Page 12 of Oh No! There's an Incubus in my Hot Spring
Strip.
I chew my lip. Someone might see.
No one will see.
I look over the edge, left then right. Sure enough, I’m alone up here. It should scare me, but instead I feel calm. Maybe it’s the wine.
I pull off my shirt and push down my yoga pants with my underwear, then flick my socks at the pile next to the lantern. For a moment, I just revel in the feeling of steam on my skin with the mountain breeze. I’ve never done anything like this, and it feels so fucking good.
I turn to the pool and sit at the edge. There’s no handrail leading in, another safety feature that must be rectified. But enough of the assessment for now. The water sears my toes as I dip into the first layer of the pool.
“Hot!” I exclaim, jerking back reflexively.
The wind seems to carry a deep chuckle that ruffles my hair. I push my dark, attempting-to-become-unruly locks up into a messy ponytail and tie it off. A few breaths later, I feel ready to step back in.
The water tingles up my calves, knees, thighs, and hips as I push off the edge and drop down into the pool. It’s so hot it feels like my skin is melting, but in a good way.
“Fuck,” I whisper to the navy sky.
Stars speckle the growing darkness above and I sigh down into the water. What a gorgeous place. I should probably check the pH balance and see if the sulfur levels are high enough to actually burn my skin off…
“I would never hurt you,” the rumbling voice flows on the wind.
I sit up, water sloshing off me, and look around. There’s no one here. I’m completely alone, but that voice was not mine, or Charlie’s…and Charlie is just me.
“What the fuuuuuck.”
I’m just spooked from Irene’s story and the tag on the wall. Leonard isn’t here. No one is here but me.
That’s it. Just spooked.
Relaxing is out the window now, so I move toward the edge of the pool.
Pressure wraps around my wrist and a deep voice whispers in my ear, “Don’t go, lovely. I need you.”
four
Oh No! There’s an Incubus in My Hot Spring
Iwhirl toward the voice, splashing water over the balcony. Some of it connects with…something. Some presence. The water slides down a face and chest made visible only by the moving water.
I push my hands out and splash more water in that direction, highlighting the figure again. It has a very masculine jaw, strong figure, broad shoulders, and horns. Of course it has horns. This has got to be some kind of prank. Maybe Irene set Leonard on a quest to scare the new girl.
“Who are you?” I ask stupidly as I cover myself with my arms.
“I think the more important question is, what can I do for you?” the deep, smoky voice replies.
“You’re trespassing,” I say. “Get out before I call the police.”
The apparition hums in amusement. “I love a witch with spirit.”
“Seriously, leave,” I declare, standing my ground despite my little lizard brain screaming at me to run as he moves closer.
Mist swirls off the water and the entity before me materializes as if fueled by the spring itself. Dark gray skin with twisting teal tattoos ripples into existence over hard abs and taut pecs. Long silver hair frames his masculine jaw, and white fangs glint behind his sultry smirk. His eyes glow like magical chips of ice as he assesses me. Curved horns jut from the top of his head, encircled by an unearthly halo of blue and white transparent mist. Wings snap out from behind his back, and a spade tail whips out of the water.
I whirl toward the edge of the pool and wade as fast as I can. The demon surges behind me, capturing me around the neck and waist. I suck down a deep gasp to scream, but he covers my mouth with a claw-tipped hand. “Don’t do that, lovely. You’ll disrupt the peace.”
I shout and bite the meat of his palm, scratching his arms and flailing for my life, but of course this monstrous creature isn’t hurt by my blunt little nails and teeth. He pulls me against his chest and shushes me.
