First the demon, soon the clone.
“I know it,” Aubrey said calmly. He glanced to the left and saw the vague outline of Shirian’s form hovering in a blue mist.
“I saw you on your knees with that human whore—Chesa you called her,” Shirian hissed. “You played the submissive very well. I wouldn’t have thought it, given our previous chats. I thought you were too powerful to go down on your knees.”
“Only the ignorant believe there is weakness in occasional subservience. There is power in submitting. I find pleasure in it, sometimes as much as bending another to my will.”
“You’ll never convince me of such nonsense.” The sound of her mocking laughter raised his hackles, although he took care to ensure she didn’t see his annoyance.
“You have taunted me enough, Shirian. I know what you came here for. Touch the crystal.”
Her laughter faded. Distantly, like an echo, he heard her soft pants of anticipation. She manifested into flesh before his very eyes. He knew she was evil to the core, but he couldn’t help but be awed by her beauty. She kept one hand on the crystal, and turned toward him, her long, coal black hair swishing around her hips. She’d taken form naked. He salivated as his gaze ran over her comely form.
“I can smell your blood,” he murmured, a small smile shaping his mouth.
“Yes,” she whispered. “It is a miracle, this crystal.” Her lips curved when she noticed his gaze on her full, thrusting breasts.
“I was called the Jewel of the Nile.”
“You are, indeed, beautiful.”
Her red lips slanted into a cruel smile. With her free hand, she reached between her thighs. She was clean-shaven. Whether that was because she’d pictured herself that way before she’d taken form, or because that’s how she looked when her spirit had resided in flesh, he did not know.
She parted her labia, showing him her fleshy gem.
“I would have you kneel before me,” she purred.
He moved quickly, so quickly that Shirian gasped in surprise when he had her turned. He forced her to bend over. He’d pulled one arm behind her back in a painful restraint and pushed her head downward with a grip at her neck. She was so intent on maintaining contact with the crystal, her resistance was minimal.
“I am the master of you, demon,” Aubrey grated out between clenched teeth. “One word from me, and you will be smoke once again, wandering the tunnels. He grabbed a portion of thick hair at her nape and jerked her head up. “Go ahead. Mock me again, and I’ll say the word. Or take your hand off the crystal. You always have that way out, Shirian.”
She made a strangled sound when he stretched her throat, but as he suspected, she didn’t try to speak. Shirian coveted flesh. She was too smart to forsake the opportunity to exist in it.
And such lovely flesh it was, Aubrey thought as he stroked her bare bottom. He kept her hair bunched in his hand, her head drawn back at an awkward angle.
“I will show you who is master between us, Shirian.”
He drew his hand back and struck a buttock. Hard. She whimpered and fell forward slightly.
“Put both of your hands on the crystal and brace yourself,” he said briskly, releasing his restraint on her wrist. “Or you can break contact, if you like. If you are mist, I cannot punish you. I’ll leave it up to you.”
Her hair covered her face, but he imagined she gritted her teeth in fury beneath the obscuring black veil. He smiled when she slowly raised her free hand and braced herself. He brought his hand back and struck her buttocks, again and again.
“Was the Jewel of the Nile ever punished before?” he taunted her as he cracked his palm against succulent flesh. “I expect an answer,” he said, smacking her hard. “What’s that? No? Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me. Perhaps if you had been, you wouldn’t have become such a selfish—heartless—bitch.” He ground out a word every time he landed his palm on flesh. She made a sound of deep frustration and he laughed.
“You really believed you could rule me, didn’t you?” he muttered, amazed at her audacity. He glanced down, appreciating the sight of her smooth bottom blushing pink. He knew he was laying it on thick, but Shirian wasn’t a human. She was a demon, and he would see her submit. The more he forced her to, the more power he would have over her. In the world of magic, power could be banked like money. One could never have too much of it.
Subjugation of a demon was never easy, and sometimes he chose to do it sexually. Given the circumstances, it was the perfect way to bend Shirian to his will.
“Perhaps you could have ruled me, if you didn’t love this beautiful flesh so much, Shirian. As things stand, however, you are mine to do with as I please. Don’t move.”
He straightened and headed toward an upholstered chair and ottoman. She turned her head, trying to see him through her thick hair.
“What are you doing?” she asked, sounding furious and bewildered.
“You’re punishment for your insolence isn’t over yet.”
He shoved the cushioned ottoman along the polished wood floor with his foot. “I want your knees hugging that stool, your ass in the air, your head down. You can touch the crystal at the base.”