Addictions of a Sex Demon (5 page)

“Actually, I’m going to have to take a rain check. All this
hot sex has really worked up my appetite.”

He growled with disapproval. “We only tasted each other
once. The dream doesn’t count, scintillating as you claim it was. I will make
you breakfast.”

“You forget that we first met outside the whorehouse. I’d
had a busy day.”

A dark wave passed over his expression. She watched his jaw
clench so hard she thought he’d break a tooth or two. He thought she’d been
with a man.
Uh-oh, stage-five clinger.
Yep, she definitely had to make a
quick exit.

“Anyway, thanks for the orgasm and the sleep orgasm, which
by the way, totally still counts even though it was kind of a creepy turn-on
when you killed my father.” She jumped out of bed. “See ya around, dragon boy.”

She passed him quickly before he could stop her, making her
way through his house. She barely remembered the night before when he’d carried
her in. Silence made her realize Axel wasn’t following her, so she poked her
head back into the bedroom. “Stavros.”

He still sat on the bed with a grim expression on his face.
He looked…weak.

“Thank you for helping me last night.”

He nodded. His sudden deflation made her hesitate, she began
aching for some strange reason, but she took her leave anyway. Time to tell
Zahra about her epic night.

* * * *

Axel sat on his bed and pondered everything he’d learned
about Sephina Antara. She had a dark past and a rough addiction. He also
learned she loved her sister Zahra very much. No matter how blasé the girl
tried to be, he detected a deep affection for her family and compassion for
others. And sex demons were really as sensual as their breed implied. Thinking
about her seeking out someone at Nymph’s Hideout made him want to punch
something. No—make that destroy something.

His body ached with weakness. Curing her had been worth it,
but it’d only be temporary. She’d need more quetzalem blood to continue to
fight off the effects of the withdrawal. Unless he could find someone to help
him through his heat, he’d be too weak to supply her with the blood she’d need
to survive the withdrawal. Axel realized he needed to find someone for his
heat, fast. He wanted it to be Sephina, but clearly, she had other plans. The
only good news was that now he realized he no longer had to find a quetzalem
female, but that a succubus would do as well.

Stepping out into the sunlight of morning, Axel breathed in
deep and his embers fanned slightly. Good, they were still there. Commanding
his wings, the bones broke through tiny slits in his back and the ten-foot wing
span stretched toward the sky. In a swift move, they flapped once and thrust
him high into the clouds. As air rushed around him, he gazed down at the tiny
town and the pink-haired girl making her way through it. His heart pounded in
response. He hadn’t been lying when he’d offered to make her breakfast. The odd
desire had taken him off guard, but she’d quickly shrugged it off. As he flew
over the village, he caught the end of a conversation with some of the city
dwellers and came to a full stop. He jetted back to the ground.

“Did you see the succubus whore that arrived in town? I
recognized her right away by the yellow eyes.”

“You mean that tiny, leather scrap of fabric and corset
didn’t give her away? I’d like to rip it off her and fuck her until she begs me
to stop.” The friend laughed in response. Axel’s blood boiled to the point he
thought fire would combust through his skin.

“Succubi love that shit, they need us to survive. Maybe we
can both find her later and—”

Axel turned the corner and smashed his fist into the nearest
face. A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the alley as crimson poured from
the broken nose. The second villager’s expression displayed pure horror. Before
he could run from Axel, the quetzalem sprang forward, grabbed him by the
shoulders, and slammed his face against the brick wall. The man was barely
conscious when he hit the cobblestone street.

“I’ve left you both conscious for one reason and one reason
only—to heed my warning. Speak of a succubus—no, a woman—in that way ever
again, and I’ll make sure you have nightmares of me killing you every single
night of your life until you never shut your eyes for fear of death.” He kicked
the worm writhing on the ground with a broken nose before continuing on his way
out of town.

Axel clenched his fists and quickened his pace. He was going
mad. Sephina’s bright, amber gaze had put a spell on him, and perhaps it’d be
the death of him—or any villager who dared speak of her in such a way ever
again.

He had two days to find another female before his heat
began. Making his way toward the city lying in the distance, he realized that
no woman would ever measure up to the one night he’d spent with Sephina.
Although his brimstone was thinning, the succubus had already set fire to his
veins.

Making her way to the meadhouse, Sephina smiled through her
sensual buzz. Axel had been an incredible surprise. Yet she’d fled his home
like the plague. Just because she was a succubus didn’t mean she didn’t have a
soft spot for romance. Yep, not falling for a sexual, kind demon like Axel
would be hard. Which was tricky since sex demons and monogamy generally didn’t
go together. She’d seen what happened to a sex demon when they were left
behind. Her father had become a desperate man. And with desperation comes
darkness.

Entering the bar, she quickly shrugged off thoughts of her
past life in Sprecia. Spotting her sister wasn’t a difficult task. Zahra’s
long, raven hair fell in thick waves. Paired with a corset and yellow eyes that
glowed in the dim establishment, Sephina’s sister looked like a gypsy vixen.
Emphasis on the vixen part. But Zahra’s days of being a paid concubine were
long behind her. Another reason Seph vowed never to get into debt with
drug-dealing wizard thugs again. It was a good thing this town’s dealer was a
stud with a conscience as big as his…biceps.

“What are you grinning about, doll?” Zahra leapt out of her
chair and pulled Sephina into a hug.

“Let’s just say I’m digging this town.”

“I think you mean digging a demon, am I right?” Zahra winked
and flashed a wicked smile.

“All right, which man do I have to kill?” Lennox stood from
his chair and wrapped Seph in a bear hug. “When you didn’t come home last
night—”

“He nearly went on a rampage.” Zahra threw an arm around
Lennox and gazed lovingly up at him. “He’s so hot when he goes all
fierce-protector. I knew you were just taking your time at the whorehouse, so I
distracted your overprotective brother-in-law.”

“Oh yeah, you really took a bullet for me on that one.”
Sephina rushed her sister with ten fingers worth of tickles. Zahra bucked and
threw her head back in response as the two girls’ laughter erupted as one.

“Hey, hey.” Lennox coughed. “You girls are going to start a
riot.”

“Don’t complain. All of our drinks are going to be free,”
Sephina teased the tall blacksmith who still hadn’t quite gotten used to the
attention that two sex demons attracted. After all, they were the only females
in the establishment dressed in tight leather corsets and barely-there attire.
Hey, it wasn’t their fault succubi bodies ran hot.

“Did I hear the word
drinks
?” The female bartender
approached. “What can I get you?”

“It’s you!” Sephina nearly fell back on her chair. “Zahra,
Lennox, this is Catrina. Her level of oh-la-la far surpasses any other sex demons
I’ve met.”

Zahra tossed her hair behind her shoulder and stuck out a
hand. “So you’re an honorary sex demon, then?” She flashed a smile and once
more Sephina was in awe at her sister’s beauty. The red-haired siren across the
bar wasn’t bad either.

Motioning toward Lennox at Zahra’s side, Sephina continued
the introductions. “And this is my brother-in-law who so graciously treated me
to your services.”

“A man talented in the trade of gift exchange. Your first
shot is on me. And you, fine demons?”

Zahra and Seph smiled at each other and nodded. “Troll
Tears!”

“All right, I dig a girl who knows how to party. I’ll be
right back.” Catrina left in a woosh of red hair and a sway of the hips that
only a sex demon could truly admire.

“Oh my gods, Zahra. She was incredible.”

“I hope so. You were gone all night.”

“Actually…”

“Tell me about him.”

Lennox coughed. “I’ll be in the knife throwing den.”

Paying him no heed, Sephina leapt at the chance to tell her
beloved sister about the man-dragon come true. “Light blue skin, like steel. So
smooth, and yet, he—”

“Commanded scales, I know, I had one as a client pass
through Sprecia once.” Zahra smiled knowingly.

“Did he feed you his blood?”

“No. It was more of a wham-bam-thank-you-demoness kind of
thing.”

“Ah yes. Anyway…I’ve never felt so good, Zahra.”

“This sounds serious. Are you addicted already?”

Sephina flushed at her sister’s wording. Her heart plummeted
deep into her stomach so that her hollowed chest demanded honesty. “Zahra. I...
I just want to thank you for everything you did back in Sprecia.”

“Don’t.” Yellow eyes turned into an amber storm, a rare
anger that Sephina didn’t often see, even when she’d been using every day.
Zahra had always been nothing but patient with her. “We may not be blood, Seph,
but you know that you are more than a sister to me. You are my life. I would
gladly sell myself once more if it would save you.”

“Lennox would kill both you and me if he heard you say
that.”

“Lennox loves you like a little sister as well.”

“I will never put you in that position again. But I need to
get something off my chest.” Her sister’s gaze immediately flashed with worry,
but Seph went on. “The other night, I relapsed.”

Catrina returned to them with two tall shot glasses of a
swamp-green liquid. Dark purple smoke billowed from the top of the drink.
“Bottoms up, ladies.” The bartender smiled, but realized the mood had changed
when neither succubus reached for the beverage. Catrina departed as quickly as
she came and took orders from the next patron.

“Zahra, my body ached so bad. You can’t know—”

“Don’t tell me that I don’t know what it feels like to
wither away from the inside out.”

Sephina flinched at Zahra’s abrupt words. What was worse,
Seph knew it was true. Only a month earlier, Zahra’s kidnapping had resulted in
near-death, a slow, painful weakening that she’d only barely survived. “I’m not
as strong as you are. But I will be. I got help last night.”

“The quetzalem. So it’s true then, the rumors?” Zahra’s eyes
flashed with curiosity.

Sephina eyed the still smoking beverage. “This is gonna be a
long story.” She gripped the glass tightly and raised a brow at her sister.

“With a happy ending?”

“We’ll find out.” Together they chugged the tall shots of steaming
Troll Tears, a beverage designed to both energize and intoxicate to the
maximum. “We’ll find out…”

* * * *

Axel cut through the thick clouds as he made his way to the
town lying to the east. Each billowy piece of sky turned into Sephina’s face,
and no matter how fast or high he soared, her image plagued him. Gods, she was
beautiful. She was funny, sensual, and apparently she had better things to do
than to be his partner in heat. His jaw clenched in response, and he commanded
himself to calm. He’d just have to search for another woman who could help him
when the time came.

Finally, the village of Libhua came into view and he landed
on the outskirts to walk into town. His wings retreated into his back,
disappearing from view so that no one would recognize him as a quetzalem. His
own village guarded his identity since he kept them protected and healthy with
his blood and knowledge of herbs and medicine. The quetzalem were a hunted
breed though, and their home realm had become overrun by human dragon hunters
who’d turned the quetzalem race into nothing more than blood slaves.

Walking into Libhua, Axel decided to first explore the local
meadhouse. Surely, there’d be lots of females there. The building looked
similar to most others in the realm—brick and lazy stucco topped with a black
thatched roof. A strange architectural mix indeed, but after all, it was a
realm of mixed ages. Striding through the front doors, Axel inhaled the sour
scent of demon brew. Suddenly thirsty, he approached the bar. “Mead, please.”

The troll bartender snorted in response and wiped slimy,
green mucus from his nose with a long, crooked finger. His gray skin stretched
over a gangly body and Axel recognized him as a mountain carving breed instead
of a ground dweller. Not good, since the same kind of troll could be found in
his home region of the quetzalem. Axel shrugged off the possibility of being
recognized. The troll didn’t look very sharp or sober.

“There ya go,” the troll grunted in English and sloshed half
the beverage onto the bar.

Axel didn’t hesitate before chugging it down. “Another.”

The troll turned to refill the mug with the foamy amber
colored liquid. The color of her eyes… Axel chastised himself for thinking of
her and looked around the room.

“Hi there, newcomer.” The voice from behind him was sticky
sweet. Too sweet.

Axel turned to find a blonde-haired human with a flowing,
white dress that made it seem obvious she was a goddess-groupie, although she’d
probably never met one. Few had unless the gods were spotted venturing outside
of the Olympian realm. And who the hell would want to visit the Aerion realm?

“I’ve come looking for someone. I’ve heard there is a
succubus living in this town.” A lie, but he hoped it would both let down the
female and reveal the existence of a possible sex demon. And a quetzalem, if
there was one, he’d scent her so close to his heat.