Good Intentions 3: Personal Demons (11 page)

“More,” she answered.

Her hands slipped away from Molly to slide down her own hips. Molly wondered if she’d take off the garter and all the rest. She watched as Lorelei’s fingernails hooked the sides of her panties to cut through the silk like little blades.

Lorelei lifted one of Molly’s legs at the knee. The redhead didn’t question the move, thinking she only wanted to shift her weight. Instead, Lorelei slipped in over her, straddling the redhead’s other leg. As much as she loved the view, Molly said, “This works for you? I thought it was all a porn thing for
oh wow
!”

Her correction came out in a shudder as one intimacy met another. The slow, hot grind of their flesh quickly brought Molly to the edge of orgasm. Lorelei grinned down at her breathless face. “It might be a bit late to tell you,” she said, her own breath now heavy with pleasure, “but the rumors are true. I am a sex demon.”

* * *

Alex hung back as Onyx closed and quietly locked the front door on the last guests to leave. Even now, he didn’t take for granted where things might go tonight. Not until she turned around and bit her lip in a mischievous smile. “You know what the problem is with your plan?” she asked.

“You don’t have a spare bed,” he said.

“We don’t have a spare bed,” she confirmed.

“Yeah. We are not bright.”

“Speak for yourself. This was your plan. I only went along with it in the interests of my girlfriend’s happiness.”

“That’s all?”

“Okay, I wanted to help you get your revenge,” she admitted, stepping up close to him. She tugged on the top of his jeans. “I like your idea of revenge.”

Alex tilted his head toward the hallway and the bedroom. “We’re both big on the idea of living well as the best payback.”

“That sounds like you,” said Onyx, suppressing her smile enough to return his kiss as it fell on her lips. “Mmh. Missed that for a couple weeks,” she said.

“So did I. Holiday schedules kinda suck sometimes.”

“They do. It meant a lot that you helped with the move, though. Even if we were all too worn out for sexy funtimes afterward.”

Alex stroked her hair. “I didn’t expect anything. After a job like that, all anyone wants is a shower and a nap. Besides, that was your moment with Molly. Moving is a milestone, right? The big steps shouldn’t be about me.”

Onyx unfastened a couple of buttons on his shirt. “I like that you care about boundaries. We both do.”

“I care about whatever makes this work for all of us.”

“It’s working.” She moved in for another kiss, but turned her face away with a giggle. “She’s moaning. You can’t hear that?”

“No,” Alex laughed. “Not yet. Guess it’s not just your eyes that are awesome.” He looked toward the bedroom and heard nothing. “So. Do we squeeze onto the couch, or…?”

“Don’t ask if we go join them,” said Onyx. “I’m fine with this tonight. It feels good and I trust everyone. But I’m not in a hurry to push anything further. Don’t get your hopes up for any foursomes.” Then she smirked and poked him. “Or fivesomes.”

“Not even Rachel’s scene. Or mine. It sounds good, but I feel like at some point you can’t pay enough attention to everyone.” He thought to say more, but then he caught his first traces of Molly’s voice. “Although obviously we have a great coach available.”

“Stop,” Onyx laughed. “I wanna get off my feet and out of these clothes.”

“I like that idea. Do you have a plan?”

“We’ve got spare bedding in the laundry closet over there,” she suggested. “I thought maybe we could get the fireplace going for a little ambiance.”

“Guess we could pull the cushions off the couch and make it a little more comfortable.” Then his mouth spread into a grin. “Or we could make a pillow fort.”

Her response caught in her throat. She looked to the couch, then back at him. “No. A
sexy
pillow fort.”

* * *

Molly staggered out of the bedroom feeling so good she almost felt bad for it. Her whole body still trembled. Her breath shook. She needed a quick trip to the bathroom, and she needed water. After a couple of hours at Lorelei’s mercy, one thing she didn’t need now was sleep. The party had left her a little tired, but the last thing she wanted now was sleep.

Or clothes. Screw clothes. The sun wouldn’t be up for hours, but even so the last thing Molly wanted now was clothing. She felt too hot for that, in every sense of the word.

It wasn’t until she came out of the bathroom that she noticed the rearrangement of the living room and the noises. Molly crept through the hallway to the sounds of labored breathing. Light from the fireplace flickered against a blanket draped between pieces of furniture. Dangling over the corners of the blanket like a pair of flags were a familiar cut of boxer briefs and a lacy black bra.

Molly stared, listened, and slipped into the kitchen to complete her mission as quietly as she could. Naturally, the panting stopped once she had the water running. The fact she’d even gotten this far without being heard spoke to how well Alex had her girlfriend distracted.

Giving up on subtlety, Molly sauntered back out of the kitchen. “I’d better get a turn in there before that fort comes down,” she said as she passed.

“With who?” asked her lover’s voice from within.

“I dunno, we’ll flip a coin. Maybe I’ll cheat this time.”

Onyx poked her head out from under the blankets, but she only caught a glimpse of Molly’s backside before she disappeared into the bedroom again. It was a good glimpse, though. She slipped back inside. “Have I told you lately how much I love my life?” she asked.

The gentle chime of his cellphone grew more assertive with each moment. Alex wanted to ignore it, but the sleepy feminine murmur on his other side motivated him. He didn’t want her to wake up too early on his account. Reaching out into the darkness, then fumbling around on the nightstand, his hand found his phone and tapped the screen until the chimes ended.

Out of habit more than anything else, he slid the phone into view and peered at it with one eye. Eight-oh-five. Monday. He’d already hit the snooze function twice. Right.

Waking up became a little harder once Lorelei came into his life. He never complained and wouldn’t change a thing, but accepting the consequences didn’t lessen their impact. He usually didn’t get as much sleep as he should. Even when he did, his dreams tended to make things a little extra cloudy upon waking. His brain didn’t boot up in the morning as fast as it used to.

He definitely didn’t get enough sleep last night. That was normal. He heard another note from the woman beside him in the bed, and realized that wasn’t so normal. Lorelei never slept later than he did. Rachel didn’t sleep at all. If either was in bed with him, they’d be the ones to wake him.

Alex rolled over. He saw long, curly auburn hair and a lovely but foreign face. “
Bonjour
,” she said with a dreamy smile.

His memories returned quickly. Her name was Claire. She was a flight attendant for Air France. Lorelei approached her in the restaurant bar last night while she and Alex waited for their table. Dinner for two became a table for three, where conversation turned sultry fast. Claire had a whole day in the city between flights, along with great eyes and enthralling legs and
aw shit it’s the first day of school
!

Claire’s eyes opened as he sat up and pulled away. “Is something wrong?” she asked with obvious concern.

“Nothing, no,” Alex quickly replied, remembering that
oh yeah I speak French now, too
. He also remembered that his bike needed gas, traffic would be horrible, parking would be worse even for motorcycles, and oh, right, his nine o’clock class still hadn’t been assigned to a room as of the last time he’d checked online. The pretty woman in front of him reasonably assumed he had other troubles. “Sorry,” he explained. “It’s my first day at the university. I should be up already.”

“Ah. I see. I thought you had regrets.”

“Not in this lifetime.”

“Good. I had a wonderful night. Thank you.” Her arms emerged from the sheets in a languid stretch.

Oh god don’t do that to me now
, Alex thought, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the sight. “You’re welcome to stay, but I should go,” he said as he slipped out of the bed.

“You don’t mind if I watch?” she teased—and then laughed as Alex tripped over his discarded clothes on the floor.

He kept his shower short. He didn’t need help waking up now. Shaving didn’t take long, given that he’d cleaned up well for dinner the night before. He handled that in the shower, too, and even managed to avoid cutting himself. Something about Lorelei’s influence seemed to keep him perpetually well-groomed, anyway, but the chore gave him a chance to consider his schedule again. He’d make it on time unless he ran into some catastrophe. He wouldn’t be the only first-timer on campus today. Shit happened. He was pressed for time, but not late.

By the time he emerged from the bathroom, Claire had risen to take his place. She did nothing to cover her slender body, slipping past him in the bathroom doorway with one hand on his chest as his heart got pounding. His eyes uncontrollably followed her backside. His libido immediately offered alternative math that would allow him to linger at home a little longer.

No! School!
shouted the more sensible sides of his brain. His libido responded by questioning exactly which part of him was the truly sensible one. The bathroom door helped settle the argument by closing in Claire’s wake.

The street map on his cell phone showed a lot of angry red lines as he stepped out of the bedroom dressed and mostly ready to go. Living in a downtown luxury condo meant dealing with ugly downtown traffic. He might have to bend some laws with his bike, but he could still avoid being late. At least he’d gotten his backpack all sorted out and ready on a chair at the dining table yesterday. Being kept up late by Lorelei wasn’t exactly an unpredictable occurrence.

“Aw, c’mon,” said a voice he didn’t expect to hear that morning. “You got her to say, ‘Ooh-la-la’ at least once, right?”

“Have you ever heard anyone from France actually say that, Rachel?” Lorelei chuckled. The pair lounged close together on the plush couches in the living room, with Lorelei in a floor-length silk robe and Rachel dressed in her usual white sundress. He noticed the way Lorelei’s robe lay partially open for Rachel’s roaming, affectionate hand.

“Morning, sunshine,” the angel taunted.

“Hey,” said Alex. He glanced back toward the bedroom, but he’d heard the shower get running as he threw on his shoes. Their guest wasn’t likely to walk in on this conversation. “Didn’t expect to see you here. I figured you’d be out doing the rounds or whatever.”

“It’s only a quick break,” said Rachel. “I wanted to be here. We need to talk.”

The words stopped him just as he was about to pick up his backpack. Both women rose to join him. “What’s up?” he asked warily. “More demon bullshit?”

“Nothing new there.” Rachel shook her head. “All my people are watching. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Don’t get complacent, but demon traffic is at an all-time low around here. It turns out
somebody
spent the last few months kickin’ a lot of ass.”

“Our thoughts are rather the opposite of danger to life and limb,” said Lorelei. She’d wrapped her robe closed, but now toyed with Alex’s shirt. “A little less ‘last Christmas’ and a little more ‘last night.’”

Rachel came close, too. “You won’t be late,” she assured him. She slipped one arm around his waist and another around Lorelei’s.

His arms did much the same. “Okay.” He let out a breath. “I wondered if last night wasn’t meant to help me work off the edge before starting classes this morning.”

Lorelei slowly shook her head. He noted Rachel’s mischievous grin, but the angel said nothing. “Last night was a matter of opportunity and mutual interest,” the succubus explained. “I will admit I thought it might help your perspective as you start this new chapter of your life.

“When we first came together, you were greatly troubled by the curse that forms one of our bonds. You didn’t know what to make of your inflamed desires or your luck in finding partners to fulfill them. You feared a sinister clouding of consent, or some inevitable payback. Yet you know better now. You know it is mostly a matter of circumstance and passive magnetism. You understand it is a ‘curse’ because it normally falls upon those who abuse their fortune.”

“Yeah. I do.”

Rachel’s hand slipped below his waist and groped. “Got plenty going for you without it, anyway,” she added.

“When last we spoke of the curse, you agreed to let go of your ‘baggage’ and worries to have some fun. You have accepted that we will live a wild life. You see the results. It has brought you peace—and it has given all three of us great joy.”

He felt the heat grow between them. “You didn’t hear me object to anything last night,” he pointed out.

“No. I wanted to remind you of all this because today you enter a new environment, where desire and opportunity are naturally common even without mystic encouragement.” Her hand ran up his chest. Her eyes stared into his.

“Trust your desires. Trust your judgment. Trust yourself.”

Hot as this was, Alex couldn’t hold back a smirk. “Lorelei, it’s just my first day at the U-Dub.”

“Yes,” she agreed solemnly. “Don’t waste the opportunity.”

He felt Rachel’s hand on his shoulder. Her touch drew his eyes to her grinning face. “Far as we’re concerned,” she said, “you’ve got every reason to graduate as the biggest tramp that place has ever seen.”

He blinked. She nodded. He looked to Lorelei. Her expression remained unchanged. “Tuition is expensive,” said the succubus. “I expect prompt returns on my investment.”

Rachel leaned in to whisper into his ear: “Magna come
loudly
, motherfucker.”

For once, even Lorelei couldn’t keep a straight face.

* * *

“I think we need to talk money,” ventured Molly.

Onyx looked up from the display case filled with fancy chocolates and specialty cakes. Black curls bounced around her soft, pretty face as she turned. Her hands were still in the pockets of her long black frock coat. “Okay?”

Molly reached up to run her hand through her spiky hair, a nervous tell that only showed during these We Need to Talk moments. Her leather-clad arm went back to her side through an act of will. “I’m wondering if we’ve overestimated our new income and maybe we should dial things back.”

“I’ve got a double-shot mocha nudge for…Oh-neeks?” called out the barista behind the counter. He placed the drink on a paper napkin and slid it forward. The porcelain container was more of a bowl with a handle than a coffee mug.

Onyx hardly noticed the mispronunciation of her name. “You couldn’t bring this up before I ordered the most expensive thing on the menu?” she asked Molly.

“Sorry. Don’t worry about it. That’s not the sort of thing that’s on my mind.”

The couple moved over to a tall table with high seats by the window. Outside, Capitol Hill’s wet streets moved with its usual late morning traffic. “Maybe not right now,” Onyx suggested.

“Look, I don’t wanna nag,” Molly began. “I’m just thinking maybe we’re overestimating what we’ll pull in from our ‘consulting’ gig with—”

“No, I mean not
right now
,” Onyx reiterated through gritted teeth. She tilted her head toward the window.

Molly’s gaze followed her girlfriend’s motion. Outside, Broadway seemed no different from the last time she looked at it, but then she recognized the bronze features and long, dark hair of the woman passing by on her way to the door. “She’s prompt,” noted Molly.

“Yeah.” Onyx grabbed Molly’s hand for a quick squeeze. “Talking money is fine. Later.”

They turned their attention to the door and rose. The woman in the business suit entered and exchanged smiles. “No need to get up for me,” said Kate Oakwood. “I’m glad to see you.”

“Likewise,” said Onyx.

“Did you want to order anything?” asked Molly. “We didn’t know whether to wait for you.”

“I’m fine. To be honest, I can’t stay long. Things came up at work on my way over here, but I didn’t want to cancel.” She draped her coat over the back of her seat before settling in.

“We’re flexible, if it makes any difference,” Onyx offered. “Is it something serious?”

“It’s not an emergency so much as a busy schedule. ‘nother day, ‘nother fight for Federal tribal recognition.”

Molly tilted her head curiously. “You’re Snoqualmie, right? I thought they were recognized.”

“
We
are, yes,” said Kate. “This is for another tribe. I’ve got battles to fight on other days for my own tribe. Most of my legal work is as much of a patchwork as my circle.”

“Huh. Y’know, I wondered about your circle, but I never thought of a tactful way to ask.”

“What, if we’re all the same tribe? No. Once upon a time, tribes around here could probably put together exclusive circles of shamans and whatnot, but then that whole Manifest Destiny thing happened.” Kate frowned. “Sometimes I get frustrated that I can’t handle some of the legal stuff with magic, but if we could use sorcery to solve all our problems the world would be a completely different place, right?”

“One would think,” agreed Onyx.

“Anyway. I’d need to meet over serious drinks if you wanted to talk tribal politics,” Kate said with a polite smile. “Thank you for taking me up on this meeting. I’m glad to see you’re both okay.”

Molly tilted her head. “Why, did you hear something about us? Because it’s only true if we sound awesome.”

Kate paused to meet each woman’s eyes before answering. She laid a small, ordinary compact on the table and opened it, revealing the customary mirror on one side. Rather than foundation or blush, the other side of the compact held a thick, ashen substance. “Would you object to a little extra privacy?” she asked quietly.

The other two women shook their heads. “I’ve already given this place a good look,” said Onyx, “but go ahead.”

Curiosity overcame them both. They’d never seen Kate cast a spell before. In truth, they had little direct observation of castings by other Practices at all. The pair watched and listened with interest as Kate worked. She didn’t put on much of a display, keeping her motions to a minimum and softly humming rather than speaking or chanting words. Kate dabbed one finger in the grey powder and used it to draw a triangle in the mirror, orienting its three points to herself and the two witches. She used a little more to draw a circle around the triangle before closing it up, leaving the compact on the table. “Insurance,” she explained.