The Naphil's Kiss

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Versailles, France, 1660

Sarahi examined the sumptuous bedroom in which she was hiding. Though she rarely concerned herself with the fate of mortals, even she had to admit this wasteful luxury seemed wrong. Ragged peasants succumb to disease in the streets, their children starve, yet the king and his court dare to flaunt their excesses in such a fashion. It's disgusting. Of course, with all the leisure time these corpulent noblemen and women enjoyed, indulging in lustful interludes provided a common means of diversion from the boredom of extreme wealth.

A key clicked softly in a lock, followed by a feminine giggle. Sarahi quickly shrank down to the size of a mouse and hid among the assortment of colored glass perfume bottles littering the boudoir table below a huge gilded mirror. She glanced at the bed. Royal blue silk hung from towering wooden posts carved with intricate designs. A fold in the luxurious blue and gold brocade bedding revealed gleaming white linens.

A giggling matron in her middle thirties, her head covered in a powdered wig of astonishing height, pulled a much younger man into the room and locked the door. He had his face buried in the cleavage revealed by the low front of her gown. She dragged him to the bed.

“Déshabillez-vous,” he told her, formal even in such an intimate setting.

“Fais-le toi-même,” she shot back, turning so he could unlace her gown. He began eagerly pulling at the strings.

Sarahi drank in their desire. Ahhh, that's better. Of all the choices available, voyeur is best. They're going to do this anyway, she rationalized. What difference does it make if I take a little taste? They will attribute their fatigue to satiation and recover fully by tomorrow.

A shadow crossed in front of the window, and Sarahi looked up sharply. The couple, still struggling with the lacings of the woman's cumbersome gown, did not react at all.

Naphil…I have to get out of here… But then Sarahi detected the tell-tale fragrance, even masked as it was by the sweat of the unwashed couple finally embracing n***d on the bed.

“Succubus, I know you're here. Show yourself!”

Oh, that voice… just the sound of it is more satisfying than anything happening on the other side of the room. Cautiously, she stepped out from between the bottles, to the edge of the table.

“Lucien,” she called softly. Over the centuries, they had found each other often, and while she could feel the beautiful half-angel's desire spark every time he saw her, he remained stubbornly faithful to his vow of celibacy. That shattering kiss they'd shared in Rome had never been repeated, much to Sarahi's disappointment.

“You,” he growled.

“Are you going to slay me this time?” she teased.

“Are you harming anyone?”

“Never,” she vowed. “Just having a bit of lunch, courtesy of our friends over there. You didn't really think you would be able to dissuade them, did you? They've been lusting after each other for weeks.”

“With your help,” he reminded her, his tone an accusation.

She shrugged, her flirtatious manner firmly in place. I do love teasing him…I think he might love it too. Otherwise, why would he stay to banter? “I may have whispered a few suggestions in his ear, but, Lucien, if he didn't want her, it wouldn't have mattered. Just as you cannot stop someone who is truly determined, I cannot create desire where none exists. You and I are two sides of the same coin, love. We can only enhance what is already there.”

He gave her an angry look, his onyx eyes flashing in the dark skin of his beautiful face.

“Don't, Lucien. If you dislike it so much, why don't you feed me yourself?” She felt her eyes glowing hot as she voiced her greatest wish aloud.

His face registered surprise at her boldness, followed by longing, and then rage. “Why? I have no desire to be one of your legion of lovers.”

Her cheeks burned as the accusation struck her to the center of her heart. Do you think I wanted to live that way? I had no choice. Stung, she argued back, “I have no lovers. No legion. Not even one. This is the only way I feed, now. It's so much better this way.”

“Then why…”

Though she didn't know if he could see the l**t in her eyes, when she had shrunk herself to the size of a mouse, she let it smolder anyway. “Oh, my dearest angel, surely you must know how I desire you. Only you, Lucien.”

For the most fleeting of moments, desire flared in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it. His back teeth ground together. “I have sworn vows.”

“I know you have. One of them was to kill any Succubus on sight, was it not? How well have you kept that vow?” She tilted her head to one side.

He swallowed hard but said nothing. She stepped off the edge of the table. His big hand shot out and caught her as she fell, just as she had hoped he would.

“Don't tempt me, Sarahi. No good can come of it.” He lifted her up close to his face.

“I disagree, Lucien. Every good can come of it.” She trailed tiny fingertips along his palm, glorying in the conflicted desire that raged across his face.

“I won't feed you,” he insisted stubbornly.

She wrapped her body around his finger, letting him feel her lush curves beneath her thin, ruby-colored dress. She kissed his fingertip. “You already have,” she teased, but it was the wrong thing to say. Snarling, he set her back on the table and disappeared.

Sarahi smiled ruefully as the couple on the bed ground their bodies together. Their l**t tasted terrible after the clean sweetness of Lucien. A moment later, she disappeared as well.