Inhuman Bound Ch. 01

The almost-sound of a pressure change said they might not have a choice, or they might not have someone to tell. Had he been summoned out? "If he's still out there I don't have a problem with it. He's kind of my medical proxy until dawn."

"You can't have a demon as a medical proxy!" The witch from earlier exploded. I jumped then groaned at the spike of pain through my everything.

"He isn't a demon," I muttered. I couldn't speak any louder around the pain in my abdomen.

"Everything out of hell is a demon. Just because you can summon it doesn't mean you should."

"Okay!" The loud nurse was back. I was liking her more and more, and might fall in love if she could keep the witch silent. "We need to move her onto the machine, and if you're going to sit here and argue theology with a badly injured patient I will recommend you be reassigned out of emergency. On three, people."

Moving was a whole new level of pain, and my vision swam, but I didn't pass out. Yay me. It couldn't be too bad if I was making jokes in my head, right? Don't answer that. The MRI was loud. The CT not so much. They didn't bother with x-rays, or maybe that was built into one of the other machines. I didn't know.

When they were done, the man who had talked to Astaroth went out into the hall while the rest huddled around the screens and looked at parts of me not meant to be seen. The nurse came back and said, "There are two of them. They want to be let in."

"You okay with that, summoner?" The loud nurse asked. "Do you know the second one?"

"Won't know til I see him," I croaked. My abdomen really hurt, and it was painful to push enough air through my throat to be heard. "Let them in. They can't do much worse to me."

"They are denizens of hell. Worse is what they dream of," the witch snarked. Maybe Astaroth could bring his horse back.

A few seconds later Astaroth appeared at my side with a tall gray-haired man and I actually tried to smile. "Leander. It's been a while. How's the swamp?"

"Safer than a horse pasture, Ms. Newmann." His voice was like silk, but without the character of Astaroth's.

I made a noise I hope sounded disdainful, but probably didn't. "If I'm dying tonight, you can call me Lacey. Astaroth won't mind."

"You're not dying tonight. Astaroth called in a favor. May I touch you?"

"Mm. Long's it feels good." I had no idea what was in the IV, but I felt great.

"Nurse," Astaroth called. "What is she on?" She rattled off a list of things that seemed to make sense to him, and he asked, "Stop the pain meds. Mr. Kol is going to heal her."

"Sir, all due respect but we've got a team prepping OR right now."

"Call them off and stop the pain meds." He looked at her with a blank face, those red eyes blazing, and even I wanted to call the OR and make them stop whatever they were doing.

Then I felt Leander's hand on my stomach and I groaned. He was gentle, hardly any pressure, but it still hurt like a son of a bitch. Something was very wrong inside me. Then I was warm. So warm and comfy and oh my stars the catheter was fucking horrible!

"Take everything off of her!" Astaroth snapped.

"This is impossible," the nurses were muttering and moving around Leander, who still had his hand on my stomach. I felt the pinch of the IV being taken out, the uncomfortable tug of the catheter being removed followed by the immediate urge to pee because my body hated me. Slowly, the tape and machines left me, except the one hooked to a heart monitor.

Then Leander moved back and the nurses swarmed over me, looking at what had probably been a magnificent bruise. "Seems the demons are better than the witches," one nurse muttered with a small chuckle.

"Neither of them are demons," I said again. Then I moved to sit up and everyone lost their shit.

"I need to get back where you found me," Leander said. "Lacey, a pleasure as always." Astaroth snapped his fingers and Leander disappeared.

"If they're so great, why didn't he heal her himself?" The witch asked, gearing up to jump on his self-righteous soapbox again.

"She had six cracked vertebrae," Astaroth said, "and her spinal cord was crushed in two places with fluid leaking. I healed that and the cracks in her pelvis, and the artery the sorcerer cut in her leg. I needed some help with the lighter things."

"We saw the spinal damage on the CT scan," the loud nurse said. "She's going to have some headaches for a while, and if anything becomes painful in her back she needs to come right back here."

"We saw old injuries," the witch scoffed and my favorite nurse in the world spun on him and put a finger in his face.

"Spinal injuries that should have left her a quadriplegic operating a bed with a voice controller if it didn't kill her. The cervical injury alone should have killed her. A severed spinal cord should have killed her. He healed her. All you've done is spew racist propoganda."

"That is a demon!" The witch shrieked. I sat on the bed and just watched, then patted the spot next to me for Astaroth and leaned against him when he joined me. "What has it cost us all to even have him here?"

"It has cost you nothing," Astaroth said. "I am not a demon. I am Astaroth. I am Punishment. I am older than this planet and even your puny gods need punishing, little witch. The man who healed her is only slightly younger than I am, and I dare you to ask him what he is. I do hope you don't run afoul of him. I've been told even inhumans are crunchy and taste good with ketchup."

"He prefers Chick Fil A sauce," I whispered. One of the nurses heard me and giggled.

"How do you punish a god?" One of them asked, but when Astaroth looked at her she just held up her hands. "I don't want to know that badly."

"Like any child," Astaroth said. "You take their toys away."

"Come on, miss," the loud nurse said, holding a hand out to me. "Let's see if we can get you a ride home. Sir, please don't bring the horse back."

Astaroth's eyes glazed for a second then he smiled, "He's preoccupied with a nice little filly."

"He better be a gentleman," I muttered, but the nurse only laughed.

"I'd give almost anything to have you around more, sir," she held out her hand. After only a second of hesitation she probably didn't notice, he took it. "Not my soul, but if I could see more patients come in as bad as her and walk out of here it sure would be nice."

"We might be able to work something out later," he said, but he was looking at me when he said it. The only way he'd be able to do anything like heal people at a hospital would be if I agreed to the bond with him. "Right now I'm a little restricted, and wouldn't want to be summoned out in the middle of healing someone."

"You should know his healing feels like a punishment," I said.

"Honey," the nurse raised her eyebrows, "I have paralytic patients come through who would weep to feel pain because it meant they could feel again. If he says we can work something out I might need to jump on that."

I wound up giving her my number and telling her to text me with her info, then Astaroth snapped his fingers and we were in my bedroom. It was nearly dawn, and I was covered in God only knew what. I didn't care. I stripped and went for the shower and didn't kick him out when he followed me. After having a sorcerer break into my house and kidnap me, having him close seemed like a good idea.

I got clean and he held me against his chest in the shower. "I'm sorry I summoned you like that," I said. "I know it hurts."

"I'm glad you did, even if it was a shock," he said. "I know what I told you about summoning me, but if you're ever in need and can get the words out, don't even hesitate. Let's get you in bed while I'm still able to be on this side. I can already feel Tom and Jerry outside. I used Leander's phone to let them know what happened, so text them when I leave."

I toweled off and didn't even worry about my hair. I would regret it when I woke up, but I didn't want him to leave. He disappeared after I kissed him. I texted the guys to let them know I was home, and to tell Firecracker. As weird as doing that was, I was just glad they'd do it without too much razzing. Then I fell asleep.

===

I woke feeling the bed shift, and tensed until I opened my eyes and saw the faint red glow of Astaroth's eyes hovering over the pillow. "How do you feel?"

"Like death warmed up," I croaked. I rolled out of bed and used the bathroom, and vaguely remembered either Tom or Jerry being here at one point making me eat before letting me sleep again. I crawled back into bed and snuggled right up to Astaroth. It took me a solid five minutes to notice he was as naked as I was. "I'm not up for sex right now."

"I was just matching the apparent dress code," he said. "Just let me hold you, please?"

"Okay. But rub my back." I curled against his chest, my arm around his waist. His fingers moved over my skin and I sighed. "Did you mean what you told the nurse? That you would help them heal people?"

He was silent for a while, but his hands kept moving over my back. I had little twinges and figured he was healing small things. I ran my fingers down his side to his hip and back up. Maybe I just hadn't paid attention, but he was built like a swimmer. Hard muscles, but lean and not body builder style at all. "It would mean I'd have to be here permanently, Lacey. I really can't do much if I have a chance of being summoned. Doing things for free also goes against my religion."

"You don't have a religion," I poked him. "And not for free. They'd have to pay you for the service and respect your limits, same as they do for the witches on staff."

"Ah, so they would run me dry at the hospital and then I'd have to come home and muck stalls," he teased.

"Home, huh?"

"Home is where my horse's girlfriend is." His fingers moved down my spine to trace the line of my ass, making me squirm. "When I get pulled back at dawn it feels like I'm leaving home and going to work. Then I get called back out and it's like business hours are over and I can go home. I would love for this to be my home, but I'm not going to push you about it." His hand came up and tilted my face up so he could kiss me. "Go back to sleep."

It was as if I had just closed my eyes and I was awake again. Astaroth was still there, laying half on top of me with his head on the pillow next to mine. His breath was hot against my neck when he breathed, "Shhh."

Then I heard it. Footsteps in the other room. I couldn't have been out that long, and it was still plenty dark outside. I turned my face until my cheek was against his so he could feel me nodding that I'd heard him. He was calm, but my heart was racing. I kept my hands to the side, pushed under the pillow and moved my feet away from his legs, trying to make sure he was clear to move.

"Man, the books gotta be here somewhere," a man said from the living room. "He said she's been sending spells in regular, and they were good but kept getting rejected. We could make some money off her books."

Astaroth sighed and sat up on his knees, pulling the sheet around so I was covered and then walked to the door and opened it. Two voices on the other side started cursing, and one shined a flashlight at him. "Who the fuck are you?"

"He's the demon!" I recognized the voice of the witch from the hospital, then saw the silhouette of Astaroth raise his hand.

"You should have just gone home, little witch," he rasped, and snapped his fingers. Nothing exploded, but the near silent pop of the pressure change said he'd sent them somewhere. Even the flashlights were gone.

"Where did you send them?" I asked as I sat up. I was awake now.

"Arches National Park in Utah." He got back in bed. "It's popular this time of year for camping. They shouldn't die of exposure."

"They know your name, Astaroth."

"And they are witches, not summoners. I'm already on this side of the veil and anybody strong enough to summon me away from you right now is going to wish they'd called someone else." He grumbled as he lay back down. "I was comfortable, too."

"Then get comfortable again." His red eyes hovered above the pillow for a second before he moved closer.

"Lacey."

"Astaroth," I mimicked him. I wiggled until I was halfway under him again and then kissed his neck. "All I could think when that sorcerer came into the house was that I was about to die because I live out here alone and don't have any offensive spells that I can sling on a whim. Hanging in that tree my only thoughts were not drawing attention to myself so I could summon you, even knowing you'd told me the next time I pulled you across the veil you wouldn't be nice about it."

"I fed that man to my horse," he said. "I'd say I kept that promise."

"He probably gave your horse the shits."

Astaroth laughed and buried his face against my neck. Then I moved out from under him enough to get on my knees on the bed and pull something from a small basket on the shelf. He sat up and grabbed my hand, saw the little bottle of lube, and groaned. "There's no going back on this, Lacey. No changing your mind. We both have to finish, and for it to be balanced we need to be as close together as possible. You're tired, and still recovering from massive blood loss. I can wait until you're ready."

"I want to wake up next to you in the morning," I said. "I don't want another night at the hospital where I regret not giving in to something I've wanted for a while anyway." I reached out and touched him, pressing my hand over his chest where I could feel his heart racing. "Besides, if this doesn't work out I still have your horse's girlfriend."

He surged across the bed and crashed into me, carrying us both to the wall as he claimed my mouth. I held him to me with my hands in his hair, wrapping my legs around his waist. But if he was too tall for missionary, then a wall crawl wasn't going to work either. It did wonders for getting us both going, though. I slid one hand down to stroke him and gasped, breaking the kiss to look down at him. It wasn't that he was massive or anything, and he wasn't small, but along the length he had ridges that I could only imagine were going to feel amazing.

"I can make them go away." His lips moved down my neck to my shoulder, where he nibbled along my collarbone. "Or make them larger."

I squeezed him gently and stroked down to the base of him, "I thought for a minute you were messing with me and had gotten hold of one of my toys."

He moaned and pressed me harder against the wall. "I want to see your toys later."

"I don't think I have a condom that will work for you," I said.

"We don't need one," he said, but his hand that had been moving down my belly stopped. "I mean that, Lacey. We aren't compatible in that way. You can't catch anything from me, and I can't get you pregnant. But if you want to use one, I can get rid of the ridges. It doesn't mess with the spell."

I let go of him slowly, trailing my fingers over the broad texture, then moved my hand low on my belly just above the pubic bone and whispered a few nonsense words for a contraception spell. I felt it take hold and then kissed him again, "Keep the ridges."

He growled and pulled me away from the wall and back down to the bed, where he took charge. "I want this to be good for you. Tell me what you like."

I didn't tell him, I showed him. I rolled so my back was to him and hooked my leg over his hip only long enough for him to get in position and start pushing into me. Then I clenched my thighs together and pulled my knees up and almost immediately he was on my g-spot. I reached back to find his hip and I could feel the power in his body as he worked his way into me. It wasn't a deep angle, or one meant for a fast pace, but with those ridges I wasn't going to last long. "Just like that." Then he shifted behind me and filled me, and it was as if every ridge got bigger the deeper he went. "Oh fuck, Astaroth."

"Tell me when you're close, Lacey." He pulled out, dragging every delicious bump over and out of me, then shoved in again. I was in heaven as the pressure built and built not with every thrust, but with every time he hit my g-spot along the way.

I had to let go of him so I could claw at the mattress. My body was starting to turn to liquid, but I didn't want to come yet. I couldn't even get myself off from penetration alone, but this was working. My body tightened around him for a second, making him have to fight to keep moving. "Close. Oh fuck that feels good."

My whole body shook and convulsed around him and I barely registered his body locking into mine as he whispered something I couldn't make out. So deep, so impossibly fucking deep, and the orgasm grew and changed until I could feel his pleasure wrapped with mine.

Then his arms moved up to my shoulders, raking through the marks and then surrounding me as he continued to pump into me. The odd pleasure of him toying with the marks brought me again, and I felt him go again. Then the feeling of the marks was gone, replaced by the mild burning sensation of a new mark. His arms loosened from around me, one hand moving down to my hip to ease me away from him but only enough that he spilled out against the back of my thighs before he pulled me back to him.

I snuggled down enough that his arm was my pillow and sighed, deeply content. "Tell me we can do that again."

He laughed and squeezed my hip, "It won't be exactly the same because the spell can only be done once. But I hope we can do that a lot."

"If it was the same all the time it would be boring," I mumbled. "Your cock is amazing. I'll keep you around a while longer."

"I've always wanted a woman to objectify me," I could feel him smiling against my neck.

"Not you, just the dick." I rolled around to face him and pulled his face to mine for a long slow kiss. "My toys are going to get real dusty."

He didn't answer, just kissed me until my brain came out my ears. We cuddled for a while, but then I noticed it was getting close to sunrise and he was starting to doze off. I patted his chest and then rolled out of bed to go to the bathroom and pull on panties and a light dress.

"Get up, Astaroth," I hissed.

"I don't wanna," he whined, and rolled the hell over.

"Then I'll go watch the sunrise without you."

That got him up and snapping his fingers to get into some clothes. I grabbed a picnic blanket thing from beside the back door and pulled him along until we reached a spot with a clear view to the east. He sat down and pulled me in against him just in time for the first rays of true dawn to spark along the sky, but I didn't watch the sky brightening.

I watched his face. The look of awe and wonder as his jaw dropped and his eyes glowed with the first rays of sun took him from handsome to breathtaking. His hand was a crushing grip over mine as though he didn't really believe he wouldn't get shunted back across the veil. Then he relaxed all at once.

"Thank you," his voice was thick with the tears I don't think he even noticed on his cheeks. I think he was talking to the sun when he said, "It's been too long."

And I'd be damned if the sun didn't shine a little brighter.