The Pleasures of Hell

Chapter 02.028

~~David~~

"Caera?" he asked.

Caera smiled, leaned in again, and kissed him again, and she didn't pull away this time. He did, and blinked at her a few times, but whatever was going through Caera's mind, she didn't feel like explaining it.

She picked him up.

"Whoa, hey. Caera?"

On her butt, she put her legs out in front of her, and put him on her lap, facing her. She might not have been Acelina big, but Caera was still eight feet tall, and muscular. He was only a feather to her.

"You're right."

"What?"

"You're right about demons. We're violent, bloodthirsty, and obsessed about it. Even Daoka, sweet and innocent as she seems, can give into the urge as easily as any other demon. But..." With her giant claws holding his waist, she kissed him again, and rubbed her horns against the top of his head. "You're right that we're closer to humans than not. A lot of us try to ignore that, like Acelina, and Zel, but some of us know better."

"Oh. I mean, Jes told me some stuff about her life in the hatching pit, and Dao's Dao. And you, I... I mean, Mia and I have talked about psychology and social dynamics and stuff, and—"

She kissed him again, and this time didn't let him pull away. She set a pair of claws behind his head and neck, and held him close, lips locked. Caera had a very short, cat-ish snout, and it made kissing her a unique experience. Not that he was some sort of expert on kissing.

"You really are delicious, you know that?" she said.

"Delicious?" Uh oh.

She laughed. "Demons fight. We kill each other over nothing. Even just an argument is enough. And you've figured that out by now, I'm sure."

"Y-Yeah."

"But you, you damn little nerd, just couldn't let me stay out here and stew, could you? Which I was doing because I knew if I stuck around in that alcove, I'd get angrier and angrier, until a fight broke out. And that could get violent."

Gulp.

"That violent?"

"Yes, that violent. It's one reason Zel had that dueling law in place, to minimize needless deaths so she could bulk her army. And then the weak demons, usually culled by getting into fights with other demons, would get killed by Alessio and her demons from the Black Valley in another inevitable war." Caera licked her fangs and ran her claws along his scalp and through his shaggy red hair. "Betrayers avoid demons who even so much as raise their voice. But not you, you persistent little nerd."

"Hey I—"

She kissed him again and hugged him tight. Maybe a little too tight, as air suddenly became an issue. After a few awesome, uncomfortable seconds, she relaxed, and he sucked in a breath.

"You know," he said, "on the surface, girls don't normally—"

She rolled and lay on her side, bringing him with her, and she set her teeth on his neck. Full on big bite, on his neck, like she was going to bite down and rip out his jugular. A gazelle, under a lion's mouth. He froze, but she didn't clamp down, content with nuzzling her fangs and other teeth against his soft skin for a bit before letting go, and replacing teeth with her long tongue instead.

"Demons aren't surface girls," she said, and she half squashed him with her body as she snuggled into his side. "The way you keep just... exposing yourself to me, while being all... nice, and honest, makes me want to..." A deep rumble worked through her, a purr, and she licked his throat some more. "If you had a number, I'd make you a betrayer."