The Sacrifice

"What?" I asked, stiffening when he angled his head up, taking another deep breath, his nostrils flaring, his eyes blazing redder.

"Panties," he rumbled.

"I don't understand."

I would swear he said, "Of course not," but his voice was too quiet as the hand on my calf lifted, and pulled outward, spreading my thigh wide as his body arched upward.

And his face... his face went between my legs.

Not a second later, I could feel the most delicious, scandalous friction, something smooth and intimate, sliding up the cleft of my sex, teasing at the apex for the barest of seconds, the suddenly forked ends circling that bud of desire.

My thighs started to shake.

But it was over before I could truly wrap my head around what was happening.

His tongue was on the most intimate part of me.

But then it wasn't, and he was looking up at me.

"Panties would prevent me from doing that," he told me as he put my leg back down.

As he got to his feet and turned his back on me, I couldn't stop one thought from crossing my mind.

Why would I want to prevent him from doing that?

Except, of course, that he was evil.

And he might very well torture or kill me in the future.

"Put this on over the bra," Ly demanded, tossing a deep mauve velvet jacket at me.

Trying to shake the lingering desire clawing at me, I slipped on the jacket, finding there was no way to clasp the front, creating a peek-a-boo effect.

"Better?" I asked, turning to find him standing in the doorway. Almost, maybe, as though he didn't trust himself to be close to me.

In response, I got a grunting noise.

"Will I fit in?" I asked.

"Enough. But you have to follow the rules. No talking to anyone. And stay away from Ace."

"I can do that. Am I allowed outside? To see the pool? And the outdoor tub?"

"Hot tub," he corrected. "Only if I am there to watch you. Otherwise, you stay inside. Hug the walls."

"How does one hug a wall?"

"It means stay near the walls. Don't get involved in anything."

"Okay. When may I come down?"

"Later," he said, nodding at me then turning, and walking away.

All thoughts of the cuts on my legs vanished.

Anticipation skittered across my nerves.

I had no idea what was in store for me that evening.

Had I known, I wouldn't have left the room.Chapter SixLycusThe parties were important.

The parties were work, under the guise of reckless fun.

We'd been walking this shithole of a human plane for generations. The first couple of those we did so simply creating chaos where we could. But as the humans progressed, it became harder to get away with the things we did. And as pesky as human law enforcement was, things got complicated when we were thrown behind bars and didn't rot like they wanted us to.

So we got smarter about it.

Eventually, came the emergence of motorcycle clubs, and the debauchery bikers were known for.

They liked to fight and fuck and drink and snort and shoot and all the things we loved it when humans did.

And the best part?

Others outside of the lifestyle found themselves inexplicably drawn to these men and their rough—and often lawless—ways.

That was where the fun came in.

That was where we came in.

So, we bought bikes.

We had cuts made.

We went to the rallies and rubbed shoulders with other MCs.

And, when the mystery was strong enough, we would throw a massive party.

They were the nights of the year when we felt near fully ourselves again.

"When are Aram and Red coming back?" Drex asked, lounging in his usual jeans and tee, but with his leather cut over it this time, his one-percent badge on his chest.

"Seven said they were on their way," Ace supplied, dressed more down than usual to match the aesthetic needed for the evening, looking more like Drex, and already miserable without added layers to keep warm. Knowing him, he would spend a good portion of the night in the hot tub, screwing hot, naked women, whispering things in their ears, bringing ideas to their heads they never would have thought on their own.

And that was the plan.

To bring out the buried—or sometimes not so buried—innate evil in humans. They all had it. Their selfishness, their pride, their bitterness, their hatred.

It was surprisingly easy to bring those parts of them to the surface, to toy with them, to stoke the flames of them until they burned bright.

Until there was no goodness left.

Until they were wicked through and through.

They would live out the rest of their lives sinning. And at the end, when their souls left their bodies, they would go to hell.

It was the closest we could all get to revisiting.

It was a way to stay connected to who we truly are, despite being so long stuck on this earthly plane.

Some day, when the veil between worlds opened up again for us, we would go back home as heroes, thousands of wicked souls to our names.