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Passion and Lust Ch. 04

By: RampantSerenity



"I may have found something," said Val. 

"Mmm?" Allen mumbled, his mouth full of lunch. 

"One of the books you brought from the library. I've been reading it and I believe I've found where they placed my sister's 'statue' after the imprisonment." 

Allen swallowed, standing up and walking over to Val where she sat on the bed. "Yeah? Sounds like good news. Where is it?" 

"Do you have a map? One that shows where you found me?" 

"Sorta. I looked it all up online. I can show you that map." 

Allen quickly brought up the map he'd used to find Val on his computer, pointing out the exact building he'd been digging under. Val stood behind him, leaning in toward the screen. 

"There." 

She looked back to her book, re-reading a few phrases before placing her finger on the map. She moved it up and over a bit, then paused. 

"What is the scale on this map?" 

"Oh, over there. Bottom left. I'm assuming you figured out what miles were from my head." 

"That... is correct," said Val, fidgeting. It looked like she wasn't any more comfortable than Allen bringing the mind-fuck up. 

Taking a look at the scale, she zoomed in once, then repeated her earlier motions. After a few glances back between the book and the map, she nodded. "That is where she should be." 

"Huh," said Allen, squinting at the map. "That's not far at all from where you were. Half-mile, maybe." 

"Yes. The book states she was placed in the same structure as I, in a room symmetrical to my own." 

"Same structure?" Allen whistled. Or at least tried to. He still wasn't very good at it. "I take back what I said about a half-mile not being far. That massive for any one building." 

"I know. Even as statues, people had great respect for my sister and I. We were placed in a rather extravagant structure." 

Allen rubbed his chin. "You want to go look for her, I guess?" 

Val was already pleading with her eyes. "I do. Can you take me back there?" 

"Yeah, I can do that. But do you have a plan? Seems like just going there and digging down to where she is would be a great way to release her on the rest of the world—assuming she hasn't gotten out already." 

"I do. Have a plan, that is." Slapping the book shut, she turned and laid it on a pile with the others. She stood staring at the pile for a moment, a hand resting on the top. Allen crossed his arms behind her, waiting for her to say something more. This wasn't something he felt he should be pushing her on, but at the same time, there was no way in hell he'd be going out there without a plan. 

"Yes. Yes, there is a path for me to take should things not be so simple when we arrive. It would give me the opportunity to imprison my sister again. I do not want to speak of it, however. It gives me little pride." Clothes shimmered and solidified on Val, a conservative outfit of jeans and a long shirt. "We should leave as soon as possible." 

"I'll get my keys." Allen took one last bite of his lunch and dumped the rest, then grabbed everything he needed. He didn't want to admit it, but he was getting nervous seeing Val in her state. Playful, catty Val was fine, awesome sometimes. Business, formal Val was great, too. But a worried, hesitant Val? Allen started to truly feel he may have bitten off a little more than he could chew. 

The drive out to the site was swift and mostly silent. Allen probed Val every now and then, trying to get her to relax or maybe open up a bit about the whole situation with her sister. While she replied to everything, her answers were short and humorless. The only emotion Allen saw on the ride there was an occasional hand darting out to grab the door handle accompanied by a shallow breath. Even after yesterday she wasn't entirely comfortable in the car. 

Allen tried to comprehend Val's position. He bet she was hoping her sister would see reason this time, but both of them knew many years of imprisonment probably wouldn't do much to help Lust's disposition. It was a very optimistic point of view to think anything good might come out of the encounter. More likely, he suspected, Val would be forced to use whatever plan she had cooked up to weaken Lust, make her vulnerable for the same imprisonment she'd been subjected to. The same Val had been stuck in with her. Seeing the razor determination in Val's eyes, Allen witnessed a different side of the woman—no, the spirit that was Val. Placing the Stone of Binding on her forehead the first time must have been frightening enough, but now that she knew what that limbo was like? And she knew how long she'd probably be stuck there? 

Gripping the wheel harder, Allen tried to focus on the road. He couldn't begin to imagine what Val was thinking. Best leave her to her thoughts. 

Allen parked in an empty lot not far from the building entrance. The place was crawling with weeds and pebbles strewn out across the lot. He hopped out of the car, making sure not to twist his ankle on any of the larger rocks. Val was already walking toward the site where they'd have to start digging. Slamming the car door shut, Allen jogged to catch up with her. 

"Hey!" he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

She stopped and turned to him. 

"Look, I'm not real good with talking people up, but I figure since this might be my last chance to say it, I should. I... enjoyed having you around. I realize this may not go so well for either you or your sister, and we might not be seeing each other around. But I had a good time. Every minute. Really." 

He offered what kind of a smile he could, given the circumstances, and put his hand against Val's. Her stone face finally softened, a warm smile of her own growing across it. She gripped his hand firmly and Allen felt three other invisible hands touch him. One on the wrist, another on the back, and one on the shoulder. They walked together, like that, to the old building, ready to face whatever Lust had in store. 

What they found happened to be a massive, rough hole in the ground. It was maybe ten feet wide, the edges jagged like someone had wrenched the concrete floor up in a mighty pull. Rock, dirt and even some rebar lay in the radius of destruction. A fine dust had long-since fallen over everything and collected in nooks and crannies. 

"Holy shit," said Allen. 

"This is not a good sign," said Val. 

"You're not kidding." He walked to the edge of the hole, peering into its depths. The room below looked familiar. "Do you think we should go down there? Maybe we're lucky and she's stuck around." 

"I am not counting on it, but yes, it would be prudent to investigate." 

Val's speech reminded him of when they first met: formal, a little uptight, and maybe even awkward. Whatever warmth she was showing before had diffused into the afternoon air. 

"How do you think we should get down there?" Allen asked 

Walking over to the edge of the hole, she gauged the distance down. After humming to herself, she walked up to Allen, wrapped him up in six of her arms and leapt. He hardly had time to bark out a protest before they hit the bottom. Val's legs took the shock without trouble and she released Allen, allowing her extra arms to become visible again. She patted Allen down to make sure he hadn't broken anything, then walked off in the direction of the dais where Lust should have been. Allen opened his mouth to give her trouble for the sudden leap, but stopped when his eyes landed on the same thing Val was looking at. 

The dais was empty. 

A long sigh, closer to a snort, came out of Val. Allen saw several of her hands curling into fists. A wicked aura, both of desperation and fear, bled from her stance. In that moment, for the first time since encountering the stone statue of Val, he was scared of her. His stance stiffened, watching, waiting for Val to do something. The image of Val twirling around, striking everything within reach, stomping on the floor and destroying the ceiling—it was terrifying. He hoped whatever she did didn't bring the whole place down around them. 

As nonchalantly as he could, Allen walked over to where he could get a view of her face. Her eyes were cast onto the floor, mouth even and stone cold. She needed cheering up. No good ideas came off the top of Allen's head, except for maybe sex. But that seemed so simple, and Allen felt she needed something more. He started to pace, his footsteps echoing through the old ruins. Sports were an option. She'd shown some interest in football earlier. Allen cocked his head. Eh, watching football could be stressful, too, if your team was losing, and Allen had shit luck in rooting for the right team. He considered another walk as well. It might help her blow off some steam, but at the same time, they'd just done that yesterday. Surely there was more for him to show her in the short time she had here? 

His pacing came to a halt, fist striking his palm. Dinner at a nice restaurant. He'd been too broke to go earlier, plus he rarely had someone to take. This was the perfect opportunity. 

"Hey, Val." 

Her drooping head rose and turned to him. "Yes?" 

"I'm taking you out to a nice dinner tonight." 

Her eyes regarded him with curiosity. "A nice dinner? What do you mean?" 

"A restaurant. You know what those are?" 

"Yes. You want to go to a restaurant, then? That sounds agreeable." She turned back to the spot she'd been staring at, where Lust's statue should've been. 

Not exactly the reaction Allen had been hoping for, but at least she didn't throw it back in his face. He scratched the underside of his chin, his stubble scratching his fingers back. She probably didn't realize what the significance of a dinner out was. It could also be that food didn't interest her all that much, seeing as she didn't need to eat. Scrunching up his mouth, Allen shook his head. Maybe dinner was a crap idea after all. Oh well. He'd already offered and she'd accepted. Besides, her mood might be dampening her actual feelings about it. 

He gave Val a bit longer to brood and stare at the spot where her sister once stood. After what felt like quite a while, however, he decided any more wouldn't be healthy. It hurt to admit, but seeing Val so downtrodden didn't help his feelings about the situation at all, either. She was supposed to be the one who knew what was going on, who understood her sister and how to stop her. Yet, here she was, staring at the floor like it would solve all her problems for her. Allen tasted bile in his throat. 

He walked over to where Val sat and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Hey." 

She didn't bother to turn around this time. "Yes?" 

"We should go. There's nothing for us to find here." 

"I suppose we should." She didn't stand. 

Allen waited a few seconds, then squeezed her shoulder. "C'mon." 

"What do you suppose this means?" she asked, her voice wistful. 

Allen winced. He was terrible at this stuff. Something had fish-hooked its way into Val's thoughts and it would not be easy to get it out of there. "I think it means your sister doesn't like being cooped up in a dusty old ruin. That's it." 

"She didn't come looking for me." 

"Oh, c'mon, how do you know that? You didn't know where she was, how would she know how to find you?" 

"She could've found me. She could have waited here, too, knowing I would be looking for her." 

"Yeah, I guess. I still don't see how this means anything special. The two of you left on not-so-great terms. Maybe she wanted some 'me-time'." 

"I wonder if she still thinks of me as her sister." The words came out cold, cold enough to make Allen shiver had he not already began to burn with frustration. 

"Oh, what the hell? Is that really what you think?" Allen heard his voice rising. This always happened when things got serious and even though he knew it was happening, he could never stop himself. "You've got nothing to base that off of. This is your job, right? To keep things running? Keep people sexing and whatnot? Maybe your sister understands that. Maybe she feels the exact same way as you about this." 

"That is an optimistic way of viewing it. You may be right. But I was the one who captured and imprisoned her. I was the one to end what we had." 

"And what did you have? Whatever it was, it wasn't working. Stop moving the goalposts. You're judging yourself with unfair standards." 

"But your logic is too cold. Emotion is too important to disregard in such an important decision. Maybe it's right I feel guilty." 

Allen bit his lip to keep from escalating further. That's not what Val needed. And who was she to talk about being cold? He could feel the frost coming off her speech. Stepping in front of Val, he stood atop the spot she was staring, extending a hand downward. Val blinked, looking between the hand and Allen's face, her eyes glittering with that familiar beauty, though drenched in conflict. 

"Then feel guilty. But stand up, too. Don't feel sorry for yourself without learning from it." 

Be a better person than me. 

Val sat in place, staring at the hand, debating with herself. Allen hoped he'd convinced her because not only had he run out of things to say, the next comment from her with that disgusting negative tone might well set him off. Eventually, she huffed, nodded, and accepted Allen's hand with three of her own. Getting her back on her feet was a touch awkward, given she was so much taller, but he managed. 

"Now, how about that dinner?" A corner of his mouth managed a crooked smile. 

She smiled back. 

~~~ 

They stopped by Allen's apartment before heading out. If they were going to a nice restaurant, Allen figured he'd do things right. He put on the one faded navy-blue blazer he had, a light blue button-up shirt, and navy slacks. While it wasn't the snazziest getup in the city, it was the nicest he could come up with. He spun to face Val, intending to show off his style, but he ended up in awe instead. 

It was the red dress. 

Again, he tried to whistle, but it came out flat. That familiar sparkle, the tightness against her body, the way her breasts almost spilled out of the top, and that teasing cut on the legs... all of it just as wonderful as he remembered. He walked up to Val, almost in a trance, laying his hands on her shoulders. He traced one of her flowing arms, adoring her smooth olive skin with his fingertips and groping her tight muscles as his hand glided over them. Cupping her elbow, his touch drifted over her arm to her hand, where their palms met and fingers intertwined. Standing so close to her, he had to strain his neck to look directly into her eyes. Neither one of them smiled, captivated by the other. Those piercing azure eyes melted Allen right there. Swallowing, he looked to his other hand, this time tracing her outer curves. His touch flowed over the group of joints where her arms met her body, then lower to her stomach and finally coming to rest on her hip. 

"Goddamn," was all he could say. 

"I told you I love it when you do that. Look over me." 

"Like I could help myself." 

Allen smirked, withdrawing his hand from her grasp. "I think we're ready to go." 

"Dearie, I'm always ready to go," her lips shot at Allen before curling up in a dark smile, the kind that both teases and promises. 

Yep, definitely gotta go. Else I'll be tearing these clothes off instead of staring at them. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her out the door. 

As a result of never visiting any of the nice restaurants downtown, Allen sat in the unfortunate position of knowing exactly zero places to go. He spent far too long driving around, looking for a place without a ten-mile line extending out of it. The sun was touching the horizon by the time he spotted a place, and there was still a half-hour wait. Guess there's a reason why you're supposed to get reservations. 

He jogged back to the car, letting Val know the situation. He found it hard to keep his speech steady every time he spotted her in that dress. For a woman that supposedly knew nothing about modern fashion, she sure as hell knew how to cook up something to drive him wild. 

"C'mon, let's go wait near the door. I need to show you off in that dress of yours." 

Her cheeks dimpled with her smile and she stepped out. Allen took her arm and guided her to the front door where they stood in the cooling late-afternoon air. He spotted a few spots inside where they could've sat, but anyone passing by wouldn't have had the chance of seeing Val... and the guy she was with. Each time someone walked by and shot Val a look, Allen swelled up with pride. Even more so when their eyes shifted to him. Maybe all the money from selling that jewel could buy a certain kind of respect and a pretty woman on his arm, but what he felt now? Nah, that was the kind of respect you couldn't buy, and the pride of standing next to a woman who was not only gorgeous, but intelligent and caring as well. Someone who felt as good standing next to him as he her. 

"You're cute when you thrust out your chest like that," said Val. 

"Yeah?" Wiping off his front, Allen settled back into a more relaxed pose. He hadn't even noticed he was doing it. "Well, maybe I've earned the right to do it a little bit." 

"That was more than a little." 

"Maybe I've earned the right to do it a lot." He stuck his chest back out again, this time excessively so. "I'd tell you to do it, too, but I think those tits of yours would burst right out of your dress." 

Val giggled, setting a hand on the small of his back. 

After a wait that felt like much less than thirty minutes, they were called in and shown a table. The place certainly fell into Allen's definition of 'nice'. The atmosphere was calm and soothing, a smooth jazz accompanying the dull chatter of conversation. Each table was covered in a red tablecloth, though the red on Val's dress was much more dazzling. The walls were adorned with fine patterns, with framed paintings filling up the empty spaces. A wafting scent of sweet perfume hung in the hair, as well as the occasional rush of spices and flavor so rich Allen could taste it through his nose. Val and him were shown to a spacious half-circle booth against a wall, the seating a plush red. As Allen slid into the booth, the long tablecloth tickled his legs. Val sat mostly opposite him, grinning both with a reckless sort of joy and that spark of risqué brazenness he'd come to recognize. 

Once the menus were set in front of them, however, Allen forgot all about Val. He dismissed the waiter to get them both water and the second he was gone, he allowed himself a thorough gawking at the prices. He could live for days off the money they charged for a single meal! His gawking turned to coughing and he was about to deflect it into his sleeve when he realized he was wearing his nicest blazer. Instead, he grabbed his napkin and coughed into that. When the fit passed, he felt himself blushing at acting so normal in a prissy place like this. Ordinarily, he'd add a spit to the floor on top of the coughing, but he didn't want to embarrass Val. Plus, if he was going to be one of these well-off people in the near future, he might as well act more like one. 

"Are you alright?" 

"Yeah, yeah, fine. Cough all the time." 

"I noticed. Do you think—?" 

"C'mon, Val, this is supposed to be about celebrating! About you! Let's not talk about my stupid cough." 

"If you wish." 

The waiter returned with their water, asking if they'd ever been there before and gave some recommendations. Val listened intently while Allen looked over the menu. At this rate, he'd just end up with the cheapest thing they sold. He might've been coming into big money soon, but 'soon' wasn't 'now' and his 'now' wallet was a little lacking. The waiter left to give them time to think about their meals. Allen didn't notice he'd left until Val's finger hooked over the top of his menu and pulled it down. 


Passion and Lust Ch. 04



"You've been feasting your eyes on that menu from the moment you got it. Does everything look so good?" 

"Uh, yeah. Everything's looking really delicious." 

"Well, I liked the sound of that grilled strip steak. How about you?" 

A woman that loves steak? God almighty, does she have a single flaw? 

"The, uh," he flipped through the menu quickly, landing on what seemed like the cheapest thing, "the Italian salad." 

"Salad? That doesn't sound all that filling. Is it a large salad?" 

"Looks pretty big to me. Besides, I don't have salad often. It's a good change of pace." He leaned back in his seat, trying to forget about the financial concerns of the evening. Everything would be taken care of soon enough. 

"Do you know when the waiter will be back? I may not get hungry, but I can still enjoy food, and that smell is enticing." Her wet, red tongue snuck out to trace her lips before disappearing back into her mouth. 

"I don't know, actually. Never been to a place as nice as this. Other places they have once waiter to a group of tables, so you have to wait a little bit if you want something." 

"Mmm, what should we do while we wait?" Her eyebrows perked up and her face grew into a lazy, vulgar smile. 

"Why don't you tell me about y—" 

Allen's question was cut short when one of Val's hands slipped under his crotch and cupped his balls, greedily closing her fingers around them. His back stiffened on the spot. 

"Tell you about what?" asked Val, her smile growing wider and darker. She locked eyes with Allen, her gaze slanted with an almost fearful hunger. 

Swallowing, Allen tried to lean back into the booth and look more natural, but Val was enjoying the visible effect she had on him. The hand holding his precious manhood squeezed and pulled, forcing Allen to sit up and away from the booth's backing. 

"W-well, I guess I didn't have you p-pegged as a meat-lover." 

While his speech may have stuttered, his eyes narrowed, matching Val's own intense gaze. He started thinking about how great it would be to slam her against the wall, rip off that dress and wipe that confident smirk off her face. He wanted to dig his own hand into her precious place, control her body like she now controlled his. 

"I can feel that wanton passion coming off of you, Allen," she whispered. "I could live off that alone. But if you're wanting to overcome me, that's only going to make me want to dominate you more." 

Her hand shifted to the underside of his shaft, fingers circling around his now-rigid member in a gradual upward stroke. His cock begged for freedom, Allen's slacks and underwear confining it in a tiny prison. Val's soft palm and fingers felt wonderful even through the fabric, but he could imagine how they would feel outside of it. Each slow, methodical stroke from her wonderful hand got him harder and harder. At one point, he thought his member would rip through his clothes with how hard she had gotten it. 

All the while, she smiled at him, resting her chin atop her visible hands, knowing Allen could do nothing. 

"Have either of you decided what you would like?" asked the waiter. 

Shit! He'd appeared out of thin air, giving Allen no time to compose himself. To make things worse, Val took the opportunity to add a second hand. Two now worked his cock through his slacks, one teasing his head while the other massaged his shaft and balls. He hid his face behind the menu, gritting his teeth in frustration. 

"I'll have the grilled strip steak," said Val. "Well done." 

She handed her menu over with a polite smile, acting as if nothing at all was happening. Easy for her; she didn't have two skilled hands on her privates. 

"And you, sir?" 

"The... the salad, please. Italian salad." 

Val, as if disappointed Allen hadn't slipped up, quickened her motions. A groan rose from Allen's throat, but he disguised it behind a cough. He shot her a scowl which she met with a grin. 

Handing over the menu, Allen kept his face down, knowing he wouldn't be able to hide an expression of pleasure if Val stroked him with any more intensity. 

"And dressing?" 

Fucking dressing? He wanted to yell "Whatever!" but didn't want to give Val the satisfaction. 

"Italian?" 

"Excellent, sir." The waiter gave a short bow to both Allen and Val. "I'll have you meals out as soon as they're ready. Let me know if you need anything else." 

Allen took in a breath to sigh in relief, but Val wasn't done yet. 

"Actually, waiter, could you bring me a drink?" 

"Certainly. What would you like?" 

Her hands dug deeper to the point Allen almost couldn't feel the fabric between her skilled digits and his manhood. Her palm cupped and gripped his head then began pulsing as if sucking. Her other hand seized his shaft as far around as it could and began a delicate pumping motion, making Allen expel his breath in a huff instead of a sigh. 

"Red wine would be wonderful. Do you have that?" 

"Of course. There's a wine list here you can look at." 

Val took her sweet time going through the list, playing as if she couldn't make up her mind for the life of her. Every now and then she would glance up at Allen with those wicked eyes of hers, giving a teasing squeeze to make sure he didn't forget the situation he was in. Of course, there was no way Allen would ever be able to think about anything except those two dexterous hands groping him. Any sort of show Val put on above the table was simply for effect. 

After what felt like and eternity, Val made her decision. 

"I'll be right back with it," said the waiter. 

Only when Allen was absolutely sure the waiter was gone, did he let out a long sigh, closing his eyes and concentrating on resisting Val. He looked up at her, nostrils flaring, and moved his hands to pull hers away. As much as he loved her attention, he wasn't going to lose this little game to her. 

Val was too quick, though. Two more invisible hands darted out, seizing Allen's wrists and pinning them to the table. 

"Let's keep those where we can see them. Who knows what you might do with them otherwise?" said Val, winking and giving his member a swift jerk. "But you had a question, didn't you? And I haven't answered it." 

"Yeah. About—" He cut himself off, squinting as a wave of pleasure drowned out his senses. "About steak." 

"My sister and I actually ate quite a bit of meat back in our day. It was common practice for other spirits to demand sacrifices like boar or deer or livestock. We were perfectly happy with the offering of their physical bodies for long, exhaustive bouts of lovemaking," she said, her grip tightening with deliberate strokes on the words she emphasized, "but we didn't turn away the sacrifices, either. Most people did it for their own peace of mind, anyways." 

"So steak was your favorite?" Allen fought to keep his voice steady and posture even. He was going to beat Val at this if it killed him. 

"Mmm, not necessarily my favorite. There were so many delicious dishes. But it's certainly one of my favorites." 

"You said a lot of people visited you. Enough to 'satisfy' you, anyways. How many was 'enough'?" 

Val's pace slowed for a second. "Are you sure you want to know that?" 

"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't." 

"Very well, then." Her hands moved to his tip and she traced her fingertips all the way down his shaft, like she was scratching it, only without using her nails. "It was typical for three different people—men more often than women—to come to my sister and I seeking a sexual favor or release each day. There were many repeat visitors, as well." 

"And—" He had to swallow as Val's fingers sent a tingling up his shaft and his spine. "—and for how long did you do this? Accept people like that?" 

"Many years. At least a hundred. We stopped when I learned of my sister's other exploits." Her hands stopped, waiting for Allen's reaction. 

Closing his lips, Allen nodded his head one way, then the other. Three people a day, minus the repeat visitors, then take away the people her sister took care of... either way, it was a monumental number. More than Allen could fathom sleeping with himself. Probably more than physically possible for any one person. To be honest, he didn't know how to react. The number and duration of these... exploits was so high they became meaningless to him. Like looking at an ocean and comparing it to a pond. 

"Tell me how you feel about it now, Val. Would you do it again?" 

"Certainly. It is my role, one which I take great pleasure in." 

"Don't you feel like it cheapens the act, though?" 

"The number or diversity of people I perform sex with has no effect on either my performance or the meaning of the act. I always put forth as much effort as I can, match each encounter to my mate's wants and needs." 

"What if you want to do it with someone special?" 

"I never considered having someone special. It would not work for someone in the position I occupy. I would outlive them, and a spirit and a human would not be able to understand each other well enough to make a connection worthy of being called love." 

So there was a difference. A gap. One Val said was insurmountable. But did she believe that, or was she simply saying that for her own benefit? Did she not want to try? 

Allen looked down at the table, then out across the restaurant. The place was filled with couples and groups, talking about whatever was going in their own lives, uncaring of what was taking place in Allen's own booth. They had their own lives, their own situations, their own stories. They'd walk out of here none the wiser of Allen or Val. What did they matter to him? 

"Alright," said Allen. 

"'Alright'?" 

"What, you want me to be upset or something? You did what you did 'cause it was your job and you enjoyed it. Would you get upset with me for the same? You're a grown woman, you can make decisions for yourself. What happened back then means shit to me right now." He leaned forward, narrowing his eyes. "What would have pissed me off is if you'd said you'd take it all back. That you were ashamed. There's not enough time to be going around, doing stuff half-assed while looking over your shoulder. You live your life, and you mean it. Just like I said I was in it with this thing with you and your sister: that means 'till it's over, no ifs, ands or buts. I'd take conviction over reflection any day." 

"I am... pleased you agree with me," she said, smiling. "I know it is not typical of current societal norms to have so many partners." 

"'Current' societal norms? You mean back in your day people just had sex with whoever? All the time?" 

She chuckled. "Not quite. But they wouldn't be so upset if I was caught in a place like this doing something like this." 

Her hands resumed, quicker now, and were joined by two more. This time, Allen couldn't hold back his moan, though he kept it as quiet as he could. The waiter chose this spectacular time to return with Val's wine. She stared Allen in the eye the entire time, her hands exploring his crotch area with smooth, gentle touches. Only when she was asked a question did she acknowledge the waiter, but even then only to answer. Two hands rubbed up against the inside of Allen's thighs, slowly moving back and forth between his cock and his knees. The other two hands paid special attention to his shaft and frenulum, making his tip ache for the touch it felt earlier. Pre dribbled in his slacks, but Allen hardly cared. He wanted nothing more than for Val to free his painfully stiff member and remove that annoying barrier of fabric. 

But she was in it for the long haul. 

With nothing to do but wait for their food, Val kept her attention of keeping Allen on the edge. Her visible arms were crossed, laying on the table to support her, but all the invisible ones were busy. Two hands held his wrists in place on the table, preventing Allen from struggling away from Val's attentions. Not that he would, but he could tell she liked the control. Her remaining four hands kept Allen in heaven, massaging his thighs, fondling his balls and caressing his member in fluctuating patterns. The cloth of his pants and underwear were a maddening barrier, just enough to let Val play with him indefinitely without giving him orgasm, but not so much that any slight shift in pressure or angle went unappreciated. Whenever he felt glorious release approaching, Val would slow, spreading her hands out to rub his legs more and let his member throb in unrestrained arousal. 

The twenty minutes he waited for their food felt like hours. 

The sight of the waiter approaching put a smile on Allen's face, one other than the stupid blissful grin Val had nearly etched into him. He wasn't exactly sure how he'd eat with his hands pinned to the table as they were, though. Or if he'd even be able to muster the concentration to. Val answered that question by undoing his pants button, opening the zipper and releasing his member from its suffocating enclosure. The moment those four hands of hers touched bare skin down there, his composed smile devolved into a gape. 

"For the madam, a grilled strip steak," said the waiter, placing the hot, steaming meal in front of Val. "And for the gentleman, our finest Italian salad." He slid an impressively-sized bowl in front of Allen with some sides on a smaller plate next to it, but Allen's eyes were fixed on Val's. The joy mixed with lust in her gentle gaze demanded his attention in a oddly peaceful way. 

"Is there anything else you need?" 

"I'll be fine." Val nodded to the waiter. "Allen?" She deliberately left a pause in her speech. "Is there anything you need?" 

You know exactly what I need, you fiend. 

"No" is what came out of his mouth, however, and the waiter left them be. 

Ignoring her dinner completely, Val shifted the weight of her chin to one hand and idly tapped the tabletop with the other. "My, my. From the look on your face, I was sure you needed something." The grin across her face said more than words could. 

One hand encircled his base with a thumb and pointer while the palm and other fingers cupped his balls. Her second and third hands pumped his shaft with three fingers, each hand rotating different directions, while the other fingers teased the underside of his cock with light touches. Her fourth hand cupped his tip in its palm, slowly lifting off the tip to allow the lengths of her fingers caress his engorged head until her fingertips came together over his opening, only to reverse the process with the same agonizingly-slow speed. Allen swallowed, trying to wipe the dripping sweat from his brow, forgetting Val still had his wrists pinned. The lack of freedom drove him even madder. 

"Val, I'm going to c—" 

"Allen, please. We're in public. Don't say such inappropriate things." 

She clearly didn't care how close he was, as her hands sped up, making him lift his chin and gnash his teeth together to keep from moaning. His cock, nothing more than her plaything, helplessly suffered her attentions. Allen's hips began to move on their own, thrusting into the whirlwind of precise fingers as his sensitivity reached its peak. With a moan that sounded more like a whimper, he succumbed to her hands. 

A lightning bolt of pleasure shot down his shaft, his seed spewing forth as his entire body tensed up. Val's hands welcomed the sign of submission, squeezing him from base to tip, encouraging as much as the could out of him. His hips rocked with each spurt. His breaths came out ragged. Finally, when he could give her no more, he went limp in his chair, Val's grip on him disappearing as if it'd never been there. 

"This is quite delicious. Would you like a bite?" She cut of a small piece of her steak and held it out. 

The damn woman had already started eating, acting as if she'd done nothing at all! Allen had to blink a few times to clear up his vision. Sitting up, he answered her question with a glare and poked at his own meal. Salad had never truly looked appetizing to him, but the way this place made it, it didn't seem so bad. His first bite gave him hope for the meal. 

They ate without much conversation, Allen somewhat famished from Val's mind-blowing handjob and Val herself pleased with her steak. Every now and then they would communicate through a series of glances, Val's teasing and playful, Allen's stoic and smug. 

Val finished her meal first. Once done, she scooted across the half-circle booth bench to the middle, facing away from the wall, then patted the empty bench next to her. "Scoot closer," she said. 

"I'm still eating." She may have won the round, but that didn't mean Allen wouldn't stop resisting her in every way he could. 

"Scoot. Closer." A hand wrapped around his still-exposed cock, squeezing and pulling him toward her, forcing him to move over. He grabbed his food during the move, his own way of saying he wouldn't pay attention, no matter what she did. 

"Could it at least have waited until I finished chewing?" Rolling his eyes, he speared another forkful of salad, but Val wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him in, her mouth right next to his ear. 

"Do you remember that load I made you release?" she whispered. 

Allen froze up, his heart rate shooting through the roof. He still tried to play it cool, but being pressed up against Val's voluptuous body and hearing that sensual tone in her voice broke through all his defenses. "Why would I remember it?" 

"I bet you thought it dirtied up the underside of the table. That it fell on the floor." 

Swallowing, he shifted, trying to get a little more comfortable in the pose Val held him. "Yeah." 

"I wouldn't waste it like that. It's in my hand, right now, under the table. I haven't let it go." 

Holy shit. 

"Right now, I'm pushing aside my underwear. My pussy's soaking and exposed. If you were under the table right now, you could see it." 

Allen started panting, unable to speak. 

"I'm going to stuff my hand in there right n—nngh!" Val winced, letting out a dire gasp, "—now and my pussy's going to suck your seed off of it." She leaned her head against Allen's, taking a moment for herself. "Mmmm. Can you hear that? Can you hear the squelch of—" she gasped again, "—of my inner walls sucking on it?" 

Allen couldn't hear a thing over the thunderous thumping of his heart. He wiped his brow to keep sweat from getting in his eyes, but it just came back as soon as he moved his hand away. Val's face twitched as she worked her hand inside, sharp but hushed moans rattling out of her mouth with each adjustment. Allen stared down at her lap, cursing that dress for covering up the scene she described. He could, however, make out a dark spot on it, and the stench of her arousal hit him like a truck. 

Waves of arousal overtook his body with the scent. He became hyper-sensitive of the hand encircling his cock, even if Val had long since stopped pumping it. It took every inch of willpower available to keep himself from tackling Val and fucking her right there. Her body practically begged for him to touch it, to seize it, to have his way with it. 

With a heavy gasp and a slight pop, Val's hand left her soaking cave. Allen could hear her breathing, constant and almost ragged, as she started to recompose herself. 

"Now, Allen, my hand is positively dripping with my juices. Right now, it's moving over to your cock." Eyes widening, he tried to sneak a peek under the table, but Val held his head in a headlock. "No peeking. Wouldn't want someone to notice, would you?" She grinned. "It's getting closer, Allen. Can you feel the heat? It's so close." 

Allen held his breath. He could feel it. It was radiating heat like pavement on a sunny day. Straightening himself in the booth, he held his breath, preparing himself in an effort to not come the instant she seized him. 




Passion and Lust Ch. 04



But it never came. 

"That steak was delicious!" said Val. "This restaurant has certainly met my expectations. It's been so long since I've eaten, too." Releasing Allen from the headlock, Val took a sip of her wine, sloshing it against her cheeks before swallowing. "And the wine was a superb compliment. What do you think?" 

It took a moment for Allen to realize what had happened. He sat up straight, looking at Val, then her plate, then his salad, his brain snapping back to reality after being so immersed in lust. Blinking, he grabbed his fork, trying to figure out whether to stab the salad or Val with it. That... that tease! He'd been so close! A single touch would have sent him over the edge, and she had acted as if she had every intention of finishing him off... but stopped. The only thing that matched Allen's anger was the confusion that still ravaged his head from Val's deception. 

"You're going to pay for this." 

"Pay? But I thought you had all the money." 

Allen jabbed his salad much harder than necessary. He needed to remove any pointy objects from his hands before he did something serious. "Not. That. Kind. Of pay." 

"I admit I have no idea what you're talking about. Did the food get to your head? Do you think maybe they undercooked it?" 

"Undercooked... the salad?" Allen's hands curled into fists. "Lady, I suggest you stop pushing me. You might not like what happens when you push me." 

"Oh?" Her voice sweetened with a dab of coyness. "What would happen?" 

"Here's what's going to happen." Allen picked up his forkful of salad and pointed it at Val. "I'm going to finish this salad. Then I'm going to pay for the lovely meals provided to us this evening. Then we'll leave and get in the car. On the way home, we're not going to say a single word to each other. Total silence. When we get back to my apartment, I'm going to tear those clothes off you so fast it burns, then I'm going to fuck you so hard the neighbors will think I'm murdering you. Do you understand?" 

Val took a moment, biting her lower lip while staring at Allen, that perverse look of hers darkening. "Yes." 

"Good. Now since you elected to finish you meal so quickly, you get to sit there and think about all the terrible things I'm going to do to you once we leave and watch as I slowly finish this salad." He grabbed her inner thigh and squeezed. "And no cheating." He made sure to run his hand up to where her leg met her body, brushing up against her labia before withdrawing. 

When he took his next bite, he could hear her panting. 

Allen, true to his word, ate as slow as he could stand. Allen's bowl of salad had sat only half-finished. Val's constant stimulation had made eating something of a chore. His attention wandered among the other guests, watching them enjoy their meals as he thought about how hard Val would be coming tonight. She may have won the first round of their little game, but from the way she was panting and having trouble sitting still, he could tell he'd won round two. Every now and then, she'd lay a hand on his arm, a silent inquiry to go faster. He ignored it. 

"I may not know much about leaves and lettuce and whatever else is in here, but I know a good salad when I taste it. You want some?" 

Val licked her lips, but her hunger was for something else. 

"Of course! You had a full steak, you're probably full. Silly me." 

By the time he finished eating, he too was getting restless. 

They almost had to sprint out of the restaurant to keep from doing something lewd in public. 

Val's hands were all over Allen on the way out. They walked out, arm-in-arm, as fast as possible without grabbing unwanted attention. When she reached for his crotch however, he smacked her hand away, shaking his head. Val whimpered, knowing from that brief touch exactly how hard he was, but gave in. With that off-limits, she touched him everywhere else she could: shoulders, neck, chest, stomach, thighs, head, and all the spot in-between. Allen stumbled once, having trouble walking straight with the shear volume of sensations attacking his brain, but he managed. 

Val tried to do the same on the drive, home, but Allen had none of it, scowling and shaking his head when Val started groping him. Again she whimpered, this time louder, but kept her hands away. 

Allen had never driven so fast in his life. Not a single speed limit was left unbroken, and when he finally pulled into the parking spot at his complex, he almost ran up onto the sidewalk. Car doors slammed. Feet hit the ground in a run. The stairs rumbled as they went up. The floor thudded beneath their feet. Keys in the lock. Door flung opened. Door slammed closed. Shoes, socks, blazer, slacks, shirt, all came off in a flurry. 

When Allen finished, he looked up at Val, only to find she'd only removed her shoes. That wonderful dress, as sexy as it was, was only an obstacle at this point. She stood in the middle of the apartment, short-of-breath, staring at Allen with no remnant of sobriety in her eyes. There was only lust. 

"Why are you still wearing that thing?" he gasped at her through his panting, finally getting his underwear off. 

"Because you haven't torn it off me." 

Allen threw Val onto the bed, not even waiting for her to stop bouncing before he pounced atop her. Those generous breasts of hers bounced up and down within the confines of her dress. Allen could hear her body screaming, begging to be released from that prison of fabric. Not giving Val a warning or hint, he seized the dress at her cleavage and tore it. The extravagant dress ripped at the end of the 'V' that held her cleavage, straight down to her stomach. Even if it was just an illusion, Val had made it entirely convincing. Allen moved his hands down to where the tear had stopped and wretched the two sides of her dress again, this time exposing her entire front. 

Biting his lip, Allen stared at the soaking-wet pussy before him, his cock growing unbelievably hard. By this time, Val had revealed all eight of her arms and had no more restraint left in her. She tossed the remainder of her once-beautiful dress aside and pulled Allen into her, lips crashing into a careless kiss. Their tongues dived into each others' mouths, eagerly writhing about and toying with the other. Allen pressed so hard into the kiss that Val's head was forced back onto the bed. Six arms wrapped around Allen and pressed him down onto her, desperate for any contact. Her stiff nipples dug into his chest which pushed back with each strained breath. Her remaining two hands went to his cock, stroking it a few times to make sure he was hard and ready. 

For a moment, she hesitated. Even the kiss paused. Allen, horny and confused, broke away and furrowed his brow. "What the fuck are you waiting for, lady? Either shove it in there or let me do it!" 

She didn't respond so he thrust in on his own, member meeting her lower lips in a swift, fluid motion that sent shocks of pleasure throughout their bodies. Val's flower was dripping wet, allowing Allen to hilt with ease on the first thrust. With a moan, she animated once again, muscled arms tensing and pulling at Allen's hips, trying to drive him somehow deeper. Her walls squeezed his shaft so tight he yelled in a mixture of surprise and pleasure. He slowly pulled back out, Val holding on as tight as she could to his escaping member. Any slight movement drowned him in bliss, the overwhelming sensations almost making him black out. 

He was determined to please Val as well, however, so he grit his teeth and thrust in again. This time, Val reacted by arching her back, driving her tits harder into Allen's chest. Her moan rattled into a yelp, settling only once Allen began to pull back again. She pushed his upper body away, then forced his mouth to one of her tits while she used several hands to play with the other. Allen allowed himself only a second to smile before giving her nipple a thorough tongue lashing. He circled it, then clamped onto it with his lips, teasing the tip with light licks. Another moan rolled out of her mouth in response. 

For the first time, Allen felt like an actual participant. The first time they had sex, she controlled his body as she willed. The second encounter was a blowjob and a massage so powerful he passed out. The next time, he was in the driver's seat, unable to reciprocate. Even at the restaurant, as determined as he was, Val had made him cum without giving him a chance to return the favor. Now he finally had that chance. 

He grabbed the hands on the back of his head and placed them on the tit he'd been working, then sat up straight. Val took the hint and continued to pleasure herself, watching Allen with wild eyes. Still hilted inside Val, Allen grabbed one of her tree-trunk legs and hoisted it onto his shoulder. The churning of her pussy, clutching him as she shifted, elicited a groan of pleasure from Allen and another moan from Val. Now on his knees, he left it to his hips to do the work, thrusting in and out of Val faster than before. She wrapped her legs around Allen as best she could, those powerful thighs holding him steady as he fucked her. Her broad, fluid hips matched Allen's thrusting almost making him succumb right there. 

Seeing the tantalizing form of Val lying beneath him, pleasuring her breasts with four hands, her clit with two and grasping the bed with her last two, gave Allen not only the strength to continue, but a strong sense of pride; he was the one reducing this amazon of a woman to a lust-driven, moaning mess. Even with all her arms, her strength, and her experience, a skilled man with a stiff cock could still hit her buttons right. 

Each thrust Allen accompanied with a grunt, Val's pussy seizing him with incredible tightness as he dove in and pulled out. It was like her flower was alive, pulling at him, pleased to see him enter and yearning at him not to go. He could feel his orgasm approaching, but he couldn't let that happen without getting to Val first. Moving his knees further up, he leaned into Val, thrusting at a new angle this time. When her eyes popped open and she yelled in pleasure, he knew he'd hit the right spot. 

The bed began to groan and creak where Val grabbed it, her knuckles white with effort. Allen's cock electrified her entire body with ecstasy, drilling into her like his life depended on it. She focused every inch of willpower on keeping her hips moving in sync with his, making sure that pleasure hit her in full force on every thrust. Her hands worked her breasts and nipples furiously, tweaking and pulling them in ways she knew her body would respond. Finally, when her mind could take no more of the torrent of pleasure, she grabbed Allen by the shoulders and shoved her lips into his, screaming her orgasm into the kiss. 

Allen pushed back with his mouth, allowing her tongue into to twirl with it, thrusting into her with the last of his strength. When her body seized up, seizing him with legs, pussy, hands, and arms as tight as it could, he knew it was time. Giving one last powerful thrust to hilt himself, he grunted into the kiss, mixing it with the vibrations of Val's own scream of release. Impeccably tight walls milked Allen for spurt after spurt of seed, greedily accepting his orgasm even as they leaked buckets of Val's own juices. 

As the vicious lighting storm of rapture overwhelmed his brain and sent him into unconsciousness, his only thought was that he regretted not seeing Val's face as she came with him.



Passion and Lust 05



Allen slowly opened his eyes on another day, surprised to find his vision completely absent of the usual morning blur. He flexed every part of his body to make sure it all still worked. His legs were a bit sore, but that was expected. In fact, he'd probably feel a bit robbed if they weren't.

His hand wandered around the bed, but didn't find Val next to him. Lifting his head, he saw her standing up, dressed in her usual skimpy outfit, staring out the small window into the world. He allowed himself a little smile. No woman could stand like Val, so sure of her body, uncaring if either no one or everyone was staring at her with so much exposed and six extra limbs. It wasn't a show she put on, either. Just a natural state that was so uniquely her.

"Can't say that's ever happened to me before," said Allen while he sat up.

Val turned from the window, eyes a touch vacant as they landed on him. "What are you talking about?"

"Cumming so hard I passed out." He yawned. "I figure I should've at least had the strength to flop over and stare at the ceiling for a while."

"I do tend to have that effect on people." There's the grin. Allen wanted to make a snide comment about her morning attitude, but decided letting it go once in a while might not be too bad. Besides, this was a pretty great morning.

"Doing some people-watching?"

"People-watching?"

Allen fumbled with clothing himself before walking over to Val. "Yeah. Watching people. Kinda self-explanatory." He got up on his toes to look out the window, curious if there was anything in particular that might have caught her attention. Nothing stuck out. "Well, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind every day ending like yesterday." He practically skipped to the kitchen, bypassing the coffee and nabbing a bagel. Plopping himself down at his small table, he rested his feet on it and smiled up at Val who'd gone back to staring out the window.

"I did enjoy it."

"'I did enjoy it'? Damn, woman, you almost sound disappointed. I know I ain't some kind of sex fiend, but I'm not a limp fish, either!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. It enjoyed it thoroughly."

Allen narrowed his eyes. "So what was that little hesitation for right while we were in the middle of things?"

"Sorry?"

"We were going light speed, hot and heavy, everything was great, and then you froze up."

"Yes, I do remember it. I'm afraid my mind had run off for a moment." Her gaze turned away from the window, but not to Allen. "I am sorry. I do not mean to annoy you or be dismissive. Yesterday was wonderful and I would do it again in a heartbeat."

"I hear a 'but' in there."

"But I feel a touch irresponsible at the timing. Right after I found out my sister was on the loose, I went and enjoyed a nice dinner? There are much more important things for me to be doing."

"You know, it's okay to take a day off every now and then. Do that whole 'relax' thing. I remember a certain night when you all but forced me to take it easy."

"You were being unreasonable."

"And you aren't now? I mean, yeah, we're in a pretty tough spot here, but that doesn't mean we've gotta spend every waking moment worrying about it." He stuffed his face with more bagel.

Val's demeanor had gone right back to what he'd seen when they'd gone to find Lust. It annoyed Allen just thinking about it. Val—the perky, reasonable, funny chick who'd run around the city with him, somehow not only tolerating his rough edges but forgiving the transgression that first brought them together as well—turned into a hopeless pessimist the moment she thought about her sister. Not only did it make him queasy to see her face fall and hear the life drain from her voice, but the way she dismissed every practical suggestion thrown her way made Allen want to punch a hole in the wall.

"I have been thinking. About my sister."

"No shit."

She shot him a disparaging gaze before continuing. "My methods have shamed me to such extremes, all I can think about is if I made the right choice, took the right path. And even if I did, did I act in a fashion of cruelty or merit?" All of her arms dropped to her sides, limp. "The spirits of old are still out there, somewhere, somehow. The fact that humanity still thrives is proof of it. They are fickle, Allen. Nosy. Curious. Absolute. Part of me wonders if this is a chance they gave me to reform myself."

Allen slowly sat up, eyes sharpening with focus. "What are you saying?"

"I think I should try something else with my sister. Perhaps I need not imprison her again."

"Woah there! I get she's your sister. I get it's not easy putting her back in whatever limbo you had her in, especially knowing that's where you're headed too. But if what you told me about her is true, this is the fate of the entire human race you're playing with. Not cool!"

She turned to Allen, eyes pleading. "It's been so many years, though. She may have changed her mind, just like I'm thinking about changing my own!"

"Yeah, and maybe she hasn't, and when you go to her with eight open arms and she shanks you in the heart, where's that put humans?" He shook his head furiously "Damn, Val, this is not the time for cold feet!"

"Shank me?" She placed four hands on her hips and loomed over Allen. "She's my sister! She would never try to kill me! She knows just as well as I the balance between us must be maintained!"

"Oh, she wouldn't kill you? Just like you'd never try to imprison her? If you know her so well, why don't you tell me why she decided to fuck over the human race? Or, even better, talk her out of it? This is reality, not your dream world, and in reality, people don't just change." He shoved his face into hers and jabbed at her chest with a finger.

"Spirits are not people."

"Oh, so you're better than us?"

"I believe by definition we are superior."

"Ah, I get it." Allen thumbed his nose and paced around the room. If he stood in Val's face any longer he was liable to do something stupid. "Humans are expendable. Why should you care about them?" He threw his hands up. "Shit, why should I care? Not like I've got much to look forward to anyways."

The glare in Val's eyes cracked, if only a little. "Allen, I did not mean humans are worthless. But you must understand this is not the sort of conflict you could easily understand. What I did by imprisoning my sister was nothing less than a calamity among spirits."

"Yeah, no, I get it. It's fine. A lowly little human couldn't possibly understand you. God knows why I even tried."

"Please, don't take this the wrong way. I'm not trying to put the human race in jeopardy! Quite the opposite, in fact!"

"'Take it the wrong way'? There's no other way to take it! You've just got your head up so high in the clouds you don't even realize what you're saying. There is a serious risk your sister will ruin us all if you give her even an inch—and you're planning on giving her just that! I think that qualifies as putting the human race in jeopardy."

"I will take every measure to ensure nothing happens! And you could at least have some faith in my sister."

Allen gestured holding a glass upside down and shaking something out of it. "Sorry, Val, all out. She kinda lost it when she tried to remove our desire to reproduce."

Val crossed several of her arms. "You cannot dissuade me."

"Yeah, I can see that." He grabbed his keys and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Allen almost wanted to smile at the sudden loss of confidence in her voice.

"To do something about it myself? To run away? Fuck if I know."

The door slammed, its echo following Allen down the empty hall.

**

Allen's feet slapped against the sidewalk with each angry step. He shoved his hands so far into his pockets he about pulled his pants down. Everyone on the sidewalk gave him a wide berth, though he was too engrossed in his own thoughts to notice.

Screw her. She probably had this planned from the start. I should've noticed from the way she talked about her sister.

How would a human like him ever talk reason into her anyways? Why should he? This wasn't his fight, she'd said as much. When did he ever invest so much in the safety of the human race? Val said the other spirits were still hanging around somewhere—they'd take care of things if they got out of hand, right? Surely this wasn't the first time there'd been infighting.

Oh wait, they were spirits, no those irrational, flimsy humans. Val didn't want someone like him sticking around, dragging her down. She had important things to be doing.

So wrapped up Allen was he almost stomped right on by his destination. The bell over the door of Diamond Eye rang painfully loud at Allen's entrance and he expected a few angry stares at the noise, but to his surprise, no one was there.

He shrugged. He wasn't there for the company, he was there for some good news. Something to assuage this building frustration before he exploded. Taz had been holding onto Val's old jewelry for a little while now; maybe he had some sort of lead on their true value or a seller. He trudged up to the counter and hit the call bell several times.

No answer. No sign of Taz. Not even a "Just a moment!"

Huffing, Allen crossed his arms and leaned up against the counter. It felt a little creepy in here with no one else around, just him and all these valuables. Almost like someone was dangling bait in front of him to try and get him in trouble. He kept his eyes on the back room, not the displays. Emotion may have driven him to stupidity in the past, but it wasn't getting to him this time.

He hit the bell a few more times, but still no answer came. What was Taz doing? It was business hours. Was the place empty 'cause everyone else had left when they got no reply as well? Allen craned his neck to try to get a better view into the back. Maybe something happened to him? This day did not need to get any worse.

After a glance back at the front door, Allen hopped over the counter and crept toward the back. "Taz?" He didn't want to scare the guy by sneaking up on him, but he had to find out what was up. "You okay back there?" Each step weighed more the closer he got to the doorway to the back room. Would he find Taz collapsed or just napping on the job? If anyone walked in right now he'd look just like a—

"Excuse me?"

Allen's head whipped around so fast he almost lost his balance. His eyes widened as they traveled up the form before him. A tower of a woman, over six feet tall, lithe legs and slender arms. Skin smooth as a baby's bottom, white but not pale. Her clothing made him think southern; a pair of torn short-shorts, a white button-up shirt with far too few buttons done, tied up to expose her navel. Dirty blonde hair flowed down her body like a waterfall. Her smirk and lazy lean gave off a haughty, care-free aura, reckless to the point of danger. Striking hazel eyes bore down upon him.

Allen swallowed hard. This woman was a perfect mix of sex and trouble.

"Uh, hi," he smoothly replied. "I was just—"

"Taking a look? Sure. That's why you were going about it so suspiciously." She stepped over the counter in one smooth motion, those seemingly-endless legs tackling the obstacle with aplomb.

"Look, I was worried about Taz, the guy who..." Allen's voice trailed off as his head finally caught up to the present. He'd just checked the door himself. How did this woman get behind him? And her appearance: tall, drop-dead sexy, intimidating and confident—give her another six arms and she'd be Val.

Shit.

"Oh, so you know Taz?" She took a step toward him, crossing her arms under generous breasts about to explode out of that tiny shirt of hers.

"Well, yeah, he's got some stuff of mine he was take a look at." He stood up straight, adjusting his collar. "I was just wondering where he was. Didn't want him running off with it, y'know?" His forced laugh drew a smile from the woman. "I guess he's not here, then. Probably shouldn't be back here. I'll just go ahead and—"

He tried to step toward the door, but the woman blocked his way. Allen found himself face-to-face with a pair of fine tits. And for the only time in his life, he wanted to nothing to do with them.

"Sorry, I got in your way. Let me—"

When he stepped to the side, she moved with him, even edging close enough to prod Allen with that impressive chest.

"Look, lady, I'm leaving. Just get out of my way."

He laid his hand on her arm with the intention of pushing her out of the way.

The world flipped upside down. Without realizing why, Allen found himself on his back, staring at the ceiling. He hadn't even seen her move, or felt where she grabbed him to toss him. All he could do was try to calm his spinning head.

A familiar smile and hazel eyes filled his vision. "Naughty little thief, trying to take something that isn't yours. I'm going to have to do something about you."

Allen couldn't look away. There was something in her eyes, something that pulled at him. He grew dizzy and faint and light began to fade from the world. He had one last thought before blacking out.

Were those... wings?

**

Consciousness returned to Allen through a blurry haze. Blinking, he brought his mind back into the present. After a few moments, his vision focused and he took a look around.

He sat in the middle of a rather plain storeroom, boxes and bags and shelves all pushed against the wall, a single door to his left, and a light just a touch too bright over his head. A stale air permeated his nostrils. He made to stand, but could hardly flex his muscles before realizing such an action would do him no good. Rope bit into his ankles and wrists, and the chair he sat in was bolted to the ground.

Great.

Could've been worse, though. Could've not woken up at all. If Lust was as bad as he thought she was, then Allen's life probably meant nothing to her, just like any other human. The thought creased his face with a frown. Well, maybe that wasn't entirely correct. She was asking him about the Stone. Maybe she wanted to learn where it was before killing him. Or mind-breaking him. Or both. Val was able to snatch information straight from his head, though. Couldn't Lust just do the same?

Allen sneered. Val. He knew it'd been a bit hasty to run out on her like that, but he couldn't bring himself to lend her any pity. Wasn't he allowed to get angry at her? Wasn't that reaction deserved?

A throbbing head brought his thoughts to a halt. He wasn't made out for this shit. Lay the fate of the human race on someone else's shoulders, Allen was running out of time to care for it.

The door swung open. Allen's gaze shot toward it. Striding in like she owned the place, the amazon of a woman stole Allen's breath with a glance. She'd changed her top. She now wore a sweater with no sense of decency, cut incredibly low to reveal the full depth of her cleavage. Those sweet legs, lithe frame and complete confidence dominated the room and stirred within Allen's loins feelings he'd rather have done without. Still, he managed a glare.

"You don't seem happy with your current arrangement."

"Fuck you."

"Already? I'd hoped to tease you some first."

"No, seriously, fuck you and this crap," he said, gesturing to his bindings. "What the hell is going on here? I came into the store looking for someone and you knock me out and tie me up!"

"Oh really? Because it seemed to me like you were breaking in. You certainly acted like a thief." She crossed her arms, tucking them neatly under her impressive bust line. "Perhaps you still have something of mine?"

Allen growled to himself. He knew exactly what she was talking about. "I told you, I was here to see Taz, that's all!"

"Ah, of course." A finger tapped her cheek. "But isn't it a bit odd to be on first-name basis with the store owner? Unless you're a frequent customer, of course. And in that case, I think you might be able to help me."

Beneath a scowling exterior, Allen began to sweat.

"You see, I've been looking for something. A rather valuable jewel. I believe I already mentioned it to you." She made the approximate shape of the Stone with her hands. "About this size, a shade of red that practically glows, and I know it's nearby."

"Never seen it before. And I'm still tied up! I can't help you, crazy woman! Let me go!"

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Insisting on being difficult, are you?"

A chill, originating from Allen's right shoulder, crashed over him like an icy wave. When he looked at his shoulder, his jaw dropped. An extra arm was growing from his shoulder, one that was definitely not his. Longer than his own arm, smooth, paler, and decidedly feminine—Allen knew whose arm this really was, despite the fact it was attached to his body

It gave him no time to consider why it had appeared, for it made its purpose known quickly. Like a snake, the arm slithered across his body and into his pants, then struck.

"H-hey!" he said.

"Really? Are you going to do that while we're talking? Have you no shame?"

Warm fingers wrapped around Allen's shaft, tracing throbbing veins and kneading obscene thoughts deep into his mind. Attempting to pull his hips away from the hand only served to strengthen the encroaching pleasure.

"This isn't me and you know it!" barked Allen.

"The arm seems quite attached to your shoulder." She shifted her weight, tossing impressive hips to the side while tucking her arms even further under her breasts. If she pressed any harder, they'd probably burst free of the sweater holding them.

It wasn't worth it, Allen decided. The woman was impossible to talk to and knew exactly what she was doing; all he'd manage to do was get her to antagonize him further. Imprisoned as he was, he wouldn't be content with surrendering to this. He wrestled with his bindings, rubbing his ankles and wrists raw, but made no progress, all while the extra hand—Lust's hand—dove deeper into its work.

Precise motions drove up and down his member, making sure to give the entirety of his cock its attention. Adding a twisting motion to each pump, the hand adjusted its speed to Allen's reactions. When he moaned, the hand set into a rhythm. A soft palm massaged his head while skilled fingertips drove pleasure into his shaft. Traveling to the base, the hand cupped and fondled his balls, letting them tumble through its fingers like water. It continued to play a symphony a pleasure, one Allen heard all too well.

When a familiar burning began to swell within his core, he knew his time was running out. His will could not match the skill of her hand.

"Stop this. Let me go."

"Still insisting it's me? Are you blind?" Lust stepped forward bringing every detail of her luscious body into the lone light in the room. Allen caught her licking her lips before she kneeled in front of him, presenting her chest and face to his throbbing member. With her practically inhuman height, she still had to bend over for it. Heat flushed through his entire body.

"You're the sort of gentleman who wouldn't cum on a lady's chest and face, right? Especially when she's still clothed—it'd take a thorough washing to get cum out of a fine sweater like this." The hand pumped faster, tugging at the dormant orgasm within him and began to force it to the surface like a reeling in a hooked fish. Allen hadn't the strength to resist. Skilled fingers and smooth skin squeezed and pumped harder and harder.

"Nnngh!" Allen fought back a moan as best he could, but the pleasure was still clear on his mumble. Lust's grin grew as deep as it was dark.

"Don't do it, Allen. Don't soil me with your seed, don't dirty me with your cockjuice. It would be so rude."

Something carried along in her voice tickled Allen to his core and broke the last of his concentration. With one last journey over his tip, the hand won.




Passion and Lust 05



"Ah!" Allen cried out as he unconsciously thrust into the furiously working hand, spewing all over the sultry face and chest before him. He shot with incredible force, but Lust's eyes never flinched, watching him splurt with such hunger he felt he could be consumed from her gaze alone. Shocks of pleasure ripped through his body, one after another, as the hand continued to milk him for all he was worth. Only after he'd gone completely soft and was struggling for air did the hand release him, disappearing as if it was never there.

Lust's tongue slipped out from between luscious lips and took a taste of his load. She looked pleased with it in a way that made Allen's stomach churn. After the first taste, her tongue began traversing her face, extending impossible lengths to clean up everything but one slowly-dripping spot between her eyes.

Allen's mind escaped him a moment. Imagine what that tongue could do if... No, no, he needed to banish that sort of thinking. That would end up with him betraying Val and possibly the human race. This woman, no matter how hard she made him cum, was still a monster.

"Even after I said not to," said Lust, shaking her head. "Have you no discipline?"

Allen answered by wrenching at his bonds. Words clearly weren't getting through to this fiend, and he wasn't going to give her the pleasure of yelling profanity to her face, as much as he might enjoy it. That smug grin was asking for it, too.

"Now, now, you need to calm down. We're not quite done yet." Those mountainous legs placed themselves on either side of Allen, giving him a great view of her stomach. Lust reached down, grabbed the lip of her sweater, and slowly pulled it off, her lithe body undulating with liquid motion. Tossing the sweater away, she sat down on Allen's lap and gripped both him and the chair in her powerful thighs.

The heat of her crotch again Allen's was unbearable.

Slender, smooth arms slipped over Allen's shoulder. Fingers intertwined behind Allen's head. Lust leaned in, treating Allen to a faceful of those excessive tits.

"Are you sure you don't want to cooperate, honey? We really could get past all this trouble with the chair and the ropes and go straight to the fun." Her voice licked at his ears with a teasing tone.

"Mmph" was all Allen could get out, suffocated in Lust's cleavage. But she never expected a legitimate response, did she? And if she got one, would it change anything? Allen snarled inwardly, almost wanting to bite into her skin, just to piss her off, but her scent—god, her scent—pushing its way up his nostrils, sending his head spinning with each breath and making his cock grow so hard it could shatter steel. Lust wielded her femininity like a weapon and was beating Allen senseless with it.

"Sheesh. So stubborn. Or are you enjoying this too much?" Her perverted hug pushed Allen's face deeper into her breasts. "Oh well. I guess there's only one thing to be done about you."

She lifted her ass off of Allen's lap, giving his cock a single moment to breathe before slipping into a miraculous wet heaven.

Allen moaned shamelessly.

His member had been swallowed by something impossible. As if covered in butter, he glided inside Lust along dripping walls that caressed him like oiled hands. When she finished receiving him all the way to the base, her pussy seized him with an all-encompassing squeeze that never let go. Allen couldn't even breathe properly, and every uneven breath he managed was drenched in her aura and her hunger. It spread from his lungs to every corner of his body and reverberated through his bones like an opera sung on chords of the deepest pleasure.

Gently, she ran a hand through his hair, looking down on him pressed against her chest like some plaything. Allen expected her to start shifting her hips, or at least force him to, but that never came. It didn't need to. Holding the entirety of his member, her inner walls began to shift and undulate. Flexing an inhuman control, her netherlips sucked, pulled, and rubbed him. Rampant arousal flooded onto his lap, swelling so hot he feared it would burn. Allen tried to drive himself deeper, but Lust had him completely immobile. Without a whisper of movement, she worshipped his cock to oblivion.

A meager shout disappeared into Lust's cleavage as she guided him to climax. Careful undulations ran from base to tip as Allen emptied himself into Lust. Not a drop of sweat marked her body, though a deepening grin glowed on her face. It was like she'd turned on a faucet within Allen—he pumped load after load into her hungry pussy, yet she never stopped, never slowed or quickened, just pet his head while her impossible honeypot milked him with the utmost precision.

After what may have been minutes or hours, the last of Allen's strength threatening to leave him, she let up. Releasing his head, she detached herself, looming over the defeated Allen and licking her lips. Through blurry vision, Allen stared at her exposed pussy, watching it drip but surprised to find not a hint of his own release. It was like her body had chugged it down.

"Yer still... yer still not gettin' any... anything from me," said Allen.

Lust giggled. "Oh, you can cut it out now. I know the mark of my sister anywhere. The moment I laid eyes on you I knew you'd been around her. I've just been having some fun."

"God... damn."

He didn't know if he was berating himself or her. Maybe both. Seeing him probably confirmed for Lust that the fact the gem was still nearby and Val probably had it. Now that she had him, she had a way to get to Val, too. Actually, no, not quite yet. If he didn't tell her anything, if he gave Val enough time to realize what had happened, there was still a chance Lust wouldn't find the Binding Stone.

"And there she is now."

Allen's head snapped up. "What?"

"My sister. It's actually quite easy for us to find one another, as long as we allow it. Once I found you, I simply opened myself up to her and she came for me right away. She's now in the store lobby, waiting for us." She leaned over and offered a hand. "Care to join me?"

The bonds holding Allen disappeared. He made to get up, but something new wrapped him up and held him still.

I knew I saw wings earlier.

Six wings, much like a bat's, grew out from her back. Broad and dark, they filled up the space behind her like a backdrop. Three of her wings had wrapped Allen up in something like a cocoon, leaving only his head free. Like a wholly-encompassing hug, her wings gripped tight against every grove on his body. He struggled and squirmed, but the wings may as well have been made of steel. Lust shot him a smile and lifted him off the ground as if it were nothing.

Allen let out a whoop in surprise; he was pretty sure wings weren't supposed to be this strong, but then again, he was dealing with "I'll do whatever I want with my body"'s sister. Surely Lust could break the typical laws of anatomy too.

With a pat on his head—earning her a glare from Allen—Lust made her way out of the room and up a stairwell. Allen took note of his surroundings. When they made it to the top, he knew where they were. Taz's body, unconscious, was on a couch in the room they entered, amongst desks of reference materials and varying sorts of equipment. This was Taz's back room. Which meant in the next room...

"Sister."

Allen cringed at hearing that voice. It had no business being marred by such pain and anger. Lust strolled into the lobby, giving Allen a view of Val, and it made his heart stop. All eight arms were out, and all ended in fists. She hadn't even bothered to fake clothing, wearing only the scraps of silk passing as underwear that revealed her tense muscles and jagged breaths. Allen half expected steam to puff out her nostrils. When her eyes landed on him, they softened, but only for the tiniest moment.

"Nel-Vallae, how nice of you to stop by. It's been a while, hasn't it? I would've said hi earlier but I've been a bit busy roleplaying a statue for a few thousand years."

"That's the path you chose, sister."

Allen was conflicted. On one hand, Val was here to save him, but on the other, Lust had found Val, which was just one step short of finding the Binding Stone and wreaking havoc on humanity. Of course, he could've avoided this situation altogether if he wasn't a rash hothead and thrown himself into Lust's arms in the first place.

"Let him go. He's got nothing to do with this," said Val.

"Nothing to do with this? I think he has plenty to do with this." Lust strode forward with those slender legs of hers, coming up to the counter as if she was serving Val. "The Stone had to be removed somehow, didn't it? And from the scent of you on him, you must've gone crazy the moment you were free. I'm a touch jealous I didn't get to see it."

"He had no idea what he was doing!" Ho boy. Her face was glowing red, but that wasn't embarrassment. "He's an innocent human, one of the very beings we have a duty towards! Let him go, your grudge is with me."

Allen wasn't about to say he was comfortable in Lust's little wing-cocoon, but at the same time, he almost blew up at Val. Not part of this? Just some innocent human? He'd made his decision after Val had rescued him from the pit he'd found her in. He could remember the exact moment, watching her stride away with all the confidence in the world, despite having been dumped into the present-day world with nothing more to go on than an idiot's limited perception of it. Something like this was bound to happen—he knew that. And he didn't need anyone covering for him.

"A duty? To someone like him?" Lust smirked. Her wings constricted tighter, crushing Allen hard enough to make him cry out. "Look. I forgot how flimsy they were. They're nothing to you and I, Nel-Vallae. Why bother with some illusion of duty? We should be free to do as we please."

"They may be weaker, sister, but they are not lesser." She extended several hands toward Allen. "And if they are so insignificant, what does it hurt you to release one?"

"Because this one can get me something."

"I have the Stone. I was hoping not to use it this time, though."

"As if I would give you the chance." Lust grinned. "Who would've guessed my sweet sister would pull what she did last time?"

Allen looked back and forth between the two. Now that Lust mentioned it, Val never told him exactly how she caught Lust off-guard. Could that be why she was so hesitant now?

"You look confused, Allen. Has she not told you?" said Lust.

"I have put that behind me," said Val.

"Obviously not, if you're so defensive about it." She turned to Allen. "I imagine my sister has gone on and on about what a gruesome decision it was she had to make for the good of humanity. What a tortured do-gooder she is, and how she was forced to banish her sister."

Allen said nothing, only watching Lust.

"It turns out the procedure for imprisoning someone with the Binding Stone takes a little while. Several minutes. And your target can't move around too much or interrupt you. A very delicate method. So how do you supposed she kept me still and unaware?" Lust positively grinned. "Bait."

Allen's brow furrowed.

"Some poor sap was honestly having the time of his life. You should've heard his screams of pleasure! I was bypassing his body and stimulating his soul directly. Have you ever felt that? A gentle hand, caressing the very essence of your being?" She slowly ran a hand down his cheek. "It may be more than a little taxing on the body, but I can assure you, there's nothing else like it."

"You were killing him," said Allen.

"Come now, I'm not that cruel." Her grin widened. "Probably. But he certainly wasn't complaining. Yet, only after a sliver of life remained within his body did my righteous sister step in to spring her trap. I do hope he's alright..."

She tapped her chin, watching Allen intently. "That's my sister. My true sister. You may want to reconsider your position. Who knows what else she's hiding from you? Or what sort of hands humanity is truly in if she gets her way."

Val's head was cast down at the floor, unwilling to meet Allen's gaze. Her hands had all lost the vigor of anger in them, her shoulders slumped held inward, like Val wanted to make herself as small as possible.

Allen wanted to smack her for it.

"And?" he said.

Val lifted her head just enough for her eyes to bore into Allen's

"Ooh, so heartless!" Lust squealed, her wings squeezing Allen even tighter. "I think you and I could get—"

"Back off. We'd never get along."

She gave an exaggerated frown.

"Val did what was necessary. I know better than anyone that things don't line up all nice, that you can't get everything you want. Sometimes, you don't get anything you want. She made a sacrifice—reluctantly, from the looks of it—because she knew what had to be done was more important."

"Mmm, don't you humans have a phrase for that? 'The ends justify the means'? Is that the kind of person you are?" said Lust.

"Don't go trying to classify everything in black and white." He turned to Val, forcing himself to keep from spitting in Lusts' face. "And YOU!"

Lust covered her mouth while Val's eyes widened at his booming voice. Val appeared to be halfway between shirking back and smacking Allen across the face.

Allen found himself not caring which one she did. He'd taken his dignity, reservations, pride, everything, and just gone and chucked it out the window.

"What the hell are you acting so timid for!? You came here to do something, didn't you? Do it! Either you don't care enough about my opinion to ignore me, or you do care enough to take the Stone and do what you have to!"

"Allen, it's not that simple."

"Yes, sister, please," said Lust, thrusting her chest out. "Bind me again! The poor human's has been driven mad by the very sight of you!"

"Sella, shut up!" boomed Val.

"Calling me by my name! How long has it been since I heard that from those cute little lips?"

"Do you truly wish to return to that prison? I came here to offer an alternative!"

"Yes, under the guise of civility and redemption. However, our last meeting left me with no trust to spare, I'm afraid."

"Stop being so stubborn! This doesn't have to end like last time!"

"I'm stubborn? Look at yourself! You won't budge an inch yourself, but what's worse, you don't even know what you're being stubborn about! This man has your head going in circles!"

Val smashed several of her hands into the counter between them, filling the room with the cacophony of shattering glass. "I know exactly what I stand for!"

Lust shoved her face in closer. "No you don't!"

"Yes I do!"

"No you don't!"

"Yes I—"

"My god." Allen's raspy voice silenced the arguing sisters as a realization dawned upon him. "You're children!"

"What?" Val said, head cocked.

"What!?" Lust spat, eyes narrowed.

Allen opened his mouth to be interrupted by another bout of coughing. He coughed till his face was red, cursing his damned lungs for ruining the moment. Only after tearing up his throat could he continue.

"You two never had parents, did you?"

"No, we did not, though other, more powerful spirits acted as superiors," said Val.

"But they didn't play the part of a parent. They never raised you," he said.

"No, they did not act in that capacity. It wasn't necessary as we were born capable."

Allen shook his head in disbelief. He wanted to shake his fists at the sky. "It all make sense!"

Lust crossed her arms. "Are you trying to make a point? Or am I going to have to bind your mouth as well?"

"You're a couple of kids! Terrifyingly powerful spoiled little brats! And you don't even realize it!"

"Really?" said Lust.

Lust dropped Allen to the ground. Suddenly free from his prison, his shaky legs tried their best to balance him. It didn't matter, as a wall of wings rushed forward, slamming into his chest and hurling him across the room.

"Sister!" cried Val. She looked went back and forth, torn between helping Allen and holding Lust back. Neither proved necessary, as Allen slowly lumbered to his feet and Lust made no move to continue her beating.

"I'm so horribly amused at a being so insignificantly younger and naive calling me a brat. Please continue, I'd like a good laugh before I finish with you."

Gripping his chest where Lust had hit him, Allen shot her a weak smile. "Lashing out like one, too. Jesus, I can't believe I didn't see it before. Well, no, actually, I do my best to stay away from kids, so it's harder for me to recognize their tendencies. Someone else probably would've noticed earlier."

"Would you like to feel those words dying in your throat? I could strangle you from all the way over here with ease," spat Lust.

"Sella, please, let him speak," said Val.

Allen's smile widened. Val's voice failed to hide her own annoyance and curiosity.

"You two... you never had anyone to tell you 'No', never had a human truly challenge you, never lived with the hardships humanity have carried its entire lifetime. And from what I gathered from Val, you never tried loving anyone but yourselves and each other. You had humans wait on you, serve you, worship you, tend to every urge, and you thought simply by existing you were giving back. There was no one to instill either of you with a set of values, so your moral compasses ended up spinning and spinning to point wherever they pleased. At least Val developed something of one, but only out of fear."

Lust took a thundering step toward him, but Val pulled her back. Allen almost wanted Val to let Lust loose on him.

"Val, look at yourself. If you could've heard what I have while you argued with your sister, you'd be disgusted with yourself." Her eyes flickered with emotion. "You came here because every waking moment of your life has been defined by your sister—well, your image of her—and the moment you knew where she was, you had to come to her. You didn't have a plan, didn't even know where you stood. Were you going to throw words at her until your throat ran out of them and hope for the best?

"I didn't realize it until now, but thinking back, I should've seen it. Last night, while we were in bed—yes, Lust, we fucked, and it was great—you froze up. When we first met and you were going to town on me, you stopped then, too. I thought you were asking, but now I think you were just unsure. When we found your sister had escaped, you couldn't do anything but mope, and I didn't know what to do. I hadn't expected it to hit you so hard. All these things pointed to the one insecurity crippling you from functioning like a normal person."

Val's lips trembled, as if to ask him to stop.

"You're terrified of power. Of responsibility. One of the most powerful beings on the planet, and you can't stand it. I don't know why—maybe you're worried the same thing that happened with your sister will happen again to someone else. Maybe you think you failed her and so you can't be trusted. Doesn't matter. You're going to have to shape up, whether you imprison Lust again or not, or one day, that fear is going to paralyze you completely."

Smirking, Lust patted Val on the back. "Well, well, looks like you've got your fair share of demons. I do feel for you, sister, truly, especially with a human being the one to spit all of this out. It's okay to acknowledge the other side of yourself. I did and I've turned out wonderful." She shot Allen a look while curling her hand into a fist. "Unless the human has something to say to me, too?"

"I can't say as much about you, but now that I know what to look for, I've got you pegged, too." He jabbed a finger at her. "You're just the opposite. You're terrified of losing power. This whole thing is just a damn tantrum. As time went on, you pushed your limits more and more, needed some sort of acknowledgement that you did indeed still have power over others, that if you wanted to do something you could. Val could never get through to you because she misunderstood the root of the problem. She always thought that at your core, you were a reasonable, rational person, but the reason why you're doing this isn't rational at all, is it?"




Passion and Lust 05



Allen opened his mouth to continue, but another bout of coughing cut him off. Falling to a knee, he did his best to keep from passing out as he spewed spit and filth. He looked up at Lust and Val through blurred vision. Val looked torn between helping him and chastising him, Lust was stuck between vicious and defensive.

"But if I'm going to bare everything, I shouldn't leave myself out, yeah? All this coughing you've been seeing, Val? It is something to worry about. Because I've got fucking cancer. Turns out not everyone can get away with smoking for half their life and now my lungs are so fucked up they're not going to last me another month. I haven't been helping you because I'm brave, I'm not saying all this to your and Lust's face because I'm clever, I'm doing it because I just don't care any more. In a way, I'm even more pathetic than the two of you, only really capable of being someone when the threat of failure has lost its teeth. Do whatever you want with humanity—soon I won't even be a part of it. Fuck each other, hate each other, kill each other, it doesn't matter to me. I tried to help, I really did, but I guess there's only so much a human can do." He stumbled to his feet, breathing as best he could. Holding his chest, he ambled toward the door, two pair of eyes locked on him the entire way.

"You know nothing about me, human," said Lust.

"You keep telling yourself that," said Allen, and he left.

He didn't know where to go. He could head back to his car and drive home. He could find some alley to lie down in until he died. There was a nice restaurant down the street; he could splurge there and enjoy another nice meal. His head fell. Nah, it wouldn't be the same without Val. Least he could do was hold onto that memory a little longer.

Pain gripped his chest as he laughed at himself. How sad was it that the one thing he held onto when death stared him in the face was a memory of a girl who saw him as nothing more than a tool? He should've gotten past that. Nothing in the world should've been worth caring about anymore, yet somehow he managed it anyways.

That alley was sounding awful nice right about now.

Looking up, his eyes caught the white glare of the moon amongst the streetlights. The depths of night had swallowed the air since he last felt it. Not a soul besides him wandered the streets, the wind and buzzing of electric lights the only comforts holding back the silence. If only it was raining, too.

With a sigh, he sat himself down on a the curb. He leaned forward, staring at the ground, half-ready to start puking. So this is how it'd end. A petty argument between sisters. All that stress, that searching, all amounting to nothing because the problem was simpler than Allen could've imagined. Closing his eyes, he waited.

"I can't help but see some irony here."

Allen slowly raised his head, but didn't turn to Val's voice. "Yeah?"

The smack of bare feet on cement grew closer, stopping right next to him. Without looking, Allen could see Val with arms crossed and hands on her hips. "I seem to recall you not having much patience for moping."

Allen smiled. Ornery to the last. "Just the annoying kind. And I think I've earned a little moping."

"Maybe." She sat down next to him. Allen fought the urge to scoot away. "What sort is the 'annoying' kind?"

"Mainly when it's not me. No one else seems to know what's worth moping over."

"Is that so? And what might you be moping about now? What happened back there or your unfortunate fate?"

Allen coughed out a laugh. 'Unfortunate'. That was an understatement. "Both. Neither. I said I didn't care what happened any more and I meant it. Whether you or your sis make up or decide to kill everyone doesn't matter."

"And you?"

"I tried to do something productive with my life and blew both chances. I think I'll hang it up early."

"'Both chances'?" He heard her shift around—she was interested. Damn. Should've watched his mouth more closely.

Shaking his head, he answered, "What the hell, I'll tell you. Better than letting it die with me." He let out a long, heavy breath. Val would be the first he told. "I had a sister."

Val nodded, her eyes locked onto Allen.

"She was younger than me, but smarter and better-looking. Had hair like wildfire, but eyes blue enough you could've been looking into the sea. So fucking stubborn, but only because she was right most of the time. Frail enough to come to her brother when things went to shit, but brazen enough to smack an asshole who wouldn't get out of her face. A creator, through and through. She liked building things with legos, with twigs, with blocks, whatever she could get her hands on. Had an interior decorator phase, but that wasn't for her. We had this dog... this little shrimp of a thing that wandered around the house, and she wanted to make a little wall he couldn't get over. So she builds this wall—ugly piece of shit, made out of 10 different lego sets—and sticks it in a doorway. The wall was way too short and even our shrimp of a dog could get over it, or just knock it out of the way if he was bored." Allen shook his head. "But she didn't give up. Remade the wall a dozen times before she figured out she couldn't block the doorway. And what does she do? Sticks it on the stairway. Alone, it wasn't enough, but add the height of a stair and the dog didn't know what to do. Course, the dog didn't care, he wasn't allowed upstairs anyways, and Mom tripped over the damn thing as soon as she got home. The wall never reappeared, but my sister had her victory. It's the memories like that... she was the best part of my life. I used to brag about her all the time, how she graduated high school and college early, how she landed a crazy job out of school, just, everything about her was perfect." Allen turned to Val, wagging a finger. "And I'm not exaggerating on the perfect. She really was."

"I believe you."

"But she never wanted to find a man. When I'd bug her about it, she'd always tell me, 'You're the only man I need in my life, brother'. While I knew that wasn't true, I think I liked hearing it. It was nice to know that after all those years looking after her, she really appreciated it. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging or anything. I never risked my life for her or anything so brave, but I kept her safe when she needed to feel safe, told her she was stupid when she was being an idiot, teased her when she got cocky... the important stuff, you know? Then I blew it."

"How so?"

Allen bit his lip. "I started smoking. Well, the smoking was just the beginning. Remember how I told you she was smarter? That never stopped being true, and the older we got, the more I realized I would always be dumber than my kid sister. The same sister who I had to look out for, who I sacrificed for. I thought it wasn't fair, thought I deserved more. So I became bitter. Not overnight, but I had all the time in the world to fuck up that relationship. I say it started with the smoking because my sister always bugged me about stopping. 'It's bad for your health,' 'you'll get cancer,' 'you're not yourself without the cigarettes,' and all that other stuff. I thought she was browbeating me, using her brains to make me look even dumber than I was, so I naturally did the dumbest thing possible. I pushed her away."

Allen brought a fist to his mouth and bit down on a knuckle. He knew, knew it'd always been his fault, but this was the first time he'd actually said it. Not only that, he'd told someone else.

"From your wording earlier, I thought something had happened to her."

"Might as well have. I'm dead to her. At least this way, she now has room for a real man in her life." He looked at his hand where tooth marks had appeared. "I hope she's found someone."

"I'm sure she's fine." Val laid a hand softly on his shoulder.

"Goddammit!" Allen drove a fist into his knee, trying to drill his knuckles through his jeans. "I thought I was done making girls worry about me."

Another hand touched him, this one rubbing his back. "One of the things I always liked about you was how you never allowed me to hold onto irrationality or foolishness, even if it meant I might become annoyed with you in the short-term."

"The phrase is, 'not putting up with your shit'. And yeah, you didn't put up with mine, either."

"I am a bit concerned, however, that your dire circumstance might have made you a bit less... mmm..."

"I've always been an ass, if that's what you're wondering."

"We can't all be perfect."

"Yeah... yeah, we sure can't."

Allen stared at the ground, playing with his hands, twitching as Val's hands rubbed his back. Half of him wanted to shrug her off, the other half just wanted to enjoy it. Someone actually cared enough to, at the very least, pretend they felt for him, even when he himself didn't think he deserved it.

"Why are you still here?" he asked.

"Because you need my help."

"And your sister doesn't?"

"She needs a little time." Val squeezed his shoulder. "What you said got to her, I think."

"What about you? Aren't you angry, too? Wasn't exactly pulling punches back there."

Closing her eyes, Val thought on her answer a moment. "While I don't entirely agree with all of what you said, there were some things I think I need to reflect on."

Allen spit and stared out across the street. "Throw enough shit and something will stick, I guess."

"To be perfectly honest, Allen, it's not so much what you said that I think is worth considering, it's what you implied."

"What? That you and your sister are fuckin' idiots?"

Val grimaced. "No, you stated that quite clearly."

He shrugged. "Told you I was an ass."

"What I took away from it was an idea, one you'd offered before yet I never accepted. I think it's possible there isn't quite the chasm between human and spirit I thought there once was. I think there is a way we can understand each other."

"Oh? And what way is that?"

"Love."

Turning away, Allen shivered, saying, "That's quite a word to be throwin' around."

As sly as he thought he was, however, Val didn't miss his eyes flicker to hers, asking that silent question before throwing up his defenses.

"I do not 'throw' it lightly."

Allen did his best to force down a knot clogging up his throat. "Look, Val, it's great that you're coming to see the light, but I'm really not the guy to be having this conversation with."

"And why's that?"

He scooted away from her. "Because I already fucked my chances. A guy like me you can give all the leeway in the world, and I'll still disappoint you."

She scooted with him. "And what if I don't believe that?"

"Then you're crazy. That shit that just happened in there? That's not the first time. There are other guys out there with more sense than me, guys actually worthy of you."

"I don't want them."

When she gave him a smarmy smile, he had to fight a smile of his own, twisting it into a snarl. "Even if you don't, I'm not long for this world. I've got another month, if I'm lucky."

"I can fix that."

Allen didn't have a retort for that one. "You can?"

"I'll have to do a little more research, figure out exactly what is killing you, but yes, I have healing powers. Remember? I mentioned it once while we were in the car."

Allen looked up trying to reach back into his memory, but the thoughts kept slipping away. The weight of the two things Val was proposing right now had started spinning his head like a top and he didn't expect it to stop any time soon.

"Alright, well, then... I've... uh... I've got a shitty job."

Val simply raised an eyebrow at him.

"Dammit, woman, I'm trying to tell you I'm no good for you!"

Several hands reached around to his far side and forced him to face her. "And I'm trying to tell you I don't care."

"Fuck! Fine then. Your funeral."

With that he laid his hands on the side of her head, pulled her in, and kissed like it was the last thing he'd ever do. Her passion met his own with fervor, mouths clashing in reckless emotion. Her tongue tasted of rose, her scent smelled of spice. His eyes widened in surprised when all eight of her arms wrapped around him, two on his head like he held hers, and yanked him in. Her back hit the sidewalk, but she was too lost to care. They kissed as if they'd been waiting for it their whole lives, wrapped their bodies up in each other in a desperate attempt to be closer, to touch everything about one another. Each breath only fueled their desires further, each exhale smothered the air in their ardor.

Finally, Allen pulled away, but just enough to look Val in the eyes as he spoke.

"I told you you were an idiot," was what he said, but for some reason, he couldn't stop grinning.

"Being an idiot doesn't seem so bad," she said, smiling back.

They stared at each other, those stupid smiles stuck on their faces, before Allen glanced back to the door of the Diamond Eye.

"So, uh, I think we better make sure your sister doesn't go on a killing spree, but after that, you wanna fuck?"

"I'd love to."

**

Allen fumbled with the keys, almost dropping them twice before unlocking his apartment door and throwing it open. Before him stood the most wonderful woman, grinning and clearly waiting for him to enter.

"Heard anything from her?" Allen asked, closing the door behind him.

"No, I have not." Val glided forward to greet him, giving him a deep kissing and hugging him close with her many arms before removing herself. "How do you feel?"

"Haven't coughed in weeks. Feels a little weird to think about, like I'm gonna hack up a big one any second." He took a deep breath, holding a hand to his chest as he blew out. "Think we're gonna hear from her any time soon?"

"It's hard to say. She told me she'd be leaving for a while, but 'a while' could mean just about anything, coming from a spirit."

"And you think she'll behave?"

"I think she's got other things to think about besides the slow and steady extermination of the human race."

Allen shot her a frown, then made for the couch. "That's not exactly encouraging."

"I'll take what I can get." She followed him and sat down beside him, leaning on his shoulder as he turned on the TV. "She really has changed, you know."

Allen's face twisted a bit before settling on a small smile. "I suppose I can give her the benefit of the doubt."

"I love you," said Val.

"I still think you're an idiot."

"You pronounced 'I love you too' wrong."

"I love you too."

"Mmm. I know."