Succubus Rising Ch. 11

NOTES:

As usual by now, this is proofread but not edited.

Every character is over the age of 18 no matter their physical description. Just because they can't reach the top shelf at the grocery store doesn't mean they can't buy alcohol.

As always, comments and critiques on all my writing are welcome and sometimes I even reply to them.

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I knew the moment another succubus was in the area, and way too close for my liking. We had been in the apartment for about a week and a half, the bed I'd ruined during the recall spell had been replaced, and it was pretty boring. So feeling a sudden urge to shove someone off the top of the parking garage was almost delightful if it hadn't been so terrible.

I paced from the end of the loft to the door of the apartment. It took eight steps each direction and every time I got close to the door my hands itched to open it. Being in the house with my mother hadn't been this bad. Bane and Chaz seemed oblivious to the other woman entering my territory. They were down in the kitchen when the first ribbon of her power came questing.

"Jezza!" Bane yelled from the kitchen. "Leave her alone."

My power swatted the other away. "She started it."

"She's there until we go to the council, so get used to it. It's not any better for her," his voice faded and he as he and Chaz started talking about something.

Their voices quieted and Chaz came up the stairs to me, wrapping his arms around me from behind when I didn't stop pacing. "We're trying to work out a way for all of you to meet before going to the council, but throwing your power around isn't going to make it easy. None of you were raised conventionally, and all of you are basically running on instinct right now. Control it. Be better than them right now."

He pulled me toward the stairs and let me go to walk down on my own. I pulled my power into myself, only leaving the bonds fully open. The urge to commit bodily harm on someone I had never met dissipated and I started to relax. That is, until the power began to rise in the apartment next to us. She was blatantly throwing herself around, rubbing it in that she had four... no, five, mate-bonds.

"You're the only one with two mates, Jezza," Bane said quietly from the table. "All the others have more. It means you stabilized a lot faster than they did."

"How does she keep up with five men all the time?" I laid down on the sofa, shifting every few minutes and unable to get comfortable as I did the succubus equivalent of voyeurism.

"Some men are more comfortable touching each other than me and Bane," Chaz muttered. Well, that explained a lot.

As I tossed around on the couch I thought it was a small blessing that we couldn't hear them through the walls. The questing tendrils of a third succubus made me groan and get up and pace again, but she was farther away and pulled back on her own after a couple moments. It was almost timid in its delicate touch and retreat. There was no rise from her, no impression that she had to show off her stuff. The power next door crested and fell a little faster than I thought it should have. When one of the men chuckled, I realized they were probably catching my cattiness.

Then there was another power, not timid but not blatant either. She had four mates, and that took a lot longer than my new neighbor. I could feel her power trying to pull me in with them, tempting me. We could take the entire city block on the ride of their lives. I stood at the windows and looked out over the city as she beckoned to me. Between us it would be so easy. I could almost taste her men as she took them, spinning them higher and higher until they exploded. But nobody on the street below us noticed. Life went on without ever knowing what could have taken them.

"It's the wards," Bane was right behind me, but not touching. My whole body was tight with a need for release, growing worse with every climax she took from her men. That's what she was doing, taking them and the orgasmic energy. The new neighbor was back with her mates again, and the timid one was with hers now, too. She had brought them all to her party, and if either of them touched me we would be joining them.

"I need to get out of here," I whispered. I saw him reach out in the reflection of the window and stepped away, holding up a hand. "If you touch me right now, we will join them. I won't have the two of you feeding her."

"That's not..." Bane started, but I interrupted.

"It's what she's doing," I closed my eyes and huddled against the window. I wasn't cornered, I could get away, but it was all I could do to keep my hands off him. "She's bringing them both in with her, taking the energy that should be theirs as her own. You are not hers."

"Back off, Bane," Chaz said from his spot at the table. "Don't add to the temptation, and feel what they're doing. What it's doing to the bonds."

I hadn't even realized the bonds were stretching between us. Pulling them to me. That got me moving to one of the bedrooms where nothing else had. "Stay out here, please. Or use the other rooms."

The feeling of nine, no, twelve - the timid one must only have three mates - mate-bonds swelling toward a massive release was almost anticlimactic when I thought about the things I had done with my own mates. Still, I paced the bedroom and panted, running my fingers through my hair until it was a tangled mess down my back, and I followed her as she reached for the enormous amount of power she had built over us all. Then I took it away from her and pushed it higher. My neighbor broke first, all of them climaxing as the power ramped up. Then the newest one broke, her four mates exploding and taking her with them as she couldn't reach the level I could. The timid one, though, she held on.

I could feel her as though it were my own bedroom. She was riding two of them, sucking the third. She held their orgasms off with a thought and we pushed the power ever higher until one of her mates begged for release. Then, she let me take all of it as they all came together.

The power was unreal. I imagined it was a huge bomb held over top of the building, hovering just under the wards. With a thought and a twist of my own power, I eased it through the spells protecting the buildings but I knew I couldn't release it here. The council would be on us before the others even cleaned up. So I moved it until it was over the tower, and then I detonated it. The entire city was about to be hit by a wave of pleasure they'd never felt before. When the bomb went off with no sound, no flash of light that could be seen, I collapsed onto the floor.

Chaz found me a few minutes later, when the power they could feel in the building had finally dissipated. He was careful when he knelt beside me, but I just smiled at him. "The news is going to be incredibly interesting tonight."

He barked out a laugh and helped me sit up when I reached for him. "We're yours, huh?" I must have looked confused because he continued, "You were yelling that for about the last five minutes before you did whatever that was."

"Yes, you are mine," I nodded. "I took the power away from her. It was like playing keep away from someone smaller than myself. She couldn't reach it once I had it and raised it higher. She couldn't control her men's orgasms to build it higher. Our neighbor, too, couldn't hold her men back. The other one, though," I sighed when I remembered what my power had shown me. "She only let go when her men asked for their release, then she handed me the power and fell away. If our power ceilings needed any gauge, I'd say the two show-offs aren't as strong as me and the other one."

"Who's the strongest?"

"I don't know," I shrugged and picked at the carpet. "I don't even know if this was a good way to tell."

"Ah, guys?" Bane called from the living room. "She caused an orgy at the tower. They're having to do the coverage from a block away because the first news crews that got there fell to the power."

"I didn't do all of it. I just released it somewhere I hoped was far enough from here to not get us caught."

Chaz pulled me up off the floor and we walked into the living room. "There was some sort of city political party going on in the restaurant tonight, invitation only." Bane was staring at the TV on the wall. "A few of them have come out now, fast finishers I guess, and none of them seem completely unhappy yet. That will probably change as they get out of range and start remembering things."

There was a soft chiming noise ringing through the apartment and we all looked around. One of the servants that somehow stayed out of sight walked across the upper loft to the door to answer it, then returned to the stairs and started down.

"Madam Hannah has requested a meeting with you and your mates, ma'am," he spoke directly to me, and I glanced at Bane, who shrugged.

"Ah, which one is Hannah?" I asked.

"I believe she arrived with three mates, ma'am," he seemed bored.

I stumbled over my words and Chaz answered, "We would be happy to meet her in an hour. Will she be coming here?"

"She requested that you come to her. Her apartment is directly across the garage from here. Unit number 4, but if you need assistance to get there just let me know and I will be happy to escort your party." He turned and went back up the stairs only after I nodded to him.

"Showers," I said, then looked at Bane and smiled. "Cold showers. I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt since I don't see any reason to dress up, not after what I felt her doing."

"Actually," Chaz pulled me behind him back to the bedroom I had retreated to after Bane went off to a different shower. "I had Ferrel pick up a few things for you if you want to see."

"You've had them in here for days and you're only now showing me?" I had been bored out of my mind for at least two days. Even a stupid fashion show would have at least been a little fun.

"I didn't think you would be that interested," I think he blushed. He went across to the closet and pulled out three garment bags and tossed them onto the bed. I opened them, not waiting for permission. Over the last few weeks we'd all grown fairly comfortable together.

The first bag had a sparkling evening gown and I handed it back to him. I could ogle it later. The next two bags had jeans and shirts, and cotton jersey dresses that were a sight better looking than my long tank tops. I pulled an emerald green dress out of the last bag and held it up to myself. It would fall about halfway down my thighs and would be comfy, but not as informal as jeans and a t-shirt. He cleared his throat and held out a shoe box with some strappy brown flat sandals that would go with the dress.

"Thank you," I whispered, holding the clothes.

"Ferrel did all the actual work," he muttered and shrugged before hanging the bags back in the closet and walking to the bathroom.

"But you thought to tell him I might need better clothes than what I already had," I followed him into the bath and set everything on the vanity while he got the shower going.

I stripped and stepped under the spray before he could beat me to it, laughing when he growled at me. He wrapped his arms around my waist as I wet my hair. "We only have an hour," I said, smacking him away so I could get the shampoo.

"I know," he immediately stole the shower head when I moved away. I got my hair lathered and waited for him to rinse off and move again.

When I put my head under the spray, arching to make sure I got all the soap, he slid a washcloth over me. It had gotten to be an incredibly intimate routine for one of them to wash me, but they never let me wash them like this. Chaz also enjoyed playing with my hair any chance he got, but in the interests of time I just slathered in some conditioner and rinsed it out again. He kissed me lightly when he was done and then nudged me to get out of the shower and grab towels.

I bent and rubbed the towel through my hair, watching him dry himself at a weird angle, but letting my own body dry in the air. We didn't have a blow dryer here, so I had to do the best I could with the towel. When I could stand and my hair didn't drip down my back, I was mostly dry anyway. Chaz started combing my hair, but when I tried to move to grab the thong he had set out for the dress, he grabbed my hair and held me still.

"You can play with my hair later. I need to get dressed."

"Move less, then," I groaned and reached for the thong. Getting it on without moving too much felt like I was trying to twist myself into a pretzel, but I managed. He finished my hair and then I pulled the dress over my head.

It was just a plain jersey knit dress, and was comfy as hell. There hadn't been a bra, but the top of the dress was a wrap of some sort that tied behind my back, and I managed to tie it tight enough to add a little support. My hair looked nearly black against the deep green of the dress. The sandals would probably rub blisters after a while, but I could heal that now.

Bane walked in and I snickered. He and Chaz were dressed exactly alike in black slacks and a white button down. They both glared at me and then each other. "Please tell me y'all have matching sunglasses to go with it?" Chaz grumbled and started undoing the buttons he'd gotten done and pulled a gray shirt from his closet instead. "You should have left it. You two would have been adorable. I bet they're wearing jeans and eating pizza, and you two are making me get all dressed up for nothing."

I walked out of the room after Bane and we headed upstairs and out into the garage. The wind was howling through the levels, with very few cars up this high to block it. I grabbed a handful of my skirt to keep it from flying up around me as we walked. Directly across the admittedly expansive garage was a door exactly like ours with a fancy number four fastened to it. Bane pushed the little button next to the frame and a door to our right that fit almost seamlessly into the wall opened and a servant stepped out and then turned back to speak to someone in the room.

"Madam, sirs," he said. "They aren't yet ready to meet you, but it will be only a few more minutes."

"We did say an hour," Chaz said, glancing at his watch and I elbowed him. The servant ignored him and returned to the room.

"Anybody else notice how the servants all address me, or acknowledge me first before you guys?" I asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Don't let the deference go to your head," Chaz leaned in and spoke in my ear, and I elbowed him again.

The door opened before we could say anything else and a servant waved us into a loft area identical to our own. A tiny woman stood there with three men behind her. She was also wearing a dress, but she looked comfortable in her bare feet. The men were wearing jeans and various styles and cuts of shirts. I could almost smell the pizza.

She smiled when we came in, but none of them made a move to physically greet us. My power was trying to claw its way out of me, and I saw her smile tighten as though she was fighting something similar.

"Ah, hi," I clasped my hands in front of me and tried not to be any more awkward than that.

"Hi," thank God her voice was normal and not some cute little girl voice. I'd have died. "Come on in. Sorry you had to wait so long after we invited you." She seemed genuinely embarrassed that we had had to wait, and motioned for her mates to go downstairs. I nodded for Bane and Chaz to follow. "I understand it's going to be a little uncomfortable for both of us," she said as she followed the men down the stairs. "I, ah, felt the recall spell. I don't know whether to give my condolences or congratulations."

"I thought we were the first ones brought here," I said. There was a fucking pizza on the counter. I wanted to go back and change into jeans, damn it.

"Second," she sat on one of the barstools set around the counter and pushed the pizza out in invitation. "I didn't know you were here until that spell triggered, though. Not like feeling the two today, and I thankfully haven't felt you before or since that little ego trip. Beautiful job taking the power from her. I'm not even sure I could have pushed it through the wards."

I blushed, "I was flying by the seat of my pants on that. All I could think was I didn't want her to have it."

"And yet, you didn't join in with it," she said. "I mean, I was already..." This time, she was the one who blushed.

"If it felt like anything I got through the," I waved my hand back and forth. "Waves? I wouldn't have stopped either."

We looked over at the men, who had taken the pizza for themselves and were trying to ignore us. I hadn't told Bane or Chaz what I had felt at that moment, how two of these men had fit inside her, though a small shudder made me sit up straighter.

"Do you think we're stronger than the others?" Her voice was quiet now and I turned back to find her looking at the counter. "I know the one had already been preening, showing off. But we both took the power from the second so easily. She had no hope of being able to take it back from us, and I had no desire to take it back from you after, you know."

"I honestly don't know," I said, just as quietly.

She nodded and then looked where the men were seated around the table. "Kai?" A blond man looked up at her. "Why don't y'all go outside and talk about cars or sports or business or something else equally boring, please? Leave us girls to talk shop?" She sighed when he nodded but looked at the pizza. "You can take the pizza with you."

Both Chaz and Bane looked at me, but went upstairs to the garage when I nodded. After the door shut, Hannah slumped and groaned. "Thank God. Let's get more comfortable. Those sandals have got to be rubbing you raw."

She slid off the barstool and then flopped onto one of the overstuffed chairs in front of the windows, her dress going between her thighs like shorts. I took the sandals off and curled into the other chair.

"Kai, he's the one who bought me," she said. "But from what they knew about you, it wasn't anything like what you've gone through. You were raised like a human, right?"

"Yeah," I looked out over the city. "Actually raised here. I knew of the demons because who doesn't, but I had no idea what my mom was. What I am."

"That had to be terrifying," she sighed. "And Bane didn't know about you? He's supposed to be one of the best for training us."

"I think he ignored it because of Chaz, or something. Some stupid male ego thing. Chaz acted like a douche, so Bane returned the favor, never letting Chaz get past his secretary. Larian was the one that got Bane involved."

"You've been with Larian?" She looked at me then. "I've heard he's hung. Sorry, I just don't have many people to just talk to about this."

"Ah," I wasn't really sure how to answer that. "He seems self-conscious about that, actually."

"Oh. Oh!" She sat up. "You've never talked about this to someone else have you?"

"I haven't really had the opportunity, so no," I said.

"I'm so sorry. This must be awkward for you," she slouched back in her chair.

"This has been a learning curve for me, is all," I assured her. "I'm pretty sure we got past awkward when I felt what you did with your mates. I have to say, your control and, ah, capacity was impressive."

She waved that off, "That just takes practice, and our nature helps a lot. We're supposed to be more stable with more mates, so by that the others should be extremely stable. But they felt... sloppy, I guess. And you with only two should also be completely out of your mind."

"I took a mate-bond with Chaz on purpose. I think that might count."

"But you didn't bond with Asher, so I think you're safe."

I groaned, "You all knew about Asher?"

"I have no idea what he did to you, just know that any time he came up Kai was adamant I would never go to him. Do you want to talk about it?"