Succubus Kiss The Complete Series Read online

  He sidestepped me to get around my gigantic wings, and smoothed a hand along my shoulder. I watched him as he felt his pockets with his freehand, searching for his cell phone. His touch fell away when he found it. He stepped a few feet away once he found the number he was searching for. I heard him mumble something I couldn’t quite make out as he paced back and forth in the gravel. It was probably for the best. I didn’t think it would be wise in my current mental state to listen in on his take of the situation.

  The mist turned to rain. My hair plastered to my face, and my clothes stuck to me after a few minutes. I didn’t mind though. It felt good against my clammy skin, and helped to ease the nausea sloshing through my stomach. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. This was a nightmare.

  It’s happening. Look at your black, glorious wings, the wraith coaxed.

  I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to focus on the wall I had attempted to build between us earlier.

  You can’t block me out, my sweet. The wraith laughed. It was cold and menacing as it echoed through my head. I’m far too strong now.

  Fear spiked through me, making me forget how to breathe. If he was so strong I couldn’t block him out anymore, then there couldn’t be much time left before he fully took over.

  “Okay, yeah. That will work.” Dex started back to my side. “Yeah. At the end of Mills Road.”

  Touch them, feel their softness, embrace them as a part of you, the wraith pressed.

  My right hand twitched, the fingers wiggling in jerky increments on their own toward the feathers. I wasn’t in control of my hand. The wraith was fighting me for it.

  Just one touch. You know you want to.

  I did. I wanted to feel them, because when I pushed everything aside, they enchanted me almost as much as they had Dex. Maybe the wraith didn’t have as much control over me as I thought; maybe my subconscious did.

  I gave in to what the wraith and I both wanted.

  Reaching around, I brushed my fingertips against the length of one wing. It was soft, solid, and I could feel the sensation of the contact travel to my core.

  Yes, there you go, the wraith praised me. Now test them out, my sweet succubus. You know you don’t care to see the rest of this situation. Let’s give these wings of yours a try.

  There was an elusive pull to his words, but I refused to give into the temptation. I wouldn’t, no matter how much I wanted to. I needed to be here. I needed to take responsibility for what I had done, and to help rectify the situation as best I could.

  “Jasper isn’t far from here. There was an issue he was asked to help with at a place called Club Lure. I’m not sure I know where it is, never heard of it, but he said he’d be here in five to ten.” He pocketed his cell.

  Clips of the crumpled building that was the mirage for Club Lure and bodies grinding against one another to the hypnotic music flashed through my mind. I had been there twice tonight. The guy had been there. It was where I had picked him up.

  Exactly. Don’t feel so guilty, my sweet. He knew what he was getting into when he stepped through the doors, the wraith added. Now, spread those wings, and let’s get out of here.

  Relief flowed through me. The wraith was right. For the first time ever, he was right, and I didn’t feel guilty agreeing with him. I had given the guy what he had been looking for tonight, albeit too much of it. I was positive he wasn’t hoping to die. Then again, he had to know walking into a place like that came with risks of that nature.

  I pushed the insensitive thoughts away, wishing they weren’t mine but were the wraith’s instead. Something about me had changed, and not just the obvious. It was something deeper, darker.

  My eyes drifted to the ring on my finger as I stepped away from my car. It was still pulsating with the beat of my heart. My mother would be here soon. The ring still tied us together in my moments of trouble.

  As if on cue, the familiar sound of flapping wings I’d heard so often signifying her approach made its way to my ears. Nervous butterflies burst into flight through my stomach. I had no idea what she would say once she learned what I had done.

  “You all right, darlin’?” Dex stepped in front of me. I could see the concern he felt for me puckering the area between his eyes. “You look a little tense all of a sudden.”

  “It’s because she knows I’m here.” My mother’s voice sent a jolt of electricity through me.

  I focused on her over Dex’s shoulder. She was hovering three feet above the ground, gracefully flapping wings that were a mirror image of my own. Dressed in a sleeveless, white cocktail dress, her dark hair fell in loose waves that draped over her shoulders. My mother looked like an angel of death.

  Was this where the myth came from? Had someone seen a full-fledged succubus flying through the air with large black wings and mistaken her for an angel of death?

  Dex spun around at the sound of her voice. His muscles stiffened at the sight of her. I wondered what he was thinking. It was obvious he knew what she was, but did he know who? The one time she had come to visit me while he was in the vicinity, he’d been sleeping and hadn’t known about her presence.

  “And you are?” His voice was rough as it cut through the heavy tension surrounding us all.

  “What have you done, Kenna?” My mother’s words were barely above a whisper, but I could still hear her heartbreak as she ignored Dex’s question. “I wanted you to stay pure, my sweet girl. How could you resort to this?” She gestured to the scene before her with a wide sweep of her hands.

  “This wasn’t me.” I started to explain the situation.

  She narrowed her eyes on me. “From the sight of your wings I can see that it was.”

  Shame filled me. It twisted at my insides and caused my cheeks to heat. She was right, this had happened because of me. Technically. There was still more to the story she needed to understand though. I opened my mouth to tell her so, but the sound of a vehicle pulling into the gravel parking lot forced my words away. My attention shifted from her for a split-second as I glanced at the newcomer, and when I looked back, she was already gone.

  Chapter 7

  The black four-door truck came to a rolling stop beside us. Once the engine cut off, a redheaded guy with more freckles than not climbed out. He was dressed in a dark gray shirt, denim blue jeans, and a pair of scuffed-up work boots. Tattoos covered his forearms, accentuating his tough appearance. He was tall and well built, but his aura struck me. Judging from its green color, he was a witch. To me, he seemed better suited as a werewolf. Or at least something with a little more burliness to it than a witch. I watched him as he retrieved a clipboard from inside the cab of his truck.

  “Hey, Dex.” Jasper’s eyes didn’t shift my way. “How’s it goin’, man?”

  “Not bad, I guess. I mean, considerin’ I had to call you.” Dex rubbed at the back of his neck.

  Embarrassment spread beneath my skin, heating my neck and cheeks. I hated there had been a reason for Dex to call this guy, and I especially hated it had anything to do with me. This situation should have never happened.

  “Right, right.” Jasper nodded.

  “How have you been?” Dex asked, seemingly going through the normal formalities of conversation as though this situation wasn’t an unconventional scene.

  “Eh, you know. Busy, busy.” Jasper grinned. “Making my monthly rounds, tweaking cloaks here and there. It’s sort of a slow night. You called at a good time.”

  My hand moved to smooth along my forehead as I forced myself to slow my breathing.

  “Thanks for swingin’ by.” Dex said.

  “Not a problem.” Jasper replied as he wrote something down. “What do we have here exactly?” He finally shifted his attention to me, his pen poised as though he was waiting for me to give him details. I couldn’t find my voice. What was I supposed to say? Didn’t the scene speak for itself?

  “A succubus and a dead body?” he prompted, his tone flat.

  I nodded, thinking that was answer enough, but Ja
sper made a gesture with his hand for me to continue. “Yeah, I um,” I started, but couldn’t get anything else out. My heart thundered inside my chest, and I was finding it hard to breathe.

  “Go easy on her, Jasper. She’s suffered through a traumatic experience tonight,” Dex chimed in. I was glad, because this guy was intimidating as hell. “Those are new,” he added, his words wrapped within a fake cough.

  I didn’t have to look at Dex to know he was staring at my wings again. I could feel the warmth of his gaze skimming over their dark feathers. An uneasy feeling spread throughout me. I felt naked and exposed, venerable.

  “Ah.” Jasper’s eyes lit up. “You’re fully awakened now?” he asked as if the wings attached to my back hadn’t been enough of a clue.

  I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Yes.”

  Jasper scrutinized me as he slipped his clipboard beneath his arm. “I’ve always wondered what it felt like to have a set of those suckers.”

  He continued to stare at me, and I gathered he was waiting for me to describe it to him. “It hurt when they came out, and now it’s just strange. All I want is for them to go away, but I don’t know how to make that happen.” My fists clenched, causing my nails to dig into my palms. His relentless staring was making me uncomfortable. I didn’t enjoy feeling as though I were an animal on display.

  “I dated a succubus once.” Jasper grinned from ear-to-ear at the memory. “Sometimes she liked to have her wings out while we—”

  “Okay, Jasper. Thanks for sharin’, but how about we wrap this thing up before someone sees us?” Dex cut in. Thankfully.

  Jasper glanced at his clipboard again. “Right. Okay. I put a cloaking spell on us the second I drove up, but let’s get to it anyway.” He stepped to the open door and bent to glance inside. “Looks like you two were having some fun.” I didn’t care for the amusement in his tone. What was with supernaturals and being so damn insensitive in certain situations?

  “No puncture wounds, cuts, or bruises. Apparently, you don’t enjoy things on the kinky side.” Jasper checked a few things off on his clipboard. “I think a heart attack cloak would work for this situation just fine.”

  “A heart attack cloak?” Was that really a thing?

  “Yeah, it’s one I haven’t used a hell of a lot this month.”

  My eyes widened at his admittance. How many cloaks of this nature did he perform in a month? “What does it do exactly?”

  “It’s a spell that makes it appear as though a person died of a heart attack. Since there’s nothing physically wrong with this guy, it’s the best way to make it seem like a natural death to the humans.” He said the word humans as though they were an inferior breed of animal.

  I ran a hand through my wet hair. The rain had let up, and I hadn’t even noticed. Moisture still saturated the air though. I tried to grasp what Jasper was saying. I hadn’t known a heart attack cloaking spell existed. Now that I did, I wasn’t sure why I was surprised. I wondered how many other types of cloaks he used, and how frequently supernaturals called him for his services.

  “It will take me a few minutes at most.” He walked toward his truck, his eyes glued to his clipboard again.

  “Jasper is the best at what he does.” Dex was at my side. I could feel his eyes on me, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. “I’ve known him for years. He’s always been one hell of a witch.”

  I watched as Jasper pulled open the back door to his truck. Inside was a rectangular stainless steel box. When he popped open the top, it lifted apart like I remembered one of my father’s tackle boxes doing. He skimmed his fingers over the contents inside, obviously searching for something in particular.

  “What made him decide this was what he wanted to do for a living?” I tried to peek around Jasper’s wide frame so I could see what the shiny box held, but I couldn’t.

  “There’s always been a need for it. Jasper knew that.” Dex scratched at his brow. “He saw a need he could help with his cloakin’ magic and decided to fill it.”

  “Is that all he can do, cloak stuff?” I wondered, only because of Lexy and Luke. I knew they could only do certain things, but I wasn’t sure if that was because they were twin witches or if it was how things worked among supernatural witches.

  “Yeah,” Jasper surprised me by saying. I hadn’t thought I’d spoken loud enough for him to hear. He walked back to my car with a brown bowl in his hand. “Magically, cloaks are all I can do, but I’m damn good at them, and that’s all that matters.” He winked.

  He set the bowl on top of my car, then gripped the guy’s bluish feet. He carefully pulled him out of the backseat and spread him on the gravel of the parking lot. My stomach turned at the sight of him. His complexion held a bluish tone. His eyes were still open, staring up into the sky with a vacant glare about them, and he was still naked.

  “What are you doing to him?” I snapped. Even though I had no right, I felt a need to make sure he was cared for properly. I didn’t want someone disrespecting his remains. What I had done to him had been bad enough.

  “I have to get him dressed.” Jasper reached into my car and grabbed the guy’s crumpled clothes.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart. He knows what he’s doin’. It’s his job, remember?” Dex placed a hand on my shoulder in an effort to comfort me, but it didn’t. I couldn’t relax. Not in this situation.

  My eyes zeroed in on Jasper’s movements. When he began rummaging through the guy’s pockets of his jeans, I nearly lost it all over again. Surely he wasn’t going to steal from a dead man. Good grief, I would pay him for his services, if money was what he was looking for. He held up the guy’s wallet, and then opened it to peek inside. I opened my mouth to voice my thought, but Jasper pulled out the guy’s driver’s license.

  “Christopher Moore. He was only twenty-two. A heart attack won’t work. He doesn’t meet my twenty-five and over guideline. I’ll have to rethink this; maybe an aneurism would be a better fit.” It wasn’t a question; he was merely speaking out loud to himself. “Do you have a preference, love?” Jasper glanced at me.

  His nonchalance baffled me. I couldn’t stomach the situation anymore. “No.” I migrated to Dex’s vehicle and pressed my palms against the cool metal. Closing my eyes, I forced myself to take in a few steady breaths. A gentle breeze blew, and I felt it rustle the feathers of my wings. I wondered if I would ever grow used to the sensation.

  “You okay?” Dex asked, startling me. I hadn’t realized he had followed me.

  “No.” It was an honest answer. I turned to face him. “How can I be okay with any of this?”

  My mind swirled. Dizziness twisted and bent the world around me. For a second, I lost my balance, but Dex was there to catch me. He pulled me into him as best he could with my wings still erect. I leaned against his chest, wishing he were Randal instead, but at the same time grateful he had come to help me without hesitation. He was a true friend. Loyal.

  “We’ll get this all figured out, darlin’. I promise.” He breathed against my hair.

  My eyes closed, pressing tears free, and I buried my head into his chest deeper. Dex’s hands smoothed along the back of my arms, and this time his touch had the effect he was hoping for. It calmed me enough that my wings retracted.

  I could feel the tightness constricting my shoulder blades as they wormed their way back beneath the surface of my skin. A few heartbeats later, it was as though I never had wings at all.

  “And now you know you need to be calm for them suckers to retract.” There was a playful tone to his words. It comforted me more than his touch, erasing the flickers of lingering tension in me.

  I laughed, but it was cut short when Jasper spoke.

  “All right. He’s dressed, and the cloak for a heart attack is in place. I’m gonna pop him in the back of my truck, and take him to his address so I can stage the scene.” Jasper lifted Christopher off the ground without issue and slung him over his shoulder.

  “I thought you said he was too young
for a heart attack cloak.” My voice trembled. I worried the rush of emotions shooting through me from being forced back into the moment would cause my wings to spring free.

  I wish they would. You haven’t taken a moment to play with them yet, the wraith hissed.

  I ignored him as I watched Dex lower the tailgate to Jasper’s truck and help move Christopher inside.

  “He’s tall and lanky, which can lead to genetic issues that might make him more prone to a heart attack regardless of his age.” Jasper positioned Christopher so his feet weren’t dangling out the back and slammed the tailgate of his truck shut. I flinched at the sound. “Now, I need you to fill out some basic paperwork for me, and then I’ll be on my way.” He bent to retrieve his clipboard from the ground.

  Once it was in my hands, I gripped his pen tightly as I skimmed over the sheet. Numbness made its way through me as the reality of the situation sank in. I was standing in the parking lot of an abandoned mill, trying to decide whether I preferred to pay with cash or a credit card for the cleanup and cloaking of a guy I had killed.

  Chapter 8

  Loud music blaring from the apartment beside mine woke me. From the beams of daylight streaming through my bedroom window, I guessed it had to be sometime in the late afternoon. The bass from the apartment next to mine picked up. I rolled over and checked the time on my alarm clock. It was four in the afternoon. I wasn’t sure if the guy beside me had decided to start working out at home or if four was his jam time, but it seemed like every day around this time adrenaline-pumping music could be heard blasting through the thin walls of his place and into mine. Normally, it didn’t bother me, but all I wanted to do was sleep today, and this guy was encroaching on that.

  I yawned and stretched my arms high above my head. Tenderness between my shoulder blades made me gasp and drop my arms to my sides. The events of last night came rushing back at the ache. A floodgate of emotions threatened to drown me as clips from the night blasted through my mind.