Chapter 50 - Woody Spice

  Standing in front of the door into Uril’s home, the incubus goat leans against the doorframe rather than opening it. “So, let me do something here that might answer a couple of your lingering questions.” He says, pulling his key out with a flourish. Putting on a bit of dramatic flare, Uril unlocks the door and starts to swing it open. But instead of stepping inside, he puts his hand to the inner edge of the doorframe, using a finger to pop open a small hidden compartment.

  Alex’s eyes widen as Uril extracts a spare key from the compartment before closing it back up. The goat turns to Alex, offering him the key. “Wait, are you serious?” Alex asks, hesitantly reaching for it. “You only met me yesterday.” Alex protests, pulling his hand back slightly.

  Uril doesn’t waver. He keeps holding out the key, a grin on his lips. “You said you didn’t know if I wanted you to come back.” Uril says, his voice soft and lacking any of his usual flirtatious taunting. “This is me showing you what I want.” He proffers the key again.

  Reaching for it, Alex’s fingers lightly brush against Uril’s. The incubus tucks the key into his palm and closes his hand around Alex’s, drawing the flustered human across the threshold and into the apartment. Hara and Corvus share a look, and then follow them inside.

  Once the door closes behind them, Uril lets out a little sigh and stretches. “Aaaah, privacy.” He looks between the three others and motions around the common room. “Make yourselves at home.” He shifts his red eyes to Alex’s brown ones, holding the gaze for a moment. “And you are welcome to call this home.”

  The earnestness in Uril’s voice kindles Alex’s blush in a very different way from the incubus’s normal salacious teasing. “Thank you.” Alex manages to say without his voice failing him. His fingers tighten around the key, and he holds it against his chest. “But…” he begins to say, reluctantly breaking eye contact, “you only met me yesterday.” He says again, looking down at himself before returning his gaze to Uril’s eyes. “Why?”

  Uril doesn’t answer immediately, instead he moves to one of the plush cushions and lowers himself onto it to get comfortable. He motions to the ones next to him with a wink. He doesn’t say anything until Alex has settled in with Hara and Corvus joining them too. He leans forwards, propping his arms on his knees to look at Alex. “There’s layers to that answer, but the biggest and easiest reason is simple. I like you.” He says, his coy smirk spreading on his face again.

  After letting the moment linger for a beat, Uril continues. “In my line of work, particularly being what I am, there’s a lot of acting. Putting on a mask. Whether that’s someone wanting the boyfriend experience, wanting a seducer, or wanting a toy to play with, people like me put on the mask for that role in order to make our clients happy.” He pauses to chuckle. “Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do. And I genuinely enjoy satisfying the needs of my customers.”

  “But it’s really easy to slip into the habit of just expecting that type of interaction to be the norm with everyone.” Uril lets his eyes drift over Alex’s figure sitting on the cushion. “So when I meet someone that doesn’t hold any expectations for me, someone who’s interest isn’t rooted in wanting something from me, and someone so completely genuine like you, it’s refreshing.”

  When Uril doesn’t keep going, Alex takes a breath to process what the incubus had said. He opens his hand to look down at the key, then up at Uril again. “That explains the interest in me, but not why you’d be so generous, or so trusting.” He says softly, trying to reconcile his logical thoughts with his emotional feelings. “What did I do to make you want to take this chance on me?”

  Uril smirks and waggles a finger at Alex. “I’ll answer that, but first I want a turn to ask you ‘why’.” He says, leaning closer. “Why did you come back looking for me?” He asks, the velvet tone returning to his voice.

  Alex’s face burns crimson and he has trouble maintaining eye-contact with Uril. “I just,” he stammers, “I didn’t,” the words tangle in his mouth. He huffs and closes his eyes, trying to quiet the quivers in his stomach. When he finally feels like he has the words ironed out, Alex tries again.

  “There was something about you. There’s a lot of things in Hell that seem natural, second-nature to me. Like it’s familiar. But with how you made me feel…” Alex trails off, once more lifting his eyes to meet Uril’s. “That felt so new and different that I’m pretty sure I never had any experience like that, in Hell or before.” Alex rubs the back of his head, giving an apologetic smile. “It’s a feeling that I want to explore. I want more of that, of you.”

  Uril scoots his cushion closer and rests a hand on Alex’s thigh. “See, genuine. There was no pretense, nothing performative. You’re so honest with what you think and feel. It’s adorable.” Uril says, grinning. “I want to take this chance because, when we met and when we were talking last night, your interest was in me and not what I could give you or do for you. You were interested in me, as a person.” Uril explains, and then gestures behind Alex to where Corvus had taken on his human-like guise rather than the bird. “And, on top of that, Corvus is very well known for being straight and direct. Him being with you and seeming protective of you says a lot too.”

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  Alex frowns a bit, tipping his head to the side. “As a person.” He mutters, repeating Uril’s words. “What do you mean?” His hand tentatively reaches for Uril’s, resting his fingertips atop the goat’s on his thigh. And he can’t help but smile as Uril interlaces their fingers together to hold.

  Uril shrugs. “Like I said, I do enjoy what I do and being what I am. But it can leave all the intimacy feeling…” He trails off and gives Alex’s hand a squeeze. “Transactional.” He finishes. The word hadn’t been said with any negative tone, just stating facts. “There’s been a few times where others started to pursue me romantically, but once they knew about what I do, the coin-purses came out, and the romantic pretense dried up.” This time, there’s bitterness undercutting the words.

  Putting on a mocking tone, Uril pantomimes counting some coins. “Oooh, I can just pay you to fuck around. That’s so much easier!” Then he huffs and shrugs again. “I won’t lie, those hurt. Even if I did see it coming. But it’s the nature of being an incubus and a prostitute.”

  Then he turns to face Alex fully. “You though,” he pauses to examine Alex’s honest and inquisitive face, “you want me. I can ‘taste’ the desire, but it isn’t lustful or possessive like the rest all have been. You want… Me.”

  Alex listens, and a part of him feels the sting of Uril’s pain. He finds himself leaning closer until his shoulder bumps into Uril’s and both lean against each other. “So, do we, ah…” Alex stumbles over the words again. “Do we want to see where this goes?”

  Uril flashes Alex one of his classic coy smirks and winks. “Oh, I know several options for where it goes. Some warmer, some wetter, but all fun choices.” He teases, and laughs as confusion, realization, and then that adorable blush all compete for the spotlight on Alex’s face. Then he reaches up with his free hand to cup Alex’s cheek. “Yes. I think we do.” He answers, putting a bit heavier emphasis on the ‘we’.

  Uril leans in, tipping his head up towards Alex’s, but waits for him to meet half-way. Alex leans in too. Their lips meet, a touch awkwardly for their different shaped mouths, but the kiss is as warm and tender as either could have wanted.

  Corvus politely keeps his focus on other details, allowing the two to have their moment together. All the same, he catches himself wearing a self-satisfied smirk. Alex isn’t just growing in capability with skills or exercising his spirit, he’s growing emotionally too. At first, Corvus had been keeping a wary eye to see if Uril would employ the innate skills of his demon heritage. But at no point had Corvus noticed Uril using any form of power to reach for Alex. It’s all genuine.

  The old crow’s ruminations are interrupted by Hara. The hound’s telepathic link reaches just for Corvus so she doesn’t interrupt Alex and Uril. “Corvus? Hara has question.” She says, looking up at him with her head cocked to the side. Corvus gives her a nod to continue. “Hara already think Alex going to make Uril part of pack with us.” She says, looking over to where the two are still sharing the kiss. “Alex is boy. Uril is boy. How they make puppies if they mate?”

  Corvus chokes off a guffawing laugh that threatens to burst past his lips and interrupt the moment. The normally implacable demon has to take a moment to school his expression back to usual calm demeanor. Speaking telepathically as well, he finally answers her. “Hara my dear, why do you ask?”

  The hound looks back and forth between Corvus and where Alex and Uril were sharing quiet words again, still hand in hand. She seems to concentrate, working out the words she wants. “Alex is packmate. Alex is friend. Alex treat Hara like friend. Hara no think Alex want mate with Hara. Alex is same with you. Packmate, friend.” Then Hara looks back to the pair again, wagging gently. “Alex act like want mate with Uril. Want Uril for pack. But both boy. No puppies.”

  Corvus sits back, resting a hand on Hara’s neck and rubbing her gently. “Ah, I see.” This time he lets his amusement trickle through the telepathic link. “Haha, you are quite the clever companion, Hara. Yes, I do think those two will become mates of a sort. But not every pairing can produce offspring.” He pauses to consider something, then shrugs and continues. “Though things of that nature are never quite set in stone in Hell. There are ways that things could change to give them that potential together.”

  Hara’s amethyst eyes narrow as she thinks. “So maybe puppies later. OK.” She says, accepting Corvus’s explanation easily. She might not fully understand, but that’s ok. Her pack understands it, and that’s good enough. Corvus gives her a warm smile and continues to pat and stroke her neck, both taking a simple pleasure in the companionable act.

  The warmth welling up within Alex’s chest was something utterly new to him. And as soft words pass between him and Uril, the warmth spreads. But Alex’s curious nature persists as always. “So, what does it mean to be an incubus? Does it have something to do with what you said about ‘tasting my desire’?” He asks, still holding Uril’s hand.

  The goat grins. “Yeah, actually. Incubi and succubi are a singular ‘type’ of demon. For us, lust, sex, intimacy, and desire, are essentially food.” Uril explains, then gives Alex a hungry leer. “When someone’s feeling those things directed at us, we can feed from their spirit.”

  Alex blinks, then blushes again. “So, you want to…” he shivers, “feed from me?” He asks, wary but more curious than anything. He relaxes again when Uril shakes his head and chuckles.

  “Maybe eventually.” The incubus teases with a wink. “But for now, no. I get plenty from my work. But to answer the question you didn’t ask, yes, I can ‘taste’ the desire. And to me…” he leans in towards Alex, “you taste a little cinnamon-like. A little woody spice.” He grins, licking his lips. “And I certainly like it.”