Crazy Seduction(erotica)

Blane frowned. “Look who’s calling me a monster.”

“But you are a monster! You’re certainly not human. You’re like the one in the zoo.”

Another shock went through Officer Blane. It could see through his glamor! Also, he’d heard what happened to the guard in the zoo. The way this creature was drooling, he realized that was going to be his fate as well.

He felt so incredibly sleepy and weak from blood loss but struggled to remain awake. He looked to the hall, his thoughts begging his partner to hurry.

Then came the tugging and spots of searing pain, which quickly numbed. He looked back and saw the beast tearing into his chest to rip out his organs. It chewed and grinned at him as it swallowed. His consciousness began to recede, but he saw its facial burns begin to fade before everything went dark.

-=-

Roger feasted on the organs inside the big police officer until he couldn’t swallow any more. His injuries were healing nicely, and the pain from them was receding as well.

Only when he sank back on his haunches to let the last few bites slide down into his stomach did he look down the hall to find it empty. The other officer, the human one, was gone.

“SHIT!”

He scrambled through the broken wall and quickly wiped the majority of the blood off his body with a ratty blanket from the floor. He willed his body back into his human shape and rapidly pulled his clothes on.

He rushed to the doorway and glanced outside, clicking furiously. There was a police car behind the building, and the driver’s door was open. He saw the legs of the other officer stretching out the door.

Roger grabbed a large overcoat from a wall hook and pulled it on as he hustled over to the officer. He was lying half in and half out of the cruiser, quite dead. But in his hand was the mic from the radio. The cop might have called for help. He noted the radio had a light blinking on it, so he remained quiet.

He had no idea how much time he had before they showed up, but his hideout was blown. He ran back inside and collected as much of the money as his pockets could hold. He grabbed gloves to cover the skin of his hands and rushed back outside. He got on his bike and rode slowly away from the house, sticking to the side roads and back lanes. He was five blocks away when he saw the sound waves from sirens approaching rapidly, so he stopped and turned his bicycle upside down, pretending to work on the gears until two cruisers raced by, once more ignoring the cyclist.

Roger could feel the pressure of the sun beating on his body. He needed to get inside.

There was another abandoned housing development he’d made a note of during his nightly rides. He flipped the bicycle back onto its wheels and pedaled quickly but calmly towards his new hideout.

The meal that had delivered itself to him had completely healed the burns and replenished his energy. His hunger actually felt sated for the first time.

For now, he’d lay low until the time was right.

He would have to be more careful about capturing Henry, but he’d get his answers.

Henry went to his office, hoping Marisa was in, and couldn’t hide his relieved smile when he spotted the gorgeous blonde at her desk. She looked up and picked up his smile with one of her own, though she also looked curious.

“Can you join me in my office?” he asked and received a nod. He opened the door and stepped inside, holding it open for her to join him. As she sat in one of the chairs before his desk, he closed his door and set his bag down. He took the second chair and reached over to take her hand in his with a concerned look on his face.

“She’s fine.”

Henry’s first question froze on his lips as Marisa answered it unasked.

“I called her, and after speaking for a short time, I went to see her. As you know, I have some experience with controlling my senses. I ran through my exercises with her for a few hours until she could dial her senses back to normal levels. The only one that resists being controlled is her perception of the flow of magic. She can now dial back her other senses, so she only feels the magic with her mind. I had no idea Selkies could do that! It’s so amazing! She told me I could discuss this secret only with you,” she said excitedly.

Henry released the breath he hadn’t been aware of holding and relaxed a little. He nodded with a gentle smile. “Siobhan wasn’t comfortable sharing it with me, so I told her not to. For some reason, she did anyway.”

“She’s sleeping this morning, and I informed her boss and Sigrid that she was taking a sick day. We’re calling it an allergic reaction, in case it comes up. Later, she’s going to practice the methods until they’re second nature. She’s fine, Henry. You did good!” Marisa squeezed his hand with a grin and looked like she was preparing to leave. He held her hand, looking into her eyes, and she stopped.

“How are you?” he asked.Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

“Me? I’m just a little sleepy.”

“I mean, about having a little one on the way, with Nate missing,” Henry asked gently.

Marisa smiled in surprise at his concern, and her face warmed up a little. “Thank you, Henry. You’re a sweet man.” When he didn’t release her hand, she sighed. “It’s okay… I’m sad, but not depressed, thankfully. My hormones are keeping me balanced… maybe they’re leaning me a little towards the positive side, so I’ll have to pay close attention to my mood once the baby is born. Succubi don’t normally get post-partum depression, but I suppose there’s always a chance.”

“I’ll be watching you, too,” Henry stated, and her face got a little warmer.

“As for Nate, mom said she spoke to you about Succubi emotional bonding and how it differs from Human bonding? She actually had to talk to Nate about it, too, as he grew up with Human beliefs, as you did. He spoke to me about it. He was sure he could deny his nature and form a lifetime pair bond with me.”

“Maybe he can. We’ll have to see when we get him back,” Henry said firmly.

Marisa flashed a bright smile at him but just nodded, not trusting her words. Then she dipped her eyes and held his hand a little tighter. “He never asked me if I could do the same for him.”

Henry paused as he watched emotions cross her features.

“I miss him. I may even love him… but it isn’t the deep soul bond he’s searching for. Humans seem to be able to form relationship bonds for life. For Nate, his parents set the benchmark he’s trying to match. I’m afraid that, ultimately, he’ll be disappointed when he can’t find that for himself. He’s battling nature, and nature always wins,” she said with a sigh.

Henry remained silent as he thought Nate’s wish was truly lovely. Growing up with a surrogate grandmother, Baba Yaga, he didn’t have a similar parental life bonding example. While Baba had shown him affection, in her way, he didn’t know romantic love until he’d begun working at VRL. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he told his colleagues that VRL was his family.

While Baba remained the closest thing he had to a maternal role model, he knew Roy was definitely the one he saw as his father figure. Henry had lovers he’d shared his heart with. Perhaps, in some cases, that love was more one-sided on his part, but he wouldn’t judge them as what they returned to him was more than he’d ever had in his life leading up to this moment.

“I don’t have an example of parenthood,” he suddenly blurted. His face flashed heat as he hadn’t expected to confess this.

Marisa leaned forward, watching his face. “Henry, are you worried about being a dad?”

He could only look at her with a stricken expression, his tongue frozen in his mouth. He was going to be a parent, and he shouldn’t be saying anything negative about that honor.

Marisa’s expression softened as she took his other hand in hers. “It’s completely natural to be nervous about being a new parent. I’m nervous about being a mom!”

“I CAN’T PROTECT THEM! THE CHILDREN!” he suddenly gasped aloud, unable to contain the shame.

“What? Protect-”

“Mab stole my daughter’s body, leaving her to die. Baba-” He almost spoke of how Baba cut their fingers off to move the ring. “She took my child away.” Tears were running down his cheek, unfelt. An image flashed in his mind. “I have all this magic in me, but I couldn’t do anything for the dead baby in Kuwait-” Sobs ripped from his chest as Marisa slid forward in her chair to pull him to her and held him tight.

She spoke softly in his ear, whispering soothingly as his grief shook him.

After a time, the intensity of his emotions waned, and Henry began to get control over them once more. He released his grip on her, settling back in his chair as she slid back in hers.

“I-I’m sorry for dumping my baggage on you so suddenly,” he muttered.

“Henry! Never apologize for sharing your honest emotions with me. You were obviously carrying your worries all by yourself for too long, and I feel honored that you feel comfortable with sharing them with me.”

He looked into her beautiful eyes and got lost in them for a moment. He looked away as his cheeks burned. “Nate isn’t the only one who can claim to have fallen in love with you.” Hearing her sudden intake of breath, he raised his hands to apologize. “I-I’m sorry for saddling you with another unsolicited confession. I understand the difference between Human and Succubi love. Not… that I’m Human. Sorry, I’m still a mess.”

Marisa leaned back in her chair as she watched Henry struggling to get control. Her chest felt funny as she tried to understand her own feelings. It was like what she felt with Nate… but much deeper, richer, stronger. Until she could get a handle on it, she’d keep it to herself as Henry had enough on his plate.

“Are you feeling a little better?” she asked gently.

Henry gave her a shaky smile. “Yes… thank you.”

She nodded to him. “You tend to take too much upon yourself. So much of life is outside of our control. To make matters worse, you’ve found yourself forced into the ring with some truly heavyweight opponents. You were never trained or prepared to take them on, so it’s not fair to blame yourself for not winning those battles.”

He looked into her eyes and saw she truly believed this. He had a harder time forgiving himself, but he couldn’t refute her words.

“Yuko needs a baby from me to save her from going insane. Another child.” He sucked in a quick breath but kept it together. He saw sympathy in her gaze.

“What will you do?” she asked softly.