She Knows Pt. 01

I turned to my dad. He'd asked me to listen and now I was. It just came down to the strength of his words.

The look he cast me was equal parts pride and ruthlessness. "Tonight you marry Gordon."

CHAPTER TWO

"Pull it a little tighter, Cat. I can still breathe," I wheezed.

The faery sighed, and wrapped my shoulder. "You make it sound as if I'm torturing you. Don't you want to look beautiful on your wedding day?"

I bit my tongue. There was no way I rested a hand on my breasts, heating the pendant stuck between my cleavage, as she tugged the corset strings taut.

I hadn't really heard what happened after my father told me I'd be marrying Gordon. Only one thing had been on my mind: finding a way out. I trusted my father, but I knew how ruthless his ambitions were. If marrying me to a giant got him what he wanted, he'd do it and deal with the repercussions later.

"It's not that bad," Catriona started as she stopped tugging on the laces. "Gordon is a chief."

As if I gave a shit about his position. "I haven't even... had a bachelorette party," I panted, waddling around to face her.

Catriona clapped her hands. "Which is why your father invited your friends over." She yelled over her shoulder, "Come on in girls."

Daphne and Robin burst into the room with all the surprise of an erection on an eighty year-old man. "What up, girl!" Robin screeched, brushing past Catriona to wrap a black feather boa around my shoulders. "Had to get you something black for your big day."

"It's something blue," I muttered, familiar with the American custom.

She shook her jet-black braids and slapped a hand on her hip. "Honey, that's for weddings. This right here is a funeral."

I shot her a grim smile. "Then it's perfect."

Robin beamed as Daphne ushered Catriona out of the room. Daphne waved a manicured hand at her. "We got it from here, Cat. Go tell the president she'll be ready to go when he comes knocking."

Catriona stood in the doorway a second, worry clouding her eyes. She looked past the succubi to me. "Your father loves and cares for you, Vera. Try to remember that before you do anything... rash."

The door shut with a soft click as Catriona left. The minute she was out of sight, I waddled back around and pointed to the corset. "Please. Get this... off me. Can't breathe."

"You sure?" Robin purred, full lips turned up in a smile. "Gives you a nice uniboob."

I rolled my eyes and bit back a smile. I loved the bitch; she was the only one who could make me laugh when all I wanted to do was cry. When my brother died, Robin slung an arm around my shoulder and declared unceremoniously, "Everyone dies, Vera. Ya get going or ya get dead, girl."

"Oh, Robin," Daphne laughed, striding to me on toothpick heels that toned her calves and bubbled her ass, "that's what wonder bras are for."

Robin collapsed back into my vanity chair and stretched her long legs out so she could prop her heels on the edge of my bed. "Do they even make those anymore?"

Daphne ignored her and started to undo the laces. Her nails raked against my back, manicured oval tips scratching itches I didn't know I had. "Your dad's got this place guarded, Vera. Robin almost blew one of the guards to get in."

"Almost?"

"Gargoyle cock tastes like licorice." She made a face. "I prefer seraphim's. They have a minty aftertaste."

Daphne barked out a laugh as she tugged at the last laces and pulled the corset away, leaving me covered in a pale blue silk dress, the color of mermaid tears. "As if a seraphim would let a succubus touch them."

Seraphims were uppity bastards, thinking they were better than everyone because a religion worshiped them. Succubi could have been worshiped too, but that wasn't where we got our energy. Seraphims thought they were better because their energy came from devotion--as if an apple was any different from an orange. At the end of the day, they were both fucking fruit.

I drew in a deep breath, relishing the feeling. I might not have needed to eat like a human, but I still needed to breathe. "What's the plan?"

"What plan?" Robin asked innocently, blinking wide, amethyst eyes. They contrasted sharply with her black braids and melded perfectly with her sun-kissed skin. She looked like a mix of Brazilian and Native American--hair from the Earth, skin from the sun.

"The one where you get me the fuck out of here."

"Oh, that plan."

I rolled my eyes. "Uh-huh."

"Witch's brew." She pulled a vial from her leather skinny jeans. "Second we heard you were getting married to Gordon, we had a witch whip it up."

I walked over to her and took the vial that was no bigger than my thumb and eyed it warily; witches were notorious tricksters. "What's it supposed to do?"

"It'll take you across the veil to the human world," Daphne whispered, coming behind me. I turned to face her and caught a similar vial held between her fingers like a cigarette. "Thought it'd be best if we go together."

I eyed the two succubi and smiled slowly. "Okay, but the veil's down. Can't cross it until sunset."

Robin shook her braids like tresses and tossed them over her shoulder. "Works either way. Tanya said we just need a dark place."

I shrugged. Far be it for me to question a witch's magick. I only hoped that it worked as well as the girls thought it did. "And what are we going to do after that?"

Daphne jumped in again, fluttering her hand in the air as she spoke, "I told you my sixteenth brother's in the human world. Zander lives in New York and he's got money. He said he'll give us whatever we need."

I was surprised, their plan was shaping up. It wasn't bulletproof; but with only hours to spare, I didn't care. I could deal with the humans until my father pulled his head out of his ass and called off this wedding.

"Okay," I murmured. "Let's do it."

Robin blew out the candles lighting the room while Daphne and I closed the blinds so not a ray of light filtered through.

"We're all doing this together. Got it?" I stressed, popping the cap off my vial. The girls murmured their agreement. "You two ready? On the count of three."

I took a deep breath, flashing through everything that could go wrong--there was a lot. But the alternative was life as the wife of a giant. Correction, second wife of a giant.

I steeled my resolve. "One... two... three."

I threw the potion back, closing my eyes as it hit my gut like a bullet train. I stumbled, fell left, kept falling, started spinning, before finally smacking my head against brick. The process was quick, disjointing. I felt like I'd just swan-dived off Jasper mid-flight, and he caught me two seconds later with his cold, hard scales.

I moaned, struggling up. My hand fell into something wet and squirmy. I flinched. "Argh!"

I blinked hard, but the darkness was dense. "Daphne? Robin?"

There was no answer, just the din of water dripping. And this is why you don't trust a witch's brew.

I fumbled to my feet, swaying. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm super fine."

From the smells wafting through the place, I was definitely in the human world, so at least the witch hadn't lied about that. I reached for the wall, stepping carefully and feeling my way. Cool brick, the smell of still water, mildew, and rats. I sniffed again, trying to detect human waste. Sewers had waste, this one didn't.

I stopped, hearing faint sounds of metal scratching and people murmuring. That's when it hit me--I was in one of the subway tunnels. I kept walking, following the sounds. I looked human enough, except for the slight point to my ears and my turquoise eyes. The white hair I could always say came from a bottle.

I stopped and tugged the strands out of the chignon Catriona styled. They fell across my face, damp and smelly. I sneezed as I rearranged my hair to cover my ears, a hard task to do in pitch blackness.

Satisfied, I felt the wall again. I was nearing light. Drole conversations echoed in my ears, and the smell of human odor nearly knocked me on my ass.

"But why do I have to go to Daddy's this weekend, Mommy?" a child asked, high pitched and hesitant.

"Honey," the mother soothed. "Daddy wants to spend his time with you now, you wouldn't want to make him sad, would you?"

Guilt tripping a child. Classic. My mother practiced the same moves on me with the slight change of "You wouldn't want to disappoint your father, would you?" It took me until I was nineteen to whisper softly, "Yes. Let him be disappointed like I always am." Now at twenty-six, I flat out didn't care. My father was my father; imperfections were his calling card, failed parties his love.

Fluorescent light streamed in as I reached the end of the tunnel. I was a dozen or so feet from the platform, hidden in the shadows. A jarring beep and the flash of lights alerted me to an oncoming train. I squeezed back into the tunnel, plastering myself to the brick. Rats and mice scampered across my wet slippered feet and I cringed.

The train boarded, passed, and I turned my head around to glance at the nearly empty platform. I could make it there. What I would do afterwards was still to be decided.

I stepped out, but a menacing growl stopped me. "Succubus."

I whipped my head around, searching the alcoves lining the tunnel. Across from me, twenty feet away, was a mostly shadowed vampire. I watched his fingernails elongate and curl into claws, and fangs lengthen almost to his chin. He seemed to bulk up, fill out, and consume the small opening he stood in.

An ancient. Shit, I thought the other hunters killed them all. I reached for my whip instinctively and found it gone. I bit my lip, cursing my stupidity. Wedding dresses didn't need weapons, and I hadn't even thought of carrying anything with me on the trip.

I went through my options and found only one: run.

I turned tail and started down. If I could reach the platform I could use the humans as shields. I was debating truly doing that when a clawed hand wrapped around my middle and tore at my dress. I opened my mouth to scream, but a hand covered it. I heard a sickening crack before a sharp pain shot out from my neck and a different darkness engulfed me.

CHAPTER THREE

Succubi have an interesting way of waking--cuming while coming awake.

"Mmm," I moaned, lips parting on a gasp as my clit throbbed and my inner muscles clenched. What I wouldn't do for Brodie's cock right now.

"Disgusting," a nearby voice sneered.

I blinked open my eyes and immediately noticed I was naked and bound, spread eagle on a bed. Candlelight flickered from the bedside tables on both sides of me, but didn't illuminate enough of the dark corners where I knew the vampire was hiding.

That's right, I slowly realized, a vampire kidnaped me after I ran away from my wedding to Gordon. Out of the frying pan and into the fire indeed.

"What do you want?" I asked, testing the ropes that held me. They were strong.

"I was going to ask you the same question." He was male, with a deep voice that commanded respect. "Demons have never hunted in the daylight. Why now?"

I cursed my luck that the vampire was an ancient, and shrugged as much as the bonds allowed. "What can I say, half-breed? Times change."

He moved fast, and struck me across the cheek. My vision danced for a second before the mark healed. I turned my cheek, rage filling me as I tried to pinpoint the vamp's location. "Don't like being called that, do ya?"

"It's not what I am."

I tossed my head. "Don't. Giva. Fuck. Let me go and I won't kill you."

The vampire laughed softly. He stepped to the foot of the bed and leaned against one of its wooden posts. Now that I could see him, the vamp was attractive in a urban savage sort of way. Emphasis on the savage. Vampires were nothing but mindless animals, and ancients were only a little different because they'd found a way to channel their inner beast. But the mindless creature was always close.

"Just like all the rest," the vamp said softly, shaking his thick red curls. "Think I'm a monster? That all I want to do is suck your blood and lick your feet?" He laughed harshly, the sound echoing through the room. "Don't kid yourself, child. You are so beneath me, your smell is the only thing keeping you alive."

No! I squirmed on the bed, blood beginning to heat. As much as I hated to admit it, the vampire was hot. The kind of man you let do anything and everything with your body because you knew it would bring so much pleasure. Looking at the vamp made Brodie seem like child's play, a boy trying to satisfy what only a man could quench.

I pulled at the restraints, desperate to close my thighs and rub them together. "I don't know what you're talking about," I panted, pissed beyond belief that my time of the month hadn't ended.

The vamp moved around the post and lightly trailed a finger up my naked leg. I shivered all over and dampened. "You lust for me, succubus. How does it feel desiring someone you consider beneath you?"

"Wouldn't know."

His finger reached the side of my breast and continued up to my wrist. He leaned down and licked the shell of my ear, tugging the lobe between his teeth. "Liar."

This is not happening, I mentally wailed as my lips parted and my throat issued little mewling sounds. In no time at all, I was going to be lust in skin, just a huge mass needing to screw the energy out of the nearest thing. I hated being defenseless and weak in front of the enemy. Especially because the enemy was so blisteringly hot I was pretty sure if he released me I wouldn't think about escaping; just ride him until the sun came up, went down, and repeated that for a week or so.

"I could give you what you want," he purred, iron behind the words.

"What I want," I forced out, "is to drive a stake through your heart. Got one handy?"

He stepped back and raked me with a heated glance. "Truce, little demon. I give you what you want and you give me information."

"Go fuck yourself."

He turned on his heel and moved away from the bed. Against every fiber of my being, I yelled at his retreating back, "Wait!"

He stopped, back muscles flexing. Concealed strength, so much strength. I writhed against the sheets, juices coating my thighs and the silk.

"I can smell you," he rumbled just like an incubus, darkly sensual and promising things he had no problem delivering. "I can ease your ache if you tell me why you were hunting in daylight."

My vision was starting to go, and my limbs were seconds behind it. I tried to remember what we were talking about. Was it his cock inside me? No, no. Um... hunting in the daylight. That's it. But I wasn't hunting, I was running away from... something. I could tell him that. It harmed no one, and helped me.

"Yes," I hissed, tugging at my restraints until the wood creaked. "Tell you. Everything."

The vamp was back at my side in a flash. His gaze held me, a pale green that looked nearly white. "I am not a creature, not just a vampire or a convenient cock. I have a name. Asher. Say it."

I would have screamed it for him. "Asher."

His fingers were fire against my cheek, leaving me scorched. "And what is the name of the succubus I will be fucking into oblivion?"

I wish. "Vera. Now, please. Please."

Asher smiled triumphantly, but didn't immediately jump my bones like I wanted. Instead, he straightened his arms and undid the cufflinks at his wrists. The movement drew me to the clothes draped over his body: black button down, black slacks, shiny black dress shoes.

"Too long," I moaned, tossing my head back and forth.

The man never quickened his pace as his nimble fingers went to the buttons down his front. "I will have you when I am ready."

I mentally groaned. One of those guys. If he started bossing me around like some S&M Dom--well, I was going to let him and then get upset.

I was as patient as a girl could be as he shrugged out of his shirt, and tugged the black tank top he wore underneath over his head. Tattoos curved around his torso, individual yet linked. They looked tribal, intricate. There was no color, just complicated symbols that called back to the Celtic knots and even further back to fealty and oaths on skin.

He was lean, muscled, but defined. It looked like a giant arrow was pointing to his cock, and I couldn't help my gaze going there. He undid the buckle, popped the button on his pants, and slid down the zipper. The slacks fell in a soft whomp to the floor, leaving him completely naked. The man hadn't bothered with underwear and I thanked my lucky stars for that.

His cock was thick, blush pink with veins of purple and blue. It bounced for a second before flattening against his stomach, tip leaking clear fluid. He was just as ready as I was--strung up balls didn't lie.

I moved restlessly against the sheets. "Now."

His voice was harsh, "I'm not ready yet."

"Well I am," I snapped angrily, meeting his heated gaze with my own.

We fought for a second, disregarding my bound state and his free one. I could say things to him that would have him inside me in a second; he could do things that would make me betray my father. The latter frightened me out of the stare.

Asher smiled as he looked down at me again. "What have you done?" he asked.

"Everything."

A faint smile touched his lips. "Liar."

He moved to the foot of the bed, unbinding one foot and then the other. He padded silently around the room, freeing me without a word. I rubbed my wrists absently as I knelt on the bed, waiting to see what he would do next.

"I don't need you bound to have you listen to me. Takes the fun out of things if you don't do it freely."

I stiffened, still horny as hell, but with a shred of dignity that wouldn't let go. "I'm not a submissive or a masochist."

"Never said you were," he replied evenly, "but I'm bigger than you've ever had. I don't want to hurt you on the first go."

"I'm a succubus."

"Still a woman," he added in that same infuriatingly even tone. "Come to the edge of the bed, dangle your legs over, but keep your ass on the mattress."

I did as he instructed and crossed my arms with a "Hrump."

He chuckled darkly before dropping to his knees and stroking the backs of my thighs with calloused hands. "Why were you hunting in daylight?"

I moved my arms and leaned up on my elbows. "Now? You wanna do this now?"

His hands stroked down to my ankles before moving up to the backs of my thighs and gently lifting me. I felt the warm heat of his shoulders beneath the backs of my knees, the soft push of breath from between his lips in the apex of my thighs, and I flopped back down.

"No time like the present." He swiped his tongue on my inner thigh. "Be honest and I'll give you a reward."

"Fuck your rew--Ahh!"

Asher sucked my clit quickly, painfully, running his teeth gently over the nub before pulling back. "Lie or be rude and I'll punish you."

The truth? I tried to remember what that was. His lips and tongue were doing wonderful things, making it damned hard to think. The truth was that I ran away from an arranged marriage. The truth was I was a succubus who might as well be virgin for every sexual thing I'd done. The truth was I wanted a vampire to fuck me until I couldn't think without his cock inside me.

Stupid time of the month!

"The truth," I gasped, moving my hips in a figure eight, "is that I wasn't hunting vampires in the daylight."

I felt satisfied with that answer, it told him nothing but was the absolute truth. His thumb brushed my clit as two very thick fingers entered me. I arched at the contact, turning my head and biting the sheets when he curved those digits and stroked my g-spot.

"What were you doing?"