The Incubus's Heart Ch. 05

She took it, the mere touch of his fingers sending shock waves of pleasure through her body. A second later he was dragging her down the sidewalk, moving fast despite his leg. She nearly had to jog to keep up.

"The injuries on my leg, they are from the same event as the ones I bear here," he explained, holding up his other hand. "It was Stanis, a canid, who... We had been friends and lovers when our legions were allied with one another. And then, well, things change often in the Daeva realm. My Duchess Lilin no longer aligns herself with the Duchess Bathin of the Legion of Medicine."

They turned a corner, heading in the general direction of Godwin's apartment. She hoped that was where he was taking her, but didn't dare ask. He slowed down, still favoring his left leg and leaning on the cane. They walked for several blocks in silence.

She knew she shouldn't push it, knew he probably didn't want to talk about it, but she knew so little about him that she couldn't stop herself. "So, you were intimate with the enemy?"

He sighed heavily. "No. Well, technically yes, in a way. I quite liked him, and I naively thought we could continue our previous arrangements despite the changes in our Legion alliances," he said, turning another corner. They were no longer headed towards his apartment, she noticed with disappointment. "It was my mistake. I should have known better. Ultimately, his loyalties did not lie with me."

"Wait, what? His? Your partner was a man?" she asked, her face flushing. "Are you gay?"

He snorted. "Gay, straight, those are all such small-minded words. Why do I have to be one or another? Why must one define themselves so small? Why must one pick only one flavor of pleasure and pretend all others are lost to them?" He shook his head. "Daeva, especially SynLilin, do not limit themselves to one choice of sexuality. It is my choice, if I am with men, or women, or humanoids, or hermaphrodites."

She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it and closed it once more, her brain trying to process his words. "How does that even work? A man with another man? Much less, I mean, wait, did you say humanoids? Hermaphrodites?!""

He turned back to her, smiling wickedly. "Oh, little hansa, the things I have to teach you. I never considered a station as an educator, yet here I am, eager and anticipatory with my first pupil. Of course men can enjoy one another as sexual partners, and even engage in penetrative sex."

Her face burned. She had never thought of two men together before now, not really. "You, and he, like, in the butt?" God, she was so stupid, with her stupid words and her stupid mouth.

Godwin seemed amused. "Of course. I am quite fond of sex between males. And, for clarification purposes, he was male humanoid, a canid."

"Canid?" she parroted, feeling provincial.

He chuckled. "A type of Daeva, like incubus. Canids are as men, but resemble a large dog or a wolf, if a wolf were also a man. Stanis resembled one of the larger dogs you have here, the ones for police? His first form, his omoine as it is called in my language, was similar, but larger, to that of the police dog, but he also could be humanoid, still resembling his omoine."

"Forms? Two forms? Jesus, Godwin. A werewolf. You dated a werewolf?" she couldn't stop herself from asking, whispering harshly so no one else could overhear. He tugged her to a stop in front of a coffee shop.

He ignored her whispered outburst, and she was grateful. She was probably being racist or something, but her stupid words wouldn't stop leaking out. And, in her defense, he had, like, been with a werewolf or something, anyone would've been caught off guard.

He squeezed her hand, reminding her he was still holding it. "Would you care for some tea?" His smile made her want things she didn't have the right to ask for, especially if he was gay.

"Yeah, sure," she mumbled, feeling overwhelmed as she tried her hardest to imagine Godwin having sex with a werewolf. It wasn't that difficult, she was having a hard time processing any of what he'd just told her.

He pulled her into the shop, one finger over his lips. She nodded as the bell over the door tinkled. A young man with a black and red faux-hawk nodded at them from behind the counter. He wore a snug white t-shirt that showed off his toned biceps and pecs under a black apron spotted with white flecks.

Godwin sat her down in a comfy armchair by a gas fireplace, burning despite the heat outside, then left to order beverages. Moments later he came back with two steaming mugs, placing a peach colored mug into her hands.

"I obtained tea," he said, smiling brightly. "I do hope you enjoy tea."

She nodded, ducking her head as she blushed. "Thank you, I love tea." To avoid looking at Godwin she watched the barista. He was staring at Godwin with a dopey, half-dazed grin. "Did you do something to that guy?"

He smiled, the one that made her want to slap it, then kiss it off his lips. "I was only myself," he answered.

"Only yourself" She sipped her tea. It smelled of jasmine and rose hips and was just perfect. She closed her eyes, breathing in the aroma.

"He found me pleasing, and asked if we might enjoy our beverages gratis..." Godwin confessed.

"Godwin!" she exclaimed.

He just smiled that smile at her, sipping from a pale green mug. She caught a citrus scent from his, perhaps bergamot?

She pursed her lips and considered paying for their tea, but one look at the barista and she knew he wouldn't take her money. The poor boy was enthralled, and she felt a fleeting burst of superiority knowing Godwin would be leaving with her.

Godwin settled into his armchair across from her, his smile cheshire. "Hansa." The way he said it had a deeper meaning she didn't understand.

"So, what happened? With Stanis?"

He frowned and she regretted asking. "No, hansa, do not worry for me. This pain is in the past, and perhaps it is good to speak of it. I have told no one, have had no one to tell, and perhaps the retelling will allow me to forgive and forget. I cannot blame Stanis, not truly. As Daeva, our very nature defines who we are, and our nature is determined by which Legion we were born to. When our Duchesses were no longer in alignment, our relationship was no longer valid."

"Just like that?" she interrupted, immediately angry at a werewolf she'd probably never meet. "Who cares who your duchess likes or doesn't like? What's that have to do with you?"

He smiled weakly over the rim of his cup. "Daeva politics control all aspects of our lives. The Daeva realm is one of constant war. Stanis saw me as an enemy when our duchesses parted ways, and I was a fool to believe it would be otherwise. He attacked me." Godwin pulled the cuff of his sleeve up and exposing the four slash scars across the back of his hand that continued under his jacket further up his arm "He gave me these, and more. A scarred incubus is of no use to my Duchess, and I was cast out."

"That's so shitty. That's just... It's wrong. So, your lovers, and just one day he decided to attack you because your ruler wasn't friends with his anymore? Didn't he like you? Why was he with you?"

"Oh, I believe that he did like me, or I would be dead. Canids are powerful, quick and deadly, and poisonous, too. All medicines are poison in different applications, you see. These scars... They were a warning. Why he crippled me, I cannot say. Some days, some days I think it would have been better if he had killed me." He ended softly, his eyes cast on his tea.

It made her heart hurt, but also made it burn with hatred. "That's such crap. He poisoned you?"

He nodded. "These wounds, they would have healed without too much scarring. I do not have the healing capabilities that a Duke or Dutchess of Legion would have. I can heal similar to how you might heal away scars and damage, though I utilize emotions and sex instead of blood."

"So, your scars, he did this on purpose?" She leaned forward and ran a finger over the scars on the back of his hand. He shivered but didn't pull away. "These are from his poison?"

He nodded, slowly pulling his hand back. Seneca stood up, moving from the armchair she had originally sank into over to the love seat opposite, where Godwin was sitting. Hesitating only for a second, she sat down next to him. She was too close, it was a mistake, but she loved how it felt as her leg pressed against his. He looked at her, surprise on his islander-like features.

"Godwin," she said, falling into his eyes. "I know we just met, but I feel this connection with you. I can't explain it. I am sorry for these," she said, reaching out and stroking his scars again, eliciting another shiver from him, "and I can't do anything to change those. But... Godwin. I want to do this, whatever this is, with you.

"I know I'm not Daeva, and I hope that's not a big deal, but I won't betray you like that. I would never."

He chuckled and she bit her cheek, worried she'd said something stupid. "It is no big deal in the least. That you are not Daeva gives me comfort."

She tried to work out the meaning of his statement in her head, he spoke so strangely sometimes. He smiled gently, putting his teacup down, then grabbed hers from her fingers without actually touching her and placed it on the table next to his. His eyes never left her face. She shuddered as he took her hands into his and squeezed them.

"Godwin..." she trailed off nervously.

"Let me explain the game so you know how we will play. You already know the basic rules. I will provide you with direction and you will obey. You have a safeword you may use whenever you are asked to do something you do not wish to perform. I will never force you, though I will ask you to step outside of your comfort zone, as I did with Chester when you performed-"

"Mmm!" she said over him, blocking him from finishing that sentence. "Lalala! Shh Godwin!"

He smiled again and squeezed her hands. "Your innocence is delicious, Seneca. We shall meet on occasion, finding potential encounters for your play. I will provide you direction to help you feed more efficiently. Then, if you wish, you may feed me the excess of your emotions. When you are done with our partnership you may say so and it will be finished. Is this acceptable?"

She bit the inside of her cheek. "You'll ask me to do things like what I did with Chip again?"

There was a wicked twinkle in his eye. "The fellatio?" he asked a little more loudly than he had to.

She cringed, shushing him loudly. "Godwin! You're evil!"

He smiled that slappable, kissable smile and if he wasn't holding her hand, she probably would have touched his lips. "I am a demon," he chuckled. "And I am sure that you will call me that on more than one occasion as I ask for you to push your limits and open you to your full potential."

"I don't know what you mean by 'full potential'," she said, pulling her hands from his and turning away to hide her embarrassment.

"Oh, I know you do not, little hansa. I look forward to discovering it together. After your escapade with Chester, when you consumed both his blood and seman-"

She whipped her head around, shushing him again and he laughed at her. Her face had to be as red as a tomato. She wondered if he was enjoying her embarrassment.

"When you consumed both, how was your hunger?" he asked.

She looked away, thinking about it. She hadn't really paid attention at the time, but now she realized she'd been completely sated. "I felt really good. Like, amazingly good. But wasn't that because of me feeding you?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Seneca," he said, her name falling from his lips like a caress, "sprawled out in my home, you reminded me of a nathalis, large Daeva predator similar to your tigers. A dangerous predator, but in that moment you were content and sated. That was before you fed me," he reminded her.

"But!" she tried to argue.

"No, no, do not deny it. You were beautiful and sexy, so powerful in your element."

She bit her lip again, turning away. She found her cup and brought it to her lips, drinking deeply until it was gone.

"Would you tell me that you did not feel good?" he challenged.

"I already told you I felt really good," she admitted with a pout.

He leaned against her, the frame of his body lining hers. Her heart sped up and her core clenched. "I am pleased that I could help find your satisfaction."

"I like how I feel when I'm with you," she admitted softly after a few moments of silence between them..

He leaned forward, placing his now empty cup on the table. "I do as well," he agreed. "Would you..." he hesitated, avoiding her eyes.

"Would I what?"

"I have something... I would like..." He sighed, running his hand through his hair. It was the first time she'd seen him act so... human.

"Godwin?" she asked when he didn't continue.

He swallowed hard, then turned to her. "Would you mind terribly if we stopped by my apartment? I have something, if you wanted, I mean. To give you."

Her throat tightened with her stomach, and suddenly she was insanely nervous, but in a good way. "Of course," she squeaked.

Before they left, the faux-haired barista forced pastries on them, still moon-eyed over Godwin. She munched on hers as they walked silently towards his apartment. The same woman sat outside the door to the building. It was as if she'd been frozen in time, the scene nearly identical to the last time Seneca had been there. She wondered if it was a new book or the same one. She couldn't see the cover the way the woman held it. The woman didn't acknowledge them, didn't even look up as they walked past her.

"You told me you'd show me how you get up to your apartment without taking the steps," she reminded as they began their climb. "I can tell how much your leg hurts you."

He was limping heavily now. "I did not mention when I would show you. I prefer night to be upon us for my...demonstration." That smile again.

She frowned as they reached the first landing. "I can tell your leg hurts. Let me help you," she entreated.

"The only way you could help me would be to feed me excess emotions, hansa. A quick meal would assist greatly. What you fed me the other day helped, but I am afraid I pushed myself too hard since then," he explained.

She nodded. "I can feed you," she blurted. Had she sounded too eager?

"Even in the stairwell?" he asked, one eyebrow expertly arched.

She blushed, she couldn't help it. "I, ah, if... Sure, yes, if you need me to, I can. I don't want you to be in pain, and it looks like you hurt a lot."

"You wear a blush well. I almost regret the day I break you from it. If you would, I would not take much, just enough to cut the pain, but I want you to feed me as you did before in my apartment."

"I can't!" she exclaimed, remembering how good it felt to ride him through their clothes while she fed him. "Not that far!"

He chuckled, the sound sweet like honey. "What are you thinking of, little hansa? I only meant that you pushed your emotions through, not the other gratification we pursued together. Only a kiss..."

She blushed harder. He grabbed her hands, pulling her towards into his chest as he leaned back against the wall. She found herself looking up into those quicksilver eyes. His pupils were small, irises completely gone, lost within pools of liquid silver.

She moved slowly, deliberately, wrapping her hands behind his neck, pulling his face close. His lips were soft and she kissed him chastely, just a brush of her lips over his. Her sex tightened eagerly and she tried to suppress her growing lust before she got wet. This wasn't about sex, this was feeding.

"For me, it is always about sex," he muttered just before he closed his mouth over hers, seeming to read her mind. He kissed her, blocking her from protesting, and her mind let the thought go as she sank down into his kiss.

They kissed in the stairwell and she lost herself until he tugged ever so slightly on her emotions, reminding her why they were making out in public in the first place. She imagined coiling her emotions into a ball in her stomach, opening that box where her self hatred and guilt went. She pushed them at him, and then he was sucking them from her so strongly her toes curled.

He broke off the kiss a moment later, pushing her so that she was standing with her back against the wall. Her head was spinning as she tried to collect herself. Had she done something wrong?

Not even five seconds later the fire door on the second floor slammed open and two kids with bikes burst loudly into the stairwell. They chatted noisily as they descended. She nodded to them, but they ignored her as if she wasn't there at all. One of them looked right through her.

Despite being able to feel Godwin, she couldn't fully see him. It was like he was there, but he also wasn't. The second he met her eyes his body re-solidified. She didn't like how he'd disappeared, it made her feel weird.

"They ignored us," she said, unable to sort out how she felt about what just happened.

"Shall we?" he asked, ignoring her statement, too. She followed him up to the third landing. She wanted to be upset with him for not explaining what just happened, but she saw that his limp was much better and it didn't seem to matter as much.

She sighed in relief when his door shut behind her, blocking out the smells and sounds of the building. It was hard to stop herself from throwing herself onto the plush cushions on the floor, his apartment was just too comfortable. He saw her eyeing them and laughed.

"Make yourself at home, please," he said. "You like my home?"

"It's great, Godwin," she said, kicking off her flats. She only hesitated for a second before she threw herself into the cushions. "Your apartment's so... I feel at home here. I dunno what it is."

He watched her from hooded eyes and she blushed. "I have something for you, if you so desire it," he said. She didn't say anything and he turned from her, heading out of the room.

She watched him go, but felt no fear of rejection, only the contentedness that lying in his cushions gave her. She snuggled deeper until she was so comfortable she could fall asleep.

"It is that look you currently wear. I cannot even describe how erotic you are," he said, startling her. She sat up to find him standing before her, a square, black box in his hands. He held it reverently, falling to his knees before her. He flinched slightly as his knees hit the ground, though he tried to hide it. He bowed his head, the energy between them sobering quickly.

"Godwin?" she asked.

He offered her the box. "Seneca Mahon," he said. "I humbly request the privilege of becoming pelang ya roseau ti jinaxi to you for as long as you accept my service." He handed her the box and she took it from him.

The box was simple, black lacquer with a line of silver around the center, hinged in the back. She ran her fingers around the seam of the box and it audibly clicked open, making her jump. Godwin watched her closely, she wasn't sure if he was even breathing.

The box opened in her hands. A ring of polished silver was wedged into a perfectly shaped indentation in the black velvet lining. She instantly wanted to touch it, to feel the metal under her fingertips. It was simple, but also elegant at the same time. A quick glance at Godwin reassured her, and she gave into the urge.

The metal was cold under her fingertips, but that why she shivered. Something in her head seemed to resonate with the ring of silver. She pulled back and the resonation was gone. Carefully, she pried the ring out of the box and Godwin exhaled softly, releasing the breath she'd wondered if he was holding.

"I don't understand," she said, running her fingers over the smooth silver, enjoying the humming in her brain. "What's a gah, ah, rousseau or whatever? What's this?"