Page 38 of Devil's Deal

The breath I held while expecting the pleasure to crest whooshes out of me. I blink hard, my body hovering between the states of tension and bliss, so uncomfortable, I want to crawl out of my skin. It’s sticky and agonizing.

Time stretches into a long moment of confusion and then snaps back, reality rushing to me. A woman screams in pleasure, and I have a ridiculous notion that my orgasm was ripped out of my hands and given to her. I blink again. With every second, the bliss trickles out of me, replaced by howling disappointment.

“You… you…” I can’t form words. Fury and disbelief choke me.

Woland growls in frustration and sits back, the cage of his antlers lifting from my hips. He closes his eyes and throws his head back, facing the sky as he breathes hard, his erection pulsing.

I shake my head, my stomach squirming with discomfort. Finally, a throaty moan coming from nearby jolts me out of my disappointed daze. I scramble to my feet, covering myself with my dress. Gods. What did I do?

“This could be so fucking easy, Jaga,” he says, his eyes still closed.

He sits on his heels in the grass, practically kneeling at my feet. I have a gnawing urge to kick him in the face but don’t dare come closer.

I can’t trust myself around him. I just proved it for everyone to see.

Why did I let him touch me? What’s wrong with me?

The bulk of the fury I feel is at myself, not even at him. I knew what he was from the moment I saw him. The devil is deceptive, evil, and he speaks no truth. Only fools trust his wicked whispers. And so, this is what I am.

A damned fool.

Ida’s throaty voice splits the night air and my eyes drift to her. All my desire is gone, wiped out by the potent fury, so I watch with mild interest as one man licks the mess between her legs, honey and Janek’s cum mixed together, and another fucks her mouth. Janek sits by, staring at it with hooded eyes.

When the boy fucking Ida’s mouth comes, Janek pushes him away and takes his place. He drops a kiss on Ida’s mouth and then shoves his cock down her throat, gagging her. The man eating her pussy starts to fuck her. Her body is jolted in a violent rhythm, taken from both ends.

It’s another thing that never happened at Kupala before. Normally, they always take turns, and I’ve never seen two men converging on a woman before. But Ida seems happy if the moans she releases between thrusts are any indication. Good for her.

Further down the meadow, other couples and groups fuck, tangled in heaps of naked bodies.

Something moves in the dark on the very edge of the firelight, an unsteady shape of a man. I squint, finally making out Bogna’s husband. He has a flask in his hand, drinking deeply as he watches the orgy. Bogna is a few steps behind him, looking lost and uncertain. Her eyes flick to me and I’m startled by the plea I see in them.

I look at Przemyslaw again. Yes, he’s very drunk. Too drunk for my herbs to work. And, judging by his preoccupation with the orgy, his libido is back, as well. The herbs normally suppress it, just like they do his violent temper.

He drank enough alcohol for all the effects to wear off. He’s completely himself now, or maybe worse. After all, Woland’s magic wipes out shame. Who knows how violent Przemyslaw is without it.

And I’m trapped in the circle. I can’t help my friend.

Bogna’s best bet is to run and hide somewhere he won’t find her until he sobers up. I raise my hand to beckon her closer to tell her that, but she’s not looking at me. She watches her husband, and his bloodshot eyes are on her.

“This should be interesting,” Woland says in a low, vicious voice right behind me.

A chill runs down my spine, and it’s like my body knows before my mind catches up. I take a step closer to the invisible barrier and feel it with my hands. It’s still there, as unyielding and solid as ever.

“Let me out,” I growl, not looking at him.

My eyes are glued to the swaying, dark silhouette of Przemyslaw. He looks like he’ll fall over any moment, but I know it’s deceptive. Right now, he’s at his most dangerous.

“Let’s establish the right context for everything that will play out here,” Woland says softly, coming closer.

He snakes his arm around my collarbones, pressing me to him. The towering mass of him behind my back makes me nauseous.

There he is, the cruel, powerful devil from the tales. Yet only minutes ago, he was between my legs while I shamelessly let him touch me. And now I’ll pay.

Because I never should have trusted him. I never should have forgotten what he is. A creature so dark and powerful, his very presence poisons the land.

When I try to tear free, he holds me back without any effort at all.

“Remember when I said I’d kill everyone you love?”

---