My lips part wide in shock as he drags his tongue across my eyelashes repeatedly.
“I don’t need to be given something I can easily take, woman. I just like to play when the chance presents itself.” He drags his tongue over my eyes again.
I can’t say anything, unable to pull my own tongue off the roof of my mouth. Taking in his words, all I can do is wait for him to say something even more threatening. Like he’s going to do more than lick me, he’s going to kill me too.
Except he doesn’t.
Instead, he moans as he laps gently but eagerly at my face. And when his lips open and press to the skin around my closed left eye and hesucks,the sensation jolts right through me. All at once my senses come tumbling back.
I wriggle out of his embrace and claw my way over his tail. Reaching the steam cleaner still within the circle, I yank out the tank and uncap it, then toss the remaining soapy water at him as he rises from the floor to come after me.
He laughs as I turn to launch my body over my parents’ bed and roll to the other side. My body succumbs to the most brutal sneeze of my life as I’m falling. The force of it jerks me back toward the circle, but the bed holds firm at my back and keeps me safe. After a moment, the painful pulling sensation fades away and my eyes clear of water.
I draw in a deep breath and then let out a much longer groan.
Wiping the remaining tears off my face, a gut-wrenching thirst overtakes me before I can jump to my feet and run. I try to stand but end up swaying, incredibly woozy and lightheaded. Pain bursts behind my eyes, enshrouding my mind with an excruciating headache. I rise with my arms spread out for balance, stumble to the bathroom, and drop over the sink. Lifting the faucet lever, I purse my mouth under the cool water that sputters out. Gulping it down like never before, my thoughts remain scattered, and once my belly is full, I slip to the bathroom floor and press my back against the cool wooden cabinet, curling my arms around my legs and pressing my head into my knees.
Experiencing the worst hangover of my life, I moan sadly. If the merman drags himself in here to kill me, I’d be better off. I’d welcome it.
Eventually, I pull my phone from my pocket, but the screen comes out streaked with water.No!Realizing it’s been soaked, I quickly swipe my finger back and forth over the screen, cursing under my breath. When the screen remains black, I try turning it on and off. When that doesn’t work, I spew a litany of curses.
Dropping to the floor, I knead my palms into my temples as I continue to listen carefully for any sound of the demon. I consider calling out to him to see if he’s still there or if he’s returned to wherever he came from, but decide against it and instead fish around under the counter for the painkillers I know my parents keep stored below.
Grabbing the Aleve, I take three and drop my head back to my knees. As I wait for the pills to work, I drift my fingers over my eyes to touch them where he’d licked me, curling my toes once again.
If I summoned him by accident, I need to unsummon him or complete the ritual I started to get rid of him.
As I wait for my headache to alleviate, a plan forms.
Chapter 3
A New, Very Curious Curiosity
Sepher
She’s enticing, and unexpected.
Her hair struck me first. Long dark brown locks held entirely away from her face by a band at the back of her head. Some strands had fallen forward in our tussle and hung around her ears to make curls that wisped their curves. Her pale skin looked softer than the sands of the abyss. Her eyes were light brown, almost amber, and framed by small lashes that scratched my tongue nicely. I love them already, anxious to lap more of her taste into my mouth.
As aDuke of Hell, being called to this world is not something I ever expected to happen.
Though I am often mistaken for my sister, who visits the human world often, I am nothing like her. Whereas she delights in drowning men in the many waters of this world and feasting on their flesh, I am content in Hell, much preferring the peace of the abyss over the presence of… others.
So to end up here, with a woman of no consequence, when I have spent the last millennia in the unchanging oceans below this world alone—it does feel a little like dying. I did not lie to her. My senses are dulled by the air, my form weakened by lack of water. But my immediate plans have shifted. I have no intention of returning home any time soon.
The human is fun, and for the moment I am content to see how much fun she can be. I have not laid eyes on a human—have not seen another other than my sister, in truth, for whom I care nothing—since my last audience with Lucifer and his gift of ranking for service.
I stare at the doorway through which she vanished, but it remains empty. She has not come out of the room she ran into, and it has been a substantial amount of time for a human to be quiet, especially for one who talks as much as she does. I lick my lips, wanting her to come out so I can delight in drinking more of her tears.
Her delicious, ambrosial water.
Unlike anything I have ever tasted. I want to taste them again and perhaps discover other ways we might be able to come to an exchange. At the thought, my body stirs, and so do the muscles within my tail. Several black tentacles release from within to test the wet, cushiony floor around me, sucking up the moisture held within the fibers as they sweep. Searching for lost tears that might have fallen from her to the ground, my body absorbs everything, thirsty for the water it needs to remain hydrated. But I can discern the difference between her sweet tears and the acrid fluid of the noisome machine.
She tastes salty, naughty, and reminds me of those among us who wanted more…
When my tentacles finish absorbing the moisture within the rug, I test the boundaries of the summoning circle but fail tofully break through. Even dispersed, it seems I need the witch to finish erasing it to move freely.
Where is the little human?
