Mentored in Fire by K.F. Breene

Eleven

Penny eyedthe ground as they made their way to a sort of large cliff face with multiple holes dotting the sides. It almost looked like a rock honeycomb, but the ground seemed to be made up of a soft, springy material. It rolled in small hills and berms toward lavender fields that waved softly in a breeze she couldn’t feel.

“It almost feels like a mattress,” she said, bouncing a little as she half trudged along, feeling much better from the unicorn blood and healing faster than should be possible. “Like…” She bounced again. “I feel like I should take my shoes off.”

Emery held her hand, walking beside her, as they quietly followed Darius. He hadn’t made a peep, but he didn’t seem tense. He was probably trying to take stock of whatever horrors lay ahead.

A shape moved down the path toward them, tall and slim and with slinky movements. Its hips swayed erotically, and its shoulders swung forward and back, like a model in front of a camera. Darius didn’t slow as it neared, but the creature did, giving Penny ample time to check out its form.

Humanoid but obviously not human, it had short legs, slim thighs, and a long body. Its chest was flat, but it had rounded hips, and its face was the stuff of nightmares, with no nose, red eyes, and leathery skin.

“Oh great, yeah. Good.” Penny shuffled a little closer to Emery. “I was hoping for more terrible things in this wretched place.”

“Now you are starting to sound like my beloved,” Darius said, passing the creature by.

It said something in a series of hisses and consonants that Penny didn’t understand. Another language, probably.

Darius glanced back at Penny, and Penny realized she and Emery didn’t have the concealing spell over them anymore.

“You will get a lot of opportunity to explore your…newfound tastes,” Darius said.

“My newfound tastes—what does that mean?” Penny wondered.

“I think this is a lust sect,” Emery murmured as they got closer. Two beings loitered by a large square hole in the rock, what probably passed for the entranceway. One was squat and round and wearing a tutu. The other was in full demon regalia, with a scabby body, insects crawling out of random holes in its hide, and limbs that could’ve used a little more fleshing out.

“Who could hold on to lust in a place like this?” she muttered. Then Darius’s words finally registered. Newfound tastes. A new sexual appetite, he meant, for peeping. “He’s making fun of me. Even here, he is making fun of me for accidentally seeing him with Rea—”

Darius spun so fast that Penny barely had time to squeak in surprise. His hand closed over her mouth before she could react.

In the next moment, he was magically bound and gagged and lying flat on his back, his eyes wide.

The beings near the door straightened up, now looking over. The short, round one smiled, its fleshy lips pulling much too wide, literally spanning ear to ear. She grimaced with the sight as it completed its turn, zeroing in on Darius lying prone.

“Hmm. The vampire is back. I feel it already. Delightful,” it said in crisp English, before bending at the waist. The one with the insects stepped closer, fastening its hands around the hips of the first, pulling back at the same time as it pushed forward. The resulting moan of the bent one explained what was happening.

“This better not be some elaborate joke,” Penny said, looking away quickly.

Emery unraveled Penny’s hasty spell around Darius and helped the vampire up. “She’s got fast reactions.”

“It seems so, yes.” Darius dusted himself off. “Had I been trying to kill her, however…”

“Yeah, she’s not quite fast enough, as…Bruiser would say.” Emery took Penny’s hand again, giving her a pointed look. “Remember not to say her name. We don’t know who knows it.”

She nodded, because yes, she knew that. She’d just lost her head for a moment.

“If I was waiting for danger, or didn’t know you, I would’ve been quicker,” she mumbled as they passed by the two thrusting creatures. “Well, let’s be real, I wouldn’t be this close— Oh God, there’s more.” She jerked her head away from the three creatures just inside the cavernous space, writhing and moving in a sort of dance she didn’t want to see.

The springy material covered the floor of the cavernous space, dotted with the equivalent of beanbag chairs and pillows. The ceiling rose to about twenty feet, letting in light from holes in the cliff face but maintaining the overall dim lighting. Away right, a rock staircase spiraled upward, empty at the moment.

“Is it always this empty?” Emery asked as Darius moved toward the staircase.

“This area seems to be, yes, for the most part. I believe they have various festivals where neighboring sects come to…visit, and this large area hosts them. This sect is made up of a string of caves and caverns, though. Certain areas are teeming with life at all times. This is the third lust sect I’ve been to, and its general makeup is very similar to the others. They like twisty halls and secluded rooms and hidden alcoves.”

“Or just banging on the stoop,” Penny groused. “So these…creatures just hang around and bang all day?”

She felt a little shiver. Then a little tingle, starting at the base of her stomach and sinking into her core. It pulsed there, aching, feeding on the unicorn blood and the thought of Emery so near. Meanwhile, her brain screamed at her to shut her eyes, uncomfortable because of her naivety, she knew, but uncomfortable all the same. She wanted to turn around and sprint out of here, much like her reaction when she had unfortunately burst in on Reagan and Darius. Twice.

“This might turn into the biggest mind-eff of them all,” she murmured miserably. “They’re like a bunch of bonobo monkeys.”

“It’ll do you good to…unwind a little,” Darius whispered as they reached the next level. He didn’t stop, leaving Penny to peer through the gloomy darkness. She didn’t see any shapes moving in its depths, though.

At the fifth floor, when Penny’s calves were burning, and she had to squint through the darkness to see anything, Darius finally stopped climbing.

“This is the leader’s quarters,” he said, stepping away from the stairway. “They call them conspectors.”

Those alcoves he’d talked about branched off to the sides, little cubbies with long, flat surfaces topped with piles of pillows. All of them were empty.

“They don’t have any guards or anything?” Emery asked quietly. They approached a dimly lit doorway at the back of the space.

“No, not that I’ve ever seen,” Darius replied. “They like the feel of my vampire magic, so I had no trouble gaining admittance and a meeting with the leader. From there, we worked to a place of understanding. I don’t think they get a lot of visitors in this area. I was directed here by my contacts in the Edges.”

Penny shook her head slowly. This vampire could clearly talk his way into anything he wanted. If Reagan ever thought she’d hear all of his secrets, she was sorely mistaken.

She chanced a glance behind them. Still empty.

They passed the empty alcoves, entering a dimly lit space with a couple of flickering lights on the walls—fairy lights, maybe?—mimicking the flickering candles lining the furniture along the sides. Couches crowded together, facing each other, no table in between. An assortment of beanbags and armchairs were arranged beyond them. Farther back, through another doorway, the ceiling dropped low until it felt like they were cocooned.

A being lounged near a bookshelf, an open book in hand and its other hand between its plump thighs.

“Good gracious,” Penny said, bumping off Emery’s side.

“Hmm,” the demon groaned before slowly closing the book and sitting up. It looked around, its eyes landing on Darius. “The vampire returns. Fantastic. Just in time for our weekly ritual. Your magic will be a pleasant boost to our usual efforts.”

“Acacius,” Darius said by way of greeting. “Let me introduce you to my associates.” He slid his hand through the air. “Penny and Emery, a natural dual-mage pair.”

“Ah.” The demon rose to standing, up and up until it reached the height of nearly seven feet, Penny was sure of it. A sheet draped its chest, masking what might be lady boobs or man boobs, and slid down the lower half. Nothing tented it. “The origin of the spells you peddle in the Edges.”

“Just so. Their craft is highly prized.” Darius clasped his hands in front of him. “We’ve had a long journey. I wondered if we could rest here for a time. Get some food for them. Replenish. After that, we will continue on into the Underworld. We won’t mention whence we’ve come.”

The demon waved the sentiment away as though that didn’t trouble it. Its smile was sly. “On one condition. They must attend the ritual.”

“Oh no,” Penny said immediately. “No, no, that’s okay. We wouldn’t want to impose.”

The smile spread. “I insist. You are inexperienced, are you not? I can see it in you. I can see the yearning, the great passion…and the fear. I can see the confusion as you respond. We will release you, little flenchlin. We will let you fly.”

Penny felt her eyebrows sink as her face twisted into a scowl. She stepped a little farther behind Emery, and the demon laughed.

“I will see that it is done,” Darius said, and turned, his hands out, motioning for Penny and Emery to get going.

Outside of the room, with Darius apparently knowing where he was going, Emery asked, “What’s the nature of the ritual? Penny won’t go quietly to anything extreme, no matter how much she tries. You must know that.”

“This won’t be that sort of extreme,” Darius said, and left it at that.

They only hada scant couple of hours of idle time before Darius emerged from his little alcove in their joined room, nothing more than a rough rock cut out from the main drag on the third floor, outfitted with a few little sleeping cubbies encircling a firepit in the center of the space. A spit straddled the circle of rocks. It had been slowly turning as they walked in, roasting a pig that must have been magically thawed when they first arrived at the compound. Darius was incredibly extra when it came to food, clearly. She’d been expecting to eat beans out of a can, cowboy style, and instead they would get fire-roasted pork. Now that she was finished healing, she could feel the hunger coming on.

The little alcoves didn’t have doors. Just something similar to mattresses, plus lots of pillows. Penny had quickly fallen asleep.

“So…you don’t have to participate in the ritual?” she asked Darius as she stepped out of her and Emery’s little alcove. Darius had been annoyingly silent on what the ritual would entail, and Emery hadn’t pressed for unknown reasons. She would’ve magically dragged it out of the vampire hours ago if she hadn’t fallen headfirst into a nap.

“No. They tried to make it a requirement of me at first, but I strictly refused. I told them I would engage in it when my beloved was with me. Not until then.”

“But I have to participate?” Penny demanded. “How is that fair?”

“Because your beloved is with you. And because I will still participate; I just won’t touch another.”

“Well, I won’t touch another,” Penny said adamantly as they walked down the corridor. Other demons walked in the same direction, some hurrying and others dawdling. They represented all different forms, some resembling humans, others looking like creatures, and one a sort of man-goat. That one was really gross.

When they got close to Darius, many smiled, and some made lurid sounds.

“You’ll touch me, I have a feeling,” Emery said softly, and something in his voice lit a fire in her core, tightened her up in all the right ways while loosening her in others.

She struggled to breathe out of a suddenly tight chest, butterflies filling her stomach. She wasn’t in the right headspace to comment on that.

“It’s your seduction they like?” Emery asked Darius as they took to the stairs.

“Yes. Humans are easy prey when offered the fundamentals of their species’ survival—-food and sex. Our magic is seductive to lure them in, and this type of demon feeds on it. It heightens their…senses, I think. Or maybe just adds a little flavor, I’m not sure.”

“So you hang around while they bang?” Penny asked in a harried tone. She knew she sounded like a prude. She knew she was theoretically clutching her pearls. But this was some sort of crazy. She’d only ever been with Emery, and she hadn’t started with him all that long ago in the scheme of things. She wasn’t ready for intense public displays of affection. Yes, okay, maybe she’d made love to him outside when they were becoming a dual-mage pair. But they’d been alone. And that had been a special circumstance…

“Yes.” Darius led them off the stairs and down a wide stone corridor, the nicest area she’d seen in this strange, cavelike dwelling. “I read, typically, or think about other things.”

“And it doesn’t gross you out?” she pushed.

“No, quite the opposite. It makes me long for…my beloved.”

“The leader didn’t seem concerned about why you’re here,” Emery said, his fingers entwined with Penny’s.

“No,” Darius replied. “This sect mostly ignores politics. That is why I sought them out. They thrive around my magic and don’t much care why I am here. It’s a perfect setup for my goals. I’m not sure if…they will be suspected in harboring us or not. Likely not.”

“And why is that?”

They turned a corner, the demons bumping and jostling now, the ground turning from stone into that mattress-like material. The room opened up into something similar to the cavern on the ground floor, although not nearly as big. The edges that seemed more like catacombs. There were little nooks and crannies everywhere, it seemed like, plenty of darkened corners for people to disappear from sight. And plenty of room for them to lie around, on full display, nestled in the pillows or along the soft ground.

A large cauldron stood in the center, raised on a stone dais. Creatures stood on the dais, dipping in golden cups and handing them to those waiting on the ground. Those that received the offering drank it down, handed the cup back, and moved on, choosing a spot in the open or grouping with others in the darkened areas.

“Do we need to drink that?” Emery asked in a low voice. He sounded unsure.

That made two of them.

Magic pumped and pulsed around them, pounding through her. It infused her blood and sank into her core. Touch. Kiss. Please. Be pleased.

“Yes, it is part of the ritual.” Darius stopped behind a sticklike creature that only came up to Penny’s chest. “I will be drinking it as well. It is pleasant and harmless, and you only need a mouthful.”

“Doesn’t that make you crave blood?” Emery asked.

“In such a small quantity, it won’t be an issue.”

“That’s good, because you won’t be getting blood from me.” Penny gripped Emery’s hands harder, her core pounding in time with the pulsing magic. It slid over her, incredibly erotic, stealing her breath. “I want to go home.”

“It’s going to be fine, Penny Bristol,” Emery whispered, his sweet breath dusting her face. “You are perfectly safe here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“This type of demon is completely safe, I assure you.” Darius stepped up, almost at the dais now. A crowd waited around and behind them, but no one pushed. The entire situation was orderly. “They might ask for your time, but they will not demand it, and they will not attempt to take it by force. It is forbidden. To do so would mean death.”

“Who distributes that punishment?” Emery asked, stepping up again, ever closer.

Taste. Lick. Enjoy.

“I assume you or Penny would, should it come to that. It is certainly within your power.”

Emery nodded. He’d obviously been asking if they could take matters into their own hands. Green light.

Suck. Fondle. Enjoy.

“Bugger balls,” Penny whispered, shutting her eyes and trying to block out that pounding need. She craved the kind of satisfaction only Emery could supply. The deep, hard— “It’s getting to me. Their magic is getting to me.”

Darius glanced over, a small smile playing across his lips. “Mon coeur will be incredibly angry she missed this.”

“It would be a running joke until the end of time.” Emery chuckled darkly.

Penny elbowed him. “Don’t join in with him. You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“Sorry,” Emery murmured.

They stepped up to the front of the line now. The demon distributing the drink on their side of the cauldron was wearing chaps. It turned around, and part of it swung down around its knees.

“Nope.” Penny tried to back up. She bumped into the creature behind her. “This is crazy. We’re not here for this.”

Darius drank out of the offered cup. “This is the best place for us right now. You need to regain your energy and strength. I do not think anyone will look for us here until they’ve exhausted more obvious ideas. After tonight, you’ll be left to your own devices. As R—my dearest would say, suck it up. Pun intended.”

“You just sound lame when you say it,” Penny groused. “Not to mention we are spreading germs…” She paused as the leader climbed up onto the dais near her, a smile on its leathery face.

“Little flenchlin.” It took a cup and looked down at her. “I am excited to see you transform.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” she mumbled as the demon turned and dipped the cup into the cauldron.

Eyes on Penny again, it gave the cup to Emery. “Your partner will go first, just this once.”

“Great gravy without a boat,” she said as Emery sniffed the contents.

“If you didn’t need us so badly,” he told Darius, shaking his head a little, “there is no way in hell I would trust you this much.”

“Understood, Mr. Westbrook. You will be able to resist the temptations of the drink, if you choose. It is more potent than the blood you had earlier, but not horribly so, I shouldn’t think.”

“Resist the temptation?” The leader shook its head and chuckled. “Why ever would you want to resist something so natural? Enjoy it. Soak it up. Revel in it.” Its light eyes flashed.

Emery drained the cup, then handed it back. He licked his lips. “Tastes…good.” He pulled his hand free of Penny’s grasp and ran it down her back. “Amazing, actually. It tastes like…” He licked his lips again.

“It tastes like carnal sin.” The demon laughed deeply as it refilled the cup.

She took the cup from it, scowling for all she was worth. The contents swished in the glass—deep purple, not more than a mouthful, as Darius had said.

“It won’t hurt you, Miss Bristol,” Darius said. “I know very well that I would be skinned alive and eternally slaughtered if I were to ever harm you. That drink is safe.”

She growled, steeled her courage, knowing that if Reagan were here, she’d be taunting Penny something awful, and then downed the liquid.

The explosion in her mouth matched the magic in the air, still pounding through her body. The complex grouping of flavors spiraled through her senses. She couldn’t even describe it—rich chocolate, subtle spices, that wine Darius served on his island, home-baked apple pie…

It was as if all the flavors she loved best had been contained in one cup, each in its best possible formation. The best pie, the best PB&J sandwich, the best s’mores. They didn’t contradict each other, though they should’ve.

“Very good, little flenchlin.”The leader winked and took the cup before scooping up some of the drink for itself and gulping it down. “If you decide to…mingle, find me first.”

“She won’t be mingling.” Emery slipped his hand down to the swell of Penny’s hip and pulled her in possessively.

A moan escaped her as she soaked him in. The feel of that hand, hard and masculine. The rich timbre of his voice and his smell, comforting and arousing.

“The offer is out there.” The leader laughed and lifted its hand high, all six fingers of it. “Commence the music!”

A cheer went up, and Darius urged Emery and Penny out of the throng of creatures. “Here, back here. You’ll want to get settled in a hurry.”

Drums reverberated through the space, almost tribal in nature, a deep, rhythmic sound crashing through her blood. Excitement twisted her gut and tightness took over her core. Emery’s hand tightened around her hip, and she knew the rest of his body was reacting, too. Music from a strange sort of string instrument rose above the din, hitting a high note before dipping and then coiling and spiraling through her ears. The sound was sweet and full of longing, but spicy and naughty, too.

“Here.” Darius stopped them in front of a little alcove, the lighting so dim she could only see the wall at the back. “It’s small, which means it is only for a small group—two or three. No one will duck in here to join, unlike in the larger rooms. The resting area is around the side. This should allow you to…hide from sight. Or, if you prefer, we can look for a different—”

“This is perfect,” Emery said, ushering Penny in front of him. “We’ll lock ourselves in with magic.”

“Fantastic. I will be in the area, in case you need something. Otherwise…” Darius took a step back. “Enjoy yourselves.”

Emery smirked, of all things, and guided Penny farther into the alcove. A new instrument joined the others, a base that worked with the rhythmic drumbeat, pulling at her body, pushing, yanking, trying to get her to take her pants off.

“Darius basically just shoved us into a demon sex club in the Underworld, do you know that?” She helped Emery erect a wall and then nearly buckled and dropped to the ground at the thought of erect. “Oh boy, I might be in trouble.”

Emery tied off the spell and turned to her, the soft light in the alcove just bright enough for her to see his gorgeous blue and gold eyes, hungry with desire. “That drink is…something else.” His eyes roamed her body, stopping on her breasts before dipping to what Reagan would call her fun zone. “Do you want to resist? Would that make you more comfortable?”

Yes was on the tip of her tongue. But that look in Emery’s eyes stoked the fire within her to blazing, burning through her blood. She backed up slowly, deeper into the alcove. He stalked her, his big body thick with muscle, his movements graceful and light in spite of it. The light cut across his high cheekbones and accentuated his strong jaw and ruggedly handsome features.

Her core ached for him. Her knees didn’t want to keep working. She bumped against the elevated, flat surface covered in pillows. The fact that others had used it for this—that demons had—should gross her out. Those pillows alone should gross her out. But she couldn’t tear her thoughts away from Emery. From what was under that shirt. What was in those pants.

He pushed up close to her, his heat dosing her. “I want to fuck you, Penny,” he said, and she swallowed hard. Passion swelled. Lust pulled her under. She couldn’t focus on anything but his heat. His words. His unchecked hunger to get inside of her. She wanted him inside of her.

Reading her easily, he slipped his tough palm against her smooth skin. His fingers pointed upward as his hand moved, sliding over the swell of her breast, his thumb finding the sensitive peak.

She groaned, fluttering her eyes shut. His hot mouth was on hers in an instant, swallowing her sounds. His tongue swept through, his taste more divine even than that drink. Better than anything.

His kiss rose in urgency, and suddenly his hands were on the buttons of her pants. They were pushing her pants down and slipping between her thighs.

Her knees finally gave out. She fell onto the springy surface behind her, lifting her legs so he could rip her pants off. She pushed up quickly, undoing his button and yanking his pants down as well. His hard length bobbed up, and she bent forward to capture it with her mouth, his hands on her head and then sliding down to caress her bare butt.

He yanked, pulling her head away before bending down and laying a bruising kiss on her lips. He stripped both of them of their shirts, then lowered.

“I can’t wait,” he said, crazed, out of control, desperate for her.

Desire pumped through her. A consuming need.

She pulled him on top of her, everything else forgotten, feeling the music pound through her, the drums adding to the ache in her body. The ache he could cure.

She lifted, and then he plunged deeply, filling her in a rush of incredible ecstasy.

“Fly, fly, little flenchlin,” she heard, echoing around their alcove. “Fly to your freedom.”

“That’s going to embarrass me tomorrow,” she said through pants, not able to get Emery close enough. Deep enough. Moving fast enough. “Harder, baby,” she said, in the moment again, able to feel nothing but his smooth length sliding in and out of her, in and out. Her back rubbing against the soft surface under her. His kisses dominating her world. “Harder!”

He groaned, lifting a little so that he could bear down. His hips crashed against her. The sound of their lovemaking danced with the steady beat of that drum. Of the music. Of the increasing pleasure that filled up every inch of her world.

An orgasm stole her breath and dragged her down into weightless bliss. She cried out, clutching his back, shaking around him. He swore, shuddering, emptying inside of her.

His lips were on hers again as they moaned with the aftershock. Still inside her, he rose just enough so that he could look into her eyes.

“This is the weirdest and hottest thing we’ll probably ever do. We’re in a demon sex club in the Underworld in a private…cave or something, on the demon equivalent of ecstasy. Like…is this real life?”

She laughed, all the stresses of the situation melting away. The moans and groans from the creatures outside of their alcove didn’t bother her. Nor did the music still beating through her veins. The desire still pooled hot.

“It is weird, yes.” She slid her hands across his shoulders and let the crazy scene envelop her, let some of her naivety drip away. “And it is hot. And this is real life when you’re friends with Reagan,” she whispered. “She’d probably be having a ball, banging Darius on the main floor.”

Emery kissed her. “Probably. I’m still hard. I have a feeling that drink is going to keep me that way for…a while.” He started to move again. “Whenever you want to go, we’ll leave, okay? You are in control of our fate right now. I’m just going to keep giving you orgasms until you say enough.”

The fire stole her breath again, and she arched back, rubbing her hard and sensitive nipples against his chest. “When in a demon sex club, you just gotta do like the demons do, I guess.”

His laugh was dark and dripping with sin. “Agreed. There could be worse places to hide.”