Succubus Rising Ch. 03

Author's Note: As usual, thank you for any comments or feedback. This is a completely unedited chapter, so there are probably more than the usual amount of mistakes. Like the last one, this has some non-con elements to it.

*

I woke swinging from the hook in Asher's room, and the scene was much the same as it had been over the last year or so. I couldn't remember how long ago it had been when Chaz started sending me to him, but I knew he paid a lot to have me once or twice a week. The white tile was stained with my blood, and I had seen it often enough that it had stopped terrifying me. My body was a web of welts and deeper cuts from the whip in Asher's hand, and I must have passed out at some point because I didn't remember him stopping.

"You've lasted so long, Jezza," I hated the way he said my name, as though I were a beloved partner instead of a punching bag. "I have to cover it up before I take you back, but I wish Chaz could see what true art this was painted across your body. He never did have the stomach for what we do together."

The hook lowered and my legs wouldn't hold my weight so I tumbled to the floor. My shoulders hurt, but it was a pain I had grown accustomed to. It didn't matter if I couldn't walk because Asher was there, healing me enough to walk and then doing something that covered up what he had done. This was the worst he had done so far, but I could still see the fading bruises from the last session a few days before until his power washed over me and even those marks disappeared. He had done this week after week, and my power never once rose up against him. Sure, it helped me to get some pleasure out of what he did to me but I had stopped trying to use it against him. Every time we had sex now my power would wake, his eyes would glow, and I would get the feeling that I was almost there. Where, I didn't know, but the feeling kept getting stronger and stronger.

Asher lifted me to my feet and I was able to walk behind him to the door and out into the glaring sunlight to his car. How dare the world be bright and happy while this happened? My skin rubbed painfully over the scratchy cloth seats of the classic muscle car Asher had chosen to drive today.

We turned into the driveway to Chaz's and I realized I must have passed out again because I didn't remember any of the scenery or the city that we drove past. Asher did his usual stop in front of the house, the tires throwing gravel all over the place, and I made a mental note to apologize to Ferrel for it since he was the one who had to rake the gravel back into place. I knew and he knew that I couldn't do anything about it, but it was because of me that he had that extra chore. The door opened and I all but fell out of the car before Asher leaned over and pulled it shut behind me. I almost didn't move fast enough to get out of the way of the tires as he took off. As it was I was pelted with small rocks and dirt.

Ferrel was at the door and he helped me get to the attic without a word. Sophia and Kenzie - who had finally come around to admitting that I really did have it worse than her - helped me with the shower and into bed, and Kelsey slipped the newest package from Asher into the trunk with all the rest that I would never open. It registered that there was a new girl on the bed that had been empty, but I had a moment to think that I knew she was transient before sleep took me.

The next morning, Sophia helped me get to the top of the stairs before she left me to make my way down on my own. We had learned that Chaz did not like for us to help each other make it to muster, and my foot hit the bottom stair as the clock struck six. I just sank down onto the stairs while he frowned at me and dismissed the others before jerking me to my feet with a hand in my hair and all bu dragging me to his office.

"You were late," he said, dropping me near where the hook hung so he could get the cuffs. I said nothing and thought nothing, and this didn't seem to make him any happier. I couldn't win for losing. He closed the cuffs over my wrists and had gotten the hook to raise me to my knees when his phone rang. He cursed, but thankfully the hook stopped rising.

"What are you talking about? Yes," he was getting angrier by the moment and I had a feeling he was going to take it out on me. "I've been trying to get hold of Bane for months now. Why is he just now calling me back? Tell him to come next week, that's the earliest I have time to see him." He slammed the phone back into its cradle and I spared a thought to how odd it was to see a functioning rotary phone next to a high-end laptop on a desk that predated the inventions of either machine. Funny how that had never struck me before.

"Why were you late, girl?"

"Asher wore me out yesterday, sir, and I am very sore."

His hand pressed into my stomach and I groaned at the knotting pain that formed there. He walked around me trailing his hand across my side and I could feel the blood running over my hip. There was a time, I'm sure that this would have made me scream. Now I just hoped he would make me pass out and leave me alone. Then he hit one of the welts Asher had covered up, and I let out a muffled scream.

Suddenly, the hook came down and I crashed to the floor at his feet, holding my side and feeling my hands getting slick with my own blood. It wasn't the first time he had done that, but I failed the test when I just let myself fall. I should have tried to catch myself, I thought as he raised me with the hook again until I swung in front of him. This time the touch of his hand on my thigh made me scream, and try to pull away from him.

"I trust you won't be late again due to being sore?" his hand moved up my thigh and over my other hip and I whimpered.

"I won't be late again, sir," my voice was hoarse.

"Good girl," he lowered the hook until my feet touched the floor and I held my own weight. "Larian is in the blue room. Go to him, but leave your uniform here."

The blue room was as badly decorated as the yellow room, but at least it fit my mood better. What didn't fit was that Chaz had put the largest man I had ever met in the smallest room in his house. Larian sat on the bed and just looked uncomfortable. He grimaced when he saw me standing in the door, but held a hand out to me anyway.

His power washed over me and the pain faded, and unlike the first time he had done this I didn't try to jump him. I never thought I would have missed seeing a demon until I realized that Larian wouldn't just show up after I had been with Asher each time. For the first time, I hugged him and my power didn't rise to feed or fuck. I only protested a little bit when he stood and set me on the bed before turning to take his clothes off, but he left his shorts on and then climbed in behind me. His deep voice caressed my spine through his chest as he spoke in a language I didn't recognize, and then I was blissfully and dreamlessly asleep.

I woke with a very large hand on my hip and a very happy man behind me.

"Not so happy, actually," Larian's voice rumbled across my back. "But I can't help what happens naturally after I sleep for a while."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, turning to face him. "I didn't mean..."

"I know what you meant, child," he smiled, which was something I didn't think he did too often. I jumped when there was a loud knock on the door that Larian went to answer. He wasn't shy about opening the door far enough for whoever had knocked to get an eyeful, either. When he returned to the bed he only sat next to me instead of climbing back in, though. "You needed the sleep, child, and I was happy to pay for it to keep you from completely withdrawing into yourself, but I won't be able to stop him if he comes looking for you again. And I fed your power in your sleep," he held his hand up when I was about to ask how he had pulled that off. "You don't always need to have sex to feed your power, Jezza. It makes it easier, but it's not required. Chaz has made another contract with Asher to take you for the night. I won't be here when you get back."

"I..." I broke off before I voiced a thought. "Thank you, Larian." I sat up and kissed him, letting him know just how much it meant to me that he had given me a day of sleep that wasn't filled with pain and dreams of Asher. He pulled me onto his lap sideways and the kiss deepened just as the door opened.

"I paid you for exclusivity, Chaz," Asher walked into the room and I did everything but hide behind Larian. "This is a breach of that contract."

Chaz walked into the room after him and saw me behind Larian and groaned, but it was Larian who spoke first, "What are the terms of your contracts, exactly, Chaz?"

"The usual, you've had a few yourself," he said, running a hand through his hair.

"So," Larian turned to me. "Sex, or work, but no punishment."

"That's the gist of it," he said, but I was watching Asher who had begun to pale and was staring at Larian. "Why?"

Larian turned his attention to Chaz, and he visibly straightened so he wouldn't hunch under that scrutiny, "You are a fool."

Chaz frowned, but Asher spoke, "He gave me exclusivity and then gave her to you. He is in breach."

Larian waved a hand over me as he pulled me around him. Suddenly, the pain from the day before came rushing back, and I looked down at myself to see the welts and whip marks from Asher's attentions and the scabbed-over wound from Chaz's punishment appear on my skin. Chaz cursed, but Larian said, "You are in breach, Asher, and I have taken the liberty of calling the council on Jezza's behalf."

Asher paled and then flushed with anger, but I could see the fear in his features. This council must not be good. He didn't say anything, though, just spun on his heel and fled. Larian turned to Chaz, then, but I spoke up, "I went through all of that shit for the last year because you wouldn't tell me the terms of a contract? I would have risked your anger if speaking up about what he did to me would have gotten me free of him." I turned to Larian, "I thought you healed it."

He shook his head, "I covered it up and took the pain away so you would sleep, and then I kept you here for an entire day past my contracted time so Chaz would be forced to do something about it."

"Can you heal it now?" I whispered so I wouldn't hear my voice break. His power wrapped around me and this time I felt the difference as the wounds healed, and I slumped against him. "Thank you."

"Leave the room. Jezza," Chaz finally spoke, but he was staring at Larian, and he was scared.

"No, she can stay," Larian said, and I stared between them. "She needs to know just how bad this is."

"What do I need to know, and what's so bad? I'm healed now, and I'm sure there's laundry or dusting I can be doing elsewhere," I tried to slide off the bed, but Larian caught me around the waist and sat me back against his side.

"By sending you to Asher for so long and ignoring the signs of injury, Chaz has risked everything that we have tried to avoid for the last few centuries."

"How was I supposed to know he'd do this?" Chaz paced in front of the bed. "He signed the contract, and contracts are binding."

"You are too vague in your contracts, and for all your power was trained for pain you really do not have what it takes to wield it like your master would have liked. Punishment for you is anything involving pain on the subject, but what Asher does is just part of the sexual experience for him. Do you understand that, boy?" Chaz had paled as Larian talked, and I knew he understood. I got the gist of it, and it made me a little queasy thinking that all that time Asher had gotten off on my pain. "The council will see it as a breach of contract because he left her injured, but had he healed everything he did to her then you would be in breach right now for sending her to me after agreeing to exclusivity."

"The exclusivity was never explicitly stated in a contract," Chaz pushed his hands through his hair and sat in the small chair in front of the desk against one wall of the room. "I implied that the price bought him exclusivity, but none of my slaves are exclusive except for Ferrel and Kelsey."

"Ah yes, the child," Larian sighed. "You have been very careful with that one, which surprised us all. But that's beyond the point. By sending her to Asher, you risked her turning siren the moment she comes into her powers."

I started to say that my powers were already there, but Larian caught the thought and waved a hand, "Your powers have fed during Chaz's punishments and sex with Asher. You do not know how to control them, and you can't use them in any way."

"You fed me without sex or anything," I looked up at him.

"Only because you were deeply asleep and needed the energy. Asher bled you almost to the point of death yesterday," Chaz made a choking sound, but Larian ignored him. "Your body was scrambling to draw energy from whatever source it could. It took very little effort to coax your power into feeding on mine while you slept. I think it even took energy from Chaz while he had you in his office before sending you to me. Your power is familiar with his and it wouldn't have taken anything for it to feed on him without him knowing. Succubi heal fast, but you were on the brink of death when you came in here."

"Is she going to turn?" Chaz said from his corner. Larian looked at me and I could feel his power pressing against me, "No. I think she's tougher than that. She's been here a year and neither you nor Asher have managed to break her, though Asher got real close this time."

"What's going to happen now?" I pulled my knees up to my chest and looked down between the both of them, wishing I had something to cover up with now. Larian reached into a bag I hadn't seen earlier at the foot of the bed and handed me on of his shirts. I pulled it on and it was longer than the dress I wore as a uniform, hitting me at mid-thigh.

"Now, you need a trainer," Larian said. "Bane will be here within the hour. I called him when Chaz first started trying to get into the room. Turq would have been faster, but I do not believe he would be able to give you what you need and still teach you how to control your powers when they fully develop."

"I just talked to Bane's assistant yesterday and was told he wouldn't be available until the end of the week," Chaz said, but quieted when Larian looked at him.

"I should think he would listen to me more readily than you, boy."

"Turq's healed me before," I whispered and they both looked at me. "Wouldn't it be better to use someone my power already knows?"

"It would," Larian turned on the bed to face me more fully. "But his tastes run along the same lines as Asher's. Not so extreme," he said when I started to protest. "But he was once one of those men that masters did not send slaves to so readily."

"Is Bane so much better?"

Larian sighed, but Chaz answered, "Bane has trained the last three succubi to have been born, and none of them have turned siren or showed even the slightest signs of doing so."

"Yeah, that's maddeningly unhelpful," I said and Chaz shot me a look that said I would pay for my mouth later.

"He is one of the few men who were trained to bring a succubus into her power and teach her to control it," Larian said. "We have hoped that he would take an apprentice to train, but he has shown no interest in passing on his knowledge."

There was a knock on the door and Chaz yelled acknowledgement before Ferrel opened the door, "Sir, there is a man named Bane here for you. He said it was urgent."

"Let him in, Ferrel," Chaz waved his hand to dismiss the man.

Ferrel opened the door wider and then walked to the stairs before my attention was taken up by another large man stepping into the room. He wasn't as big as Larian, but he was still huge compared to an average person. His hair was brushed back, but the front part fell into his eyes as he nodded to Larian on the bed and then Chaz in his corner. Then his eyes and power landed on me, and I was left gasping on the bed and holding onto the shirt Larian had given me as though it would keep me from moving.

"My car is in the drive," his voice was normal, and for some reason that was a little disappointing. I think I had been expecting something more spectacular. He looked at me until I stopped thinking and then turned to Chaz, "Have her things put in the trunk and you and I can sign the contract for her training. You were right, Larian," he glanced at the larger man. "He should have called me a year ago."

With that, he turned and left the room and never looked back like he just expected everything to be done. Chaz got up and followed him, but stopped at the door, "Grab your uniforms, you'll have to wear those until he can get you something different. Anything else you have can be brought down if you want."

"The only things I have are what Asher has sent me, and the others can divide that up on their own. I don't want it."

He nodded and left me on the bed with Larian. "Mind your thoughts around Bane, child. It doesn't help that he has a very short time to get you trained and you're sitting mostly nude on a bed thinking about climbing him like a tree."

"He started it," I knew I was pouting. "Besides, I don't know how to stop thinking for more than a few seconds at a time."

"Then it's time you learned, child," he reached out to me, but instead of pulling be to him he simply buttoned the shirt he had given me. "Keep the shirt. Bane never did like the uniforms Chaz uses." He reached back into the bag and brought out a small package, "And this is for you. Open it now."

The panties were solid cotton boy shorts in a variety of colors, and I held them to my chest then leaned forward and kissed him again. He kissed me back but then pulled away and took the package of panties away to open them. "One day, we might actually finish what the kiss started. But today is not that day."

I pulled the pair he handed me on under the shirt and looked around for the hair tie I had apparently lost while I slept. He held it out to me, and I put my hair up before leaving the room and heading toward the front door.

===

Bane's house was modest compared to Chaz's, with only one floor and a simple layout. I was surprised when he parked the car in front of the house and unlocked the door on his own. Since I didn't have anything except a toiletries bag Sophia had brought down to the car, he had taken me to a store and bought me several simple outfits that would work as long as we didn't go anywhere. He showed me where the master bedroom was and then showed me the room I would be using. It was furnished with a bed and side table, but nothing more. My clothes looked ridiculous in the closet.

Then he led me out onto a concrete patio that had been etched with runes and symbols I didn't recognize within a circle that nearly touched the edges of the porch. His power poured over me and into the circle, and the hairs along the back of my neck stood on end as I shivered.

"This is a circle of power," he said. "Later, I will teach you how to draw and activate one. For now, though, we will use this one so I can test your powers and see how close you are to blooming."

He made it sound like I was a flower, and then all that power that had been racing around the patio flowed through me and I fell to my knees with a cry. My power rose up and up, trying to feed on his energy but he kept us away. I pressed my cheek against the cool concrete and moaned as my body was suddenly more than ready to accept him. Then his power let go and mine slunk back into me, almost as though a part of my mind could pout while the other part tried to control the rest of my body. It was like back in that room at Chaz's, only worse.

Bane left the open circle and walked back into the house with me on his heels. We were in his bedroom before he spoke, "I have very little time to teach you what you need to know, and Chaz will be less and less happy the longer you're here. The first thing you need to learn is how to shield your thoughts. You practically scream, and it's a wonder Asher didn't kill you for it. I can see Chaz keeping you around for entertainment, but Asher has killed for less before now." I tried to keep my mind as blank as possible, but it only worked for a few seconds, "That is why I will be teaching you to shield, girl. It is much easier to hold up a shield than to keep your mind blank all the time. Now, take off the shirt and sit on the floor."