Love is Hell Ch. 01

A growl began to rumble low in his throat and he increased his pace. If she thought his thrusts were powerful before, now they were absolutely thunderous. She bounced off the bed with each impact. Each and every time, without fail, he slammed back into her before she could complete her fall and drove her back into the bed. Her entire body was a raging inferno and she had gathered more power than any of her kind had ever dreamed possible from a single human... and he still lived! The newfound intensity mauled her senses and dragged her conscious mind back from the clouds of bliss on which it floated, kicking and screaming. She felt his reserves finally at their limit, this would be his last time. Never had she dreamed she would feel relief in such circumstances but this human, if he could even be called that after this display, left her with just such a feeling as she sensed his impending release.

The growl got louder and his hips narrowed their stroke to almost a twitch. They became a blur the moment the head of his cock rested against that legendary patch of textured flesh lovingly searched for, but often mistreated and left unfulfilled. Poor Cerina went rigid and barely managed to speak one last time before her voice left her again.

"Raiden!" she cried.

The growl had grown into a gasping roar. Cerina writhed beneath him, the sensations were too much. Her body now moved of its own accord, her eyes could do nothing but lock themselves back in their sockets.

This human was phenomenal, but she couldn't lose focus now, she had to hold it together a little longer. Cerina drew a tiny bit from the boundless reserves of power she now possessed and revitalized herself. Her screams died suddenly as a light flared in her violet eyes. Before Raiden could react, she had slipped loose on an upstroke, rolled upright beneath him and flipped herself atop him. Black wings sprouted from her back as she rode him, horns appeared atop her head, and the blunt tip of a pointed tail tickled his side. She leaned over and whispered to the darling man who had given her so much.

"I am so sorry, Daddy, but Mama needs to be on top for this part."

Cerina bounced, slamming her hips down on his as hard as she could. She used her inner muscles to make her walls ripple and tug at his cock on every upstroke. She had been given so much tonight, she was going to make sure this was the night of his life as well.

Yet again, she underestimated the man. Before she could sit up, his arms wrapped around her and he pounded up and into her with impossible ferocity. Her arms were pinned at her sides in his embrace. Her wings went stiff behind her and her body shuddered and convulsed all over again. Before she could worry, however, Raiden roared in her ear and she felt him swell and pulse inside her. The warm flood bloomed within her and for a moment, she went limp against his body.

Her cervix dilated so that she felt every last pulse of his seed directly into her womb as the channel between the two of them became a raging river that flooded her senses in a tsunami of raw power. The dam within him had broken and the sensations it brought were almost unbearable. He couldn't be human, no mortal man could store or even gather such vast stores of power. A light flared deep within her soul, a burning heat that seared into her core. Something was happening, something inside her was changing and she was helpless to stop it. She wasn't even sure if she would stop it if she could. Her body still immobilized in his grip, her head popped up and Cerina screamed out one last time. It was a pained, passionate wail of bliss, adoration, and total submission. She was a creature born of and for pleasure, and this human had shown her more than she had ever known in her long millenia. She shook hard and quivered around him, her strength gone from her as she barely managed to let her head come to rest without falling, against the human who had utterly devastated her so beautifully. Her last sensations were of his hands as they gently slid from her body when he, too, succumbed to the exhaustion and exertion of the night.

*********

Raiden awoke the next morning to the sound of his ringing phone, and the feel of a rather tall and very warm, dark-skinned woman laid atop him. He knew instinctively who it was, yet he could not help but wonder how they made it to the bedroom. His last memory was of their conversation on the patio. He even remembered suggesting that they take things inside and have dinner, but after that... nothing.

The phone rang again to let him know that the caller had not yet hung up, and he slid the pair of them over enough to allow him to grab it from the nightstand. It was Arawn, and it was most certainly not morning. The clock on his phone read 2:45 PM in bright white letters.

"Shit, I'm glad it's Saturday," Raiden muttered and pressed the answer icon on his screen. "Yes Rawn, what can I do for you this fine afternoon? You're on the patio right now? Shit, man, can you just leave it? Yeah, I'm kinda busy at the moment. I met someone yesterday at the park and well, she's still here... Rawn, we just met. I'm not dragging her downstairs to meet you when she's half asleep. Yes, she's sleeping. So was I until you called. Dude, don't go there... you know I just got rid of Lanii. Rawn...," Ray sighed, "fine, give me five minutes and I'll be down."

Raiden didn't give his friend time to respond, he just hung up and looked up to find Cerina smiling at him, eyes full of mirth.

"Umm, how much of that did you actually hear?"

She laughed and gave him a slow, loving kiss, "All of it. The ringer woke me, too."

Raiden groaned and palmed his face, "Great. I can see we have plenty to talk about. You probably think I'm some kind of a player."

Cerina kissed him again and shook her head, "Not at all. I never got that vibe from you."

"Thank...", Raiden was interrupted by the doorbell, this time.

"Jesus, that man has the patience of a fucking squirrel. Let me get dressed and go down there real quick before he pisses himself with excitement."

Cerina laughed again and rolled off his side. Raiden hopped up and grabbed a pair of sweats and a robe from the back of his bathroom door, then rushed downstairs while dressing at the same time.

*********

He nearly fell twice, but he made it to the door without killing himself and managed to finish dressing himself as well. When he opened the door, Arawn had already driven off. Shortly after his car vanished around a corner, another one passed by. It was a car Raiden knew well... Lanii. Raiden palmed his face and found himself standing in the middle of his patio. He had wandered out the door on autopilot before he saw Lanii's car, which had stopped him abruptly in his tracks. When he shook his head and turned around, he saw the apparent reason for his friend's visit. He had left a fancy humidor on the patio sofa with a note taped to the top. Ray strode over and removed the note.

~ Ray,

I figure you passed back out again. After what I heard last night when I tried to drop these off the first time, I'm not surprised. Did you two let anyone on the block get any sleep? You don't ever work fast, brother, so there has got to be a story there. Anyway, I'm leaving these here for you and your lady-friend to enjoy; more of what I gave you yesterday. I'd be amazed if you've even finished the one I gave you yesterday. These should last you nearly a year, ya lightweight. Peace!

Rawn~

"Someone leave us a gift?"

"Jesus," Ray shouted as he spun to face Cerina. He hadn't even noticed her in the doorway. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to see your face go sour after someone followed your friend down the block. What was that about?"

Raiden picked up the humidor and walked to the door.

"Let's talk inside. There's some things you should know in case you decide you want to stick around. You or no-you, I've got some trouble coming from her in the near future. I can feel it."

*********

Half an hour later, the two of them sat at Ray's dinner table and enjoyed a nice New York Strip over a bed of rice, with steamed carrots and broccoli. While he cooked, Raiden filled Cerina in on the history between himself and Lanii Chen. He had just finished explaining everything when they sat down to eat. He had expected her to comment already, but she had remained silent the entire time and merely listened. Instead, she took a bite of the steak and closed her eyes.

"Mmmm, that's delicious. You know your way around a kitchen. I don't think I have ever had a pan-fried steak that tasted like it came off the grill. If you had told me before you cooked, I'd have called you a liar."

Ray laughed, "Thanks, but I can't take the credit. The marinade did most of the work, the cast-iron took care of the rest. All I had to do was make sure it didn't overcook."

"You're too humble", she told him after taking a bite of the vegetables. "So, let me get this straight: Your girlfriend of ten years, with whom you had just split yesterday morning under the watch of a sheriff's deputy, moved out. The sheriff did so because of a protection order, which you only got because of home security footage?"

He nodded and let her continue.

"I've seen some real bitches in my day, so I'm not surprised. What I'm having trouble wrapping my head around is the mental image of a five-two, ninety-pound spinner running roughshod over you for three years. You're built like Chris Hemsworth, for crying out loud... and you're an inch taller!"

Raiden snorted a laugh, "Yeah, well, I have problems with hitting women, and with men who do. I also never said that I wasn't tempted..."

She hadn't expected such a quick response, and had taken another bite of steak. Cerina had to grab her napkin and cover her mouth when she choked on her surprised laugh.

"What you have, Raiden Bane, is the patience of a saint. I don't know many men who wouldn't have at least slapped her," she managed after the coughing subsided.

"You probably don't know many men who've beaten their father to death with their bare hands in his front yard for molesting him and his sister either," he countered with a wry smirk.

"Touche. Either way, it wasn't an insult. I'm impressed, honey. And I'm damn glad that I decided to talk to you last night. You won't have to worry about any of that shit from me. It's more fun for me to take care of my man and work with him instead of against."

Raiden noticed her choice of words... her man, but decided against mentioning it. He also noted that she chose not to comment on his revelation. The conversation descended into small talk after that, and they swapped stories about growing up in Detroit. Raiden noted that her stories made no mention of early childhood, she spoke as though she grew up here, but none of her stories were from before the age of eighteen. He held his tongue. His memory of the night before had not yet returned.

When they finished their meal, Cerina hopped up before Ray could even move, and gathered up the dishes. He tried to protest, but she cut him off.

"Not a word. When a man cooks a glorious meal like this for me, I am not going to sit on my ass and watch him clean up. You just relax and I'll take care of this."

And so he did. Instead, he got up and retrieved the barely-smoked blunt that Arawn had brought him the day before, a lighter, and one of the only two ashtrays he owned... both glass and branded from the dispensary that gifted them to him on various holidays along with enough rolling trays over the years to start his own store with. Ray had taken a few hits and put it back out by the time she finished and rejoined him at the table.

"All done...Oooh! Is that one of those new cannapedoes I saw at the dispo last week? Which one did you go to?"

Ray passed the blunt to her and shook his head, "I don't. My friend makes them. He's got a few licensed greenhouses here in the city... Winter's Wonders Farms. I tried to tell him it was cheesy, but he has had this whole hippy vibe going on ever since he hit his 30's and ran out of fucks to give. I couldn't talk him out of it."

She exhaled and chuckled when he finished.

"I saw the marketing materials... catchy, if a little silly."

"That's Rawn. He's actually an angry sonofabitch inside, with good reason, but you wouldn't know it if you met him on the street. He... he started locking his anger up years ago when it almost got out of hand on a jobsite due to a guy who came to work drugged out of his skull and nearly killed someone else. We had to drag him away before he attacked the guy. After that, he turned into a comedian almost overnight. His mask is good, but his friends know his tells. The only thing that has saved him since his mom was killed is the fact that he is a good man who rules his temper with an iron fist. Our only worry about him slipping off the deep end is whether he'll become Batman or the Punisher. Together, the four of us and Uncle Kieran control a little under a quarter billion dollars in real estate and the construction business, so it could feasibly go either way. The weed farm is all his, so whatever he makes from that would just be extra for the new hobby."

Cerina had taken a long puff while he talked and she listened, then she handed the blunt back to him.

"Holy shit. That's intense."

Ray chuckled and took a hit, "Yeah, that's Arawn alright."

When he passed it back to her, he noted that they had barely smoked half the thing at that point. How Arawn had managed to smoke nearly a whole one as fast as he did yesterday...

"So, I'm curious about something. Last night... aside from fucking the two of us into unconsciousness, what exactly did you do to me, Ray?"

His eyebrows went up in surprise and he barely exhaled in time to avoid getting choked on his smoke.

"Well, I have to admit that I didn't exactly see that question coming. I was about to ask you the same thing. I can't recall anything after I invited you in."

Cerina lowered her head and rubbed her temples in exasperation.

"How is it that you managed to use magick that no one has seen in ten thousand years, and have no memory of the event? Especially an event like last night... I couldn't forget it if I tried."

Raiden winced a bit and shrugged, "Dumb luck?"

She growled in irritation and stood up. The chair was shoved onto its back in the process.

"Does this look like dumb fucking luck to you?"

His face momentarily registered surprise instead of shock as she stood before him in her born form, then it relaxed into something akin to resignation as his memories from the night before came flooding back. Then he started laughing like a madman. Cerina, on the other hand, was not entertained at all.

"What the hell is so funny? Why aren't you terrified?"

That just made him laugh even harder. Cerina had gone from angry to confused. What was going on here and just what had she gotten herself into?

Meanwhile, Raiden was a wheezing mess who barely maintained his seat by holding onto the edge of the table for dear life. When he had gotten himself mostly under control and suffered only the occasional chuckle, he tried to speak.

"To answer your last question first, I'm not afraid of a succubus because I figured out a long time ago that only my natural end will take me... courtesy of Mickey, who's standing behind you."

Cerina turned to find herself two feet away from the freestanding shadow of a man in a fedora. A wispy hand reached up and tipped the hat like a gentleman. Cerina screamed and dove into Ray's lap, clinging to him like a child.

"That's a Djinn," she whimpered as she buried her face in his neck.

Ray nodded slowly, "That's good to know. We've only ever called him Mickey, or just referred to him as one of the shadow people. He's been around since birth for all four of us. I had suspicions, I mean... I have Arab friends but getting them to talk about shadows and monsters is like coaxing someone into getting a root canal on a pristine tooth. Thing is, the legends paint them in two ways: they're either all evil, or they choose their own path like we do. I think Mickey proves that the latter is true, he has killed before to protect one of us."

Cerina lifted her face from Ray's neck, but still wouldn't look back to where the creature had stood. Instead, she looked into Raiden's eyes.

"Oh? When?"

Ray smiled and kissed her forehead out of pure instinct, the moment was just that compelling.

"When Ethan was a kid. See, Rawn and I killed our fathers for similar reasons. Rawn killed his dad, trying to protect his mother... who died later from the injuries she'd already received before he intervened. I've already told you what I did, just not what triggered it. My dad corrupted my little sister, taught her to like it and twisted her head inside. I never knew because I took the abuse after he'd promised to leave her alone if I didn't fight.

"Everything came to a head the night I moved out. Rawn was over, helping me get my things. My sister came out of the house with the usual shit talking, claiming that I was abandoning the family that would love me if I'd just stop causing so much trouble. She loved "papa" and so should I. That's when I knew what had been going on. He never used that word outside of his activities with me, it was his secret name."

At that point, Cerina interrupted him with a tight hug. Her wings cocooned around them and he found the sensation strangely comforting.

Gently, he continued, "That broke me. I'm pretty sure I didn't have another conscious thought until Rawn was pulling me off his corpse. I remember it all... now, but it took years for the memories to return. It was brutal, because I had been in martial arts training for years. My father thought it would build discipline. It did, just not the kind that he envisioned. Rawn helped me through it all, though. Our fathers were friends, so we've been friends since diapers and I was there for him when he had to kill his own father years earlier. He knew what it was like."

He returned her hug until she released him and sat back up to listen.

"I think the reason Mickey never intervened for us is because we did so ourselves, before it became necessary for him to get involved. See, Ethan and Michael's parents were taken from them by circumstances outside anyone's control. My parents, and Arawn's father in his case, were the problem. Michael only survived the car accident that killed his folks because Mickey got him out of the car immediately after the accident. He might have saved his parents, too, they were good people... but the car exploded before he could even put Michael down. The only thing the witnesses reported was seeing a shadowy man in a fedora take a boy out of the car before it blew up.

"Ethan's story is just tragic, and he's the one Mickey killed to protect. Ethan's parents were murdered by a serial killer. The guy had killed at least twelve people, and the cops had kept the media from reporting on it at all, by some miracle of legal mutation and no one had a clue. The asshole visited Ethan's house. He butchered his parents, then came for Ethan. Mickey didn't let that happen. They found Ethan in bed the next morning, covered in piss, shit, and the stench of fear. The asshole lay dead at the foot of the bed without a mark on him, dead from an explosive heart attack. He died terrified of something, his hair had gone stark white. They apparently found out later that he naturally had dark hair."

Ray kissed her cheek and nodded toward Mickey, "So, that's why I wasn't worried. At this point in my life, I'm used to this shit. If you'll stand up, I'll answer your other question."

Cerina did as he asked and he stood up as well, then took a few steps back.

"When you said something about ten thousand year old magick, everything started to make sense in ways you couldn't have intended without knowing me before yesterday."