Starblood (The Starblood Trilogy) (16 page)

‘Hello darling,’ she says. ‘Looking for something a bit special?’

‘Sorry, I’m just looking for my girlfriend. She came this way with another woman. Have you seen her?’

‘We makes it our policy not to notice people, lover.’

‘Thanks anyway,’ he says, jogging towards the next woman.

One of the men in the doorway looks up at Satori and marches towards him, intercepting him before he reaches the next woman.

‘She nat good enough for you?’ he asks, nodding towards the blonde.

Satori looks back. He shakes his head.

‘I’m looking for someone I know,’ he tries to explain.

‘Who dat be?’ the man asks.

‘A girl, this high,’ he puts his hand to his shoulder to indicate her height. ‘With black curly hair.’

‘White chick?’ the man asks.

‘Yes, have you seen her?’

The man smiles and shakes his head, turning away.

‘You betta get outta here boy,’ he says. ‘You no business round ’ere.’

‘I have to find her,’ Satori says.

Three other men join them. The first man whispers to the second and they all move forwards.

‘No, I don’t have time for this. I need to find her,’ Satori yells.

A fist connects with his nose and he falls to the floor.

When Satori wakes the street is quiet. The air is freezing and the sky has a pre-dawn paleness. He stands up, wiping his nose on his sleeve and looks around—empty. Looking at his wrist, he realises his watch has gone. He checks his pockets and discovers his wallet and mobile are missing too. Wiping his itchy nose again, he stumbles across the street. Every step makes him wince with pain. He looks at the boarded and paper-covered windows.
No hope of finding her now
.

He walks home. Every step away from Vermelho Road and knowledge of her safety is agony. Angry words echo through his head. He has lost her.
Who is she with?
A deep part of him already knows.
Star is with Lilith. She has to be.
He chastises himself for his arrogance,
if only
… As he passes through the city, he forces himself to think of solutions. Maybe he can summon Lilith again. Bring her back to his room. Find some way of binding her. It will be dangerous, madness perhaps, but… His steps are quicker now he is moving towards rather than away.

He doesn’t need much to summon her this time. The glyphs were useless so he does not replicate them. The tribute to bring her, the only thing he knows
she
will respond to – semen. He stands within his circle and calls to Lilith, succubus, serpent, temptress of Eve, first wife of Adam, dark mother. He jerks his hand back and forth as he calls to her, his voice becoming more urgent with every stroke of his fingers. And as his seed shoots across the room she appears. Naked and long-limbed, black hair wild, eyes angry, she materialises before him.

‘Magician,’ she screams. ‘What are you doing? I was busy.’

‘A trade,’ he says. ‘Will you make a trade?’

‘You for her?’ she asks, snarling.

He nods.

Lilith turns and crosses to the wet trail across the wall. She wipes at the spunk with her forefinger and brings it to her lips. Satori watches, transfixed, as her curved tongue flicks out to taste the wetness. She draws her finger inside her mouth and sucks at the tip. He gulps as he watches her: more aroused than horrified.

‘What a waste,’ she says. ‘What use is a tribute that’s been splattered over your wall?’

‘I have more,’ he says.

She steps closer.

‘What will you give me if I give it all to you?’ he asks her.

‘Hmm, a night with her? You want that don’t you? She won’t come back to you, you know.’

‘I don’t care. I love her and I won’t let you hurt her.’

Lilith laughs. ‘Who says I’m hurting her? She’s having the time of her life.’

She reaches him in three strides. She clasps his balls in the palm of her hand. Her nails bite into his tender skin.

‘Would you sacrifice what all men value most?’ she asks.

He is silent.

‘I thought not,’ she says. She waves her hand as if flicking away an annoying fly.

‘Wait,’ he pleads. ‘You said I could have a night with her.’

‘So I did,’ she replies.

She nods and disappears. No, she hasn’t disappeared, he’s moved. He faces the way she had been facing. He tries to turn his head to look behind him, but he cannot will his muscles into action. He feels her presence. Lilith is close. She is all around him.
Oh fuck
.
I’m inside her. Her body is my body.
Lilith’s body is his prison, and he has no control over its movements.

He feels his right leg move as she steps forward. As his foot touches the floor a different room appears around them, a dark room, with a grimy looking bed. Star sleeps there, wrapped in filthy blankets. Her shoulders and chest are exposed. They are covered in small bruises.

What have you done
? He asks in his mind.
Only what she wanted
, comes the mocking reply.

Lilith pulls back the blankets, exposing Star’s body. The sleeping woman stirs slightly, shifts position and falls back into a deeper slumber. Satori imagines licking his lips. His tongue will not move and his mouth still feels dry.

He looks through Lilith’s eyes at the woman he loves. That she is lying naked and completely unaware of him is a powerful aphrodisiac. Her legs are bent at the knee and she lies half on her back and half on her right side. Her pale thighs and calves are splayed. Above and between them her triangle of ginger beckons him. He wants to nuzzle there, smell her tangy musk, and lose himself within her. Her stomach is small and soft. He imagines his seed inside her, sowing new life that will bind them together for perpetuity. And her breasts, the swell of these and their alert pink nipples, he could feed on them forever and never need to eat again. The most painfully beautiful part to look at is her face. A face that worshipped him once, and saw wonders in him. Her mouth whispered words of undying love. He wants to bend over that face, whisper into her ear to run and never look back, but it seems he is voyeur only.

Lilith reaches across the bed for Star’s ankles. Satori feels them too, delicate and smooth. She pulls her towards them, legs spread across the dark sheets. Star seems to wake. She smiles at them. Satori wonders whose face she is seeing. She is so tired, though, that her eyes flutter down again within seconds of opening.

Now her sex is so close to him Satori feels himself respond. He hardens, engorging in blood. He feels Lilith’s body stretch to accommodate him. Lilith’s eyes look down at her new eagerly bobbing cock. Satori sees it too and feels the smile, which spreads across Lilith’s face. This is why she brought him here. Her dildo and her witness, he feels frightened for himself and Star, but his fear does nothing to dampen his ardour.

As Lilith bends down to suck at Star’s breasts, Satori feels his own tongue caressing the hardening nipples. He loses himself in the motion of licking and pulling, gorging himself on her.
Am I doing this or is it Lilith?
The boundaries are blurred; they both want the same thing. Gentle moans of pleasure escape Star’s lips, but her eyes remain closed. They move up her body and press their lips against her eyelids. Her eyes move quickly beneath. She is dreaming.
Is she dreaming of this?

They fasten their mouth to hers. Her lips taste like honey. Their tongue flicks inside her mouth, hungry, eager for a response. She moves her tongue with theirs, a soporific dance. Their fingers stroke her hair then tug at it, the gentle movements become stronger until she opens he eyes again. Star does not protest, however, she grasps their head and pulls it closer, attempting to swallow their tongue in her passion.

The flesh and spectral hand moves from Star’s hair to her breast. They knead the flesh. She gasps at the strength of their grip and digs her fingernails into their shoulders. The pain makes them shudder.

Breaking the kiss, they stand at the end of the bed. Star raises her hips off the mattress in expectation, and they kiss her wet lips, letting her sweet juices run down their chin and throat. Her body twists on the bed and they push deeper. Lilith’s tongue takes Satori’s own farther into the pulsing orifice. Their tongue is a serpent, exploring the warm ridged cave, finding a new home. Star reaches an arm towards them, but they push it back onto the bed. She surrenders willingly.

Their tongue flicks from this hole to its tighter neighbour. Star gasps in surprise and pleasure, pushing her body towards them, opening herself up to their exploration.

The Lilith/Satori satyr straightens again and looks upon Star’s beautiful flushed face. Then with a flick of hands the woman is flipped on to her front. They pull her hips upwards, staring with mounting delight and excitement at the welcoming tunnels. As they push their conjoined flesh inside her, she looks over her shoulder. An expression of shock and wonder crosses her face.

‘How?’ she whispers. She does not resist them. Her eyes narrow and her groans grow louder and thicker as she abandons the mystery, pleasure seemingly driving all other thoughts from her mind.

Yesssss, yesssss, yesssss
. Words echo around his brain.
Are they mine or Lilith’s, silent or cried aloud?
They push harder and deeper. Flesh again expanding with Lilith’s magic. Together they fill Star, the void within her no longer empty.

Satori closes his eyes and enjoys the singular sensation. His balls tighten as the pressure mounts, then with a flood it is released. He growls as he hovers there, giving all he has to give. When he opens his eyes again Star is staring at him.

‘Who are you?’ Star’s voice is full of accusation.

Then he is back in his room, and the smell of his come fills the air. He is alone.

‘Star,’ he cries.

Chapter 25

‘It’s getting dark, love. Won’t you come in?’ The silhouette of Freya’s mother lingers in the kitchen doorway, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and back again.

‘In a minute,’ Freya answers.

It’s dark and the garden is full of sound. Grasshoppers chirrup and a soft breeze hisses through the tree. Ribbons dance in the branches. Although Freya has her back to the tree she holds the image of their waltz in her mind. It makes her smile. Ivan told her once why he attaches them to the tree. They are gifts of thanks. Their mother hates them, but she stopped complaining years ago. Ivan told Freya he has a tree in his head as well: a great oak tree. He can touch it, smell it, even taste it if he wants. He describes it as slightly surreal. The colours are more vibrant than nature and the depth is compressed. Very much like this moment in time, Freya thinks. The tree in Ivan’s head reminds him of a painting.

These days, Freya asks him about magic more and more. Partly so she can share his excitement. Although the desire to understand a world controlled entirely by will grows stronger in her day by day. She has read her book too many times to remember, dreaming about other worlds, hidden powers and unseen realities. She wants to travel inside her head, just like her brother. Her book doesn’t show her the way. She knows she needs Ivan’s help.

He’s reticent. She suspects he senses her interests are darker. He feels the same way about Satori. He worries his friend is planning something. Star left Satori a couple of weeks ago, and he seems darker, stranger if that’s possible.
Maybe Satori would help me
. Ivan says Satori doesn’t travel. He brings everything to him. Freya tried that with her experiment in the woods. It was a failure and now she feels empty, reluctant to try again. That night and the way she felt—still feels over a year later, haunts her in her dreams. Dave called a few times, but he stopped when Freya’s father threatened him.

Every time Freya tries to speak to Satori he brushes her aside.
He treats me like a child. I’m not that young. Maybe if I get closer to Star? Maybe then he’ll be interested.
Freedom calls between the prison bars.
I’m eighteen. I shouldn’t be sneaking around.
I could get a job. Move into Raven’s flat. I’ll do it. I’ll show them all.

She catches a glimpse of movement in the window. Her train of thought is abandoned. An arm and a shoulder come into view, both bare. He’s topless again. Freya squeezes her thighs together. Her mouth feels dry and she licks her lips. He is so strong.
Oh to be held by those arms. Feel those muscles tighten around me. It would be better than with Dave. It would be real and my goddess would surely hear my cries of ecstasy.

Freya feels her mother’s frown.
Does she know I’m spying on him?
The cold grass splinters under approaching feet.
I should stand up. Maybe it’s best if she doesn’t know who I’m watching.
Freya tries to turn, tear her face away from his window. Her mother is at her shoulder. The older woman looks up and makes a strange choking sound; she can’t catch her breath. Ivan looks towards them but the garden is dark, their shapes obscured by shadow. The mother staggers back. Freya looks at her pale, almost grey face.
Is she going to die?
She wonders how she would feel if her mother asphyxiated.
Will people blame me if I just watch?
Freya stands up and take a step towards her mother.
Should I call dad? She’s pointing at me.
Colour starts to replace the grey in the woman’s cheeks. A hot red flush pierced with eyes as dark as coals.

‘He’s your brother,’ her mother says. Her hands shake. She takes a step towards Freya and slaps her face.

Freya’s eyes widen and fill with tears. At first, it stings like crazy then a throbbing heat. Freya stares at her mother, unable to form words. Her cheeks are wet with tears.

‘You never let me see anyone else,’ Freya shouts.
It’s her fault, hers and Dad’s. Not mine. I’m just growing up. I just want to feel what other girls feel.
‘What did you expect?’ She rolls a ball of spit inside her mouth and launches it, watching it connect with her mother’s face. She charges into the house, grabs her jacket and leaves.