Nowhere But Up Ch. 01

"I've adapted," said Madelyne. "This is a good time to be alive. And a good place. You are safe here, Evan. Safer than you've ever been in your life, actually. You can relax."

"What the hell happened?" he asked. "Um. And why am I naked?"

"Your clothes were destroyed," said Nicole. "We took care of you and cleaned you up after the fight. You needed to heal. Madelyne helped with that. Magic, I guess. You beat him, Evan. He's gone. How did you even know what he was?"

"Refugees at work. Some of them had pretty old-school skills. Stuff nobody believes in, 'til they see it work. Like me. After that, I did a lot of research and digging, from a little after you left until now, basically. He's dead?"

"Completely. 'Ted' crumbled to ash," explained Madelyne, opting for the simpler name. "It's in a few big trash bags in a closet in another room now. You did everything right. You had the right weapon and the right enchantment to drain his power. You knew his true name, and so he was vulnerable to you."

"Is that how the enchantment worked? Honestly, even now I don't understand much. Most of the background info I could find was screwy and contradictory and hard to follow. Funny how the only really clear parts were the instructions on how to kill demons."

Madelyne tilted her head. "That right there shows how unreliable the sources are. 'Demon' is a much looser term than most people believe. It works. It's what he called himself, so it's what I called him, but that fire and brimstone stuff is mostly propaganda. Ted wasn't a creature from hell so much as a rare, powerful spirit with some ugly, nasty tendencies, and even then he wasn't all bad. Oh, I'm not saying you shouldn't have killed him. I'm saying he wasn't about fire and damnation.

"Ted was a spirit of lust and power. He embodied aspects of sex and dominance, and that came as much from primal urges as all the societal baggage we have around sex. All of that formed his being. But to cut right to it: his themes, as it were, aren't what made him evil. Not everything he did and touched was bad. You'll get no grief from me over killing him, though." Madelyne smiled a bit. "I'm glad to see you've recovered. And more."

"Huh. I do feel pretty good. Surprised I'm not even hungry."

"I was afraid you wouldn't wake up," said Nicole. Tears came down her lovely face. "I don't know what you think of me now, Evan, but I'm so sorry I left. I didn't know what he did to you. To us. Madelyne couldn't tell me about it until he was dead. We've been talking a long time now."

Nicole looked down at her hands in her lap. "Ted made a couple passes at me at work before all this started, but I told you about those when they happened. Even those seemed innocent. I never saw him until after we split. I had no reason to suspect anything. And all the while, he used everything from magic to bribes and hired help to destroy you. At the same time, he arranged everything and everyone at work to gaslight me and make me think you weren't the guy I married—and never were. Leaving you seemed justified.

"Ted didn't come back into the picture until later. Please understand, I moved on. I never wanted to hurt you. I just thought we were done and I had to get on with my life. And I've...become a different person since then," she said, clearly troubled.

"Hey, stop," Evan said gently, shaking his head. "Listen, I still love you, but I'll understand if this isn't a reconciliation. I know we've grown apart after all this. Don't beat yourself up over whatever else happened. That thing was a demon. You were under a spell, right?"

Nicole looked away guiltily. "Not exactly. Not when I left you. The magic didn't start until after that. I knew what Ted was. He showed me. I mean, I didn't know he had that other monster form, but I knew."

Her eyes drifted to Madelyne's, who picked it up from there. "Nicole is still under a...it runs deeper than a spell. Much deeper."

"What do you mean? Are you okay?" he asked the blonde.

"I'm fine," she answered immediately. "And..." she looked to Madelyne.

"We will answer any question you have," said the brunette. "We must. But that leads me to something Nicole and I have discussed. Explaining things in a certain order may save you some turmoil."

"Okay...?" he prompted.

"Thank you. Evan, I want you to understand that Ted's soul and power were largely separate things. When you killed him, you claimed much of his power and destroyed his soul. You don't have to worry about being tainted or corrupted. That power protected you from greater injury, and it's why you feel fine now. You gained great longevity. You'll never be sick again. You may not feel it yet, but you gained his sexual potency as well. Even his property is up for grabs. I want you to keep that in mind as we tell you the rest. All that he possessed is yours for the taking."

He took a long, slow breath, trying to process it. He couldn't deny that Madelyne's preface piqued his interest. "Okay. What's the rest of it?"

Nicole spoke. "I'm a succubus now, like Madelyne," she confessed. "So are the others in the house when you arrived. Succubi and incubi, all in service to Ted. Until now, anyway."

His eyes went from one to the other. "Wait, wouldn't that make you both demons, too?"

"Again, bad labeling," corrected Madelyne. "Succubi aren't what the folklore says. We don't have demon forms, and we don't fuck anyone to death," she added, rolling her eyes. "We were...are bound by contracts. It's not selling your soul; that doesn't actually happen. But it's still profound. They permanently change us and empower us. Our role is fundamentally sexual. We are seducers, manipulators, and above all, servants. We gain perfect health and beauty and longevity and other benefits.

"In exchange, we bind ourselves to our master. The contracts are in an ancient, arcane language. You wouldn't even recognize some of the writing as words. We understand it all when we sign, though. The contracts require consent. The language is full of terms of possession and submission, lust and loyalty...and profound pleasure. We all understood it when we signed. It is a powerfully seductive change. We belong to our master, and the rewards drown out any regrets."

"Sexually, Ted was irresistible to us. We were playthings and we loved it. Outside of a sexual context, we could deny him, but never actively betray or work against him. It's why I couldn't intervene in anything he did. The most I could do was walk away or tell him no, and even that was difficult. Nicole made an incredible act of willpower in helping you fight him. She had love to compel her, too. I don't think any of the rest of us had such a motivation. It's clearly why Ted was so diligent about cutting cords before claiming anyone.

"Ted could not claim the mentally unsound or anyone not yet an adult capable of their own decisions. He could not blackmail or threaten. No matter the situation, no matter our state, we make a deliberate choice when we sign. Once we consent, we are bound. Owned. Only the owner may actually break the contract."

Evan's breath deepened. He felt a guilty mix of alarm and arousal as Madelyne explained and Nicole watched. He felt urges to pull both women into the bed with him. Yet even so, this was a lot to take in. "You agreed to this?" he asked Nicole.

"Yes. We were over. Evan, I hope you don't take this as any slight on you. You're wonderful. But we were over, and...and I'm still trying to articulate how good it felt. I know it seems crazy, and for a lot of people, I guess maybe it is, but I never regretted anything until you turned up and I found out about the lies. I've been completely on board." She looked at him longingly. "And now more than ever." Evan tilted his head questioningly. "There's more you need to hear," she said.

"Again, Evan," said Madelyne, "don't think about what Ted had. Think about what you now have. All that he once possessed is now yours. Including us. The contracts linger, awaiting renewal. You can feel it, can't you?" Madelyne's hazel eyes held his gaze. Though he didn't visibly shake, a heavy tremor rumbled through his body from shoulders to legs as she spoke.

"Absent a new master, a lapsed contract means a return to normalcy. The only recourse is to find or be found by another demon, but demons are rare. Only a few of us are unnaturally old, like myself, but for us...well. Age will catch up unless we find new masters. I'd greatly prefer to serve you rather than another demon. It would be a wonderful change."

His desire no longer stirred. Now it soared, but it couldn't drown out his morals or the social values he'd known all his life. He wanted Nicole, and he wanted Madelyne, and he felt as sure they wanted him as he'd felt about the first time he kissed his wife. Yet this was wildly unfamiliar ground. "You don't even know me," he said softly.

"Your wife and I have spoken for a long time. She knows you. She loves you enough to turn against unspeakable pleasure for your sake. Just talking to you here has shown me so much. And I know the power you now wield." She gave a sexy half-grin. "And I like everything I see so far."

He swallowed hard. His eyes turned to Nicole. "What happens next?"

"I want you back," she said. "No matter what, I want you back. I was so wrong to leave you. I love you."

He squeezed her hand. He nodded. "I want that, too." He drew her onto the bed to sit beside him, pulling her into his arms as she let out a joyful sob and held him close. As good as Evan felt before, his body came alive at her closeness. He'd married a pretty woman. They had a good sex life together. Yet the woman in his arms now was incredible. He also realized that his own body felt different. He felt stronger, fitter...and, as his arousal built, bigger in at least one department. Much bigger. He'd been no slouch before. Nicole didn't leave him for want of anything there. But now...

Nicole put her lips on his neck. He inhaled sharply. She felt so goddamned good. "Okay," he said. Following the cues of his touch, she slid back from their embrace, but her hands still lingered and she remained close. He glanced at Madelyne. "Okay, but I mean...what about the rest of all this? You want me to claim everything?"

"It's up to you," said Nicole solemnly. "I don't want to pressure you. I want to be with you."

His eyebrow rose. This, at least, was part of the wife he knew, the one who always wanted to go for the full four-day passes to conventions and who talked them into desserts and calling in sick once in a while to stay in bed together. "But...?" he asked.

"Can I tell you something about before? About my change and all that? I'm still reluctant to say too much because I don't want you to think I was glad you were gone."

"I'm not mad that were happy without me here," Evan shook his head. "Not because I wasn't here. But in my absence. It's fine. Like Madelyne says, it's all mine if I want it now, right? But I mean...you want me to take it? All these other women? That's what we're talking about, isn't it? You keep saying everything's about sex."

His wife nodded. "Evan...I was already having sex with Ted before he offered the contract. When he laid it out, he challenged me to admit that I wanted to make every decision with my lust. Dirtier talk than that, really. He asked me what my pussy wanted. And when I considered, he gave me permission to make my decisions with my pussy from now on. He challenged me to give myself that permission, too. I did, and the more of that I did, the happier I was. I signed because of that. Apart from you coming back, I never regretted anything. My cunt wanted to obey. Sometimes I was a classy mistress, sometimes I was used as a whore. Sometimes I was objectified. I got so into it. Constant sexuality, no inhibitions, that energy always on a hair trigger. I embraced it all. Obeying felt so good."

"How does it feel?" Evan asked.

"Obeying? It's like...it's like someone going down on me. There's no physical sensation, but I feel all that sort of pleasure deep inside, and it's amazing. I always want more. If I completely reject it, like I did when I helped you against Ted, I feel nothing. We're not mind-controlled. I wouldn't rape or murder someone or anything crazy like that. But if I'm only reluctant or nervous, I feel the power come on. It seduces me and compels me and I love it. It's so good it overcomes any inhibition. The pleasure always gets better. It always finds my price.

"You absorbed the other side of that power. It's sexual and it's possessive and it's incredible to live under all that. I was on board with this for the rest of my life. But with you instead? That sounds like heaven to me." Her voice was simultaneously sensual and grave. She was as serious about this as anything they'd ever discussed.

"Evan, I'm giving you that same permission. I want you to give it to yourself. What's good for your cock? Do it. Adult consent's all that matters. You already have that. Break any other taboo you want. You can't imagine how good it is. The others that were here aren't even everyone involved. They're not drones, either. They're smart people with their own personalities. Most have careers. Some are well-connected. They'll be yours, Evan. Like me. Like Madelyne. We want you to take it all."

Again, Evan trembled with desire, though he still needed to know more. He looked to Madelyne. "The others who were here when you arrived have stayed around to resolve this," she said. "Some may wish to go, but I doubt it. They don't want freedom. They don't even think of it like that. Like Nicole and I, they have enjoyed their service immensely, and want it to continue."

"That's not an even bigger leap than you're considering? They haven't met me at all! They felt all this loyalty to Ted and now he's gone they'll be cool with that and jump on board with me?"

"You might be surprised at how much of that loyalty came from selfish motives. Many of us didn't like Ted so much as we liked serving him. The others know you hold the power that made them so happy. They also know more about you from Nicole than they probably knew about their previous master. It's a risk most will gladly take."

"Uh...there were guys here, too...?" Evan asked.

"We're all bisexual, before or after signing," said Madelyne. "Nicole tells me you're straight. The others are prepared for this. Your sincere desires are key to the power of the contracts. You cannot force yourself. If you wish to keep the incubi as servants, there are other options."

"What's the catch?" Evan asked warily.

"Well, it's certainly not a normal life with a picket fence and two kids. We can't have children at all, actually. You can't be open about this. Surely some of Ted's connections will not take to this change well, and some of them are awful people. There may be intrigue and adventure yet to handle."

"Besides that?" asked Nicole. One side of her mouth turned up into a seductive grin. "Start with 'too good to be true' and move up from there."

They kissed for the first time in almost two years—and, in a way, for the first time ever. Evan felt his heart pound and his body electrify as if the previous embrace had been a mere pat on the back. Nicole's soft lips invited his passion as her hands roamed over his body. His reached up to her silk robe, tugging at the material as their lips and tongues welcomed one another and made the desire for more plain.

"No inhibitions?" he murmured.

Nicole was already panting. "You're the master. We want it how you want it." She kissed him again, whimpering with need. "Please, Evan. I want this."

"What's the safe word?" he offered.

She grinned against his lips. "Eggplant," she said. They mutually detested it—making it the longstanding safe word from even before their marriage. "But don't put any money on hearing me say that ever again."

Evan felt her robe move, but Nicole remained still. His eyes opened to see Madelyne standing behind her, having slipped loose the drawstring of his wife's robe and now pulling the silk away. She winked at him and then stepped back, knowing full well that he'd completely forget about her with his next glance.

His breath caught as he looked at his wife, her flawless figure and smooth skin now on full display. He'd always loved her body when they were married, but now her skin was smoother and tighter, her figure model perfect. Her breasts were fuller, rounder and completely natural.

His hands reached out for her again. Nicole pulled away the silken sheet and comforter, straddling his lap and kissing him deeply as their bodies melded. The embrace kept his raging hard cock pointed up between them, but the feeling of its head against her belly and her bush against the base further escalated his pleasures. She was wet. Very wet. He felt that, too.

His hands roamed her sides as their kiss parted. Her forehead leaned against his so they could share a few breaths as they enjoyed doing so long ago. "You used to need more foreplay than this," he murmured with a grin.

"I'm different now," she breathed. "I never run dry. Never too sore. Besides, talking about this and looking at you is all the foreplay I needed."

It was music to his ears. Evan turned with her in his lap, putting her on her back further from the edge of the vast bed. He caught a glance of Madelyne again as he shifted over on top of his now naked wife, finding the other woman still in her chair with a serene, interested smile. New instincts took over. He didn't apologize or say anything to her. He knew he didn't need to. He was in charge. She would wait her turn and sincerely like it.

Nicole's legs spread for him. "Do it," she beckoned, reaching for his hips. "Take me."

Were he less swept away, he might have given thought to how his now massive cock might be too much for her. Instead, it looked and felt to him as right as leaving another woman to sit and watch. The head of his tool slipped up along Nicole's wet lips, exploring and preparing her while drawing out a wanton moan from her throat. The sensation left Evan shuddering with pleasure, too. He needed the rest. Now.

"Aawwh," Nicole moaned again as his head penetrated her and his shaft slowly sank in. His first invasion of her came slowly, feeling her pussy squeeze every long inch of his cock. She writhed against him in a full-body reminder of how desirable she'd become, taking him in all the way to the base. They breathed heavily there, holding together, eyes meeting in an excited gaze.

He felt differently about her now. He still loved her as his wife, but he felt something deep and even a little dark. He felt something possessive. His wife panted and writhed, and as he bottomed out and ground around just a little, he welcomed that feeling. He possessed her now in a way that he never had before. He knew she felt it, too. As it turned out, she felt that and something more.

"Oh god you're bigger," she panted, pleasure and joy playing havoc with her voice. "You're so much bigger!"

It was true. He was bigger, and more sensitive, and yet more in control. Evan slowly withdrew and then pushed in again, loving the effect it had on his wife's breath. "Something about taking all that power, right?" he taunted her confidently.

"Oooh, god, I've never felt so good," Nicole panted, sounding grateful to more than just Evan.

"Uh-huh."

"Can't lie," she panted. "Can't lie. So good! Take me. Oh please fuck me!"

It felt too good to resist. She felt too good. He pulled back once more, but beginning with his next thrust, he wasn't gentle with her at all. His wife's tight core invited rougher treatment with plentiful honey and a warm embrace. Evan impaled his wife with a loving stab that sent her crying out in surrender.

He fucked her hard from there. Evan claimed a fistful of her hair, keeping her head down on the pillow as he relentlessly fucked her. She clung to his upper body, keeping his chest crushed against her breasts. She wanted to get her legs around him, too, but the violent rutting wouldn't allow it. Nicole loved him eagerly, kissing him and stroking with her hands, but from the hips down all she could do was spread her thighs and welcome him home.