Natural Consequences (6 page)

“I live for this,
” he confessed.

“You do. Your lust defines you as much as your conscience. We merely have to find a way to balance them.”

He let out a soft moan as her hand brought him between her legs, teasing him with her moist, welcoming flesh. Their eyes fluttered open together, staring back at one another for this moment as they so often did. His hands on her hips urged her down onto him, and as she took him inside her they shared a trembling breath.

Lorelei smiled broadly, grinding her hips against his to revel in the intimacy that would consume their whole night together. Establishing her control,
Lorelei set a slow, savoring pace. His hands slid up her sides to cup her breasts. Before they met their goal, Lorelei squeezed him within her and ground against his groin, leaving his eyes rolling back as he gasped.

When his eyes opened again, he found his succubus staring back with a haughty grin
. Her smooth, perfect skin turned red. Her horns and wings were now on full display. He felt her tail slash against his legs. It left him feeling all the more naked, and all the more intimate.

“
Shall we bargain, mortal?” the demon asked, proud and wicked and loving. “Do you trust me?”

She never let up on him, claiming him within her mercilessly. It made it difficult to talk, as she knew very well. He remembered the first time she asked him this. “With my life,” he exhaled.

“You offer me great freedom,” she said, her slow grind driving his body to trembling pleasure. She took his wrists in her hands and pinned them over his head. “Surely there is some price.”

She wasn’t bargaining. She knew there were no conditions.
This was just another game. Immobilized and loving it, Alex watched his demon lover as she rode him and grinned. “I could stand to see more of this look,” he suggested.

“So little a thing?” Lorelei taunted.
Her voice sounded out notes of ecstasy, but her composure didn’t waver. “Merely that in exchange for such a gift?”

Her tail snaked between his legs and along his thighs again.
She waited patiently for an answer, enjoying the slow ride as much as Alex. If he gave in so far as to forget her question, so much for the better.

“I will grant you any pleasure you wish,” she offered, “all night long, for ten nights or more. Wear anything you like… or any face. Indulge in any game.”

His mind swam. She’d do any of that anyway, and they both knew it. Lorelei consumed his nights, his weekends, and so much time in between. What more could he want?

H
e finally answered with a shaking breath: “Use your imagination.”

The beauty above him was almost frightening. She had him close to release, and was near to it herself. It would be the first of many
. He looked forward to more, but now she held him there. Tortured him with it.

Loved him.

“That may come to more than you expect,” she warned.

“Deal,” he said.

Whether it was her triumph or the pleasures of his release that soon set her off, Alex couldn’t tell, but Lorelei’s climax was as beautiful as anything he’d ever experienced.

*   *   *

Despite the racket of his own horse, Skorri heard the one behind him collapse with a shriek. Both of its riders cried out. Skorri looked back over his shoulder, but naturally saw little more than darkness and trees.

“Gunnar,” Skorri said to the man sharing his horse, whose belt he gripped with one hand, “Unferth and Bjorn are down.”

“Don’t do it, boy,” warned Gunnar. “They’re bastards anyway!”

You can’t just leave them behind,
said a voice in Skorri’s head.

Skorri looked back again. He couldn’t see their two fellow raiders—nor the scores of angry Danes closing in pursuit. In the opposite direction lay the sea, and escape, and survival.

It isn’t right,
said the voice.
You’ll never forgive yourself.

Skorri grunted. That voice had told him to go on this stupid raid in the first place. It had not gone well.
The Danes had started this feud. Skorri and the others came to end it, but slaying a rival chief was one thing. Getting away from his angry allies was another.

He should have stayed home with Halla.

The younger warrior lifted up one leg and rolled off the back of the horse. His landing was unpleasant, but he ignored the pain and scrambled to his feet. Gunnar shouted something after him as he continued on.

Skorri was glad Gunnar kept riding. The brothers really were bastards. Abandoning them wasn’t right, but neither was risking more than one life for their hides.

Some of the Danes rode with torches to supplement the light of the full moon. Others rode with spears in hand. Two lead riders spotted Unferth as the bearded raider struggled to free himself from his fallen horse. Bjorn lay stunned and disoriented nearby. The one with the spear leveled his weapon at Bjorn and urged his mount into a charge. Unferth cried out to him, but with his leg pinned and his axe out of reach he could do nothing to help his blond brother.

Skorri’s sword lay among fallen warriors in a field miles from here, but he had one last axe and a good throwing arm. He hurled his weapon as he ran, striking home to knock the Dane from his saddle. The horse trotted past Bjorn and then Unferth and his ruined mount, plainly uninterested in fighting on anyone’s behalf.

Sure enough, the other rider closed in on Skorri, swinging his torch. Searing pain erupted across Skorri’s left shoulder, but thankfully not his head. Stepping back and away bought the raider time as the horseman turned his mount around again.

Skorri rolled his left shoulder. It hurt like hell but seemed to work fine, though he often underestimated his injuries when the rage took hold like this. At least he could still think this time.

His eyes darted left and right. Unferth was finally free, limping over to his brother. Bjorn rose to his hands and knees, his long blond hair dangling over his face.

The other Danes hadn’t caught on to this struggle yet.
They could all still make it out of this mess alive.

The Dane charged in at Skorri once more, intent on running the raider down with his mount this time. Skorri dodged to one side and then grabbed for the rider’s leg.

Naturally, the Dane tried to batter Skorri away with his torch. Skorri grabbed at his wrist with both hands and then lifted his feet off the ground, pulling the Dane from his horse in a tumble.

Skorri recovered first. He also had the torch. He leapt upon the Dane, pinning his shoulders to the ground with his knees, and then brought the flaming end of the torch down on the Dane’s face
with brutal force.

“Crazy bastard,” Unferth said as he helped Bjorn to his feet.
He wiped blood and spittle from his ragged red beard. “I thought we were both dead.”

“We may all still be,” Skorri half-growled and half-grinned. “Better that than to tell Halla that I left men behind.” He rushed to the riderless horse, grabbing its reins and tugging it over.

“More of them,” Bjorn gestured breathlessly into the darkness beyond. “Right on top of us!”

“You’re both hurt,” Skorri said. “Take the horse and go. Hold a boat for me. I’ll be right behind.”

Neither Unferth nor Bjorn hesitated. They both mounted up and rode down toward the fishing village beneath the hill without a backward glance.

Skorri found the fallen spear amid long, thick tree roots and then looked toward the approaching torches and the sound of hooves. He needed a horse of his own, and the other raiders needed time.

They only made it to the village before dawn and ahead of their pursuers because of Skorri. Everything had gone wrong on this raid, culminating in the death of Thialfi and the seizure of his longship. Skorri was not a leader of men—he was too young and wild—but his spirit helped keep the band moving. His ferocity staved off disaster more than once.

He nearly caught up in time. He saw fishing boats rowing out to sea as his horse burst from the tree line at the edge of the village. Most were halfway across the bay already. One last boat lay close to shore. Skorri recognized Unferth’s big red beard in the boat and Bjorn’s long blond hair.

Skorri rode for his life. Several other horsemen followed close behind, but Skorri had enough of a lead. He could make it.

“Row!” Unferth commanded. His loud voice carried across the water to the shore. “Damn it, row!”

“Unferth!” cried Skorri. “Wait!”

“Row!”

Skorri’s horse crashed into the cold water, and he with it. He let the mount go in favor of swimming under his own power, a talent he had nurtured as a child when the water was warm enough.

Skorri had a wife at home. He couldn’t winter here with the Danes, not with all of them after every raider’s head. He couldn’t leave Halla alone to wonder.

He kept swimming. The Danes did not pursue. They had no bows with which to threaten those in the water. Skorri’s boots and his clothes dragged him down, but he kept swimming. He only needed a minute’s pause to catch up.

Unferth and his men kept rowing.

His arms flailed about in the darkness, mostly upward, reaching for something to hold onto. Panicked huffs and grunts came from his throat. His eyes opened wide. The water clung to him like bedsheets, tangling his arms and his legs.

He felt nothing but
desperation and fear.

Strong
, feminine arms came around his naked chest. “
Ssshhh, love, you are safe
,” Lorelei told him urgently, whispering close to his ear. “
Relax
,” she commanded, unhurt by the way his elbows and head bumped into her before his thrashing lessened.

“You are Alex Carlisle,” Lorelei told him, “You are home, in bed, with me.” She kissed the back of his neck, then his shoulder, caressing him to calm him down.
“Whatever life you dreamt of is over now, and can hurt you no more.”

His eyes darted around. A spacious bedroom replaced the
bay. The bed seemed vast in the darkness. It was larger than king sized, bought with a humorous, indulgent smile that promised thorough use. He heard the rain fall against the bedroom windows. His skin was soaked with sweat, but not water.

An angel
appeared through the open bedroom door, seeming to illuminate the room merely with her presence. She rounded the bed, sat down beside him opposite Lorelei, and gently kissed him.

Calming under Lorelei’s influence already, Alex soon felt his body relax. Fear and desperation melted away with Rachel’s touch. She smiled at him, her eyes as full of comfort as Lorelei’s arms. “21
st
Century, lover,” she said. “Your life’s awesome. Drop the baggage. We’re here. Go to sleep.”

His eyelids felt heavy.
Lorelei eased him back down again. “
Sleep
,” she urged. His breathing quickly grew steady once more.

“Worse tonight, huh?” Rachel asked.

“Yes. He was accosted today. I’ll explain later,” Lorelei added as Rachel’s eyebrow rose, “but the stress seems to have worsened this. His memories confused him even during the day. Were all of his lives so violent?”

Rachel hesitated, biting back her first answer before she spoke. “Yeah,” she said. “Yeah, pretty much. They always were at the end, anyway.”

“I understand little of such things, but I know that isn’t natural.”

The angel sighed. “No, it’s not. I can’t get into it. I’m sorry.” She gestured to their
younger partner. “This is why mortals aren’t supposed to know too much.”

“I only listen to him,” said Lorelei. “I offer counsel only with great care. But he cannot be left to suffer like t
his.” Rachel looked to Lorelei without speaking. The succubus nodded in understanding. “So be it. I understand. My hands are not tied like yours. I have at least one prospect in mind.” Her head tilted curiously. “How long have you been home?”

“Literally just blew in through the window,” Rachel said with a shake of her head
and a smile. “Don’t think I’d be fucking around out in the living room if I could be in here with you, do you?”

“
I should hope not,” Lorelei replied mildly. “You don’t seem one to waste your opportunities for free time.”

“Yeah, well. City’s a supernatural
shithole,” the angel shrugged.

“What romantic imagery.” She gave her lover a thoughtful look. “You know you need only ask for my help.”

“I figured cleaning up the town wouldn’t be your style.”

“Perhaps not, but you know where my loyalties lie.
You have dreams. I would be a terrible lover if I did not help you realize them.”

“I’ll keep the offer in mind… but it means a lot to hear you make it.”

“Come now, you’re an angel. I must lull you with a façade of benevolence and demonstrate my eagerness to amend my evil ways. Only once you’ve lowered your defenses can I truly defile you.”