Dream Lover (21 page)

With his wings, he gives a final chop of the air, then slumps on my neck and everything grows still. For a moment we collapse there, peaceful in the silence.

Then we tumble.

I scream, feeling him catch me as the world twists round, and soon I’m upright in his arms, the stars impossibly bright. We are soaring through the moonlight, naked and damp, the trees growing smaller beneath us.

“Mistress,” he says, “are you all right?”

I laugh against his chest and say, “I am.”

We fly together, circling the wood, gliding between each flap of his wings. The night is so quiet, we don’t speak for a while. The breeze is soft and warm. At last, I ask him how he came to be trapped in the cage and he shares the story easily, now that we’ve loosened up.

The magician who worked in the magic shop knew the value of a pet with human eyes. He snared my man when he was shaped like a bird, and shoved him into a magical cage. “Magic smells like burning liquor,” my bird man explains. “The bars seared me when I touched them. But to you, sweet mistress, they felt cool as normal steel. Magic tells lies.”

The spell kept him trapped as a bird and hid him from his people until I released him, with a song and a kiss. Faye Crocker, he adds, bought him at auction. “She wasn’t cruel to me, but she wasn’t kind either. Just showed me off to her friends—the bird with magical eyes.”

The breeze is warm as we soar.

“I’m glad those people are gone,” I say.

The village stretched below us—a cluster of tiny roofs. As we soar down, he hums “Achy Breaky Heart.” Soon, we’re lighting on the roof of a shop—Glenby’s Perfect Knits—our feet dangling from the eaves. He reaches an arm around me and I fall against his shoulder, feeling the tickle of his feathers against my nape. Ahead of us, the sun is rising, drenching the horizon with peachy light, and the trees from the woods rise black, as birdsong fills the sky.

“You have to go,” I say, “don’t you? Find your people?”

“I will be back,” he says. “A bird man is loyal.”

I want to make him swear, but Derek swore a million times. The bird man, I decide, will be honest with me. I have to rely on my instincts—the ones that told me to sing a song and blow kisses at a bird. “I trust you,” I say. And speaking it makes it more true.

He twines his fingers through mine.

The sky ahead is ablaze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A
lice sauntered into the club, aware of the many pairs of eyes that were watching her. She knew she looked hot. It wasn’t arrogance; it was a fact of life. After all, it was Alice’s job to be sexy. What kind of succubus would she be if she wasn’t? One in trouble with the man downstairs, that’s what.

Heading for the bar, she nodded to Dimitri, the barman, when he caught her eye and mouthed, “Usual?” at her.

Alice was used to jumping queues, having doors held open for her, being noticed. Being worshipped, even. But despite it all, she still didn’t feel complete. She had job satisfaction, sure, but there was just something lacking from her life. One day, she resolved, she’d find out what. But for now, it was time to work. Those guys wouldn’t seduce themselves. Well, they might…but that’s another story.

Alice’s drink arrived at the same time as her first suitor. Wow, she hadn’t even had to work for this one, he’d come to her. What a great start to the evening!

“Let me get that,” said a voice, and Alice turned.

She had to look up to meet his eyes, but boy, was it worth the effort. They were a startling blue and looked full of mischief. It wasn’t just his eyes that were pretty; the guy was out-andout gorgeous. He was tall, six feet and then some, she guessed, with a light brown crop of hair and a smile that would make most mortal females weak at the knees. He wore tight but faded jeans and a beat-up leather jacket over a white T-shirt. A sneaky glance in the direction of his feet revealed a sturdy pair of Caterpillar boots. Mmm…sexy. She loved a guy that looked rough and ready for anything.

Suddenly, Alice gave herself a mental shake. She came to her senses and realized she’d been assessing this guy way longer than was polite, which was most unlike her. She was usually much more subtle. However, she’d checked herself just in the nick of time. Mr. Tall and Handsome’s smile was just about to fade.

“Sure,” she said, switching on her super-duper succubus megawatt smile, “that would be great, thank you.”

An hour later, the pleasantries exchanged, the getting-toknow-you part over and done with, Alice and the hunk were headed to his place. His name was Antony, and he was an athlete. Alice wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not. So many guys made up a “cool” occupation to impress the ladies. He was probably an office junior or something. Besides, who gave a crap? He looked the part, was smoking hot, and Alice wanted to rip his clothes off and ride him until his teeth rattled.

That last thought gave Alice a mental pause. Where on earth had that come from? Ride him
until his teeth rattled?
Crikey, she didn’t normally get this crazy about a pickup. It was usually a case of meet guy; screw guy; good-bye guy. No backward glances, physical or mental.

As they rode to Antony’s place in the cab, they made small
talk. He seemed to know instinctively that she wasn’t into public displays of affection. She was grateful. Some of the guys she’d been with started pawing at her almost the second the car door closed, making the whole situation more seedy than it already was. Apparently, this guy had more of a sense of propriety. Was there no end to his perfections? There was bound to be a catch somewhere. God, please don’t let him have a small cock, she thought. That would be the pits.

Once they arrived at Antony’s apartment, Alice could barely wait to get through the door before pouncing on him. Granted, he was an absolute god, but she didn’t normally get quite
this
horny. She was like a starving man at an all-you-can-eat buffet. It could hardly be her hormones; succubi didn’t have to worry about that kind of thing. That was another perk of the job, besides being gorgeous, powerful, immortal, and bedding numerous sexy guys, of course.

Once the door was safely closed behind them, Alice looped her arms around Antony’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss. Instantly, and much to her surprise, she felt a delicious jolt between her legs. This guy was doing some strange, but welcome, things to her. She pressed herself to him, grinning against his mouth as his arms went around her, pulling her even closer. He hadn’t even had a chance to remove his jacket before she’d jumped him, so she could smell the scuffed leather. It was a truly masculine smell that sent further warmth to Alice’s pussy, and she felt a trickle of juice seeping into her underwear.

Breathing deeply, Alice could also smell Antony’s cologne. It, too, was very masculine, very pleasant and yet somehow familiar. She knew the smell but couldn’t quite put her finger on who she knew or had known that wore it. There was someone, but his identity evaded her. She could almost see his face, but it kept skipping away from her. No matter. She was here, now.
And for a change, it was exactly where she wanted to be.

She pulled her body back, still kissing Antony, and pushed the lapels of his jacket back over his shoulders. He got the hint and wriggled out of it, their lips still crushed together, unwilling to part. Alice couldn’t wait to get him naked. She’d never been this out of control over a guy before, and she thought she liked it. Based on the spark between them so far, Alice was going to get a major energy boost tonight. Hell’s administrators would be most pleased.

Desperate for some skin-to-skin contact, Alice broke off their embrace. She stepped back, slid the spaghetti straps of her dress from her shoulders and shimmied around until the garment hit the floor. She wasn’t wearing a bra, didn’t need to; her shapeshifting talents meant that her body could look exactly how she wanted. And the form she’d chosen this evening had bigger than average, yet decidedly perky, breasts. She turned on her heel and strode to the bedroom. At least she hoped it was. In the small apartment, the door she’d approached could only be the bedroom or the bathroom.

Thankfully, she found she was right. On opening the door, Alice saw an extremely tidy bedroom. Tidy? Wow, he really
was
perfect.

Alice sensed that Antony had followed her. Buzzing in anticipation of her forthcoming energy fix and almost dizzy with lust, she turned to face him. She felt her pussy clench as she took in the sight before her.

Antony had discarded his T-shirt, revealing a near-perfect torso: smooth, hairless and athletic, without looking too much like a bodybuilder. There were also a couple of mysterious-looking scars, but she could think about those another time. Seconds later it occurred to her that they hadn’t even done the deed yet and she wanted there to be another time. What
was
the power this guy held over her?

Sliding her arms around Antony’s neck, Alice stretched up for another kiss. His naked chest felt hot, hard, and delicious against her soft, squishier one. Moments later, she felt two things very distinctly: the tingle of his life force entering her body, and his considerable erection pressing against her. Now, the hard-on felt impressive enough, but the zing of his energy was so powerful it felt almost like an electric shock. Normally, a victim’s life force felt like pleasant little tingles throughout her body, not unlike the early stages of an orgasm. But this was like—
whoa!
—megawatts of electricity! She’d never felt more alive, and she
definitely
liked it.

Her deep intake of breath pulled in yet another whiff of that intoxicating scent he was wearing. Once more, the elusive yet familiar face danced just out of her thought range. She’d work out who it was later, she knew. Right now, she just tried to put it—him, whoever he was—out of her mind.

Antony’s arousal was clearly climbing as high as hers—he began to shuffle forward, inching Alice back toward the sumptuous king-sized bed. As her calves felt the edge of the bed frame, she fell back on purpose, giggling girlishly. She grabbed at the waist of his jeans and yanked him closer. Then she proceeded to undo his button fly.

Sliding the denim down to reveal tight white boxers, Alice grinned. This guy certainly knew how to dress to his advantage. The white cotton was stretched out in front by Antony’s bulging cock. It looked pretty sizeable, too; good enough to eat.

Reaching out, she palmed his erection through the material of his underwear, relishing the heat that emanated off him. Smiling, she looked up at Antony coquettishly from beneath her lashes, but he wasn’t looking back. The touch of her hand had obviously been blissful, as his head was thrown back, his eyes
closed, and he looked like he was in heaven. Again, just for a second, he reminded her of someone, the same someone with the damn cologne, she thought. Who the hell was it?

She forcibly shoved the thoughts from her mind and concentrated on the task quite literally at hand. Alice hooked her fingers into the waistband of Antony’s underwear and pulled it down, deliberately raking her nails down the flesh of his hips. He jumped and yelped with surprise, but his leaping and swelling prick showed a clear appreciation for her actions.

Soon, his underwear lay abandoned on the floor and he was clambering up to join her on the bed. Pushing her onto her back, he crawled up her body, planting kisses along the way. The gusset of her panties was saturated with her pussy juices and she bet he could smell her arousal as he kissed up her calves and thighs. If he did, he never let on, and he deliberately skipped from her sensitive inner thighs to her tummy, the tease.

He did no such thing with her breasts, though. Kissing from the underside, Antony’s lips made their way up to her right nipple and closed around it. He sucked, nibbled, and licked at her flesh until her nipple was so hard it felt like it had turned to stone. Satisfied, he gave it a final flick with his tongue, then repeated his actions on her left breast. This was a man that both knew and cared about how to please a woman.

Next, he moved farther up her body and leaned in for another kiss. She could feel his cock pressing insistently against her leg, sticky precum smearing across her skin. She didn’t mind, though. Actually, she wanted to taste it. As they kissed, tongues dancing, Alice started to maneuver so that their positions were reversed. Once she was on top of him, she started to slide down his beautiful body.

Remembering his reaction to her nails across his skin, Alice hazarded a guess that he was into a little pain. So she kissed
her way down to his nipples, ready to return the favor. Flicking her tongue across his tiny buds, one then the other, she suddenly took one between her teeth and squeezed slightly. She heard his sharp intake of breath and felt his cock bounce and slap against her stomach.
Good guess,
she thought. She continued the sweet torture of his nipples until she couldn’t wait any longer. She simply had to feel his length in her mouth, and finally, her pussy.

Slipping further down, Alice knelt between his thighs. They were muscular and hairy but not too hairy. His circumcised cock sprang from pubic hair that had clearly been groomed. His balls were shaven clean, and the whole package looked simply divine.

Licking her lips, Alice grasped his cock in her hand and began to stroke it. The head looked angry and swollen, fit to burst. There was more precum seeping out as a result of her ministrations, so she poked out her tongue and lapped it up. Antony’s hips bounced, shoving his prick into her face. Grinning at his loss of control, she leaned her elbows on his thighs to keep him still and began to tease him in earnest.

Flicking her tongue around his bell-end, she licked up all his juices and soaked his skin with her saliva. Drawing back a little, she blew lightly on the area, sending shivers across Antony’s body. Then, to counteract the cold, she immediately sunk her redhot, willing mouth down his cock as far as it would go. By now, Antony was fidgeting like crazy, moans spilling forth from his mouth, along with random words: “God…fuck…yeah…oooh!”