Succubus Seduction
Cheyenne McCray
One
Lilin opened and closed her wings, studying tonight’s prey: Archer Dane.
As a Succubus, Lilin usually had her choice of any man. They were easy creatures. A naked woman and immediately a man hardened in greeting.
She would ride him, take his seed . . . and his soul.
But this male affected her in some strange way. After centuries of taking men to replenish herself she felt less and less pleasure. Most men proved to be little sport. She needed something more.
Unseelie Queen Rusalka insisted Lilin bring her Archer’s soul. Odd. Normally, Lilin kept the male’s soul to nourish her until she claimed her next prey.
For days she’d observed Archer. A powerful man with a muscular, hard body. Strong jaw, blue eyes, black hair and a rare smile that gave her tingles all over.
Lilin licked her lower lip. She gripped the corner bedpost as her wings created a draught, teasing his hair as he slept. In all her centuries of existence, no man had thrilled her so.
Stop thinking of Archer as if he’s more than an assignment. I’ll give his soul to Queen Rusalka and move to my next prey.
After making her wings disappear, and with unusual excitement in her belly, she stepped towards him.
Archer was being watched. He kept his breathing slow but slitted his eyes enough to see.
He almost opened his eyes as surprise arrowed through him.
A beautiful, petite naked woman.
With wings. She fucking had wings.
A breeze brushed his face every time she opened and closed those wings. The woman licked her bottom lip and looked at him like he was a treat. Her wings drew back and vanished.
What the—
Archer squeezed his eyes shut.
Dream. No other explanation.
He fully opened his eyes.
Nope. Still there.
The dream woman stopped. Blinked. Then smiled.
“Hello, Archer.”
He frowned as he pushed himself up, swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. He towered over the small woman.
Her gaze widened. “Why did you get up?”
Too real. Everything about this felt real.
“Who are you?” He slept in the nude, and he and his damned erection faced her.
“I’m Lilin.” She tried to touch him, but he caught her wrist.
She moved close enough that her body heat burned into him, her bare breasts brushing his chest. The lower half of him was saying, “What are you waiting for?” But at the same time he was grinding his teeth.
This Lilin was gorgeous - long silvery-blonde hair and silver eyes glittering in the moonlight. Her scent was like a rain-washed spring night.
He hardened his grip. “I don’t know what you want, lady,” he growled, “but you’d better get your little ass out.”
She gave a seductive smile. “I want you.”
Even though his body was shouting otherwise, Archer said, “I don’t do strange women. And I sure don’t know you.”
Lilin’s lips curved into a wicked smile. “You will, Archer Dane.”
She vanished.
He let his now empty hands drop away.
Lilin frowned as she sat on the bank of the River of Life in the moonlight. She wrapped her arms around her knees and held them close.
The human had rejected her. Rejected her!
She had wanted a challenge and apparently Archer was it. She would make good on her promise and the male would come to know her. Then she would bed him and drain him of his soul.
No one refused her.
Lilin rose, spread her wings, and flew. She enjoyed the sense of freedom that accompanied flight. As an air Succubus, she drank in the growing wind like an elixir.
Soon it would be daylight in Archer’s world.
Soon she would begin her seduction.
Two
Archer Dane gripped a set of architectural plans as he strode into Dane Construction’s headquarters and headed towards his office. When he reached his office door, Archer paused to speak to his assistant.
He almost dropped the plans he was carrying and he was certain his jaw fell to the floor.
The woman from last night’s dream sat in Cammie’s seat. The nameplate now read: lilin night.
Lilin. From last night.
She looked up and smiled. “Good morning, Archer.”
He growled. “What are you—”
“Your reports are on your desk, as well as the construction loan papers.” She looked at the telephone and grabbed a stack of white notes. “Here are your messages.”
Automatically, he took the notes but gave her a fierce glare. “Where’s Cammie?”
Lilin looked at him with wide, innocent silvery eyes. “On vacation in the Florida Keys. You must have forgotten.”
No. He remembered everything. Especially last night. He hadn’t been able to go back to sleep, his hallucination playing over and over in his mind.
But here sat his hallucination. At Cammie’s desk.
He glanced to see if any employees noticed him and Lilin. Thank God everyone looked busy.
“In my office. Now,” he said to Lilin in a low voice.
“Yes, Mr Dane.” She picked up the compact laptop Cammie always used.
“Leave it,” Archer said.
Lilin set it on the desk. “Yes, Mr Dane.” The way she said “Mr Dane” in a slightly unusual accent was like a caress that made him so hard he had to grit his teeth.
Shit. He had to get into his office before any employees noticed how much Lilin affected him. He opened the door for her, then closed and locked it. Talking to this woman was not something he needed anyone to walk in on.
Archer turned from locking the door and froze. The architectural plans fell from one hand. His messages slipped from the other and scattered across the floor.
He was face to face with a very naked woman.
Before he had a chance to react Lilin had her arms around his neck and her body pressed to his. Her diamond-hard nipples rubbed him through his shirt and his erection pressed against her belly. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.
Ah, God. He almost dropped to his knees - they actually went weak. Lilin’s kiss was like nothing he’d ever experienced. He couldn’t begin to resist. His mind spun and all he could think about was laying her flat on his desk and driving deep inside her. His brain turned to mush and his body into one horny sex machine.
Damn, Lilin knew how to kiss. She tasted of woman and almonds, and her scent drove him crazy — the smell of rain after a thunderstorm.
She thrust her tongue into his mouth and made soft purring sounds. She nibbled his lower lip then teased his tongue with hers. As they kissed, she drew him with her so that they were moving backwards until she hit something hard. His desk. File folders crashed to the floor as she scooted onto the surface.
Lilin wrapped her arms around his neck again and brought him down with her as she continued the magic of her kiss. She pulled him closer until he stood between her thighs, his hardness pressed against her heat.
Archer placed one of his hands on her soft breast and pinched her nipple, causing her to purr louder. He moved the fingers of his other hand between their bodies and slipped them inside her core. She made small sounds of pleasure against his mouth as he rubbed her with his thumb.
He had to take her. And now. He braced one hand on the desk and reached to unfasten his jeans with the other.
Something knocked at the back of his mind as he continued kissing Lilin, the heat and fervour between them growing and growing.
He couldn’t think clearly. The haze of lust was so strong.
The knocking in his head wouldn’t stop.
Wait. It wasn’t in his head. Someone was at his door.
The realization was enough to scatter the haze and bring him back to reality. He pushed away from the desk, away from Lilin, and shook his head to clear his mind.
The knocking grew louder.
“Mr Dane,” came a muffled voice from the other side of the door, “Mr Garfield’s here for his ten o’clock appointment. Is everything all right?” It was Molly’s voice and she sounded both concerned and curious. She’d probably seen him walk in with Lilin.
Archer stepped back and nearly stumbled into one of the padded chairs in front of his desk. Lilin’s beautiful breasts were pink from his caresses, her lips swollen from his kisses and her thighs wide, exposing her soft pink flesh. A wicked smile tilted the corners of her lips.
Another knock. Archer raised his voice. “I’ve been on an important call, Molly. Be right there.
“Get your clothes on,” he ordered Lilin in a low growl. “However you were hired, you’re now fired. Don’t come back here.”
She pouted. “Don’t you want to take me?”
“Yes . . . No! Get your clothes on.” He glanced around for her skirt and blouse. The only things on the floor were the scattered messages and architectural plans that he had to pick up in a hurry before Garfield came into the room. Archer turned back to his desk.
Lilin was gone.
Archer couldn’t move. This woman - or whatever was happening to him - was driving him mad.
He hurried around his desk and checked under it. Nothing. There was no other possible place for her to hide in his office, which contained only his desk, chairs and a round conference table. She definitely wasn’t under the table.
What was going on?
This took hallucinating to a whole new level.
He raised his fingers to his nose - the fingers that had just been inside her — and smelled Lilin’s musk. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind.
Now his hallucinations included her smell?
Lilin grumbled as she walked in the Hall of the Lost. Her hair caressed her naked buttocks, the air felt cool against her breasts, and the marble floor smooth beneath her bare feet. She’d been summoned to Queen Rusalka of the Unseelie Court. No doubt because of her failure.
She’d almost had Archer. Almost had him.
There would be no resisting her tonight.
Her shoulders tensed and her skin tingled as the Unseelie Fae guards drew open the massive gold-leafed doors of Rusalka’s receiving room. The guards were dark-green skinned with pointed ears and fierce expressions. They carried even fiercer weapons.
Lilin walked along the intricately carved footpath that led through the chamber to the Queen’s throne. Walking into the chamber was like walking into the forest, complete with trees, fresh earth, and wildflower blooms.
Queen Rusalka was like all Fae: her features were ageless but she was centuries, if not millennia, old. She bore the darkness of the Unseelie.
A crown of white-gold thorns was perched upon her long ringlets and she wore a black gown as usual. Each gown was different and beautiful, but always black. Black gemstones sparkled on the bodice of her gown today, and a diaphanous skirt sheltered her small, always bare, feet.
Lilin knelt before the Queen and lowered her head.
“You have been unsuccessful.” Queen Rusalka’s sharp tone echoed through the trees in the chamber. “Twice. I commanded you to retrieve this mortal’s soul and bring it to me. But you failed.”
“Yes, my Queen.” Lilin wanted to rush to explain what had happened this second time - the interruption that broke her hold on Archer - but she bit her tongue knowing that would gain her a worse punishment.
A dangerous growl rose within Rusalka’s throat. “Fail again and I shall see you suffer a mortal’s life.”
Before Lilin could stop herself, her head shot up. “Mortal? As in human?”
Queen Rusalka narrowed her black eyes. “You dare to question me, Succubus?”
Lilin lowered her gaze. “Of course not, my Queen. I shall take Archer Dane’s soul. Tonight.”
Three
Archer stood at his wet bar with a shot of whiskey in one hand, the bottle in the other. What happened to him last night and this morning? The more he thought of it, the more absurd it seemed. Christ. Last night he had even imagined this Lilin woman had wings.
He swore he could still taste the sweetness of her mouth on his tongue, smell the rain-washed scent of her hair and her musk on his fingers.
In one swallow he downed the whiskey, then poured another shot as the drink burned his throat and warmed his chest. If he was going to lose his rnind, he might as well do a good job of it.
He downed the second shot and turned towards his fireplace - and almost dropped the bottle.
Lilin stood inches from him, her wings slowly opening and closing. With his hands full, he had no chance to react as she reached up, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her for another earth-shattering kiss.
Something about her kiss drove all thought straight from his brain. She teased him with her tongue, darting it inside his mouth and drawing it out again. She nibbled his lower lip and he groaned. Then she pulled him down so that his knees landed on a throw rug on the hardwood floor.
Damned if his knees hadn’t been giving out on him anyway. When they were kneeling, never breaking their kiss, Archer set the shot glass and the bottle to either side of them. As soon as his hands were free, he tried pushing her to the floor, but she took control and rolled him onto his back so that she was on top.
Her pelvis rubbed against the front of his jeans in a slow, tantalizing movement. At the same time she purred and nibbled his lower lip.
Archer groaned and cupped her breasts, perfect and soft with large, hard nipples pressing against his palms. Lilin moaned and rose up enough that Archer could suckle one breast then the other. Her skin tasted unlike any woman he’d known. Just like the exotic scent of her hair.
Definitely too many clothes on him. Lilin - she was perfect. Perfectly naked.
The fact he was kissing a strange woman who’d appeared and disappeared in and out of his life - and freaking had wings -barely registered as she moved her mouth to his ear and darted her tongue inside. “I want you, Archer.”
He groaned, moved his hands from her breasts and felt for her wings. They were gone. All he felt was the smooth skin of her back. He continued on, skimming her flesh to her hips then cupped her bottom.
Lilin licked a path from his ear, along his stubbled jaw, to the base of his throat. She unbuttoned his shirt and tugged it out of his waistband so that his chest was bare. Her hands never stopped exploring him. Her touch - magic. Every place on his skin that she caressed sparked as if a small electrical charge ran through him.
Her mouth, her tongue . . . He wrapped his hands in her silky hair and gripped it in his fists as she worked her way down his chest, kissing, licking, nipping his skin. He hissed and she gave a soft laugh. Like wind chimes.
Lilin continued, her tongue tracing a path from his abs to the top button of his jeans. She unbuttoned them and tugged the zipper. He didn’t wear underwear and she made a sound of pleasure as she released him.
A growl rose in his chest as he clenched his hands in her hair as she took him in her mouth. God, he was flying. His body wasn’t his own. It belonged to Lilin, a woman he didn’t even know.
The thought jarred him a fraction of a second before she took even more of him inside her warm mouth.
She dug her fingers into the sides of his jeans and dragged them down. He reluctantly let go of her hair while she tugged off each of his boots then stripped off his socks and his jeans. He rose and ditched his shirt, leaving nothing but skin against skin as she crawled back up him.
Lilin’s musk was strong as she rubbed herself against him, bracing her arms to either side of his head. “Do you want me, Archer?” she asked, her accent stronger.
Irish? What the hell. He didn’t care who she was or where she came from. He just wanted to be inside her.
But they needed protection.
She gave a cry of surprise as he rolled her over so he was on top. God, she was beautiful. Her silver eyes were filled with desire. Her skin was so fair but pink wherever his hands touched her. Silvery-blonde hair surrounded her like a halo against the forest-green rug they were lying on.
Archer pressed himself against her - he was dying to be inside her. “Condom,” he barely managed to get out as he pushed himself onto his haunches.
For a second, Lilin looked panicked, but the expression faded as she gave him a smile. “I am protected.” She held her arms out to him. “I won’t get pregnant.”
Some of the haze in his mind started to wear off. “I don’t have sex with a woman without a condom. Period.”
“Come.” She reached up to draw him to her but he pulled away.
Something wasn’t right. Something about all of this was off. He blinked and shook his head. “What am I doing?”
She looked irritated. “You were about to make love to me.”
“Like hell.” He got to his feet and she stood too. “I don’t trust a woman who argues against using condoms.”
Lilin sounded sad as she said, “Goodbye, Archer.”
She faded away.
“Shit.” Archer pushed his hand through his hair.
His clothing was scattered across the hardwood floor. The bottle of whiskey lay on its side, a puddle of liquid surrounding it.
He swore he could smell her, and he was still moist where her mouth had touched him. And he was buck-naked.
He was losing his goddamned mind.
For the first time in longer than she could remember, Lilin was in tears. She hadn’t remembered what it felt like to cry until this very moment.
She wiped her eyes before she passed through the doors into Queen Rusalka’s chamber. Lilin found it difficult to walk under the Queen’s disapproving glare.
The moment Lilin knelt before Rusalka, the Queen’s harsh voice cut through her like a blade. “You failed, Lilin of the Succubae. You were given three opportunities, and you are found lacking.”
Lilin hated the tears in her voice. “Please give me another chance, my Queen.”
“My word is law.” The Unseelie Queen’s voice echoed in the chamber. “You are now mortal, Lilin, formerly of the air Succubae. Once you are on Earth, you shall have little time to arrange your affairs before I strip you of all memories of your former life. I will provide you with what humans require to live in their world — what they refer to as identification and the paper they use to trade for goods. I will give you new memories of living your life as a human.”
Lilin looked at the Queen, fear punching her belly. “Please, my Queen. I will not fail if you give me another chance.”
Rusalka scowled. “Do you dare contradict me? I demanded that you bleed Archer of his soul. As an Incubus he once disappointed me as you have. I will not tolerate such failures.”
Lilin’s eyes widened. Archer had been Incubae?
The Queen’s face grew darker. “After giving him opportunity to adjust to his new mortal life, I stripped his memories. He remembers naught of being Incubae.” Her lips twisted into a scowl. “Rise, Lilin, mortal.”
All Lilin felt was numb as she obeyed. She didn’t feel changed. Yet. But she was a mortal. A mere human now.
“I will send you to Archer.” The Queen’s expression became amused. “He may do with you what he will. Throw you out. Fuck you. It matters not.” She gave a slight nod to her guards who stood to either side of Lilin. “Go.”
Still stunned, Lilin stared at the Queen. She didn’t move until the guards forced her to turn and walk out of the chamber and into the Hall of the Lost.
Four
So tired he could hardly see straight, Archer entered his sprawling mountainside home. He’d spent the day on a construction site and he was hungry and in need of a long hot shower.
He’d also spent the day thinking of the woman - whoever she was, whatever she was - who’d kept appearing and disappearing in and out of his life. What happened on his living room rug had been real. But the way she’d just faded away . . . He was going out of his freaking mind.
He tossed his keys on the entryway table then strode into the kitchen.
He came to a complete stop. Again.
Lilin. In his kitchen.
This time she had clothes on - jeans and a grey T-shirt with the Grateful Dead logo on it. She sat at the kitchen table, her elbows on the surface, chin in her palms, and a glum expression on her pretty face. Her silvery-blonde hair shone in the evening light coming through the bay window. Her eyes, though, looked more grey than silver as she looked at him. She didn’t smile or get up.
He rubbed his hand over his stubbled jaw. “What are you doing here?”
Lilin gave a deep sigh. “No thanks to you I’m mortal now.”
That made Archer pause. “Listen, lady. I don’t know what planet you came from—”
“Otherworld. The Unseelie Court.” She rose and draped her forearm on the table. Her Irish accent was stronger now than before. “I was a Succubus. I failed to get your soul for her so Queen Rusalka made me mortal and sent me to you to decide my fate.”
Otherworld? Unseelie Court? Queen Rusalka? The names rang like bells in Archer’s head, as if he should know them. They had to be from fairy tales read to him when he was a child.
Not that he remembered his childhood.
Lilin kicked at the table leg with her white tennis shoe. He saw a hint of her bare ankle. God, she had sexy ankles.
He shook his head to get the crazy thoughts out of his mind. “I’m tired, hungry, and I need a shower. You know your way out.”
Lilin’s eyes glistened and his gut ached at the sight of a tear rolling down her cheek.
“No crying,” he growled. “That’s not playing fair.”
“I’m sorry.” Her throat worked as she swallowed. “I have never been human before. I have no place to go, and I don’t know what to do. There is only one thing I have ever been good at, and I won’t lower myself to do it as a mortal. As a mortal I would be considered a prostitute, using my body to get what I need. I just won’t do it.”
Archer lifted a brow. “Sex?”
She sniffed and raised her chin. “If you could remember your past, you would know exactly what I’m talking about: sex and the taking of a human’s soul. In your case, a female’s soul.”
He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger before looking back at her. “Give me a break. I don’t know what’s going on and I want some answers.”
Lilin stood and moved towards him. “Did you not wonder how I could appear and disappear? And wings — do you think mortals can grow them whenever they please?” Another tear rolled down her cheek. “I failed, damn you. Now I am as cursed as you are.”
She was close enough that Archer reached up to cup her chin in his palm and rubbed away the tear with his thumb. “Why is it I want to believe you?” He continued to stroke her cheek. “What is it about the Unseelie Court and the name Queen Rusalka that makes me feel like someone punched me in the gut?”
Her grey eyes widened. “You remember?”
“Remember what?”
Lilin leaned into his touch. “You were once Incubae, as I was Succubae. But you displeased the Queen -I do not know why -and you were cast out and given a mortal’s soul and a mortal’s life. The fact you were an Incubus was probably why you were able to resist me.”
Archer shook his head. “I should take you straight to the hospital and have you admitted to a psych ward.”
Another tear rolled down her cheek, this one bigger. “I have no way to prove any of this. Queen Rusalka said I have little time to get my affairs in order before I will be as you and not able to remember my former life.” She drew away from him and folded her arms beneath her breasts.
Those perfect breasts . . .
He snapped back to attention as she continued, more tears rolling down her cheeks. “If you do not help me, then I may as well be taken to a hospital. At least then I will have housing and food.” She sighed. “I now know what hunger is. I have not had a meal all day and my stomach makes a funny rumbling, growling sound.” She sniffled as a virtual flood of tears started.
Archer couldn’t help himself. He was a sucker for crying females. He reached for her and brought her into his embrace. She buried her face against his shirt and sobbed.
“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered as she tilted her head up to face him. “Where does a Succubus go when she isn’t immortal any more?”
He squeezed her tighter to him and couldn’t believe the words that came out of his mouth. “You can stay here for now, OK?”
Five
Today was sunny and Lilin stood on the porch breathing in clean scents of pine and fresh earth. In the distance she heard the trickle of a creek, and it reminded her of something -something she couldn’t quite remember. It had been nearly a month since she started living with Archer and already she had forgotten much of her life as Succubae. The more she struggled to remember, the harder it became.
It took a while before she and Archer fell into a routine. Lilin was so grateful to Archer she would have done anything for him, but he asked nothing of her. She had no skills - as an immortal she had even had to use magic to help at his office the day she replaced his assistant.
She would be a disaster as a human.
Archer took her step by step through small tasks. First teaching her how to cook, starting with how to boil water. That had nearly been a catastrophe when she knocked over the teakettle and water flooded the burner and snuffed the gas flame.
But she could now spread a substance called peanut butter on bread, although she had problems with jelly - wiggly, sticky stuff. She normally ended up with half on her shirt, but triumphant with the half that made it onto the other slice of bread. The taste was quite pleasant.
He was a patient teacher, but she knew when he was trying to hide a smile when she was mad enough to scream with frustration. The first time Archer grinned at one of her blunders, she had stomped on his foot. He kept his amusement to himself after that.
Wind stirred Lilin’s hair, bringing with it the scent of an oncoming thunderstorm. She felt as if she could fly with the wind and soar through the trees.
What an odd thought.
It was difficult being around Archer and not sharing his bed. She was sure he felt the same, if the hardness in his jeans whenever he came near her was any indication. But he respected her clear desire not to use her body to gain favour. In contrast to her former life, she would no longer bed a man unless he cared for her, and she for him.
She wished to please him in other ways. For the time being. She was no longer Succubae and she would learn to live like a human. If it killed her.
Which it might if she didn’t learn how to run that infernal washing machine. The first time she tried to wash a load of clothes herself, as a surprise for Archer, she’d put too much “detergent” into it. Bubbles had flowed out as if it was foaming at the mouth. In the beginning the bubbles were rather delightful, but it wasn’t long before her delight turned to horror.
Her cheeks heated as she remembered how she had frantically used the “telephone”, punching in the numbers Archer had left scribbled on a pad next to the phone. He’d hurried home to find her rushing around with towels to mop up the bubbles that kept pouring from the machine’s mouth.
He’d turned it off and the soap bubbles stopped pouring out of it. She thought she heard him snort with laughter. The moment she shot her angry gaze at him, his features turned innocent.
Now Lilin shook her head and went into the house where she’d prepared a surprise dinner for Archer. She liked how predictable he was in coming home at the same time every day.
She’d set the table the way he’d taught her. In the centre she placed the mashed potatoes (so, they were a little lumpy and watery), peas (that were just a tad brown), and a beef roast she’d been cooking all day in the crockpot (it was on the overdone side, but never mind that). For dessert, she would grab the ice cream stashed in the freezer and the chocolate sauce from the refrigerator. She couldn’t go wrong with that. She hoped.
On the table was the jelly jar filled with wildflower blooms he’d brought home yesterday.
Lilin wondered at the happiness expanding in her chest.
Thumping noises on the steps and porch. Archer’s home!
A smile lit her face as she hurried to open the door. “I made dinner,” she said as soon as he walked in. “By myself.”
He gave her one of his sexy grins after he closed the door. To her surprise, he caught her by the waist, brought her to him, and brushed his lips over hers. “Thank you,” he murmured against her mouth, and her knees nearly gave out on her.
Wow. If he did that each time she had dinner waiting for him, she was going to prepare a meal every day.
Archer drew away and she steadied herself by placing her palm on the entryway table. He took her free hand and led her to the kitchen where they sat at the table.
If Archer was unhappy with dinner, he didn’t show it. He ate two big helpings of everything! She couldn’t help grinning as he ate.
Later, when she started to prise spoonfuls of ice cream from the container into two dessert dishes, he didn’t laugh when she flung a chunk of ice cream across the kitchen. However, she did see amusement in his eyes when she squirted chocolate sauce on her face and hands instead of on what ice cream had made it into the cups.
“Let me help.” He took her in his arms and licked sauce from her nose and cheeks. She shivered with every touch, every kiss, as he continued on to her palms and wrists. When he had licked every bit of chocolate off her, he leaned his back against the kitchen counter and brought her fully into his embrace. She tilted her face and looked into his eyes before he moved his mouth to hers.
Six
Lilin sank against Archer and moaned as he devoured her. He tasted of chocolate and male. Better than anything she remembered tasting. His scent — Goddess, he smelled good. Testosterone, sawdust from the work site, pine and fresh air from the outdoors.
In all the time she’d lived with him, he hadn’t kissed her. He’d taught her, taken care of her, bought her clothes, and had done so much for her. He’d never pressed her for anything.
In truth, she hadn’t been ready. She, a former Succubus, was not ready for sex as a mortal. The thought was so absurd she would have laughed if she weren’t so busy moaning at the things Archer was doing to her.
He kissed her thoroughly, like no human male should be able to. His big hands stroked her body as if she was fragile. He eased his hands further down until he cupped her buttocks, squeezing and massaging them.
His hardness pressed against her belly as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The ache between her thighs was fierce and her breasts felt heavy. She wanted him now, more than anything she had ever wanted before.
When he raised his head, his eyes were darker blue and his chest rose and fell faster than before. “I need a shower.”
“I’m sticky from the chocolate.” She bit his lower lip. “I’ll join you.”
“We’ll save water.” He slipped his tongue into her mouth then drew it out again. “Economical.”
He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist and kept her arms tight around his neck as he carried her into his bedroom.
Archer started the shower so the water would run warm. God, he’d wanted Lilin for so long. But he’d given her time to adjust and had given himself time to get to know her.
She had to be from another world. Or raised by wolves. She’d been like a child needing to be taught almost everything. He enjoyed her delight in simple things, like the time he brought wildflowers home for her. She’d been so disappointed when the first flowers had wilted that he brought her bouquets almost daily.
He finished adjusting the water’s temperature and found Lilin naked. As magical as if she were still a Succubus. The idea still seemed unbelievable, but everything about Lilin was unusual.
She was so beautiful. Her silvery-blonde hair tumbled to her waist; her grey eyes were wide and innocent.
He took her into his arms and felt the softness of her body through his clothing. When he kissed her, he lost himself in the moment, never wanting it to end. Only the pounding of water against marble reminded him of their shower.
Archer stripped while she watched, and he tossed his clothing onto hers. Her eyes told him she wanted him, and that she was just as filled with desire as he.
He led her beneath the spray, shielding her from the brunt of the hard blast until they got used to it. She laughed and tilted her chin so that the water sprayed her face before she turned her back to it. He reached for shampoo and squirted some on his hand before starting to soap then rinse her hair.
When he finished he tilted her face so that their gazes met. He brushed his lips over hers before drawing back. “Everything about you is beautiful.”
Lilin smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him again. “You are beautiful.”
He released her, picked up a sponge and poured gel on it to wash her body. His body ached as he touched her.
Before soaping her breasts, he paused to suckle each of her nipples. Lilin moaned and gripped her hands in his hair.
God, she tasted sweet.
The crisp smell of soap didn’t mask her scent of desire as he knelt. He used the sponge to pay close attention to her belly, thighs, legs, each delicate foot. He turned her to face the spray and wash the soap from her body.
Still on his knees, Archer nuzzled her soft mound. She fisted his hair tighter and cried out as he ran his tongue between her legs.
“Goddess. Archer.” She pressed his face closer. Her legs trembled, her body tensed, and he knew she was close to flying towards the stars. A little more and she’d go supernova.
He bit her lightly and she screamed. Her whole body shook and her face flushed with the power of her orgasm. When her legs gave out and she dropped into his arms he felt somehow triumphant — that he had brought her to her knees.
He took her mouth in a fierce kiss, feeling a sense of ownership and protectiveness.
“I don’t know if I can get up,” she whispered when he moved his mouth from hers.
Archer smiled and kissed her lightly before drawing her up to stand. She pressed her face to his wet chest and gave a deep sigh. “I’ve never felt anything like that.” She tilted her face up. “I have few memories left, but I know that no man ever made me feel the way you do.”
The thought of any other man with Lilin sent a stab of jealousy through his chest. Maybe it shouldn’t have, but he wanted her to think only of him, as if he was her first. His touch, his kiss, his hips between her thighs as he took her.
And God, he needed to be inside her now.
Even though she wanted to wash him as he had washed her, he refused and made short work of shampooing his hair and scrubbing his body with the sponge. After shutting off the water and climbing out of the shower, they dried off with a pair of towels.
Archer picked her up and she dropped her towel before she wrapped her legs around his hips and held on to his shoulders. She kissed him as he strode across the room and they tumbled onto the bed. The need to be a part of her was so great he was in a fog of lust.
Love.
The word came out of nowhere, pressing against his mind. Could the feeling in his chest be love for Lilin?
He touched her, kissed her, slid his hips between her thighs.
“Wait,” she said, her voice husky and her eyes heavy-lidded.
“What, baby?” he murmured as he nibbled at her ear.
She gave one of her sexy little moans. “The protection you said you wanted to use the last time I came to you.”
Stunned at himself and his forgetfulness, Archer rose and looked down at Lilin, the first woman he wanted to take, screw the protection. He brushed his lips over hers. “Thank you,” he murmured.
It took him all of ten seconds to reach into his nightstand drawer and pull out a condom package.
When he was ready, he looked down at his Lilin. She was so beautiful. And she was so very much his.
When he drove himself deep inside her, she cried out, “Oh, Goddess!” with the sound of pain in her voice.
Archer went completely still. “You’re a virgin?”
She looked as surprised as he did. “My memories aren’t clear any more.”
He didn’t move. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” She smiled. “The way you fill me is wonderful.”
And she was so tight. Her velvet core gripped him like a fist and he couldn’t move for a moment or he’d come.
Slowly, he drew out, then slid back in. He didn’t want to hurt her.
She dug her fingernails into his biceps. “More, Archer.”
He gritted his teeth as he withdrew, then drove himself back inside her. Again he drew out slowly, then thrust into her. She made small cries and he nearly growled with the feelings of possessiveness that grabbed him.
As he took her, Lilin’s body began to tremble, her thighs shaking against his hips. Her lips were parted, her eyes glazed and her moans louder.
While he continued to make love to her, he waited. Waited. Waited. Holding back his own orgasm.
He drove in again. She arched her back and screamed. Her body rocked and writhed beneath him. Her core clamped so hard on him that he lost it. He shouted and pressed his hips tight against her as she continued to contract around him and his throbbing seemed to go on forever.
Finally he collapsed, barely rolling to the side in time to keep his weight from crushing her petite frame.
For a long time they held one another, her head against his chest, their breathing deep and ragged, him still inside her.
When he had the strength, he started kissing her forehead, inhaling her special scent and feeling incredible warmth deep in his heart and soul.
He brushed her wet hair away from her face with his fingertips. She lifted her head to look at him and smiled. Such an innocent, sweet, genuine smile. Nothing like the sultry, experienced look she’d given him when she’d been a Succubus.
Archer no longer doubted his sanity - or hers.
And now he’d lost his heart to this sweet woman in his arms. He wanted to show her the world and then give it to her.
Give everything to her.
The vision of a clear stone slipped through his mind. He drew away from Lilin and rolled out of bed.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, sounding concerned. “Archer?”
Confusion clouded Archer’s mind, but he knew he had to go to his drawer. “Wait.”
He reached his bureau, opened his sock drawer, and dug through it. His fingers finally touched something round and hard, hidden in one of his socks. When he returned to the bed, he shook the sock out over the mattress. An enormous diamond slipped out of it. Archer’s eyes widened, and so did Lilin’s.
Where had it come from and why had he just remembered having it?
He grasped the stone in his hand - and everything came back in a rush so fast he nearly collapsed.
Every memory of being an Incubus, every woman he had ever taken. And Queen Rusalka with her fierce beauty and even fiercer temper. She’d been pissed with him when he’d said no to becoming one of her concubines. He’d never expected her to make him human.
The Queen had given him the stone so that every now and then he would remember what he had lost - an immortal life and the ability to bed any woman he wanted, every night if he chose to. But he had to be holding the diamond to remember. A little while after he parted with it, his memories would be gone again.
But with the stone he could also call to the Queen and beg to have his old life back.
He looked from the diamond to his beautiful Lilin. He would give her the stone, allowing her to remember her past - and return to the Unseelie Court.
His heart in his throat, he placed the diamond in her hand and folded her fingers around it. “My gift to you.”
Immediately, shock registered on Lilin’s features as she held the stone, and her eyes darted back and forth as if she was watching a ping-pong match.
“I could return,” Lilin whispered. “The Queen would take me back.”
It hit him like a blow to the chest. Lilin might leave. She would go back to the Queen and she would forget he existed.
And he would never forget her.
In that single crystal-clear moment he realized how much she had come to mean to him over the period of time he’d known her.
He didn’t want to lose her.
Archer was on the verge of grabbing her, taking her into his arms and holding her tight so she could never leave him. Then she blinked as if coming back to reality and looked at him for a long moment.
His words and his breath caught in his throat as she took the sock he had hidden the diamond in, and slipped the stone inside so that it dropped to the toe.
Lilin handed it to Archer and smiled. “I choose to live a mortal life if it means I can be with you.” She bit her lower lip before adding, “If you’ll have me.”
The relief was so great it stunned him.
“Will I have you?” Archer tossed the sock-covered diamond over his shoulder and it landed on the floor with a thump. “Does that answer your question?” He planned to take that damned stone and bury it in the landfill first thing in the morning.
She grinned and flung her arms around his neck. “I think I love you, Archer.”
“I know I love you, Lilin.” Archer couldn’t keep the love out of his smile and voice as he looked down at her. “And I’m never letting you go.”