I joined Snippet Saturday, a fabulous multi-author concept put together by the very talented Lauren Dane. This week’s premise is heroine seduction FAIL. What I like the most about Snippet Saturday is the fact that authors are encouraged to interpret the theme as they see fit.

The way I interpreted the theme is likely different than the way my fellow authors interpreted it. I’m bringing you a scene from SUMMONING DARKNESS, in which my demon hero, Varin, gives in to his feelings for a human thrall (NOT the heroine, BTW — see? There I go being different again).

I loved writing this scene. Enjoy!

—

Though his back was turned, he knew the exact moment when Lillian arrived. He felt her, even before the sentient stone guarding his chamber slid aside to let her pass. Her scent, musky with a tinge of something floral, even after all this time in the Underworld, taunted him.

“You asked for me, M-master?”

Varin frowned. It had been years since he’d snatched her from the mortal realm and brought her down to the Underworld with a batch of Forgotten. He’d been instantly taken with her and had immediately summoned her to his bed. She’d resisted him at first, but now she came willingly. Yet even though he’d sheltered her and had made sure she endured none of the torment the rest of her human brethren experienced, calling him Master still felt foreign to her. The word halted on her tongue each time she spoke it.

He turned to her, his breath catching in his throat. Lillian was the epitome of innocence, the embodiment of everything the Prince of Darkness sought to eliminate from the mortal realm. A full mane of shiny gold-spun hair tumbled around her shoulders and fell down her back. Her brilliant blue eyes glistened as she watched him in expectation, lower lip clenched between her teeth.

Crossing the distance between them, he swept her into his arms and pressed her light, curvy body to his much stronger one. She didn’t protest when he claimed her mouth but kissed him back eagerly, her lips parting to allow his tongue to slide inside. He poured everything he had into that one kiss, as though it had been years since he’d last held her rather than merely hours.

He spun her around and tossed her on the bed. She bounced lightly, a giggle escaping her throat, the crystalline sound echoing off the walls of his chamber and imbuing the dark interior with an instant pulse of joy.

I can almost see it, Varin thought as he lowered his body over hers, the glow she emitted, the golden aura that the Underworld hadn’t been able to rip from her. Her presence seemed to lift the dark shadows lingering in every corner of his chamber. Even her blonde hair shone like a halo in the orange lava glow.

He should hate her. He knew that with every ounce of logic he possessed. If Baal learned that Varin’s feelings for Lillian were more than simple infatuation, his punishment would be as severe as hers.

Yet even that knowledge wasn’t enough to convince Varin to send her away. Everything from her light, spicy scent to the pliant softness of her full lips conspired to drive him out of his mind.

He couldn’t get enough of her.

He loved her. With every beat of his demonic heart.

Varin trailed kisses down the line of her chin. Her pulse fluttered in the delicate hollow at the base of her throat and he paused to lick there, eliciting another giggle from his beloved.

The foreign sound should have grated. His Guardian training and his demon heritage should have instantly driven him to eliminate all traces of the exultant harmony. Yet he licked her again, and again, thinking he’d never tire of making her laugh.

He continued his path of exploration down between her breasts, his tongue sliding deep in the valley between them. She tasted of sweat and feminine allure, the light, spicy flavor making his mouth water for more of her.

Grabbing an ankle in each hand, he tossed her feet over his shoulders and buried his head between her thighs. A soft moan of pleasure escaped her throat. The urge to sample her delicate nether lips was too much to bear, and he swiped his tongue along the length of her slit, parting her labia.

Lillian was so different from the succubae. She craved tenderness and gentle lovemaking while they delighted in the sweet burn of never ending pain. Even the feathery thatch of pubic hair was foreign to him. Succubae had no body hair, their smooth, sleek forms perfectly designed for driving a man to the brink of insanity.

But Lillian was real. She was human, and even though she was no longer mortal, as a Forgotten, she maintained all her human traits.

He plunged deeper inside her, tasting the sweetness of her cream.

“Yes!” She quivered beneath him, her hips lifting off the bed and her back arching in an effort to bring him even closer to her pussy. “Take me over the edge, Master. Take me… Bite me. Claim me.”

She repeated the words like a mantra. He kissed and suckled her sex, filling his lungs with the scent and taste of her. His cock felt like it would explode, and she hadn’t even touched him.

Take me. Bite me. Claim me.

“Do it. Make me yours.”

She’d been asking him the same thing every night for weeks. Somehow, she’d learned more about demons than any lost soul ever had. She knew what his bite would do to her, and she wanted it.

Wanted him. Forever.

Take me. Bite me. Claim me.

The heady chant swam in his head, heightening his libido like a potent aphrodisiac. If he bit her, she’d be his. She’d be like him, transformed from a mere Forgotten mortal into a demon-kin, a half-breed. Baal would have no choice but to accept her.

The idea had seemed beyond contemplation when she’d first suggested it. Yet now, with his head buried deep between her thighs, he couldn’t remember why he hadn’t given in sooner. Turning her would solve so many problems. It was the one thing he could give her after everything she’d given him.

Varin’s hands moved across her back. He clamped his palms on her ass to steady her, then shifted his mouth slightly to her inner thigh. All his control and common sense was gone now, lost in a sea of lust. He was drowning in it and he had no intention of ever again coming up for air.

He bit down hard. She screamed, her cry sending a pang of agony into his heart. He suckled the wound quickly, knowing his saliva would already be traveling through her bloodstream. A few drops were all he needed to pass on to her. Genetics and the nature of things would do the rest.

He waited for her cry to subside, but it never did. Instead, it took on a wild keening edge. She pushed him away, shoving at him with her knees, kicking him with her feet. He fell backward off the bed, too stunned to speak or resist her sudden tantrum.

The world spun around him. The importance of what he’d done slammed into him, shaking him to the core. Surely this was simply a side-effect of the turning. He’d never done it before. To the best of his knowledge, no one had. Fucking a human was sometimes frowned upon, but generally accepted as common practice. Turning one into a half-breed was blasphemy, a desecration of everything the Prince of Darkness held dear.

Lillian levitated off the bed and spun in the air, heading straight for him. Her eyes glowed a deep crimson, brighter than that of an excited souleater. A volatile, vivid anger burned within their depths. The sight of it stole his breath.

“You!” Her voice sounded raw, filled with enough grief, pain and misery for a thousand tortured souls. “I’ve been dreaming of this moment for years.”

—

SUMMONING DARKNESS is part of the SEDUCED BY DARKNESS collection, soon to be re-released by Changeling Press.

And if you want more fabulous Snippet Saturday excerpts, check out the blogs of these wonderful authors:

Cynthia Eden

Sylvia Day

Leah Braemel

Shelli Stevens

Michelle Pillow

Jaci Burton

Anya Bast

Juliana Stone

Moira Rogers

Vivian Arend