Page 4 of The Incubus's Angel
Each element of the ceremony is personal, tailored specifically to Bodin and Tilly and their love story. It’s beautiful. So beautiful my eyes get misty and I have to use the corner of my sweatshirt to wipe away the evidence.
When it’s over, all the creatures cheer, throwing confetti toward the couple as they make their way down the aisle. Along with the falling petals landing on the sand, I lament my brief respite from the newlyweds’ ever-present arousal.
I swear Bodin is already looking for an escape route that’ll take them straight home so they can start the sexual portion of the claiming ceremony. The desire pulsing between them, even at such a distance from me, is so sharp that it pierces through my defenses, making me avert my gaze and stare at the rising sun as I mentally exit the beach and start listing objects.
Listing has been a coping mechanism for me since I was a teenager and had the ability—and misfortune—to read the private desires of other creatures. It’s embarrassing enough to get a boner in public, but it’s infinitely worse when it’s becauseof creatures who don’t want anything to do with you. Not likethatanyway.
In my head I start with fruit, listing them from small to large—blueberry, cherry, strawberry, plum, peach, fig, guava, passion fruit, avocado, pomegranate, orange, pear, apple, mango, melon, grapefruit, coconut, papaya, pineapple—before finally ending with a watermelon and at which point the couple has moved on and I’m safe again.
“Are you staying for the food?” Beck asks as the guests disperse and head toward the grazing tables, chatting excitedly about their favorite parts of the ceremony.
I weigh my answer before settling on a hesitant, “Maybe?” It’s not that I don’t want the food, everything looks delicious. It’s just…What if I take too much? Or too little? Would someone ask me about my choices? Would they want to talk to me? And what do I even say to them?
“Okay. I’m hungry so I’m going to eat. Will you be okay here?” Beck stalls his backward exit just long enough to ask the question.
I nod. “Sure. Thanks for sitting with me. I’ll get something later.” If there’s a lull at the food table, I might venture to get a plate, but if it stays crowded I’ll just head home and make myself a sandwich.
I watch Bodin and Tilly as they make their rounds, chatting amicably with their guests. Their hands never leave each other but they thankfully keep things relatively appropriate for a public setting.
I try to keep as much distance from them as possible, hyperaware of the increasingly sexual energy radiating off of them with each second that passes.
Sometimes being an incubus is such a curse. Maybe if my own desires were to be fulfilled it wouldn’t feel this torturous. It’s like the warmth of sunshine calling to you, but always remaining in the shadows.
I’m still holding fast to one day getting my own sunshine.
But if it’s not meant to happen, maybe I can find someone to hold up a small light for me instead? It’s something I’ve started considering.
Across the beach, Bodin and Tilly talk to a blonde human I’ve not seen on the island before.
My breath actually catches in my throat and my tail twitches as I really focus on her. She’s spectacular.
Blonde hair is bunched on top of her head, her face bright and animated as she gestures to the cake. She bounces on her toes slightly as if she has too much energy coursing through her body. She’s adorable.
If I could pick someone for myself, it would be someone like her. But luck’s never been on my side, so I can’t really entertain such thoughts.
Maybe I can admire her from afar. There’s no harm in that, right?
Tilly must’ve said something particularly pleasing, because the blonde human’s face lights up, her eyes sparkling even from this distance.
Guests start to mingle, taking chairs from the ceremony area and forming little circles, inadvertently obscuring my view ofthe pretty creature. I get up from my seat, wrapping my tail tightly around my right leg, and head to a quiet corner on the edge of the crowd.
Keeping my head down, I ruffle my hair between my horns, then adjust my glasses as I slouch against a large rock, keeping the blonde in my peripheral vision.
When Tilly and Bodin excuse themselves, the blonde tries to keep her smile cheerful but it starts to wane with each second that passes. She looks lost, searching for something, or someone. I want to help her. I want to be the type of creature she’s looking for.
Who is she? Did she come alone?She doesn’t seem like someone who’d be shy. She looks like someone who has a hundred friends and remembers all their birthdays. And bakes them their own cakes.
I curse myself with my inability to simply walk up to her. What I’d even ask her, I don’t know, but maybe I can try? If only I could remove the lead pinning my feet to the sand, and make my way to her.
Wiggling my toes, I will my feet to cooperate, hoping my brain will catch up to my body if I just start small.
But right as I look up, Calixta and Beryl approach her. They shake hands enthusiastically, and I deflate on the spot. I’m happy she’s making friends, but if she sees how bright Calixta’s crimson skin is, the perfect shade for a nourished succubus, compared to my dull rust-red tone, there’s no way she’d even want to talk to me. Or if she does, it’ll probably be out of pity, just like so many creatures did before I moved to Starry Hill.
This is why I keep to myself. It’s easier to have low expectations than to be let down again and again.
I give one last longing look at the blonde, a sunbeam shining straight onto her like she’s some kind of angel commanding even heaven’s attention, and realize any thoughts of her are futile dreams.
Turning around, I duck my head to avoid eye contact with a couple of creatures in my way, and head home.
