Page 41 of Incubus

I paid them no more attention, my whole being focused on Lilah. She was still out, but the pink bloom was steadily returning to her cheeks. I breathed a sigh of relief, not realizing how on edge I’d been until now. The thought of Lilah dying had been a shock to my system, one I wouldn’t soon forget.

I lifted her from the couch with ease and took her to my bedroom. There was no way I was letting her out of my sight until she could stand on her own two feet again.

“Anne,” I called down the hall.

As I smoothed her hair, Anne and Corinne appeared in the nymph’s doorway. “What happened to her?” Anne asked, approaching and inspecting the bloodied wound on Lilah’s arm.

“Fury attack. She’ll live. I need you to help me bathe her.”

“I can take care of that. It would be my pleasure,” Corinne purred from the doorway.

“No,” I didn’t care how cross I sounded. “I need someone to take care of her, not prey on her.”

“Suit yourself.” Corinne smirked before retreating to her room.

“Anne, I need you to help me as much as you can. Let’s strip her and get her in the bath. We need to wash the wound and make sure all the venom is out.”

“Okay.” She began unbuttoning Lilah’s pants. Ordinarily, I would have been especially pleased to have Lilah in my bed, about to get naked. But all I could think about was the wound she’d endured for me.

“Be as gentle as possible. I’ll get the bath running.” I felt a modicum of trust in Anne. She was a gentle nymph who’d only recently reached her immortality. She hadn’t lived long enough to be embittered by fate, unlike Corinne.

I ran a warm bath for Lilah and undressed, showering off before returning to the bedroom for her. I didn’t realize how badly I’d been wounded in the accident until I saw so much of my blood disappearing down the drain. If Lilah hadn’t been there, hadn’t saved me, the fury would have killed me as easily as crushing a bug. That’s what came of me ignoring the incubus’s needs and refusing to take Anne or Corinne on the night I brought Lilah home. I was weaker than I should have been.

“Shall I leave you now?” A surprising timidity colored the tones of Anne’s voice.

“No, I want you here in case she wakes, so she’ll know I wasn’t trying anything.”

Anne followed me into the bathroom and took a seat on a bench near the door. I sank down into the warm water, settling Lilah between my knees, her back to my chest. I couldn’t ignore the beautiful curves of her body, her supple breasts that would be just more than a handful, and the enticing curls at the juncture of her thighs. But I controlled myself, keeping Lilah away from my thickening shaft. She needed me to be a gentleman, and that’s exactly what I was going to be, even if it killed me.

I poured water over her silky hair, lathering it up and rinsing until the shampoo was gone. Then I soaped up a loofah and set to work on her body, carefully washing the now-closing wound on her arm before wiping the remnants of blood away from her ears.

Anne watched with wonder as I cleaned Lilah. “I’ve never seen you like this.”

“You’ve seen me naked in the tub plenty of times,” I deflected, knowing full well that’s not what she meant.

“No. You’re naked in the tub with a beautiful woman and you haven’t gone incubus. He’s in there, but he’s working with you instead of against you.”

“She’s clean,” I said gruffly. I didn’t know what it meant either and didn’t feel like discussing it. “Grab a towel. I’ll lift her and you’ll dry her.”

She dropped the conversation and did as I’d said, drying Lilah off and wrapping a towel around her hair. I carried her to my bed, snugging her between my sheets before drying and dressing myself. Thankfully, my erection had gone down enough so I could tuck it into the waistband of my pajama bottoms.

I dropped a quick kiss on Anne’s forehead. “Thank you for that.”

“Of course.” With one last glance at me, Anne took her leave.

I lay down next to Lilah, though I was careful to stay on top of the covers. I couldn’t risk being so close to her bare body, couldn’t trust the incubus to stay under control.

Her breathing was steady and even, and the pallor was gone from her skin. The incubus relaxed inside me, curling up like a watchdog to guard Lilah for the rest of the night. I didn’t recognize its actions, had never felt this sensation before. It was as if the incubus and I wanted the same thing. But perhaps this was nothing new—the incubus craved the chase, and Lilah had been giving it the toughest of its life. She seemed utterly immune to my charm, which both irked and excited me. I’d seduced every woman I’d ever touched—many with no more than simply giving them a look or crooking my finger at them. But Lilah… She was something different. She was give and take instead of all give as I’d come to expect from females.

The thought of her standing against a fury with nothing more than a paltry dagger made my lips curl into a smile. She was much tougher than she appeared. I traced the runes on her neck, though I still couldn’t discern which god’s service she’d been in. The fact that she’d been in service at all spoke of her mettle—gods warred against each other almost constantly. No doubt she’d been to battle more than a few times in her life. I imagined her on the battlefield, her dark hair flowing out behind her as immortals clashed for supremacy. My gaze strayed even lower, to the swell of her breasts beneath the sheets, my heart quickening at the sight and the incubus purring with approval.

I sighed deeply and wrenched my gaze back to her face, peaceful in sleep. It was foolish to think Lilah could ever return my affections. She’d been disgusted by my vulnerability in the catacombs. In answer, I’d sought to distance myself from her by lying about the kiss, but even now I could taste her on my tongue, a sultry sweet flavor that left me wanting more. I feared I would always want more.

She stirred toward me in her sleep, seemingly seeking the rays of the moon that filtered through the window. Or perhaps seeking me? Her hair had come loose from the towel and curled around her face and shoulders in ebon waves. Her dark lashes were like lace lightly touching her lower lids. Had she not been injured, I would have been unable to resist her. My shaft ached and I again took in her gorgeous form. To lick the buds of her nipples and taste the sweetness between her thighs. I stopped myself from thinking about it before I was too far gone. The incubus grumbled in my chest but didn’t push it any further. I placed my hand on hers and settled in to watch her, having to satisfy myself with just that touch and nothing more.

My wounds had taken a toll, as drowsiness overcame me fairly quickly. Even an immortal as powerful as I was couldn’t cheat death forever, and the close calls required rest to regenerate.

I closed my eyes and remembered the feel of her yielding to me in the club, opening her lips so my tongue could penetrate. The incubus and I fell asleep and dreamed of her, only her.

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