Free Hell's Revenge by Eve Langlais

without breaking a sweat would have done a lot more damage if so inclined. I wonder if he’d held back knowing I’d be pissed if he hurt my men.
    “Your magic isn’t the only thing at fault. You should have told us,” Auric added standing to face me. I recognized the look in his eyes. The one that said I was in big trouble.
    Yay for me.
    In the space of a heartbeat, I found myself scooped up and exiting the bar. I waved goodbye with shouted instructions on the closing of the bar.
    I twined my arms around Auric’s neck. “So baby, what’s the punishment going to be this time? Spanking. Forced oral. Tease and denial.” I rattled off several pleasurable ways he and David had punished me in the past but he didn’t reply.
    Ooh, anticipation. I loved it.
    Once he’d ascertained we were free from prying human eyes, Auric let his shadows wings come forth. “I’ll meet you at the loft,” he told David.
    “I’ll be ready,” David replied with a grin before bursting free from yet another pair of jeans. The man and his kitty were truly hard on their wardrobe.
    With flap of his wings, Auric lifted from the ground and I hung tight for the ride. I planned on easing my punishment with a bit of kissing and groping, but Auric wouldn’t cave to my seduction.
    “Why didn’t you tell me what happened?”
    Anger I could handle, threats and curses, too, but the quiet pain? It killed me. “I was afraid to hurt you,” I whispered.
    “Finding out from him hurt worse.”
    “I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t make it better, but truly, I never meant for the kiss to happen and once it did, I just wanted to protect you,” I admitted.
    “Did you enjoy it?”
    Here came the squirming question. The truth or not? I looked up into Auric’s green gaze and sighed. “I liked it. Or more specifically, my magic did.”
    “Nefertiti warned me your magic would seek new sources to feed its different aspects.”
    His words took me off guard. “What? When did you speak that old witch?” And more importantly, which version had he spoken to? The shriveled old prune or the naked nubile nympho.
    “You can get that jealous gleam out of your eyes and retract your claws,” he replied with a chuckle.
    I realized my fingers had dug into his skin, my nails digging into his flesh in my upset. “Explain.”
    “When we found out about your magic, knowing your propensity for not asking questions or getting information, I asked for you.”
    “And?”
    “There are many facets to your magic. In order to access them all, you need specific types of lovers to feed them.”
    “Exactly how many types?” I whispered suddenly appalled at the direction of this conversation.
    “She wasn’t sure. She knew of at least ten, but she said there could be more.”

    “Oh, fuck me.” I leaned my head into Auric. I still had a hard time reconciling myself with the fact I needed two lovers to sustain me, the thought of more appalled me.
    “Before you get all freaked out, she did mention that while your magic might be attracted to beings offering these other facets, it doesn’t mean you need them.” I sensed a “but” coming. “Don’t stop now.”
    “So long as you keep your magic well fed, we can stop your magic from attempting to draw others to you.”
    “Let me get this straight. If my magic gets hungry, I’m going to be like some magnet for other beings who will feed my parasitic power?”
    “Only if they fulfill a part of you that doesn’t already have a connection.” My brain turned into mush as I tried to understand it all.
    Auric took pity. “As an angel, even a fallen one, I feed your soul. David feeds your animal side.”
    “The vampire feeds the cold and dark,” I continued.
    “And if you found yourself powerless in the middle of the ocean, you’d draw a merman to feed the aquatic part of it. And so forth.”
    “Wait a second? Did you say merman? Does that mean there are mermaids too?”
    “Yes and yes. But don’t get off topic. Do you