Chapter 17 #3
The sound of Perseus’s voice drew me from my thoughts.
I looked up from my glass of Hell Fire to find the Incubus taking the seat next to mine while Zagan and Dante sat across from us.
Coldin flopped down into the seat at the head of the table.
Lights flashed all around the club situated in Hell.
Demons danced, fucked, or fought around the room.
I’d been a little out of it, so I’d opted to down some drinks before joining in on the fun with my fellow spawns of Hell.
“I want to kiss Kendyll,” I confessed.
“Who?” Dante and Zagan asked at the same time that Perseus replied, “Okay?”
Perseus waved his clawed hand in Zagan and Dante’s direction and quickly explained, “A human he’s known for a while and recently ran into again.”
Zagan raised his pierced brow while Dante curled his lip in disgust. Zagan didn’t mind humans since they were fuel for his Incubus needs, but Dante hated the beings. He acknowledged them as food and entertainment, nothing more.
Ignoring my bandmates reactions, I elaborated, “I tried to kiss Kendyll.”
“Tried? What happened?” Zagan chuckled sarcastically, that snake-bite pierced lip tipping up at the corner. “Performance anxiety?”
“She was scared.”
Dante gave me a fanged smirk. “That’s one way to be told you’re ugly.”
“You’re real funny,” I smiled sardonically before growing pensive once more.
“It was strange. I could feel her fear, but it wasn’t like she was afraid of me.
Rather, she was afraid of what we were about to do.
She’s missed out on a lot in her life, so I’m pretty sure she’s not experienced in the sex department. ”
“Mmm,” Perseus mumbled while staring rather seriously down into his glass. He held it close with his heavily ringed fingers while absently swirling the amber liquid around. “So?”
“So you’re a sex demon. I want your advice. I’ve never had a timid, inexperienced partner like this. How do I get her comfortable? I don’t want her afraid of something good.”
Perseus blew out a breath and wore a reluctant frown. “For someone like her, she has to first be comfortable with her own body before she can be comfortable sharing it with you. From what I’ve gathered when peering into her—”
“You read her sexual desires?” I cut him off with a matching frown.
“That’s such an easy cop-out,” Zagan chastised him. “Just because we can read people’s experience and desires doesn’t mean you should. Where’s the challenge in that?”
“It’s smart, is what it is,” Perseus shot back, running a clawed hand through his long golden curls. “If you don’t take a page out of my book, your stubborn ass is going to get bound to someone again. Then you’ll wish you’d read them before diving in.”
Incubi like Zagan, Dante, and Perseus were susceptible to forced demonic contracts, which formed when they slept with virgins.
In the past, people would purposefully withhold the fact that they were virgins or trick the demons into thinking they weren’t first-timers just to force a bond with the spawn of Hell.
Doing so allowed the virgin human to control the demon’s food source—sexual pleasure—and the demon themselves.
All three of the Incubi around me had fallen victim to that trick at different points in time, yet with the world now being mostly sexually expressive and free, the odds of that happening were slim.
I didn’t blame Zagan for being less careful these days, though I couldn’t deny that he might end up stuck again if he wasn’t somewhat mindful that some still clung to the old ways of purity, whether by their own decision or someone else’s.
“Don’t read Kendyll’s desires or experiences again,” I finally berated Perseus, bringing us back to the topic at hand. “She’s mine.”
The pang of possessiveness was unexpected and verbalized before I could even think about what I was saying. Even though it was ridiculous, I didn’t rush to wave the sentiment away. Because it was true. Kendyll was mine, and she was the one thing I didn’t want to share with Perseus or anyone else.
But another feeling mingled with the possessive spark. Jealousy.
As a Mischief demon, I couldn’t peer into the souls of people to garner their sexual fantasies, desires, or experiences. But Perseus had gotten that glimpse into Kendyll. He’d seen a part of her story that I hadn’t. This realization made my frown deepen.
Perseus chuckled, oblivious to my internal battles.
“It’s a habit of mine when I meet someone, and I do it without meaning to sometimes.
Nothing personal. Anyway, you’re right. She hasn’t explored that area of her life.
So if you want to be with her, you need to help her feel safe in her own skin first.”
I nodded slowly as ideas on how to do just that filled my head. After all, even though I wasn’t an Incubus, I was still plenty experienced with sex and sensuality.
Perseus turned in his chair to fully face me and braced his forearm on the table.
His brow creased as he studied me seriously with his black-and-red eyes.
“But why bother, man? She’s … Well, let’s just say you’ll have a much easier time with someone else.
She’s not worth the effort. If you wanna have fun, there are plenty of other people to mess around with. ”
I threw back the rest of my drink and watched the crowd of demons on the dance floor. “I don’t want to mess around with her.”
“Then what do you want with her?”
What did I want? That was a big question with an easy answer.
Instead of voicing my response, I smiled at my golden-haired friend and disappeared in a plume of darkness.