Page 44 of The River of Fire
Seems I’ll have to live with disappointment though, as all he says is: “Time does not have the same meaning to me as it does to you.”
Guess chatty time is over.
Chapter 31 – Ashtaroth
As we explore the cave system for hours, Lana does not complain. In fact, after asking so many questions, she became silent and I find the absence of her soft voice and dry humor… uncomfortable. Grudgingly, I must admit to myself I no longer prefer solitude and silence where she is concerned. I will simply have to make her desire to give me everything I want, including her willing company.
Deciding not to question the reasons behind these desires, I instead pour that energy into strategizing how to achieve my goals of not only making her amenable to me physically, but also cleaving her to me emotionally. I never entered battle unprepared, after all.
Her mortal stomach growls – interrupting my scheming – andI remove a large piece of cheese I stored in the pouch on my belt. I noticed she does not often voice her desires. A matter of pride, but also not wanting to inconvenience others. I vow to teach her how to demand what she needs.
I extend the food toward her and her round innocent eyes meet mine. With gratitude painted over her transparent expression, she takes the cheese and proceeds to nibble on it.
I withdraw my earlier sentiment – she should always let me think of her needs and allow only me to slake them. The thought of Lana on her knees, while I feed her only the best morsels with my fingers, hardens my cock. She would look up at me in worship and say, ‘Thank you, Master’. And I would reward her for being my good little pet with my hungry mouth between her luscious thighs.
I groan and she snaps her gaze to me. I pretend not to see it and walk faster, trying to outpace the reactions of my body to a mere fantasy. I feel as if I am thousands of years younger and introduced to the pleasures of flesh for the first time.
“Uh, Ashtaroth?”
I cannot recall an instance of her hailing me by my name. The punch of lust I feel at her doing so now is ridiculous. “Yes?” I encourage, when she stays silent.
“I need to… pee.” She avoids my gaze, obviously feeling embarrassed by the needs of her body.
“Then go?” I keep my voice monotone, knowing that if I were to take advantage of her awkwardness and tease her now, we would be standing here until tomorrow.
She gapes at me, reminding me of a fish with the way her mouth is opening and closing. “Right here?” She motions to the ground with her hand.
“You may as well. I am not leaving you alone here.” I sigh when she just stares at me, eyes wide, and pull her to me by her belt, which I start unbuckling. “You truly believe relieving yourself in front of me will make me lose interest in fucking you?” I click my tongue dismissively. “You won’t be free of me so easily.” Once her belt is unbuckled, I spin her around andsqueeze her behind before nudging her toward an alcove made of stalactite curtains.
She yelps and hisses at me over her shoulder, “You overbearing prick!”
“Prick sounds too small to describe me, don’t you think?” I grin at her. “Rod, perhaps? Or baton?” She stares at me in bewilderment, embarrassment pushed aside, so I continue: “A bludgeon? A mace? Oh, I know, a battering ram.” Having arrived at the category of siege weapons, I was about to escalate to ‘trebuchet’, but she spins around and covers my mouth with her hand. So impudent. If it were anyone else, they would already be a scorch mark on the ground by now. But as it is her, I will just have to punish her with my cock later. The fantasy makes me smile against the palm of her hand and her breath hitches, widening my smile further.
“Don’t quit your evil demonic overlord day job to become a stand-up comedian,” she quips. “And turn around, will you? This is awkward enough without you watching me.”
I grant her this small measure of privacy and turn around. I even take a few steps – enough to appease her but not so far that I could not be by her side in an instant if she screamed. These silly human notions will have to be conditioned out of her, however. I will not allow her to hide anything from me. Once she rejoins me, I hand her the canteen of water which she waves off. “Humans need to drink over two liters of water daily,” I chastise.
She takes the offered water with a lifted brow. “Have you been researching human needs?”
“Nonsense. It’s common knowledge,” I deflect, as my answer would be far too revealing, but she is observing me with a small grin.
“Did you read a book or search the internet?” She is teasing me again and my body feels lighter somehow, like removing plate armor after a long battle.
“What is this internet you speak of?” I frown at her and delight at the aghast expression on her face. “I’m jesting,” I add before she has a coronary. The invention of internetpornography has made satiating demons that feed on lust a far easier job than it was before these modern inventions propagated sex so prolifically.
“Asshole,” she mutters. Since it makes her eyes gleam, I don’t punish her for it.
Mood lighter, we continue our venture into the cave’s depths. When we arrive at forks, we choose a direction at random. After eating a few apples and some dried meat, she scowls into the darkness. There are no lava vents in this narrower tunnel and I summon fire to hover over her shoulder – I can see as well in the dark as I do on a bright summer day. Not that I witnessed one personally in a few millennia. Being banished from the sun by the Almighty has that consequence.
“There has to be a simpler way to get to wherever we’re going,” she grumbles.
“Well, we could manifest through the ether, but it would be slow going in a closed space. We would have to make hundreds of stops.” I know what her reply will be before she utters it, but I laugh at the sheer flair of her insults. I catch ‘insensitive oaf’ and ‘diabolical sadist’ in the barrage of barbs.
We run into another pair of souls given physical form, as incorporeal as that form may be. I allow her to dispatch them once more – I am nothing if not a magnanimous creature.
“That’s the second pair in these caves, as far as we know of at least. Why are they gathering like this?” she asks.
“I do not know. While I hold a vote on the Council, I admit to not giving this issue much thought. Most of my brethren did not. It was at Belial’s insistence that we came to a consensus over the matter of bringing your kind here.”
