Page 14 of Incubus (The Incubus Saga #1)

Nathan and Sasha began their search for amorous couples on the first floor of the motel.

They spent several unsuccessful minutes combing the hallways with Nathan fully aware that he was being uncharacteristically quiet.

There was a dull pulse at the back of his mind filled with fear just being alone with Sasha, even though he had been alone with him several times before.

This hybrid fae. An incubus .

“Here,” Sasha said finally, moving closer to one of the rooms and placing a palm flat against the door. Sasha closed his eyes and turned so that he could rest his back up against it. The look that washed over his face was pure bliss.

“You just have to…stand there?” Nathan asked, softly because they didn’t need any extra attention and he wasn’t entirely sure if it was appropriate to speak to Sasha while he fed.

Blue eyes flicked open but remained heavy-lidded as Sasha replied. “Yep. I basically just…open up, like…flipping a switch or turning on a current.”

“Okay. So…does that mean you can mentally see what they’re doing in there?” Nathan smirked a little at the thought.

Sasha chuckled. “Not quite. It’s about feeling.

I feel their…passion. I can tell when they go faster or slow down, when they’re reaching the end or just getting warmed up, even how much they really love each other while they’re together.

But I can’t tell you who’s touching what or putting what where, sorry to say.

You’ll have to stick with cable access for that. ”

Nathan snorted a little too loudly, stifling his laughter when he remembered that it was well past midnight and they were in a public place.

If someone did come down the hallway they could just pretend to be guests who had finally returned after a night out.

It wouldn’t be suspicious. Not with Sasha just standing there .

The redhead looked like he was listening to relaxing music, not feeding off of the very essence of sex.

“I have to ask."

“Why aren’t I hard as a rock by now?”

Nathan coughed, nearly choking as he tried to find words. “Uh…well, yeah,” he admitted. “You’re not human, fine, but you still...function like a guy, don't you?”

“Oh, I’m fully functional. It’s just not necessary with this. When I’m feeding from actual sex, sure, all systems go, like any other guy. But this is…mental. It’s different. There’s a current either way, but right now that current stops at me. Do you get it?”

“I...think so.”

It was strange watching an incubus feed without even needing to touch another person. Nathan had always envisioned them as monstrous creatures raping women in their sleep. Sasha didn't seem like that at all. He was charming and kind and funny. Nathan had grown comfortable around him quickly.

But Sasha being fae cast a shadow over everything.

"You really hate fae, don't you?"

Nathan started, surprised that Sasha had once again read him so well.

"Sorry, I can't help it," Sasha said. "As an incubus, I can sense what you're feeling.

Just emotion, not thoughts, but emotion is usually enough.

Even if you didn't carry your emotions so close to the surface, it would have been easy for me to figure out.

The only fae you don't hate is your brother. "

"Jim isn't fae," Nathan jumped in defensively, "he's a changeling. There's a difference."

"I know," Sasha said with a pacifying smile, "because it was chance.

He might have just as easily been born normal like you.

But he isn't normal. That scares you a lot more than I do.

You don't know what's going to happen, that's always scary.

But all fae aren't to blame for that, Nathan.

I can't help the way I was born any more than Jim can. "

Nathan opened his mouth to counter that, but he didn't have an argument.

"Maybe you just need to understand me better," Sasha said. "You know what I am now. I don't mind being honest with you about what that means. Ask me anything."

"Anything?" Nathan questioned. He had never wanted to know more about the fae he had met in the past unless it was to know ways of protecting himself against them, which learning more about Sasha would also offer, and maybe give him some peace of mind.

The only problem was that Nathan had no idea what to ask.

He watched Sasha at first, as if the answer would present itself.

The way Sasha was leaning back against the door made the long-sleeved black T-shirt he had changed into hitch up at the sides.

He also wore tightly fitting jeans that sat low beneath his waistline.

The visible skin revealed hip bones, as well as the top of Sasha’s pelvic tattoo.

Nathan studied the black, tribal designs. "Okay," he said. "Are those tattoos really tattoos or some crazy incubus thing? 'Cause I just don’t buy that a guy would ever willingly get tattooed there .”

Sasha let out a hearty laugh at the question. “It's an incubus thing," he said. "We're born with them. Though, I gotta say, I’d miss the markings if I was human. Apparently, they’re kind of sexy." He arched away from the door as if to prove his point.

Nathan shuddered. "I’m, uhh…sure the ladies think so. Are you going to take this seriously?"

"I am taking this seriously. Did you think I'd suddenly be different? I've always been myself around you, Nathan. I'm just answering honestly." Sasha smiled infectiously. He seemed to be feeling much better already and easily slipped into his teasing nature.

"Fine," Nathan said, suppressing the heat that rushed to his face. "So...what does it feel like? Feeding. What you're doing now."

"Well, if you're going to ask that," Sasha said, lifting a hand toward Nathan in invitation, “maybe I can show you.”

Nathan slipped against the wall. “Uhh...”

“Head out of the gutter, Grier. All you have to do is take my hand. You want to trust me, right?”

"Yeah, but...I’d rather not help give you a boner if it’s all the same.”

Sasha laughed again. "It's not like that. The circuit is coming from them. You’ll just feel what I’m feeling. It won’t do anything to me. Go ahead.”

Nathan stared at the offered hand, certain it must be some sort of trick, regardless of how much he wanted to believe Sasha.

“It's just an offer, Nathan. You won’t hurt my feelings if you say no.”

Curiosity burned in Nathan, if only to have a better grasp of what Sasha really was.

Nathan would have called on Walter for his opinion if he were alone.

Even invisible, Walter was always watching.

Surely, if Nathan was about to do something truly foolish, Walter would intervene.

Nathan even paused long enough for his Spirit Guide to appear, but nothing happened.

Sasha was still standing there with an outstretched hand. So Nathan took it.

The reaction time was immediate. As soon as their skin touched, it was as if every nerve in Nathan’s body ignited.

He was right on the brink, no build-up, just heat, raw heat pooling low in his stomach as if every inch of him was being touched and brought to rapture.

His breath hitched as the feeling continued to pour into him, constant, like reliving the moment right before climax over and over again.

It was so overpowering, Nathan couldn't stay on his feet. He had no support other than Sasha’s hand, and that was only the barest touch. Before he could help it, the sheer breadth of feeling overwhelmed him and he started to sway.

Sasha reached out to catch Nathan, but that only intensified what Nathan was feeling and all of those hot, pulsing sensations surged through his veins like fire. The next thing Nathan knew, he was on the floor, looking up into Sasha’s worried face.

"Oh God, Nathan, are you okay?"

“What…was that?” Nathan asked, flustered by how strangely ragged his voice sounded.

“I’m so sorry, Nate, I wasn’t thinking. When you started to fall, I just…” Sasha shook his head. “Touching your hand is one thing, but when I grabbed you, all of my attention was on you. I probably forced about three thousand volts of raw sexual energy through your body back there. I am so sorry.”

In a different world Nathan might have considered it ridiculous for someone to apologize for something like that. Except that he probably needed to change his shorts.

The strange part was that he didn’t feel like he had just experienced a waking wet-dream. When he glanced down his body, he saw no sign of awkward stains or a raging hard-on. It really had been all in his mind. Nathan might have thought that was cool if he wasn’t so mortified.

“Nathan?”

“I’m good. I’m just…gonna lay here a minute,” he said, setting his head back on the carpet and letting his pulse slowly beat back to normal.

Sasha’s expression was about as humiliated as Nathan imaged his own looked right then, which actually made him feel a bit better.

“I just wanted you to understand that my kind doesn't have to be evil, even when we're feeding. I swear I didn’t mean for that to happen,” Sasha insisted.

“I know,” Nathan said, and the amazing thing was, he really did believe it. “If you wanted to get me on the floor, you’d be doing something about it,” he added with a laugh. Then, realizing that joking about this really wasn't helping, Nathan started to sit up.

“Here,” Sasha said, and offered Nathan a hand.

Nathan stared at it like the damn thing must be infected with the Ebola virus or some other horrible form of plague.

“Nathan, it’s safe,” Sasha said. “I severed the link. I promise it’s just a hand.”

After tonight, Nathan would never consider any part of Sasha to be just anything. But no matter how he looked at it, he believed Sasha’s concern was genuine and allowed the incubus to help him up.

“You sure you’re okay?” Sasha asked.

Sasha was standing very close to Nathan. Something about that kind of proximity with another person, especially the person who was responsible for the most accidentally erotic moment of Nathan’s life, had him feeling a tad twitchy. He had to get out of there.

“Yeah. Really, I’m, uh…fine. So…I think I need to be…gone. You’re good here, right?” Nathan started to back away. “Consider trust issues covered. I’ll…see ya later.”

As Nathan finished his ramblings, he made a sharp turn on his heels and headed down one of the hallways. He wasn’t sure if it was the one they had come from, but he knew somewhere in the direction he was going there had to be a way back to his room.

“Nathan!” Sasha called after him.

“I’m good! Need se—sleep! See you in the morning!” Nathan said, increasing his speed. He heard another call from behind him but didn’t bother acknowledging it.

Nathan had basically handed himself over to Sasha as a ready meal and came out of the incident unscathed. He could believe that the incubus meant him no harm, but that did nothing to deter his sudden desire for a very cold shower.

The next morning, Nathan felt as though his brother somehow knew what had happened between him and Sasha.

Jim didn't say anything, and there was no way he actually could know, but Nathan felt weighed down and.

..watched. He figured that probably had something to do with Walter, but Jim was the one he could see, so Jim was the one he felt the need to avoid.

He slipped out of their room while Jim was in the shower, quietly closing the door behind him with no real destination in mind, and was immediately struck by the faint smell of leather. Turning around, he came nearly nose to nose with Sasha.

“Shit,” Nathan gasped, tensing as he pulled himself back against the door. “Don’t do that.”

“Sorry.” Sasha had the nerve to smile brightly, looking all presentable and well-groomed in his leather jacket. He didn’t look nearly as sickly and fatigued as he had the night before. “I just figured I should check on you. You okay?” he asked, reaching out as if to grab for Nathan’s shoulder.

Nathan pulled back so sharply, he knocked his head against the door.

Sasha frowned, a barely repressed look of pain passing through his eyes. "Guess I…really freaked you out last night, huh?”

“No, it’s…it’s not that. I mean…it did freak me out, because I wasn’t expecting what happened, but I…

I'm fine," Nathan insisted, trying his best to get his body to relax again.

"It's not you. Not... entirely you. I'm not totally okay with all this, but if you really wanted to hurt me, you could have last night.

I'm the one who took your hand, remember? "

Sasha pulled on a smile, but it seemed flawed compared to his usual cheerfulness. "And I'm the one who suggested it. But I'm glad you understand that I have no intention of hurting you. Or your brother. Besides...you're kind of cute when you're flustered." He winked.

They were so close that even though Nathan pressed himself back against the door, he could still smell the oddly potent combination of leather and what he imaged to be pheromones. "Still not letting up with all that, huh?"

"Well," Sasha grinned, "I am an incubus." But then the grin seemed to fade and Sasha looked away, as if something had turned sour in his stomach. "Umm...I should tell you something. I was still feeling pretty weak last night even after feeding a little in the halls, so...I went for a walk."

Nathan felt a tightness grow in his chest. "You...bring some chick back to your room?" he asked, hoping there wasn't a body across the hall behind Sasha's door.

"Actually..."

“Shit, I am so gonna be late for class!” preceded a decidedly male voice from Sasha's room as the door swung open. “I gotta catch the bus to the U!”

Nathan gaped at the young man who stepped out of Sasha's room. He was shorter than Nathan, with dyed blonde hair and glasses, and had obviously dressed in a hurry because his shirt was only half buttoned.

He noticed Sasha and Nathan in the hallway and flashed a smile as he slung a bag over his shoulder. “Hey, great time last night," he said to Sasha, lifting up onto his toes to steal a quick kiss. Then he was gone, zipping down the hallway toward the exit.

The door opened so suddenly behind Nathan that he nearly fell backwards into the room.

"Nate!" Jim cried. "What are you doing? I get out of the bathroom and you’re just gone ? How was I supposed to know where—”

“Geesh, sorry, Mom ,” Nathan broke in, annoyed by Jim's tone but glad for the interruption. “I was outside the door the whole time, Jim. Gimme a break here.” He took the opportunity to push past Jim into the room, leaving Sasha to stare after him.