Page 17 of The Wickedness of Man

“May I kiss you, Magda?” she asked again, her voice breathless.

I hesitated. Did it matter if this was some extreme therapy for people like me? What if it worked? The smaller part of me wondered:What if she’s right?

I wanted to be touched. I wanted to be kissed. I wanted to have someone do to me the things the other girls had always talked about with such relish and abandon. I wanted to feel the waythey’dfelt when they discussed it.

I met her eyes, shivering as I answered, “Yes.”

Dr. Lowe pressed her lips to mine, smothering my body with hers. My whole being surged with something akin to electricity. I opened my mouth to gasp and beg as heat poured through me and waves of pleasure undulated from without and within, and in that moment, Dr. Lowe slipped her tongue against mine and deepened the kiss. I wrapped my arms around her neck, holding her tight. Her hands roamed farther south, slipping beneath my tank top and bra, fingers kneading my breast until I let out a moan that sent my back arching off the couch.

“Magnificent,” she whispered. “You taste every bit as wonderful as I’d thought you would.”

“Please,” I gasped. I didn’t even know what to ask for; how to ask;whatI was asking. “Please.” It was the only word I could utter. “Please!”

“Of course, darling, of course,” said Dr. Lowe, returning to her ministrations.

She kissed me harder, faster, then moved her mouth down in agonizingly slow kisses to the breast she was twisting within her expert grasp. The moment her tongue found my nipple, something within me overflowed. A snap, a pop—something I couldn’t name. Need screamed within me, and I realizedIwas the one screaming. Pleasure was an ache; pain was delight—I couldn’t tell which was one and which was the other. It all poured out like someone had broken through a dam inside of me I’d never known was there before.

“Please,” I begged, her teeth scraping my breast, tearing the skin slightly. “I’m going to lose my mind!”

“No, love,” said Dr. Lowe as her mouth moved lower. She left her hands on my breasts but kissed her way down toward my belly button, her tongue swirling along the skin, dipping ever closer to my pelvis. “I’m going to help you find it.”

The door to the room burst open, and without warning, a surge of that electric heat swept over me, and I was I lost to the sensation.

Caleb

“Step away from her, Dr. Lowe,” I growled at the succubus, leveling my gun, cocking it just in case she wanted to know if I was fucking around or not.

The gun contained blessed silver bullets—and while I didn’t have authorization to kill her, firing off a couple rounds into a knee or shoulder would still hurt like hell and keep her occupied until she’d worked the holy metal back out again.

Dr. Lowe didn’t even bother to hide her succubus form—fangs on full display in a sneer, curled horns on her head, huge, sweeping bat-like wings protruding from her back, a long, thin tail with a sharp spike on the edge that would have made a sting ray jealous. She was twitching in irritation at my interruption to her feeding.

“So rude, after everything I did for you,” she spat, tail swishing through the air behind her like an agitated cat. “This was a consensual andlegalsex therapy session—and oh! See! Look what you’ve done! She’s out cold, dammit!”

I looked over at the girl passed out on the couch, and though I tried, I couldn’t keep my eyes from sweeping longingly over her bared breasts. There were teeth marks along the side of one of her right nipple; a thin trail of blood leaked out.

“Doesn’t look consensual to me,” I said, forcing my eyes back to the doctor. “Cover her.”

“I’ll admit, I got a little… over excited,” said Dr. Lowe, doing as instructed and pulling the woman’s bra and tank top back down, and then gently ran a finger down the side of her cheek. “Marvelous, isn’t she? Oh, and don’t worry, she’s perfectly fine—check for yourself if you don’t believe me. Honestly thought, I am disappointed in your timing. Just a few more minutes and I would have been able to give her an orgasm or two and she would have been ready to jump your bones the moment she laid eyes on you?—”

“Move away from the girl. Last warning.”

I gestured with the gun, and Dr. Lowe, whose hands had been moving farther down the girl’s chest, snapped back upright, wings flapping with furious little beats as she lifted herself away from the prone woman and went to stand in the corner I’d directed her to with a glare.

“I’m impressed,” she said, her voice soft in comparison to the red-eyed glare she was sending my direction. “I really did think it would take you ateenybit longer to find us. I would have loved a few more moments with her…” Her voice turned wistful as she stared at the girl, ignoring me completely.

I kept my gun trained on the demon, but moved over to the couch and checked the girl’s pulse at her throat. It was rapid, but Lowe was right: the heartbeat was healthy and strong. I cursed quietly to myself. Without my ordered “irrefutable evidence,” or a witness’s testimony to prove the succubus had been feeding on an unwilling victim, I had no actual proof that Lowe had committed any crimes or violated anyone. I wouldn’t be authorized to do anything except hold her until backup arrived—unless she attacked me directly, that was—and the look in her face seemed to suggest that she knew it, too.

“I’m not leaving an unconscious woman with a succubus,” I said, tucking my gun into the holster under my left arm, but left it unclasped. “Once the backup team gets here, I’m taking her somewhere safe, and you will be remanded to the organization until she can verify your story.”

“I can assure you,” said the doctor, with a low, rumbling growl to her voice, “she ismuchsafer here with me than anywhere near you or that fool of an organization.”

“Excuse me if I take the word of a demon with a heaping pinch of salt,” I muttered, picking the woman’s belongings up and lifting her carefully into my arms, adjusting her weight in my hold. I stared down at her face, passive and peaceful in sleep, tiny, soft breaths panting out of her. I was nearly overcome with the urge to kiss her before I shook myself. “I’m going in the hall to wait for the rest of the team; don’t get any ideas, and don’t try to leave this room.”

The succubus grinned, a knowing smile that held secrets upon secrets. My stomach clenched at her look. “You’re playing a dangerous game here, little Knight. I’ve done nothing wrong, and she will confirm that when she wakes.” She gestured to a purse on the couch. “Have her show you her phone once she’s… settled down a bit. You’ll find a voicemail confirming this very appointment.”

I looked down at the girl in my arms. She looked like such an innocent thing—what could have driven her to seek out a demon? Had she known what the doctor was when she made the appointment? I glared up at the succubus. She might be trying to distract me; I kept my gaze on her. Although I had mentioned leaving, my feet hadn’t yet started moving toward the door.

“I will look at her phone later,” I replied. “Once she’s been cleared by the sisters, of course. If your story checks out, you’ll both be free to go.”

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