Page 14 of Oh No! There’s an Incubus in my Hot Spring (Getting Cozy with Demons #1)

fourteen

Surrender is the Fastest Way to Come

T he scent of fresh laundry fills my senses as I drive back to the hot spring with the windows down. It’s a warm day, and there are tons of tourists wandering around the streets. It fills me with hope.

My stomach groans at the scent of something smoky, and I look for the source. Right in front of the sushi place is a man grilling fresh cuts of marinated beef. A cute kid who couldn’t be more than ten is passing out samples of the cooked meat to everyone who passes by.

I whimper as I drive past, wishing I could stop in for a bite. I mean, I could…but it wouldn’t be as much fun without Apollo.

The streetlights are all green and I cruise, my mind wandering. I wish there was some way I could help him get out of the springs for a night, like Cinderella. I have magic now; maybe there’s some way for me to help sustain him while he’s out, like his fairy godmother?

What was it he said? He’s bound to the mountain?

I wonder if I could take a piece of the mountain and that would count? Maybe I’d need more than just rock. What if I took some of the geode?

Before I realize, I’m almost home. I tune back in and enjoy the fluttering of aspen leaves as the RAV rocks against the bumpy gravel drive. Definitely going to need to pave it, and get a paved parking lot, and some signage. This place…how did it even survive in 2002?

I open my purse and grab my notebook. I flip it open and scratch off two more items on the list. Laundromat located and laundry done, but I’ll eventually need to get a washer and dryer here, industrial sized so I can wash the rented towels.

I throw the groceries on top of my folded clothes and sheets in the laundry basket, then head into the house. Apollo is stretched out on the couch beside the fire, reading a contemporary rom-com.

“Welcome home,” he says with a bright smile. “Can I assist you?”

“You keep reading, I’ve got it,” I say, heading for the ancient refrigerator. It rattles as the compressor turns on when I open the door. I definitely want to replace that thing soon, but it’ll cool my groceries just fine for now. And by groceries, I mean seven-layer bean dip, shredded cheese, and flour tortillas. It’s questionable quesadilla night at Casa de Azarolla.

I get the laundry put away and then turn on my laptop at the little kitchen table. I open my running list of things the place needs on my computer and order it by priority. Right at the top is a coffee maker. Yep, that’s a must. I can’t keep going into town every morning.

I open Purchazon and start filling up my cart with a litany of things we need besides the good ol’ bean juice maker. A canopy for the top level so we can cover it for now and prevent it from getting too dirty, pool cleaning nets—one for each level—and some water-testing kits. I put a few more snacks in the cart too.

Apollo chuckles from where he’s lounging on the couch and my smile droops at the thought of him trapped here forever, reading my books. I want to take him out to sushi.

He said he was bound to the power in the mountain, but if that power is just the geode, maybe he can leave if he takes a piece of it with him. As long as it’s safe to remove a piece.

“Apollo,” I say in a questioning tone.

“Yes, lovely?” he replies, turning the page.

“If I were to take a crystal off the geode, what would happen?”

His eyes snap up from the book and land on me. “Why would you want to do that?”

I shrug. “I just have an idea.”

I could tell him, but I want it to be a surprise. I want to see the excitement in his eyes when he realizes he can leave the springs without getting warped back through space and plopped in the apartment.

He throws himself off the couch and walks toward me. “The heart has grown over the last decades. It’s possible that taking a piece of it won’t hurt me. But I don’t really know. It might sever some of my power, but I doubt it would kill me.”

I worry my lip. I wouldn’t want to chance killing him.

“What do you want it for?” he asks, stopping beside my chair.

It’s hard not to be distracted by his abs, especially when there are glowing lines of power thrumming over them.

“It’s a surprise,” I say.

He raises one of his silvery eyebrows, then disappears in a puff of mist.

“Apollo?” I push back the chair and stand, looking around for him.

A sharp pain spears through my heart and I gasp, holding my chest. The ground trembles softly, and then Apollo reappears beside me.

“I didn’t die,” he says in a wounded grunt as he holds up a purple crystal the size of my thumb. My eyes shift from the crystal to the blood tricking down his chest.

“Are you all right?” I ask, my other hand flying over his left pec.

He nods. “Just a scratch. Payment for taking the bit of crystal.”

“Fuck, Apollo…I didn’t mean for you to get hurt,” I say, looking up at him.

He wince-smiles through the pain. “I’ll be fine, lovely. I’d be better if I knew why I’d just done that to myself.”

Well, he’s not dead and he’ll be fine, so I still want it to be a surprise. I mash my lips together and give him my best doe eyes.

He snorts and drops his forehead to mine. “Fine. But I require at least one of your orgasms in exchange for your silence.”

I giggle. “What a terrible punishment.”

“Oh, you want me to make it punishment?” He steps forward, forcing me to take a step back. My legs hit the chair and I sit.

“Maybe,” I whisper, my eyes locked on his.

Apollo flicks his fingers and the glowing tattoo on his arms snakes down his body onto mine. It feels like the warm spring water, relaxing and invigorating at the same time. It coils around my wrist and he guides my arms behind me on the chair. The magic clasps onto my other wrist and cinches tight.

“How’s this to start?” he asks, standing over me with lusty eyes.

“Pretty good start,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper.

He conjures a strip of black fabric that looks suspiciously like the texture of my underwear. He bends down and wraps the cloth around my head, covering my eyes.

Suddenly, his hands are behind my knees, jerking me forward on the chair until my butt is at the edge. I gasp, pushing my feet into the ground to stabilize myself.

He tsks. “You always want control, don’t you?”

“Do I?”

His fingers pull the button of my jeans. “Yes, lovely, you do. As punishment, I’m going to take it away. You can tell me to stop at any time, but until you do, I will do what I want to you.”

I’ve fallen into some crazy fantasy world again, getting to explore my sexuality without judgement or fear, and with the promise that it will always end with me coming. I’d always been the take-charge girl in the bedroom with Jason. He rarely initiated with me, and when he did, it was just an ass groping and a “Got five minutes?”

Now I have an incubus tying me to a chair and blindfolding me.

I lift my hips as Apollo grabs the sides of my pants, helping him slide them off me. I feel a twinge of fear shoot through me as I wonder whether I locked the front door when I came in. Or if someone might peep through the windows. Or if Mark will come back and bang down the door while my ass is bare on this antique wooden chair.

Apollo’s clawed finger drags over my temple. “Hush in there. I want you to count to five, slowly.”

I wet my lips. “One.”

He slides his hands over my thighs. His nails tickle the skin as he comes to rest his hands on my knees.

“Two.”

He presses my legs open as wide as they’ll go, and then another slithering snake of power wraps my ankles to the legs of the chair.

“Three,” I whisper, my heart pounding in my throat.

His hands roam up the insides of my thighs and his nails retract, getting blunt and smooth. My breaths come in heavy pants as I tune into the sensation of his body on mine.

“Four,” I say, a tremor running down my spine.

He slips against my opening, dragging my arousal up to my clit. I lift my hips, pushing into the sensation coiling around me.

Apollo retracts his hands and I whimper, my pussy aching.

He chuckles. “You still think you’re in control.”

I plant my butt on the chair and huff. “Five.”

“No,” he says, and something in his voice makes me shiver in anticipation. “Start over.”

I swallow hard, my heart thumping madly. “One.”

His finger glides over my bottom lip. I stay completely still, waiting for whatever he wants to do instead of trying to anticipate him. He pushes against my lips, and I open my mouth. His warm finger slides over my tongue. I taste myself, and something that’s undeniably him.

He drags his finger out and I suck it gently before letting him go. “Two.”

He finds my clit and begins a rhythmic circling. I bite my lip, fighting the urge to move my hips in time with him.

“Three.”

His fingers travel lower, pressing against my opening in the same circular motion, but he doesn’t enter me. I swallow back a plea for relief and focus on my breathing.

“Four.”

He leans in as his fingers glide over me. “You’re doing so well. Do you want me to give you what you crave?”

“Yes,” I moan. “Please.”

He laughs and removes his hand again.

“Please, Apollo,” I whine, the ache in my muscles becoming painful. I need to feel his fingers inside me. I need to feel him thrusting and pulling.

“Still trying to be in control. You think that if you just beg hard enough, I’ll give you what you want. Start over.”

“One,” I say, my voice small and pathetic.

His fingers return to my clit, rotating gently. It’s not enough pressure, but I know better than to try to increase it myself.

“Two.”

He slides up and down through me, the sound of my arousal loud in the quiet room.

My voice trembles. “Three.”

He presses down harder, giving me enough friction to stoke the fires in my center.

“Four,” I moan.

“Your desperation tastes like honey, decadent and smooth. I could punish you all day.”

I almost beg him again. The word “please” is so close to tumbling from my lips, but I hold together.

“Five.”

He pushes two fingers into me, stretching my aching muscles. I groan in relief, throwing my head back against the chair. His other hand works my clit as he pumps into me and I’m seeing stars behind the blindfold.

I squirm and whine, the pleasure suddenly all too much.

“Don’t you come. Not yet,” Apollo growls as he keeps up his delirious pace.

I bite down on my lip and pull on my legs, trying to close myself off, to obey the command. I focus on the feeling of my bound arms and ankles, willing my sensory attention to stay there. But it’s no use. He’s hitting me with perfect rhythmic strokes that are pushing me over the edge.

My body is hot, heart thundering, muscles spasming. I throw my head back again and whine. I know begging will get me nowhere, but what if I just come? What will he do?

His fingers slow and he holds me still as he leans in close. “You think I can’t feel that impish little thought?” His breath slides against my neck. “That desire to disobey?”

My bottom lip trembles and I suck in a gasp. “What do I have to do to earn it?”

“Say my name.”

“Apollo,” I whimper.

His rigorous pumping begins anew. “Who does this orgasm belong to?”

“Apollo,” I moan, my body at the brink of destruction.

His teeth graze my neck. “I will gladly give you everything your body can handle and more, forever, my little witch. Just scream my name when you come for me.”

I scream his name, my brain short-circuiting. My muscles clench around his fingers and my body convulses, lifting off the seat. Apollo works his fingers, sustaining the pleasure until I’m quaking from overstimulation. I drop back to the chair and pant.

His fingers slide out of me, and I hear him suck them into his mouth. He hums. “Honey.”

“Oh my god,” I say, my breath still out of sync. “I didn’t know I liked edging.”

He works the knot at the back of my head and undoes the blindfold. “I’m glad to have discovered a new kink with you.”

His magic unwinds from my body and returns to his.

“Maybe I should look some stuff up for us to try.” I slump against the chair and open my eyes. The wound over his heart is healed and he looks vivacious, a brilliant flush in his cheeks. He’s so beautiful.

“On ViewTube?”

I laugh. “No, not on ViewTube. They don’t allow that kind of stuff. I’ll have to find it elsewhere.”

“Are you going to show me another app?” he asks with excitement.

Do I have a few minutes to browse porn with an incubus?

Yes.

Yes, I do.