Hyeonverse: Kissed By Darkness

"Cassiel!"

"There will only be eight planets left after I destroy Uranus," I hummed to her ear.

The girl screeched, giggling as I chased her upstairs.

Snarling like a Morlock, I lifted my squealing Eloi and threw her on the sprawling sheets. A note of fright colored her shallow breathing when I crept over her defenseless little frame. Desire and concern waged warfare in the infinity pools of her brown eyes. My comforting smile lent strength to her passion and she circled my neck with her thin arms. Her frenzied kiss was charmingly clumsy.

Her knees trembled when my lascivious paws crawled up her skinny marble legs, parting them to remove her panties.

"I see London, I see France," I muttered to her ear, making her shriek with embarrassment. "I see Amber's underpants."

Bubblegum pink, how quaint.

My mouth journeyed south, taking its time to chart the delicate shapes of her neck. Conquering the erect defiance of her tiny breasts, I surveyed the well of her navel before losing myself in the lush scarlet forest of her pubic hair.

My lips brushed her inner thighs as I relished the earthy scent of her sex. Soon, the nervous timbre in her breathing surrendered to the quick cadence of lust. She wanted me to taste her. She needed me to. Pink fingernails carved trails on my back.

"Hhh, Cassiel, please. Please... " urgency tinted her desperate moans, the torture of anticipation was overwhelming.

Satisfied, I initiated my raid on her womanhood. My lips explored her vaginal lips to the melody of her enthusiastic yelps.

Softly, the spear of my tongue brushed the hood of her precious little clit, up and down.

"Hmm!" She inhaled in delight. This was her magic spot. I ventured a mischievous finger inside her, its pad gently caressing her inner walls and her excitement spiked.

It brushed her spongy G-Spot and she blurted out a stunned "Oh, God! What the?!"

A whole continent of new untapped sensations extended before her.

Gently, I tongued Amber's clit and she recoiled, hissing. Hmm, too sensitive; extra tenderness required. I knew enough for now.

My whole mouth and fingers went to work, licking and biting her into a frenzy:

"Oh, my God, Cassiel! Yes! Oh, God, yes! Like that!" she moaned.

Writhing on the sheets, she flailed her limbs under my affections as waves of pleasure curled her toes:

"Ooh! Ooh! I'm... Oh, my God, I'm... I'm.. Ooh!"

I trapped her narrow thighs in my arms, unleashing a tongue assault on her clitoral hood. The girl arched, holding fistfuls of my silver hair as she conquered the peaks of bliss.

"Oh, God, yes! Yes! Yess!"

A muezzin sang in the distance, calling to prayer. Rolling off her, I held Amber in my arms and we basked in the soothing notes as she glided down the slopes of complete satiation. The girl's hair smelled heavenly.

"I thought I was having a heart attack, look at me." She giggled, embarrassed. "I've gone limp. I had never!"

Her blushing told me she was ready and receptive. I climbed her and, brushing my erection against her intimacy, entered her warm tightness.

"Oh!" Amber winced as her body welcomed her first lover. "Good grief, it's like swallowing a Stellanator."

Slowly, she adjusted to the sensation as I dove further into her.

"N-not that deep..."

I retreated half an inch, kissing her as I glided in and out. She pivoted her hips in search of the most pleasurable position.

"T... there." Amber said and I went to work, slowly increasing the pace as our excitement grew. I pounded her into the mattress, feeling her soaked walls open to my rhythmic thrusting. God, the best things really did come in small packages. In minutes I exploded, coating the innermost reaches of her snug tenderness with my seed.

"Oh, I never knew..." Amber panted in awe. "I never imagined it would be like this."

I smiled, anticipating the moment she'd meet Cormac and both would truly be swept off their feet in a passion for the ages.

We made love all the way from Istanbul to Manama, Macau, and BangKok.

It was snowing when we finally landed in Seoul.

We had arrived too late.

POSTCARD PICTURES OF PARADISE

Cormac was in the restroom whistling La Donna è mobile.

Taking a deep breath, I walked in.

I had already wasted months in Paris looking for Vicky and tangled with the Bratva.

In the meantime, my brother got involved with a rebound and, according to a jarhead I bribed for info, it had gotten serious.

By the time we made it to the restaurant and I slipped a hundred to the catering guy carrying out the trash to let us in, their wedding ceremony was over.

"She's hot as Surtur's balls," I whispered. "But she's no Vicky."

"Cass...?" Cormac frowned. "What the hell are you doing here, Cassiel?"

"My best friend was getting married and I wouldn't miss it for the world! Look, I bought champagne flutes. They're monogrammed!" I extended my hand, then my wedding present. He didn't take either.

"W... where's your sister Ama?" I stuttered. "There can be no party without our beloved Queen Amanirenas."

"Dude, get the fuck outta here," Scorpio barked from the urinal at the far end. "Nobody invited you."

"Fuck off, Scorpio! Nobody's talking to you."

"It's Pettiford when we're not in combat, Gemini!" he snarled. "God, he always does that, he..."

"Okay, enough!" Cormac finished peeing. "Today's my wedding and for once, you two will tone that shit down."

He washed his hands, and then headed out with Scorpio in tow. I followed them into the heart of the festivities.

Guests and pogues crowded the dance floor, swaying to the mellow tune of Michael Jackson's Rock With You. A SAD officer was hitting on the mortified Korean maître d'. Colonel Murray, my former boss, was raiding the shrimp.

Mam´selle Célestine, Cormac's Haitian Grandma sat on a wicker chair taking it all in; at long last, Great Grandsons on the horizon.

A drunk Samoan guy staggered past us, rushed by his wife toward the restrooms, her randy hand on his butt.

"You invited Joe fucking Taito?" My throat stung from speaking over the music. "He's not even a Zodiac Team member!"

"Joe's Air Cav, you moron! He belongs here," Scorpio barked. "Dude's flown us out of danger more times than you can count."

He flew us into danger too, you absolute twat. Fucking Scorpio.

"Well, bend me over and call me Darla if it isn't Cassiel motherfucking Clair!" Leo and Libra lumbered in, big as houses. Shit. "What's this high speed doing here, I thought we dumped your ass back in Belgium."

"Don't you have anywhere else to go push your dope?"

"Stay out of this, Cuellar! You too, Brice!" Cormac growled. "Cassiel, what are you doing here? How did you even get in?"

"Cormac, can... can we go and talk in a place more quiet?"

His eyes bore into mine.

"I'm sorry I fucked everything up," I continued. "I promise I can do better. Be better. Please, you've gotta... nothing's been right ever since you kicked me out. Look, look!"

Amber stumbled by with a glass in hand, dizzy and dazzled by the dainty decoration. Ama tailed her, old cop eyes studying the girl, not yet fully convinced she was 21.

"Cassiel! This is Ameni... Amina... Ama, she's the groom's sister! This place is amazing, did you see the..."

"Cassiel." Ama glared at me. "Who let you in?"

I snatched my pixie off her. Handing her vermouth to a waitress, I fixed the girl's short rebellious mane.

"Thi-this is Amber, I've told her all about you." I showed her off, winking. "She's been eager to meet you!"

Amber's red hair glowed under the disco lights, triggering a sad memory. Pain clouded his expression.

"So you're Cormac Peters? The mighty Aries of Zodiac Team One?" Amber jumped with excitement. "Cassiel told me so many stories, congratulations! Your party is just amazing, all these people having fun!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Amber," he offered her a cordial smile. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid Cassiel wasn't completely candid, this is a private party for friends and family only."

"I am your friend!" God, my throat was killing me.

"You're a fucking drug trafficker!" Scorpio shouted and all eyes turned on me.

Colonel Murray halted his assault on the shrimp. Mam'selle Celestine's smile died. Taurus and his Navy fiancée scowled at me. Capricorn zeroed in. Even Joe fucking Taito rushed out of the restroom with his undone wife.

"Cas... Cassiel, is this true?" Amber stepped back.

"I'm clean. I swear I'm clean."

"Clean?" Scorpio laughed. "There hasn't been a 'clean' Clair since the Prohibition. Traffickers and rumrunners, the whole lot. Ask him. Ask him how his family bought the farm!"

"That was a gas leak."

"Yeah, right! I read the police report, you know?"

Of course he would have read the fucking police report. Not even I had read the damn thing. The prick had always had it in for me, trying to steal my place as Cormac's right hand man. Everything, from my family's past to the way I held a spoon was ammo for him.

"Nothing was ever proven," I barked at him and the turd flinched. "You know nothing!"

God, my throat! Amber recoiled from me, her big eyes transfixed on mine. A few more steps back and she was gone, swallowed by the crowd. All my plans had crumbled into ash.

"Cormac, you've gotta get me back, please!" My desperate hands clung to his Merino wool suit. "I am so alone!"

The music had stopped and everybody was staring.

"Cassiel, I've given you more chances than anyone," Cormac pulled away. "Time and again. You chose to fuck it all up at every turn."

"Please, I don't even want to be on the team, just let me hang..."

"Hang?" Taurus exploded. "My cousin OD-ed on that crap you move."

"I'm done with that life, this time it's for real!"

"Get the fuck out, you weasel!" someone shouted. "Nobody wants you here!"

Leo and Libra moved in to grab my arms. I threw my box of champagne flutes at the first and swung at the second, hitting his nose.

Libras really can't fight for shit, the fuckwit staggered, blood sprinkled across his face: "Did... did he just...?"

"Fucking loser," Leo grunted, hitting me square in the jaw.

Whack!

Everything went black.

"Enough of this!" Cormac roared through the haze. "Not at my wedding! Pettiford, Brice, escort him out. Don't! You. Fucking. Hurt him! Cuellar, go have that nose checked."

<<<<<>>>>>

Cobwebs all around me.

I was sprawled over the dusty seat of an old cabaret.

"THAT could have gone better," a familiar voice came from the dim lit stage.

Misha teddy bears, the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games mascot spun around her as Vicky twirled with handkerchief in hand, dressed as an exotic dancer. She smiled, glamorous as a modern day Isadora Duncan or Mata Hari.

"Vicky!" I trudged toward the stage. "We've gotta stop Cormac from making the BIGGEST mistake of his life, YOU'RE the one he's in love with."

"Alors, come on... LOVE? We were together for FIVE days, all we did was FUCK! Besides, he's pushing thirty five. It's way past time he settled down and built a family, have kids. Mam'selle Célestine is not getting any younger, you know?"

"Yes, but not with that woman. You have to tell me where you went!"

"I'll give you a clue, come closer."

Her eyes followed the plushies as they danced toward the backstage. Then, she tilted her head at me.

"What is it?" I raised my eyebrow, watching them disappear behind the curtains. "The clue?"

Rolling her eyes, Vicky whispered to my ear: "Kimchi!"

<<<<<>>>>>

Soft tits pressed against my arm.

A Korean teen was playing with my white hair, posing for her friend's Polaroid camera. They felt me waking up and flew away, shrieking.

Nighttime.

A bench in Bukhansan Park.

A slice of the wedding cake on a paper plate to my side. Scorpio's idea of a joke. I shambled back to the hotel, steeped in pain and nursing a headache.

Fucking Leo and his atomic right hook.

Ama's jasmine perfume still reigned when I walked in.

She had just been there, probably advising Amber to get far, far away from me.

The girl was all set to run home: boots, coat, gloves, hat, scarf, passport, handbag, mace canister. Mace canister. Geez, what kinda lowlife did Ama think I was?

Her worried gaze followed me as I made a beeline toward the bed, crashing on the sheets. Goodbye and bon voyage back to Merna. I was alone, again.

Naturally.

Caspian didn't haunt my dreams that night. I guess being near Cormac still worked like a charm.

Morning bacon greeted my nostrils, manna from Heaven.

Sitting on the bed, I devoured the whole tray.

"I'm glad you liked it." Amber giggled at my appetite. "I threw away the slice of cake you brought, someone peed on it."

Fucking Scorpio.

"Fanks," I said as I finished gorging on the fried egg.

"So, who's Vicky?" jealousy mumbled through her lips. "You called her in your sleep."

"French kiosk girl. The one Cormac should have married."

Her shoulders relaxed.

"Was any of it true?" Her eyes narrowed. "What they said?"

The memory of the party events flooded in.

"Yeah... my whole family was rotten," I sighed. "There wasn't much of a future back home, you either broke your back working the fields or died in the coal mines from black lung disease. My Dad almost got out playing baseball, but he busted his knee and landed right back in, smuggling marijuana across the border or stealing equipment from the mining company."

""Did you mean what you said?" She paused. "Are you clean? Are you done with that life?"

Was I? I certainly didn't need the money, the Russians had given me enough to live like a Maharaja. Well, a very modest one.

"Y... yeah, babe, of course I am."

"Shhh!" Amber's delicate finger touched my lips. "It's in the past."

Her mouth met mine, she didn't even mind my morning breath. Jesus H. Christ, the girl was completely nuts about me, wasn't she? She was, ask me how I know.

It's my one unique talent, my superpower: true love, I can spot that shit from a mile away. And boy, did she have it bad.

Did I love her back? I didn't know, but maybe I could learn to? I liked her perennial happy-go-lucky smile. My very own 5 '5 ginger Tinker Bell. Maybe she was the one I was destined for?

A house with a picket fence, a dog named Biscuit, and 2.4 kids. Corn in every meal. Lunch at Ma's on Sundays, and helping Pa at the hardware store. The occasional Friday night brawl with some local orbiter forever mad he never got to bang her in High School. Would that be so bad? She was insanely cute and I was so alone. Cormac was married. Joe fucking Taito had a kid. Taurus was engaged. Everybody had moved on. I was thirty five.

"Amber, do you...?" My eyes held hers and I wrapped her in my arms, feeling her heartbeat spike and her breathing quicken. She was mine, like a precious gem entrusted to my care. Mine to keep. All I had to do was want her.

"Y... yes, Cassiel?"

"Do you wanna get married?"

Amber exploded with joy. She hugged me, then pushed back to look at me and scream, and then hug me again. Tears of happiness rolled down her face.

"Yes! Yes! Oh, my God, yes, more than anything in the world! I do! I do!"

I smiled, letting her enjoy the moment.

Then, I winked: "To me?"

My little pixie punched me on the chest, such a scrumptious little tap.

I leaned back on the sheets, dragging her along. We kissed, enjoying our closeness. Her smell was amazing! I didn't even bother undressing her. Pushing her bubblegum pink panties to the side, I entered my ginger Tinker Bell and pounded her into a shattering orgasm. Mine to keep. Yes, maybe I could learn to love her back.

Our wedding was a small event, my family had died in a gas explosion. Hers welcomed me as one of their own. Lovely, ultra devout people, Merna was exactly what I thought it would be.

I tried so hard to fit in, but you never really come back from downrange, do you?

Within a year I clocked a smartass at work, getting myself fired. Thus ended my adventures in the world of rank and file. Fuck that noise.

<<<<<>>>>>

I knew this place.

I came here every night in my sleep.

The absolute darkness. The hard, cold, and damp floor. The clutter around me. Counterfeit clothes, cigarette boxes, drug packs, wine cases, and stolen crap from the coal mining company.

I was ten years old again and I had been locked up in the basement.

"PLEASE let me out..." I whimpered. "I'll never try to run away again, I'll be good..."

An orange butterfly landed on my hand. I knew WHO came next.

I needed Cormac, QUICK! I needed my REAL brother back before the OTHER one...

Something stirred behind me.

Something rotten, covered in burnt rags that slumped toward me, his eyes filled with hatred. CASPIAN.

"You did this!" I screamed. " YOU put me in here! This is all YOUR FAULT!"

<<<<<>>>>>

"Angel, you there?" Amber rushed into the kitchen, startling me awake. Daytime nightmares now?

I've just had the strangest phone call," she said. "Do you remember Ama? Your friend Cormac's sister, the private investigator?"

I straightened up on my chair, averting her gaze.

"How did she get our number?"

"We're pen pals," Amber shrugged. "She wanted to know if you'd been to Monarch, Texas recently."

"W... why?"

"She suspects someone tampered with the brakes of a guy named Pettiford."

Scorpio.

"Police are on a manhunt, apparently he ran over a couple people at a crosswalk. One of them was the town mayor's uncle and he wants payback."

"The Mayor's uncle?" I choked a chuckle. "Now that's just bad luck."

"Angel." She stared at me. "Did you really go to New York to meet an army buddy last week?"

"Of course I did, babe. Old Colonel Murray used to run the Zodiac teams, best boss ever!" I lied through my teeth. "He's retiring next summer and opening a laundromat with his Korean girlfriend Jeong-Ja, so I went to pay them a visit. We played checkers!"

"You didn't take a detour through Monarch County?"

"Honey, I swear on my brother's grave."

Caspian, that traitor. Good riddance.

"Okay, babe..." Her glare softened: "Hmm, have you given some thought to my idea?"

"The self-defense dojo?" I groaned. She was probing me again, worried. "That's exactly what I need, bored housewives yapping during kata."