Nocked Senseless Read online

  The knife slid away from my throat and she stood up, sliding it into a sheath she wore crossed over her chest. I noticed she had a second sheath crossing the other shoulder. That knife appeared to be missing.

  I glanced again at the body in the corner. Nope. No knife sticking out from her chest.

  I climbed to my feet. “Who the hell are you anyway?”

  “Don’t worry about that, as far as you’re concerned you never saw me.”

  It was my turn to blink. “Hey, I’m buzzed but I’m not stupid.” I rubbed my neck and my fingers came away covered in blood. “You’re definitely not a figment of my drugged imagination.”

  She walked over to the body and crouched down beside it. Placing her hand over the demon’s chest she emitted some type of power from her palm. The shimmering, white power spread over the Succubus’ body until she was completely encompassed in it. I squinted as the body became less substantial, thinking at first that it was just my imagination. But then it began to fade until it disappeared all together.

  She turned to look at me, still crouched over the spot where the body had been. “I’ll be watching you.” Then she disappeared too.

  I stood there for several moments too shocked to move. My thoughts were a jumble. I tried to think of creatures who could do what I’d just witnessed. Most likely not a goddess. Or a fairy. Maybe a guardian angel. I shook my head and laughed at that one. The fact that she’d been dark and hostile didn’t completely remove all chances that she was a guardian. But the rampant sexuality she exuded definitely did.

  Finally, I turned and left the pleasure house. I didn’t know where I was going but I knew one thing for sure. No more drugs for me. It was time to get my act together. My shriveled heart had felt a spark of something for the first time in decades. And I wasn’t going to let it slide away.

  I wasn’t going to let her get away.

  But I’d have to get my shit together if I was going to find her. Because I had a strong suspicion that, once I found her, I’d have my hands full dealing with and keeping her.

  Chapter Two

  Intrigued

  Until I started visiting them all on a regular basis, I’d never realized there were so many demon hotspots in Olympus. And when I started hanging out with the demons, I realized two things pretty quickly. One, the woman I was looking for wasn’t in any of places I visited and two, something bad was going on in the world of demons.

  In my new role as a fly on the wall, I overheard many conversations about demons being attacked and killed and I noticed, as the weeks slid past, that the demons I watched and occasionally spoke to were becoming increasingly more tense and watchful.

  They tended to travel in groups and leave the bars and restaurants I frequented shortly after midnight. I started talking to bartenders and restaurant hostesses in an effort to find out what was going on but as soon as I asked about the fear I was witnessing in the eyes of their patrons, they’d clam up and walk away from me, obviously more afraid of delving too deeply into the problem than they were of the problem itself.

  I had to wonder why.

  It was on one of these extremely frustrating nights that I finally decided to go home early. The bar where I was lurking had been emptying out steadily all night and the last group was getting ready to head out the door.

  I fell into step behind them and tried to eavesdrop on their conversation.

  The group of two male and three female demons was heading to the Pleasure Palace for some fun of the decidedly erotic kind.

  I soon found my body heating uncomfortably at the language they used to describe orgies they’d attended there in the past and was considering stepping away from them when something staggered out from between two buildings and dropped at my feet.

  The women screamed and the men raised their hands defensively. But when they realized the dying demon on the ground wasn’t going to attack them they turned nervous faces toward the dark alley it had staggered from.

  “Let’s get the hell out of here!” the biggest male said. I was bending over the demon on the ground and barely registered the sound of their feet running away.

  The demon was nearly seven feet tall and covered in dark green, nearly black scales. Its face was wide and craggy, with a short, thick snout and sharply chiseled cheekbones. Two small horns stood out from the sides of its huge head.

  The eyes that looked up at me imploringly were a deep, dull red, the life already ebbing out of them. The demon’s mouth opened just enough to show me double rows of sharp, yellow teeth. One thick, three-fingered claw hit my chest hard, nearly knocking me out of my crouch. It clutched my shirt and pulled me down.

  I reached out and grabbed the scaled wrist to keep the thing from pulling me any closer to those teeth.

  “I…” Its mouth flapped a couple of times. “I saw…”

  Despite my keen awareness of those teeth, I leaned closer, realizing it was trying to speak to me.

  But death claimed the demon before it could express whatever thought it was trying to share. The eyes rolled and the massive head fell back, slamming against the stone of the road beneath it.

  My eyes skimmed the demon’s distorted body, taking in the massive hole in its wide, scaly chest that spilled blood in a growing puddle onto the stones beside the body.

  The stocky body ended in two oddly bent legs, like the hind legs of a dog, that had cloven hooves where the creature’s feet would have been if it were in its human form.

  Unlike the demons of human legend, most true demons wore human faces and walked around in human-shaped bodies. They were neither extremely ugly nor excessively attractive in their human forms.

  In fact they looked just like humans, making them seem unattractive in a place like Olympus, where most inhabitants were god-or goddess-like and therefore unnaturally beautiful. But on Earth, where demons were gaining an ever growing stronghold, they looked just like your neighbor down the street or the clerk at the corner store.

  Most of them did, however, revert to their demonic forms if their souls were removed from their bodies. The only exceptions were the royal demons and the Succubi and Incubi.

  My eyes slid again to the bleeding hole in the monster’s chest.

  I swallowed hard, realizing that I’d figured out what was making the demons so nervous.

  There was a soul sucker loose on Olympus. And, for whatever reason, it was targeting demons.

  It was as if my thought had brought the creature forth. I sensed its presence in the shadows just before it slammed into me. I flew sideways into the brick wall of the building that enclosed the alleyway on one side.

  I tucked to take the blow on my back and shoulders rather than my head, saving myself from a serious blow to my brain.

  Before I could push myself off the ground it was on me and I felt pain like I’d never experienced before in the center of my chest. Reaching up, I encountered bonelike fingers, tipped with claws that felt like metal tearing through my skin. With excruciating pain, the bones of my ribs gave way as the monster worked its way to my heart. The soul sucker apparently didn’t have a firm grasp on Cupid anatomy. Unlike demons, Cupids’ souls are not located in their hearts, so the soul sucker was destined to be disappointed.

  But since I’d be dead anyway, my day wasn’t looking too bright either.

  In desperation, I kicked the thing as hard as I could. A sound like air escaping from a balloon emerged from the formless thing when I kicked out and it fell away. Pushing myself upright I found my feet before the world started spinning on its axis.

  A dark shape flew past, followed by a horrific screeching sound as I felt myself pitching sideways. My face connected hard with the brick wall and pain jolted through me, bright and jagged, as I slid downward. My knees gave out and I crumpled toward the ground, the world graying completely to black.

  The first thing I was aware of as I climbed back toward consciousness was a soft, warm hand on my chest. I pried my eyes open just as a flash of light exploded over
me and I clamped them shut again.

  Heat came with the light, starting at the wound on my chest and spreading outward, until it suffused my entire body and created some very nice sensations in my cock.

  I smiled and wished I could move, so I could do something about the warm tingles that were making my balls tighten with growing desire. With the heat came the smell of flowers baking in the sun.

  The perfume swirling in the air around me reminded me of something, or someone but my muzzy brain couldn’t quite place the origin of that memory. Without my even realizing I’d moved, the ground was suddenly gone and I felt weightless.

  I hovered in a place of warmth and light for an indeterminate amount of time. My chest burned and my taut muscles stung under the heat. When it finally slid away my body softened gratefully into its resting place, totally relaxed and relishing the cool air wafting over me.

  The soft hand that had sent heat into my chest now slid down my stomach, away from the wound on my chest and tugged at the belt on my jeans.

  My grin widened. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!

  The invading hand slid into my jeans and around my twitching cock. My head rolled and I groaned, trying to arch up into that sweetly invasive touch. The soft hand slid close to the fat head of my cock but didn’t touch it. Instead it skimmed over the sensitized skin of my belly and around it, tickling me with the nails at the end of the questing fingers.

  Like a dream, the heat slid away and the smell of flowers was replaced by the spicy smell of something cooking.

  As I struggled to open my eyes, I realized I wasn’t weightless anymore. Something firm but soft supported the entire length of my body.

  I finally managed to drag my eyes open. At first I thought I’d gone blind. The room where I lay was cast in such darkness I could barely make out the bed I lay upon or the tiny edge of light around the door across the room.

  I lay there for a moment trying to get my bearings and realized the sounds were familiar. Pushing myself upright, I swung my legs over the side of the bed. It was as far as I could make myself go. I was panting just from that amount of effort.

  Reaching up, I felt for the wound the soul sucker had made in my chest. It was slightly warm to the touch but smooth.

  There was no pain.

  Something had healed me.

  On the tail end of that thought the door swung open and a dim light flickered on.

  I squinted against the light and saw a small, darkly clad figure standing in front of the door. Her curvy form was backlit by the light coming into the room from the outside, which looked much brighter than the light she’d turned on in the room.

  “Hello again,” the husky voice greeted me.

  I inclined my head, trying not to show her how happy I was to have finally found her. Then I remembered the soul sucker.

  How was it she was there with me in that room, when the last thing I remembered was defending myself against the monster?

  “Who the hell are you? And why did you bring me to Sidra and Simone’s?”

  She stepped away from the door and closed it. As she approached I became aware of her flowery scent. I remembered that scent.

  My gaze slid down to my jeans and found them all buttoned up. Nevertheless, my gaze on hers was speculative as she stepped close.

  When she reached a hand toward my chest I grabbed it, holding it in an iron grip that brooked no argument.

  I remembered how easily she’d dispatched me at our first meeting.

  Wide, lavender eyes stared mockingly at me. The full, soft mouth twisted with matching derision. “I just wanted to see how your chest looked.”

  I thought about this for a minute and then nodded, letting go of her slim, white wrist. “Were you the one who healed me?”

  As she dropped her gaze to examine the healing wound, her startlingly beautiful eyes were lost behind the thickest set of black lashes I’d ever seen. She flicked her gaze upward briefly but didn’t respond to my question.

  I was getting used to her evading my questions. But that didn’t mean I liked it.

  She probed the wound carefully with gentle fingertips and I shivered. When I lifted my eyes from her hand I found myself looking into the low, loose neckline of her black blouse. Her breasts were pale mounds of perfection under the scooped neckline. They jiggled happily as she pressed on my wound. A diamond sword, about two inches long, dangled from a gold chain around her neck and nestled between her delectable breasts.

  I never wanted to be a piece of jewelry so badly in all my life.

  My cock stirred to instant life and my pulse picked up.

  I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down but that only drew her intoxicating scent more deeply into my body. Just like that, my cock surged into a full-blown hard-on.

  I spread my knees in an attempt to give my rigid flesh some room in my jeans, praying she didn’t look down.

  Finally she stepped away and straightened. “The bones beneath are still fragile. You’ll want to avoid anything too physical for a while. But the wound itself is healing very nicely.”

  “You didn’t answer my questions.”

  Her full, peach-colored lips curved upward and her eyes flashed. “No. I didn’t.” She turned and started toward the door. “I’ll bring you a dinner tray shortly.”

  I stood up and reached for her arm to stop her. In a flash she turned on me and I found myself on my back on the bed, gasping under the pain in my chest.

  She moved to the door. “I told you not to get physical. You’ll find that things are much easier for you if you do what I tell you to do.”

  I just stared at her until the door closed behind her pert, black-clad little butt. I couldn’t believe I’d let that tiny little thing get the best of me—again—and fling me onto the bed.

  I’d be damned if I’d let it happen again. I started to sit up, fully intending to go after her and set a few things straight.

  Pain jolted me and I sucked in a breath, rubbing the tender spot on my chest until it abated.

  “Okay, I’ll set her straight later…maybe tomorrow. I’ll just rest a bit longer first.”

  Settling back on the soft bed I tried to ignore the niggling thought that I was a limp-dicked wimp. I told myself I was a gentleman, trying to deal with her in a reasonable fashion. But my heart knew the truth.

  The woman had me—in more ways than one—and it was gonna take some serious maneuvering on my part to get the upper hand.

  If that was even possible.

  *

  Soft velvet slid over my skin, feathering across my torso and settling against my aching nipples. A warm, wet suction tugged at each nipple, causing the skin of my cock to tighten painfully.

  Soft weight settled onto my hard cock, pressing it into my belly and writhing sensually against it.

  I groaned, reaching for the narrow hips above my thighs. A soft giggle preceded the playful evasion of my reaching hands and teeth grasped a rigid nipple, pulling the taut nub hard, just on the edge of pain.

  I opened my eyes and looked into lavender arcs lined with thick, black velvet lashes. My hand reached up and found the back of a silken neck, pulling her down to meet my hungry lips.

  The kiss was fire and light, exploding into full sensual assault as my lips opened and my tongue slid in to tangle with hers. Her breath was sweet musk that made my head swim with lust.

  I reached down and lifted her hips, centering her over my throbbing cock. A soft hand grasped me, tucking the fat head of my cock against a hot, wet entrance. I lifted my hips to aid her…and…to my extreme dismay…met only cool, empty air.

  I swam toward consciousness to the sound of heavy breathing. My shaft throbbed in painful need, my balls pulled tight against my body in desperation. I opened my eyes and saw the Succubus, Sidra standing beside the bed.

  Her unnaturally beautiful face was filled with pain. When she jerked suddenly sideways I realized why. One small, pale hand held the back of her neck and the other held a knife
against her side, the point digging into the Succubus’s tender, naked skin.

  From where I lay I could see a drop of deep, red blood welling up from the knife’s tip.

  I pushed myself upright. “What’s going on?”

  Her gaze slid in my direction. “Did you invite this creature into your bed?”

  I blinked and looked into Sidra’s face. She obviously feared for her life. I was concerned that, if I said I hadn’t invited her, the woman standing behind her would slide the knife into her side and kill her.

  But I wasn’t sure I could bear to see the disgust in her eyes if I said yes. I decided decisive action was necessary. Concentrating hard, I visualized myself behind the woman and disappeared off the bed.

  She gasped slightly as I appeared behind her and grabbed the wrist holding the knife, twisting it hard. I wrapped an arm around my captor’s neck and pulled her against my body.

  The knife came away from Sidra’s flesh and the grip on her neck loosened.

  “Sidra, please leave us.”

  The Succubus didn’t hesitate. She was out of that room almost before I could blink. The woman in my arms vibrated silently. Though I knew it wasn’t from fear.

  She was just plain pissed off that I’d gotten the best of her.

  “How dare you!”

  I pulled the slender wrist forward and across her body, so that my arm wrapped around her waist and her arm was trapped beneath it. This pulled the lower half of her body close to mine and her quick intake of air reminded me I was exposed and slightly firmer than usual.

  Rather than jerk away from her, I grinned against her small, fragrant ear and nestled my hard shaft into her soft buttocks. “Succubi enter unannounced when a man sleeps. It’s what they do. They don’t deserve to be skewered for it.”

  She arched her back, trying to create space between my hard-as-a-rock cock and her enticingly round backside. I allowed my lips to touch her ear and travel down the side of her throat.

  Though the vibrations in her small body had increased to the point where I expected to hear her teeth clanking together at any moment, her body softened slightly under my hands and her head dropped back against my shoulder.