The Kissing Bargain

"Can it, demon," Snatch snapped. He threw the mundane bottle to the ground, where it cracked. "You forgot to disguise your skin color."

"Oh. Right." She giggled, and in a flash, her skin turned a dark umber. "There we go." She smiled, adjusting her bra slightly. "So, um, you have..."

"I know you're a demon now!"

"Aw, man." She pouted. "And I was so close!"

"No, you weren't." Snatch scowled. "You just hadn't asked me to do anything yet."

"Sez you." She stuck her tongue out. As she did so, her form shifted. Her skin returned to its pastel violet hue, and her hair grew even longer, wavier, taking on a dark purple shade. Twin horns rose from her head, curling just slightly forward at the tips. Her eyes turned a brilliant yellow, with a sliver of blue serving as pupil. "I think you were about to be my silly little bimbo toy."

"You're bad at this."

"Hmph." She folded her arms. "I'm rubber, you're glue. My stuff bounces and I get all sticky to you." She giggled, jiggling her breasts with her arms folded beneath them. "See?"

"I thought demons were supposed to be smart."

She scowled and pouted, sitting on the old table. It crumbled beneath her and collapsed, but she continued to sit in midair, suspended casually as if there was an invisible chair beneath her. "I'm an imp. We start out dumb. I got really smart by fucking Starri molten, but then..." She bit her lip. "Well, I guess I got a bit greedy. I was chasing two apprentices when these stupid spells kicked in, and now..."

She trailed off, blinking. "Um, what was I saying?" She giggled. "Oh my gods, I'm such a bimbo nowadays."

"Yeah. Okay." Snatch was edging towards the... the ex-door. "So are we gonna fight? 'Cause trust me, the hypnosis thing won't work twice. And it didn't work once."

"You haven't killed me yet," she pointed out with a grin.

"Yeah, well..." Snatch bit his lip. "That's because..."

Actually, why hadn't he killed her yet?

"Because you love me!" she crowed, beaming at him. "'Cause I'm so sexy and cute and you wanna fuck me!"

"Nope. That's definitely not it."

"Is it because you think I can get you out of here somehow?" she asked, blinking inquisitively. With another demon, Snatch would have assumed she was being coy, but he was reasonably certain she was genuinely ignorant.

"I'm not selling my soul or fucking you or anything."

"Aw, but why not?" she whined.

"Because you're a demon."

"That's racist!"

"It's not racist to point out systemic incentives you have to eat people. Demons aren't an oppressed class, and they don't suffer from systemic persecution."

She blinked. "Huh?"

Snatch grimaced. "Uh, huh. Speaking for a friend there. Friend with strong opinions. Anyway, no, I'm not fucking a demon because I'm not a fucking dumbass."

"Well, fine. We don't have to fuck." She sounded very petulant about this, however. "But we don't have to fuck to make a deal!"

"Meaning?"

"Secrets for secrets!" she said excitedly, kicking her legs excitedly. "That's what imps do. I'll share a secret with you, and you give me a secret in exchange!"

"A... secret?"

"Yes." She winked. "I should warn you, though, handsome, it does require a, um, act of passion to seal the deal." She wiggled her hips. "We don't have to fuck, though. I could just make yiu cum by, like, sucking you off!" She giggled, smacking her lips, and Snatch noticed just how plump and lush her lips were. Kissable lips. Cocksucking lips. "Or I could stroke you. Or tickle you to climax, if you're ticklish." She waggled her fingers meaningfully.

Snatch's heartrate was accelerating slightly. He folded his arms. "No deal."

"Oh, come on!" she whined. "Fine, maybe a kiss. A kiss would do."

"If I let you kiss me, you'll hold onto me and draw it out." Snatch rolled his eyes. "And probably make me..." Dizzy, confused, horny... "... want to accept another."

"But you're, like, soooo strong-willed..." she gushed.

"No. Fuck off."

"Aw." She bounced agitatedly on her nonexistent seat. "What if I promise to only kiss you or touch you with permission?"

"If you're not trying to brainwash me," he growled, "what's the need for a kiss? And why do you need secrets, anyway?"

She scowled. "I mean... it has to be a kiss to make sure we're both telling the truth. That's imp magic. It fills us both with the answers to our questions. And I wanna know things!" She looked at him imploringly. "I've been, like, stuck up here for years. Centuries. Days, even! I'm so confused and I don't know what's going on out there. Is it a crime to wanna know what I've missed?"

Snatch chewed his upper lip. "Okay, fine. Fair enough. I'm still not making any deals. You're way too into this."

"'Cause I'm horny!" she said, bouncing as her voice took on a keening tone. "I'm a horny little sinslut back home, and when a demon can't act on her Sin—I'm Gluttony, of course, 'cause most imps are Gluttony—it gets even needier! I don't need to fuck you molten, but gimme something!"

"Sorry. You seem like a nice evil hellspawn. But no." Snatch turned back to the wall, scowling as he searched it for seams. No such luck. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched for the demon's shadow, making sure it didn't touch this wall. If it did, it meant she was crossing the room and past the lantern.

He was sure she was telling the truth. She legitimately did not seem smart enough to manage these lies—her botched hypnosis had been easy to break out of once he'd realized the reflection trick. Enticing, yes, he grudgingly acknowledged, but easily escapable. Not that he'd admit to her it even came close to disrupting his willpower.

Those roses were probably getting to him. He took out the panpipe and blew several morenotes, taking in several gasps of fresh-ish marsh air.

Instantly, he felt much clearer. He needed to be more careful about that. Before, the risk had been him steadily getting more and more drugged until he forgot the pipes and wandered into the midst of the roses for gods-knew-what. But now, with this creature here to distract him...

She was definitely telling the truth, or most of it. But Snatch didn't trust demons. No one did. That was about as common sense as 'don't lick strange flowers' or 'don't follow strange lights' or 'never give an adventurer a loan'.

Even though it was damn tempting to accept her deal. If he could make it out of this room... gods, he really didn't want to die here, so many miles from home.

He swallowed. It was how adventurers died. But not today.

But he wasn't a fool. He'd have to find another way.

"You'd be able to help your friends," sang her sweet voice behind him.

He spun around, glaring. She was still seated in midair, resting partially on her palms, kicking her feet, grinning at him. "They'll be fine," he snapped. "Two druids can handle themselves. They just have a couple more rooms."

"Oh, I dunnoooo..." She gave an airy laugh. "I'm getting some very interesting whispers from the girls the next two rooms down."

Snatch tried very hard to hide his unease. "That's their problem," he muttered.

The imp hopped off her seat and bounced over to him, giggling. "You could save them!" she cooed, clasping his hand. He jerked away. "You could help your adorable little catgirl get out of all that... ooh, and that cute brunette? Ooh, she'll be tasty if Mesiticalys gets ahold of her..."

Okay, so she knew what Larya and Lim looked like. That didn't prove anything. She could have seen them before, from hiding. Or maybe she was getting a picture, but wasn't telling him what was really happening.

The imp leaned in close, licking her fulsome lips. "They're so cute," she burbled, beaming at him. "The kitty found some yarn to play with... or in..."

Snatch leaned away sharply. "I don't care; I'm not interes—mmf!"

The imp had leaned in, grabbed him, and seized him in a wet, messy kiss, practically devouring his face. Her plump, soft lips touched his, her tongue thrust into his mouth, and he heard himself gaspin reflex—a submissive, needy gasp.

Unlike Larya and Lim, Alrek had been very careful on the trip in the forest, and had not been fucked by vines, temporarily enslaved by cambions, or trapped inside any flowers. In fact, he had not been made to cum since... well, since the Celestials, he realized.

And Alrek didn't masturbate.

He was very, very horny right now, and for a few seconds, her kiss felt so good, he found himself going limp, allowing her lips to touch him, allowing her tongue to explore him, bathed in her soft sighs and moans of pleasure—

He recoiled with a gasp, leaping back against the wall. "Get off!" he snarled. He had no idea how much time had just passed. Seconds? Minutes? He felt... dizzy. Confused. Like he wanted another kiss like that.

The imp was licking her lips, a very satisfied look on her face. "Yummy," she said. "If you want, we can keep doing that." She giggled at his scythe. "I'm pretty fast. I bet I can kiss you again, and again..."

"I'll... I'll split you in half!"

"Oh, c'mon, I felt your cock while we were kissing." She giggled. "It's not that big."

Alrek's... Snatch's heart was pounding. She was quick. And clever. She probably could manage at least a couple more kisses. And this air was going to get to him eventually. He took a deep breath.

"You know, you don't have much time," the imp said, pouting impatiently.

Snatch was thinking just the same thing.

"We have to set a few rules," he growled. "And I'll know if you're lying."

"Oh, yes!" She clapped her hands together gleefully. "I love following rules! Please, Sir, what are the rules?" She grinned at him coyly.

He tried to keep his voice level. Anger wouldn't get him anywhere right now. He needed a way out of this room. "No touching me without my permission."

"Deal," she said happily.

He swayed slightly, uneasy with how easily she'd agreed to that. He thought a moment before a loophole occurred to him. "And you can only touch me for... for two seconds before you ask permission again. Permission only lasts for two seconds."

"What?" she protested. "But I—that's—that's such a pain!"

"How long were we kissing just now?"

"Ummm..." She bit her lip. "Two minutes?" She batted her eyelashes convincingly.

Snatch was actually very bad at telling when people were lying. But if she was lying, he couldn't imagine how long it had actually been. "Every two seconds," he repeated firmly.

"Ugh. Fine. I won't touch you without your permission, and I have to get permission every two seconds to keep kissing you." She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Anything else, Your Highness?"

"In exchange, I'll accept a few trades. But you can't ask me for any secrets that would allow you to escape."

"No deal," she said flatly. "That could mean anything." For once, she seemed a little more alert. "But you don't know how to free me anyways. I promise I won't take any secrets about, um... like, how the Emerald Forest is being kept back, or what else is in this Tower."

Snatch hesitated. That wasn't ideal, but he supposed it was the best he could hope for—especially now that she knew his cock was hard. Her eyes hadn't left it since he'd escaped the kiss.

"But before we do that," she said, licking her lips, "I have one secret I'd like to know. I really, really want it."

Snatch waited, eyes narrowed.

"I wanna trade our names!" She giggled. "Just so I know yours, and you know mine."

"Call me Snatch," he said tersely. "I don't share my names that casually."

"Aw. Fine." She did a little twirl, her diaphanous purple dress billowing up a little. "I'm Sindra! Short for... well, doesn't matter. So." Her eyes shone like those of a predator after dark. "Let's make a deal, handsome!"

She stopped twirling. "So, like, what's your first question?"

Snatch thought about it a moment. He needed to get the door open. But he also needed to make sure this wasn't a trick. Everything about this screamed 'trap' to him.

He came to a reluctant decision: If Larya and Lim were really in danger, he'd keep going. Otherwise, he'd find another way. Or just rot. Better than being enslaved by some bimbo in a tight dress, after all.

"Are my companions actually in danger?" he asked slowly.

She smiled, and danced forward. He braced himself as she leaned in. "Do I have your permission?" she asked, looking inordinately excited.

"Yes," he said, swallowing his doubts.

Sindra gave a happy hum, leaned in and planted a big, wet kiss on his lips.

As she did so, images sank slowly into his mind, and he found himself convulsing in sudden pleasure. Her kiss sank into him, devoured him, and he realized dimly that she was probably leaving a lipstick mark with every kiss like this. Something about that felt... hot. Very hot. He held in a moan.

In his mind, he saw a circular chamber. The walls were covered in slick green moss, and serpentine vines slithered all across the floor. He saw Lim squealing in delight as those tendrils tickled her, tickled her pussy, as two large, pink blossoms pumped puff after puff of pink smoke into her face that made her eyes flash pink and her lips quiver and her squeals of laughter turn higher and higher. The vines held her suspended over a vast rose-colored pitcher plant, from which there came wet, lewd sounds and feminine moans.

Nearby, Larya struggled to escape a familiar plant—a vine of whorelip that was kissing over the ankle it had wrapped around. More vines were approaching as she crawled away, whimpering in delight, lunging for her staff.

As she touched the staff, a pair of red lips slipped beneath her shirt—

And the vision ended. Sindra pulled away, hands clasped behind her back. She was unable to hide her big, happy smile.

Snatch realized he was staring at her, a big, dumb half-smile on his own face. He quickly jerked back into full consciousness, shaking his head roughly. "Okay, he growled. "Next question..."

He leaned back against the wall, still a little dazed from the kiss. He felt hot, not least because of the suffocating kiss. He really was breathless. He took in a reluctant deep breath of the rosy air, and instantly felt better—and worse.

"What secret did you ask, anyway??" he asked, suddenly realizing he still didn't know. That was dicey. Who knew what she might be learning about the world... or about him?

Sindra stifled a little giggle. "Oh, just curious about something, I guess. Those are some nice panpipes, by the way!"

Snatch looked down, and realized he'd pulled out a set of plain bamboo panpipes. He blinked. Where had those come from?

Had Sindra given them to him?

Eyes narrowed, he set the panpipes down and straightened. Sindra seemed to find that hilarious, so he took the extra precaution of nudging them a ways away from himself with his foot. Whatever trick she was playing, he was not falling for it.

"Next question?" Sindra asked. She still seemed to fine something really funny.

Snatch eyed her suspiciously. Well, forget it. Next question. "How do I get this door open?" he asked.

Sindra giggled. "Would you like me to touch you, mister?"

Snatch glowered. He did not trust this show of subservience one bit. "Yes," he said reluctantly, even though there was a distinct part of him that was rolling around with delight at the thought.

Eyes shining, Sindra leaned in and caught him in another two-second kiss.

Her lips drowned him, drowned in him sensuous touch, in pleasure, in need. He found he couldn't help but lean in as images poured into his spiraling mind.

He saw the emeralds shining, blinking rapidly, almost hypnotically. Some of them flashed, and the door—it was a door again in his mind—swung closed and sealed shut.

He moaned slightly as Sindra's hands slipped under his shirt, trembling at her touch—

She pulled away with a gleeful grin, leaving him just as dizzy and confused as before. She was bouncing from heel to toe. "This is fun!" she said. "What's the next question?"

Snatch blinked blearily. He was a little sorry the kiss had ended so soon—it seemed a bit silly that he'd made the rules so strict. Her kisses were so soft... just nice, harmless, sweet kisses...

He snapped back to attention. Harmless or no, it made sense to be careful. "Um. It seemed like there were only a few emeralds that flashed for the door." Those were probably the emeralds he needed to break to dispel the door's enchantment.

The imp beamed and waited for him to continue, still leaning back and forth between toe and heel, her breasts bouncing slightly with every second. He watched them bounce for a second, eyes going up and down, before tearing himself away. "So, um... what happens..."

"Hey, wanna kiss?" she suddenly chirped, beaming at him. She leaned in, plumping her lips. "Just a little one? No trade necessary!"

Snatch blinked. "Um, I... I, um..."

He knew he probably shouldn't accept it. She was clearly trying to stall him.

But her kisses felt so, so good. At least she couldn't mess with his mind while she was busy planting wonderful, sweet, harmless kisses on him. He stared at her lips as she smacked them meaningfully, beaming innocently at him.

She might be trying to get him horny so he'd accept more than a kiss next time, he realized numbly, even as he watched her sensuous lips move. Suddenly, he wondered what her lips would feel like around his cock.

He snapped back into attention with a shake of his head. "No," he said abruptly, coughing. "We don't have time for that. What happens if I break the wrong emeralds?"

She pouted, then leaned in. He leaned in in anticipation, heart pounding. She seemed to like this.

And as she kissed him, he moaned, lost to her touch. She clutched him tenderly, moaning back. Her tongue slipped into his mouth, and he marveled at the softness of her lips as they smacked wetly over him. He was drowning. His cock was throbbing, and he moaned eagerly as she pressed her whole body against him.

He felt himself sinking into trance as images floated through his mind. He saw the room again, saw several emeralds break. He saw a reddish flash, and suddenly, he saw himself, standing over an emerald he'd just trodden upon.

And as she kissed him in the real world, he saw a vision of Sindra come up behind him.

She seemed to giggle as he obliviously stared at the crushed diamond... then wrapped her arms around him and start to jerk him off. He saw himself whimpering, whispering obedient mantras as she poured her magic into him, making him good and horny for Mistress, and he felt the real Sindra pressing against him, felt her grinding against his bulge...

She pulled away with a giggle, leaving him blinking in dazed confusion.

So.

The emeralds managed multiple spells in this room, and if he broke the wrong ones, Sindra would escape. Would capture him. Would fuck his mind away.

She clasped her hands behind her back and giggled. "Are you sure you don't want a little kiss?"

He stared at her uncertainly. Something about her request was strange, but for the life and soul of him, he couldn't place it. He couldn't... couldn't quite remember... something.

"No?" he managed.

She pouted. "Well, then, you might as well have a seat, sweetie. Let me just..." She took him by the sleeve and gently guided him down, down into a large, comfortable armchair that he knew hadn't been there a second ago.

"Stop," he protested, though he wasn't sure whether what she was doing was actively dangerous or just overly familiar. He sat down in the armchair, though every muscle remained tense.

"Why?" she whispered, prancing around the armchair and leaning down behind him to whisper in his ear. "It's, um, not like we're in any hurry, right?"