Page 28 of Vexed
Suddenly, she jumps off my lap and reaches for my pants, but I grab her wrist.
“I want this.” She simply says, continuing to reach for it. I watch her flushed face, keeping my hold on her wrist. Her dilated eyes narrow at me and I can’t help but smile.
I would give anything to fuck this woman. But not right now…not yet.
“You’re not ready for this yet, darling.” I say and she backs up as I rise from the chair. Her eyes instantly drop to my crotch and I know why. I’m rock fucking hard.
“Now, get some rest and continue writing. I believe you got enough inspiration.” I say, swiping the back of my hand over her naked breasts.
Before she could argue, the portal shimmered into existence, right where it always did. Annoying. I hate portals. Dusty, inconvenient things. I was already turning towards it when I felt a tug. Not the usual pull of the underworld, but a weight?
Dammit. Had I snagged the rug again?
I glanced back over my shoulder, already formulating a complaint to whoever was in charge of portal placement. Instead of a rug, I saw Lily.
Lily. Standing there. Glowing with that ethereal light that always spewed out of these damn things. Naked.
“Lily, no!” I snapped, my voice sharper than intended. The pull intensified, and there was a brief moment where I could see theshocked, confused expression on her face beforewhump. Down the rabbit hole we went.
The Underworld hit like a brick wall. The air here always tasted like iron and regret, and the screams of the damned souls… well, you get used to them. My boots crunched on the obsidian floor as I landed, the force jostling me enough to lose my perfectly cultivated air of indifference.
But then I remembered.
I spun around. And there she was. Lily. Standing in Vuamorta, looking like she’d just stepped out of a particularly messy porn shoot. Her eyes were wide, darting around the desolate landscape. The sulfurous fumes were probably stinging her nostrils. And, oh yeah, she was fucking naked.
“Fuck,” I muttered.
Her eyes finally locked onto mine. “Vex? Where are we?” Her voice was a shaky whisper, barely audible above the moans echoing from the distance. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering not just from the cold, but from sheer, understandable terror.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. This was just spectacularly bad. I mean, I reap souls for a living, I deal with eternal damnation on a daily basis, butthis? This was a PR disaster waiting to happen. And a logistical nightmare.
“Okay, don’t panic,” I said, trying to sound reassuring. “We’re...somewhere else. Not a good ‘somewhere else’. And you’re...undressed.”
She glanced down, her cheeks flaming even in the gloom. “No shit, Sherlock,” she mumbled, her voice gaining a bit of its usual sass.
I sighed. Sarcasm. That was good. Meant she wasn’t completely catatonic.
“Right. Okay. First things first,” I said, mentally listing off the Underworld’s bureaucratic hoops I was about to have to jumpthrough. “We need to get you clothed. And then we need to get you back.”
I gestured vaguely around us. “Just... try not to touch anything. Seriously. Everything here bites, scratches, or curses.”
She gulped and shrank back, pressing herself against a particularly jagged rock formation. Which, I suddenly realized, probably wasn’t the best choice.
“Actually, don’t touchthateither,“ I said hastily. “It weeps the tears of condemned poets. It’s…unpleasant.” She jumped away from the rock, looking at it like it’s some kind of beast trying to attack her.
“This is gonna be a long day.” I muttered, mostly to myself.
Before I could even begin to explain the intricacies of Underworld fashion, a low growl echoed through the air. It sounded hungry. And judging by the way Lily’s eyes widened again, it was probably heading our way.
“Okay, new plan,” I announced, already bracing myself. “Run.”
I grabbed Lily by the arm, practically dragging her through the obsidian archway.
“Move it, darling! Unless you want to be kibble for an Erebus reject.”
We bolted into the tower’s entrance hall, the heavy oak door slamming shut behind us, muffling the beast’s enraged bellows.
Lily, bless her clueless soul, was staring wide-eyed at the scene before her. Her skin, usually flushed with life, was pale, and that probably had nothing to do with the fact she was completely bare.
