The Daemon's Tale Ch. 01

Long, pale fingers twisted a lock of white-blonde hair that fanned silkily across his pillow. It was soft and smelt faintly of oranges; she used the citrus fruit when she bathed as both perfume and cleanser. Those same elegant fingers trailed from her hair to her shoulder, more tanned than his cream complexion, a pretty gold. She stirred in her sleep and a faint smile crept across rose-petal lips. He wondered what she was dreaming about.

He continued his lazy exploration, soft strokes along the curve of her waist and the swell of her breast. She stirred and smiled more certainly now and he could tell she was awake. Maybe fearful it was a dream, though, she didn't open her eyes. She simply lay there open to his touch, and before long his sensuous fingers had enlivened her; with his hyperactive senses he could smell her arousal with ease.

He dropped his lips to her shoulder and trailed slow, teasing kisses along her back and throat, barely even hesitating when he felt her pulse thrum under his lips. She couldn't have noticed though, not when she was distracted by his clever fingers slipping lower and pressing firmly into her, drawing a quiet gasp. Her eyes flew open then, the hazel orbs glazed with lust, and he chuckled softly once as he pinned her beneath him.

"Stop teasing me, Gabriel." She pouted at him and tugged half-heartedly at his hold on her wrists but she did not really want to get away and, even if she did, he held her easily with one hand. He was misleadingly strong and though you wouldn't guess it from his lean, lightly muscled frame and polite, aristocratic features he was devastatingly powerful -- but not just physically. Everything about this man was fascinating and hypnotic.

He smiled playfully as she admonished him for taunting her and dropped his head to kiss her throat once more, completely ignoring her entreaties. His exploration of her body was torturously slow and pleasurable; he breathed warmly in her ear, planted kisses in the sensitive hollow by her hip, undressed her slowly bit by bit. He savoured every moment before finally catching her in the middle of a frustrated groan with a hungry, bruising kiss.

She arched beneath him at once, her breath catching in her throat. Her movements, her smell, the softness of her skin, the soft noises she made as she increasingly lost herself in their joint desires, were enough to drive him to distraction. He longed for nothing more than to sink into her, relieve the building pressure of his lust, watch as she was overcome by her own. But he would not rush this because every second, every long teasing minute, was the expression of their relationship in physical form. The longer he could extend this part of the day the happier and more satiated they would both be. One didn't need to hurry when right here, right now, exactly like this, was the perfect place to be.

He deepened the kiss and as his lust warred with his self-control, his fangs began to lengthen. He'd learned to control this reaction over time; the emergence of his true nature when he let himself lose focus. He wasn't perfect though and as he broke the kiss and nibbled her lower lip those fangs broke her skin and drew blood. Far from reacting with fear, though, she grew all the more desperate for his attentions. In turn, he grew more impatient too. She had grown used to him over time and no longer feared what he could become, even knowing that in their most intimate moments with desire flooding his veins he was almost at his most dangerous. If anything the rusty, salty taste of the blood heightened his desire for her and she responded with increased urgency of her own.

He trailed kisses over her throat and collarbone now, heat from his body causing them both to perspire slightly. The salty tang of her skin was just another aphrodisiac to him and she, too, was so over-sensitised that she cried out when he caught a firm nipple in his teeth and bit gently. The other also received a bruise from his attentions and the scent of her desire filled the room. He could no longer continue the teasing when that smell overwhelmed his heightened senses and with an animalistic growl he caught her off-guard again with a fierce, demanding kiss at the same time that he entered her in one smooth stroke.

She moaned in ecstasy, arching beneath him, pressing her body along his and demanding more. His movements were slow and controlled at first and he held her gaze with his own. She was entranced as usual, unable to drag her gaze away from the beautiful bright teal orbs of the man that was bringing her slowly to the heights of pleasure. They were almost unnatural -- too bright, like jewels in his pale visage, fringed with dark lashes. His pupils were dilated with lust like her own but this did nothing to lessen his power over her. His eyes were utterly hypnotic and she was just as lost as she'd always been every time she looked at him.

A soft groan escaped his lips as he moved in her, the sensation only heightened as his magic took over and enchanted her hopelessly. He'd always been charismatic, persuasive, fascinating, but it was this enhancement that made him irresistible. Not that she'd ever seemed to want to resist, he thought feverishly as they built towards an incredible crescendo. From the moment they'd set eyes on each other all those years ago they'd been connected.

He could tell she was close when, despite his hypnotic gaze and the increasingly strong scent of dark honey and roses he exuded, her eyes slid half shut and she strained against his weight pinning her to the bed. A wicked smile crossed his features as he slid a hand between them and expertly stroked her sensitive bud. It was enough -- more than enough -- and he muffled her scream with another breath-taking kiss when she came. And her climax, causing her to tighten around him, took him over the edge too. He bit her shoulder as he released himself in her and felt warm blood flood his mouth as she clung closer to him and they both lost themselves in their desire.

He held her once they'd recovered, protective rather than restraining now. Her breathing became slow and regular within minutes after the exertion and he was weary too. The smell of oranges, roses and honey was thick in the air, a comfortingly familiar aroma of his powerful pheromones and her subtle perfume. With her warm against him he drifted off easily, a blanket of utter peace settling over the room.

xxx

The moon rose full and glowing that night, a heavy orb in the night sky with the splattering of distant stars for company. She threw her ethereal silver light across the city and through windows with unabashed enthusiasm, creeping into windows where curtains had not been drawn. One such window allowed access to the sleeping man and woman who had been so lost in the throes of passions only hours earlier. Silver moonlight spilled over their faces, peaceful in sleep. She was clearly human with her soft golden skin smattered lightly with freckles and charming, pretty features. White-blonde hair scented with oranges fanned lightly across the pillow once more, infusing the man's dreams with citrus.

And the man, in reality, was not really a man at all. The moonlight picked out his symmetrical features, elegant and aristocratic, too perfect for him to be human. Similarly his skin was too pale, his complexion too ethereal and almost translucent. Dark hair spilled over his closed eyes, black to her blonde, tousled with sleep. And beneath the thin sheet the softness of her body contrasted with the hard, muscular planes of his. If he had smiled while he slept one might have seen the final clue of wickedly sharp fangs, sharper than human canines even when retracted, but it wasn't necessary. He was, quite clearly, a Daemon.

It was not unheard of, a pairing between human and Daemon. It was unusual of course because Daemons were by nature violent creatures and humans were woefully vulnerable to their claws and fangs and magic, but it happened sometimes. The human woman had come to trust the Daemon's self control and in turn the Daemon had learned the need to be gentle with her, and to protect her from a world which was alarmingly hostile to such undefended creatures. She was safer with him than she could have possibly been alone because, in their mutual bond of love, they needed each other. He was the strongest, most dangerous creature of this world and with him at her side she was protected.

But not protected enough.

The beautiful, peacefully slumbering man was no ordinary Daemon and this was their downfall. His name was Gabriel, his title Jhaedaes Os Tar. Gabriel, Leader of Chaos. He was the Daemon Lord, ruler of all the Daemons of this world, and with the honour and responsibility of that position came danger. The Daemons were true to their violent, predatory natures and their Lord was selected on the basis of power. He who could fight off all attackers, all possible usurpers, held his title. He who did not perished and in doing so relinquished the role to the victor. Gabriel had held the position for over one hundred years for Daemons live more than eight times the lifespan of a human, so an immediate threat seemed unlikely. However other dangers lurked in his world for the unwary.

No, the danger was that the mate he had chosen was not a Daemon. There were those among his kind that believed her unworthy of her title and who feared for the watering down of the Daemon bloodline should they produce children. Daemons should remain to themselves, they argued, because only if they retained everything that made them the creatures they were could they remain the strongest race. In electing a human to be the mate of the Lord the prestige and power of the Daemons were undermined and, further, Gabriel was unavailable for more suitable partners. It was this motivation that must have sent her over the wall in the city and caused her to scale the wall of the building that Gabriel and his mate slept in. It was this fear that caused her to glare at the woman silently, blocking the moonlight from her face. And it was this jealously that drove her across the room in one silent leap to clutch the woman's throat in clawed hands.

Gabriel was fast, far faster than the attacker, but he'd been asleep when she'd struck. Sluggish after their earlier exertions and a dulling of his normally faultless senses slightly after years of peaceful life within the city, a place which most Daemons avoided, had put him at a disadvantage. He awoke in time to snarl furiously at the attacker, his claws and fangs lengthening immediately. He was too late, though, to wrench the clawed hand away before the sickening sound of a neck cracking caused him to freeze.

Several long seconds passed in which he stared at his attacker in blind disbelief. She was a vampire, another breed of Daemon, with long pale hair and elegant features. If she'd been human she would have looked a lot like his mate but her Daemonic blood obliterated any meaningful comparison -- like Gabriel she was too pale, too perfect to be human. She could never be compared to the now dead woman sprawled inelegantly on his bed and for that reason he would have no problem killing her. An ear-shattering roar shook the room and he lunged for her, claws outstretched. Perhaps she'd hoped he would pick her now his mate was gone because she was too slow to move or put up any kind of meaningful fight. Her counterattack was certainly nothing to sneer at as she thrust her claws deep into his shoulder joint but it was ultimately ineffective. He was far too angry and provoked to let it even slow him down. With a cold snarl he dug his claws into her windpipe and, exercising sheer strength, tore it out.

She fell to her knees with a gurgle and was dead before she hit the ground. Gabriel stood for a moment in the now silent room, breathing heavily. Blood dripped sluggishly from the wound in his shoulder and mingled with the blood of the vampire which had splattered his chest during the altercation, but he barely felt the pain. His world was already consumed by an entirely different and far more unbearable agony.

She still lay on the bed where the vampire had dropped her, limbs sprawled and eyes wide and staring. If it wasn't for the awkward angle of her neck she could have been fine, alive...his. But Gabriel didn't have to check to see she was dead. He'd heard her neck snap loud and clear, the single most shocking sound he'd ever experienced. And he could no longer hear her breathing, a sound which had always been so loud to his sensitive ears before, something he'd teased her about uncountable times as a charming human quirk.

No, he didn't need to check. She wasn't here anymore because already the magnetic pull he'd felt towards her since the day they'd met was gone. He had no connection to this lifeless body because although she still looked like his mate, nothing else felt familiar. Already the smell of oranges was fading, lost in his own living scent of honey and roses. As a final mark of respect for the woman he'd loved he smoothed her hair and closed her eyes, but he didn't kiss her. Already he knew it wouldn't feel the same.

"Goodbye Katherine."

He didn't look back as he left the room they'd shared for nearly ten years, dressed in his simple usual attire of black cotton pants. He was painfully aware that only his memories of her existed now and he feared that too much time spent with her lifeless caricature would sully those memories. Gabriel Jhaedaes Os Tar, the Daemon Lord, slipped through the familiar streets of the human city and made his way to the gates. Beyond them lay the true home of the Daemons and many other creatures of this world -- it was the humans that had built the cities and walled them in against the dangers that lurked in the Forest.

It was easy enough to slip past the guards. Gabriel had been living among the humans for years now and although they could always tell what he was they tolerated him because of his magic. The same magic that had enchanted his mate in their most intimate, private moments could also charm others with casual ease. He was talented with that magic and could dull the natural panic reaction that humans had to the alien, dangerous Daemons. He could come across as charismatic and persuasive. He could weave a spell for them; cause them to fall under his sway. He could hypnotise them into doing almost anything he wanted. And with this clever trick they forgot that Gabriel was a Daemon and became benevolent towards him. They overlooked the fact that Daemon's were not as a rule welcome behind their wall. They even smiled and waved to him as he left the place he's called home for the past decade.

Just a metre or so beyond the wall the Forest rose to greet him, a near solid wall of greenery. He didn't hesitate in finding a path to wind through for, though he had lived in the city these past few years, he'd returned here regularly as the Daemon Lord to converse with others of his kind and maintain order within the very loosely defined and enforced laws they upheld. This time was different though. There was no city waiting for him to return, no women he'd fallen in love with. Because thinking about that was too difficult in the moonlight-soaked forest that night, he didn't.

Gabriel Jhaedaes Os Tar renounced the self-control that made him charming and likeable. He allowed his fangs to snake over his chin and his claws to lengthen to dagger-like points. His eyes, normally bright teal, darkened almost to black and he tensed, scenting the air carefully. When he picked up the trail of a herd of roe deer that was several days old he slipped into the shadows beneath the trees and more or less disappeared.

The only thing that would be seen of Gabriel for the following month would be the occasional flash of silver-pale skin as he slunk beneath the trees. A predator, a hunter, he didn't think consciously or plan. He would live day by day, eating when he was hungry and sleeping when exhausted. He would be more animal than man, relying solely on his instincts to lead him through the forest. He had no destination or purpose. And perhaps while he was lost in the baser drives of being a predator he would not have to think about her, about what he no longer had, or about how he had failed to protect her.