Blood Magic's Bond

Ch 10: The Power Of Seduction

Whatever happened now, there was no going back. She had sealed her fate, and with it, Cal’s. If she failed, they would both suffer greatly.

The demon clapped its hands together, making her jump slightly. "Wonderful! Now, let's get me out of this body and your precious Prince returned to you.” It turned and sauntered into the sitting area, plopping down into a chair. “I’m assuming you’d like to know how.”

Astasha followed, taking a seat across from it. “That would be helpful. Considering you’re a demon, I’m assuming whatever ritual you have in mind will require the use of a less favorable magic?”

It put its fingertips together. “Such a clever girl. It does indeed require something a little more to my tastes, blood magic, to be precise, although I’m sure you’ve worked that out already. You’ll need a sacrifice too, a human one.”

Astasha blanched. "Absolutely not." As much as she wanted to free her Prince, she refused to harm another being to do it.

The demon raised its eyebrows. “I hate to tell you this, my dear, but freeing a demon is a messy f*****g business. If you aren’t willing to get your hands dirty, you might as well kiss your Prince goodbye now.”

“Why? Why a sacrifice? Am I not already making one, using my own blood at the risk of what it might do to me? I’d rather be drained of everything than take another life.”

It held its arms out. “That is exactly the reason for the sacrifice. The energy required for the ritual would kill you before you could complete it. Blood is the purest form of power, the very essence of life. The sacrifice is what fuels the energy needed to perform the ritual. Blood for blood.” It leaned forward, running its tongue over its teeth. “Come now, there's bound to be someone whose throat you wouldn’t mind–"

"I said no. So if that's the only option, this conversation is over."

She stood as if to leave, but the demon rose with her and raised its hands. "Oh alright, calm down darling. There is another way. Though I doubt your dear Prince will like it. Then again, perhaps he will." The smile on its lips revolted her. Whatever it was it spoke of, she knew she wasn't going to like it.

“Stop f*****g with me and tell me what it is then.”

The demon approached her. “Ironic you should use that terminology.” It ran its finger up her arm and over to her chest, brushing the top of her dress along the curve of her breasts.“There is always the sacrifice of body, surrendering yourself to the power of s*x magic." It said as its finger continued to toy with the fabric.

Her jaw clenched as she shoved its hand away. The demon was certainly f*****g with her.

"You're despicable."

It simply shrugged. "Perhaps, but it is a sacrifice, is it not? Sharing your flesh so intimately with another? And you can't tell me you didn't feel the power of it when you and your love shared that last night together." It stepped toward her again, but didn't touch, just leaned down to whisper in her ear. "In the forest, with him buried deep inside you, writhing in passion. Did you not feel the power like fire within you? Just begging for sweet release?"

Its mouth was almost touching her ear and goosebumps raised on her skin. She didn’t want to admit it, but she couldn’t deny it either. She had indeed felt exactly that; a surge of energy unlike anything she had ever experienced before. She wished more than anything she hadn’t, that she could call the demon a liar and be done with it. But a part of her knew, it was telling the truth.

She needed to make sure though, to know without a shadow of a doubt that it wasn't just messing with her head.

"If you insist on wasting my time, fine. They’re planning on performing an extraction ritual altered to remove you instead of magic at next sunrise. You can either help me, or you can both die a very slow and painful death. The choice is yours, but believe me when I say… if you don’t, I will make damn sure you suffer greatly before you are destroyed.”

The smile faded from the demon's face. “Well played Fire Witch. But as much as I like to f**k with you, this is the only way. Unless, of course, you'd rather sacrifice someone after all.”

She swallowed heavily. She had no choice but to believe it. “Fine. Tell me how it works then.”

The demon sneered. "It would be much easier if I showed you."

She stepped back from it as it advanced toward her. “There’s no way in hell I will taint myself with you more than is necessary.”

It stopped and laughed. "As much as I would love nothing more than to feel the Prince squirm while I f**k his precious darling right here and now, it would negate the point of the sacrifice."

Astasha was fighting to keep bile from rising in her throat, her hands shaking with anger. “As I said, we don’t have time to waste, so either tell me what to do or forget about your freedom."

It huffed a sigh. “Close your eyes."

She scoffed. "I've let my guard down enough with you already. Don’t think for a moment that just because I have agreed to release you, I trust you."

"Then watch your Prince die. The choice is now yours, Tasha.”

It was right. If she was going to save the man she loved, she was going to have to do things she didn't want to… Starting with this.

“Fine. But if anything happens to me, they will destroy you.”

“So melodramatic. I promise not to hurt you. Just close your damn eyes.”

She took a deep breath and did as requested.

“Good girl.” She could hear the sneer in its voice and it made her blood boil. "Clear your mind, sorceress. Forget everything going on, everything that has happened. Breath. Focus on the energy within you."

As much as she resented having to listen to the demon, she knew the more important thing was to save Calder. So, against all her instincts, she took a deep breath and cleared her mind, focusing on the energy swirling within her, on her breathing, slowly in, and out. She let herself relax, forgetting the chaos and fear, everything that was happening, and felt peace for the first time since the Prince had returned.

"Very good." The voice came from right behind her, whispering to her.

Fingers gently ran through her hair, caressing her shoulder as the other hand slipped onto her waist. She fought every instinct to push the demon away, and forced herself to imagine it was him, her Prince, her love.

"Relax." He whispered into her ear as his fingers trailed down her back. Her heart raced but she tried to focus on the energy inside. Slowly, his hand drifted down, caressing her side, over her hip, trailing his fingers down her thigh before gently taking her hand in his, and guiding it up her leg, over her stomach, to her breasts.

The hand on her waist pulled her against the Prince's body, and she could feel his bare chest against her back. His breath was on her neck and the energy inside her began to crackle like lighting.

His hand moved from her waist to the slit in her dress, slipping under the fabric to touch the flesh on her thigh.

Her breath caught.

"Focus." He uttered into her ear.

While his one hand continued guiding hers into the top of her dress to feel her n*****s hardening, his other moved up and gently caressed between her legs. A soft sigh escaped her and she felt the energy inside her swell.

"Good. Breath." His fingers started to move, gently rubbing the little spot above her opening, and a part of her hated that she could feel herself getting wet. She forced herself to remember why she was allowing this to happen, and concentrated on the task at hand. "Focus on the energy building inside you." His lips brushed against her ear and she could feel warmth spreading inside her, the power like a gently growing blaze.

His fingers moved faster, and Astasha moaned as his other hand left hers to gently pinch the hard peak of her breast, causing the flames inside her to roar to life.

Her breathing was heavy as his pace quickened, her juices now running down her legs. "Don't lose control. Focus on containing it like a ball of fire. Let it build, let it grow. The closer you get and the longer you hold yourself on the edge, the more powerful the release will be." Her legs were beginning to tremble as she felt herself getting closer and closer to the point of no return.

The flames inside were growing and leaping, and she tried to contain them, but the intensity of his fingers, the feel of his lips on her neck, their hands on her chest, his body pressed against hers… it was all too much and she began to lose control.

She was so close, she could feel it coming as her body tensed. It was as if she was going to explode and her eyes shot open. The gold within them was replaced with a dancing inferno, and the dark and cold fireplace burst into flames, every candle in the room igniting at once.

And then the demon removed its hand and stepped away, leaving her on the brink. She gasped and stumbled slightly, catching herself on one of the chairs. Slowly, she came back to herself, her eyes dissipating back into gold as she looked up.

It was watching her, a smile on its lips as it licked its fingers. Her stomach turned at the sight. "Very good. I would have let you come but, you’ll need every drop of that power later."

She glared at it, almost spitting the words. "You're disgusting."

"Perhaps. But you did seem to be enjoying yourself.”

“f**k you.”

“That comes later darling. For now, you have a ritual to learn. Shall we get to it?”

She wanted to rip the demon out with her bare hands. But as horrid and dirty as she felt inside, she had the information she had come for, and would soon have everything she needed to free Calder from the demon smirking at her. And that was all that mattered.