“Cold blooded woman,” Maggie said with a suck of her teeth. “Just cold blooded, and she probably said that in front of him.”
“Mmm no,” Isis added. “She’s keeping it safe…An incubus is nothing to play with. They’re up there with werewolves to me in terms of sex. I don’t recommend it.”
Asha scoffed at the thought.
“What haven’t y'all tried? Damn! Besides, what’s an incubator?”
“Incubus,” I replied as I watched Harvey crack his neck again with his shoulders rotating. His body was attempting to shift. “Have you ever heard of the phrase of a man being on demon time?”
“Yeaaaa…” Maggie and Asha slowly replied as Isis giggled.
I watched Harvey’s eyes blink rapidly in the mirror before they blacked out completely like empty eye sockets. He lowered his head for a moment as two thick bones slowly pushed fromhis scalp on each side. Curling back against his head, his body stretched a little taller, muscles a little more defined and the spine of his bone pressed against his skin.
“A man that claims to be on demon time is channeling the energy of an incubus,” I said as Harvey reached down to pick up a bottle of lubricant. “It’s the highest level of sexual energy you could only hope to have and exchange…To achieve this is to receive enlightenment of the body, mind, and soul through obsession, possession, and pleasure.”
“Also the most dangerous,” Isis added. “Again, I do not recommend it. They can kill you just trying to get off. Drain you of your energy and manipulate you into doing their bidding.”
“Look! No more talks about freaky demon sex!” Maggie let out, getting us back on track. “Can everyone just agree to find out what they can about this blood contract stuff? I’m tired of waiting and watching the only family I have forget about me in real time. There are just too many questions I have. We already said this year, it will be about me.”
Everyone agreed as if the meeting adjourned. Harvey leaned down with his long claw-like fingers reaching underneath the sheets to grab my foot. He slid my body down the mattress with his tongue curling out and down his chin like a roll in anticipation.
“Agreed,” I managed before gasping at the first intrusion of his body into mine.
Chapter Four
Ayira The Princess
The drums beating echoed through the chambers as I stepped from behind the curtains wearing a blue veil that stretched from ear to ear. The beaded tassels clung to the end, teasing my chin as I stared at the open marble flooring. The courtyard was scorching as the sun hung right above. There was a firepit just behind it as guards stood at the four points of the square. In the shade, my karasha teacher, Niraji, sat on a hand-woven blanket with a large wooden stick decorated with bright colors and jewels. Her brown wrinkled skin looked like layers of dark honey melting in the heat as she sat in the shade with beads of sweat seeping back into her skin the moment it poured out. She was cloaked in black with her bare feet out as the men continued to beat on the drums, waiting for my arrival.
“Breathe, Ayira!” Niraji yelled as she stomped the stick onto the ground three times. You could see the flames in the pit respond as they twitched and stretched into the air. “Do not forget to breathe!”
I exhaled with a light tap of my stomach, feeling the heat attempting to surface. The winds from the north carried bits of sand as I opened my eyes, seeing the dunes in the distance. The courtyard that sat above on its own balcony overlooked the rest of the palace below as I took my first steps. My linen pants gave room for my skin to breathe, and the protective wrap went around my breasts in order to protect my heart from the flames.My arms were wrapped exposing my skin that rarely saw the sun but welcomed it all the same.
“Breathe!” Niraji shouted with a pounding of her stick. I took long steps, striding towards the center before slowly raising my leg in the air. The sun kissed the bottom of my foot, giving me its blessing to use its flames before slowly raising my leg back down. Parts of the dance snuck in bits of martial arts and defense tactics, the hidden yet well-known secret of karasha dancers. Arming women with strength to protect themselves against men while remaining beautiful and provocative all the same. Just as I was about to raise my arms, the drums stopped. I heard the familiar jingles of beads as my father stepped onto the balcony with his three precious sons behind him.
The boys smirked at me with the youngest winking.
“Great Sun,” Niraji exclaimed as she attempted to get up. “I am honored–––”
“No need,” King Khamar let out as he waited for his seat to be made by the Ashari that accompanied him. Whatever he needed, they were meant to produce it at that moment. “I have come to watch my daughter dance. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her in this light. I want to be sure she is tamed and keeping with basic traditional movements.”
I gritted my teeth in annoyance, hearing him dote on me like a child while my three brothers, Kasen, the oldest, Jalani, the youngest, and Malik, the mischievous middle son came up to me.
“Your precious Baba has men ready to take you away sister,” Malik whispered as the three began circling around me like predators. “Are you scared?”
“Of course she’s not scared,” Kasen said with a boastful tone. “She is Ayira…Baba’s little favorite–––”
“No, no no…stop teasing my big sister,” Jalani said as one of them tugged at my pants. “So what if she is old…she is not spoiled. The men will have her as a second or third bed wife–––”
“Stop it,” I gritted through my teeth.
“One of them is missing an eye and teeth but promises to warm your bed every night.”
“While you three obsess over who I lay with, why are you not sitting at the throne your Baba keeps leaving empty?” I shot back. “Hmmm? While Baba is off traveling the world, doing as he pleases, what are you three half bred princes doing?”
“Ooooo, you hurt my feelings,” Kasen cooed as the three laughed. “Remember, you are not the only one who can breathe fire, sister.”
“When are you going to tell her that you are going to travel outside of the palace with Baba?” Malik asked. I whipped my head around to meet Kasen’s gaze as the three continued to circle around me.
