Ruby Shadows (37 page)

“
Because…because we should
only do what we
have
to do.” But she didn’t sound at all certain.

“
I am not asking you to do
anything we haven’t already done before,” I pointed out as I
slipped my fingers into the soft, secret folds of her pussy. Gods,
she was wet! Wet and hot and so ready—I wanted badly to make her
come if only she would let me.

“
That…that’s the trick the
Devil always uses,” she whispered. “Grams said he always says, ‘It
won’t hurt to do it just once.’ And after that he says, ‘You
already did it once—might as well do it again.’”

“
Well, I
am
a demon. But what if
it is no trick? What if I simply want to bring you pleasure because
I care for you?” I murmured, circling the swollen bud of her clit
gently with one fingertip. The light, gentle touch seemed to make
her wild. She moaned softly and bucked under my seeking
fingers.

“
Laish,
please…”

“
Please, what,
mon ange?”
I sensed she
was close—her hips were moving, grinding restlessly against my
hand. Taking a chance, I slipped two fingers deep inside her virgin
depths and continued the gentle caress around her clit with my
thumb.

“
Oh…
oh!”
she moaned as I filled her.
“Oh, Laish…
please!”

I knew what please meant and it wasn’t that
she wanted me to withdraw. Leaning down, I took her mouth in a
hungry kiss, ravaging her lips and sucking her tongue as I stroked
into her with my fingers. She was close…so close and I was as
determined to make her come as she had been to make me lose control
earlier.

“
Come for me,” I growled
at last, pulling back and looking into her eyes. “Come with my name
on your lips. Come as you look into my eyes and know that I want
your pleasure as much as you wanted mine.” With these words, I
pressed even deeper inside her, stroking hard with my
thumb.

It was what she needed to send her over the
edge. Her eyes widened and her back arched and then I felt her
inner walls trembling and spasming around my invading fingers.

“
Oh…Oh,
Laish,”
she moaned
brokenly, just as I had hoped she would. Hearing my name from her
lush lips and feeling her pussy clench around me made me so hard I
felt as though I’d never come myself. Gods, she was lovely when she
finally let go…when she finally trusted me enough to give herself
completely.

I wondered if she would ever give herself to
me in another way.

At last her quivering stopped and I withdrew
my fingers. In the fading glow of the embers, they were shiny with
her juices.

“
Oh, uh…” Gwendolyn still
sounded breathless and a little embarrassed. “I guess you’d better
do your trick and make everything all nice and neat
again.”

“
I think not,” I said. “As
if I would miss a chance to taste your honey.” Locking my eyes with
hers, I sucked my fingers into my mouth and savored her sweet,
salty flavor. It was delicious and utterly addictive. I wished I
could spend hours between her legs, lapping her pussy long and
slow, licking away her sweet juices and then urging her to make
more. I wanted to make her come with my mouth, not just my fingers.
But I sensed she was not yet ready for that.

She was watching me wide eyed as I finished
cleaning my fingers.

“
You really
do
like it,
huh?”

“
I have told you that I
do. Shall I clean you up as well?” I motioned down at her inner
thighs which were still shiny with her juices.

“
Oh!” She seemed to
remember she was lying there, exposed. Hastily, she started to
close her legs. I put a hand on her knee to stop her.

“
Wait, Gwendolyn—only let
me lick your inner thighs. I swear my tongue will not stray too
far. Please?” I wanted to show her that I could be trusted…that I
could be gentle. And I also wanted to get her used to the feeling
of me between her thighs.

“
Well…” She bit her lip
uncertainly.

“
I swear I will not taste
your pussy tonight,” I told her quietly. “I only want to clean you
up a little and savor your taste a bit more.”

“
I shouldn’t but…I guess
if you promise only to lick my thighs…”

“
I swear it.” I was
already moving down her body, nuzzling her as I went. I loved her
sweet curves and the shine of firelight against her warm brown
skin. Spread out on the white fur rug she was the most beautiful
thing I’d ever seen.

When at last I got between
her thighs, I took things slowly. I didn’t want to spook her or put
her off. Gently, slowly, I lapped her inner thighs clean. True to
my word I didn’t go near her pussy, although I
did
pay extra attention to the
crease where her leg joined her torso on each side. I knew she
could feel my hot breath blowing against her sex—that was enough
for now.

My little witch was tense at first…then
slowly, she relaxed. I glanced up and saw her watching me with wide
eyes, taking in the slow way I was lapping her thighs. Good, I
wanted her to remember this erotic picture…wanted it to be
uppermost in her mind when she thought of me. Soon, very soon I
meant to taste her honey right from the source but for now I must
content myself with giving her a long, leisurely tongue bath.

I cleaned her thoroughly, unwilling to stop
until she made me. To my delight, my little witch lay there
trembling beneath my gentle assault for a very long time before she
called a halt to our activities.

“
Laish, I think I’m, uh,
all cleaned up now. You can stop,” she whispered.

“
As you wish.”

I kissed her once more on each thigh before
I pulled her night dress demurely down and slid back up to hold
her.

“
Thank you,” I murmured in
her ear.

“
For what?” Her voice
sounded breathless. “You’re the one who was doing all the
work.”

“
Not work,
pleasure,”
I corrected
her gently. “And I thank you for trusting me again. After all that
has happened it means a great deal to me.”

She gave an uncertain little laugh. “I’m
still not sure I do, you know.”

But I knew she did—now more than ever. And
my heart swelled at the knowledge.

Chapter
Twenty-five

Gwendolyn

“
So it’s not far to the
next border?” I looked out at the dismal gray sky swirling with
snow.

“
Not far.” Laish seemed
more like himself today. He’d made me breakfast that
morning—pancakes and bacon at my request—and then conjured us both
some warm clothing to wear. Clothing he promised to replace once
we’d crossed the barrier and entered the City of Dis.

Not that I was anxious to get rid of the
gorgeous fur coat he’d given me. Yes, I know fur is murder but
Laish had promised me it wasn’t made from any animal that lived in
the Mortal Realm. Although what kind of creature lived in Hell and
had such gorgeous, soft fur I had no idea.

The coat came down to my knees and was pure
white with silver tips around the collar and sleeves. I stroked it
gently, loving the incredibly soft feel of it. My little white
lily-moth—whom I’d finally gotten around to naming Eryn since she
seemed to be with me to stay—could barely be seen on my shoulder
against the whiteness.

“
You approve of my taste
this time at least, I see,” Laish remarked, smiling a little as we
left the hut.

“
It
is
beautiful,” I admitted, following
him around the side to where Kurex was finishing the breakfast of
hot oats Laish had conjured him. “I’ll be sorry to see it go once
we cross the border.”

“
You need not lose it
forever,” he remarked, patting the big horse’s nose. “I can have it
sent to your home in the Mortal Realm.”

“
Where would I ever wear
it?” I asked, practically. “I live in Florida, remember? We get
like two semi-chilly months a year. The rest is all ninety degree
heat and humidity.”

“
A pity,” he said,
checking the girth—at least, I think that’s what the strap thing
that holds the saddle on the horse is called. “You look lovely in
it.”

“
Anybody would—it’s a
gorgeous coat,” I said. “But why white again?”

“
Pardon?” He raised an
eyebrow at me as he helped me climb aboard Kurex who snorted and
stamped in the snow.

“
Why did you make it white
fur? And the rug we, uh slept on too. Why always white? Is the only
kind of fur animal they have down here albino or what?”

He looked up as he settled me on the horse
and gave me a slow smile.

“
I suppose I just like the
contrast with your lovely brown skin. I cannot help remembering how
beautiful you looked, lying naked on the white fur last
night.”

“
Laish…” I protested,
feeling my cheeks burn despite the cold wind whipping around
us.

“
What is it,
mon ange?”
he said,
swinging lightly up behind me and taking Kurex’s reins. “Do you
wish to forget about the time we spent together last night? Do you
wish to pretend that it never happened?”

“
I…don’t know,” I
confessed as Laish urged the big horse forward onto the road only
he and Kurex could see. “I
should
want that, I guess.”

“
But you don’t.” His voice
in my ear was low and intimate. “You don’t wish to forget the
pleasure we brought each other. Do you?”

“
I guess not,” I
whispered. It was wrong and I knew it. I shouldn’t dwell on what
we’d done the night before. After all, we’d only done it in order
to pay the Sin Tax.

The first time,
yes,
whispered a snarky little voice in my
head.
But the second time—there was no
excuse for that. Letting him touch you and make you come again—that
was just for you. Just for pleasure.

I tried to push the guilt out of my mind.
The voice sounded disturbingly like Grams and I knew well enough
what she’d think of what I’d been doing with Laish last night.

I’ll be careful,
I told myself uneasily.
I won’t go too far—I won’t!

I just hoped I could keep the promise I’d
made to myself.

We rode in silence for
about an hour and then we came to the entrance of a long, dark
tunnel. Strangely enough, it had nothing on either side of it. It
wasn’t set into the side of a mountain as the Jealous Heart had
been—it was just a big cylinder made of some dull ivory colored
material. Also it was perfectly circular and ribbed at intervals
with thick circular supports of the same color. Really, what it
reminded me of most was those long collapsible tubes you can get
for your kids to crawl through and play in at Ikea. Only this tube
was
huge—
easily
big enough for us to ride through while seated on Kurex. Not that I
wanted to.

“
Oh,
no!”
I gripped Kurex’s mane hard at
the sight of the tunnel’s mouth. “
Please
tell me we can ride around
that and we don’t have to go through it.”

“
Alas, we must go through
it, I fear. There is no other way,” Laish said calmly.

“
But there’s nothing on
either side of it—why can’t we just ride around?”

“
Because the Tunnel of
Sighs is the only entrance to the City of Dis. And it is where the
barrier between the fourth and fifth circle is located. There is no
other way through.”

“
Well at least tell me
it’s not filled with Skitterlings or something worse,” I
said.

“
You have nothing to
fear,” Laish said reassuringly. “There are no Skitterlings
here—only ghosts.”

“
What?”
I half turned in the saddle so I could look at
him. “What do you mean
only
ghosts?”

He gave me an annoying little grin.

“
Well, they are not ghosts
per say—only the
voices
of ghosts,” he said. “Some say that they hear the
words of dead loved ones or other voices from their past as they
pass through the tunnel. I must warn you, Gwendolyn, it can be
quite disturbing.”

“
I bet,” I muttered. “But
you say there’s no way around it?”

“
I am afraid
not.”

“
And you’re
sure
there are no mutant
spider things anywhere inside?”

“
Positive.”

“
Well then…” I sighed.
“Let’s just get through it.”

“
As you wish. And
remember, no matter what the voices say to you, they cannot hurt
you.” He looped an arm firmly around my waist and dug his heels
into Kurex’s sides. “Here we go.”

“
Here we go,” I echoed
him, trying to brace for the worst.

I held his arm tightly as
Kurex entered the almost perfectly circular entrance of the tunnel.
Once inside, his hooves echoed oddly against the curved walls. They
made a strange meaty
thunk, thunk,
thunk
instead of the tapping or clattering
sound I’d expected. Weird.