Defiant Destiny Ch. 11

My hands still clenched the sides of my head, trying to keep the music's thumping beats from reaching my ear drums. Slowly but surely my brain began banishing certain stimuli to the background, allowing me to release my ears and open my eyes without the overwhelming sensory overload. I looked at my hands and curled my fingers, unable to shake the strangest, most alien feeling that I just woken up in my own body...

I slowly focused my gaze on Cyrea's wide eyes. Her eyes went from my left to my right and back again, gazing deep inside mine as if trying to see beyond my irises. There was no golden reflection in hers anymore.

"Are you alright?" she whispered tentatively.

For such a simple question, it took me a surprisingly long time to formulate an answer.

"I think so..." I mumbled after a while, my voice feeling a little hoarse.

Despite the thumping music, I could clearly hear Cyrea's sigh of relief. She threw herself into my arms, clutching my skin and holding me close to her. With a sigh of my own, I buried my nose in her neck, deeply inhaling her scent and letting it soothe the strangeness I felt in my body. My demon's bloodlust instantly rekindled, but I ruthlessly shoved him down, much to his dismay.

Cyrea rubbed her face in my neck while her fingers sifted through my hair. After a while she released me from her embrace.

"What happened just now, Dante?" she asked slowly, a mixture of curiosity and worry clearly visible on her face.

I swallowed hard and clenched my jaw, fighting the very strong urge to evade her questioning eyes. My demon rumbled and prowled somewhere in a dark corner of my mind. Goosebumps broke out on my body as I tried formulating a reply.

"I... think he took over. Without me noticing..." I mumbled.

My demon grumbled his objections in my mind, claiming he did nothing wrong, but I ignored him.

Cyrea sternly gazed in my eyes, processing my words. While the words of my realization still echoed in my mind, my mate seemed surprisingly neutral upon hearing this news. I could tell she was searching for my demon behind my gray eyes, but I was still too rattled to let her see him, too shaken to let him emerge from my hold.

After a moment she sighed deeply.

"You've got a powerful demon living inside of you, Dante. Especially now that you've mated with Aurora. Having an angel bound to you is... Well, it will have made your demon significantly stronger, as you have undoubtedly experienced..." Cyrea said.

I nodded slowly. My mate was right. Aurora's angelic soul did a whole lot more to mine than add markings to my body. I could tell my demon - and I - were a lot more powerful now. More so in comparison to when I claimed Layla.

However, while I realized he didn't do whatever he did on purpose, the fact that he could slip through my control was something I was not happy with and could not risk again. Who knew what kind of shitstorm we'd end up in if he did it again and actually ended up biting someone. Or worse.

"He has. We have," I agreed and took a deep breath, releasing it in a shaky sigh. "It's just... I just need to control him more, so things won't escalate..."

I braced myself for loud demonic mental objections and fierce bashing against my hold on him. Yet upon hearing my words, my demon went surprisingly still in my mind. He was silent, though I could clearly feel his anger. And his contempt.

I clenched my fists and let out a shaky breath, swallowing hard to lessen the horrible feeling of betrayal I felt bubbling up from my chest.

"I'm sorry. I do not enjoy chaining you, but I cannot risk you escalating things..." I softly apologized to him, yet did not relent the tight mental grasp I had on him.

My demon did not say anything. It felt like he silently stared at me in anger from the mental dungeon I had shoved him in.

"You punish me, yet I did nothing wrong..." he growled in disdain, yet made no attempt to fight me.

By now I had grown used to him loudly objecting and protesting against me holding him down, yet the way he now meekly endured my restrictions on him instead intensified the guilt I felt inside.

"I'm sorry..." I replied softly.

Cyrea looked into my eyes, shifting from my left to my right and back again. I could tell she was searching for my demon behind my eyes, but I kept him securely pushed down.

With a soft sigh and a weary smile she leaned back against the display holding the dildos.

"This is not about control, my dear Dante," she said, still staring into my eyes, still searching. "Control is like the leash humans put on dogs - what they pull on to correct the animal, what they tighten so it will follow their lead - it is a tool for the one to dominate the other."

I felt my demon stir within me. He was listening to our mate just as intently as I was.

"You and your demon are equals, my love. Your demon is not a creature you keep on a leash, but an innate part of you. In fact, he is far more like you than you realize, Dante. As you are far more like him than you perhaps dare to admit to yourself," she said with a gentle smile.

"Trust him. For if you can find balance without the leash, you will strengthen each other far more than you could possibly fathom," she said reverently.

I felt my demon shift inside me, almost as if reaching out to Cyrea. I swallowed hard and clenched my jaw - she was his mate too after all, and while I carefully monitored him, I allowed him to come forward a little. Through my eyes he just stared at Cyrea, like a child pressing its face to the window to look outside.

Cyrea's face split into the most gorgeous smile when she saw both of us return her gaze. Her soft hand cupped my cheek and I gladly leaned into her touch as her fingers grazed my skin. I deeply inhaled her scent, my demon's content growl lacing my breath.

Even though I had only rigidly suppressed him for a little while, it was actually strangely comforting and pleasantly familiar to actively feel my demon in my mind again. Cyrea was right, as always - despite having been human for the vast majority of my life, I now felt strangely incomplete without my demon actively nestled in my mind.

Despite all that, I wasn't sure if I dared unleash him...

"I want to trust you," I told him, still staring at our wonderful mate.

My demon shifted and scoffed.

"Have I given you reason not to...?" he grumbled in that low, gravelly voice of his. Because he was so close to the surface, his golden eyes reflected dangerously in Cyrea's when he spoke.

The accusation in his voice was so thick, it was almost palpable.

My jaw clenched against Cyrea's palm as I grit my teeth.

"You almost made me bite Raven. You took over with Cyrea just now! Countless times you have urged for violence, or even the death of our adversaries. Do I really need to remind you of that?" I fired back at him, not bothering to hide my own accusation lacing my voice. All of the frustration coursing through me made my muscles tense. I suddenly realized I was angrily staring into Cyrea's eyes and quickly averted my gaze.

My demon chuckled softly in my mind, turning my angry frown into a somewhat surprised grimace.

"Yes, Dante... I am violent... I am deadly... Like you, I protect..." he chuckled rather ominously, and I felt my eyes dangerously light up with golden flames. "But I am no fool, Dante... I never made you do something to endanger us... Or do something you would not do..."

I could feel my eyes turn gray again when he finished speaking while I stared at the scar of my claiming bite in Cyrea's neck. Part of me felt like objecting to his arguments, that he had indeed gone against my wishes many times by trying to get me to resort to violence. Yet there was an increasingly larger part of me that couldn't help but agree - my demon has pushed, pulled, and urged me many times, but nothing ever happened that I didn't want to happen.

I took a deep breath, tasting Cyrea's scent on my tongue and brought up my fingers to softly touch my mate's scar, mindlessly caressing it as I got my thoughts in order.

"You're right," I conceded after a while.

I could feel my demon grin within me as the golden glow in my eyes shone fiercely, even briefly lighting up the colorful dildos around us.

"Of course I am right..." he gloated in my mind.

I chuckled and softly shook my head.

"Do me a favor though?" I asked him. "Since you apparently know when I do not want to do something, it would help tremendously if you didn't urge me to do it anyway..."

My demon fell silent.

It felt as if he was looking intently at me, studying me.

"I can always try..." he growled wickedly in that low, gravelly voice of his. "You would make for an excellent killer, Dante..."

He fell silent again. It felt ominous, dangerous even.

For the tiniest sliver of a moment I tensed.

Because with the tiniest sliver of my soul I knew he was right.

My demon burst out laughing, making my eyes flare up brightly.

"Do not worry, Dante... I will behave..." he half grinned, half growled.

I let out the breath I had apparently been holding and let my eyes reconnect with Cyrea's.

"Thank you," I replied to him with a small grin of my own.

I kept staring at Cyrea's gorgeous eyes, feeling my demon go dormant in my mind again. Her fingers still tenderly cupped my cheek and I longingly pressed my face against her hand.

She gazed up at me with the most wondrous smile.

"Better?" she asked.

I nodded into her palm.

Cyrea's fingers caressed my hairline, her nails softly dragging through my hair.

"So, you two kissed and made up?" she giggled.

With a rather loud chuckle I tightly wrapped my arms around my wonderful mate and drew her in for a loving kiss. The way she flowed into my embrace and kiss so naturally and willingly made my heart soar, and I made sure she felt it through our bond.

"I much prefer kissing you, my love..." I grinned against her lips.

"Oh, yes, I am very kissable..." she quipped her reply while lathering her tongue against mine.

"Most definitely," I agreed.

I allowed myself a luxuriously long moment with my mate, consciously enjoying her touches and scent. After a while, Cyrea suddenly giggled mischievously and disentangled herself from my embrace with a rather wicked sparkle in her eyes.

"You do realize you unknowingly one-upped me by making that woman cum and getting her number, don't you?" she quipped while her grin turned increasingly naughty.

"Oh?" I chuckled, enjoying the playfulness on her gorgeous face.

Cyrea cocked an eyebrow and gave me a disbelieving look.

"Surely I mustn't remind you that I am the demon of lust here, my love... It is my job to seduce the humans after all..." she purred throatily while her etheric tail provocatively stroked my cock through my clothes.

Without waiting for an answer, my gorgeous mate slipped out from under me and sashayed over to the cashier wearing that enticing grin of hers and swaying her hips in the most enticing manner possible.

"Want to bet I can get the cashier's number? Perhaps even that of their boss?" she told me privately.

I chuckled as I watched her seductively bend over the counter, putting her ample bosom on display for the pair of women to admire.

"As if I could win such a bet,' I chuckled. "No cheating, though," I told her, seeing her flex her etheric wings as she provocatively caressed her cleavage.

Cyrea turned around and gave me a smoldering wink.

"Like I need to..." she scoffed and sent me a mental wink. Judging from the appreciative grins from Raven and her colleague, they were enjoying a spectacular view of Cyrea's cleavage.

I chuckled and turned around to make my way further into the shop to locate the rest of our group. Only now did I notice this was actually quite a spacious place. Behind the displays holding a wide variety of sex toys, there was a rather large area containing all types of clothes and accessories. I immediately understood why Layla had dragged us into this shop, for there was an extensive collection of every type of sexy dress imaginable in a range of materials. I could see the tops of the heads of our three other ladies enthusiastically bounce between the racks of clothing and figured I'd quickly locate Alexis before the women would snare me and ask me to tag along with them.

As I zigzagged my way towards my angelic friend, my mind wandered back to the conversation with my demon.

My demon was right - things had never escalated because of him, but... Did they not escalate because I held him back? Or because he wouldn't let them escalate?

I sighed softly again. While I truly believed my demon when he said he wouldn't do anything I wouldn't do, I wasn't comfortable releasing each and every hold I had on him. Not yet.

I quickly located Alexis sitting down in a big, old fashioned leather buttoned armchair chair that was facing the dressing rooms. There were a couple of those big chairs in a row and I plopped down into the one next to Alexis with a deep sigh. The old leather creaked heavily in protest with my weight pressing down on it.

"I might not be a demon, but even I can smell that woman's arousal on you," Alexis chuckled softly, though I had no problems hearing him over the loud music.

My angelic friend was silent for a moment. When he spoke, his voice sounded a little dreamy.

"You know, Dante, it's remarkable how I completely lost interest in all other women, except for my Eir..." he mused. I raised my head from my hands to see my angelic friend stare at himself in the mirror of the empty, opened dressing room in front of him.

"Monogamy used to be such a ridiculous concept to me... Yet, now it's just as normal to me as it is to breathe," he mumbled. After a moment he turned to me with an impish grin. "Though I suppose it's the other way round for you..." he said.

It wasn't a question.

His words made me grin.

"Yes, well..." I chuckled. "Having two succubi bound to you and a horny internal demon quickly destroyed my once noble notions of monogamy..." I mumbled, taking a deep breath and reclined in the surprisingly comfortable chair. The leather from the chair squeaked underneath me with an unmistakable crunch and I briefly frowned at the myriad of smells that suddenly drifted up from between all the crevices.

"Poor you..." Alexis snickered.

I placed my hands on the elevated armrests of the wide chair. Big buttons pushed the leather deep into the frame of the chair, creating a bulbous and lumpy texture. The heavy music let my thoughts drift back to several moments ago, where I had nearly bitten Raven during her orgasms. I could not hide the frown on my face as my thoughts trailed back to moments ago, my nails thoughtlessly plucking at the chair's leather buttons.

Alexis's chair squeaked.

"Don't tell me you're having regrets for having sex with that woman!" he scoffed with thinly veiled surprise. "Cyrea and Layla would only applaud you for fucking her, and I doubt Aurora would object - dare I say her new demonic nature comes remarkably natural to her."

I glanced at Alexis, seeing him sit upright and stare at me with a frown.

"We didn't fuck. Although my demon definitely wanted to..." I said.

I took a deep breath and began fiddling with the button, suddenly finding it immensely interesting.

"But...?" Alexis prodded when I didn't say anything.

I briefly glanced at Alexis, who had inquisitively leaned towards me. I evaded his curious gaze and focused yet again on the very fidgetable lump of leather underneath my fingers.

I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Even though I had already discussed this with Cyrea - and my demon - I still wanted the comfort I hoped Alexis's words would bring. Despite having worked it out already, I still secretly longed to hear him say that it was okay - like I didn't harbor a powerful being inside me that could complicate my life in record time if left unchecked.

"My demon took over, without me noticing. Twice... We talked it over and I know I can trust him and all, but I don't know... I'm still not comfortable with the whole thing," I sighed, tentatively peeking at Alexis to check my friend's reaction.

As if a bucket filled with wondrous surprise had been emptied over his face, he gazed at me with delight. Then, as if social etiquette suddenly kicked in, he blinked a few times and managed to produce a frown - solely for my benefit, by the looks of it.

"Did he now? He's grown rather powerful since you claimed Aurora, hasn't he? Fascinating..." Alexis squeaked with moderately concealed excitement, then cleared his throat. His chair creaked and protested as my friend all but bounced in his seat while he leaned in closer to me.

I eyed him warily, seeing how Alexis's cheeks twitched ever so subtly as he visibly tried to smoothen his grin.

"You're not concerned?" I asked him, feeling a bit unnerved by his enthusiastic eyes trying to pierce mine. This was not at all the comforting solace I had hoped to find. "You're not worried that he might break free, that he might...I don't know...hurt or kill someone? I mean, if it were up to him, he would have bitten that human woman! I've... I've never fed from a human... I have no idea if I could close her wound, or if me biting her would seriously hurt her, or...if she would even survive," I rambled, speaking faster and faster, feeling increasingly frustrated and even offended by Alexis's continuous wondrous joy radiating from his eyes. How could he not be concerned about this?

The sparkle in Alexis's eyes turned somewhat wicked, as did his grin.

"You're not worried your demon might have bitten that woman, or would end up killing someone - you're worried you would," he commented, carefully gauging my reaction.

I stared at him like a deer caught in headlights. My demon rumbled softly in my mind, but made no attempt to come forward. My stunned silence made Alexis laugh and he spread his arms wide theatrically gesturing towards our surroundings.

"Temptation is ever present, Dante - always has been, always will be. Hell, demons are the very epitome of temptation - the risk, the reward, the danger - it adds a delicious flavor to life itself as I'm sure you and your ladies would agree. Trust yourself to be strong enough to dance with its delights without succumbing to them," he said and leaned back into his chair, though his gaze was still on me.

"And stop blaming your demon, it's not fair on him," he concluded, making a dismissive hand gesture.

Said demon chuckled somewhere in the back of my mind.

I softly shook my head in disbelief and tried not to grumble.

"How come you and Cyrea seem to know me so much better than I know myself..." I mumbled, taking a deep breath and letting it come out as a weary sigh. It was as astounding as it was frustrating how the two of them could always diffuse a situation with some sagely advice.

Alexis chuckled wryly, making his leather chair squeak briefly.

"It's easier to dissect the problems of others than it is to understand your own."

I stared flatly at my wise angelic friend.

"I'll have that quote printed on a t-shirt and give it to you," I mocked.

The chair next to me squeaked again as it endured another chuckle from Alexis.

We were silently lost in our thoughts when suddenly Layla happily bounced into the dressing rooms in front of Alexis and me, dragging a heavily blushing Eir behind her. Even though Alexis and I had witnessed this very scene many times today with a different combination of women, we still couldn't help but chuckle.