Page 43 of Caught in the Devil’s Hand

“You’ll see. Spread your legs,” he commanded. He braced his knees between hers, nudging her thighs wider, and she lifted her hips in understanding as she gripped the tassels of nearby pillows.

He stroked the curves of her backside, exhaling hard as if enjoying the view. One of his hands left her, and she felt the engorged tip of his cock. She bit her lip and whimpered. He worked the head against her labia until it notched in the hollow of her sex. Then, holding her hips, he sank deep.

She cried out, arching her back and twisting the tassels in her hands. He swiftly drove himself inside her over and over, slapping their bodies together and frothing their abundant mutual arousal. The pillows were soft and yielding against her belly as she rocked over them, and the rug was a thick cushion under her forearms.

He would pull out soon, but she didn’t want him to. She wanted her deepest muscles clamping his cock as he pumped his warm seed into her. She wanted him grinding against her, their connection unbroken.

“You can come inside, Vallen. Please, please come inside me,” she begged.

He let out a shout of exultation as he pulled her into his thrusts. The magic between them flexed like a plucked bowstring, and she knew the rule she had placed on him earlier had been altered. Bracing his knees farther apart, he spread her wide and sank deep.

She gasped into the carpet, her orgasm taking over as she drenched his cock with her pleasure. He whipped his head up, groaning her name as he exploded inside her. Her magic flared, reaching into her lover’s body from where they were intimately joined. Then his sweaty chest was on top of her, and they gulped for air together.

“Oh, Shumei,” he groaned before pressing a tired kiss to her shoulder. He was still pulsing inside her. “Why did you change your mind?”

“Can’t—breathe,” she gulped, rolling him off. He landed with a huff on a few pillows next to her, and once she’d caught her breath, she turned her head to look at him. “I liked how it felt,” she admitted, pulling her legs shut.

“I thought you didn’t want a demon to get you with child. Although…”

“Although what?” she asked, lying alongside him.

“Demons are sterile,” he said, voice tight.

“What?”

“Well, it wouldn’t do for a sex demon to impregnate every woman he siphons energy from,” he tersely explained.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“Even if I’m a demon now, I was once a man. And for a man to admit he’s sterile…”

“How do you know?” she asked, dubious.

“The Incubus Curse refers to an actual demon from Oblivion, though they’re all but extinct now. I’m an artificial incubus. Early into our curse, Rosuke and I studied incubi in the court library, and we learned they, like all demons, are sterile.” He glanced at her. “The Foul One cannot create that way. Thus, altering our nature altered our…virility.” He rolled his shoulders in resignation and sighed. “The purpose of an incubus is not to reproduce, at any rate. The Damned One wants to kill humans, by any means.”

“So incubi do kill women? Even artificial ones?”

“Yes, and incubi feel no remorse about it. Some artificial incubi kill, but some—like Rosuke and I—merely get enough energy from a woman to last a month, and then let her go. With any incubus, the woman doesn’t feel any effects until they’ve become addicted. Depending on how often an incubus feeds, a woman may last as little as a few days or as long as a couple months, and incubi typically have many concurrent lovers in their lair.”

“Effects?”

“Once a victim is addicted, they can barely move or think straight. All they want is their lover.”

“But you and I—we’ve had sex many times. Why don’t I feel the effects?” she asked, alarmed.

“You are special. Women with magic could last years, and in the days of the Dark Court, noblewomen were taught young how to recognize and kill an incubus before he could even touch them.”

“I see. Well…” She pulled into herself. “I wanted you to, you know, be with me—i-in me when we both…” She hid her mouth behind her hands. “I wanted you to because you’re not a demon to me, not anymore. And…I like you,” she admitted, turning her face away to hide her blush.

She couldn’t believe she’d admitted it. Gods, would he use it against her? She felt certain he wouldn’t, but—

A rush of elation flooded her senses. Her cheeks flushed and her head grew light. Without meaning to, she nearly smiled in reaction.

Then she realized the emotion hadn’t come from her. She was feeling Vallen’s joy. He was ecstatic to hear she liked him.

He slid his arm around her, and she could practically hear his grin when he nuzzled her ear and said, “I like you too.”

Still hiding her face, she couldn’t hold back a smile. Oh Divine One, her heart was nearly choking her. How was so much happiness even possible? Surely the binding was to blame—for some of it, at least. She couldn’t count on feeling this happy all the time. Could she?