Karen watched as Logan checked the straps and buckles hugging Beauty’s generous curves one last time. Newly acquired leather armor and twin knives from the defeated, flying Succubus would keep their demon safe. Heavy pouches of coin were snug and secure for the long journey. The shopping list had been discussed and agreed on.

He nodded and stepped back with a sigh. “You’re all set and good to go.”

“Again?” the demon asked with a hint of a smile.

He chuckled, then nodded. “Yes, again. I just…” He made a vague gesture. “Just be safe out there, yeah?”

Beauty stepped into his arms and a long, lingering kiss. “I stay safe,” she promised. “Back soon.”

Karen watched them in silence as a storm of nameless emotions ran hot and cold in her chest. She too was worried about Beauty’s safety. No one knew the dangers of being alone out there better than she did. That she could be worried about a demon at all was, in itself, difficult to process.

She watched them kiss with such singular passion that it stole her breath away just to witness it. That two people could find such intense delight in one another, in a place as awful as Hell, was a kind of miracle. That she was not one of those people cut like a knife.

As the two figures reluctantly parted, Karen could see the internal struggle on his face. Logan’s desire to just call the whole thing off and stop Beauty from leaving was at war with knowing how much they needed the supplies that she would bring back.

The Succubus had made it very clear that Gomorrah was a city run by demons for demons. Humans were slaves and servants, branded on the face to show who owned them and what purpose the humans served. Logan, all hard muscle and fierce human determination, would draw too much attention. Beauty could get in, buy what was needed, and get out without raising alarms or suspicion.

Assuming, of course, that nothing went wrong, and there were so many ways this could go wrong.

The same gear that would protect her also marked her as a target for looters. One glance from the wrong person at the heavy coin purse she carried could bring disaster. Karen thought Beauty could hold her own against anyone, but what if there were three, or ten coming after her?

 It was a bitter pill to swallow. Beauty would be entirely on her own for many days, traveling on foot across a vast distance of hostile territory. Anything could happen. The thought of her out there, wounded and alone, was almost more than Karen could bear. She knew it must be worse for Logan.

They escorted Beauty to the cavern entrance. Karen slowed and fell back to give the two of them a final moment together. Beauty smiled up at Logan and then glanced at Karen where she stood somewhat off to one side. The Succubus reached out to her.

 That one, simple gesture warmed Karen to her core in a way she would have thought impossible only two days ago. She eagerly stepped up. Beauty snaked a hand around her neck and pulled the woman in for a steamy, french kiss that lit up Karen’s libido in a rush of desire. Then the Succubus did the same to Logan. Finally, Beauty laid Karen’s hand on his.

“Gone many days. Beauty happy that Logan will not be alone. Back soon.”

Logan looked at Karen in surprise. He reached out with his other hand to the demon. Karen did the same, completing the circle. Logan looked into Beauty’s golden eyes. “Just come back to me safe and sound. Back to us. That’s the most important thing, ok?”

Despite the joy she felt to be included, it felt like a hand squeezing Karen’s heart. “Come back to us” had not been his first thought. It had been “come back to me.”

What Logan and Beauty had together was older and stronger. Karen resolved at that moment to earn her place in his life and to be worthy of that level of devotion. Whatever Logan wanted of her, she would gladly give.

Beauty nodded and let them go. There was nothing more to be said. No last-minute delays left to use. Karen dared to hold his hand and stood at his side as their demon companion walked off toward the horizon carrying with her any hope of a life beyond bare survival.

*****

The cavern felt empty and cold without Beauty’s presence. Her absence hung in the air, unseen but inescapable. Anywhere Karen looked was a reminder.

She will return. The thought was a cold comfort at best.

That first day, a few attempts at idle conversation with Logan died a quick, merciful death. She could sense his mood and wisely chose to give him space and solitude, or at least as much as close quarters would allow. The only saving grace, such as it was, could be found in the endless, labor-intensive tasks that were forever needing to be done.

Bristle pigs needed to be hunted for meat and fur. Bones had to be splintered for the rich marrow inside to make broth and then shaped and sanded against a stone to craft bone needles. Strips of tendons had to be pounded with a rock, pulled apart into strips and rewoven into cord for sewing. Fur had to be cut and stitched together with cord to make what was slowly becoming a fur blanket and pillows.

It was difficult, frustrating work based entirely on trial and error. Many mistakes were made and progress was glacially slow.

Still, it kept them both busy and distracted from worrying about Beauty obsessively throughout the day. They fumbled, grumbled, and cursed the hours away in a sour sort of companionship based on shared frustration and unspoken worry.

Karen did her best to learn and contribute. Logan’s ability to craft something from virtually nothing was fascinating to watch. She thought of all of the poor souls out there, naked and helpless as she had been, and what they could accomplish with these same skills.

“Where did you learn to do all of this?” she asked as they worked.

“My grandfather was full Apache. When I was a boy I got into some trouble. Almost ended up in jail. My parents sent me to stay with him on the reservation every summer after that until I was old enough to sign up for the army.”

Logan chuckled and shook his head at the memory. “He worked so hard to teach me the old ways of our tribe. I’m afraid I wasn’t a very good student but he tried.”

“I would disagree.” Karen held up the braid of tendon she was working on. “All of this is possible only because you know what to do. I was just thinking how valuable these skills would be to other damned souls wandering Hell.”

When he did not respond, she looked up at him. The bone fragment lay forgotten in his loose grip. His eyes stared at the cavern wall but his attention was somewhere else, somewhere inside. Hints of amusement and wonder flickered across his handsome features.

“Logan? Are you ok?”

A slow, beautiful smile spread across his lips and up to reflect in his dark, green eyes. “I just remembered that! Not just fragments but the entire memory! I can see my grandfather’s face, the house he lived in and the wooded hills around the Fort Apache reservation in Arizona. That’s a first.”

He blinked and looked at her. “That’s where I was when all of this began! I was visiting the reservation because…” A look of consternation crossed his face and Logan sighed. “Yeah, I got nothing… yet. But I will. Holy shit, Karen. I’m getting my memory back.”

She smiled, happy to see him happy. “That’s wonderful! I’m also looking forward to eventually remembering more than scattered fragments of my own life.”

He reached over to squeeze her hand. “It will come back to you. I’m sure of it.”

Logan returned to his work on the bone needle but she could still feel the weight and warmth of his hand on hers. “I think so too. All thanks to you, Logan.”

“You are most welcome,” he replied in a distracted voice. Focused as he was on his needle project, Logan did not look up. If he had, he might have seen on her face the emotions Karen was feeling and realized that she meant every word.

Logan had, quite literally, swept her up and out of the endless nightmare that had been her entire existence here. Where there had only been pain was now pleasure. Loneliness and fear had been replaced with companionship and hope.

It meant everything to her. He and Beauty meant everything to her. If only she could, by word or deed, find some way to make him understand just how very grateful she was!

An idea came to mind. Setting the half-finished braid down, Karen moved over behind Logan and placed her hands on his shoulders. He looked back at her with a questioning expression.

“Let me help.” She smiled. “I’m better at massages than I am at crafting.”

Her hands began to work their magic before he could protest. The only sound he made was a happy groan as her fingers worked into the tension knotted beneath his smooth skin and thick, sexy muscles. She worked across his shoulders and biceps, around his neck, and down his back until her fingers ached.

Karen didn’t mind the discomfort. It was worth it to hear his growls and grunts of pleasure and for the excuse to explore every inch of his flesh.

“That feels… amazing.” He sighed.

She leaned in to reply, “accidentally” brushing her breasts against his back. “I’m glad. You have done so much for me and ask for so little. It’s the least I can do.”

A comfortable silence settled between them as she worked. Logan had stopped working on the bone needle to enjoy her efforts.

“I have missed this,” she said.

He chuckled. “What this are you referring to?”

“A sense of belonging and purpose,” she replied as her fingers worked. “Someone to be a comfort to or be comforted by.” Karen reached around his waist in a hug and laid her cheek against the warm skin of his shoulder with a deep sigh of contentment. “Just to be close to another person… especially, someone I care very much about.”

Logan set the bone fragment down and reached up to stroke her forearm. “You're one of us now, Karen. Part of our strange, little family.”

She nodded against his shoulder and blinked back against the sting of tears. “Family…”

He felt the splash of a tear on his neck, half-turned toward her and held his arms out. “Come here, you.”

Karen crawled around to slide an arm around his shoulders and sit across his lap. She felt his strong arms slide around her in a sweet, protective hug.

So many sensations tumbled through her mind, all at once. Shame that he saw her tears. The warm comfort of his embrace. The scent of his hair. Hard muscle and soft skin beneath her touch, and something else hard under her bottom.

Karen could feel his semi-erection beneath her slight weight in his lap. She wiggled her bottom and felt it begin to grow. Dark eyes looked up at him in amazed delight.

“How wonderful! How do you manage to do this without Beauty?” she asked.

Logan wore an almost comical look of bafflement. “Um, well yes, Beauty is very attractive but so are you. It’s not a choice, just a natural male reaction.”

“Natural reaction?” she asked. “You don’t need the presence of a demon to get hard?” It was difficult to believe what she was hearing. It was not, in her experience, even possible.

Logan frowned in thought. “Wait. Are you saying human males in Hell cannot get an erection except in the presence of a demon?”

“Yes, of course,” she nodded. “Everyone knows that. It is part of the nature of our damnation. Eternal lust with no relief, except what they allow us.”

“Demon venom is not only an aphrodisiac but also the infernal equivalent of Viagra,” he muttered. “That… is really fucked up.”

Karen heard him, but she wasn’t paying attention, not to his words at any rate. She could not stop rubbing her bottom against the growing bulge in his jeans and thinking about the possibilities, both wondrous and terrible. The thought of having him inside her again, blasting away that terrible hunger coiling in her belly with waves of raw pleasure, was enough to make her sex clench in anticipation.

“Karen?”

Yet that one and only time had been with Beauty. Without a demonic presence, sex with other humans, male or female, always ended in failure and frustration. Every time. If she and Logan tried, and neither could reach orgasm, would that be better or worse? Karen stifled a moan and tried to ignore the damp heat growing between her legs.

“Karen. Are you alright?”

She looked up at him. “Yes.” She lied. “I’m fine.”

“Ok.” Logan cleared his throat. “In that case, I uh… I better get back to work. That bone fragment will not shave itself into a needle.”

“Of course.” She scooted off his lap and reached for the unfinished braid with trembling fingers. “No problem.”

As the time to sleep approached and the day’s work was finished, Logan and Karen sat around their tiny fire, weary from the day’s labors, and stared silently at the dancing flames. Her body ached from the day’s labors and the idea of another night laying in the dirt was no comfort. Especially when there was an empty spot on the relative luxury of the bed of moss, right next to Logan.

Except, that was Beauty’s place and Karen felt she had no right to it. Even in her absence, the demon girl’s presence could be felt between them like a ghost. Then there was the temptation of Logan’s body.

So much temptation! Karen sat in her usual place, on a fur-covered rock on the opposite side and began to shiver beneath the half-finished fur blanket that was her only insulation against the cool, cavern air.

“Cold?” he asked.

“I suppose I am. Funny, I don’t remember feeling that way before.”

“That is odd,” he agreed. “I feel much the same. It’s a bit cool in here. I miss Beauty’s body heat.” After a moment’s thought, he added, “You can’t be comfortable over there. Why don’t you come sit over here? I’m not a demon but I have enough body heat to share.”

Karen nodded, unable to express what she was feeling in words. Unwilling to admit to the storm of need and uncertainty running hot and cold through her body. She was relieved, delighted, and a little terrified when Logan invited her over to sit on the far more comfortable pad of moss beside him.

In Beauty’s accustomed place, she thought with a small shiver. Yet, he had offered and Beauty had given her approval of Karen before leaving. Did that make it permissible?

Karen thought it did. Before her departure, Beauty had given Karen permission to share and be a part of what they had in this shelter from the outside world. Only that understanding gave her to courage to accept his invitation.  

Eager and nervous, she moved over to the soft bed of moss, beside where Logan sat on his rock. She tucked the crudely stitched furs around her shoulders and lay her head against his leg to feel his warmth on her cheek and breathe in his scent.

“What made you want to join the military?” she asked to break the heavy silence.

Logan shrugged. “I don’t remember a specific reason. Anger, I suppose.”

“You were still so young. Who were you angry at?”

He chuckled and stared into the fire. “I don’t exactly remember, but I can make an educated guess. The better question would be “who wasn’t I angry at?” My parents for spawning a half breed child. The American government for centuries of discrimination against my ancestors. Every loud-mouthed, privileged asshole in high school…”

Logan frowned. “There were plenty of reasons to be an angry, young, Native American man,” he replied. “Too many. I just needed an outlet and the available choices were the military or prison.”

Karen laid a comforting hand on his knee. “I’m sorry.”

Logan shook the dark mood settling on him like a cloud and smiled at her. “Don’t be.” He patted her hand. “The army broke the boy and remade me into the man I am today. Qualifying for Special Forces was the greatest accomplishment of my…”

He blinked and began to smile. “I’m a Green Beret, 10th Special Forces group, assigned to active duty in Afghanistan! That was my job!”

He grinned at her. “Either this is getting easier or you are my lucky charm.”

Karen smiled. The idea of being his lucky charm was a lovely thought. “I’m happy for you either way.”

Logan tried not to yawn and failed miserably. That made her laugh.  “Perhaps tomorrow you can explain to me what being a Green Beret means.”

“Yeah.” Logan yawned again. “Tomorrow, after some sleep.”

“Sleep” implied laying down on the moss they were both currently sitting on. A long moment of silence passed between them. Karen wasn’t sure what to do. Stay or go? Lay down on the moss or get up and move back to the other side of the fire?

“Let’s get some rest.” He suggested. “We can share the furs for warmth.”

Logan stripped out of his boots but kept his pants on. He lay down, then held the partial blanket open in invitation. Karen crawled in beside him without uttering a word. Her heart hammered in her chest at the ideas of having Logan curled up behind her with his strong arms around her.

It was not to be. She felt him roll the opposite way. They lay back-to-back, Karen tried not to dwell on the sharp absence of the Succubus who was far away and still somehow lay unseen between them. Emotions and sensations, fears and fantasies, lashed at her mind. Sleep was a long time coming.

Sometime in the night, she snapped awake to exactly the sensation she had obsessed about earlier. Logan lay behind her, softly snoring into her hair. His arm hung, warm and heavy, around her waist, just brushing against the sensitive underside of her breasts with his every slow breath.

Nor was it just her body responding. Careful movement confirmed what she had begun to suspect. Even restrained by his pants, she could feel the half-hard bulge pressing against her butt.

Sleep was now impossible. Memories of their one sexual encounter haunted her waking mind. After an eternity of casual cruelty and unsatisfied, burning, sexual hunger, there was no way not to dwell on how glorious it had felt to finally drown in the golden glow of that perfect, consensual union of flesh and desire. The sensation of his rough hands so gentle on her skin. His shaft, hard and hot inside of her, driving all the fear and doubt away in waves of mind-blowing pleasure.

She breathed his scent in, biting at her lower lip. Despite telling herself not to, her hips began to move in small, subtle circles, pressing back against his bulge, feeling it grow bigger and harder. Karen squeezed her legs together and stifled a gasp as the friction of movement against her clit sent sparks of pleasure along her nerves.

Logan startled awake behind her. Instinctively, he started to pull away. “Sorry.” His warm breath tickled against her neck as he muttered, still half-asleep. “Didn’t mean to get handsy…”

Karen grabbed his hand before he could pull away and held it against her rapidly beating heart.

“Don’t be sorry,” she whispered, “I’m not.”

They lay together in the electric silence. Karen could feel his desire pressed against where only a thin layer of denim separated his flesh from hers. She could also sense his hesitation to act on it. Such odd behavior from an aroused male only added to her confusion.

“Do you not desire me?” she asked.

Logan’s soft laughter tickled against her neck and sent shivers racing down her spine. “Yes. Very much,” he whispered in a throaty voice. “It’s just that… without Beauty here, it feels odd. Like I am being disloyal to her.”

He rushed on before she could reply. “It’s weird, I know. She made it pretty clear before leaving that she was perfectly happy that we have each other for… uh, company. I just… I suppose I have always been a one-woman kind of man.”

Karen rolled over until they were nose-to-nose and smiled at him. “Is that what’s bothering you? You have such strange ideas!” Karen leaned forward and kissed him. “You saved me. I belong to you now, to do with as you wish. That is how it works in Hell. Beauty understands this. I’m certain that she just assumes that you understand that too.”

“You belong to no one,” Logan frowned. “You are your own person free to make your own choices.”

Karen snuggled closer to lay against his body. “Then I choose to be with you, and with Beauty. To be whatever you need me to be.”

She could stand the temptation no longer. Whatever happened, or didn’t happen, not knowing was far worse torture. She reached down between them and stroked his package through his battered jeans. “To have me any way you want, anytime you want.”

“You don’t have to…”

Karen shut him up with another kiss, snaking her tongue into his mouth and nibbling at his lower lip. “I want to.” She looked into his eyes. “I choose to.”

He chuckled and reached up to brush hair out of her face. “Alright then. When is Rome, do as the Romans do, I suppose.”

She grinned. “That is a wise philosophy.”

“Hey, look at me being wise. First time for everything.” Logan leaned forward and captured her lips with his, rolling Karen onto her back.

The sensation of his lips and tongue made her pulse pound and sent shivers of pleasure through her body. Karen moaned into his kiss. Her hands reached down to tug frantically at the waist of his pants.

“No,” Logan said with a smile.

She blinked up at him. “No?”

“No.” His smile turned into a wicked grin. “Not yet.”

He kissed her again, slow and soft. She shivered as Logan reached up to gently trace fingers over her cheek, ear, and neck. His mouth followed, planting kisses across her heated flesh, nibbling at her ear lobe, and tracing a line of fire down her neck with his tongue.

“Oh!” she gasped. “Oh no, let me pleasure you!”

“You will.” He smiled as he began to slide down, kissing her writhing body as he went. “Eventually.”

Any further protests were cut short by his lips closing around her right nipple. His hand stroked the curve of her other breast. The light pinch of his fingers on one was a sharp counterpoint to the warm embrace of his lips on the other.

Karen squirmed in helpless, blissful, confusion. This was nothing like she was used to. Sex, as she knew it, was an aggressive, demanding, and ultimately selfish act. Partners took what they wanted.

Once again, Logan confounded her by seeming to want nothing more than to give without regard to his desires. To simply lay there and bask in her rising pleasure felt wrong. Yet, the sensations coursing through her body were undeniable.

Facial hair tickled against her quivering belly as he slid lower. Little explosions of rapture raced up her nerves as his lips brushed against the inner curve of her thighs. His tongue traced lines of wet fire as Logan moved ever closer to her aching need. Closer, almost there. Karen braced for that first glorious contact… and groaned in disbelief as he moved away to resume kissing and nibbling at her thighs!

“Please!” Karen heard her own voice, uncertain if it was a plea for him to stop or for more. This could only end in frustration but it felt so very good…

Logan paused to raise his head and look at her. Mischief and lust danced in his dark green eyes. “What do you want? Tell me.”

What did she want? The words rattled around in her head. Was this a trick? Some cruel mind game? No, she knew Logan was not that kind of man. It had to be a genuine question. As foreign as the very idea was to her, Karen had to accept that he truly wanted to tend to her pleasure more than his own!

“I want…” Karen wet her lips and spread her legs. She was no stranger to sex but to ask for something so personal, to admit out loud what it is she longed for, was alien to her. Such an admission required trust, a concept unknown to her until only very recently.

“Please kiss me… down there.”

Logan teased her with feather-soft kisses across her inner thighs. “Don’t be shy. Down where?”

“I want you to… to lick my pussy.”

“Good girl.” He grinned and lowered his head.

“Ah!” Karen cried, her back arching off of the moss as his tongue began to slide up between her folds. Logan explored every part of her dripping sex. It felt like an eternity before his tongue finally parted her lips and dipped into the seething cauldron of her most intimate parts.

The gentle, patient assault went on and on until the pleasure could not rise any higher, only for her to be proved wrong time and again. His tongue brushed lightly against her clit. His fingers slid inside, stroking at her inner walls.

 Karen thrashed on the moss, gasping and trying to ignore the little voice of warning in her head whispering that this was the peak of her pleasure. That there would be nothing else except the lingering, hollow ache of being allowed no relief, no release.

Logan looked up at her, face shiny with her juices. His fingers continued to tease and dance inside of her. “Tell me what you want. I want to hear you say it.”

No, no, don’t ask me. If she said it, the need would be real. As would the crushing reality of satisfaction denied, always denied. An eternity of frustration and low self-esteem lay behind her, undeniable, unending proof that no soul in Hell possessed the ability to do what she so desperately desired. Logan would be disappointed, and Karen humiliated, in her failure to embrace what was so generously offered.

“Tell me,” he teased with soft words and a gentle touch that sent sparks dancing through her body. 

“I want to cum!” Karen all but shrieked. It was both plea and prayer. A desperate, distant hope against the unending weight of her damnation.

His lips closed around her clit as his fingers curled up into her body and touched a part of herself she had not known was there. Electric touch scorched through her flesh. Her cries of mindless, sweeping pleasure bounced and echoed off of the cavern walls. Glorious, impossible orgasm exploded through her quivering flesh in crashing waves of fire and light.

Awareness of her surroundings came back slowly. He eased her back down with soft, lingering kisses. Karen lay gasping and staring at the ceiling, unable to form a coherent thought, unwilling to let go of the glorious sensations pulsing through her.

She could feel tears of joy spilling from her eyes and tiny aftershocks of post-orgasmic pleasure causing her muscles to twitch. The impossible made possible, all over again.

Logan climbed back up to lay beside her. She stared at him in wonder. “Who are you, Logan Proud Bear? What are you?”

He shrugged. “I keep getting asked that question but my answer hasn’t changed. I’m just a regular guy in an unusual situation.”

Karen just shook her head and stared at him. “You don’t understand, do you? What you just did to me… that should not be possible without the venom of a demon. This…” she cupped and squeezed the bulge in his crotch, “should not be possible.”

Logan chuckled and gave her nipple a light, teasing pinch. “Pleasuring a woman to orgasm isn’t rocket science. It just takes a little skill and consideration, as I believe I just demonstrated to the lady’s satisfaction.”

Karen sighed and made a mental note to follow up on this conversation later. He needed to understand, but now was not the time for it. Instead, she leaned over and kissed him, tasting herself on his lips. “I never imagined I could be happy again. Thank you for giving me this gift.”

His smile was beautiful. “It is very much my pleasure to give it.”

She moved to pleasure him in return but he stopped her with a gentle hand on her belly. “There is no rush.” He murmured. “Catch your breath. We have all night.”

Such a strange, wonderful man! she thought to herself, even as she obeyed and let herself bathe in the afterglow of her orgasm. He relaxed beside her, resting his head on one hand and amusing himself by continuing to torture her breasts with gentle teasing.

After a short time, Karen rose to her knees to look down at him, lying there half-naked in the moss. Reaching up behind her head, she slowly pulled out the sliver of bone that was holding her hair up. Leaning over and shaking down the silken mass, she let her hair trail over Logan’s chest in a waterfall of touch and texture.

Karen’s dark eyes looked out from behind a satin curtain of hair. “I’ve thought about this all day long.” She bent low again, hiding everything from his hungry gaze behind a screen of dark hair.

His skin was warm against her lips as Karen worked her way down his chest, planting light kisses across the hard plates of muscle. She explored the sensitivity of his nipples with tongue and teeth.

Warm lips, wandering hands, and soft hair became a tantalizing mix of sensation as Karen worked her way down his body. Trailing fingers and hair across his skin, Karen licked, kissed, and nibbled her way across his hips and down his thighs, slowly coming closer and closer to the swollen erection in his pants. Not an inch of his torso was left unexplored on her journey down his strong body.

Gentle kisses were placed down the sides of Logan’s stomach and hips as she worked the buttons loose to set free his desire. Karen hummed in ardent appreciation as the shaft rose to proud attention, brushing against her cheek.

“You should be naked all of the time.” Karen declared as she patiently crawled backward, working the pants down and off of his legs. Once done, she crawled back up and settled between his legs.

Karen nuzzled and rubbed her face against his shaft and balls with a smile of pure hedonistic pleasure. “I really do love this dick.”

“Show me,” he said.

She started at his balls, fondling them in her palm while licking and nuzzling each one. Rolling them in her hands, Karen very gently squeezed them together as she sucked first and then the other into the warmth of her mouth, swirled her tongue around the sensitive orbs.

 Slowly, she moved upward, teasing him as she licked and kissed her way up and down his rigid shaft. Brushing her lips past the head of his cock but never quite touching the aching flesh. Again and again, her lips drew close only for her to tilt her head and kiss his hips or nip his thigh instead.

 Finally, with a wicked smile, she closed her lips around the velvet head. Karen moaned low in her throat savoring the size and weight against her tongue. Sliding her lips down, she felt the fullness of him in her mouth.

“That feels amazing, Karen!”

She could feel his hands settle onto the back of her head. For a moment, Karen froze. She braced herself against the discomfort of knowing Logan was about to try and shove his length all the way in.

Except that he didn't. His hands slid into her hair, gently encouraging her to take him deeper. There was no attempt to force, no selfish demand for more. Only a gentle encouragement to explore. 

Free to make your own choices, he has said. Even now when she could feel his need to be balls deep in her throat, it was her decision. Emotions Karen did not recognize welled up in her chest, both exhilarating and frightening. Strangely, giving her that freedom only increased her determination to please him to the very best of her ability.

She opened her lips wide around his girth and sank lower, slowly taking him inch by inch into the warm wetness of her mouth. Sliding his length in and out, working it deeper and deeper until she could feel him pressed against the back of her throat.

With a moan, Karen pushed further trying to take as much of him in her throat as she could. She pressed forward, feeling her throat flex and close around the blunt-tipped shaft threatening to choke her. Again, until it felt like he might just bottom out into her stomach. Tears of effort sprang from her eyes but a thrill of accomplishment made it all worthwhile when she felt his pubes tickling against her lips.

Karen pulled back to gasp for air. “I did it!”

“You sure did.” Logan smiled at her, laying between his legs. Lust burned in his eyes. “Now do it again.”

Karen replied with action rather than words. She held his gaze, stoking the fires of their mutual desire, and slowly took him deep into her throat. Both of them gave voice to their pleasure and she could not decide which of them enjoyed it more.

 She left no part of his manhood unexplored or unappreciated. Her hands glided up and down his spit slicked shaft. The velvet touch of her tongue went low to trace the shape of his balls, then high to explore the delicate ring of flesh beneath the swollen head.

Karen’s lips kissed every ridge and vein from root to tip, even as she muttered soft whimpers of pleasure. Then, when it seemed Logan could take no more of her delicious teasing, she would swallow him again, driving him ever closer to the ragged edge of his self-control.

Logan tugged at her arms. “You keep that up and I’m gonna blow. I think that’s enough foreplay, don’t you think?”

His words brought a smile of anticipation to her wet lips. The temptation to milk him to completion was strong. Karen wanted to taste the seed that Beauty was so greedy for. Only the memory of how it felt to have him filling every inch of her hungry sex allowed her to resist the urge.

Soon. She promised herself, already savoring the idea of the many endless possibilities and positions they could, all three of them, explore together.

“Yes!” She nodded eagerly and climbed up his body. “Yes, please.”

Kneeling over his hips, Karen reached down and guided his shaft into position. Logan smiled and lay back, resting his head on his hands. “Wow. Did you know that you are one seriously sexy woman?”

His words sent warm currents through her body, fanning the flames of her desire. She would show him alright! Karen hungered to see a look of ecstasy painted across his handsome face almost as much as she wanted to feel every inch of him stretching and filling the emptiness inside her body.

Throwing him a wicked grin, she began to flex her legs, bobbing up and down so that only the swollen knob pushed past her lips. Her folds parted around the blunt head, kissing the tip with the slippery nectar of her desire and the warmth of her sexual core. Logan’s hips rocked upward but so did she, denying him from going any deeper.

“Tease,” he groaned.

“Who me?” she offered in an innocent voice.

Logan opened his mouth to reply. Karen chose that moment to drop her weight, swallowing half of his length in one swift movement. Whatever he meant to say was lost in a soft growl of pure pleasure.

Karen rose and fell in a steady rhythm. As she had with her throat, Karen had to work to get all of him inside her lithe body. She struggled to catch her breath and to yield to the thick shaft invading the depths of her flesh.

Logan groaned, an animal noise deep in his chest. She watched the muscles in his chest, neck, and biceps tighten and flex with the effort to remain passive. His self-control was impressive but, quite suddenly, it became her driving need to be the reason he lost control. To give him the same uncontrollable pleasure he had given to her.

Taking a deep breath, she let her weight settle onto his hips. Her body surrendered to the full length and width of his hard length in her belly. A choking wail spilled from Karen’s lips. It was painful. It was bliss.

Gently bouncing, she leaned back and reached down to stroke fingers between the wet lips of her sex, pulling his attention like a magnet. Karen moaned at the mingled sensations of her fingers on her clit, his shaft filling her belly, and his fevered gaze on her every move. She began to rock and masturbate in front of his eyes.

He had wanted her to give voice to her desire before. No longer hampered by fear and uncertainty, Karen felt a heady sense of freedom to do or say whatever she wanted. No judgment. No hesitation. Only pleasure for them both.

“Mmm, that feels so good.” She moaned. “Your cock is so big inside of me. My little pussy is so full. See?” Karen spread her lips to give him a clear view of his dick buried inside her.

She smiled at the rumbling sounds of lust vibrating out of his chest and the hungry gleam in his eyes. She felt powerful and sexy. 

Almost there, she thought.

“You like that?” Karen grinned, circled a fingertip around her pleasure button and gasped at the sudden, intense spike in sensation. So did he as her sex reacted, tightening around him. “You like seeing me impaled on that big cock?”

“Yes,” he growled. “I do. What are you going to do about it?”

She started to move in slow circles. “I’m going to ride this dick,” she moaned. The sensation blasting through her body was making it difficult to speak. “Squeeze it in my… oh… wet, little pussy until you fill my belly with your… ah!… hot cum.”

“Good plan,” Logan grunted. 

Karen replied and fell forward to thrust her breasts into his face. She clenched her teeth at him in a feral, friendly grin. “It is, isn’t it?”

She slammed her hips down, grunting at the sudden, merciless invasion of all that rigid meat going so deep, so suddenly. Like fucking a tree trunk! she thought.

Still, it was worth it to hear Logan’s rumbling groan. That sound only encouraged her to redouble her efforts. It wasn’t easy, especially with Logan licking and biting on her nipples, but it got easier with every aggressive thrust of her hips until her ass was slapping against his thighs with every roll of her hips.

Karen fucked him as fast and hard as she could, pistoning her ass up and down on his shaft. Just as she thought her strength would fail, Logan’s impressive self-control finally snapped. With a growl, his hands shot forward to cup the cheeks of her ass.

In an instant, the illusion of control he had allowed her to enjoy was gone. One moment she was riding him. The next moment Karen could only hang on as he pulled her down and lifted his hips, driving his length into her deepest reaches.

 One hand rose to tangle in her hair and pull her mouth down onto his. Their tongues danced together as he held her curled on his chest, legs splayed to either side as he pounded into her. She could only cry out in mindless pleasure and ride the charging bull she had let loose. Pulsing waves of orgasm swept over her again.

This time there was no offer of a gentle descent from pleasure. The fever and masculine need to plow and plunder was in control now. Before she could catch her breath, the world spun as he rolled her over onto her back and his weight settled between her thighs.

Intense pressure and pleasure swept across her body. Karen clawed at the moss and struggled to catch her breath. He began to move again. A voice screamed out a rising wail of lustful abandon, her voice.

When he pulled back, it left a gnawing emptiness in her. Each slow thrust pushed her pleasure to the ragged edge of madness. She was no longer aware of anything beyond the electric, pulsating waves of mindless bliss cascading across every nerve.

The pace of their coupling began to quicken once again. It was too much. Orgasm ripped through her quaking body for the third time.

Faster still. Distantly, she was aware of the low growl of his rising need. Of the tremble in his muscles as he controlled his lust and strength by sheer willpower.

She looked into his eyes. “Do it,” she managed to somehow shape scattered thoughts into words. “Fuck me, Logan.”

His only response was a wordless snarl. The look in his dark green eyes might have been terrifying in any other circumstances. Here and now, she welcomed it.

“Take me.”

Spread open as she was, his shaft drilled into her body with hammering force. He sat back on his knees. His hands curled under to cradle her ass, lifting her lower body entirely from the moss bed.

“Yes!” she cried as he slammed his full length back into her depths. “Fuck me! Claim me! Make me yours! Only yours!” The pressure began to build in her core once again, as hot and fierce as the animal lust she had awoken in her lover. Her flesh, nearly at its limit, echoed with a sweet song of pain and pleasure.

So was Logan judging by the wild thrusts and rising growls against her ear. He began to quake, pounding into her aching body. Closer. Harder. And then…

When he came inside her, Karen could feel every drop of sperm splashing against her walls. It painted her core with seething, glorious, heat. Her orgasm exploded through her flesh, tearing all thought from her mind. The world around her vanished in a blinding, searing, explosion of pleasure.

Darkness rushed up at Karen and she embraced it.

*****

Karen’s first awareness of waking was the gentle protests of her body. Movement required effort. She heard a scramble of activity close by and opened her eyes to see Logan’s worried face hovering over her, brushing strands of hair back from her face.

“Karen, can you hear me? Are you alright?”

She blinked at him and considered the question. Am I alright?

Every part of her felt tender, especially her pussy. It was a strange, but not uncomfortable sensation. Quite the opposite. For the first time, the gnawing, ever-present lust of her damnation had been… satisfied? No, that word was too weak.

Beaten to a pulp with an orgasm hammer, she decided.

“You’re smiling.” Logan breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m going to take that as a good sign.”

He helped her to sit up. “What happened?” she asked.

“I was hoping you could tell me.”

Karen blinked a few times and struggled to focus. She could see the worry in his eyes and something else… guilt? The memory of their wild encounter returned and with it, a recollection of her efforts to encourage his very enthusiastic response.

“What happened?” she asked again.

Logan looked shaken. “Damned if I know! We were having sex, we both came and then… you blacked out. A moment later you started to convulse like you were having a seizure! It was terrifying and there wasn’t a damned thing I could do about it. Thankfully, it didn’t last long and you seemed to settle down. That was hours ago. You have been unconscious ever since, until just now.”

“I am so relieved to see you awake!” He reached out as if to touch her hand, then hesitated. “I am so sorry. I honestly don’t know how this happened. Did I hurt you?”

“I… no, you didn’t,” Karen replied, then smiled. “Not at all. I just didn’t realize that you could be so aggressive and dominant.” She smiled. “I liked it. A lot.”

“I honestly have no idea what came over me,” he scowled.

At his stricken expression, Karen reached out to squeeze his hand and offer a sweet smile. “It’s fine. You know I would do anything for you. You can have my body anytime you want it. Any way you want. I adore having you inside me.”

Leaning back, Karen rubbed her belly and sighed. “Truth be told, I feel amazing! My skin feels all tingly. I can still feel your cum inside of me. It’s still warm!”

“Still warm?" he asked. “How? That was hours ago.”

Karen smiled and shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care. It feels good. That’s all that matters.”

He stared at her. “Holy shit,” he muttered, wide-eyed. “You look incredible!”

She smiled and stretched for his viewing pleasure. “Mmm… thank you.”

The next moment caught them entirely by surprise, all three of them.

A man walked around a corner and into the orange, crystal light. In his open palm was a golf ball-sized shard of crystal glowing with a dim light the color of a summer sky. He was naked, thin, pale, middle-aged and otherwise thoroughly unremarkable looking.

Dirty, blonde hair barely covered his scalp in wispy, strands. His eyes, a pale brown, flew wide open as his gaze swept across Logan’s camp sight and on them. He stared at Logan. The man’s mouth fell open in shock.

He began to back away. “Oh! I am so sorry. There isn’t supposed to be anyone… I didn’t realize….”

Logan leaped to his feet, slinging the scabbard from his sword blade and pointing it at the intruder. Somehow, the man’s eyes got even bigger as terror painted his features in lines of near panic.

“Stop!” Logan barked. “Don’t move. You so much as breathe wrong and I will cut you the fuck down.”

The man obeyed and staggered to a sudden halt, holding his hands up in surrender. “I meant no harm! I thought the cavern empty and was just passing through to the outside. Please don’t hurt me!”

Karen watched the scene play out, torn between conflicting emotions. A cold trickle of fear crawled down her spine at having an intruder in their shelter. At the same time, a pulsing warmth radiated from her core to look at Logan standing there, half-naked and all burnished muscle. Armed and fearless in his determination to keep her safe from a hostile world.

“Passing through from where?” he demanded in his deep, sexy growl.

The stranger licked his lips and glanced back the way he had come but offered no answer.

Logan nodded. “From deeper in the caves then. You didn’t think anyone would be here and I have been here for more than a week. That means you live back there. Doesn’t it?”

Karen could not help but admire Logan’s quick mind. Almost as much as she appreciated his other attributes. She watched as the man reluctantly nodded.

Logan considered, then reached down for the scabbard and sheathed the sword. “Alright then. You don’t look like a threat, so let’s sit down and start again like civilized people. My name is Logan, Logan Proud Bear.”

*****

Karen observed as both men eased down to a sitting position though neither looked very relaxed. The air was charged with tension. The newcomer looked ready to flee at a moment’s notice. As if he expected Logan to sprout fangs and claws.

She understood how he felt. That had been her only two days ago, always terrified, endlessly horny, and forever alone. Destined and condemned to suffer for sins she could not even remember. It made her head spin to think about how much her circumstances had changed in that amount of time.

All thanks to the good man at her side.

“Hello, Logan. My name is Alan.” The man offered a hesitant smile.

The man barely glanced at Karen. That was just fine with her. This Alan person thought Logan with his sword was the danger. Let him continue to think that. If he, in any way, threatened Logan, he would learn his mistake in an instant. Karen would claw the eyes out of his head.

“You alone, Alan?” Logan asked, then nodded in answer to his own question. “You hesitate to answer, so I am going to take that as a “no” and you are trying to protect or hide someone. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.”

“I…” Alan’s mouth moved but no more words came out.

Logan nodded again. “I understand wanting to protect your own.” He held the sheathed sword up and then set it down in a symbolic peace gesture. “Believe it or not, I wish no harm to you and yours. There is enough violence already in this fucked up place. However, you just walked through a back door in my home that I did not know was there. That bothers me greatly, friend. Surely, you can appreciate that?”

Alan seemed to relax just a little. He nodded. “I can. In fairness, this cavern was unoccupied the last time I passed through.”

“That’s a reasonable answer, except for one thing,” Logan replied. “As far as caves go, this one is fairly comfortable with light, drinkable water, and even someplace to sleep. If you have been down here for a while, why would you not make use of this area?”

He waited but nervous silence was the only response Logan got. “Alright, keep your secrets… for now. How about this? Since you know where we live, how about you show me where you live and I can meet your people so we can be good neighbors. That’s only fair, don’t you think?”

“Will you be armed?”

“For self-defense, yes,” Logan replied.

“I don’t know if I can do as you ask, ” Alan said.

Logan leveled his dark green eyes on the other man. When he spoke there was no threat or anger in his tone, only the certainty of fact. “You might not want to make the mistake of thinking I’m asking.”

Alan stared at him and swallowed hard.

Logan smiled and sat back. “Look at it this way, Alan. I don’t intend to stay hidden in this hole forever. Sooner or later, you and your people can have it back, no harm, no foul. I mean to find a way out of Hell. After that, the place is all yours again. Until then, I don’t see why we can’t be friends, yeah?”

Karen was startled to hear Logan’s intentions. Nothing of that sort had been mentioned before and with good reason. It was impossible. Even to try was beyond insane. The stunned expression on Alan’s face was proof it wasn’t just her that thought so.

“That’s… very interesting,” the man replied. “I too have given much thought to that idea.”

“Really?” Logan responded.

“What?” Karen all but shouted. Was everyone except for her out of their minds?

Alan chuckled and shrugged. “Well, there isn’t much else to do down here except think and I am something of an expert on the subject.”

Logan leaned in. “An expert on thinking?”

“On Hell,” Alan replied. “That is to say, from a Biblical perspective. I have seen very little of it personally, even after being brought to this Circle by my old Master and escaping into the wastelands.”

“Hold the fucking phone!” Logan did a double-take of surprise. “Are you saying you traveled here from another Circle of Hell? How?”

Alan looked at him as if the question made no sense. “By ship, of course.”

“By ship,” Logan repeated. He looked at Karen. “Does this mean anything to you?”

“I have seen this, yes, but I hide until they are gone.”

He looked back and forth between Karen and Alan, frustration and confusion in his eyes. “I don’t understand. I have scouted miles in every direction and not seen so much as a pond of water, much less, rivers, lakes, or oceans for ships to sail on.”

“Well, yes,” Alan said, clearly warming up to the topic. “According to legend, there are indeed rivers and lakes in Hell, which is in itself, a most fascinating observation. Five to be specific and..." he held up a finger as if to emphasize his point, “all of Greek rather than Christian origin I might add. Notably, they are: the Archeron, or river of pain where the newly dead are said to be ferried to their punishment by Charon the ferryman, the Lethe or river of forgetfulness, the Phlegethon, also known as the river of fire, the Styx, supposedly a swamp in the Fifth Circle, and Lake Cocytus where all rivers eventually end in the Ninth Circle.”

Logan blinked at him. Alan blinked back. The nervous crack and pop of Logan’s knuckles were rather loud in the abrupt silence.

“Fascinating,” Logan replied. “And which of those did you travel on to get here? You know, on the ship you mentioned?”

“Well, none of them, of course,” Alan chuckled. “That would be silly.”

“Of course it would.” Logan counted to ten in his head before asking in a frustrated tone. “Why exactly is that silly, Alan?”

“Because, my large friend…” Alan replied. “Everyone knows ships don’t sail on the rivers. They fly.”