‘Til It Bleeds
by Stephanie Burke
Changeling Press
eBook ISBN: 978-1-60521-063-6
The Hands of Fate, a pair of ancient relics with untold power, have gone missing, and it’s up to a special pair of operatives to recover them.
The Guild has assigned their best bonded fighting unit, Faith and Vice, to recover the legendary Hands from a scheming under-investigator seduced by their dark power… demons driven by lust and blood hunger, and only satiated by each other.
To succeed, and to save the world, they may have to fight — ’Til It Bleeds, and beyond.
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Chapter One
“Why don’t you just calm the fuck down?”
Faith was not amused. He sat back against the far wall, away from the carmine-colored… ick… that now liberally spattered the shiny hardwood floors and the once pale cream walls.
He crossed his legs and took a harder toke on the unfiltered cigarette that he had rolled up before coming to this devil’s arsehole of a city. His black eyes held a slight tint of red, showing that he himself had calmed, even if his partner had not.
“You know,” he said, “we still have to walk out of this shit-hole, and it’s still broad daylight.”
“But… but it makes such pretty colors, Faith.” Vice spoke softly, his voice resonating with the child-like quality that showed he was not fully in his right mind. It was one of the reasons the Guild had almost declared him unmatchable and unsuitable to breathe the same good, fresh air as the rest of their engineered freaks.
He smiled up at Faith, his arms painted black nearly to his elbows with the spilled blood and other fluids of their victims. “They get darker and darker…” His pale eyes shone brightly with glee, his face painted in a gruesome caricature of war paint, the browns and reds of human blood drying and flaking as he turned to stare fully into his partner’s face.
But as Faith took another toke and frowned at him, the unholy light that gave Vice such an eerie appearance began to fade from his eyes.
Rolling his eyes, Vice rose to his feet, his hands raking gore-stiffened strands of hair back from his face, exposing the dark brand that encircled his left eye. “You are no fucking fun.”
“You just smeared that shit all over your damn hair,” Faith reminded him, “and before you even think about getting fucked again, you had better wash that shit off. Vice, this shit ain’t funny, man. And you weren’t screaming I was no fun last night. In fact, it sounded more like, ‘Oh, oh, more,’ and, ‘Don’t stop’.”
“Sex is not fun.” Vice stared at the entrails and other freshly exposed organ bits that coated his arms and hands and curled his nose up in disgust. “Sex is serious business.” He flung his hands outwards, barely missing Faith with a thick spray of gore. “This shit…” He curled his upper lip, exposing a gleaming white fang. “…this shit is the fun stuff.”
“And you just fell off your fucking rocker.” Faith rose to his feet, looking down at his full-length black trench coat, checking for blood spatter. “Our time is almost up. The clean-up crew will be here soon, and they don’t take too kindly to getting their food pre-chewed for them.”
“Fucking scavengers.” Vice snarled again before stepping around the three bodies that littered the floor.
“Hey, they do a damn good job.” Faith pinched out the red ember still glowing on the butt of his cigarette and pocketed it before reaching for another. “And for every job –”
“There’s the perfect tool.” Vice stripped off his bloody shirt and used it to wipe the worst of the spillage from his face and hair. He looked down at the stained shirt, then tossed it into the pile of organs that he’d harvested with his bare hands. “So what’s next?”
“Home and a feeding frenzy,” Faith dictated, rising to his full height and scanning the room one last time. “Who would ever think that a bunch of society ladies were trying to raise demons? They were the perfect fodder.”
“Not just any old demons.” Vice reached for his own black leather jacket and donned it over his bare chest. “Lust demons.” He looked down at the grisly remains and kicked a head to the side. “Stupid cunts. Playing with shit they have no idea about, toying in shit that’s better off left alone…”
“And they got us.” Faith walked over to grip his partner by the forearm. “And now, if we have the incantations…”
“Have them.” Vice patted his jacket pocket, the same jacket he’d removed prior to the slaughter to ensure that no blood fell on the spelled pages inside.
“And all signs of the ceremony have been wiped?”
“Oh, hell, yeah.” Vice grinned as he took in the portion of the floor he himself had hacked up with his broadsword and fed into the fire, a fire that had been started by using two out of three of the unfortunate ladies’ hair.
“Then our work here is done.” Faith turned to face the door. “And you know, because you went overboard — again — you won’t be going with me back to the safe-house.”
“I know, I know,” Vice chuckled. “The underground.”
“And if I hear any reports of a red-headed demon roaming the sewers…”
“You’ll spank me.” Vice smiled, licking his lips and tossing a wink at Faith’s back.
“I saw that,” came the droll reply. “And I’ll not only spank you, I won’t fuck you afterwards.” Then, almost like a shadow, Faith seemed to dissolve into thin air, ghosting through the house and leaving not so much as the smell of his pungent cigarettes behind.
“Likely story,” Vice laughed, and then he, too, ghosted through the house, leaving no trace of his passing.
It wasn’t a skill that they could hold for long, but it would hold long enough for them to leave the house and its immediate vicinity. Getting home safely — well, that was up to him.
But he grinned again, feral, showing off his fangs. No matter what Faith said, he knew his partner would be right behind him, watching his back and ensuring his safe return.
They had a thing like that, a relationship that was often viewed with disgust and horror as well as awe and envy. The Guild had no idea what to make of this extremely close bonding of two of their knights, but it served all of their needs well. Faith and Vice made up one of their more successful extermination units.
They had trained together, served together, and had been bound in all of the traditions of the Guild and their predecessors, who first created the hybrid demon children. Their close bond was only matched by their success rate. They never missed a target, and they never left a job unfinished, never got caught.
Of course there were restrictions. You never set a feral dog loose without a leash, and the chains holding them to the Guild were almost as powerful as the bonds that held them to each other.
As Vice made his way down to the sewer system to rematerialize, no thoughts of the chains that bound them came into his mind. His desire for battle, for carnage, had been realized. Now he needed to feed. And the one person who could satisfy all of his hungers trailed him lazily, clouding the minds of all who caught a glimpse of him.
He quickened his step, moving toward their temporary shelter where the presence of his partner, his mate, would surely make it feel like home.
* * *
“Oh, my God, do that again!” Vice threw back his head, his long red hair whipping about the shower cubicle as his nails scraped against the wet tile.
His eyes were squeezed shut, and a loud, rapturous moan rolled up from his throat. He chewed at his bottom lip, piercing the full, pink flesh with his fangs, paying no attention as his blood flowed down his chest to mingle with the red-tinted water that ran off his body and flowed down the drain.
A deep, dark chuckle from behind only served to make his body shudder harder, spirals of desire rolling up and down his spine. His cock, already stimulated from being so close to his mate, began to harden further, its purple head peeking out from its fleshy cowl.
“Faith,” he moaned, his knees wobbling as he felt his mate’s tongue penetrate him further. There on his knees, Faith chuckled again, spreading the pert, rounded cheeks of Vice’s ass further apart, exposing more of his hole for a deeper tongue exploration.
Faith’s large hands trailed up and down his lover’s thighs, feeling the thick muscles quiver at his touch, felt how slick the passing water made his skin, felt the pent-up energy coursing through his body.
“Come on!” Vice demanded, looking back over his shoulder — nearly breaking his neck to do so — to stare at the man kneeling behind him. Faith’s usual braided cornrows were undone, his long, pitch-black hair surrounding his shoulders in dripping wet curls and waves. His darker skin seemed to make Vice’s lighter flesh glow where the lovers touched.
Vice moaned as that barbed tongue delved deeper into his ass, tickling the sensitive nerves there, sending fire shooting through his veins. He felt his balls tingle and tighten, his cock drooling thick slick precum — hell, even the end of his nose was twitching. His inner beast loved this kind of play, loved being served and pampered, and his lover was an expert at making his beast happy.
“God,” he groaned. “You… gonna… Fuck, Faith! I’m gonna come!”
He moaned in loss as his partner pulled away, licking at the winking lips of his ass, pressing a small kiss there before running his tongue along his trench.
“No, you will not,” Faith growled, his own beast coming to the forefront. “You are not going to blow until I let you.”
“Bastard,” Vice hissed, then dropped his forehead to the wet tiles of the shower wall as Faith sank two fingers in deep.
“You know you need this,” he breathed, rising to his feet, licking the drops of water from Vice’s long, smooth back. “You know that your beast and my own would never be satisfied with anything less than total sensory explosion.”
Vice nodded, knowing that his lover spoke true, but damning the fact that the beast refused immediate gratification. It would only be a tease to his pet demon. The damn thing wanted a sensual smorgasbord every time they fucked. And Faith’s little bastard wasn’t much better.
Vice felt his fingertips vibrate and tingle as his nails darkened and slowly lengthened into curled claws. They scratched at the tile, scoring it with their sharpness, as Faith prepared him, twisted his fingers to get his anal muscles to open.
“Let me in,” Faith growled as he bit at Vice’s neck, his sharp teeth parting the flesh, drawing his sweet, black blood. “Open for me.” His free hand reached up to tangle in Vice’s blood-red hair, fisting the silky strands tightly, pulling his head back, exposing his neck.
“Yes,” Vice grumbled in response, his voice dropping several octaves, his eyes glowing white and wild. “Yes, open me up… Fuck me, Faith!”
“Shh,” Faith purred. “Soon.” Faith pressed his fingers deeper, feeling around for that small gland that would make his mate howl in pleasure.
“Faith!” Vice whined, fire coursing through his veins as he strained to get more of that feeling, to get more of his partner deep inside his body.
“Two fingers,” Faith growled in Vice’s ear, nipping and licking at his neck. “Two fingers, Vice. We need three.”
“Then hurry!” Vice gasped, his head dropping, his moans filling the shower stall. “So hungry!” His hips arched back, his anal walls twitching and clasping at the fingers that probed him, his cock hard and leaking.
Faith’s hand released his hair, traveled down his chest to pinch and pull at his swollen nipples, before dropping to encircle his hard prick.
“Faith!” Vice wailed, thrusting into his partner’s hand, his breathing erratic and loud. He felt his partner’s barbed tongue, the tongue of the beast, scraping at the sensitive spots on his neck. He willingly threw back his head in supplication. The needs of his beast and his own hunger combined to drive out all thoughts of pride. Only the fierce hunger, the desire, the need, remained.
The third finger was a bit of a burn and stretch, but it was a burn that Vice relished. “Yeah,” he breathed, his eyes sliding shut. He knew that soon fulfillment would be at hand. “More.”
“Soon,” Faith moaned, shuddering at the feel of the tight embrace his partner’s hole had on his fingers. His own dark erection was throbbing, its purple head eagerly seeking out its place of paradise, deep within his mate. His cock, at times, had a mind of its own. It was all part of his beast, the lust and hunger buried within him. It was something they both accepted. Faith’s beast was a horny bastard, and Vice’s beast was driving him insane, yet they both managed to make it work. “Soon, baby. Can’t hold out.”
Faith’s velvety voice had dropped, the growl obvious as his beast slowly began to take control. That was why he always made sure his partner was so well-prepared. Who knew what the beast would do when its full hunger was upon him?
In response, Vice snarled, his spine going rigid as his mating brand began to glow. “It — it’s coming,” he breathed, then roared as his control snapped, and his beast fully emerged.
“Damn it,” Faith hissed, his own beast tearing at his control as it sensed its counterpart’s freedom. He closed his eyes as he felt his own eye ridges erupt, his fangs extend to their furthest, and his own mating brand throb and burn across his back.
He pulled his fingers from his mate’s pucker, his mind swirling with images of lust and perversion, and let himself go.
“Faith!” Vice wailed, bucking up as his partner shoved him further down and his clawed hands gripped the cheeks of Vice’s ass and spread him wide. He froze as he felt the hot, slick head of his mate’s cock run along his ass trench, as his mate’s powerful fangs clamped onto the back of his neck, forcing his body into stillness.
Then there was the quick burn, the slight pain as his body accepted the cock that was breaching him deep, filling him like no one and nothing else ever could.
The tiles screamed and cracked under the force of his claw-like nails. His knees trembled, and his body burned. Faith was deep inside him, throbbing, feeding a hunger that had nearly driven him over the edge.
“Vice,” Faith growled, his voice animalistic as he struggled to complete the connection. His partner needed sex and blood to fully heal, and Faith would do everything in his power to see that this healing was done. With the last of his coherence, he released his partner’s throbbing dick and slid his arm up to Vice’s mouth.
Quick as a snake, Vice latched on, his fangs sinking deep. He moaned as he began to gulp down the rich, black blood. His hips began to grind against the meaty pole that filled him.
Throwing back his own head and snarling at the pleasure-pain growing within him, Faith began to pump his hips. He howled as his partner’s slick heat tightened around him… then he knew no more. The beast was fully in control.
His body rutted at his mate’s, slamming his cock as deep as it could go, tearing mewls from his partner’s throat, making Vice’s body arch and dance beneath his.
Vice was aware that his partner’s blood filled his mouth, that Faith’s dick filled his ass, that his body was open, receptive, willing, taking all that Faith and his beast had to give.
Vice reveled in his taking, his beast howling in his mind in satisfaction as his hungers were catered to. His hands left the wall and clamped onto Faith’s dark, muscular arm, holding on so that he wouldn’t lose the salty sweetness as his body went into convulsions.
Animalistic, they rutted, the bathroom filling with howls and moans as they slammed into each other, two beautifully monstrous beasts sharing, taking and giving satisfaction.
It could not last long.
“Faith!” Wailing and bucking, Vice finally released his partner’s arm and roared his name as his orgasm began to overwhelm him. His cock spewed its hot seed without any further stimulation. His anal walls spasmed around the hard cock thrusting deep within his depths.
It was enough to pull Faith into a climax of his own, wrenching moans and growls from the darker demon as he again clamped his teeth onto the back of his partner’s neck, both demons sharing the energy explosion the climax wrought.
Lazily, their beasts twined about each other on a metaphysical plane before they slowly sank back into their host bodies. It left Faith and Vice shuddering in a post-orgasmic haze, too blissed out to do much more than turn off the water and lean against the steamy, wet walls.
“So,” Faith managed, chest heaving and voice still raspy after a few moments of rest. “Was it good for you?”
Vice managed a chuckle, looking down at his partner’s arm, noticing the savage bite marks were already healing and the bleeding had long since stopped. “Oh, yeah.” He leaned back in his mate’s arms, trusting that Faith had enough strength left to keep them upright, if not totally stable.
“Good.” Faith wrapped both arms around his mate. “Then it’s my turn.”
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Changeling Press ‖ ARe
oh i vote this one for the cover
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