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"Do not tempt me, Lilith, Queen of Sinners. You may be a beauty unmatched by mere mortals, but I do not bow to such barbaric feelings."
Arthur put up a strong defense hoping that Lilith would find enjoyment in his defiance.
Lilith tilted her head slightly, looking at him.
"Is that what you think?" A small smile curved her lips. "A little charade of strength is enough to woo me, Arthur Webb?" She paused. "I already know every thought running through your mind. I can feel the lust radiating from your body. Don't think your words are enough to make me believe them for even a second. Your goal simply matters more to you right now than your body's needs." Her eyes drifted over him slowly. "But what happens when you falter?"
Her finger reached up, grazing the side of his face teasing, soft tracing slowly up to his chin.
"You are no more than an animal standing before me. So you bargain. And bargain you did." She pulled back just slightly. "You think I want to watch a puny mortal life like yours? I'll admit yours is more spectacular than most but I assure you, there are many, many more people far more interesting than you will ever be."
She eyes him, enjoying the way he squirms at her touch.
"If that were true, you would have never answered my call. Don't act like you aren't backed into a corner regardless of what you say. I hold the key to your salvation here."
He ground his teeth as he spat the words out. His body was flushed red at this point, every nerve firing at once from the sensation, but he held strong.
Lilith watched his desperate will and resolve. The smile faded from her lips.
She stepped back, crossing her arms beneath her chest lifting them slightly and regarded him with long, steady legs planted apart. Her gaze settled on Arthur.
Disappointed.
"You mortals." She exhaled slowly. "There is always something that drives you. I have never quite understood where such strong will comes from in something with such a short and pitiful life." A pause. "But fine. I will agree to your terms."
She leveled her gaze at him.
"But don't think I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart. You may believe mere entertainment is enough to sway me but know this. My gift to you will be a two-way street. You will need to use it well, so that when you return it to me, it will be worth something in my eyes."
She snapped her fingers.
Another tear split open in the air.
A figure tumbled through screaming and hit the floor face first.
"Ow."
The figure pushed herself up off the floor, rubbing her face.
"Mom, what was that for?"
She stood and the sight of her hit like a wall.
Obsidian-dark skin, rich and deep like polished ebony, with the sleek lines of an Egyptian goddess carved into every feature. Two horns curled upward from her head in smooth, elegant arcs. Her hair was long and dark drooping past her shoulders. A tail whipped out behind her, restless and coiling.
She wore a deep V-neck crop top that left almost nothing to the imagination, her plentiful chest straining against the fabric. A miniskirt clung to the dramatic flare of her hips, her ass overwhelming either side of it, full and heavy, her thick thighs and long legs giving her a figure that seemed sculpted for sin.
She dusted herself off and turned her glare on Lilith.
"Darling." Lilith's voice shifted less queen, more mother. "What have I told you about reading the room before you open your mouth? Can't you see what's happening here?"
The girl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You say this all the time." She glanced over at Arthur, her gaze drifting down him slowly. "I mean there's just some mortal guy standing there with a nice thick—"
She paused.
Sniffed the air.
Her eyes fluttered shut for just a moment.
"...and he smells lovely."
Her tongue dragged slowly across her bottom lip.
"Mommy." Her voice dropped, honeyed and soft. "Can I play with this one? He smells absolutely delectable."
She crossed the distance without waiting for an answer, pressing her body against Arthur chest to arm, her warmth spilling into his nose trailing up along his jaw, his neck, his collar, breathing him in. Her tail curled around his inner thigh, slow and deliberate, the tip teasing upward.
"Back off, Vespa." Lilith's tone cut clean. "He will be your master. Show some respect."
"Him?"
Vespa spun around to look at Lilith, eyes wide with disbelief. Arthur, for his part, finally understood what she had meant by a two-way gift.
"This puny human?" Vespa turned back to Arthur, then back to her mother, then back to Arthur again. "I mean I wouldn't mind having fun with him, but- but master?"
Tears welled up in her eyes.
Smack.
Lilith's hand came down hard on her daughter's ass. Vespa jolted forward with a yelp.
"If you had found yourself a decent husband in the demon world, I wouldn't have had to resort to such means." Lilith's voice stayed perfectly composed. "But since no one in existence apparently meets your — quote unquote — taste, I figured I would simply feed you to the wolves myself."
She turned to Arthur, her expression melting into something warm and sweet.
"You don't mind, do you, darling?"
"No, my queen."
Arthur managed it without flinching, though it took effort. He hadn't expected things to take this particular turn.
'...This could work.'
His eyes moved back to Vespa. Still pouting, tail lashing behind her, tears threatening to spill.
The new plan was already assembling itself behind his eyes.
"But Mom, that isn't fair! You can't do this to me!" Vespa cried out, her voice cracking with genuine upset.
Lilith didn't so much as blink.
"Don't act like it won't be good for you. Even you can tell this puny human has some talent, I'm sure you'll be most pleased." She uncrossed her arms and placed a hand on her hip. "And you need to grow out your wings and leave the nest. I'm tired of having to take care of you, so it's about time you work on yourself." A thin smile. "And what better way than to serve a human for a few centuries? You might learn a thing or two."
"A few centuries?!" Vespa's voice cracked. "Mom!"
Smack.
Lilith's hand came down again. Vespa yelped and stumbled forward a step, clutching her backside.
"Hush."
Silencing her daughter, Lilith turned back to Arthur. The playfulness dropped from her face.
"Now then. Let me explain the terms clearly, child, so that there is no misunderstanding." She raised one finger. "First Vespa is my daughter, and with that comes a direct connection to my bloodline. Her abilities are considerable, even if she does an admirable job of wasting them." She glanced at Vespa who flinched at just her sight. "Were she to use her full talents, she could bring any man or woman to ruin without lifting a finger."
Her gaze settled on Arthur.
"Through your bloodline, she should be able to make the best use of what she has. Just know if you aren't careful, she will consume you. Inside and out." The smile that followed carried something ancient and knowing behind it. "My bloodline is rather all-consuming at times."
Arthur gave a single nod.
'Noted.'
"Second." Lilith's tone settled into something more deliberate. "She is not simply a gift. She is an investment. I want you to train her. Refine her. Break whatever laziness she's built in my halls and make something useful out of it." A pause. Her voice dipped lower. "Make her a proper wife. I don't need some loose whore returned to me. I want a pristine, prim, and noble lady when she comes back. That is all I ask from this arrangement."
'A pristine noble lady…'
Arthur's eyes moved to Vespa whose crop top barely contained her chest and her miniskirt not covering much as her tail kept pulling it up. Not to mention the child's tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
'Right.'
Lilith reached behind herself her hand dipping through the air as though parting a curtain and pulled out a collar. A thin band sliver in color and shine that was no wider than a finger, with a clasp shaped like a coiled serpent biting its own tail.
Unmistakable in what it meant.
"Wrap this around her neck and she'll become yours." She held it out between two fingers, letting it catch the fading red light. "You can compel her to do practically anything you wish though there are a few things she cannot do. I'll let you discover those on your own."
Another smile.
"Otherwise she's yours. Do whatever you like with her."
Arthur took the collar from Lilith.
It was lighter than it looked, and warm to touch. A faint pulse moved through it the moment his fingers closed around it. He pressed his hands over the serpent-shaped tag on the front and felt it prick his finger, drawing a bead of blood. The red spread slowly, running into the engravings, tracing every carved line until the silver was threaded through with it.
"Whoever you place that collar on will now be yours." Lilith stated it simply as if it was easy to understand.
'Yes. This can work.'
Arthur turned and looked at Vespa.
She had stopped crying. Her arms were crossed tight over her chest, tail coiled behind her, twitching like an angry cat. She looked at Arthur with defiance and unwilling to succumb to him but in her eyes Arthur saw it. Her true feelings.
Fear.
Not of Him but of the collar. From the way she kept glancing at it Arthur knew she was fearful of her freedom disappearing.
Vespa hadn't chosen any of this. She was here because she'd failed to choose anything at all.
He stepped toward her.
"Hold still."
"I swear to every circle of hell, if you—"
"I said. Hold still."
His voice came out flat. Not loud. Not threatening. Just final the way his father spoke when the border was burning and debate was a luxury no one could afford.
Even without the collar on, Vespa's mouth clamped shut. Her amber eyes burned into his, furious and wet, but she didn't move.
Arthur raised the collar.
Her breath hitched as the silver touched her skin cool against the heat of her throat, the metal finding the curve of her neck like it had been measured for her. His blood in the engravings pulsed once against her pulse, syncing.
Click.
And then he felt it.
A connection threaded through him like a wire pulled taut, warm and immediate, settling into the back of his mind as a second pulse he hadn't asked for. He could feel her, not her thoughts or her emotions, but where she was at all times. It was different from his mark yet the same.
Vespa shuddered as a result with her tail going rigid.
Arthur smiled.