Mine...Yours Pt. 03

"I had been told by m...my sisters, what it was like to be bound. This is NOTHING like what th...they said it would b...be!" she said. I didn't know what to say, so I probably did something smart. I said nothing, and waited. She sniffed, and rubbed a clawed finger under her nose and cleared her throat. To see such human like gestures done by something that was clearly not human was startling. I moved up to stand on her right about three feet of space between us. She glanced my way then looked down at her birdlike feet. Her talons and claws were clacking the concrete floor nervously.

"They told me how much fun it was to be their Master's little slave, always knowing in the back of their mind they could find the loophole. Sometimes they would find it quickly, other times not. Usually if they found it, they would play along with their prey until the perfect time to attack, and they would humiliate and torture their Masters before draining them." She ran a clawed hand along her throat.

"The first time I was bound it was to one of our neighboring planes. A Lord. He was like me, a hunter. My sisters are good at using what they have to entice men. I always preferred the direct approach, it just seemed more...honest." Her throat caught. "My Master liked to hurt me, not in the good way either. Through words, a gesture, placement with the others, awards...all that He would show that I, the daughter of a Queen, was as nothing to him."

I stepped closer to her; I wanted to see her face as she spoke. She shifted a little but didn't move away.

"I only had the strength he allowed me through our bond. I couldn't use my magic, and I did not have the physical assets to be what he wanted me to be, so, I was relegated to doing tasks that were...were... Uncomfortable. I found the loophole he left, it was so glaringly obvious I was surprised I didn't see it sooner!" She grit her teeth and then looked at me with fists clenched. "I won't tell you what it was either!"

"That's fine..." I said almost in a whisper. I was afraid if I spoke to loudly she would be quiet and I wanted to hear what she had to say. I got the feeling she normally didn't open up like this herself, and I preferred this to a shouting match, or a fight. Was she being this open because of where we were? Was it some sort of spell-like aspect of this binding ritual? Maybe it was none of these. Maybe, she just didn't talk to many people and now...

"I broke free of the contract and attacked him, right there in court I called up a storm of sand and stone, something they had never seen in that Plane and I struck him again and again until he did not rise, and could not fly. Then I went home. I spent my time in the desert wastes, collecting, thinking...planning on what to do with my time. I would go home and sleep huddled with my other sisters." She smiled then, and I saw her teeth were very similar to a human's teeth. Just a few on the corners of her jaw were pointed. She actually had a very nice smile. I wonder what succubae collect? Stamps? Trading cards?

"My sister's are beautiful! True Succubae. Seneca, the eldest has long blue black hair almost to her feet, even in her other form she is beautiful!" Her smile faltered. "I am never summoned even though my name is known to many. You want someone killed contact me, you want someone to bed, call Seneca, Rulli, or Astar." Her claw wiped under her inky black eyes, and I saw it was wet. I reached in my pockets and I found nothing. Wait, this is my head, I make the rules! I handed her an old faded bandanna of mine, first thing I thought of. Yes, it was at least clean.

"What's this for?" She asked.

"Umm...wiping your eyes?" I asked, surprised.

"Oh." She bunched it and wiped the excess tears away.

"I finally got a summons from a wizard, not really powerful, or well known. The Gatewatch had killed his father who had summoned many of our kind before. I was to be his revenge. I took the contract, hoping to prove myself." She sighed, and started to hand back the bandanna, but I stopped her. "Go ahead and keep it, Lucretia."

When I said her name she looked up at me again and I saw a small shy smile. "I was invited into the party, that way I could bypass the wards and protections in place. After a few hours of slowly raising everyone's lust, and pushing out my pheromones everyone was copulating. I was able to feed by slowly draining that energy, and keep the cycle going. After a few more hours I was going to kiss everyone there to make sure there would be no witnesses. I couldn't have held much more energy than that, and it would have looked really good to come back home with such a prize in my possession!" Her smile faltered and then she turned to look at me.

"Then I saw you, a human in the middle of all this. One of the weakest of the sentient beings on this Plane! You stopped me, hurt me, and banished me back home! I see now you have a little of the gift about you, but you should not be able...not...who ARE you?" She shouted. She sounded desperate, confused.

"My name is Gregory Bastion Brooks." I said quietly. I felt a calm come over me and I wished I could remember what I did to do it.

"That's your name, it doesn't tell me who you are." She said, voice beginning to crack.

"Then why don't you get to know who I am?" I replied and held out my hand to her.

She looked at my fingers like each one was going to bite her!

"You know that I am just going to try to look for a loophole and try to kill you. It's what I do, it's in my nature!" She said quietly, head bowed.

I nodded in agreement, "I choose to trust you."

I saw out of the corner of my eye, a grubby headed boy appear. Lucretia looked at him as if wondering where he came from, then looked at the Door, then back at me, as my trust stepped into me and I felt...wow, no words to describe that one. Let's just say I felt, better!

"What was...no, just No!" She said taking a step back. She gulped and continued speaking.

"I won't be controlled, a Master always limits us. I won't have my powers held captive like that again!" Her eyes were wide as she said this; I saw a flash of nictating membrane moisten them instead of blinking using her eyelids.

Still holding out my hand I said gently, "I once had a cat. His name was M&M. A bit rough around the edges, but cuddly and loyal. My neighbor at the time had her cat de-clawed, that way her rascal wouldn't scratch the furniture, or her on accident. One day, her cat was attacked by a dog. If her animal had claws it could have defended itself or climbed a tree to get away. That's why I never had my cat de-clawed. What would be the point of it? If I wouldn't do that to a pet, why would I do that to a thinking and reasoning being?"

I stepped closer to her, my hand still outstretched, "I would not limit you, I only ask that you listen to me and obey me because I am trying to teach you...to help you. I would never bind your power, it wouldn't be just."

She glanced to my side, I didn't bother to look. I could smell the scent of a cigarette as Justice put his hand on my shoulder. With a murmur of, "It's good to be back." He slid into me as well and for the first time in a long while I felt whole, almost complete. I guess the missing piece is still behind that damn Door. I'll look into it later. Right now I got a confused and worried succubus that looks to be close to a breakdown of some kind.

She thrust her hand into mine, grasping it tightly. Her other hand came up to wrap around them both. She stared right into my face, her black orbs glistening in the blue light.

"Are...are you..." she stopped to swallow and to firm up her shaky voice. When she finished her sentence though, it just about broke my heart.

"Are you going to be another thing I have to survive?" I shuddered, and slowly pulled her closer to me. I felt her horns, surprisingly warm for how cool her skin was, pressing on the side of my jaw as her cool nose and mouth pressed into the side of my neck.

"Lucretia, I've been kinda thinking the same thing about you since we ever met." I said quietly. Her own arms came around me and she held me tight.

"Lucretia?" I asked after a moment or three had passed. She kind of mumbled a reply. "Lucretia, we have to finish this."

I felt her sigh, her breath cold on my chest, "I know."

I stepped back holding her hand and the world fell away.

Still grasping hands across the table from each other I saw Lucretia looking at me as if she had never seen me before. Mother was smiling so wide every single scary tooth in her face was on display. I looked down at the blood on the table, it was all one color. Both the black of hers, and the deep red of mine had mixed. I stared at the teary eyed grey woman in front of me, and spoke the words of a new start.

"Mine?"

"...Yours."

To be continued.