Katherine gasped, hot liquid flooding her mouth as the creature moaned savagely. She swallowed desperately, feeling her lips dampen with his seed.
It was terrifying. Strange, terrifying - and addictive. She wanted to do it again, make this strange, dark being cry out again. A new sense of power was kindling in her belly. But he was already pulling away from her, watching her with those unsettling yellow eyes.
Had she pleased him? She hoped so. But his face was unreadable, the priest's serious features full of a new, darker power.
How wonderful it had felt, to have him in her mouth. She could still taste him.
'Turn around. Now.' The creature's strong hands gripped her hips, reddening the flesh, turning her to face away from him as Katherine struggled to keep up.
'What are you - what - '
'Never question me.' She was being pulled to the edge of the stone, her fingers reflexively grasping at the velvet cloak beneath her. Soon she was bent over the rock, her feet just touching the wet ground, her breasts pressed hard against the unforgiving surface. Her tender nipples rubbed against the velvet, sending shocks through her flesh.
What was he going to do to her? Sink his fingers into her, curling them against her as he'd done before?
Maybe he'd take her. She gulped. She'd seen how animals took their mates, the female pinned and shivering.
She had never considered that it might actually feel... good.
Better than good. Glorious.
She braced herself, waiting for him. But nothing came. Tension coiled in her stomach, an intense, vulnerable excitement that made her heart race.
Then she felt it. A soft sigh of breath against her inner lips.
He couldn't want to kiss her... there. Her thighs clenched. 'No, Master, I -'
A deep rumble of laughter came from behind her. 'Are you refusing me, Katherine?'
'No, I - I just - you can't -'
A stinging slap reddened the outside of her thigh. Katherine bit her lip, whimpering as the pain spiralled out into raw, shivering pleasure. 'I can do anything I want to you, Katherine Hardstark. Anything.'
He could. He could mark her body anyway he chose, but... who would want to touch her in this way?
'Have no shame, Katherine.' The creature's voice was unexpectedly gentle. 'You had no shame when I used my hands.' Rough, calloused fingers were spreading her wide, exposing her tender flesh to the winter air. 'Why is my mouth any different?'
'I - I don't know. But it is.'
Hot, searching lips brushed briefly against her; Katherine cried out, unprepared for the intense jolt of pleasure that made her toes curl in the grass. 'It is different. Better.' Then his tongue was on her, skilful, persistent, as white-hot bliss sent sparks down every nerve. 'Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me to stop. If you can. I permit you.'
He knew she couldn't. She could barely form words. Each probing stroke of the creature's tongue drew harsh, ragged moans from the base of her throat, her thighs clenching uncontrollably. She felt herself pressing against his mouth, wanting more, every trace of timidity evaporating with each sensual flicker of his tongue. She was close to something, close to a peak she hadn’t even imagined with his fingers inside her. ‘Please.’ The words left her lips in breathless pants. ‘Please.’
‘Oh, Katherine.’ Another deep thrust of his tongue made her hips buck. ‘This time… it is denied.’
No mouth against her now; no breath. Nothing. Just cold air, and the agonising frustration of a pleasure denied. Katherine moaned with irritation, gripping the velvet cloak with shaking fingers. ‘Master, why can’t I -’
‘To remind you that I’m your master now.’ The creature’s hands were on her hips again, effortlessly turning her over. In a matter of seconds, Katherine was staring once more into those glowing eyes. ‘I decide your pleasure. Not you.’
‘But, I - please.’ She reached down, taking a rough-hewn hand in hers, guiding it downward, ‘please -’
‘No begging.’ A playful slap against her thigh left her flesh rosy. ‘Until tomorrow. Then you can beg all you like.’ The creature smiled, the priest’s features suddenly seeming much more wicked. ‘Sunrise is coming.’
‘Have we even been here for that long?’ Absolute black still surrounded them. ‘All night?’
‘Humans create a structure as complex as time, and then spend their lives ignoring it.’ The creature ran a finger along the line of Katherine’s torso, leaving a pink line of pressure on her skin. ‘You will be weary tomorrow. Today.’
Tomorrow. Today. She had imagined this would be like a game, an illicit thrill she could tell Anna about. ‘The village seems like a dream, now.’
‘Maybe it is.’ There was something new in the creature’s eyes. Something almost… human. ‘Maybe you have been dreaming, all this time. And now you are waking up.’
This didn’t feel like a game. This felt like something more than an old village custom, or a flirtatious female secret. A shadow had passed over her… but how fascinating the darkness was. How attractive.
There was only a little distance between them. It was easy to sit up, her hands resting on the creature’s shoulders, and gently touch her lips to that grim, sarcastic mouth. She felt him yield to her for a brief, heartstopping moment, those yellow eyes flooding her with liquid fire -
‘No!’ His hand tightened on the back of her neck, pulling her away with vicious force. Katherine cried out in pain as she slammed against the rock. ‘How dare you presume to touch me in that way?’
‘I - I’m sorry, I -’
‘Kisses are for equals.’ The creature’s face was twisted with rage; the sour scent of sulphur began to fill the air. ‘You are my pet, Katherine. My toy. You do not touch me in any way unless I will it.’
‘And the other women?’ Katherine knew she should stay silent, but she couldn’t resist. She had already risked so much. ‘Are they pets too?’
‘They know their place. Unlike you.’ The creature’s fingertips were hot against her flesh. ‘And I have no time for humans with ideas above their station.
‘You just said time was was a human construct.’
‘Enough. Your education finishes here, Katherine Hardstark.’
‘Then let go of me.’ His hand was still digging into her thigh; Katherine felt an obscure stab of victory. ‘If my education ends here, you have no claim over me.’
‘The Devil has claim over every human soul,’ the creature hissed. ‘Every human heart. I don’t need your body to have your soul.’
'Then prove it.’
For a moment the creature stared at her, the face of the priest torn between rage and surprise. Katherine stared back, unblinking, determined to keep her terror hidden.
With a sound like fabric tearing, the darkness became light. Birdsong filled the clearing, the treetops silhouetted with the gold of the rising sun. Katherine felt the cold of a winter morning hit her in a shuddering wave.
No one was with her. No footsteps had left the grass trampled, no whispers came from nearby trees. It was if she had imagined Robert Harker - or rather, the thing that had assumed the form of Robert Harker.
Was it really… Him? Or some lesser demon… but the memory of those eyes, that aura of power so thick she had practically tasted it, told her what she already knew. It was the Devil. No one else.
And she had submitted to him. Did things to him… and allowed him to do things to her that she had barely imagined before. Wonderful, craven things.
He would probably never return. At least, not to her.
She reached for the cloak, covering her shaking body. It was probably wrong to feel so angry about the creature’s abrupt departure. As if he’d robbed her of a pleasure she was due.
Her eyes narrowed.
The Devil was only a demon, after all. And she’d already appeared to him once, on his terms.
Next time, he would appear to her.
She would summon him.
THE END