought to herself. A week ago, Lorelei would have been able to do this without trouble. That exhilarating feeling of Alex's pleasure bolstered her ability to resist.



Rob was also using much more than simple wordplay to evaluate his visitor. Lorelei had to be able to at least put up a decent front, both to remain inscrutable and to stand her ground. The fact that Audrey was cumming all over her master's cock down there helped Lorelei somewhat, and no demon would be able to detect that particular connection. Still, Lorelei was a succubus without wings or horns or tail, and another demon would be able to see that. She'd have to play that off like it didn't hurt as badly as it did.



It never helped to look weak in front of Hell's own.



"I thought you were one of Belial's," Rob said."Not so directly placed near the top," Lorelei replied with feigned indifference. "As I said, going through channels would be a distraction."



Rob gave her another long, searching look as the wheels turned in his mind. This was no punishing demon; this one was made to tempt and corrupt. "I see. You're looking for a shortcut. I can see how that'd help, but help's gotta be paid for." His meaning was plain. They all wanted this from the succubi.



Release. Downstairs, her master was ridden over the edge. Lorelei shared in that joy and satisfaction without letting a bit of it show. She didn't need to, and Rob didn't need to know. Inside, Lorelei felt the blissful emotional rush of climax, felt replenished by it. On the surface, she maintained a remarkable poker face.



"My options for payment are limited," Lorelei smiled, giving a conciliatory nod. What Rob wanted was no option, wouldn't have been regardless of her strength. It was best to make plain her consent to such restrictions. A week ago, it would have been no problem. Now the thought of copulating with this one turned her stomach. Suddenly rather than indifference to Alex's restrictions, she actually felt grateful.



"That's too bad," Rob frowned. "I had always figured Belial's for the kind to keep all options on the table. Smarter bargaining. Still, I'm sure we could work something out."



"We all have our restrictions," Lorelei shrugged again. The feeling was so good -- and then, abruptly, stopped. Totally interrupted. One second Alex was basking in the afterglow, still sheathed within his playmate and slowly beginning another go 'round -- then nothing.



The demon across from her pressed on. "Yeah, but not Belial's own legion." Rob shook his head, and then stuffed his mouth with a pair of fried shrimp. "Gnyou gnuys hafta giff your all effry day," he managed through too many morsels at once. Then he swallowed. "I know how Belial's works. No slacking, no hesitation. No price too high, no shame too low."



"Yes, well," Lorelei said, faltering a bit, "I have had a change of allegiances."



A mistake. An admission she did not want to make, one that would pique further curiosity. A demon of avarice and gluttony like this could compel such revelations just as Lorelei could change her appearance to better approach a victim.



She could feel the invisible strength of his presence ramping up. He was like a shark that'd just smelled a hint of blood in the water. If she couldn't recover fast, he'd get much more information out of her than was safe for either herself or Alex.



*



"Oh god I'm cumming I'm cumming I'm cumming," Audrey whimpered into Alex's ear. Both arms were wrapped around his shoulders as he kept grinding her. She had given in entirely to him, was only barely trying to help with their shared motion. Audrey had brought him in here as the seductress, the experienced older woman, and now lost virtually all her composure.



Alex didn't stop. He was too close himself, and her admissions in his ear only turned him on more. His cock was almost too big for her -- almost. He could feel her stretching for him a bit to accommodate him, felt great about it, knew it was good for her, too. She'd feel wondrously worn out later.



Later. He'd be with Lorelei later, too. He was very, very happy to stay with Audrey for a while, and would have been utterly dazzled by her were the succubus not in his life... but she was. She set this up. She'd be all over him later, or he'd be all over her. When he was done with Audrey. He could have his cake and eat it, too.



In that moment, buried within Audrey to the hilt, the reality of his situation broke through. He could literally go from one beautiful, willing, enthusiastic partner right to the next. When he was done with this lay, there was another waiting. His life could be like this for a very long time.



It was enough to get a young man off in a dressing room.



*



Taylor was ready to kill that bitch.



Audrey made a show of getting along with everyone, but she screwed most of the girls in the store one way or another. She'd replaced the old manager a year ago, tossed out a schedule that had been made to accommodate everyone, got rid of their best sales associate for not following the corporate script, gave out crappy evaluations...



...and was now almost certainly having sex with the sweetest guy she'd ever known.



Okay, that may have been an exaggeration. But Alex had always been unfailingly nice to her. He was easily one of her best friends not two years ago -- maybe not the closest, but he was always nice, supportive and trustworthy. She knew how much he liked her, knew he wanted to be more than friends. She couldn't not know. That was why she'd never let him in closer. He was cute and all. Smart. Funny. Not as sexy as he was now -- and when the hell did that happen?



Good God, he was hot now. She was getting jittery just thinking about it. But in high school, there was Alex, and there were other guys, and then there was Gabriel...



...Gabriel. There was a thought. She'd been so thrilled when he got the basketball scholarship that would keep them together. Now Taylor wondered what her high school sweetheart was up to now, and with whom. He had a habit of being stupid while she was at work.



Work used to be more fun. Then Audrey showed up. Two minutes with Alex was all Taylor would need to explain that Audrey wasn't someone he really wanted to fool around with. He would believe her. He always believed her. He was special that way. He deserved better than that bitch. Could certainly do better now, apparently.



Fuck this. And fuck her, too.



"Guys, I'm gonna be off the floor for a few minutes," Taylor said over the headset. She strode back past the dressing rooms -- pausing only to confirm that she could, in fact, hear some incriminating noises from #3, and thank God nobody was using the other two -- and then went into the break room. Her purse, and the iPhone within it, was right where she'd left it. She adjusted the settings on the phone and then walked back out into the dressing room hallway.



No one else was there. The music was still bumping. So, it appeared, were the occupants of dressing room three.



Taylor held her camera over the top of the door, snapped a picture, and then another one. Then she did the same from the bottom edge. Then she checked the pictures. Best to make sure she had some evidence before she committed to the rest -- and wow, was that evidence.



She never thought she'd be jealous to see Alex's hands clutching another woman's ass.



The dressing room doors were taller than most, and locked from the inside --- theoretically. But if someone had a partially misspent youth, as Taylor had, popping the locks open with a credit card wasn't too much of a trick.



Grinning evilly, Taylor leaned up against the doorframe and took a nice, casual picture of the dirty action in front of her. This time, she used the flash.



"Huh?" Alex grunted.



"What the--?!" Audrey yelped. She turned, still straddling him, and blurted out, "Taylor?!"



Taylor was already snapping another picture. Her iPhone wasn't fast about that, but she'd timed it perfectly. The picture had enough of Audrey's face to provide solid evidence.



"Audrey, your lunch break is over," Taylor said confidently, "and you're needed on the floor. I can take over helping with this customer before I clock out for the night."



"You -- what the hell do you think you're doing!?" Audrey got off of a shocked, mortified Alex and grabbed her skirt off the floor.



"I think I'm filing my request for a shift change so you and I don't have to work together anymore," Taylor smiled. "At least until one of us gets a transfer to another store."



Audrey wasted no time in getting her skirt back on. "You think this is a good idea? You can't do anything with those pictures, they'll fire both of us!"



"Oh noes. I might get fired from my part-time retail job while I'm going to college." The two stared at one another for a moment, and then Taylor gestured toward the hallway. "Shut up and get the fuck out, Audrey." Taylor watched as her store manager fled, leaving her panties Alex behind, and then closed and locked the door behind.



"Wow," she grinned at Alex, "when did you go all pimp daddy?"



Alex stayed in the chair, his pants pulled back up but not fastened. He kept his slick, raging hard-on covered mainly with his hands and the bottom of his shirt. "Taylor, um, I can... uh..."



She bit the corner of her lip, still grinning at him.



"Okay, I totally can't explain this."



Taylor stepped closer. "You don't owe me an explanation," she said, her voice dropping, "but I should probably thank you for giving me the chance to deal with that bitch." She tossed the phone aside, then ran her hand through Alex's hair.



Alex's heart threatened to beat its way right through his sternum. Taylor's eyes projected nothing but hunger. "Oh my God," he mumbled.



"God's not here," Taylor whispered, "but I am. Still friends, right?"



His mouth was open as if to say something, but no words were coming out. She kissed it.



"I should've done this a long time ago," she said, reaching down to pull his shirt and hands away from his groin.



*



"It's always nice to talk shop with a colleague," Rob smiled. There was a flat firmness in his tone that was subtly out of place with his wording. He looked at her with a masterful blend of casual conversation and intimidating glare.



He might as well have been saying it from behind a sand blaster. The invisible, insubstantial fear and fury that he projected at her threatened to overwhelm her. Demons like Rob weren't built for bullying; they were creatures of manipulation, not raw power. Where Lorelei worked with flesh and lust, Rob's kind dealt in money and greed. But in the face of a weak target, there was no reason not to be direct.



"So tell me," Rob went on, "what happened to you?"



Lorelei wanted to get up and run. She considered it, fighting rising panic, but knew that would only make things worse. If she ran, he'd have every reason to pursue. That would lead to bigger trouble. Blood was in the water. All she could do was maneuver.



"I -- well, think it over, Rob," Lorelei said. "Your sort is always better-connected than mine. Who else is in this city?"



"A few people I could name. It's not as big as some other cities, but it's busy. Kind of an important place these days, lots of influential people. I knew you were here. You've got a name. One of the best, they always said. Like I mentioned, I'm kind of disappointed that you can't deal."



"I can bargain," Lorelei offered calmly.



"Sure, but not the way I'd like. New restrictions, you said."



"Y-yes."



"That's a tragedy. Who'd want to tie your hands like that? Keep you from using your best assets? You are what you are, right?"



Involuntarily, Lorelei's eyes went wide. She felt Taylor's first kiss. It hit her like a wave, directly counter to the blazing fury before her. The urge to run diminished. Alex was most certainly not having some random fling with a convenient, attractive partner anymore.



She closed her eyes for two seconds, three at the most. This was going further. Youthful longing and passion was being fulfilled, and flooding her as surely as if she lay with her master herself. Another kiss, this one deeper. Affectionate, groping hands. Teenage fantasy becoming adult reality. Naughty, physical, but compellingly beautiful.



Lorelei's eyes opened. There was a corruptor in front of her, thinking he could just intimidate her. She was pretty sure she could pitch the little bastard through the window out into the street below. The change in his expression told her that he knew it, too.



Lorelei smiled broadly. "It was a rough transition, but indisputably for the best."



*



"The fuck's keepin' him?" Mike fumed.



"Fuck if I know," J'Von shrugged.



"Maybe he really is in there shoppin' for panties," Tony scowled. "That shit's complicated."



Mike and J'Von slowly turned to look at Tony. "Really?" J'Von deadpanned.



*



She had held his cock in his hand, felt the wetness upon it, and didn't seem to be the least bit concerned. It wasn't like she didn't know where it was from. Amazingly, she didn't care. Taylor rode Alex, slowly reveling in the feeling of him inside of her, and if he'd been primed up and ready to go by some other woman so much for the better. For the first time in her life, Taylor didn't want to invest time in foreplay.



She devoured his lips and tongue with another kiss. That was good, too.



Alex's longtime crush wrapped her legs around his hips, lifting her knees up as if to get him as deep inside of her as possible. She moaned into his mouth. Taylor felt every bit as good as Alex had ever dreamed. But it had always only ever been dreams.



This wasn't just sex. He cared about her. He had always cared about her.



"Taylor," he whispered, "this is... I don't..."



"Sshhh," Taylor said, putting a finger over his mouth as she continued to gyrate against him. "We both know we both want this right now. It's just right now."



"I don't want to just use you."



She giggled softly. "You're not using me. We're friends. Very close friends. I don't expect anything more." Taylor squeezed with her thighs, riding up softly, then slowly lowering herself down on him again while never breaking eye contact. "We're not being any naughtier than you were just two minutes ago."



"I'm not. What about you?"



"You're the one here allegedly shopping for your alleged girlfriend. Won't she be mad if she finds out?"



"She'll know. She figures out everything. My 'girlfriend' will think this is hot."



"Good," she smiled into his lips. "It is. Go ahead and tell her if it'll be good for you. Just keep it to yourselves."



"What about you?" He kept her moving slowly up and down, sharing their trembling intimacy. This had been the girl of his dreams for years.



"Mmmmh. Let's just say that if you see my Facebook page explode tomorrow, it's been a long time coming and it isn't about you at all. Don't jump into it."



"You know I've always been crazy about you," Alex said. "I think everybody knew."



Grinding slowly against him, Taylor nodded. "Are you okay if this isn't more than it is?"



"It's something."



"Yeah, but... I have things to sort out after the last year. I'm not looking for a new relationship. Sounds like you aren't, either. This just feels really right, just for now."



"Still friends?" Alex didn't feel disappointed. He still cared about her. Could even call it love. But life was too crazy to run away with that right now.



Taylor nodded. "I might want a booty call now and again, if that's okay."



"I can't promise to always be available, but I'd like that a lot." He pushed up into her, holding her down on his cock while kissing her, his hands roaming underneath her shirt.



She had always thought of Alex as adorable, but had never realized just what he could deliver. "Definitely a booty call now and again," Taylor groaned.



*



Rob remained in his seat, but he was effectively on the run. The succubus had him cornered on his own turf. It didn't matter that she looked all beat to shit; that predator's grin said it all. She could tear him limb from limb and scatter him so far and wide that it would be years before he got himself back together. After that, his masters would punish him for getting himself into such a predicament in the first place.



Whatever had suddenly gotten into her must have been pretty powerful. Maybe she had just been putting on an act? Were the scars all illusory? Could this all have been some sick act to lure him into conversation rather than immediate fight and flight?



"You said you knew names," Lorelei smiled.



"Lydia's here," Rob began hesitantly, "and Harrow. A couple more like me -- there's money in this city, y'know?"



One eyebrow rose up. "Lydia and Harrow? Together?"



"I don't know. I don't know why they're here. She only turned up recently. They've both approached me for material aid, which I gave, but that's about it. And I told them I'd keep it quiet."



"Good job on that," Lorelei remarked dryly. "Who else?"



"That's it for our kind. Don't ask me about the other side. We don't talk."



"I am also curious of those who would fall in between. The interesting ones."



Rob fumed. He didn't like being bullied. "What do I get for all this? You said you were going to bargain?" She smiled again, and he stared at that smile. That mouth is made to be stuffed with dick, he thought... but not his dick. That would definitely not be happening. Fucking dammit.



Lorelei glanced down at the table. "I'll pick up your tab here."



"This is an all-you-can-eat buffet!" Rob protested.



"So don't hold back," she said, gesturing at the buffet counters.



Arrogant fucking cunt, Rob fumed silently. It galled him that this only made him want her more, but even demons sometimes wanted what they couldn't have.



"Others?" she asked.



He sighed. "About as many vampires in this town as you would expect."



Lorelei made a disdainful face, as if he'd farted right in front of her. "They count as interesting?"



"Well, I guess not," Rob had to concede. He pondered a moment. "Woods are full of all sorts of critters, but they keep to themselves. There's, um... there are some Believers and Practitioners around here who do a little more than just pose and dabble..."



That caught her interest. "Tell me what you know," she said flatly.



*



J'Von checked the time on his cell phone and cursed. "Nobody take that long lookin' at women's undies 'less they tryin' the shit on."



"Maybe he's that way?" Tony shrugged. "I mean, who are we to judge?"



"Yeah, don't go all fuckin' homophobe, J'Von," Mike nodded.



"The fuck...? What's wrong wit'choo?! Jesus! Look, we done waitin'. We gotta go in there an' get his ass." J'Von took off walking, with Tony and Mike quickly falling in line behind him.



"Could be he getting' a blowjob in the back room," Mike suggested. "Girls workin' in a lingerie store gotta be at least a little bit freaky."



"Shit, that stuff only happens in porn," Tony countered.



The store was mostly empty when the three entered. Only the closing crew and a couple of random customers remained. Not everyone noticed the three men, all dressed for thug life, as they arrived. Even then, nobody wanted to jump to conclusions. It wasn't the way they were dressed that was alarming, though, so much as the all-business expressions on their faces.



It was J'Von who thought found the dressing rooms. Two were open; one was occupied. He glanced down at the bottom of the door and saw men's sneakers and crumpled pants. Frowning, he paused, and heard what sounded like kissing.



Shit, really? he wondered. He wasn't sure what their target was wearing, but this appeared to be the only guy in the store. It was worth checking. Worst case, they lost their guy and would have to leave the mall. J'Von had been thrown out of Pacific Place before. It wasn't a thing.



He pulled his grocery store club card out of his pocket and slipped it in over the latch.



Sure enough, there was a couple going at it on the dressing room seat. One of the sales girls was on the dude's lap, going at him slow but hard, and neither one heard J'Von enter until the door banged against the wall. Both looked up with a start.



J'Von already had his nine partially drawn from his coat. "Don't say a fuckin' thing," he warned quietly but darkly. "I'll be long gone 'fore cops show up after I shoot both of you."



Neither one panicked. The girl looked more afraid than the guy, but she wasn't about to scream. For his part, the guy on the seat seemed to be keeping his cool. "What do you want?" he asked.



"Put your fuckin' pants on, both of you," J'Von said. "Don't do nothin' stupid. We goin' for a drive."They didn't argue. Both of them did as he said.



Alex didn't like it, of course. More than being just unpleasant and dangerous, it seemed like a dumb way to handle the situation. When seeing something like this on television, he would scream inwardly at the characters not to just go along with the bad guy, but rather make a break for it or do something.



In the reality of it, though, he'd only ever been in two real fights, and one was just the other night. Those were three middle-aged guys taken by complete surprise. He'd been armed, more or less. And before that fight was over, he had an angel and a demon on his side, who had been the ones to end it.



Neither of them was in sight. He didn't know where Lorelei was, or how soon she'd be back. Rachel said she'd be watching him, but couldn't see him when he was with Lorelei, and Alex didn't know what specifically that meant. How far did they have to be apart? How often did Rachel try to look?



With his pants back on, Alex thought for a brief moment about trying to tackle J'Von, but then Mike appeared in the hallway. Two of them now. Twice as unlikely to turn out well. Neither of them looked like strangers to violence, either.



As they quietly directed Alex and Taylor out of the dressing rooms and out of the store, joined by a third guy -- this one white and skinnier than the other two -- Alex cursed at himself for not taking Drew up on those kung fu classes months ago. They might not have helped much at all here, but anything was better than nothing, and that's what he had. Nothing.



Taylor kept it together fairly well. The only sign of fear she showed was in taking Alex's hand when they were outside the store and walking to the elevators.



"We gotta pay parking before we leave?" Tony asked as they waited.



"Don't know," J'Von shrugged. He nudged Alex from behind. "We gotta pay parking for that car of yours?"



Alex sighed. "The pass is in my pocket," he mumbled.



"Good." The elevator opened, and all five of them went inside. They didn't share the car with anyone. As soon as the doors shut, J'Von demanded, "Phones, wallets and keys. Now."



Both hostages -- that's what they were now, Alex understood -- did as was demanded. Alex wished he had replaced that pepper spray. All he'd have to do was set it off in here and everyone would be blinded and incapacitated. These guys seemed serious, but he didn't think they'd be dumb enough to shoot blindly in an elevator. The worst he or Taylor would suffer is some bruises, maybe a broken bone or two.



No pepper spray. No black belt in kung fu. No guardian angel or fire-breathing demon. Too bad for that.



*



Her business with Rob completed, Lorelei headed out of the restaurant feeling confident and reassured. Alex's second tryst seemed to have been completed a moment or two ago, too. It seemed to have ended a bit abruptly, but then, she did leave him in a lingerie store. No telling what sort of interruptions might take place there.



She contemplated doing as she had implied on her way out -- hitting a couple of other stores to get things out of the way before she came back. But Lorelei felt an urge to reunite with her master and thank him, quite pornographically, for the joy that he had just shared with her. She strode to the escalators and then headed for the lingerie store.



Inside, she didn't find him. Just several worried-looking sales associates. Among them was Audrey, who seemed very stressed.



"Where is my companion?" Lorelei asked her. "Has he left?"



"He did."



"Did he say where he was going?"



"He just left all of a sudden with Taylor and three other guys. It didn't look right, but we didn't know if—"



Lorelei was already out the door.



*



It dawned on Alex that if he and Taylor got into a car with these guys, one or both of them were probably going to die. This was kidnapping. None of these guys had concealed their faces. One of them had even referred to the other two by name, so now Alex knew that they were J'Von, Mike and the White Guy.



They walked as a group, quietly, through the parking garage. Shoppers on their way out zoomed through the garage one by one, none of them looking like they had a care in the world. Some, in fact, were going a bit too fast.



"Gonna fuckin' hit somebody, asshole," Mike grumbled as he jumped out of the way of a Mustang.



"Don't try nothin' stupid," J'Von warned the two hostages. "It's not you we want, anyway."



"What do you want?" Taylor asked.



"Shut up," J'Von shot back. "Boy, where's your car at?"



"It's over there," Tony said before Alex could speak. He apparently had a good eye for cars. Alex tried to think, fighting a rising panic. If they got into that car, that car right there, they were dead. He couldn't accept that. Not for himself. Certainly not for Taylor.



Alex had been in a mild scuffle or two, gotten some tips on fighting from friends who really knew what they were doing, but not much. He was generally smart enough to stay out of trouble -- at least until this week. He thought and thought about what he was supposed to do in these situations.



All he could think of was something Drew had said to him, that day they both got suspended for the only real fight he'd been in before this week. It had erupted in P.E. after a couple of boys had made Oreo jokes about Drew. Alex had been almost as offended as Drew, and wasn't going to let his friend face them alone, but he wasn't much good in the brawl that erupted. Outside the principal's office, Drew had simply said, "You wanna fight right, you gotta be meaner than the other guy. Don't matter if it's ugly. Losing is uglier. You don't know what's gonna happen if you lose."



Alex heard another car coming up the winding parking garage. "Taylor," he said softly, "I need my hand back." She let go.



All Alex had going for him was the hope that he could be meaner than they were. He had no interest in seeing what they might do to Taylor.



One second, everything was going fine for J'Von and his crew. In the next, Mike had suddenly been shoved right into an oncoming SUV going way too fast for a parking garage.



He bounced off the hood, tumbled to the car's right and down to the pavement as it passed by with its brakes squealing. Alex, inexperienced at these things, hesitated in the second after he shoved to see if it worked. J'Von didn't, and planted a right cross squarely into the side of Alex's jaw. He staggered, bounced off the car next to him, and realized that he might've done something smarter than this. Taylor yelped and jumped out of the way.



"Oh, shit!" Tony blurted. He didn't know whether to check on Mike or back up J'Von. He decided on the latter, only to have Taylor trip him from behind.



The driver of the SUV, sensing trouble, took off rather than check on his victim. It was Seattle, after all.



Alex recovered and launched himself at J'Von but came up empty. He recovered quickly from that, too, and even blocked the next couple of punches J'Von threw. He didn't block the elbow, though, or the knee in the stomach. Alex clutched at him, grabbed at his face, and pushed his thumb in the bigger man's eye.



Tony got to his feet and punched Taylor in the gut, leaving her doubled over, then jumped over to pull Alex away from behind. Alex's foot came right up into J'Von's groin.



Tony's fist came right up into Alex's kidney. He gasped, turned, and blocked another low blow. Threw an uppercut that Tony dodged entirely. This was really bad. "Slow," Tony taunted.



Alex threw a half-kick, half-stomp at the side of Tony's knee. Something about the impact sounded very unpleasant; Tony went down wailing. "Gimp," Alex retorted.



He spun to face J'Von, who was still bent over in pain, but had his gun out. J'Von fired four times, in pain, from only a couple yards away. Three of the bullets went wild; poor aim and stress led him to squeeze too much while he shot. The first bullet caught Alex midway up his chest, just under his shirt pocket.



Taylor screamed. She rushed to Alex, but Tony caught her pant leg. She tripped and fell to the pavement.



The world spun; Alex staggered sideways, twisted, fell back onto the side of Lorelei's car. He slid down, sitting up against the door.



J'Von moved between the Lexus and the car next to it to stand over Alex. "Told you not to do anything stupid," he said, leaning in enough to spit the words in Alex's face. Half delirious, Alex's eyes wandered up at the shadow over him. His hands sought to grab onto something, anything. J'Von wasn't worried about it; he was angry, and wanted this fool's last moments to be full of nothing but weakness and fear.



Instead, a thought drifted through Alex's fuzzy mind. Something about needing to be meaner than the other guy. He seized that thought, hung onto it for dear life... and grabbed the looming shadow by the collar, yanking backward with everything he could. Off-balance and surprised, J'Von found his head crashing through the passenger side window of the Lexus.



Another shot rang out from J'Von's gun, this one striking nothing but pavement. Taylor yelped. Mike groaned. Tony forced himself to his feet, pulling his own gun -- J'Von had always, always told Tony not to pull a piece unless J'Von told him, but this seemed to qualify. He grunted out something about having J'Von's back.



Then Tony found himself face-to-face with the most heart-stoppingly beautiful blonde girl he had ever, and would ever see in his life. She was dressed all in white. "Huh?" he blinked.



The angel's open hand came down on his face at a sharp angle. Her slap hit him like a brick. His whole body crumpled to the floor in the blink of an eye. Taylor saw it, but couldn't believe it.



Rachel turned to Alex and J'Von just as the bigger man extracted himself from the car window. Blood was flowing from his scalp. He turned his gun on Alex again, or would have, but Rachel was far more dexterous; she snatched it from his hand before he could pull the trigger.



"Lie down," Rachel ordered him.



"The fuck?" J'Von blinked.



Rachel swung the pistol up against his forehead, sending him bouncing into the wall behind him and then slumping to the floor.



On her feet now, Taylor rounded the parked car blocking her view to see Rachel crouch down over Alex. "Is he okay?" she asked, very close to tears.



Rachel touched the wound with her fingers. "He will be," she said. Alex looked up in her eyes blearily, feeling things move inside his chest. He was pretty sure that whatever was going on in there was really bad; he felt gurgly and could barely catch his breath. But then that all faded, and instead he was just very, sharply sore right where her fingers were. The world stopped blurring and spinning.



"It's a miracle that the bullet just glanced off your rib like that," Rachel smiled at him softly. "You could have had a collapsed lung. Or worse."



"Alex?" Taylor asked.



"I'm alright," Alex mumbled. "I think."



"You have been a bit beaten up, but that gunshot could've been much worse," Rachel nodded. She looked to Taylor. "That other one over there -- he probably has a gun, too. Probably in his waistband. Could you check on him before he recovers? Don't bother being nice about it," she warned.



Taylor swallowed and nodded. She hurried over to Mike, shoved him onto his back and patted him down until she found the gun. He groaned loudly but didn't put up a fight.



Rachel pulled Alex to his feet. "That was very brave," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner."



"What kept you?" he huffed.



"No wings," Rachel shrugged with a slightly guilty smile. "I had to run all the way from your mother's house. I didn't realize you weren't there until two minutes ago."



"You ran all the way across town in two minutes?"



"It's not that big a town."



"Huh. Maybe I should've just waited for you."



"No. You did the right thing. There are sometimes limits to my ability to intervene. I don't know how else this might have turned out. Who is this?" she asked as Taylor returned.



"Oh. Taylor's, um, a friend from high school. Wow, this hurts."



"I would imagine," Rachel nodded. "Hello, Taylor. You won't remember much about me soon. Sorry for that."



"Um. Hi?"



The angel nodded, surveyed the scene around her with her hands on her hips, and took a deep, calming breath... and then stopped. She took another long breath, slowly turning to Alex. "That... smell," she mumbled.



"Huh?" Alex asked. Taylor was perplexed as well.



"You smell," Rachel said, her voice wavering somewhat.



"I smell? Oh, no, not this again..."



"You smell like..." Rachel inhaled deeply yet again, eyes fluttering much like Lorelei's had when he went down on her. "You smell like charity and compassion and... justice, and benevolence, and... mercy, and..." she inhaled again. "Self-sacrifice and... and... sex!"



She threw herself at him, arms wrapped around the battered young man with her mouth ravenously kissing his. Taylor looked on in awe; she would undoubtedly remember this quite clearly.



Alex himself was hardly even on the same plane of existence as everyone else in that moment. An angel -- his angel -- was kissing him. Every pain and worry fell away while her lips met his. They held that kiss for a long moment.



It was more than a little awkward for Taylor. They were absolutely beautiful together. They practically glowed. But then, anyone would be beautiful in that woman's arms. The blonde made her feel plain and frumpy by comparison. Alex seemed to have been taken by surprise, but then swept away by it. Everything in the parking garage went quiet.



Except, of course, for the groans from Mike and Tony. Taylor blinked. She looked over to Tony and kicked his gun under a car, then kicked him in the head. "Asshole," she grunted.



A car drove up from the lower level. This one stopped. "Hey, are these guys okay?" the older woman inside asked.



"No!" Taylor said urgently, "Call the cops! Please!"



The woman blinked, finding the scene of sprawled-out men and two people making out a bit odd, but she nodded, pulled back a few yards and put her car in park, then grabbed her phone. She did not, pointedly, get out of the car.



Alex wasn't sure what ended the kiss, but the first thing that registered for him besides the overwhelming beauty of the angel in his arms was the sharp click of sandals rapidly approaching.



Lorelei. She was here. Rachel's eyes went wide, and she slipped out of her embrace with Alex. His chest, his backside, and the rest of him felt terrible again. The only thing that didn't return was the crunchy pain in his jaw.



The succubus came over to them, reaching out to touch her master's arm, but she looked warily at the angel. She had doubtlessly seen them kissing.



"Where the hell were you?" Rachel shot at her.



Lorelei scowled. "I had given him some space. Had I known that you were sleeping on the job, I might not have been so careless."



"Sleeping--! You bitch!"



"Ladies! Please! Can we just... can you just be a little patient with each other? Huh? Maybe at least try to be nice?" Alex held his hand over his bloody chest, then winced and realized perhaps that wasn't the best idea. "It would mean a lot to me if you two could bury the hatchet, at least just a little."



Rachel's face conveyed a twist of emotions. The thought was appalling, but at the same time the fact that he had to ask filled her with guilt. "Ma—Alex, I'm sorry," Rachel blinked. "I don't mean to make this hard on you."



Lorelei was much more calm and collected. "I saw the two of you kiss. I can feel his desire for you. You are lovely together. I'm certain we could all come to an arrangement," she suggested. Rachel looked at her in abject shock, but Lorelei merely shrugged. "Believe it or not, what I want most of all is Alex's safety and happiness. You seem able to provide some measure of both. Sharing him would not bother me."



Alex turned to Lorelei, dumbfounded, while Rachel's mind seemed to go through an emergency reboot. Lorelei's steamy offer hung in the air without any pretense of being anything other than it was.



"Just..." Rachel blinked. "Just... just keep him out of trouble and fuck him like he deserves!" she shot back at Lorelei, and then spun and walked away. As before, she was out of sight in mere seconds.



"That is the strangest angel I have ever met," Lorelei murmured.



"Do they all talk like that?" Alex wondered aloud.



"Not a one," Lorelei shook her head. Sirens began to echo through the parking garage. "I should be able to keep this from getting out of hand," Lorelei thought aloud. She looked to Alex. "I am terribly sorry."



"Not your fault," he shook his head.



Lorelei looked at him apologetically anyway, and leaned in to kiss him softly. Then she turned away to let him compose himself.



Taylor had watched all of this. She had been almost entranced by the heavenly blonde, and found herself similarly awestruck by Lorelei -- who turned to her and smiled coolly. "You must be Taylor," she said.



Her jaw dropped. "You know who I am?"



"I know that he cherishes you, and that you are often on his mind and always in his heart. I'm sure that will always be so. You must be very special." She sounded utterly unbothered by it, perhaps even admiring. Then she turned away to meet the oncoming authorities.



Taylor slid up next to Alex and ventured a whispered question: "Which one of them is your girlfriend?"



His mouth twitched as his mind searched for an explanation, but eventually he came up with nothing. "I'm not entirely sure," he said finally.



She nodded, crossing her arms across her chest. Taylor looked over at Lorelei, and the battered thugs, and Alex. "You got way cooler after high school."



Alex frowned slightly. "Hey, I was always this cool, alright?"

Does she want more? I feel like I could do this more, but...



Alex let up in his oral affection, looking up from between her legs to see her fluttering eyes looking dreamily back at him. The succubus remained in much the same position as she'd been since he began: thighs spread, hips offered forward, and every other bit of her sunken into the plush lounge chair. He trailed tender kisses along her labia and the flesh around it, giving her a chance to compose herself. Lorelei's moaning subsided to whimpers, then finally to heavy breathing.



As with the first time they'd had sex, Alex lost track of time. Clearly, he'd been servicing her for a good long while, but the sun hadn't quite gone down yet. Something about looking at a clock at a moment like this seemed cheap... and again, he felt he could give her more. He was enjoying the hell out of it. Every inch of her felt wonderful, tasted wonderful. The scent of her filled his every breath. Her appreciative noises pulled on both his heart and his own desires.



Lorelei had orgasmed after the first few minutes, calling out joyously while her cunt became ever wetter and more enticing to Alex. It tightened around the fingers he'd put to work in tandem with his mouth. But after that, it seemed like she was cumming the entire time. Her euphoria rose and fell in intensity but never fully abated. Only now, in taking a break and removing his fingers to caress the backside of one thigh, did Alex find her growing calm again.



Their shared gaze held as Alex straightened some. His knees were beginning to get a bit sore, cushioned only by the living room carpet, but that seemed such a small price to pay for giving Lorelei such apparent pleasure. I can suck it up for awhile if she wants...



"More?" he asked softly.



Her bosom rose and fell heavily again, as if he'd somehow seduced her for the first time in a single word. Eventually, she reached out one hand to him, which he took in his to kiss her fingers. "Alex," she breathed out.



A single tear streaked out of the corner of her eye, down the side of her face. If he'd blinked, he'd have missed it, but he did not. It almost stopped his heart. "Lorelei?"



More silence. "Are you okay?" he asked. She nodded, and he said, "I will give you more, if you want it."



The words themselves elicited a groan from her as if he'd penetrated her. "No, master... I will always want more of this. So much more of this. Alex..." Her voice trailed off. Lorelei's free hand came down gently onto his face almost as if she were too weak to raise herself up far enough to do more. "I will never stop wanting this. Wanting you. This means so much. If you wait for me to tell you I have had enough, you'll be kissing me forever."



"I can think of worse fates," he grinned, though he shifted restlessly on his knees.



"No, don't tempt me." Lorelei shook her head as much to clear it as to communicate. "You are the master. You must decide. In this, for your own sake." She gestured for him to come closer. He rose up off of his knees -- grunting while he did -- allowing her to pull his face closer for a deeply appreciative kiss. She tasted herself and her own lusts upon his lips, becoming inflamed by it just as she knew it would.



"There'll be more than just this time," Alex promised.



"I know," she said, kissing him again. "I know. Master, I need you. I feel your own needs. I've felt them all this time. Let me relieve you," she pleaded softly.



"Twist my arm," he grinned. She immediately pulled off his shirt and he kicked off his shoes, but then Alex paused and drew back a bit. "Wait," he said. The sudden pleading look of desperation in her eyes could have broken his heart, and made him wonder if they were both in for just a fate. He sank back down to his knees. "I have to tell you something about today. Have to confess something, I guess."



"What could you have to confess to me?" Lorelei blinked.



"I didn't expect it," he began, "but I don't want you to... I don't want you to find out about it while we're, um..." He couldn't say "making love." Still wasn't sure if he could call it that (and what a silly turn of phrase, anyway). That was a two-way street, wasn't it? Didn't want to just call it fucking, though, or any other synonym that came to mind. "I don't want you to suddenly taste this on me," the young man finally managed.



Naughty glee spread across her mouth in a grin. "I felt you much of the day, Master."



He blinked. "Then you know?"



"Not specifics," she said, shaking her head. "But as you lust, I feel it. I told you. This is what sustains me. This, and pleasures of our flesh... yours much moreso than mine," the succubus added while trailing a tempting finger down his chest to his waistline. She started smoothly unfastening his belt with that single hand. "The ritual that binds us reinforces it. Your pleasures are mine. Your desires are mine. I want for you everything you want for yourself."



"That doesn't bother you?"



"It feels rather exhilarating, actually," she grinned.



"Lorelei, it was Rachel," Alex admitted as gently as he could. Best to be direct about it, he figured. "She showed up to talk to me at school. I think... I don't want you to think I haven't been sincere with you, because I'm so happy with you. But I don't want you to find out the wrong way that I really like her, too."



The raven-haired beauty before him shifted, raising herself up to bring her eyes closer to his. "You find the angel attractive?"



"I do."



"Then you know," she said matter-of-factly.



"Know what?"



"Know what I learned last night, but you hadn't consciously thought through. Probably because you have been so well distracted. Alex, this is no shock. Your desire for her courses through you, as does your desire for me."



"You don't sound mad," he ventured.



Her shoulders shrugged without much concern. Without even looking, her hand continued unfastening his pants. "I cannot say that I like her, because I do not. But your own desire for her is understandable. She is a very pretty thing. I would greatly enjoy ravishing her myself, though I expect that would be a very different game for me than for you," she smirked.



"Your lust for her is different than your lust for me in some ways, but also very similar. In some ways your desire for her is stronger, but the unknown always has that advantage."



Lorelei's eyes closed softly as she leaned in to kiss him. Alex accepted it, his heart soaring with surprised relief. He felt her grin as they kissed. When their lips parted, she said simply, "Never worry that I will be jealous of your desires. I want you to have her, too, Alex. If I can make that happen, I will."



Partial honesty isn't going to cut it here, Alex knew. It could still lead to pain later. "I think it's more than just lust."



"And that is different somehow from what you feel for me?" asked that seductive grin that brushed against his mouth. "I have felt much more than lust between my legs tonight. Much more than friendship." Her hands pushed his pants down off of his hips. "I would feel that again."



Later, Alex would wonder how she'd made things so smooth. It certainly couldn't have been his doing. He was on his knees, pants only lowered halfway down his thighs, while she lounged naked and waiting in the plush chair. But the next thing he knew -- literally in the blink of an eye -- he was fully naked, still kneeling before her spread legs, sinking his enlarged cock into her wet, yielding pussy.



She had crazy supernatural sex powers. That was all he needed to know. He gave it no more thought. What mattered was the glorious feeling of Lorelei as she welcomed him inside her. He reveled in the sexual beauty on display for him. She knew very well how gorgeous she was, and moreover she knew how to indulge Alex with her looks. The succubus stared back up at him as if similarly dazzled. For all his self-deprecation, he knew that look was genuine.



Though maintaining her control and composure, Lorelei was rapt in a similar enchantment. Her master was taking pleasure from her, and that was its own wonderful reward. He'd freely bowed his head to her sex in affection and thanks and a gesture of equality, all things she'd never had from a man. That act had only ever been a matter of seduction or desperation to please, never a show of anything benevolent -- no surprise given the company she kept, but the contrast was still striking. She kept a grip on her feelings, on her rising need to throw herself at him and declare every manner of loyalty, all in the name of giving him this moment that very plainly enthralled him.



They held one another's gaze even as they shared a growing, trembling climax. She exploded onto him just as he went over the edge, both looking on as they rode out their sexual high. He flowed into her for an intense, sustained rush, so long that both of them quietly noticed it, silently acknowledging it together but saying nothing to distract from the wonder. Their physical intimacy continued to grow.



"Thank you," he sighed with a satisfied grin.



"Yours for the taking," Lorelei responded simply.



"I'm tempted, but I have to move," Alex confessed. He pulled away, sinking backward onto the floor. "My knees are starting to hurt like hell."



"Oh." One eyebrow rose curiously, Lorelei crept out of the chair and began to crawl over to him like she was ready to eat him. He had no doubt that was on her mind. "All we need do is change positions. So many different ways..."



"Wait, no, no," laughed her vulnerable partner. "We've got things to do."



"Do we?" She loomed over him on her hands and knees now, her hair once more falling around him in an intimate black curtain around their faces. "Magnificent as this has been, you cannot possibly be satisfied with just one release. Not with me."



"Still. We need to get you clothes and stuff. Gotta work out how we're going to handle the rest of the world. I can't just hide you away as my naked sex slave forever."



"Master, one day, centuries from now, I will torment you with these silly things you have said to me while our bond was young. There will be great amusement at your expense."



Alex laughed happily, at his own expense, and then stopped short. "Wait, centuries?"



*



"I can't imagine what a house like this must cost," Alex blinked. He sat on his motorcycle with his feet on the pavement as Lorelei dismounted. She was clad only in a pair of sweatpants, sandals and his leather jacket. She could have ridden invisibly, said she didn't need a helmet, but Alex didn't want her wasting her power. He also didn't want to get pulled over.



"It sold for several million not long after prices fell across the city," came Lorelei's nonchalant response. She handed Alex's spare helmet back to him without looking.



His motorcycle was parked on a winding, hilly residential street. Before them the ground rose up to a large house, still catching the rays of the setting sun. The garage seemed to have been dug into the hill so as to eliminate the need for a steep driveway. The only other access to the house was the cobblestone steps that led up the hill to the front porch.



Normally, Alex was reluctant to leave his helmets clipped to his bike. Seattle's wealthy Magnolia neighborhood seemed like it might provide a decent exception to that rule, however. Everywhere he looked were homes that he figured would never be in his price range. The one before him, though, took the cake on this street. It may not have been the swankiest thing in the whole neighborhood, but the owner had clearly done well for himself... or herself.



"Is this yours?" he asked hesitantly.



"No. Though I could likely arrange something comparable. Alex," she said, tilting her head towards him to indicate a change of subject, "I don't know if you should follow me inside. It may not be pleasant in there."



He looked from her to the house and then to her again. She hadn't given much detail on this "errand" that they were on. Alex had intended to take her shopping for decent clothes within the boundaries of his budget, and he was willing to sacrifice for her. Lorelei's happiness was well worth ditching his plans for what remained of his disposable income.



Instead, she had simply said that she had resources of her own they could reclaim with relative ease. She hadn't articulated what those resources were. It occurred to Alex that he could've simply asked, but if she really wanted to tell him, she would've. The whole thing bothered him more and more on the ride over. He wanted to trust her, and was inclined to do so, but this was uncharted territory for them.



Many things, he had to concede, represented uncharted territory.



"Do you think it will be dangerous?" The house looked deserted, but the garage was closed. No telling if anyone was inside and just being very quiet.



Lorelei gave it a moment's genuine thought, but shrugged. "No. That is highly unlikely. But again, it may well be unpleasant."



"How so? You haven't told me what's going on."



Hesitantly, Lorelei said, "This is where I was when that priest and his men summoned me in their ritual. One moment I was here, the next was in a summoning circle. You know the rest," she said, looking down at the ground for a moment. "I do not look scarred to you, but I am."



Alex reached out to take her hand. She didn't flinch, but didn't really respond, either. "My feelings for you are genuine, Alex, but I am also not what I was before we met. The only way to explain it is that much of my... darkness was used to fuel the ritual that ultimately bound us. Just as the priest said. It is gone now, likely forever. Clearly that had some effect on my own personal power as well. And as happy as I may be to be with you, I must admit that I resent being reduced in such a way.



"Inside that house, I was not so restricted. I had been fulfilling my purpose when I was summoned."



"And you don't want me to see that."



"I am worried that it will come between us, yes."



"Maybe we need to confront your past, instead? At least in some way?" His suggestion was gentle, but he could see the way it made her jaw clench. "Do you miss it? You still regret things, don't you?"



"My emotions are mixed," she admitted. "You should not mistake my feelings for you as some window into my soul, Alex. I am freer now as your slave than I have ever been, and despite my loss of power that is precious to me. I am grateful to you, and I feel genuine loyalty. Yet I despise my weakness.



"I care for you. I mean no harm to those who are close to you -- your mother, friends, associates. Nor am I randomly cruel... but none of that makes me a nice person. I am not much like you."



Silence held between the two of them for a long moment. Alex nodded toward the house. "Show me," he said finally.



The pair walked up the cobblestone steps to the front door, each filled with their own trepidation but resolved to face it. The doorknob was one of those keyless entry sets that Alex had only seen in office environments. Lorelei punched in the correct combination and entered after they heard the door unlock.



Inside, Alex found vaulted ceilings and finely made wood paneling. Everything was quiet. The floors had new carpeting, the heater was on... and there was a faint, unpleasant smell even in the front door. Something akin to a nursing home.



"Feel free to take anything you like," Lorelei said absently. "I suspect it won't be missed." She wasn't especially loud, but she didn't whisper, either. Alex simply followed her through the entrance and foyer to a spacious and well-furnished living room. Lights gradually rose as she entered.



"Lots of nice artwork," Alex noted.



"Much of this is overpriced junk," she shrugged, looking the living room over. "What you see here is the decor of a man who wants expensive artwork simply to have it. This is not eclectic; this is collecting for appearances. There is no sense of his artistic tastes because he has none."



Alex sighed. "I'd never have known that. This is why I worry about boring you. You're way more sophisticated than I'll ever be."



"Don't doubt yourself. You are far more interesting than you realize. Ah." Lorelei stepped over to a black glass coffee table that had been pushed away from the couch.



On the coffee table was a small purse -- Alex figured it for an expensive designer piece, but he didn't really know these things -- along with a small, discarded black party dress. And stains. Dried, white stains stood out across the dress and the coffee table.



Alex didn't need much imagination to know what had gone on here. He considered that as Lorelei reached over for the purse, ignoring everything else, and double-checked its contents. That Lorelei slept with many other men was no secret. She had doubtlessly been as dirty and shameless with those other men as she'd been with Alex. Probably dirtier, he knew, considering his youth and inhibitions. But he hadn't really given it much thought.



She had been on her knees here before another man. Had him in her mouth, like she'd had Alex. For whatever reason, she hadn't consumed everything he gave up... but the evidence left behind didn't amount to as much as what she could normally draw out of Alex, and she could bring him off repeatedly without rest. It stood to reason that she did so with her previous partners, too. So either she had swallowed this man's semen, or accepted it on her skin, or some mixture of both.



He didn't stare. It didn't take but a moment to conclude all this. What did require a few seconds was the search through his feelings that the moment instigated. Lorelei turned, looked at him and maintained a poker face until he looked back at her and shrugged.



"Are you bothered by what you see?" she asked.



He paused, wanting to ensure he answered honestly, and shook his head. "No," he finally decided. "Not especially. I guess it's good to confront this, but no. I don't think I'm bothered."



"Being told and seeing for oneself are entirely different," Lorelei said, her voice still devoid of emotion. "I am, as I have told you, born to use the lusts of others against them. I am a true slut. Whore. Choose your term."



Again, Alex shook his head. "Don't," he told her softly. "I don't like those words. Not used in anything but fun. They aren't fair."



"Fair?"



"A whore's someone who provides sex for money. That could obviously be rough business and I know it chews people up but I'm not going to judge. I don't see the crime in that. And 'slut' is a double standard. Why's it okay for men to have many partners, but not women? That doesn't add up.



"I want to get laid a lot. Does that make me a slut? Maybe, but more to the point, should I be ashamed of it? And if I feel that way about myself, should I feel that way about others?"



Her stony expression softened. "And yet you worry that you are unsophisticated... I hope you are being honest with yourself."



"I think I am," he nodded. "I admit you've changed my expectations, but I've crushed on girls who've been through more than a couple boyfriends. I wasn't going to judge on that. I don't think I feel jealous here... I don't know. Is it bad that I don't want you to be with other men? Unfair?"



Lorelei shrugged. "Perhaps if we had to hold ourselves to strict standards. But we do not. I am not bothered, as I have said. You are the master." A faint glimmer returned to her eye, along with that wicked smile. "And I am your slut." She leaned in, kissed him on the cheek, and then her grim demeanor returned.



"There is more. You're sure you want to follow me?"



"I am," Alex affirmed.



She brought him through the living room to the staircase and began to ascend coolly. He followed, noticing the foul smells were getting stronger, but said nothing. They rounded the corner of the staircase, passed a bedroom furnished with everything but character -- probably a guest room, Alex guessed -- then a bathroom, then a room with nothing but a couple expensive exercise contraptions and a plasma television.The stench was getting stronger. Alex had all too good of a guess of what smelled so bad.



At the end of the hall were closed double doors. Lorelei reached for the doorknob, looked back to Alex with grim resolve, and then pushed the doors open.



Inside was a dark, spacious master bedroom and the overwhelming scent of human waste and decay. Alex thought instinctively of holding his breath, then realized that was pointless and unlikely to last long enough. Lorelei went in without any hesitation or reaction. Alex decided he'd have to just suck it up, and followed.



He found a light switch and turned it on. The bedroom had a high ceiling and lush carpeting. To one side was a desk and chair; another side held a walk-in closet with sliding mirror doors. The far wall from the entry was all glass, with a sliding door to the balcony. An open doorway led to a bathroom fit for a rock star.



The bed was king-sized, with dark blue curtains tied to the posts. Clothing was scattered around the foot of the bed, some of it on the floor as if it had been tossed aside for effect. Slacks, a man's dress shirt, a tie. Lacy red panties and a bra.



Lorelei strode past the bed on her way into the closet, coldly acknowledging none of it.



The body lay in the bed, covered only by a silk sheet. He didn't look like an old man, but he was clearly older than Alex. His face was so drawn and pale that it was hard to tell. Eyes closed. Blond hair. A couple days' stubble. No shirt. An empty Evian bottle under one still hand. The pillowcase was stained with sweat, but the sheet that covered him was stained darkly at his hips with blood and fouler stuff.



"I thought..." Alex mumbled, stepping closer. He was unsettled, repulsed and yet he couldn't look away. He knew from everything Lorelei had said that this must be some vile, awful man, but all Alex saw was someone who'd died in his apparent prime. "I thought they were supposed to waste away?"



"Usually," came her indifferent voice from inside the closet. "Some push themselves too far too fast. The most egotistical are sometimes quicker to their end than others. He was especially foolish. He heard bones begin to crack and tried to laugh it off. I had no reason to argue his choices."



"Oh my God," Alex breathed. It was a common enough joke -- "what a way to go," someone would say if this were on television. But all Alex could see was an ugly, slow death. The man must have lingered in pain for a long time.



"What... what did he do?" Alex finally managed to ask.



Lorelei stepped out of the closet. He didn't look back at her, but felt her hand on his shoulder and her voice at his ear. "This is Raymond Cordingly. His fortune is built directly out of the life's savings of others. He promised to shepherd them into a secure retirement and old age. The web of lies that he created and directed has left honest grandparents homeless and destitute. And by the time it all came to light, he had withdrawn from his company and arrayed such formidable legal defenses to his freedom and his fortune that your courts focused instead on his corporate dupes. Their involvement was comparatively minor and in some cases completely unwitting. Other accomplices escaped notice. Innocent workers lost their jobs to cover the cost of the company's legal concerns."



With that, she was gone. Alex didn't hear or feel her step away, but he knew he stood alone staring at Raymond's wasting face.



It was the sort of story that enraged him. He figured it would enrage any feeling person. But when Lorelei had spoken of her purpose and her victims, he had somehow imagined worse things. Murderers. Mobsters. Tyrants. Child molesters. Rapists. Not something like this.



Alex looked at the drawn, still face, and finally asked himself how stealing with lies and a smile and a contract was any better than doing it with a gun in an alleyway. A mugger might kill, but he might not... and either way, he wasn't likely to get away with the family home or anyone's college tuition.



"It would be a simple thing to transfer the bulk of his liquid assets to someplace accessible to you. He entrusted me with access. Concealing it would not be too difficult," Lorelei added from within the closet.



Alex blanched. Did she seriously want him to take this dead guy's dirty money? Was that what they came for?



Then the dead man coughed.



Alex jumped back in shock. "Lori?" Raymond rasped. His eyes fluttered open, not really tracking but clearly showing signs of life.



"Holy shit!"



Raymond gasped, winced, and looked around weakly. "Who... who are you? Oh, God, you have to help me. I can't get up. That bitch..."



Alex just looked at him in amazement. "You've been lying here like this since Monday?"



"What?" the other man croaked. "Look... I can't walk. You gotta call an ambulance for me."



Again, Lorelei stepped out of the walk-in closet. She was now dressed in designer jeans that looked painted onto her and a shimmering gray top under a matching blazer. Alex would have noticed how great she looked under almost any other circumstance. At the moment, though, he was simply too stunned.



Raymond's face twisted in an immediate rush of conflicting emotions. "Oh, God, Lori," he babbled. "Why did you... what..." Raymond babbled, then winced in pain. "Fuck, it hurts so bad. You hurt me so bad."



"I apologize, master," Lorelei said coolly to Alex. "I had thought this would be done by now."



"Master? What?" Raymond blinked. "Who the hell is this kid, Lori?"



"He is more of a man than you have ever been at any point in your misspent life."



"Have you been lying here since Monday night?" Alex said more firmly.



"Yes! Yeah, God," Raymond spat. "Something's wrong with my hips. Stuff feels broken, grinding. All I could reach was this water. Can't get to my phone. I called off the maid so Lori and I could... oh God. You gotta call me an ambulance." His voice was barely over a whisper. Desperation was the only thing giving him lucidity. "I thought I was going to die."



Lorelei turned to Alex and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Master, this is something I should finish," she told him gently. Alex and Raymond both realized that she already had a pillow in her hands. Neither of them had any illusions about what she meant to do with it.



"No," Raymond pleaded.



"Wait, wait," Alex said.



"It was his fate."



"Stop. Stop for just a minute." He looked at Raymond, then at Lorelei and back again, trying to think. The shock of Raymond's sudden awakening and the seriousness in Lorelei's eyes had Alex unsettled, to say the least.



"Man, don't let her—"



"Shut up!" Alex snapped. He ran his hands through his hair, turning away with his eyes wide. Then he turned around to face them both. "Lorelei, what happens when he dies?"



She just shrugged. "His soul descends into Hell."



"No, I mean the money. All that money."



"As I said, we can claim it if you wish. I was uncertain how you would feel about it, given your personal standards."



"Huh, you're damn right I've got standards," Alex huffed. "No, I don't want it. That's fucked up. It's not mine. What's gonna happen to it when he's found dead?" Alex shifted his attention to Raymond. "How much do you have in the bank?"



"I can get twenty million easily," Raymond said. "You can have all of it, just call an ambulance and don't—"



"Shut the fuck up! Just answer the questions, alright?" Alex was agitated, more afraid than intimidating, but Raymond wasn't in any condition to sort that out. "You're a finance guy. You've got a will, right? Something? What happens to your money when you die?"



Raymond's lower lip quivered. He looked between the shaking youth and the deadly cold seductress standing over him. "I don't... I didn't really give a shit," he explained. "I've got a sister. My mom. I guess they'll get some after the state sorts it out."



Alex's jaw dropped. "You guess? You do finance for a living and you don't make out a will?! Jesus," he fumed. He looked at Lorelei, whose face was a very strange blend of pleading sympathy for Alex and stone cold resolve for Raymond. "And all your investors?" Alex pressed, fighting to calm himself. "You live it up 'til you die and they just stay fucked?"



For a moment, it looked as if Raymond might try to talk his way through this. His lips twisted, eyes glancing around frantically as he tried to come up with something clever to say.



"That's it, right?" Alex asked Lorelei. "He just dies and nothing gets fixed?"



"My purpose here was punishment for his crimes, not restitution. That is not in my—"



"Nature, right," Alex said, cutting her off. He tugged on his own hair again, looking back down at Raymond. "How many investors did you have in your scam?"



"It wasn't a scam, I just—"



Lorelei's hand shot out at Raymond's throat. She pulled him up just far enough to demonstrate that she could do much worse. Even that was agonizingly painful on his hips. "Do not lie to him, worm," she hissed fiercely. Then she let him go. Raymond collapsed back into the bed, overcome with fear of the raven-haired demon.



Alex took a deep breath, held it and released, then did it again. He had to think. "How many investors. You were smart enough to pull this shit off. You had to have been keeping track of this shit. How many accounts were there? You've got files, right?"



Raymond looked only at the intimidating woman towering over him. "I-I didn't... I was worried about being subpoenaed. Search warrants."



"So you didn't keep anything at all? Not even just in case you had to cop a deal later down the line?"



"Answer him," Lorelei ordered.



"It's in a safety deposit box under a false name," Raymond conceded. "The media played it up, but I did... I bilked about fourteen thousand investors out of everything."



"How much are you worth?"



Raymond blinked. "That's not an exact thing."



"I know. You're a rich fucker, I'm sure most of it's in stocks and stuff. Give me a conservative ballpark figure, and don't bullshit me. How much are you worth if it means buying your life? Selling everything off, whether it came from this scam or legit stuff." Alex had learned just enough in a couple of economics classes to learn that it was all very complicated, and that the rich didn't operate like normal people.



"I could... I don't know..." Raymond thought frantically. "I could work up between eighty and maybe ninety million depending on how things sold."



"You said you could do twenty easily. Someone with that kind of money could have way more of a house than this. Isn't that a lot in liquid cash?"



"Not for someone who wants to be ready to flee the country and live in comfort on short notice," Lorelei noted.



Alex put his face over his hands, trying to think past Raymond's whimpering and labored breathing. Eighty million dollars, fourteen thousand accounts... It didn't divide out to a whole lot in the end. Better than nothing, for sure, but there had to be more. "Where's the rest of it?"



"I'm dying here! I can't put together a PowerPoint right now."



"Humor me."



Raymond made an exasperated noise. "Some of it got put into big bonuses for people who helped me... a lot of it was corporate profits. I can't draw it all out here."



"But you could draw it all out for the Feds, right?"



"What?"



"You're going to turn yourself in, Ray," Alex growled, stepping closer to the bed. "When you get to the hospital, you're going to get on the phone with whoever you've got to and start selling off every fucking thing you own to give as much back to your investors as you possibly can, and if that's only a few grand for each of them that's still more than they've got now, right?



"And while you're doing that, you're going to call up the FBI and confess everything to them. You're going to connect all the dots and you're going to do your god damned best to make sure as much money as possible goes back to the people you fucked."



Lorelei watched without betraying emotion, but Alex wasn't looking at her. His eyes were fixed on Raymond, who was breathing heavier in both fear and hope. "You're going to call for help for me?"



"Yes," Alex said, "and you aren't going to say a god damn thing about us being here. Make up whatever shit you've got to, I don't care, but I'm going to read in the papers starting fucking tomorrow about your amazing change of heart. And if I don't, you're dead. Got me?"



Raymond nodded, weakly, and couldn't help but glance up nervously at Lorelei. "I have already done this to you," she said simply. "I can and will find you and end you in any way he wishes."



"Sure as hell won't be as fun as the way you almost died," Alex added. "Where's the phone?"



"It's in my pants," Raymond winced. The slight alleviation of his panic only left him more sensitive to his actual pain. "Please hurry. I've probably got an infection."



Alex grabbed the trousers at his feet and threw them onto the foot of the bed without thinking about it. There was a slick stain of... something along the front. He blinked.



"Master," Lorelei said, her voice showing her first visible emotion besides anger since she came into the room. Her expression had softened somewhat, altered by some mix of guilt, sympathy and perhaps embarrassment. "Let me do this."



"It's fine," Alex said, shaking his head. He checked the pockets and found the cell phone. "Do we have everything you need here? I don't want to flip out, but this shouldn't wait and I don't want anything from this piece of shit. Not his money, not his toys... nothing."



"I came primarily for what is in my purse. There is also a car in the garage that belongs to me. It was not purchased with his money. I believe you would approve if I explained," she added slowly.



"It's fine. Nothing else? Lots of incriminating clothes."



"They will never be traced to me, master."



Alex paused, nodded, and then stopped himself from touching the cell phone. He tossed the pants at Raymond. "Call for help yourself," he frowned. "I don't want to worry about fingerprints." He waited until Raymond dug out the phone on his own and dialed 911. "Let's get out of here," he told Lorelei.



Raymond dialed frantically. He watched as the hottest thing he'd ever scored in his charmed, ruthless life picked up a beat-up leather jacket from off the floor and obediently followed some holier-than-thou kid she called "master," of all things, out of his room and out of his life.



Everything below his navel radiated in five kinds of awful pain. He certainly hoped she was out of his life.



Five minutes later, Alex and Lorelei were up the street standing next to her parked car and his motorcycle. They watched as a fire truck and an ambulance arrived, firefighters rushing up the steps to get inside. Other than carrying out Alex's wish to stay and observe, neither had said much.



"Lorelei," Alex said, as the firefighters looked for a way into the house, "are you okay? I should've... I should've asked before now. I'm so sorry."



"You have nothing to apologize for, master," Lorelei said. Her arms were crossed over her chest. She seemed lonely and cold.



"That doesn't sound like such a term of affection now," he observed quietly.



She looked at him, her face guilty and worried. "No," she protested, "I just -- if anyone should apologize, it is probably me. I should have told you what to expect. I regret that you were put through this. I should have..."



He waved it off. "I pushed you, and I didn't ask for an explanation. It's not your fault."



Her gaze fell to the pavement. "I might have volunteered the information."



"Why didn't you?" he asked, venturing to put a hand on her shoulder. She clutched at it without looking at him.



"Affection is... not an emotion I am accustomed to. Compassion is even more alien. I am not sure I recognize it in myself, or know how to follow it."



"You were made to punish people," Alex said.



"I was. What you did in there I... I would not have thought of that. The victims were not my concern. I do not know if I feel appeased for this, or merely that I am satisfied that you are satisfied." She looked to him and shrugged. "You are a good person, Alex. I am not."



"Do you want to be?"



"I don't know," she answered honestly. "I want to make you happy."



"What I want is to make you happy. As much as I can."



"I know, Alex," she nodded softly. They both heard the paramedic crew break out their gurney and start hustling it up the steps, which drew their attention for a moment. "You have done a very good thing here. All that I was interested in out of Raymond Cordingly was another soul bound for Hell."



He couldn't tell if that was a confession or simply an observation, but he squeezed her shoulder comfortingly anyway. Then his eyes widened. "Oh my God," he blinked. "Lorelei, is that -- is that going to be a problem? I mean did I just cheat some demon?"



"That would depend on your definitions of cheating and fairness," Lorelei said, her voice stronger with the shift in topic. "Hell would see it that way, certainly, but only because that would work to its advantage. The Hosts would think very differently."



"Yeah, but is someone going to come after us?"



Lorelei just shrugged, eliciting a groan from Alex in response. She turned to look at him. "Would that knowledge have changed your actions?"



"What do you mean?"



"Cordingly's victims will likely get some measure of their life's savings back. Other thieves who escaped scrutiny may now face punishment. Cordingly may even make good on his life with this second chance and find redemption. Unlikely, but possible. Nothing in my experience with you leads me to believe that you would have turned from the chance for all that because you might incur someone's displeasure, regardless of who or what they may be."



Alex thought about it for a moment, staring at the house without really looking at it. "I guess maybe you're right."



"I am," she said coolly. "You are a brave man, Alex. My feelings for you may be conflicted in many ways, but that is something about you that I adore without reservation."



He blushed uncontrollably, but resisted the urge to hide or turn away. It wasn't like she wouldn't guess how he felt, anyway. "Still," he frowned, "I should have thought of you before putting you in the middle of it if there is a problem."



"I would have done as you wished regardless."



"Lorelei. You're my friend. I don't want to do anything to hurt you or put you at risk. If I'm about to, you need to tell me. Okay?"



"As you wish," she smiled quietly. "Master."



He grinned back at her, blushing again and unable to help it. Alex looked her up and down. "You look really good in that outfit," he said.



"I am glad that it pleases you. There were clothes of a different sort in the house that may have also pleased you greatly, but I would just as soon burn everything that I wore for that man."



"Well, as long as we can replace it. You, um... appear to have a lot of money of your own." He glanced at the hardtop Lexus convertible behind them.



"What is mine is quite literally yours. If you are my friend, you will not be shy about that," she grinned. "I suggest that we take the car to go shopping rather than your motorcycle. There are side streets where we can park it where it will not be bothered."



"It's too bad it isn't warmer. Putting the top down might be fun."



Lorelei's grin shifted as stepped in closer to Alex and put a hand on his groin. "I can keep you warm easily enough, master," she smiled.

COMMENTS

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DarkxSidexOfxThexMoon
23:04 Apr 14 2011

Wow..and it keeps getting better..

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NoctusAngelusProcella
17:02 Apr 18 2011

wow awaiting more :)

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POST COMMENT

Chapter 7



Chicks Dig Me



"Ah, yeah, can you please put the cell phone away?"



"What? It's not bothering anybody!"



"It's bothering me, so please step outside. I shouldn't have to ask twice, and this isn't high school." Professor Lyons was a slight man, older and soft-spoken. His comb-over, high pants and buttoned-to-the-collar short sleeve shirt gave him the look of a NASA engineer from the early sixties.



The muscular youth grunted in disgust. His phone was still flipped open, and he was still texting. "Man, people keep sayin' that shit here."



"What, they keep having to remind you you're not in high school anymore? There's a shock," Alex snorted. He sat in the next aisle of desks over, just one seat back.



Glaring at Alex, the other student loomed out of his desk to use his greater size to advantage in an attempt to intimidate. "Oh, you want some of this?"



"I want better dialogue out of you first," Alex remarked dryly.



"Please leave my class," Professor Lyons said with a more firm tone. He clearly wasn't big on confrontations like this, but after three classes of obnoxious behavior from the guy, he couldn't ignore it anymore. "I'm going to have you dropped from the roster. There's no more reason for you to stay."



"I need this class!" the student roared. Lyons instinctively took a step back.



"You could always transfer across town," Alex offered.



The offending student turned on Alex. "Fuckin' little shit, you want a piece of me?"



"No, I want you to leave. We all paid to be in this class." As he spoke, he saw Professor Lyon getting on the phone at the front of the classroom. He was doubtlessly calling security. Alex remained in his seat. Better keep T-Mobile Boy distracted so Lyons doesn't have to deal with him, he thought. Probably took everything the poor guy had in him to go this far with it. That said, Lyons had stepped up to the problem now, and Alex felt a need to help deal with it.



"I don't see nobody else complaining." T-Mobile Boy waved his hand around. Surely enough, no one else had said anything, but they were all watching the train wreck unfold.



"Well, clearly I'm the only one dumb enough to try to use words with you," Alex shrugged, "but that doesn't really make much difference."



"You wanna go, asshole? I'll tear your fuckin' head off and shit down your neck!"



"No," Alex said, doing his best to stay steady and calm. He kept his hands flat on the desk to prevent them from trembling. However, his helmet was in easy reach, which would make a decent weapon if this did get crazy. "I want you to leave so we can finish class. This isn't high school."



"Mother fucker!" T-Mobile boy roared, throwing up both his hands and then hurling his cell phone to the ground. It smashed into a dozen pieces.



Alex looked down at it, then up at him. He couldn't resist: "You broke your little phone," he deadpanned.



The face in front of him twisted in rage. "Punk ass faggot bitch, Imma break you if I see you outside!"



"I'm not going to get in fights outside at lunch. That's childish. This is a college."



T-Mobile Boy's muscles flexed and his arms waved around in building anger. "You better fuckin' walk the fuck away from me," he demanded, "or—"



"If you were going to attack me, you'd have done it already. And then you'd be arrested, and probably go to jail and get bounced out of school altogether. Clearly you aren't that stupid. Just leave. Nobody here cares."



There was a long moment in which T-Mobile Boy made a show of trying to restrain himself. Alex sat through it, mainly wanting to drag this out until campus security got there, but he needn't have worried. The other student finally turned back to his desk, grabbed his knapsack and -- after shoving his textbook and notebook off his desk -- began to walk out. Professor Lyons was already off the phone and conveniently several steps away from the door.



When the storm had passed, the professor took a long, deep breath and then slowly released it to steady himself. He wasn't the only one. Finally, he turned back to face the class, specifically Alex. "Folks, things like that really shouldn't happen here. But if they do, you need to let me handle it."



Alex held up his hands apologetically. "I'm sorry, professor."



Lyons took another deep breath and shook his head. "That's alright, just... don't do it again," he said. With that, campus security arrived, providing another brief interruption.



As they talked, Alex thought to himself, I've seen that dipshit's girlfriend. Morons like him don't deserve hot ass like that. I should find her and fuck her brains out. His mind was flooded with the image of her bent over the hood of her car, one leg held in the air by Alex as he took her from behind. She might decide she could go out and find someone better after she's had a good...



...holy shit, why am I thinking like this?



*



School was easier than work had been the day before. That was a bit of a surprise, given that there were dramatically more young, attractive women on campus than there were in the office -- perhaps not per capita, but certainly in raw numbers. There wasn't the air of formality here, either, nor a business casual dress code. It was an overcast morning -- Seattle often was by late September -- but it was warm enough that there were still summer fashions to be seen and enjoyed.



That said, Alex was at least capable of thinking about things other than what the women around him were wearing, how much fun it would be to crawl all over them and so forth. He was still getting stared at and unnecessarily bumped into. He was getting that even now as he left his philosophy class -- where two different girls just had to tell him that his dealing with the loudmouth had been really hot -- and wandered over to the Student Center to kill the next hour between classes. Clearly, he was still catching many an eye, but now it was easier to get over.



He had to chalk it up to the marathon of supernaturally powered sex he'd just had. Alex had lost track of all the orgasms Lorelei had given him last night, let alone the pair of times she'd gotten him off this morning. It had certainly done a lot to clear his head and relieve stress. Amid everything else in his mind was a profound feeling of gratitude for all that...



...but also a sense of trepidation about where it was all going.



"I know you had something to do with that," he had said to Lorelei before he left. He was dressed, busy cleaning up from breakfast, and utterly mortified.



"With what?"



"My mother," Alex frowned sourly.



"Oh. Yes. Perhaps a little. Don't tell me you don't like how she looks."



"That's not -- that's not the point! Just because I like something doesn't mean I want it!"



Lorelei's mouth spread into a slow smirk, and she said, "I think what you mean to say is that just because you want something doesn't mean you'll take it. I know very well what you want, master. More than you'll admit to yourself."



Alex's jaw clenched. He didn't want to be mad at her. Didn't want to have a hostile relationship. But this...



"Alex," Lorelei ventured, "I have not harmed your mother in any way, nor done anything to her to which she would strongly object. You wanted her to ignore my presence. In arranging this, she does fall somewhat under the sway of my powers, and that has some... side effects. But as I have said, she is unharmed in any way. Like you, she's a good person. In fact, as your mother, I have her to thank for everything you are and have done.



"She is fitter now. More confident. And yes, as you noticed, sexier." Lorelei just had to dab teasingly at the corner of her mouth with one finger. "She seems quite happy."



Fuming a bit, Alex pressed, "She wouldn't object strongly?"



Lorelei tilted her head thoughtfully. "Like anyone, Michelle would doubtlessly not appreciate being deceived or manipulated, but... I have every reason to believe that if our situation were brought out into the open for her, she would eventually come to terms. At worst, she might be a bit shocked or embarrassed at what has occurred, but she would adjust without even slight trauma. I believe she would even be happy for you."



They looked at one another for a long, tense moment. He didn't seem any more at ease. Lorelei's own confident demeanor faded a bit until she finally said in a soft, calm yet almost pleading voice, "I cannot lie to you, master."



That cracked Alex's anger. He sighed, trying to release the rest. "You keep calling me that, but I don't really feel like I have a whole lot of control here."



Her sly, seemingly affectionate smile returned, and she reached out to caress his cheek. "You offered trust and allowed me to keep some secrets. You had to know I'd be at least a little naughty." Before he could open his mouth to speak, Lorelei asked, "Master, will you be late to your first class?"



Her question had him headed out the door, of course. Despite his overwhelming desire to drag her upstairs and fuck her senseless until she had confessed whatever she had done (or, part of him wondered, simply make her cum until she said, "You're welcome"), his mind screamed at him that he needed to hang onto some normalcy in his life. He couldn't spend all day every day impaling his willing partner -- though, given her ability to keep him going, he couldn't really articulate why not.



No. There was Lorelei, and despite how real she might be, there was also reality. Alex needed reality. He needed to stay grounded.



He needed to tell that thin, brown-eyed brunette with the ponytail behind the snack bar that she was smoking hot, and that he looked for her every time he came in, and that if she thought he was being creepy he was really sorry and could think of a half-dozen great ways to make it up to her.



Stop it.



He paid for his breakfast sandwich and soda without saying much to her, though it was weird how she seemed happy to see him and never broke eye contact until he walked away. Alex wandered outside and found an open spot at a table alone. He doubted it would be hard to find a stranger who'd welcome him to her table, but even that creeped him out a bit.



Someday, he might get used to pretty women fawning over him like this. He might even get to like it. No, he had to admit, he would definitely like it. But Alex didn't want it to go to his head or begin to think that he was entitled to that sort of attention because he was somehow inherently awesome. The fact was, it was all just because he'd had a run-in with the supernatural...



...and, as Lorelei had warned him last night, he might well have more.



That was an unsettling thought. He had no idea who those people who'd kidnapped her and Rachel were, and Lorelei didn't seem to know, either. At the very least, she hadn't brought the subject up. But what if it happened again? She was weaker now than before. What if there were others who knew how to abduct angels and demons? Wouldn't she be more vulnerable than she had been when it first happened?



What if being with her endangered his mother? Or his friends?



He was still getting used to Lorelei, and that was a secret, one-on-one arrangement. It couldn't last like that. He couldn't do that to her. If they were really going to be... friends, at least, she had to be able to come out in the open. Do things in public with him. Meet his friends. Meet Mom.



None of them would want him to have to hide anything. Oh, he doubted that he'd be telling his friends about the whole demon-sex-slave thing, of course, but they should at least know he had a... girlfriend? Friend with (astounding) benefits? Sex demon?



I should just tell them the truth and then let them figure out I'm not fooling, he mused, but that wasn't practical at all.



Sticking his head in the sand was similarly impractical.



He pulled out his cell phone, checked the time, and then made a call. As he waited for a connection he spotted a rack containing various flyers and campus announcements. It included a copy of the current course schedule. Being only a week into the school year, still early enough to petition for changes. He grabbed one and started methodically going over his options.



The other end of the phone picked up. "Your mom."



"No, your mom."



"What's up, Alex?"



"How much does it cost to enroll at that kung fu school you've been going to, Drew?"



"Hundred twenty-five a month, plus you gotta buy gear. But you can go almost every night of the week if you want. Why, are you finally thinking of going?"



"Yeah." That price would hurt. He could cover it for at least a couple months at the expense of the new computer he'd been saving for... but this was too important.



"Good. What changed your mind?"



"I, um... kinda got into a scuffle the other night while I was out alone, and I realized what an incompetent 'tard I am."



"You okay?"



"Yeah, I'm fine. I just got a little shoved around, but they won't be bothering me again. Close call, though, y'know? Kind of thing that makes you think."



"Well, you know nobody turns into an instant bad ass overnight, right? I mean that takes years. If ever."



"I hear you. What's the address and when's a good time to go by?" He jotted down the details, said thanks, and hung up. Then he turned back to the course schedule.



Life had gone crazy, and would with all likelihood continue to do so. Lorelei may have been bound to protect him, but he had no interest in hiding behind her. Moreover, he had no interest in her coming home one day to find him carved up and stuffed in the refrigerator because he filled the role of "helpless love-interest."



*



"You want to add three classes to your load," the heavyset counselor said without much interest. Her jaw was propped up on her hand with her elbow on the desk, looking down at the form in front of her.



"Yes, ma'am."



"You want Intro to Administration of Justice, Crisis Intervention, and First Aid/CPR."



Alex nodded patiently at her thrilling demonstration of reading comprehension skills. Then he realized she couldn't see him anymore than he could see her eyes. All he saw was her mop of ragged, curly black hair. "Yes, ma'am," he said.



"And you've already got a full class load. More than a full class load," she noted. He wasn't even entirely sure she was awake. Her eyes didn't seem open, and besides the way her head bounced up and down slightly as she spoke, what with her jaw being held up by her hand and all, she hardly moved.



"I filled out the petition form there. I swung extra units last year, too, and I kept my GPA up with that. Dean's list. And none of these classes conflict with my current schedule," Alex explained in a helpful, polite tone.



"Are you switching to a major in Administration of Justice?"



"Um. Not really, no." In point of fact, his major was undeclared. As a kid, Alex dreamt of becoming a cop, but long discussions with several veteran cops on the topic of constantly dealing with human misery had turned him from that. He had toyed with the idea of law school once, but then Keating & Rose made him think twice about the lawyer's life. Most recently, the idea of being a high school teacher had some appeal, but Lorelei and the affect her presence in his life had on him and women around him killed that idea entirely. He wanted to avoid underage girls at all costs for his own good as well as theirs.



"This represents a serious increase in your class load."



"I can handle it," Alex nodded. "And First Aid isn't even a full course."



Without moving anything but her right hand and arm, the counselor reached for a stamp, pushed its ugly, red "Denied" imprint onto his form, then held out the form. She didn't look up.



Stunned at her complete disregard, Alex took the form back -- he didn't even know why he needed it now -- and wandered out of her cubicle.



Back in the counseling lobby, Alex wondered what to do. That whole "meeting" had seemed incredibly rude. He wasn't even sure why she saw him. Was that old crank trying to keep up some sort of stats on how many students she met with? Was there some other counselor who might actually, perhaps, counsel him?



Alex decided it was worth a shot. He got back into the queue of students waiting at the front counter of the counseling office. The line was at least moving at a decent clip for once... but he wasn't sure if it would move fast enough. Alex kept his eye on the staffers behind the counter.



Eventually, he spotted a young Asian woman working on a computer at a "closed" window behind the counter. She was cute, too. After checking the time on his cell phone, he decided to go for broke. Alex left the line and approached her. "Hey, sorry to bother you," he smiled softly and trying not to stare down the small opening in her mostly-modest shirt, "but can I just ask you a quick question?"



"Sorry," she said without looking up from her paperwork right away, "this window's... ah..." she looked up at him, and found herself smiling back shyly. "Hi," she said.



"Hi," he said. Holy shit, is this happening again? He wondered. Maybe it'll help? "Wow, you've got really pretty eyes."



"Oh, do I?" the woman blushed, and looked away. Then she shrugged and admitted, "Contacts."



"That color really works for you," Alex pressed on anyway, holding her gaze. "You've got good taste."



"Thank you."



"So, um... Ugh. Sorry to be all creepy like that, I totally apologize. Way inappropriate."



"Oh, no, it's not creepy," she said, still blushing and now pulling shyly on a lock of hair. "What can I do for you?"



"Well, I just saw a counselor for a course change, and she didn't even listen to me before stamping denied on my form here." Alex held up the form to show her. "Is there someone else I can see about that?"



"Really? Hm," the girl frowned. She took the form from him and looked it over for a moment. "She didn't even talk to you?"



"Not so much. Didn't even look at me."



"Huh," the girl said. She glanced up at Alex, blushed again, and then turned to her computer with the form in hand. Alex watched as she quickly called up his student record, and then switched to a database screen with lots of numbers and letters in codes he couldn't understand and began typing. "Let me see if I can help you with that," she mumbled as she worked.



Alex's jaw dropped. Was she seriously going to--?



"There you are," she said quietly, "your course changes are approved. But, oh, darn," she added as she promptly put his denied request form straight into the shredder, "I guess I must have misplaced your form somewhere. Oops. I'm such a dingbat," she smiled.



"Wow," he breathed.



"Did you want a print-out of your new schedule?"



"Sure?"



"Not a problem," she muttered again. "Lemme just make a note here. Done. Okay, here you go. Please let me know if you need anything at all. I'd be glad to help you."



His class schedule now bore the handwritten note: "Theresa. Call me. 555-4689."



Alex stared at the note wistfully as he exited the counseling office. She was really cute. But did she seriously want him that badly, that quickly? Maybe not. He realized that it probably really was that easy to get away with such shenanigans in the counseling office. But to just throw it out there like that... was she looking for a wild fling? Something serious? He could go for the one, he realized, but not the other.



"Hello, Alex," a sweet, almost musical voice called out. He looked up, completely bewildered, and saw an angelic blonde standing in front of him. She wore a white dress, equal parts innocence and whimsy. Sunlight broke through the overcast skies to shine down on the exact spot where she was standing, illuminating her beauty and her smile.



"Rachel?" Alex blinked.



Her face was a heart achingly lovely picture of warmth, and kindness, and all that was good... right up until it twisted in a disgusted scowl. "Oh good Lord," she burst out loudly, "you stink of that cheap, nasty slut!"



Passersby turned their heads. Alex just stood there, mouth agape. "What kinda moron cheats on a babe like her?" someone muttered.



"...Hello, Rachel," Alex managed once he got hold of his wits again. "How are you?"



"I was fine until I was overwhelmed by the stench of whore-vagina."



Alex became aware of the dozens of eyes on them and the mumblings of "jackass," "loser," and, "I never understand why hotties hook up with such douchebags." He glanced around, then offered her his hand. "I've been really hoping to see you again. Can we go somewhere and talk?"



Rachel looked at the hand like he'd just pulled it out of a toilet. "Go," she waved, "I'll walk with you, just... go."



They wandered a moment until they found a tree to sit under. Alex shook his head, amazed at the way he reacted to her. He felt an instant emotional connection, one that was just as quickly thrown into chaos as it was formed. Just looking at her made him long for her approval, her companionship, intimacy... and here she was, making an obvious point of sitting upwind of him.



"I was so proud of you yesterday." The disappointment in her voice was palpable. "I mean, even after all that had just happened, you got up and went to work, and I thought everything was well, but... Look at you. I'll bet every moment you've been home alone with her you've been putting your..." she waved her hand as if fighting for the right word, "penis into her, haven't you?"



He bit his tongue. "I'm glad to see that you're okay," Alex said, hoping to shift the subject for just a moment. "I really wanted to talk to you more before you left."



"Sure you did," Rachel frowned.



"Hey, I held out until last night!" Alex finally shot back. "She's been wrapping people around her finger for like two thousand years. I'm a single nineteen-year-old guy. What did you think was gonna happen when you sent me home with her?"



The angel inhaled sharply and looked away as if he'd slapped her. "I'm sorry," Alex found himself pleading, "I'm so sorry. I don't want to yell at you. It's just... yes, I slept with her, alright?" He bowed his head. "I slept with her, and before I did I was really freaked out over what might happen. But now I don't know why I should even feel bad about it except that... except that it makes you unhappy. And it's not even like I really know you or owe you anything," he mumbled.



Silence fell between the two for a moment. They both looked down at the ground awkwardly. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Rachel finally conceded with a small voice. "I suppose it doesn't do any real harm... even if you're probably bound to do it again," she ventured sullenly. Alex's eyes widened a bit as he shrugged in admission, to which Rachel just turned her head, nodded, and continued another long and uncomfortable moment of silence.



"She said it's not like heaven looks down on sex if that's all it is," Alex muttered. "And you both told me the bond means she can't lie to me."



"It doesn't. Not really. Not if you aren't hurting people or, well, betraying someone."



"Do you feel betrayed?" Alex asked. Her breath caught, and he looked at her with curiosity mixing into his reflexive feelings of contrition. Then his brow furrowed. The ritual was weaker on her, he knew, but maybe it wasn't entirely ineffective. Either way, she was an angel. Lying probably wasn't in Rachel's skill set. Maybe being so direct was a little harsh on her. "Does that question make you uncomfortable?"



"Yes," she nodded. "This whole issue makes me uncomfortable."



"You don't have to answer that. I'm sorry I asked. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. Whatever's going on between Lorelei and I is just -- weird. I think it'll always be weird. But I've told her and I'll tell you that I don't want to hurt anybody. We're just trying to get along when everything between us is bound to be weird."



"You haven't hurt anybody," Rachel almost whispered. "I guess what goes on between you and... her is just between you and her."



"I'm really glad to see you, Rachel," Alex gently tried again.



She nodded. "It's good to see you," came her hesitant response.



"Did you say you saw me go to work yesterday?"



"Yes."



"And you've found me here. But you didn't know about Lorelei and I until just now. Have you been watching me somehow?"



Rachel nodded, her brow furrowed. "I can see you much of the time, but not when you're with... her." There was less venom in her voice, but the topic was still tender. "I suspect it has something to do with the ritual and the bond interacting with our rather polarized natures."



"Are you still weakened by the ritual, too?"



Again, she nodded. "My strength returns slowly. The Hosts have said something about needing to balance the evils done to me with acts of good."



"Is that the other angels? I thought they were supposed to help you break free of the ritual?"



"Freeing me might also free her, which would create complications," Rachel shrugged. "I'm not sure if they even know how to do that, though. When I spoke with my peers there was a distance. No harmony, no concord."



"You said you were diminished. Wouldn't that be part of the spell?"



She shook her head. "No. I felt like they were standoffish somehow. Like they were cutting me out. I feel as if they don't know what to do and are afraid to admit it." There was a hint of bitterness and hurt in her voice. Alex reached out to hold her hand, and this time she allowed it.



"I'm sorry," he said. Then, hoping a change of subjects might lighten the mood, he asked, "So you've been watching me?"



"Yes. I have been appointed your new guardian angel, for whatever I'm worth as such."



"Wow. That's nice. Most people don't get to meet theirs." As he watched her face, he grew a touch suspicious. "Does everyone have one?"



"More or less, yes. It's not a one-to-one ratio, though, and protection can be lost."



"But you're my new one? Who was my guardian angel before?"



"His name is Sean. He's... kind of a pussy. He quit."



"He quit?!"



"Abandoned his post. Chickened out. Buggered off."



"When did that happen?"



Rachel struck the ground and looked up into Alex's eyes, forcing herself to keep her voice even despite her open bitterness. "Right when he followed you into that chapel and saw a fellow angel bound, tortured and facing rape and enslavement."



"Oh my God," Alex breathed.



"Yup."



"I'm so sorry."



"For what? You saved me." It seemed to be the first positively note she had struck since she first said hello to him. "I owe you my life."



"So you volunteered to be my guardian angel?" he smiled.



"No. I wanted to, but I'm not exactly at my best. I wanted you to have someone who was stronger. I argued for that, even. The Hosts decided that I was the most appropriate choice despite my weaknesses."



"I'm flattered."



"I wish you had received someone better."



"I want you."



Rachel's eyes flashed at that, and she gasped just a little, but held it short. "Um," she stammered, "you said that you, ah, wanted to talk to me?"



Is she blushing? Alex thought in amazement. He hadn't said anything flirtatious, he thought. Didn't really mean anything by it. This conversation had gone from him not knowing how to handle her disgust to the both of them now gripped with sudden shyness.



"Two things, really. The first -- those guys who abducted you. I know they're dead, but do you know if you're at risk of that happening again? Are there others? Lorelei didn't really talk much about it. She just kind of warned me that I might have to face that sort of danger again."



"She's not wrong about that," Rachel conceded. "But no, I don't know about those men. This was as much a shock to me as it was to her. I have asked the Hosts. They didn't have much to tell me."



"So, what, angels just go missing and nobody goes looking for them?"



She responded with a troubled look before she spoke. "I am learning to see my peers in something of a new light through all of this," she confessed, carefully choosing each word. "It may simply be that my faith is being tested. I don't know. At any rate, it is difficult for those on my side of things to get answers out of men who've already been sent straight to Hell. I may have been a bit hasty in destroying them and that chapel."



"You had been through an awful lot. I don't think anyone could blame you. Still, I think it would be good to look for answers to this."



"You have to be careful, Alex. I would certainly advise you to keep a low profile. Others in your position might not think twice before... before playing rashly with their apparent fortunes."



"That brings up the other thing I wanted to ask you about," Alex said. "I'm not really sure how I can ask this. I'm not... I'm not a pig who doesn't respect women or something..."



Rachel squeezed his hand and gave a little smile. "It's okay. You can trust me. You'll have me watching you a lot from now on. Creepy, I know," she jested.



"All the time?"



"No, not all the time. Certainly not when you're with... her. And I imagine that might be much of the time. But not constantly, regardless. I will be watching frequently enough that I should know what goes on in your life."



"...and I'll get to see you in person again, right?"



She smiled, again somewhat shyly. "Yes. Sometimes."



"I would really like that."



"You were going to ask me something obviously very awkward and potentially explosive," she observed.



He blinked. "I'm. Wow. Uh, I'm... apparently becoming irresistible to women whom I find attractive." Rachel snorted out a laugh, and covered her mouth with her hand, and Alex continued sheepishly but quickly so as to get it all out. "Lorelei keeps telling me I can and should sleep with whoever I want to and obviously I'm very tempted to take her up on that as long as I'm not hurting anybody but I don't want to wind up in Hell. And I don't want to make you mad," he added without even thinking about it.



Rachel snorted again, and then laughed openly at him. "You worry a lot, don't you?"



"I'm serious! I think I might go insane."



"Who says you're not already insane?" the blonde giggled. "You're going around having conversations and sexual congress with beings not of this world."



"Okay, don't fuck with me like that, am I going nuts?"



"No," she giggled more. "No, you're not crazy." Eventually, Rachel composed herself. "You haven't done anything wrong so far."



"You totally blew up at me not ten minutes ago!"



"That's... that's different," she said, waving a dismissive hand. "I mean I'm not entirely happy you're fooling around with that hussy, but I... understand?" Alex waited while she searched for words. "You have a good heart. You're a good person with good instincts. And what she has said to you isn't a lie. I don't think you're going to hurt anyone, Alex. You've established your boundaries with her, right?"



"I think so. I keep thinking so. Maybe I need to be a little more explicit."



Rachel nodded emphatically. "You're the master in this relationship, Alex. I know you want to be nice, but even diminished and bound as she is, she could be dangerous. But she's in your power and it's not like that's alien to her, and things are going to be that way for a long, long time, so don't let her run you around. If you think something's really wrong, it probably is."



"You can't just give me an actual no-go list? I've already gotten the impression from all this that I can't exactly take the Bible or religious figures literally."



Her mouth opened, then promptly closed. "I cannot speak on that."



"Of course not," Alex nodded with a shrug.



The angel's eyes turned apologetic, and she squeezed his hand again. "I'm not mad if you're having sex, Alex," she said finally. "Not if it's a little or a lot. You've got good instincts, and like you said, you don't want to hurt anyone. If you start going down the wrong path, I'll know sooner or later, and you and I don't have the usual guardian angel relationship. I'll show up and tell you."



"You'll come kick me in the balls?"



"I can't hurt you."



"What if I tell you to?"



"Maybe. I don't know. We'll cross that bridge if we ever get to it, but I think I can trust you."



They shared a long, quiet look at one another. "I'd really like to see more of you, Rachel," Alex said softly.



She merely shrugged. "Time will tell. But you have other classes to get to."



Alex nodded, and stood. Before he left, he asked, "Was there something else you wanted to talk about?"



"I just wanted to see you," Rachel smiled softly. She stepped close to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Be happy. Be good."



*



Lorelei had plans for Alex when he came home. She'd had plenty of time to plot and scheme. All day long she had felt small trickles of his desires -- nothing informative, just the sensations -- which kept her own spirits up. There was a real surge of desire in the late morning, leaving her curious as to whom he'd run into. He hadn't acted on whatever it was he wanted, but at least she didn't feel him resisting the feeling of lust itself anymore.



The morning could have backfired horribly upon her, but it had not. Her day had been spent investigating her master's home and his neighborhood. There were several pleasant surprises to each. She found more that she could work with. More fun to be had. Lorelei felt encouraged.



He was considerably later in getting home than his schedule had indicated. Lorelei found it odd to be concerned over this, but she was. The succubus felt his rising desires long before he came home, knowing from experience that this specific desire was for her. She grinned and allowed herself to feel excited by it. Was I actually worried for his safety? The succubus thought it odd, but banished the concern.



When she heard his motorcycle pulling up to the garage outside, her spirits soared more than she had expected. Excitement rose within her. He was at least accepting of her nature, now, and the wonders she had to offer. That would help her continue to gain some measure of control within their relationship.



Seduction and unrestrained pleasure on her mind, Lorelei took up a spot on her knees facing the door and awaited her master's entry. She was naked, vulnerable, aroused, and as beautiful and wanton as ever. He'll never expect this, she thought deliciously.



The door unlatched and opened. Alex stepped in, gasping at the sight of her. He was clad in his leather jacket, a backpack slung over his shoulder and a large gym bag that he hadn't left home with in one hand.



She said nothing right away, merely throwing up a smoldering look as he closed and locked the door behind him. "How may I serve you, master?" she asked, reaching up meaningfully for the visible erection in his jeans.



Alex grunted, closing his eyes and leaning back on the door as she touched him. An eager smile began to spread across Lorelei's face, but then he tenderly took her hand in his, pulling it away from his groin. "Please wait," he asked her softly. Lorelei complied, and smothered her frustration, wondering what the hell his problem could be now.



His hand gently pulled her up to her feet, facing him, and then he turned down to unzip the gym bag. "I don't know if this will mean much to you," he said, voice shaking as if this was some nervous first meeting. Lorelei blinked curiously, and watched as he pulled a small bouquet of roses out of the bag.



They were gorgeous. He'd been very careful about transporting them. She looked in his eyes, still curious and unsure where he was going with this though the meaning was apparently clear. "No one has ever brought me flowers before," she whispered as she took them.



"You're kidding." His voice was just as hushed as hers.



She shook her head, then corrected. "Not after learning who and what I am. Nor after... not once they believe that they have me. Not once we've lain together and lust becomes the driving force. This is... I'm not quite sure what to say."



"I wanted to say thank you," Alex explained. "Say whatever you want about this being a better alternative and how good we are in bed together and all, but I know this," he said, waving his hands at their surroundings and then gesturing at himself, "I know this wasn't something you ever wanted. I frustrate you. But you've been good to me, all things considered. You've been kind. You haven't insulted me or complained or anything.



"I... I really like you, Lorelei."



Her head spun again, as it had the first time they'd lain together. This was insane. Flowers? What did she need with flowers? Such a silly gesture. And yet, she felt herself admitting it aloud: "I like you a great deal, Alex."



They gazed into one another's eyes, and he finally broke the silence again. "We need to get you clothes. I don't want to keep hiding you. I want to figure out how to make you part of my life and make you as happy as we can." He took her hand again. "And there's something I want to do for you, right now, because it bothers me that there's this imbalance between us."



Alex brought her into the living room and sat her on the plush lounge chair in the living room. She felt a constant rush of his desire as he set aside his bags and pulled off his jacket, then pushed aside the ottoman in front of the chair.



Her master sank to his knees in front of her, looking at her longingly as he caressed her legs. Her eyes fluttered as his hands slid along those flawless thighs, ever higher, and gently, softly spread them apart. It was Lorelei's turn to breathe heavily with expectation. She knew what he meant to do, and hadn't thought this could come without some suggestion on her part.



His right hand slid back, moving under one knee and holding it up where he could kiss along her thigh with just a turn of his head. He trailed soft kisses to her, operating purely on a combination of instinct and random articles he had read many months ago in hopes of being prepared for an opportunity he'd only hoped to have someday. He shifted from the right, to the left, and along the flesh just above her hair.



Their eyes never broke contact as his mouth descended to softly, slowly lick the lips between her legs. Lorelei breathed in sharply at the sheer pleasure of it, and though Alex was amazed at how she tasted -- absolutely nothing like he'd ever read or been told of -- he kept his cool. He kissed and caressed her, and finally whispered, "I've never done this, of course."



"You're doing very well," Lorelei breathed.



"We both know I like being your master," he admitted softly between kisses that left her panting. "But I don't want that to be all there is between us."



Her mouth quivered as his lips descended on her again. Her breath came out in small, blissful whimpers. It was like a repeat of their first coupling. A faint alarm rang out in the back of her mind. Normally, the taste of her would earn her greater control, greater influence. She knew instinctively that it would not be so sure this time.



This moment could result in her yielding more control and more loyalty rather than the other way around. He was on his knees, bowed before her as her victims so often were, and yet she felt increasingly vulnerable. Her breasts rose and fell heavily with each breath.



Overcome with rapture, Lorelei pushed the fingers of one hand through his hair and pulled him closer. The hell with it, she decided.



No more words came from Alex for a long time. His mouth was busy doing better things than speaking.

Chapter 6



Very Naughty Things



"Sleep, master," Lorelei whispered into Alex's ear. "Sleep, and I will be here when you awaken. Sleep." His eyes fluttered closed, and a moment later his breath became steady and easy. "Dream of that which brings you joy," she added with a soft murmur.



After a long moment, she disengaged herself from him, stood and stretched. The succubus looked at his sleeping form silently, blankly, finally shaking herself.



This was utter madness. Completely out of control.



There was his peaceful face sleeping in the darkness. His sex glistened with their mixed fluids. It had been an act of will to get up off of him and let him sleep. She hadn't lied, and couldn't if she wanted to, but there was no reason to hide it. He felt better than any man or woman ever had. Better than things not of this Earth.



Certainly he was more pleasant than any previous master. So much that it was almost frightening. Lorelei had spent an eternity dodging the attention of those who ruled her, doing her best to stay at arm's length and only grudgingly responding to a summons. She despised herself for her own obedience. Now she wanted to throw herself upon this new, mortal, simple man and beg him to command her. The very thought of it made her tremble with need.



She, too, wanted to be friends. More than friends.



"'Abashed, the Devil stood,'" Lorelei mused aloud.



For a second time, she shook herself. She still hungered for him, but her hunger typically lasted until she had vanquished a partner. That wouldn't be happening here. Perhaps she'd just have to get used to being satisfied only while making lo-- No. Servicing him. Let's not get carried away with this. There is sorcery at work.



Should have realized the ritual wasn't fully complete, she thought bitterly. I knew I could make more mischief. Push these boundaries further. Perhaps broken free...though to what end?



She looked down at him again, feeling a need through her center and through every limb to wake him and continue their night together. She had long recognized the sensual triggers within her body that ensured her loyalty to her masters. Alex unwittingly pulled on all that, but there was more. There was an undeniable emotional quality to it now.



He had rescued her from such torment. He had put himself at terrible risk, with no idea it would turn out this way. He had been kind to her without expectation of returns. Felt no need to dominate. Made no advances on her despite his obvious, natural attraction, all out of simple respect. Wanted to trust her. Seemed to so plainly, genuinely care about her.



He was so unlike anyone she'd ever lain with, mortal or otherwise. Some small part of her mused, tentatively, that maybe he deserved her? Could she possibly, somehow, after all this time and all her deeds, deserve to be with him?



Madness. She crushed out such thoughts, turning away from him.



He had the will to resist. Any previous partner would have let her ride him until he passed out. Alex had actually asked her to let him sleep enough to be rested for the next day, and clearly had intentions other than staying home with her.



That self-control was astounding. Alex enjoyed letting Lorelei take the lead. He would clearly enjoy that with other women once he came to accept his freedom to indulge. He found the role of the pursued rather than pursuer thrilling, especially after such a haphazard history of dating. His desires tended toward strong women, for obvious reasons -- not exclusively, but the preference was there. He had it in him to be the aggressor and the seducer once he became a little more self-confident. There was a great deal for Lorelei to play with here.



But what was so ominously clear to her was that he would only be led so much. He would be happily teased and manipulated until he was genuinely bothered by something, and then it would end. Her plots would only move as long as they kept him entertained and respected his real boundaries. Alex, unlike any prey before him, could say no and mean it. She wasn't at all used to that.



Frowning, Lorelei glanced around his room. Seeing in the dark was no challenge at all for a demon. She should have investigated the house yesterday, but fatigue from her abduction had overcome her and she'd put it off. Lorelei glanced over his bookshelf and other belongings, which indicated interests that tended toward larger-than-life adventure and matters far beyond his small world. He wouldn't want to remain in his hometown forever.



On his desk was a picture of his high school swim team, which included several girls forever burned into his desires. That was something she could use.



His shelves held an eclectic collection of music, but his discs and scattered ticket stubs revealed a preference for live rock. His walls were adorned with posters of bands and ordinary teen interests...but ordinary teens didn't have so many philosophy books.



She found his class schedule. It was still early enough in the year that he probably didn't have it all memorized. This early in his college life, they were naturally all "intro" classes: Intro to Literature. Intro to Biology. Philosophy. Human Sexuality. No wonder he's so screwed up, she thought wryly.



Intro to Photography.



Her heart jumped. She slowly found herself looking at him again with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and more. So insignificant a thing. Just a class at a community college. How different her world would be if Alex hadn't, probably on a whim, taken Introduction to Photography.



The demon watched him sleep for a short time while her thoughts grew distant. Finally she inhaled deeply to clear her head. There was something else to take care of tonight, though, and that would at least be entertaining.



It was past four in the morning as she slipped out of Alex's room and moved into Michelle's. Everything was perfectly still.



In one corner of the bedroom were a couple of pink shopping bags that indicated Michelle had followed instructions. The mother herself lay on her back in bed. The sheets indicated a bit of tossing and turning before she had finally gotten to sleep.



Her nightgown lay on the floor next to the bed.



A predatory grin spread across Lorelei's face. Here was easy game, unsuspecting, defenseless, delicious. She stalked around to the other side of the bed, gently lifted the single sheet that still covered Michelle, and slipped in.



"Ssssshhhhhhh," Lorelei breathed into Michelle's ear. It took less concentration this time, as the seductress had recovered a measure of her power. Michelle stirred only a little in response. Her eyes remained closed while she let out a quiet but audible noise of dreamy need.



Lorelei started at Michelle's head, gently running her fingers through blonde locks and letting her nails drift across her scalp. Again, Michelle softly let her appreciation be known. Her head turned with those fingers, nuzzling Lorelei's hand needfully. Lorelei's other hand did the same, only it trailed down the side of Michelle's face, her neck, then drifted across the naked chest that rose to meet it.



She could smell sex in these sheets. Lorelei inhaled deeply, realizing her own scent was not the only one present in this bed. "Michelle," she beckoned softly, "have you been pleasing yourself?"



"Yes," came the distant reply. "Yes."



"Thinking of me?"



"Mmmhhh," smiled the still-dreaming woman.



"Michelle," Lorelei said teasingly as her touch moved over the blonde's body, which was shapelier than it had been just a night before. Predictably, when Lorelei's fingers gently probed between Michelle's legs she found a renewed dampness. "You can tell me, remember? We agreed together. Have you been thinking dirty thoughts?"



Another whimper, still evasive. Lorelei's lower hand dug softly, deliciously into Michelle's pussy as it trailed back up, raking through her bush. "Michelle," she repeated.



"Yes," Michelle finally admitted deliriously. "I did, a little, yes."



"I'm glad, Michelle," Lorelei smiled. "I want to be dirty with you. No one needs to know. We can keep our secrets. It might even be more fun that way."



"So bad. So wrong."



"Naughty," Lorelei's tongue flicked Michelle's ear, "but not wrong. Not if it's private... just for fun. No one needs to know, Michelle. Just you and I... and I don't need to tell."



"No. No one."



"We're alone, in the dark," Lorelei reassured her. "Just you and I. Your home is locked, your son in another room sound asleep. Share your fantasies with me."



Everything Michelle could sense in her dreaming state was pleasure. Every touch, every smell. Even the plain sheets on her bed felt luxurious. She imagined the alluring whispers in her ear sliding through her body much like the sensuous fingers between her legs. Michelle gave out a gasp of capitulation.



"Eddie."



Lorelei smiled. "Eddie?" she asked innocently. "Who's Eddie?"



"A man at my office. An accountant. I didn't want...oh...didn't want to tell you."



"Sshh, it's okay, Michelle," Lorelei murmured into her ear hotly. "I like men, too. We don't have to be exclusive. I'll still come to you. Tell me about Eddie."



"He's an accountant at my office," Michelle breathed out hotly. "Nice guy. A little younger than me. Sexy. I don't think he knows how sexy."



"Those are the best kinds of men," Lorelei grinned approvingly. Her fingers became more active against Michelle's wet flesh.



The blonde was silent for awhile apart from her heavier breathing. Lorelei didn't press her, simply allowing her unconscious mind to drift along in arousal. "I think about seducing him at the office a lot," Michelle admitted finally. "I think about coming on to him in a dozen ways...I wish I could be slutty about it."



"Why can't you?"



"Too risky...I don't know him that well..."



"Why don't you get to know him better, then?"



"Oh. I don't have time. No time. My job, and then Alex. My son. I'm a mom. No time."



"Your son's a man now, Michelle. He wants you to be happy. I want you to be happy." Lorelei thought for a moment. She brought Michelle closer and closer to orgasm. It was a good state to have a victim in before planting suggestions. "You should start working on that tomorrow, Michelle..."



*



Fellatio was definitely the best thing to wake up to, ever. It was the first coherent thought Alex had that morning. The welcoming, affectionate mouth and smooth hand that concentrated upon his very erect flesh had him absolutely convinced.



His next thought came out in an appreciative groan. "I'm starting to believe you really do like doing this." Alex tilted his head just enough to look down at his gorgeous wake-up call, who simply winked at him and continued. She lay along his legs, favoring him with plenty of bare skin upon skin. "My life is awesome."



Lorelei paused long enough to say, "Wait for it," then went back to her work.



"...tellin' ya, the women in my life are absolutely no fun anymore," whined the morning DJ from Alex's clock radio. "All my ex wants is alimony and all my wife wants out of me is to listen to her bitch and moan about her feelings and her social life, and—"



Alex laughed a bit. If this guy only knew, he thought, knowing Lorelei had set up exactly this moment. Soon, Alex reached out with one hand and fumbled for the snooze button. "Jackass," he muttered. The feeling of Lorelei giggling softly added a nice dimension to the sensations her mouth provided. Alex groaned again. His left hand reached down to stroke her hair. His right fumbled for the power cord of the clock radio until he had it unplugged.



"Bet he'd have a happier marriage if he wasn't such a whiner," Alex mumbled.



"Quite clearly," Lorelei broke off to say. "Why do you listen to him, then?"



"He wasn't always there. I keep forgetting to change the station. God, I hate guys like him. And I really don't want to think about anything else right now but you and what you're doing."



"Yes, master," she whispered.



She spoiled him for awhile, moving slowly enough that he didn't near orgasm right away. Finally, however, she began to work more intently. The experience quickly went from pleasure for its own sake to a very specific goal. The longer she went on, the more it seemed she derived physical pleasure from the act herself. In his blissful haze, Alex remembered something about sharing pleasures, but by then his body was tensing with excitement and anticipation. Lorelei relentlessly brought him to a long, luxurious finish and stayed on task throughout his satisfaction. She seemed to shake with satisfaction just as much as he did.



Eventually the moment passed. Lorelei's mouth lingered for a while, but soon she slipped away from his sex to crawl up into a warm, mutually grateful embrace. "Good morning," she murmured, kissing him lightly.



"Good morning to you. So is that part of how you kill people?"



"If I were trying to kill you, I'd never have let you get any sleep."



"I feel like I slept." He was now wide awake as his eyes fluttered open. "I feel like I slept all night. After having sex all night. Like I had two nights there. Wow, when did I go to sleep?"



"I brought you to sleep at a bit past four, I believe."



"Two hours?"



"It was what you needed. I'm trying to control myself, master," Lorelei conceded dryly.



Alex laughed, then glanced at the now blank clock radio. "Well, now I don't know what time it is. Time to get up and get going, at any rate. Um, you...?"



"I would follow you and bathe you if you like, but it sounds as if you would prefer not to be too distracted this morning."



"No. I mean are you going to be okay with staying today? Or not, really -- I mean, I'm not telling you not to go anywhere. I would just like it if you were here when I come home." He opened his mouth to speak again after a moment, but Lorelei promptly closed it for him.



"If you stammer out an apology for making such a simple request of me, you'll be back to waking up to that insipid disc jockey every morning."



Instinctively, Alex searched for words to apologize for making so many apologies. Then, with Lorelei's hand still over his mouth, he realized she saw that coming, too, and began to laugh. She smiled back at him and let him up. "Go," she said with a shooing motion. "Shower. You smell like you've been having sex all night."



"That's crazy talk," Alex chuckled as he grabbed some clean clothes. "Ask anyone. I don't know what to do with girls. I'm still a pure, innocent virgin."



"We shall have to sacrifice you to some terrible demon princess, then."



At the door, Alex blinked. He turned back to her. "Are you really a prin—"



"No! Go shower!"



He was showered, shaved and ready to go within fifteen minutes. Alex felt more energized than he had in a long time. By then, he had found his cell phone and realized that he needed to get a bit of a move on. Lorelei wasn't in the bedroom when he came in to get dressed, but he paid that no mind. He simply threw on a shirt and some cargo pants, then headed downstairs to grab something to eat.



Outside his bedroom he was stopped in his tracks. Michelle's door was ajar, which in itself wouldn't have been interesting, but his mother was directly in view. She had her back turned toward the door as she got dressed... in black stockings with black garters, a black strapless bra and black thong panties. Alex was every bit as mesmerized by her as he was by the ladies at work the day before. In fact, it was worse, as her clothing and even something about her posture seemed so overtly sexual.



She looked amazing. They had been at a pool party not too long ago, and while his mother had never been fat, she still had a little sag here and there. Now, she looked fit and trim, arguably ready for modeling.



Michelle stood in her room, looking around for things she needed. Alex got a good side view to go with the look from the rear when she turned to look for something. That belly was tight, and those breasts...



...are not what I should be looking at, Alex thought. He shook his head and quickly headed down the stairs. Not that I won't be seeing that in my head all day long. Holy shit. He naturally felt a little guilty about it, but he didn't think he should fixate on that, either. That was his mother. It wasn't attraction he felt so much as surprise. Still. Wow.



The thought was enough to make him forget about looking for Lorelei. He wondered, absently, if she might have something to do with that... or, unsettlingly, if the effect Lorelei's attentions had on his relations with other women might have some effect.



Rummaging through the refrigerator, however, he came to the conclusion that such a thing was unlikely. Lorelei said that had to do with her kiss and scents or something. Yet he hadn't spoken to Michelle since he met Lorelei. Even at this moment, he had just gotten out of the shower. It also apparently had something to do with his desires, and he plainly didn't desire that. The mere thought creeped him out. For a moment, his skin crawled.



Maybe she'd just been working out more than he thought? Maybe she met someone at the office and didn't want to say anything yet?



Cereal implements in hand, Alex settled down at the dining room table. It wasn't a big dining room, providing just enough space for a decent table right outside the kitchen. The thought occurred to him as he began to eat that the table was just big enough to throw a woman on and have his way with her. He chuckled, thinking it was silly that he was still thinking about sex after the night he'd just had, but then maybe that's how things would be from now on. It didn't seem so bad.



As if to punctuate that, Lorelei rounded the far corner of the kitchen and came walking through it toward him. She wore one of his dress shirts, unbuttoned, and not much of anything else. The whole "girl in man's shirt the morning after" thing had always seemed like a contrivance for photo spreads and movies to him before, but now he was a believer. Lorelei sauntered in as he watched her, then planted an affectionate kiss at the back of his neck. Her hands slipped around his chest, then down, and even began opening his pants up.



"I like the way you look at me."



"I like looking at you."



"Alex, are you talking to someone down there?" his mother called down. Her footsteps down the stairs made plenty of noise.



Alex looked up to Lorelei in concern.



"She cannot see or hear me," Lorelei shrugged. "And she'll just ignore anything that would indicate my presence." Then a naughty smile overcame her. "In fact..." she murmured.



Before Alex could say anything, Lorelei ducked under and backward to move under the table. She moved like some sort of ninja.



Just as she did so, Michelle came into the kitchen.



"Hey, sleepyhead," his mother smiled. Alex was staring almost immediately; she wasn't entirely done dressing yet. Her make-up was perfect, but her clothes weren't yet done. Her own dress shirt wasn't completely buttoned and she was still fumbling with her skirt. It all left her showing off alluring cleavage and flashing bits of her lingerie as she adjusted things in what was an entirely unnecessary display... not that Alex was coherent enough to be suspicious. She did an excellent job in capturing a very naughty secretary look, which just wasn't like her at all.



He had absolutely no idea of how to tell his mother that she looked uncomfortably sexy.



"...Mom?" Alex stammered. This had to be the most awkward moment of his life.



Soothing, enticing hands pulled away the denim and cotton that would have helped conceal his body's reaction to the awkwardness, which made it horribly, horribly more awkward.



"Yes? Hm?"



"Ah. Is that, um, a new outfit?" Those hands began to manipulate him with an expert touch."No, silly," she smiled. "I mean, it might fit a bit better. I lost a little weight and decided to treat myself to a few accessories," his mother winked at him.



His mother never winked at him. It seemed innocent enough. Not exactly flirty so much as maybe confident or conspiratorial. But winking just wasn't in her non-verbal vocabu ---



-- a warm, beckoning tongue swept along the length of his flesh.



"Do I look good?" Michelle asked, turning this way and that. He was now completely in Lorelei's mouth.



"You do. I mean, yeah, Mom, you look...look, uh, nice? Great. You look great. Uh, but...your skirt's not..." he swallowed. "Not zipped."



"Oh. Could you help with that?" she asked absently, staying turned away from him.



That black silk thong was showing. So was the top of her garter. Somehow, his mother had gone from "my mom's pretty for her age" to "oh my god, dat ass." He reached over to take hold of her skirt and zip it for her with trembling, embarrassed hands.



So wrong.



Alex could feel the mouth on his cock curl into a mischievous smile. He felt the light touch of her teeth.



The task finished, Michelle turned back to him and said, "Thank you," with a pleasant smile. She slowly began buttoning her shirt up the rest of the way. Alex's mother seemed utterly oblivious to both his staring and what she was doing to invite it.



So very wrong.



"You were out really late on Monday night. What were you up to?"



"Yeah. Just. Um. Photography homework. I didn't want to leave it until the last minute." Lorelei's smile had faded back into sweet, sucking lips.



"Is that why you were dead asleep when I came home?" Michelle asked. "I felt kind of bad. I made a bit of a racket when I came home. Hell, I even had the stereo on in the living room before I realized you were probably asleep."



"Didn't, um, hear a s-sound," Alex shrugged.



"Well, I guess it's good that you aren't procrastinating on school work. You don't even have your next photography class again until Friday, don't you?" Alex shook his head. "Anything new at work?"



"Not...really?"



His mother shrugged. "Well, we've got clients coming in today. They'll probably want to go out to some bar or something afterwards. Salespeople," she said, rolling her eyes.



"Tricksy people."



"Yeah."



"Just terrible, going out to a bar. Some nice, handsome guy might make a pass at you. Try to get your phone number or ask you out. Dangerous stuff."



"Oh. Pfff. Sure," Michelle blushed. "Anyway, I might be home late."



"Well," Alex said, trying to blink away the sensations overwhelming him for just a moment of seriousness, "if you have a couple drinks and you're not sure about driving, don't feel bad about calling me for a ride home. I'll come get you. It's okay."



Michelle shrugged. "Sure, honey. I've got to go."



"Um, Mom? Your shirt's not buttoned right." Lorelei's ministrations grew more intense. He fought to keep his eyes from rolling back into his head.



She looked down at herself. "Oh, you're right. Yikes," she mumbled. A moment later, the buttons were fixed so she wasn't showing off her cleavage like before. "Thanks."



With that finally fixed, she didn't look so overtly sexy. Just pretty and vibrant and well put-together... but Alex knew more than that, and was utterly mortified by it.



Michelle paused to bend over a bit and give Alex a kiss on the forehead and a look down her shirt that sent his eyes snapping shut. "Have a good day!" she waved on her way out.



As soon as she was gone, Alex had both hands on Lorelei's bobbing head. Interrogating her could wait 'til she'd finished what she started.

Chapter 5



Cumming to Terms



He had no idea how long he had been fucking her, but no matter how long it had been it wasn't nearly long enough. He buried himself in her, again and again, completely enthralled by that wet, tight tunnel that gripped and sucked his cock. It was entirely mutual; Lorelei encouraged him in every way to take her. They paused only to bask in the afterglow of every climax, kiss one another deeply and longingly, and inevitably fall into irresistible rutting again.



Some time later, sensuously kissing his succubus after another crash that had left both their bodies twitching, Alex realized that the sun had gone down. "We must have been going at it for hours," he breathed.



"And yet you are not tired, nor spent," Lorelei pointed out triumphantly. She brushed her fingers through his hair, looking up at him with unmistakable affection.



"Not really, no," Alex agreed. He was breathing heavy, but not unpleasantly so. "Is that you? That's not... normal, right?"



She nodded. "Youth and virility can mean a good deal, but they only carry one so far. Welcome to your new sex life."



"Wow," he breathed.



"Do you feel your head is clearer now that you have ravished me so?" she teased.



"I do, I just... wow," he repeated. His hips moved slowly again, still impaling her. "I could stop if you wanted to, but I could keep going. It's like I can't get enough. I don't think I'll ever have enough of you."



"Nor I of you, master," Lorelei smiled adoringly. "My body will always be an invitation to yours. You need never wonder if I want you or if I am ready. Take me, freely, and have no more worries about losing control of yourself or boring me or any of your other hang-ups."



Alex nodded. "I think that's going to be a lot."



"Good."



He glanced out the window, and then at his clock. "I wonder if mom's home. Oh god, she probably heard us."



"No," she shook her head. "Or, rather, if she has returned, she will completely ignore us, remember? You could bend me over her bed and fuck me 'til I scream while she lay there and she wouldn't notice."



The smirk that spread across his face showed some amusement, but he said, "Let's not do that."



"Aw," she pouted in feigned disappointment. After a moment, her expression became a bit more genuine. "Master, I fear that I have made mischief that may displease you."



"What do you mean? I thought you had to be loyal to me?"



"I do, and am. I was. Master, I will tell you if you ask, but I was thinking of your pleasure as well as mine, and things can be undone. But I fear telling you will ruin our night together. You clearly feel so much better about... us." Her voice cracked. Her eyes actually seemed to moisten up.



"Shh," Alex said, and kissed her cheek softly. "You didn't hurt anyone?"



"No. That is plainly against your will."



"And you're sure it wasn't a betrayal?"



"I don't know. A betrayal of good faith, perhaps. I did not feel anything stop me, but I do not know the limits of our bond anymore than you. Some measure of deceit is in my nature, but this was... I felt like it was more a matter of engineering a pleasant surprise than anything else. You may not think so tonight, but I do think that, in time, you will appreciate what I have done. I know for certain now that it is ultimately in line with desires you hold but would never have even considered pursuing."



He looked in her eyes for a long moment, still impaled deep within her. He didn't want to ruin their night, either. "So what you're telling me is that you've been naughty, and if I find out now I'll be mad, but later on I'll like it?"



"That is my hope."



"Can I trust you?"



"That remains to be seen, but I long for your trust, yes."



"Then let's not borrow trouble from tomorrow. I'll trust you."



Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked up at him. "Thank you, master."



Alex shrugged. "I want us both to at least get along. I want to make you happy."



Lorelei slipped her arms around him and squeezed him with a purr. "You have, master. I am very happy."



"You're sure you want to keep calling me that? It's okay to call me Alex. You'd definitely better use that when we're in public together."



She nodded. "I have never considered 'master' a term of affection before now, but I do feel that way. It's odd for me, and unique, but I can tell that you like it and so do I."



He seemed to blush. "It's flattering."



"I would flatter you more," she smirked. "You're a good man, Alex. I am not supposed to have such as you. I have never had anyone who was not well on their way to Hell. I may have enjoyed myself, but not like this. Nothing like this."



"I don't want to just be your master, though. I mean, can we be master and slave and still be... I dunno," he wondered, not wanting to push too far too soon. "Can we be that and still be at least friends?"



"You mean more than friends," she said, the smile in her voice turning quiet. She stroked his cheek with her fingers.



"Yes."



"I don't see why not. I'm not an ordinary friend." She smiled, and squeezed him into her, then left the topic at that.



"Alex," she then said, sounding out his name slowly, "why does this bother you so? Master and slave? I have told you it does not bother me. Such is part of the nature of my existence. You are a dramatic improvement over my previous... condition. In ways I cannot explain."



Alex shrugged. "Slavery's wrong."



"It has been the way of the world for a very long time. In the scheme of things, this mindset of your society is an anomaly... and even so, slavery lives on in many ways."



"It was wrong back then, and it's still wrong now. Maybe I wouldn't think so if I'd been raised differently or in a different time, but I like to think I would. Honestly, if I could free you, I would. I'd... miss you. I'll never forget this. But if there's a way--"



"Sshhh," Lorelei said, and interrupted him with a kiss. "I know. You didn't bring this on yourself, or me, and I am not troubled." She grinned a bit. "Have some fun with it. You don't have to be cruel or domineering if you don't want to. It doesn't seem to be in your nature, anyway."



Thinking on that, Alex cocked his head to the side. "Would you like to turn over?"



She smiled. "I would." He had only a twin bed, which didn't leave a lot of room for rolling sideways. They sat up together, keeping him buried within her. Lorelei reached behind her to grab a couple of pillows and throw them behind Alex before letting him lay back. She sat impaled on his cock now, slowly rocking against his hips and milking it in luxury.



"Mh, master," she groaned, "your sex is the greatest I have ever felt. Please don't ever hesitate to take me again."



"It's a little hard to believe I'm the greatest ever."



With her eyes closed as she savored the feeling of him, she slowly shook her head. "I cannot lie to you, master."



"I do feel like I'm bigger with you," he admitted hesitantly.



"You are larger because of me, yes," Lorelei said. "A succubus must be kept entertained to carry out her purpose. But that will remain even when you lay with another, the better to feed me your lusts. And the way you feel has little to do with technique... which will only get better with time," she added with a grin.



"I can't imagine ever needing anyone else."



"You say that now," she winked demurely.



"No, really. Lorelei, you're so far beyond any woman I ever met. You don't have to worry about me cheating on you."



Lorelei snickered, and then laughed. "Master," she said, "need I remind you that when I swallowed your seed, I learned everything about your lust. You want other women. You want many other women. And when you have them, I will feel it, too. You won't be cheating on me... you'll be renewing my power as you pleasure them.



"You want a harem," Lorelei added with a softer, wicked tone. "You want glamorous women eager to indulge you with their beauty and their flesh. Don't be shy about it. I'm not jealous at all. I want you to have other little sluts to play with, too, as many as you desire. And I'll happily make it happen."



His heart was pounding at her words. "I wouldn't want you having sex with other guys," he said. "How fair is that?"



Her naked shoulders shrugged. "I wouldn't take as much enjoyment from them now, anyway," she said. "You've certainly changed my own perspective. But I hope you don't mind if I might flirt a bit now and again. It might be very useful to us both."



"I never thought of myself as the jealous type," Alex thought out slowly, "but I don't really want to share you with other men."



"Then don't. Everyone has their boundaries." Her hips rocked against his for a moment. A new smile spread across her face, and she leaned in closer to him. "But don't you dare tell me you don't want me to have other women, because we both know you better than that."



He couldn't help but share her smile. "As long as you'll share," Alex grinned back before he kissed her.



His hands shamelessly took hold of her ass and began rocking her hips against his. They kept kissing while they fucked more and more, easily building to a new climax. He couldn't get over how great it felt, how powerful it was to freely fuck and release into her, and how much she obviously loved it. She trembled in pleasure, lying against him as they settled. "As you wish, master," she whispered.



"Wow," he breathed again, stroking her hair and her back. "I barely know you."



"You need only know so much," she shrugged. "You know what's most important."



"Yeah, but... I mean, where are you from? How old are you, really? What makes you happy besides sex? Hurts you? Anything."



Lorelei sat up on his hips, her sex still gripping him but her face growing more thoughtful. "There are things mortals are not meant to know," she began. "I would tell you, but the knowledge itself would endanger you. Even for all you have already seen, precious little about the actual nature of the divine or... otherworldly matters has been shown to you. Your faith, for instance, is still a matter of faith. I can tell you that God and the devil exist, but you might be surprised how little relevance formal religion has in the grand scheme of things.



"But it means I can only tell you so much about myself."



Alex nodded. "Indulge me with what you can."



"You may not like it all. Some things in my past you would find quite ugly."



"Then we'll call it the past and move on. And I can't imagine being any more inclined to think well of you and blow off things that bother me than right here and now," he grinned. "You're awfully beautiful and naked and pleasantly positioned."



"I suppose I can appreciate that," she chuckled. "I am... old. I old even as I watched the Romans demolish the Second Temple in Jerusalem."



"Wow."



Distant thoughts clouded her eyes, but she banished them a moment later. "It was a memorable day. I have not always been in this world, but of anything else I really cannot tell you much. I have spoken many languages, been to many lands. I have brought down peasants and popes, shoguns, celebrities, kings and queens."



"Queens?" Alex raised an eyebrow.



"Oh yes. More men than women, but many women. None of them nice people, mind you," she added. "The world does not miss them, or would not if the truth about them was known."



"Oh. I guess I should've thought of this before," Alex said sheepishly. He had somehow disregarded the potential complications from just how many partners she had been through. "but should I be, um, wearing a condom?"



Laughter erupted from his companion. "No, master, no," she managed finally. "Though yes, I imagine were things different you might be a bit late in asking. No. As I said, you may enjoy me freely. You need not worry about me carrying disease or becoming with child. In fact," she added with a sultry tone, "as long as you're regularly having me, you can forget about such concerns with other women as well. As will they." She let that sink in, then leaned forward to kiss him lightly before continuing the discussion.



"You ask me what pleases me. There are many sorts of demons. Some are made to torment and others to corrupt. I am born to punish and enact retribution. That does not make me especially nice, but it is part of Hell's purpose to ensure that the wicked eventually suffer." She paused to grind against him, milking his cock affectionately. "I've never been able to reward good deeds before. It's pleasant. I'm rather coming to enjoy... friendship, as well."



The admission hung in the air for a moment as they looked at one another. Finally, Alex broke the silence. "At least I know who to ask for help with my history assignments now."



"You wish. There are matters of which I know much, but for most of history humanity's perspective has been rather narrow. My own experience only makes for certain exceptions. I remember well the politicking of the Medicis, but don't ask me to tell you what was going on in Russia at the time. It was irrelevant to me. It's only in recent decades that I have myself become more broadly educated."



"But you speak Russian?"



"Da."



"Russian women are hot," he teased.



"Many of them. Others are not."



"You said shoguns? You've been to Japan?"



"Hai," Lorelei smiled.



"That wasn't weird? I would think a white woman like you would stand out a bit there at that time."



"I can change my appearance rather dramatically as needed, though it costs me power. Before last night, it would have been no problem. Tonight I could manage it once, perhaps twice now that your lusts have restored a small measure of power. But I have a very long way to go before I am what I was before."



"I think I'm going to enjoy helping you recover."



"We both will. That I can promise. I know my appearance pleases you greatly... or even immensely," she said with just enough arrogance to be charming, "but if you'd like me to look differently...?"



"No. God, no. It might be fun later, but I want this face and this body to stay."



"Done," Lorelei nodded.



They rocked against one another for awhile before speaking again. "So I imagine you wouldn't be up for breathing fire again tonight, right?"



"No," Lorelei said, shaking her head and smiling self-consciously. Then she became more serious. "This brings up a good point. I am bound to protect you, master, but in this state I would not be very capable. Certainly not in a physical confrontation. We will have to work hard before I am recovered enough for that."



"Can't say I get into a lot of fights."



"Good. But be aware that once such extraordinary presences as myself enter one's life, there is often a tendency for others to appear. You may well be in for a life far from ordinary."



"We'll just have to keep a low profile, then."



"Agreed."



"So, any other abilities that you'd like to tell me about?"



"I need very little in the way of sleep, and food is a simple indulgence. As long as we are bound, I can share some degree of this. You will need very little sleep tonight. In the morning, you won't be tired."



"Just well-fucked?"



Lorelei nodded. "You are unique in this. I am by nature made to run a lover ragged unto death."



"That makes me feel special."



"More than you know," she grinned. "You know I can conceal myself. It can work for both of us if necessary. This takes little energy, but even that is finite. All illusions require energy. It would be better to find clothing than conjure it."



"Oh. Hrm. Well, I could certainly spare money for a bit of clothes, but I hadn't really thought about finances."



She cuckled again, and reached down to place a finger over his lips. "I have resources of my own. I could tell you, but as I suggested, a few surprises for later might be nice?" He looked at her with a suspicious smile, and she simply added, "You need not live in your mother's home much longer, though there's no need to rush."



"I disagree. I think we're going to need a bigger bed very soon," Alex snickered.



"There is that. As I said, I have resources. And while you may not need the paycheck itself for much longer, I think you'll find your job rewarding enough to make staying for a bit longer worthwhile."



"Guess I'll take your word for that," Alex said. "Tomorrow's not a work day, though. School day."



"Ah. Yes. You ask me all this about me, but tell me so little about yourself."



"Well... I'm kind of a geek, I work as a file clerk in a law firm and I go to community college. I have plenty of friends, and some of them are dorks, but at our age that's probably not a shock. What you see is pretty much what you get. What else do you want to know?"



"I would very much like to know why you would not lay with me last night, or this morning," she said. "Was it really just your moral qualms with slavery? I thought I was clear in wanting you."



"You were."



"And you don't have a girlfriend or lover to whom you owe monogamy."



"No. I've tried, but I've been kind of unlucky there."



"Then why?"



"I guess," Alex began, then trailed off. "This is kind of embarrassing." He saw no judgment in her eyes, only curiosity. Finally, he admitted it. "I guess you could say I was saving myself for love? I thought that's what you were supposed to do? I mean, unless you're some brain-dead horndog guy with no respect for women, and I'd rather be more than that."



Lorelei inhaled deeply, a satisfied smile coming across her face. She nodded. "I see. Ever the idealist."



"Well, maybe not about every little thing, but this? Yeah."



"I hope this hasn't disappointed you, Alex."



"You don't."



She leaned in closely to kiss him again. Her lips were soft and soothing and her kiss went deep. Alex loved the way her hair dangled over his head when she did this. "I also hope that you feel friendship is good enough."



"More than I can say," he whispered back.



She sat up on him again. "A great respect for women, hm? And no father in the house. Has it always been just you and your mother?"



"For a long while now, yeah. Dad cheated on Mom. A lot. When she found out about it, she found out that it'd been going on a long time. Co-workers, bar floosies, prostitutes. Married women. It hurt her a lot. They divorced when I was in grade school. Honestly, I don't hear much from him anymore, just a card at Christmas."



"You do not wish to become your father."



"No."



"You are not. Don't worry about it. If you have made anything clear to me, Alex, it is that you have a good soul and tremendous strength of will. I suspect there is much more of your mother in you than your father."



"Maybe, but... if I can trust you, will you help me make sure I don't wind up like that?"



Lorelei looked at him for a long moment, and nodded. "As you wish, master," she said. "But again, you have little to worry about."



"You've been talking about me being with other women. Lots of other women."



"There's a difference between adultery and enjoying dalliances when you have no such commitments," Lorelei shrugged. "As well as relationships that are knowingly more open."



"I guess. Like I said, though, I just don't want to hurt anyone."



"As you wish," Lorelei nodded. Wicked affection spread through her smile again. "Now... tell me about Molly and Onyx."