Mortal Emotion Ch. 03

Erotic Content

Brief Masturbation

The room fell silent. Eli took several slow breaths, following them up with a long gulp that drained the rest of his coffee from the mug. Cold coffee wasn't his preference, but with how thirsty he still was, he couldn't complain.

Eli's eyes constantly flitted back to the door. Did he expect it to open and allow Bree to come walking back through with a smile? Truthfully, no, he didn't. Did he want it to?

Eli was surprised at himself, because an ache in his chest said yes.

All of it was so strange- a succubus appears in his room, tries to seduce him, gets shut down, shows her true nature, and then kisses him for nine hours in a way that could have killed him.

And yet, something yearned to see the door open and let the cute, pink-skinned, hoodie-wearing demon girl back into his life.

Eli's thoughts were cut off by the pangs of hunger clawing through his stomach. Shaking his head back to reality, Eli stood up off the couch on shaky legs and immediately felt the mixture of strange textures emerging from the crotch of his pajama pants. Right, he had come multiple times while they were kissing.

Cheeks red with embarrassment, despite Bree having apparently not noticed or cared, Eli could feel an amalgamation of crusty, dried cum, and some that was still sticky and wet. All of it made an uncomfortable mess that only accentuated the dull ache in his testicles becoming more present. Now that the immediate distraction of the succubus was gone, Eli was more aware of the growing discomfort in his genitals. Much like when he would relieve himself multiple times in quick succession, there was a present, throbbing emptiness as if to signify that his reserves were depleted. However, this time there was no pain in the skin of his cock from extended masturbation, it was only the feeling of having no cum left to give.

Eli's stomach growled viciously, and he winced. Shower first, then breakfast- or lunch, rather, since it was noon.

Despite the morning's activities, Eli still somehow managed to hold an erection as he recalled his awakening. With the warm water of the shower running down his shoulders, his mind did not wander far. Both the impossibly attractive, tall, red-skinned demon and the cute, pink-skinned girl danced through Eli's thoughts, coaxing Eli's member to stand upright. It twitched under the hot water, but otherwise did not feel any different. Normally, after a particularly taxing masturbation session, Eli's cock would become extremely sensitive, almost to the point of pain. Right now, Eli grasped hold of himself and gave a few test strokes to the result of growing pleasure.

It made sense, Eli thought. Yes, he did cum an indeterminate amount of times, but as far as he knew, there was no actual stimulation of his cock. Until now, since Eli took a firm grip and slowly started masturbating. Using the warm water as lubricant, Eli lost himself in the images that flashed through his mind as he stroked himself closer and closer to completion.

When he finally crossed that line, he was ultimately surprised that he still felt a sensation of pleasure. Even more surprising was the single small rope of semen that managed to squeeze out of the tip and drop to the floor. With how much he apparently came before, Eli was sure that he wouldn't be able to properly cum for a week.

Eli grunted with his release and stood there for several moments, panting. As he reached for the knob to turn off the shower, there was a muffled knock on the front door to the apartment. He wasn't expecting anyone, right? It was Sunday, but any attempts to rack his brain came up empty. Was it Bree? Eli had a hard time imagining why the demon girl would be knocking at his front door just a few minutes after leaving, especially since she could apparently just open a doorway to Hell (literally). Still, the thought of even a possibility spurred Eli into motion, swiftly turning off the shower and stepping out to grab a towel.

"Just a minute!" Eli called out into the hall, quickly dragging the towel across his unimpressive upper body. He wasn't muscular, nor was he fat, but he also wasn't a stick figure. 'Average' was the single best possible word to describe him. His stomach was just slightly rounded with the beginnings of a gut, but not enough for anyone to notice but him, and his pale chest was flecked with only a few dark hairs. Eli grunted and looked at his clothes on the bathroom floor- the shirt was fine, but the pants definitely needed to be washed. Eli wrapped the towel around his waist and secured it, then pulled on the black shirt to at least provide a little bit more modesty. As he did, Eli couldn't help but smell the faint scent of citrus clinging to the fabric. Shaking his head to clear it, Eli stepped out and walked over to the front door before opening it. Eli wasn't sure what to expect. He wanted it to be Bree, but didn't actually think it would be. Still, that didn't prepare him for the sight of Anna, his neighbour.

She was roughly the same height he was, albeit with a slightly larger build. She wasn't fat, or even 'heavy' for that matter, but she had curves as gentle as her personality. She was dressed in a very simple getup- pale blue jeans and a light grey sweater, complete with her black sneakers. Her medium-length black hair was untied, draping down behind her ears and reaching a few inches past her shoulders, although a single strand dangled past her soft brown eyes. Other than a small scratch that barely crossed over one of her eyebrows, her light brown skin was unmarred and proudly showed off her native heritage. That, and the string of three small wooden beads around her neck painted different colours- black, white, and brown. It was the necklace she always wore, which obviously held some sort of significance to her, but Eli was never quite able to figure out what.

Anna was boasting a smile when Eli opened the door, but cocked an eyebrow as she looked down at the towel wrapped around his waist, then back up to his wet hair. Her smile melted back into an awkward frown.

"Uhh, sorry for interrupting your shower."

Eli cleared his throat. "It's no big deal, I was already getting out anyway. What's up?"

Anna's smile returned partly. "I was wondering if I could potentially ask a favour- if you're not busy, of course. You can absolutely say no if you want, and I do have other methods of doing what I need to do, but I was just hoping to maybe save a bit of money-"

"Sure." Eli cut Anna off with a small grin. "Whaddya need?"

Anna's face lit up. "Thank you! I was hoping you could give me a ride to the church, we're hosting an easter dinner and I'm supposed to help set up. Like I said before, I could just call an uber, but I was hoping I could maybe get a ride from you to save a few bucks. Only if you want to, you absolutely don't have to-"

"Anna!" Eli cut off the rambling girl with a wide smile, and the grumbling of his stomach. "I already said yes! Just give me a few minutes to get dressed, and we'll head out."

Anna opened her mouth to speak, but Eli chuckled. "Yes, you can wait here. The couch is just over there."

Anna smiled, gave a grateful nod, and slipped into the room as Eli backed away. As she carefully slipped off her shoes and walked over to the small couch, Eli began making his way down the short hallway. "Be right back."

Eli almost had to bite his lip to stop from laughing at the irony of the situation as he closed the bedroom door behind him. He just spent the entire morning making out with a demon, and now his christian neighbour was asking him for a ride to church. Other than a quick search to find his keys, wallet and phone still hidden in the pocket of his work pants, Eli didn't waste any time getting ready. He used his towel to finish drying off his hair as best he could, then got dressed in a pair of clean-enough beige cargo shorts and socks. Returning to the main room, he could see Anna was in the tiny kitchen, applying margarine to some toast and singing softly to herself. She had a nice voice, Eli couldn't deny. Definitely not a pop star, but it was light and sweet, delicate like a baby bird. Eli cleared his throat, and Anna swivelled around with a look of surprise.

"I heard your stomach growling earlier, so I figured I would try and make something since you were occupied."

Eli walked forward, and Anna offered the one slice she had finished buttering. Eli bit into it, and Anna once again started rambling.

"I know it's not a lot, but it was the only thing I could find here that would be quick to make and didn't need any dishes. I didn't want to make eggs or anything and give you a dirty pan to clean later-"

Eli had to cut her off once more, this time by resting a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into his eyes.

"It's fine, Anna. Thank you."

Her smile brought warmth into Eli's chest. She finished buttering the other slice and passed it into Eli's open hand before putting the margarine back into the fridge, closing up the bag of bread, and even washing the knife in the sink quickly as Eli ate. It wasn't long before the two of them put on their shoes, had a relatively silent elevator ride downstairs, walked across the building's parking lot, and were seated in Eli's used, black Honda Civic as it pulled out onto the street.

"Thank you again for this, Eli." Anna brushed a lock of hair behind her ear with a sincere smile.

"No problem. I'll always help out a friend. Plus, it's not like I had any plans today anyway, so this gives me a reason to get out of the apartment."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "You don't have plans? Like, any at all?"

"Nope."

"But it's easter!" Anna chirped. "You aren't having dinner with your family?"

Eli shook his head. "They live over in Alberta, so it's hard to meet up. I always make sure to visit for Christmas when I can, though."

Anna nodded. "I understand that. My family lives down in Oklahoma. I wish I could go there more, but it's so expensive for plane tickets, and trying to visit the reservation is annoying with all the restrictions."

"Right, native. I can't imagine that it would be easy to just walk in the front door."

"Yeah, The U.S. basically has its own border patrol around the territory. It's hard enough to enter naturally, and it only gets more complicated since I'm a Canadian citizen visiting the states temporarily."

"What tribe are you, exactly? I don't think you told me." Eli took the brief pause at a stop sign to look over at Anna.

"Cherokee. My family in particular are descendants of the Bird clan."

Eli held silent for a moment. "Is it weird?"

"Is what weird?" Anna said, holding her necklace and fingering the middle bead, the one painted white.

"Religion, with you being native. I'm sure the Cherokee have their own deities and religion, how does that work with you being christian?"

"Ah." Anna breathed, dropping her hand from her necklace. "Well, it can be a bit weird sometimes, but overall there isn't too much I have to worry about."

"If you don't mind me asking, which religion do you believe in?" Eli couldn't help but risk the question, aching in his mind with the knowledge that Hell was real.

Anna sighed and pondered for a moment. "The simple answer, neither."

That caught Eli off-guard. "Neither?"

"Yeah. But that is if you meant 'believe' as in 'do I truly think that either Jesus or Dayunsi is walking around today', kind of belief. I believe in the powers that either religion bring, but not in the supernatural aspects of heavens and hells, immortal beings, angels, demons, and spirit animals, and all that. If that makes any sense."

Eli tried to wrap his mind around it. "Not really."

Anna thought for a moment and played with a loose string on her sweater. "Let me try and rephrase. Both religions emphasise the treatment of others as equals, and generally portray the good in life as happiness, health and love. They look down on immoral actions such as theft, murder, lying, all that. That is what I believe in. I follow the religions of both the Cherokee and Christianity not because I think the legends are real, but because I strive for what they represent in the world. They are both communities of very good, nice people that seek to help others with their problems, and those are communities I like being a part of. In other words, I don't believe in the magic of religion's legends, but the positive impact that religion has on the real world."

Wow. Eli had to think for a moment. Anna looked over with a curious expression.

"What about you? Do you believe in Christianity?"

"I'm not sure."

Anna laughed. "Okay, let me try again. Do you believe in it in the sense of what it does for the world? Do you believe that Christianity is a positive influence in life, or do you think that what it teaches people is ultimately harmful?"

Eli had to think for a moment. This morning, he encountered a demon, a being that as far as he knew about Christianity, was evil given form. Yet that demon was nice, sweet, caring, and her act of inciting Eli to give in to Lust was just that- an act. She was pretending to be the evil that she needed to be. If Christianity said that beings like her were supposed to be the worst parts of the world, what did that mean for the things that it said were the best?

"I don't know. It has done a lot of good, but it's also done a lot of bad as well."

"What do you mean?" Anna looked over, quizzically.

"In recent years, yeah, I think Christianity has been a positive influence for the most part. But in the past, you can't deny that some decisions were questionable at best. From what I know, they all but obliterated the other religions as they forced everyone to accept Christianity and God, saying that if they didn't believe, they would burn for eternity. They killed millions in the Crusades, and convinced entire nations of people that horrendous acts of violence were okay since it was in service of the 'one true God'. In the medieval ages, christians could just as easily have been seen as terrorists. It really makes you wonder, if the backbone of an entire religion is based around the fear of burning in Hell if you don't believe in it, was it ever really a force for good in the first place?"

Anna was silent for several moments, and Eli was terrified that he crossed a line before Anna smiled.

"You know, I think you might be right. It's wrong to think that anything has had only a good influence in the world. History is full of mistakes that shouldn't be repeated, and believing that Christianity made none of those mistakes is wrong. But for what it is now, a community that accepts all, even those of other religions like me, and helps guide them to a path of virtue and togetherness? I think that it helps to make up for what it used to be."

The car remained quiet as Eli pulled to a stop in front of the red light. Looking past the corner of the intersection, Eli could see the church and its mostly-empty parking lot. By this time, any morning service would have ended, leading to the only vehicles likely belonging to the people helping to set up the dinner. Presumably to break the silence that persisted all the way until the light turned green and Eli began turning into the parking lot, Anna chuckled awkwardly.

"I guess you never expected to have such a deep conversation about religion when you woke up this morning."

"No, I didn't." Eli admitted. "But I guess I kinda started it, so I can only blame myself."

Eli eased the car into one of the many empty spots and put it in park. Meanwhile, Anna blushed and looked at her hands.

"Thanks again, by the way."

"You don't need to keep thanking me! We're friends, we help each other out. I mean, how many times have I driven you here? It's not that big of a deal-"

Eli was cut off by Anna suddenly swivelling in her seat and leaning forward to place her lips against his. It was a quick, nervous kiss that lasted perhaps a single second, but that single second stretched out for several more. As Anna's soft lips pressed against Eli's, only a single thought bounced around in his head.

Oh.

Anna pulled away just as quickly as she began, the red on her cheeks thick enough that it looked like she was blasted with spraypaint. "Sorry."

Eli had to try and think. Anna liked him in that way? She didn't make it very obvious. The only things she's done that might indicate interest would have been the occasional homemade banana nut loaves. Well, and the holiday presents. Oh, and the times she would come over for morning coffee.

Actually, scratch that. She did make it obvious.

Just as Eli began to mentally suckerpunch himself for being a dumbass, Anna shook her head and muttered.

"That was- that was so stupid of me. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that. I'm just- I'm gonna go." Anna quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door.

"Anna, wait!" Eli managed to spit out, but the brunette didn't listen. She only halted when Eli reached out and grabbed onto her shoulder when she had one leg out of the car. Anna turned around, her eyes welled with tears that sent a crack through Eli's heart.

Eli's mind was torn. Just this morning, he was visited by a succubus that tried to seduce him, failed, revealed her true, friendly, very cute and lovely self, then kissed him for nine hours in ways that made Eli feel truly free for the first time. Deep within, he longed desperately to see Bree again and spend more time with her, but he knew she was never coming back. Even if she did, did Eli simply want her as a friend, or something more? He wasn't sure.

Anna, on the other hand, was a different story. He had known her for years. She was extremely sweet and lovely, and it was impossible to be in the same room as her without smiling. Even the way she rambled incomprehensibly was adorable, and now Eli learned that she apparently wanted him as more than just a friend. Eli had buried his crush for her years ago, believing it was destined to be nothing more than a friendship. Right now, the earth in his chest was splitting as forgotten feelings rose from the dirt.

Eli moved his hand from Anna's shoulder to her cheek and gently pulled her in as he leaned forward. Their lips met once more, this time holding for several seconds. As they held their positions, Eli's thumb traced a small circle on Anna's cheek, one, twice, thrice until they both slowly tilted their heads away and broke the kiss. Anna's eyes sparkled nervously, but Eli could see that there was relief now shining through the tears.

"That could have been awkward." She giggled.

One of Eli's eyes flitted over to a figure walking towards the car. "Give it a minute."

"Anna? Is that you?" The figure called out, uncertain. Anna's eyes went wide and she almost scrambled out of the car.

"Faith, hey, hi... hello!" Anna stumbled over her greetings, obviously flustered. "I was just getting a ride from Eli."

Eli opened his own car door and stepped out into the sun, but gave a quizzical look over Faith. She was tall, perhaps only a few inches shy of six foot, with a simple white sundress and sneakers that contrasted lightly against her pale beige skin. She appeared to be roughly the same age as both Eli and Anna. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into an efficient ponytail that reached close to the middle of her back, and her eyes glowed a bright blue.

Scratch that, her entire face was glowing.

As if it were not only being illuminated by the sun, but also by a lamp held close to her face, her skin was brightened beyond normal to reveal the utter lack of any blemishes whatsoever. However, there wasn't anything that reasonably could have been giving off that illumination- she was reflecting light that didn't exist.

That wasn't even the weirdest part- that was the way she looked back at Eli. As her eyes moved across his face, they narrowed in a manner that almost seemed deeply, deeply hostile. The expression faded into a friendly smile almost as quickly, leaving Eli to wonder if she actually made that face as she walked forward and embraced Anna in a hug.