Wicked Demons (3 page)

She fought a smile. “Are you serious?
Again?”

“No,” he whispered. “I only wish to feel your
skin against mine and listen to the beating of your heart. It calls
to me as sweet as the song of the whippoorwill.”

Having nothing as profound to say in return,
Andi opted for silence.

“Did you hear that?”

“Of course I heard you. I’ve just never had
someone say anything like that to me before.”

Michael shook his head. “I heard a noise
outside.”

Andi’s spine went rigid. “An owl or an
opossum, I suppose.”

He shook his head again.

“A coyote, perhaps?” Andi’s throat tensed.
What else can it be?

“Put these on.” Michael handed her a black
T-shirt and a pair of boxers. They froze as something scraped the
edge of his truck. “Stay here.”

Andi grabbed his wrist. “That’s what they say
in the movies before something jumps out and eats everybody.”

Michael was amused by her nervous ramblings.
Shaking his head, he grinned. “I’m sure it’s just a coyote. I’ll be
right back.”

He was gone, zipping the tent closed behind
him.

“I’ll be right back,” she mocked. “I’ll be
right back… Famous words from a horror movie or bad first date.”
Considering the two, she quipped to herself, “God, please let it be
a horror movie. I don’t think I can survive another bad date.”

The unknown noise screeched through the night
a second time, causing Andi’s breath to catch in her chest. After
an extremely long silence, she leaned forward, the rustle of the
sleeping bag giving her away to the night long before the sound of
the zipper as she opened the tent flap.

If there hadn’t been stars above or the fresh
stench of a smothered campfire, it may have been easy to forget
where she was. And who was watching.

“Oh my god!” she screamed.

A tall, muscled figure stepped into the
campsite, playing between moonlight and shadow. Malevolence clung
to him, filling the clearing with a thick air of dread. Andi’s
chest pounded with the might of ten drums and her pulse jumped as
the darkly-cloaked figure drew ever nearer.

Silently, she thanked Michael for the
oversized clothes because hers were still hanging over the
makeshift line like a matted damp cat.

“Stop!” Michael commanded from where he lay
in the grass.

The figure spoke low, a ghost of an
afterthought. “You have the ability to protect no one. Do not feign
power when we both know you wield none.”

Andi thought it was the voice of someone very
weary. She asked in a careful tone, “Are you okay, Michael?”

“No,” the stranger replied. “His pride is
shattered.”

“And who are you?” Stepping forward, she
raised her chin, refusing to allow fear to crawl into her heart
like a voracious worm into an apple.

“The boogeyman.”

“Well, good day, Sir. I’m Miss Mary Mack, and
the Three Blind Mice should be along any minute.” Dropping the
sarcasm, she motioned for him to move closer. “Come on.”

“You are attempting a confrontation after
witnessing his failure?” he wondered, pointing to Michael’s
crumpled form. The dark material swathed around his body gave away
nothing but the tease of pale flesh on his wrists and neck. Pearl
kisses on a blank canvas. Claiming an outrageous amount of steps,
he was suddenly an arm’s length from Andi. A fleck of fascination
hilted his voice. “You must be very brave. Or utterly lost.”

“Who are you?”

“I already told you,” he whispered.

She shook her head, choking back nerves.
“That was a lame answer. And a lie.”

“Perceptive.”

Feeling as though she was being lured into a
spider’s web, Andi withdrew a step, but the stranger’s fingers
curled around her wrist before her brain could register that he had
moved.

Using her free hand to push against his chest
and kick the side of his knee, they fell to the ground in unison.
The breath was knocked out of her as she landed square on a rock.
But feeling his grip tighten made her ignore the pain and fight
harder. Minute by minute, every time Andi felt as though she was
gaining the upper hand, he would crash her hopes and body back to
the ground.

Michael tried to sit as he warned, “He is
playing games.” Taking a sharp breath and holding his ribs, he
said, “You will fight away all strength and be left open for
attack.”

“A very wise man once said
nothing
because he knew when to keep his mouth shut,” the wickedly sinister
presence spat in Michael’s direction.

Andi knew Michael spoke the truth. She was
already tiring from the battle, struggling to stay afoot while the
stranger’s grip merely tightened after every kick and punch. No man
could withstand this much and remain so unmoved.

She stopped struggling.

“What are you?”

“Ah, now you are asking the right questions.”
He smiled, though it was far from genuine.

Something about his scent inspired thoughts
of darkness and isolation. Yes, his grip was almost desperate, that
of loneliness. And once he had let go, the throb of her bare wrist
made her long to feel that connection. Not his grip, but his
despondent presence.

Making eye contact, she gazed into the
blackness where there should have been color and thought she saw a
spark of life. He felt the connection, too. She read it in his
stunned expression.

“I claim this land with blood and death,”
Michael asserted. “Be gone!”

Crumbling to dust where he stood, Andi
marched to the empty spot, mouth agape. “What the fuck was
that?”

“That?” he asked, obviously stalling.

“Yes!
That
.”

He stood gingerly. “One of Satan’s
spawn.”

“What?” Andi swept her damp, sexed hair out
of her face and stormed up to him. “Did you just call that thing
Satan’s love child?”

Staring into her round eyes, he took a deep
breath and nodded.

“Oh,” she responded. “Of course. And I’m sure
a gnome is going to drop by next. And then maybe Darby O’Gill and
all of his fucking little people!” Pulling her skirt off the line
and grabbing her shoes, Andi had it in her mind to stomp her ass
right out of the horror movie she had gotten herself into.

“Wait,” Michael pleaded. When she didn’t
listen, he wielded more force behind his words. “You can’t leave.
It isn’t safe.”

“Safer than here.”

“Really? What do you think crashed your car?
Who do you think I was tracking when I found you?”

Andi’s blood felt heavy, as if it solidified
into concrete right in her veins. Facing Michael, she commanded,
“Answer my next question truthfully. Who and what are you?”

“I’m human.”

She started breathing easy until his
expression remained tense.

“Err, I will be. I want to be.”

“What…are you?”

“I’m an incubus.”

She rubbed her hands over her face and stared
at him.

“An incubus is—“

“I know what an incubus is!” she almost
screamed. “You’re a demon who lives on sex! Who had sex with
me
!”

Looking quite embarrassed, Michael spoke
softly. “I also live on food, shelter, and good company, as any
human does.”

“You know who says that? Demons and online
daters.” Swooning away from his muscular chest, Andi began blindly
walking, mumbling to herself. “I have a great life—an awesome
life—with the perfect job, and a house payment with three percent
interest. That’s unheard of! And all I wanted to do tonight was get
laid. By a human! And maybe drink too much wine.” Stopping, she
slid the boxers off and struggled to get into the skirt, which
proved to be problematic.

Michael stepped in front of her, a palm out,
but not daring touch her. “Stop. Please.” He still held his ribs
with the other hand, inhaling shallow breaths. “I didn’t use you,
and I don’t plan on killing you. But
he
will.” Seemingly
defeated, he pleaded one last time, “Wait until the sun rises so
you may leave in safety.”

Angry and confused, Andi removed the bunched
material from around her knees, threw it on the ground, and stomped
on it a good thirty seconds before answering. “Fine. But I’m
sleeping in the truck.”

“Thank you,” was all he said in return,
giving her a wide path to the vehicle.

Hopping into the passenger seat and locking
the door, Andi tried to ignore Michael as he slid more cautiously
behind the wheel. He also locked the door, but it was for Andi’s
peace of mind only. If something wanted in, the weak lock would do
little to stop it.

Sitting in Michael’s shirt was annoying. She
wanted her skirt and blouse, not this demon hottie’s shirt clinging
to her dewy skin.

Damn it!

“Are you okay?” he ventured to ask.

“I wouldn’t be okay if I were picking daisies
with the Easter Bunny.”

Scooting closer, he winced, stretching his
right arm over the back of the seat. “Take a deep breath and calm
down.”

“Funny, since you can’t even take your own
advice.”

“True,” he said with a hint of frustration,
“But I have three broken ribs and I’m trying to make
you
comfortable. I can just as easily sleep in the back of the
truck.”

Andi stopped him before he started sliding
away. “I’m just freaked out.” Leaning in, she inspected the cuts
across his face; minor scratches littered the side of his
pronounced jaw and cheekbone. “He really got you.”

“Yeah.”

“Have you ever considered taking a
self-defense course?”

He shook his head and fought back laughter.
“I’m a demon.”

“Not a very good one if you get your ass
handed to you frequently. Why are you chasing Satan’s spawn,
anyway?”

“They carry a bounty.”

“Like pirate doubloons?” Andi attempted to
lighten the mood in the small cab of the truck.

“Like becoming human.”

“Wow.”

Also feeling the strain in the air, Michael
opted to disarm it. Smiling, he quipped, “And I don’t get my ass
“handed to me” very often. Satan’s spawn is exceptionally
strong.”

“That’s what everyone says,” Andi replied
with a laugh. She was about to say something else equally silly
until she met Michael’s intense gaze. “What?”

“I have never heard laughter quite like
yours. I have longed to be human for so many years. Centuries. But
I’ve never wanted it so much as when I’m with you.”

“Hold on. We met five seconds ago in the
timeline of ‘shit to give a shit about’. You’re starting to freak
me out again.”

Michael shook his head and leaned back into
the seat. “I only mean that you inspire life. You see what you want
and take it.” Resting his head on the top of the seat, he turned
his neck, coming face to face with Andi. “If this it going to be
our first and last evening together, take me. Maybe I’ll catch the
spawn and find out what it’s like to possess a mortal beating
heart. If not, allow me to live in a moment of yours.”

“Jesus, how can you make a one night stand
sound better than a lifetime of free cable?”

He slouched into her and began laying
butterfly kisses up her left arm until he reached his shirt draping
her shoulder. Twisting the material in his fist, he used it to
gently pull her into him. ”Kiss me.”

Andi’s lips met his with a force of might
unmatched, even by Satan’s spawn, and Michael played with her hard
nipples through the thin, cotton material.

“I won’t go to hell for this, will I?” Andi
asked, breathlessly.

Michael’s fingers ran back and forth between
her thighs, creeping closer to the most tender of flesh. “Not
unless you throw in a few extras.”

That was all she needed to hear.

“You want to be taken? Take off your pants,”
she ordered.

“Are you sure you don’t want to—“

“Take. Off. Your. Pants.”

He didn’t hesitate.

With a chest full of bloody scrapes and
gashes, it only took Andi a second to come up with a plan. “Here.”
She pulled the shirt over her head and, holding it up, exposed a
long torso with two breasts ripe for the taking. “Put this on.” She
pulled the neck hole down around his head as he ran his hands along
her arms from shoulders to wrists until his hands poked through the
armholes. In return, Andi ran her hands all the way down to the
sides of his chest and tugged the edge of the shirt down.

“Were we just wearing the same shirt at the
same time?” he reflected.

“Kind of.” She winked and hopped on his lap,
immediately feeling him pressing hard between her legs. He was
about to say something when she pressed a finger across his lips.
“Shhh… Let me show my demon lover the ropes.”

Lifting just enough, her thighs and belly
worked in unison, gaining momentum, to brush his tip between her
parted pink flesh. Michael dropped his head back and groaned, but
not before resting both hands on her gyrating hips.

He began sliding his hands up her bare waist,
but she planted them on her hips again, whispering, “I’m taking
care of you right now. That’s what one human does for another. Let
me do it.” She sucked on his lower lip and said, “Let me do you,”
as her hips dropped, guiding him inside.

Though it hadn’t been long since their first
tryst, his girth stretched within, causing a sigh from them
both.

“How can you feel this good? You’re like
sunshine after a rainstorm or honeysuckles after one hundred years
of dust and thorns.” His voice was rough and full of wonder.

The top of her ass pressed against the
steering wheel. She was pinned. Michael’s muscles tensed like a
wild cat on the hunt before a torrent of lust swept them into the
whirlwind.

“More,” she panted. “I want all of you.”

He ran his length into her as fast and deep
as possible and she couldn’t get enough of his feel, his touch, his
desire. Handing over the reins, she rode the storm between her
legs, gasping and moaning, ready to surrender. Ready to—