Chapter Six
Bailey
If this was what it took to keep Traum fed, then I would gladly be his - ahem - victim for the rest of my life. Last night, coming to the Underworld had not been planned or expected, but for the first time in my life I felt like I was awake, alive, and the center of my own story.
It was intoxicating. But not nearly so much as the feel of Traum’s hands on me. He hadn’t lied, every time we touched it set off a vibrant staccato of pulses all over my body. My heart would race, my thighs would shake, and I had all but given up on my panties. They were soaked any time I was around him.
I wanted to ask if that was normal, but something told me I wasn’t ready for the answer. That this reaction to him was something more than the usual incubus and human interaction. Maybe because when I woke up this morning, I was curled against him, his body completely still against mine, even as I felt that hot, thick cock at my spine. But he was watching me with such fascination that I nearly melted right there.
“Good morning,”
I whispered, my voice a little rough. I looked around, his side of the bed was barely disturbed as if he hadn’t slept at all. “Did you sleep alright?”
His lips curled up, fangs flashing, “I have not slept yet.”
I sat upright, one arm holding the sheets against my skin as I twisted to face him. “What? Why not?”
“Our nights and days are very different from yours. I would usually be up all night,”
he took a breath, “Feeding from others. I slept when I was full or when my tasks were complete.”
I stared at him, “Oh, okay. I guess–I thought–”
I scrubbed at my face, “I thought maybe you had fed from me. Last night, when I…”
I was so flustered now, my skin had to be a bright shade of red. I looked at him pleadingly, hoping he understood. His hand, the dark red splash of color against my pale skin, found my arm and then slid higher. “You mean, when you dropped to your knees and swallowed my cum.”
His hand was at my throat now, where it tightened and tipped my head back. “Is that what you’re talking about?”
I nodded, his claws a delicious prickle against the sides of my throat. A reminder of not only how deadly he could be, but how much larger he was.
Traum hummed, a thumb moving to press against my lower lip, his gaze rapt on me, “As spectacular as it was, that was me giving you more of my power, my protection. You, little dream, reek of me. And my cum, my magic now flows through your veins. There is not a place in the world they could take you now without me knowing. Or a righteous Demon who would attempt to remove you from me.”
I swallowed, licking my lips, my tongue brushing over his thumb as I did. My entire body was waking up now. My core aching with more of that need and my fingers twitched in the sheets. I wanted to touch him. To feel him move against me. My moan was louder than I intended but Traum only responded with a soft growl of his own.
“Does this mean we’re bonded now? Like Arafel said?”
Traum’s grip on my throat tightened, but then released, his fingers trailing down my chest to the pile of blankets at my waist. “No, no it doesn’t.”
“I don’t understand, what’s the difference?”
Traum shifted until he was braced on an elbow. “You are my mate, my fated match. The one my soul calls for. They don’t know why it works that way, no one does. But before now there has been a boundary in place, to keep Others from entering the living world seeking their soul mates.”
“Is it common then?”
“For one of the Other and a human? No, otherwise I don't think we would be here,”
Traum looked towards the door, “But I have a feeling it may be happening more than they would. Lord Arafel seems…surprised.”
“But if they never find each other, then what?”
Traum shrugged, “The humans would probably go through life, completely alright. They wouldn’t die or mourn the loss of what they’d never known.”
My body deflated a little at the comment. “But the Other? We will know. We always know. We always feel and seek out that something that is always called. At least that’s what it was like for me.”
My heart skipped in my chest. “And the bond?”
“The bond would be the final piece. Something that will remain unbroken until your final breaths. Or in this case, as your lifespan would be tied to my own.”
Blinking, I tilted my head, “How old are you?”
Traum looked uncomfortable, “I’m not sure, to be honest. But I know that my kind lives for hundreds of years. I am a mature adult but expect to survive for roughly two or three hundred more years.”
My brain spun. “More years?”
His brow rose, “Would it be so bad? To share those with me?”
“Not as a dinosaur! I would be ancient.”
Traum’s laugh filled the room, rich and warm. I glared at him even as my skin prickled. “You will remain as you are, for the majority of those. My own grandmother could’ve been mistaken for one of my sister until the past ten or so years.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
“We are a different breed, but we are not so different. We love our families. We are greedy and lustful, sure, but we seek peace and contentment too.”
His throat worked, “I will not rush you, but I would try very hard to give you everything you want Bailey. Everything.”
Pressing forward, I leaned my forehead against his. His eyes fluttered shut, but I didn’t mimic him. Instead, I stared at his face, at the male who I had only found days ago but now couldn’t imagine not being with.
“Tell me how it actually happens.”
His smile was broad, “It could happen in many ways, little dream. I could take you like this,”
his hands found my waist and rolled until I was on top of him. “Or, if you’d prefer,”
he pulled me off, my knees bouncing on the mattress as the heat of his body pressed into my back, “like this.”
His claws slipped into my hair, and I whimpered as he tugged my head to one side.
“I must have access to your throat or your thigh, because when I bind us together, I will bite you, my venom, the thing that makes me so attractive to others, will meet in your blood. You will quite literally become part of me and I you.”
“All while we are…”
“Yes, while we are…”
Traum drew the word out, pressing his lips against my shoulder. My pussy clenched, already aching for him.
“While you fuck me.”
Traum licked a strip down my shoulder, a soft purr rumbling in his chest, “Yes. And then, as you can imagine, I will fuck you again, and again, until we are too tired to move. My venom will keep us tied together for as long as it takes for the bond to be complete.”
“And then?”
Traum’s chest was rising and falling quickly against my back, “And then I’m yours, Bailey.”
“How will we live together? Can I stay here? Or do you come to the living world?”
Traum’s grip loosens, and I turn to look back at him. His face is serious, his eyes still blown black. “I don’t know. I hope Arafel will have those answers for us.”
I nodded, a question I’m dying to ask burning in my throat. “What about your family? Will they accept me?”
That earns me a beautiful smile. “They will love you.”
“And–”
my throat tightened, “Can we have a family?”
His smile vanished in an instant, his eyes twitching as he looked at me. “Do you mean children of our own?”
My belly hollowed out as I tried to read his expression, but I was already too far in to stop now. “Yes, I always wanted a big family.”
His claws skimmed my sides, “And you would want that with me?”
My eyes found his, dark and serious. “Of course.”
His ragged exhale broke the tension between us as his hands reached around, palms smoothing over my ribs and down to my belly. “Fuck Bailey,”
his hands stopped, cupping the softness of my belly there, “It wouldn’t have mattered. I would’ve worshiped you every day for the rest of your life regardless, but the idea of you carrying my young.”
His head dropped into my hair.
“I do not deserve you.”
I pressed my hands over his. “I wouldn’t be yours if you didn’t.”
We knelt there in silence for a moment, just soaking up the quiet enjoyment. My body still ached for him, but there was a kind of ease to it now. Like this wouldn’t be the last time we could be like this.
Because nothing could deny it. The fates had decided.
And while deep in my heart, I knew what I wanted. I also needed to know more. ***
Traum
I wasn’t sure the last time I was this nervous.
Maybe it was because the Lord of this realm stood in front of me, wings flashing in the
morning light as he paced back and forth. He’d been doing this for some time now and I could tell that Bailey was getting anxious.
After our talk this morning, I’d pulled us both into a bathtub filled with bubbles and scrubbed every inch of her. Now, I was regretting it. While any Other who came close would smell my essence in her skin, I was hating that she no longer smelled so strongly of me otherwise.
Not that Arafel was going to try to take her from me. But Gods, I was a frustrated male. I wanted to take Bailey somewhere safe, so we could be together, talk. I could explain what my life was like, she could tell me of hers. Things that would’ve come up naturally in courting. Except we were being thrown straight into the heat of it with this issue with the Underworld boundaries.
Not that it should be our problem.
“Arafel, please, you’re making me dizzy,”
A human woman said, walking into the small dining room. She was pretty, but not as pretty as my mate. She stopped by Arafel’s side and reached up to plant a kiss on his cheek.
I gave her another once over. My brother had mentioned Arafel’s human mate. She had been unfortunately affected by his touch at a council meeting, but somehow their friendship had not suffered. He claimed she just gave him a wide berth whenever he wasn’t in gloves. Her devotion to her demonic mate was obvious.
Arafel grunted, then moved back to the table where Lucia was seating herself across from Bailey and me.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Traum, I consider your brother a friend,”
Lucia said, her eyes bright as she met my look with a smile. “I’ve heard Rifa is quite close to delivering her baby. How exciting for your family?”
I glanced at Arafel, who had stopped pacing and lurked behind his female. “We are very excited. My family is known to be quite unusual because we are so large. Incubus do not usually have so many young. My brother is thrilled to have his own.”
Lucia’s smile was bright, “And you must be Bailey. I know this all must be a huge shock, but I’m glad you’re here.”
Bailey reached out a hand, then quickly retracted it. “Nice to meet you–I mean–.”
Lucia giggled, then snatched the hand back, shaking it lightly. “It appears my human manners are lacking. Excuse me, Bailey. It’s very nice to meet you.”
Their hands separated and Bailey’s pink cheeks had me biting the inside of my mouth. She was so fucking sweet, I just wanted to press kisses all over that smooth pink skin.
“Arafel says that there is an issue crossing the boundaries, right? That your bond keeps pulling one or both of you to the other?”
I nodded.
Lucia hummed, “I had an idea, and I think it’s exactly why Arafel is pacing like that.”
Together, we both looked at Arafel, whose eyes narrowed at his mate. “Lucia…”
“I believe that since you are the first known bond who continues to be able to do this, then we are going to try a few things out with you. Arafel wants you to be officially bonded. That way you are tied together and would not do anything to hurt the Underworld. I have another idea to bring to the table,”
Lucia’s hands patted the wooden table between us, “I propose that we utilize the coins to grant you access to travel back and forth. Allowing Traum the chance to court you properly. And for you to have a chance to understand what life with the Other might look like.”
My jaw dropped. “The obol?”
Lucia grinned wide, “They aren’t all obols anymore. They are more than often gold now, instead of the silver you used to see so often.”
Stunned, I looked at Arafel whose face was softening. “You will trust us with the coins but not to simply move to each other.”
“The coins are traceable but let me make it clear. I do trust you. But there are forces at work that we do not always understand. It is important that you keep them safe, no matter what.”
“These coins,”
Bailey spoke up, her voice soft, “They allow us to pass through the boundaries, so we can visit.”
“Like a date,”
Lucia said happily, head falling back to look at her much-larger mate.
“How many?” I asked.
Arafel’s jaw tightened, “Three.”
“Three?”
Bailey and I spoke together and grew silent as we watched the rulers of the dream realm.
Arafel spoke again, “I was told that at the end of three dates, most women know if a relationship will escalate.”
Lucia’s jaw dropped as she turned to stare up at Arafel. “Where did you hear that?”
To my shock, the demon lord seemed embarrassed, his charcoal cheeks darkening, “That does not matter. What matters is I’m prepared to give you three instances. Three visits to decide.”
I didn’t need three. I didn’t even need one. I knew what I wanted, and it was her. But there were different logistics that I knew we had to consider. Slowly, I looked to Bailey, who was pale but straight-backed in the chair next to me.
“Whatever you want, Bailey, I will do.”
“Three,”
she said after a moment. “Three is good.”
I smiled, my hand finding hers across the armrest and squeezing. “What happens now?”
“Kharon will deliver the coins today. You will use them any time that you feel the bond growing strained. That will stop the boundary jumping that the bond is forcing. And when the three coins are up, you will be summoned here. If there is a bond in place, we will consider it settled.”
“And if there is not?”
I hated myself the moment I asked. Bailey’s soft intake of breath made my blood run like ice in my veins.
Arafel looked at me carefully, “Then there are many avenues we can take. I can remove the memories of this place, of you from her mind. But unless she is bonded to an Other, she cannot know about this place. That is too much danger for her.”
People have killed, done worse than killed for information about the Underworld. He was right. Unless she accepted this bond, she would be safer knowing nothing.
She would forget about me.
I met Arafel’s glowing blue eyes. He could also take my memories but hadn’t offered. Because he knew.
I would rather live the rest of my life with the memories of my mate and the pain of her leaving than never have known them at all.
My fangs bit into my bottom lip.
Three chances to show her that she could be happy with me.
Three.