Blossom Pt. 02

"Lady Keya. You may call me Blossom," the demon said, inclining its smooth head. "I hope your people want you back. In fact, I depend on it. Come, sit."

"I will not," I said. I was to be a hostage. I had anticipated that.

"Stand if you wish," said Blossom. "It will be hours before your people find a way down."

The heady fragrance of the infernal was so strong I wanted more than anything else to put space between it and myself. Its scent was insidious, at once calming and thrilling. I set down the candle and edged around Blossom and into the chamber.

The tablets, I saw at a glance, were etched in ancient Gujari. It was a script I could read, with some aid. I guessed that whatever had been in the jars had long since rotted away, but the coffers also drew my curiosity.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the demon, scrutinizing me.

"Yes. The scholar in you is intrigued," Blossom mused. "I too, am a scholar."

"How do you know who I am?" I asked, still moving away from the creature.

The demon followed, not giving me distance, stalking along on feet that, like its clawed hands, looked almost human. "Your brother, of course," it said. "He told me you were coming, days ago."

If there were survivors from the attack on our boat, Zahar could easily have recognized me from their descriptions.

"What do you want from me?" I repeated, whipping around the face the creature. "Why bring me here?"

"To learn from you, of course. And so that you might learn from me."

I scoffed, hoping that I could sound as dismissive as Jinai. "You wish to bargain for your life."

Blossom faced me squarely. I saw the glint of its eyes within the glowing paint. The heat that had bloomed in my chest had spread to every finger and toe. I tingled with unbidden arousal. Just as Baba said, the demon was beautiful, in the eerie way of a river of stars in the sky, or a night-blooming orchid.

To be with Blossom is the most joy you will ever have.

"I know every hands-breadth of this tomb," the demon said. "Every secret crevice. Do you truly believe that I could not escape if I chose?"

I glanced around the room. There could certainly be more mechanisms like the one that had trapped me down here. There could be any number of hidden spaces in the shadowed depths of the tomb.

"What do you wish to learn?" I asked.

I ventured further into the chamber. The mound in the center of the room was of pelts and furs -- a nest the size of small pond, and it stretched from wall to wall, smothering shattered clay jars. I could smell its pungent odor of sweat and sex. I shuddered to think what had occurred here.

Had Zahar lain with this creature?

"Tell me," said Blossom, "how humans learn to hate what they do not understand."

I glanced at the infernal. "I wouldn't know."

The demon's brow raised, stretching the painted circles of its eyes. "Come, Lady. You, of all people, are most qualified to explain."

"Why humans hate demons?"

"Demons, and other cursed things."

I turned fully towards the creature once more. "You have preyed upon humans for generations. You held my brother and his men captive. You enchanted them with your..." ...Whatever it was.

"If a lover gifts you a flower and you are captivated by it, is the flower to be hated? Is the nectar evil, which draws the bee?"

It made sense now, the drug-like effect on Baba. This creature secreted a substance -- the fragrance, perhaps -- that was addictive.

"You are saying it is your nature to be desired by men?"

Blossom smirked. "...and women."

"You enslave them."

"I take what I need to survive, and breed." Blossom came closer. I felt a throb of hunger between my legs. "Like you," it said softly, "I wish to survive, and breed."

"Demons are rapacious creatures!" I retorted, hoping to silence the lustful stirring inside me. "The bajari-"

"I am not bajari. Have you ever read, in all your studies, of a demon like me?"

"No," I admitted.

"To your knowledge, I am unique," Blossom said. "Until now undiscovered."

"What are you?"

Its smile displayed teeth as jagged as tiny thorns. "I am Blossom."

I felt trapped, between the foul nest upon which this demon had mated with its captives, and the demon itself.

Worse, my dreams and most shameful fantasies were still fresh in my mind. I couldn't forget climaxing from the image of demons rutting me. If this had been any other beast, I would have believed that it hungered to feed upon my flesh. But this was a demon. The way Blossom fixated its attention on me, its parted lips, hooded eyes... clearly it desired me. That knowledge spurred on my own cravings.

Didn't I deserve to know how it felt to be desired?

"You must know what it is like," Blossom went on, "to be reviled. Though in truth you are a thing of rare beauty."

My cunt was molten. As mad as it sounded, I had to admit to myself that I lusted for this creature. But I also knew what was at stake.

"I will not be your slave," I said.

"Then don't be my slave," Blossom said. "I needed the men to protect my body and provide food for me," the demon said. "You alone are incapable of protecting me from your kind, or providing for me. Why should I enslave you?

"But you have not fully answered my question," Blossom said. "You know what it is to be feared and reviled."

"I am human," I said.

I had a trained mind. I let my eyes drift closed, bending my will towards calmness. I sat down on the edge of the mound of furs. "Of course, I long to bond with other humans. It is painful when they shun me. But humans fear what they do not understand."

"Come," Blossom said. "It is more than that. All creatures fear what they do not understand. Only humans crave power. Fear, once taught, is a tool of power."

"Are you suggesting, that demons are not an actual threat, only misunderstood?" I asked.

"Demons are far less insidious than men. Imagine what might be accomplished if a scholar like yourself truly knew the nature of infernals."

I fell silent at this. There was much to learn from this encounter. That I could not deny.

The demon sighed, mounting the furs, on all fours. My gaze dropped to take in Blossom's lithe shape. Its skin was as smooth as blown glass, almost glossy. I wondered what it felt like. The breasts were flat, almost masculine, but the narrow shoulders and slender build was more womanly. And between its legs...

For the first time, I noticed it. A thick, lengthy shaft, the moisture of arousal glistening on its tip, pointed at me. I was sure it hadn't been there before.

That scent...

Calm.

"I don't understand what you want," I said, speaking with slow, deliberate resolve. If Blossom had no reason to kill me, no need to escape, and no desire to enslave me... "You want to... mate with me?"

"Does that frighten you?" Blossom asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Does that entice you?" Blossom asked.

I hesitated, not trusting my answer. I wondered if I was becoming intoxicated, even addicted, just like Baba. The painted markings on the creature's flesh enthralled me. Sunbursts and spirals, stripes and vine-like meanderings. All of them seemed to pulse with light, like the fungi around the chamber. My skin was aflame, flushed. My cunt seemed to throb with the pulsing glowing light.

"It is an abomination," I said, shamed that it also excited me. "We are wholly different creatures."

"It is a demon's nature to mate with wholly different creatures. The gods made us so." Blossom said. "Thus, how can it be an abomination, either for us or for our mates?"

Gods. Every child knew the gods cared nothing for human wants. "I do not believe a woman can bear a demon's child," I said, dismissively.

"Lady Keya," the demon chuckled, as if I were an ignorant fool, "we have much to learn from each other. Do you not see the possibilities?"

Did I truly know so little about infernals? Or was this demon so easily sowing doubt in my mind? Either I was lacking in knowledge, or lacking in wisdom.

"How..." I couldn't believe what I was asking. "How would I keep from falling under your enchantment?"

Blossom crept closer. "Demonic fluids have arcane properties. I laced palm wine with my spend to bind the men to me."

"But even now I feel..."

"What you experience is simple desire, Lady Keya. It is not enchantment. Your will is your own."

The demon was so close, I could smell its smoky breath. It must have been seared by the wards, and yet it still it was drawn so near.

"I know you want me to touch you, Lady Keya," it whispered.

"No!" I said, turning myself away from the creature. I had to focus my mind on something other than wanton urges. I unslung my satchel from my shoulder and drew out my scrolls.

"What are you doing?" Blossom crept sinuously around to face me again.

The demon stared at me with an expression of fascination and amusement. It cocked its head at the stylus and ink like it had never seen writing before.

I set the little pot on the uneven furs beside me. "I am making a record of what you have told me."

The infernal continued to gawk at me as I wrote.

"What a tantalizing morsel you are," Blossom said.

I looked up. "What do you mean by that?"

"Why do you cover yourself so completely with clothes?" Blossom asked. "I have never seen humans pile as much cloth on their bodies."

"The sun burns me," I said.

Blossom eyed the ceiling, close to our heads on the mound of the nest. "Do you dress this way when you are not under the sun?"

I bent to writing again, detailing the contents of the chamber we were in. "It is a habit," I said.

"I believe," Blossom said, "that you cover yourself as a signal to other humans that you are beyond their reach."

"A ridiculous theory," I scoffed.

"You have perfected the art of denial, Lady Keya," Blossom said. "You even deny yourself. The petals of your cunt drip for me, but instead of acting on your desire you make wet scratches on cow-skin."

I sighed in frustration. "I am being sensible," I said. "Whatever you do to me, you are still trapped down here. Without your cult followers, Zahar and our men would eventually overpower and kill you. The only opportunity we have to learn from each other is now."

Blossom's eyes flashed. "What if I told you there was a way to take me secretly back to your city? You could carry me amongst your warriors, past your obelisks. You could," the infernal's long tongue flickered, "study me as much as you desire?"

Past the warding stones. Of all the human defenses against demons, the warding stones were the most effective, the most certain.

I set the stylus down again.

"How?"

The demon only leered. It waited, its hunger as palpable as its luscious fragrance.

I stared at this alien creature, with the pulsing symbols on its flesh, and eyes that seemed to bore into my soul. Its nipples were hard little nubs on its smooth chest, and its cock bobbed eagerly, aimed at me like a lodestone.

I swallowed, unwilling to meet the creature's gaze. I had missed an opportunity with Jinai, two nights before. Would I miss another -- an opportunity for both pleasure and knowledge?

Carefully, I placed the pot of ink, stylus and vellum back in the satchel. I whispered a prayer, wondering if any of my ancestors still listened.

The gold of my bangles was not easy to slip over my hands, so I stretched long sleeves over trembling hands to slide them past the meat of my palms. When those were off, I reached behind my neck and unfastened the amulet. I placed my protective wards in the satchel, and set it aside.

I slowly raised my eyes to face Blossom.

"Take everything off," the demon ordered. "Let me see you."

With every breath, my emotions ran from burning lust to the most intense panic I had ever felt. I eased off the furs and stood on the stone floor. As much as I wanted to run, there was nowhere to run to.

I unwound the headwrap, unleashing an unruly bush of amber frizz. I pulled my dress over my head, its light blue bleached to ivory in the queer light. Then I unlaced the loose trousers, stained as they were with salt, grime and mud. I let them pool at my feet, then stepped out of them. My skin felt alive in the cool, damp air, fine hair standing on end.

It took but a glance at Blossom to see the expectation on the demon's dark face. I untied the halter from around my neck. The tie slipped from my fingers, and the garment dropped to my waist, unleashing my pendulous breasts. I flushed to see them completely unbound and exposed, the stiff nubs seeming to point directly at the infernal. I pushed the top down my bare legs, and stepped out of it.

Next, came the loincloth. It was sodden and clung to my tender flesh, stretching as I pulled it off, revealing the pale fuzz that partially concealed my slit. I stood there, trembling, hands fidgeting, wanting to cover myself.

What was Blossom waiting for? Here I was, served up like a dish, and it only crouched there, staring.

The demon glanced to my feet. "Everything," it repeated.

I stepped out of my sandals. The stones of the floor were clammy but smooth under my toes. I simmered in shame.

The demon still seemed content to examine me as the evidence of my own lust rolled warmly down the insides of my thighs. The anticipation was overwhelming. And yet, I was too afraid of what the creature would do to me to prod it.

"You are a treasure," Blossom said finally.

I felt a flush of heat. "You say that only because I am uncommon."

Now the infernal alighted from the mound of furs, coming close enough that I could feel its warmth as it circled me. "Humans treasure things simply because they are uncommon. You have been taught to hate yourself. Surely, you know how to love your own body." Blossom said, softly. "How to pleasure yourself."

"I know how," I stammered.

"Show me."

I hesitated, embarrassed. Wasn't the demon going to rut me? I thought that was the point of this.

Gingerly, I began to touch myself, running light fingers over my belly and the dark divot of my navel. I felt awkward. I had seen Eastern women dance, the way they undulated their hips, and swayed. The way they kindled lust for the human form in any one who watched them.

I could not do that. So instead, I tried to imagine I was alone. I performed for no one. My fingers played tight circles around my nipples, teasing them as they ached with stiffness. I licked a finger and felt how, when wet, the nipples tingled as if the air was chill.

I glanced hesitantly at Blossom. The demon only looked on, greedily.

I hefted the globe of my breast, pointing it upward so that I could lick the nipple directly. The sensation made me shudder, and when I began to suckle, my knees grew weak.

I had never realized I could do this. Perhaps I had never reached the level of depravity to even consider sucking on my own breast. But once I began, I couldn't stop, tasting and teasing each one until the throbbing of my cunt forced me to attend more pressing needs.

By the time I touched myself there, the entire area of my thighs was already slick with need. My cunt seemed to slosh without my even penetrating it. I rubbed my pleasure nub with the rhythm I knew best, and within seconds I was moaning. I was startled to hear my voice, so accustomed was I to being secretive.

Remembering Blossom, I eyed the demon again.

"Yes," Blossom said. "You are to be cherished. Feel it." It crept to me, so near that its breath was hot on my face. I was too aroused to even flinch, and the jasmine scent made me swoon.

I stroked myself now, furiously. My knees started to fold. When I came, they gave out completely, and I collapsed forward, shuddering, on the edge of the nest.

For some seconds, I bent there, my nose against the pungently scented furs, as the tremors in my body quelled. I wondered how I ended up so shamed and exposed, helpless before a creature I should have feared as a deadly enemy.

But I had barely a moment for coherent thought. Before I realized the demon had moved, I felt smooth, warm hands on my hips, raising my rear into the air. My knees steadied on the soft fur, and I felt hot breath on my nether lips.

Blossom's hands caressed my sensitive flesh, flesh that had never in passion been touched by another human. My reaction was further embarrassment, my skin so tender that I shook with every bit of contact.

And then I felt Blossom's tongue.

I imagined that it was like a butterfly's, long and flexible, for it seemed to run along the inside of my slit and coil around the hood of my pleasure nub all at once. I moaned into the pile of pelts. Blossom was delicate at first, tasting every crevice between my sweaty humid thighs, and even dabbing the tight pucker of my ass. My moans became throatier.

I felt the demon tease and tug apart my sopping nether lips with its fingers. Then the tongue curled inside, exploring parts of my cunt I didn't know I had. I rocked my hips back against Blossom, encouraging the creature to lap me thoroughly. Its nose nudged my ass, and it gripped my hips with frightening strength as it delved deep. Overwhelmed with competing sensations, soon I was climaxing again. I screamed as the pleasure coursed through my body, consuming me like a forest aflame.

Even in the throes of my climax, I jerked and stiffened when I felt Blossom's powerful tongue slip into my asshole.

"No," I moaned, breathlessly. My muscles clenched reflexively around the intrusion, but the tip of the demon's oral organ already wormed inside, sending me into a series of convulsions of vulgar delight. After a few seconds of this dance, I surrendered completely, my protests devolving to gasps and groans.

As Blossom reamed out my ass with its tongue, fingers curled into my cunt again, hooking beneath my pleasure nub. I felt a delicious, terrible pressure there. The pressure built as the demon began to stroke me rhythmically. At the same time, its tongue continued to stretch and explore my tight rear hole, making my eyes roll back with bliss.

The pressure continued to mount. I pleaded with the demon, babbling meaninglessly, begging it to stop even though I wanted no such thing. I kept on, until I couldn't form words anymore. Tears soaked into the furs beneath me. I simply shivered and shook on the demon's rubbing fingers until the tension burst, and I dissolved into molten white heat.

I woke slumped on the nest in much the same belly-down position. Blossom crouched beside my splayed legs. My feet and ankles were spattered with liquid and a warm wet spot was under my thighs. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes I had been out.

I felt wanton, fulfilled, embarrassed and horrified all at once, a war of emotions raging in my heart.

"Do you know what it means to banish a demon?" Blossom asked casually.

My voice was hoarse from screaming, and it seemed like hours since I had spoken words. After a moment, I recalled, "There are accounts of witches in the south who can banish demons with a word," I said. "Eastern sorcerers and wizards from Xhi also claim such power."

The infernal's eyes dropped and it picked up an item that had lain next to it. It was a phallus, carved of polished wood, which appeared umber in the light. What looked like carved veins that entwined its length were actually vines, etched into the wood. It was larger than Blossom's sex, as large as any cock I'd ever imagined, though I'd seen very few.

"This is called a summoning stone, though it is made of wood," Blossom said. "It is attuned to me. You can use it to banish or summon me, just as your legends say."

As the demon paused, I noticed a faint chopping sound, that of metal striking stone.

It could have only been the others, hammering their way through the stone. Surely, Blossom heard it too.

I didn't want my time with Blossom to end. What I had just experienced were feelings I never thought I could have, and never expected to enjoy again. Part of me didn't care what my ultimate fate would be, if I could have that bliss once more.