Idle Hands: Finale

And if losing one person you love devastates you, there's no reason to stick around and wait for six to die. It would drive you mad.

The house was silent as she padded across the foyer. The only sounds came from outside, drifting through the open windows, left open in anticipation of summer days to come. The hum of crickets, the gentle rustle of leaves in the west wind.

She was halfway across when a light snapped on, blinding her. She threw an arm across her streaming eyes.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?"

It was Yasna.

*****

"I'm leaving." She tried to keep her voice firm, regardless of how her heart broke when she said the words.

"Oh? Then I'm coming with you." Yasna was still wearing the dress she had worn to the play. Pale as green leaves, it looked wonderful against her dark skin. Althea forced herself to look away.

"Don't be ridiculous. You're not going anywhere with me."

"You can't stop me."

"I can't stop you? You, a human?" She snapped her fingers in Yasna's face, trying to make her voice hard. "It would take me that long to get you out of my way if I wanted."

"But you won't." Yasna crossed her arms in front of her chest, her back still firmly pressed against the door, blocking her escape.

"Why not?"

"Because you don't really want to leave. You want someone to ask you to stay."

"Stay? With you?" She laughed, though the effort tore at her throat. "Don't flatter yourself, Yasna. You're cute, but I've slept with dozens of women more attractive than you."

"Maybe." She raised her chin bravely. "But none of them are here right now, are they?"

"No, they're not. They're dead. Just like you will be, in time. Like everyone else in this house."

"True. A doctor has to get used to the idea of death. To know that too often, we fail." Her lips twitched. "My job taught me early the unpleasant truth about my own mortality.

Her voice softened. "Tell me, Althea. Has anyone ever thanked you for what you do for us? Thanked you for the centuries of service?

"I will. Thank you, Althea. Thank you for protecting us. Thank you for doing what no one else can. Thank you for standing between us and the forces of darkness. Thank you for my life. Because I know that if you had failed last night, I would have died. I looked into Kincaid's eyes and saw my own death.

"Thank you."

Caught off guard, Althea blinked. Her mouth opened, but no words emerged. Suddenly, with an almost audible snap, her iron will broke, destroyed not by anger, but by understanding and kindness. Weeping, she fell into Yasna's arms. Terrible, shuddering sobs wracked her body, the culmination of centuries of pent-up grief. Yasna cradled her against her chest while she cried herself out. It seemed to take hours, but when she was done, she felt emptied-out and calm.

"Poor baby," Yasna whispered. Somehow they were both sitting on the floor. She wiped away her tears with her thumb, her fingers lingering on her cheek. "You needed that."

"I did." She took a deep breath, then let it out in a sigh. She felt emptied-out, but her will was firm. "It doesn't change anything, you know. I'm still leaving. I can't...I can't stay here and watch you all die. Not without something to live for."

"If you could have something, what would it be? What would make it worth it to stay here with us?"

Bitter, hopeless longing surged up within Althea. Before she could stop herself, she blurted, "A baby." She closed her eyes as she confessed her innermost desire. "The Messenger of God declared that none of our kind would ever become pregnant. Or sire a child. That despite our passion for humans, we were cursed to eternal barrenness."

Yasna nodded, as if this came as no surprise. "And what if I told you I could give you a baby?"

Althea stared at her, shock warring with anger. "You can't." Her voice was flat. "Don't joke about it. It's not funny. Don't you think I've tried? Thousands of years. The Almighty only knows how many partners. I have never used birth control. And in all those years I have never missed my period by even one day."

"But you do ovulate? Don't you?"

"For all the good it does me," she said disgustedly.

"Well, Althea, as your physician, perhaps I should share something with you."

Althea's head snapped up. Yasna's tone was...teasing? Mischievous? It was as if she knew a wonderful secret she couldn't wait to spill.

"When you were in that coma, I ran tests on you." She smiled, slow and deep. "Of course, it might have been just an excuse to touch you. Some of those tests," she continued, "were on your...your reproductive organs."

She rested a hand on Althea's stomach. Despite her whipsawing emotions, Althea felt herself heat under her touch, her nether lips growing slick. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to listen through the pounding of her heart.

"From what I can tell, your nectar, as you call it, is an amazingly effective natural spermicide. It's no wonder you've never become pregnant. Any sperm that enters your vaginal canal would die almost instantly. It would never have a chance to fertilize your egg."

This was hope. This trampled, wilted weed, that turned itself towards the sun and put forth a single, glorious blossom. Althea's breath caught in her throat, her eyes brimming with tears of joy. "That means..." she gasped.

"Yes, my love." Yasna's eyes shone. Her arms tightened around her, hugging her close. "All we have to do is an in vitro fertilization. Harvest a few of your eggs, have one fertilized, and then implant it in your uterus. Nine months later, you'll have a baby."

"But the Messenger of God said-"

"Fuck what the Messenger of God said," Yasna whispered fiercely. Her eyes blazed. "You told me yourself that God is only a servant of the Almighty. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he overstepped his authority, and She is using us to correct an injustice.

"You can bear a child if you want. Josh's. Or Alex's. Or Jeremy's. Or by a sperm donor."

"Screw that. I'm not having some anonymous man's kid."

Yasna nodded, then blushed, dropping her eyes to her lap. "Or, if you want..." She raised her eyes bravely. "I know a woman. She is a damn genius when it comes to genetics. Her name is Jane Richardson. I think she could give you a child that had eight parents. All of us.

"Or...just mine. Our child. Our baby."

Slowly, Althea smiled. "Say what you said before."

"What? Our child?"

"No. What you called me."

"My love." She laid a brown hand on Althea's golden cheek. Tears dripped down both their faces. "You are my love. I love you. Stay with me. Bear my child, and I will bear yours. We will be the parents of a new generation of succubi, and the legions of Hell will tremble before us."

Althea caught fire with joy. With a muffled squeal, she pulled Yasna into her lap. Before she could do more than gasp, Yasna had tipped her head up for a kiss. Althea's lips covered the dark-haired doctor's, and she gave herself over to love.

And so did Yasna. For the first time in her life, she accepted who she was, the desires which were as much a part of her as her hair or her eyes or her body. The desire to make love to both women and men, regardless of the outmoded strictures of her religion or the mores of a society she had left before she was born.

Oh! I never thought it could be like this!

~It will be, beloved. It will always be like this between us. And soon, I will introduce you to the joys of being with a man. Would you like that?~ she teased, as her hand slipped down her chest and cupped her breast, the fingers kneading the firm flesh of her tit. ~Would you like to be in bed with me and Alex? Or perhaps me and Rachel?~

Allah have mercy! Her nipples strained, tenting the cloth of her dress. With Althea's eager assistance, she slid the straps down her arms until her chest was exposed. With a hungry little growl, Althea fell on them like a starving cat, her plump lips and sharp little teeth sucking and biting the sensitive flesh until she thought she would go mad with pleasure.

"Althea?"

"Hmmmm?"

"Can you do...what you did the first night we met?"

"What? Oh. That. Yes. But I have to take off my pants."

"Good. I wanted you to do that anyway."

In seconds, they were both naked. "By the Almighty, you are beautiful," Althea breathed. Yasna looked down, embarrassed. "No, look at me," she said, tipping her chin up. "I don't know what that horses-ass you were married to did to make you think there was something wrong with you. But you are lovely. And loveable. I love you. And I will spend the rest of your days proving that to you, beloved."

She kissed her, their tongues mingling in a slow dance of passion and desire. Yasna closed her eyes as she felt the tip of Althea's tail stroking her damp folds. She shifted, opening to her, and the tail slipped into her velvety sheath.

Allah! It was so wrong, but it felt so right. More intimate than she could have possibly imagined, she felt her inner walls being caressed.

"You, too," she said softly. Careful not to allow the tail to disengage, she slid down Althea's body until her mouth was only inches away from her pussy. "I want to make you feel good, too." She dotted kisses on the rise of her pubis, feeling the golden hairs crinkle under her lips, then sank lower still. Parting Althea's thighs gently, she took her first taste of her lover's bounty.

"Urk!" Althea grunted, and jerked under her mouth.

Worried, she looked up. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, love. You did something right. Just keep that up and you'll always make me happy." Her lips were parted in an adoring smile.

Heartened, she bent down again, drawing her tongue up Althea's slit in a long, tender lick. The taste of her was like nothing she had ever imagined, an intoxicating mixture of honey, salt, and musk. She didn't think it was possible to ever get her fill of it. As Althea's tail slowly plunged in and out of her, gradually pushing her lust higher and higher, she dove ever more deeply into Althea's groin. By subtle hints and gentle guidance, the immortal succubus showed her exactly how she wanted to be pleased. Fascinated, she watched as the pink pearl of her clitoris emerged from its hood, and then did homage to it, giving it the lightest, gentlest of licks while Althea writhed under her.

She felt Althea's hands on her head, pushing her deeper, even as her hips rolled up towards her mouth, cresting like the waves of a storm-tossed sea. She reached her hands up, taking one of her breasts in each hand, massaging the firm, wonderful weight of them in her fingers. Inside her own body, Althea's tail worked its magic, and the muscles of her vagina began to ripple in a dance at once familiar and strange.

Two climaxes struck at the same moment. Two voices rose from the floor, mingling together in a musical crescendo of orgasmic harmony. Two bodies brought each other to the uttermost reaches of bliss.

Two souls became one.

*****

"Dios mio," Maria swore reverently. "That was one of the hottest things I've ever seen in my life."

Yasna scrambled to her knees on the cold tile floor, clutching her dress to her chest. She looked around wildly. Rachel, Joshua, Jeremy, and all the rest were standing in the foyer in various stages of undress. While they were not actively making love, it was readily apparent they had been pleasuring each other as they watched her and Althea.

Allah! What did they see? What have I done?

"Gently, Maria," Rachel said, her voice softly scolding. "Remember that Yasna isn't used to our ways yet." With a look of faint regret, she removed Joshua's hand from her breast. The uncovered nipple stood high and proud on the flushed skin of her chest. "Congratulations," she continued. Her gaze took in both Althea, who was sitting up slowly, and Yasna. "I'm very proud of you. And very happy for you both."

Hot blood heated Yasna's skin, but she kept her eyes steady. "Thank you," she said. "Though I didn't think we would have an audience. How long have you been here?"

"Long enough," Sarah said cheerfully. Her hand was wrapped around Jeremy's cock, stroking the thick rod slowly. Yasna gazed at it for a moment in bright interest. "I was sleeping. But then I started to dream about you two. We all did. And when you told Althea you loved her, it was like a bomb went off in our heads and we all woke up and came down here."

Eyes wide, she looked at Althea, who nodded regretfully. "Get used to it, my love. Succubi tend to...broadcast...our stronger emotions. Especially to those with whom we have psychic links. And we also tend to receive those emotions in turn."

"You mean your lovers. Which Sarah isn't. So how did she get the signal?"

Althea flipped a dismissive hand. "When she is the lover of three of my lovers? Call it leakage."

"So now what?"

"Now?" Althea hugged her close. She closed her eyes and sighed ecstatically as their breasts pressed together. "Now we get ready to share our lives with each other, my dearest love."

Yasna sniffled, overcome by happiness. "Till death do us part. Well, I think I'm looking forward to the next thirty or forty years. Do you promise to still love me when I'm all gray and wrinkly?"

"I do. But it's going to take a lot longer than thirty or forty years before you get gray and wrinkly, my heart."

Yasna pulled away and looked in Althea's eyes. Lurking in their depths was a massive hilarity, as if she was preparing to share with her an enormous joke. "What are you saying?"

"I guess your scientific research into my body's secretions didn't discover all of my secrets after all. Which is a bit of a relief. I mean, what's the point if there's never any surprises, am I right?"

"The nectar of the succubus," she said to their astonished faces, "has the ability to confer long life on those of the recipients."

"Wait," Alex said. He stumbled for a moment. "Your other lovers. The ones you said you lost. Like the Comte and Comtesse in France. They died. You said so."

"Yes. They died. Mark-Pierre was one hundred and seventy-seven years old when he died, though he looked no more than a well-preserved fifty. He might have lived longer, but he was killed in World War I, in the trenches in France. Genevieve lost heart after that, and we separated. I believe she was almost two hundred when she passed beyond the walls of this world.

"You will age, yes. You will die, also. Nothing I can do will stop that. But your span in this wide green world will be far longer than that of your mortal kindred. And my grief at your passing will be no less because our time together was increased. The opposite, in fact. When the love is great, the agony of parting is greater.

"But now Yasna has given me something to live for. That I will have someone to comfort me when you pass into what lies beyond the boundaries of this world. That there is some hope for victory in our unending, eternal war. That we are not merely fighting a long defeat."

Suddenly she blinked and pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Damn. I nearly forgot." Grinning like a loon, she dialed a number.

"Come on over here," she said quietly, holding the phone so they could all look over her shoulder. The screen split into two halves. In one, a beautiful woman with pale skin and black hair was standing on a city street. From the bright morning sunlight, Yasna thought she might be somewhere in Europe. In the other, an equally lovely woman with red hair was lying in bed. Yasna could just make out a male body with a pair of firmly-muscled buttocks lying beside her. As she watched, the man groaned and pulled his pillow over his head.

"Hello, Allie," said the dark-haired woman. "Is this an emergency? I felt you kill another demon-spawn last night. Congratulations."

"No, not an emergency, Tera. Though I would like you to meet my new family."

"At this time of night?" the redhead grumbled. "Come on, Allie. You know this number is only for an SOS."

"Sorry, Lucifer." Yasna didn't think she sounded sorry at all. "I didn't think this could wait. I've got big news. Like 'Fuck you, God,' big."

Tera's eyes widened in happy speculation. "Such as?"

"Lucifer, Tera...

"How would you like to have a baby?"

*****

From the Woodridge Bugle: September 26

Marriage Announcements:

Joshua Sunderman of Peru, Illinois to Rachel Wainwright of Woodridge, Illinois

Jeremy Edwards of Frankfort, Illinois to Sarah Sunderman of Woodridge, Illinois

Alex Sunderman of Woodridge, Illinois, to Maria Ochoa, of Chicago, Illinois

Yasna Marafi, of Chicago, Illinois, to Althea Carpenter, of Chicago, Illinois

The End