Free Seducing the Succubus by Cassie Ryan

ache.
    “Unless you count tempting people into sin, then no. Although I have learned some basic self-defense through the centuries purely for self-preservation.”
    At the word “tempting,” Noah glanced down at the sterling silver ring he wore. “Temptation,” he said under his breath as he traced the ancient Hebrew characters that spelled out the word on the wide face of the ring.
    “Yes, temptation,” she said with an air of impatience. “We can’t gather sustenance or quotas from unwilling humans. But our job is to tempt them using pleasures of the flesh. As they make decisions using their free will, their soul gains experience and knowledge.” Her tone lost some of the defensive edge as she continued. “When under a tight deadline, we can combine and double up temptation to reach our quotas, but that usually requires up-front research and setup, but not always.”
    Noah’s mind reeled as he tried to understand what she described. “Double up?”
    “Yeah, you know. A guy who has anonymous sex is committing fornication, and depending on his lexicon of belief, that will decide how much experience his soul takes on from that act. But someone who is married and knowingly cheats on his wife isn’t only committing adultery. He’s also breaking a promise to his wife from their marriage vows, lying, risking her health and well-being since he doesn’t know succubi can’t carry or pass disease, and he’s also lying to whomever he is having sex with since he most likely doesn’t admit he’s married.”
    Noah frowned and shook his head. He’d wrongly assumed this was a much more straightforward process. “Wait, you mentioned that all of this was dependent on the person’s lexicon of belief, right?” When she nodded, he continued. “So, if they don’t believe that cheating is wrong, there’s no sin attached to it?”
    “It’s not as simple as that. That might work for fornication, but if he’s married and cheating, he’s affecting others, and those effects will also have consequences. We are all interconnected, and our choices therefore affect the whole. Succubi aren’t out to damn anyone; we have to have energy to survive. But temptation is the best way to get humans to use their free will, to make decisions and gain experiences that will refine their soul.”
    Noah’s thoughts chased around in circles exploring what she’d told him and trying to make sense of it from every angle.
    They passed under a lit highway sign and the silver ring he wore flashed. “What about the ring made you realize I was telling the truth?” He glanced down, turning the ring around and around on his pinkie finger as he waited for her to answer.
    “When I touched it, it was imbued with Lilith’s essence.”
    Noah’s head snapped up and he stared at her. “What?”
    She sighed as if impatient with his lack of understanding. “Lilith has four pieces of jewelry that were given to her by Adam before he was expelled from the Garden of Eden. He’d made the pieces himself and embossed each one with his pet name for her— nassah , which means temptation in Hebrew. After so long a time of Lilith wearing them, her energy has imbued them. When I touched the ring, I could literally taste Lilith’s energy signature inside it.”
    Noah’s writer nature perked up as story ideas swam inside his mind and excitement curled inside his gut. “So Lilith and Adam in the Garden of Eden . . . that all really happened?”
    “Of course.” She changed lanes to avoid a slow-moving camper. “I’m surprised you even recognized that form of the story. The commonly accepted events as depicted in the Bible have been gender biased toward males. Lilith has been sanitized out of them, placing all the blame on Eve. When in fact, it was Lilith who refused to share Adam with Eve—Eve was perfectly content with the threesome arrangement.”
    “What?” Noah stiffened in his chair and then groaned when pain lanced through his right side from the