Page 8 of Dead Air
Roger skidded and caught himself, inches from the edge. His arms were out and his hands shook as he looked behind him. “What the fuck was that?” he whispered, searching the shadows between the trees. He straightened and took a cautious step away from the cliff, leaning as he scanned for any sign of Cenn.
The moment and Roger’s tension stretched until Cenn made himself visible again, large and burning with vengeance. “Still here!” he laughed, startling Roger and making him scream as he drew back and tripped over the edge.
“Please!” he cried as his arms windmilled and reached for Cenn, his gaze brimming with pure panic as he plummeted.
Cenn sniffed long and hard, inhaling every trace of terror and savoring the distant thuds as Roger hit the cliff’s rocky face and tumbled the rest of the way to the ledge. Elated, Cenn flew down to see the aftermath. He found Roger, his body twisted and his limbs sprawled. Blood poured from the corner of his mouth and he made a cracking, wheezing sound as he panted in the dirt and brush.
“Help me! Please!” he rasped weakly but Cenn clicked his teeth and shook his head.
“I will not. I will let you suffer, Rog, until your sick heart stops beating and then you will waste away in the void, lost and alone in the long, cold darkness.”
“No! Please!” Roger begged and added to Cenn’s delight. “Help me!”
Instead, Cenn hunkered down next to the dying man and saw his soul, thin and empty as it floated away like a plastic bag caught in a gust of wind. It would pass from the warm world of the living and into the vast wastes between this world and theOtherworld. In time, Roger’s soul would be warped and twisted into something aching, mindless, and eternal. There would be no great hound or Valkyrie to shepherd Roger’s soul to glory, so he would become a sluagh, a slave to the empty darkness.
Once Roger had breathed his last breath and his soul had slipped away, Cenn went to watch over Niall. He was passed out in his bed, his book open and on his chest. He’d bathed and had gone to bed in nothing but a pair of boxers but Cenn couldn’t smell Niall’s cum and sensed that he was still restless. Niall hadn’t gotten off and Cenn flattered himself, wondering if his mortal had gone to bed missing him.
Cenn eased the quilt and sheet aside, lulling Niall into a deeper sleep. “See me. See Chance,” he commanded gently.
A drunken smile tugged at Niall’s lips. “Chance’s nice,” he slurred and nodded loosely. “Wanna see ‘im naked. Have his babies.”
That had Cenn fighting back a howl of laughter. “I’m afraid that isn’t possible but I’ll see what I can do about the naked part, my love.” He flinched, scolding himself for his silliness. He was confusing possessiveness for love. Demons weren’t capable of loving, only coveting. And there would be no family, even if Niall could manage to spawn an infant without anything resembling a uterus.
Demons couldn’t love and their loyalty to their dark task came first. Like the sluagh, demons were compelled to cover the world in darkness and suffering. That was what gave Cenn his power and made him strong, the way the light of glorious souls nourished and protected the inhabitants of the Otherworld.
He could never love Niall, but Cenn would protect him and shower his beautiful, gentle mortal with affection and pleasure for as long as he could. But pleasure for a demon was different. Without a working soul, Cenn had no arousal of his own. He could mirror off of a human’s pleasure, feeling only theadrenaline and exertion until his partner felt the stirrings of ecstasy. Then, if Cenn was close enough to share their thoughts, he could tap into their energy and pleasure and feel it with them.
Cenn could also feel when a mortal’s will was being violated and unlike some demons, he didn’t revel in that kind of control. And after all he had learned, Cenn cherished the indomitable spark of Niall’s will and his brave, generous heart. Snuffing that out would have been a terrible waste and would rob Cenn of any enjoyment he might find in the matter.
It didn’t take any finesse and there had been very little joy in killing a cruel coward like Roger. His soul was flimsy and gross so Cenn hadn’t even bothered, swatting it away like a gnat. Roger’s fate was in the void and Cenn had better things to do with his time.
Like touching Niall.
The moment their hands clasped had been blinding and had nearly brought Cenn to his knees. He’d never touched anything so pure and soft. Niall’s soul felt so much more beautiful than Cenn was expecting and he was hooked before their palms had even connected. Just the thought of an animal like Roger even looking athisNiall enraged Cenn.
“All mine.” He lowered onto the bed, spreading himself over Niall’s body and shuddering at the heady bliss. Cenn was intoxicated as he breathed Niall in and wallowed in his soft, warm glow. If humans were drugs, Niall would be heroin. “Do you want to kiss Chance?” he whispered as he traced Niall’s lips with his smoky fingers.
Niall licked his lips and Cenn’s fingers. “Yes!” It turned into a moan as Cenn’s fingers swirled around Niall’s tongue. Hot, urgent need flared within Niall and Cenn fed on it, greedily sucking in every gasp and fanning his desire.
“More?”
“More, Chance!” Niall bucked off the bed, writhing impatiently beneath Cenn.
“That’s my good boy… Tell me what you want.”
“Need you to…flick me, Chance. Flick me hard!” he whimpered and mumbled.
“Shhh!” Cenn chuckled quietly, smoky fingers sifting through Niall’s hair and stroking his jaw and lips to soothe him. “One hardflickcoming up, my love.”
“Mmm!” There was a loud, enthusiastic moan as Niall’s tongue thrust against smoke and a tendril swept along his thigh and up the leg of his boxers. He shifted and raised his knee to give Cenn more access, hissing and nodding frantically when his hole was brushed.
Cenn started out gentle, a wisp of smoke seeping past flinching, puckered flesh and making Niall shiver and giggle. He spread and filled Niall’s passage, caressing his walls as he swirled and stretched. Slowly and steadily, Cenn guided the tendril back and forth, making it firmer and hotter as Niall’s moans grew louder. His legs kicked and Niall clawed at the bedding, undulating beneath Cenn and begging for more, more,more.
His lustful euphoria was sublime and Cenn had never felt so high as he filled Niall over and over again and drank his feral cries. And he lapped upeverydrop of sweat and saliva, every tear and every dribble of pre-cum with curls of smoke that wound around Niall’s neck, torso, and limbs. Smoke lashed and wrapped around Niall’s cock and teased the slit, sucking the cum from him as he came, babbling adoringly at Chance and ordering him tokeep going.
In his sleep, Niall rolled onto his knees and arched his back. His face was buried in his pillow as he invited Chance to mount him and begged to be bred. Cenn rolled up his sleeves—figuratively—and pinned Niall to the bed, roughly filling hismouth and his ass while tugging at his erection.Thatfinally did it, driving Niall wild with pleasure and making him come with a muffled scream.
Cenn was spiritually winded as he cradled Niall, stunned at the incredible pleasure and the connection he’d felt. He’d had sex countless times, through countless creatures, but it had never felt as joyful and as vivid as it had with Niall. It wasverysimilar to the way an animal gave itself to the rush of the rut, but Niall didn’t fear his primal self the way most mortals did. He didn’t lie to himself about what he wanted or liked and he wasn’t afraid of where his imagination might take him.
