Synopsis: This is the ninth chapter of an ongoing story. While I recommend reading from the beginning, here is a brief synopsis for those who want to jump right in or need a reminder where we left off: Saliah is a nearly all powerful demoness who feeds off moral corruption, and who had the majority of her powers unwillingly locked away inside an urn. Jack came across the urn by chance and instantly became Saliah's focus. She feeds off him with the ultimate goal of having him free her from the urn's grip. To better understand the urn and Saliah, Jack turned to his beautiful, brilliant, college professor Amanda Carpenter. She translated some of the urn's text and warned Jack that Saliah was not all she seemed. Saliah got to Amanda before she could complete the translation and, through threats and bribes, convinced Amanda to betray Jack, telling him that Saliah would become vulnerable only if Jack could make Saliah fall in love with him. Jack has used magic rings that Saliah gifted him to bring two women, Kerri and Natasha, into his mansion and compel them into a twisted sexual contest. This is the second part of that contest.
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Chapter 9 - Vanessa's Mistake
Saliah fixed a look of curiosity onto her face, but under the mask she cast her mind about, looking for something in nothingness. At least when her Khan had betrayed her, she could understand her feelings. Now her world was filled with unanswered questions. Jack's attempts at seduction were not genuine. She'd planted the idea in his head through his supposed ally Amanda. But he had still managed to give her a gift better than any mortal before. How? How had he found two women who were themselves fountains of deep corruption?
With Jack behaving like a typical, stubborn, man and insisting he keep up appearances at his job, she'd had all day to go through Kerri and Natasha's minds. They'd never met Jack, never met each other, never met anyone in common. And yet they were two of the most wicked humans Saliah had ever encountered.
At first she could think of only one answer, humans these days were simply more evil than they had been in past. But the elderly always prattled on about the corruption and diminishment of the younger generations. She despised the notion that she might feel, for lack of a better word, old.
And yet... Jack had impressed her. It had been so many eons and she was greedy for more. She had met him with a perfectly simple, perfectly functional, plan to regain her true power, to break the cursed bonds that had shackled her for centuries. And when victory was almost in her teeth, greed's ugly words were whispering in her ear, begging her to let things play out, just a little while longer.
Only one thing was certain, if Saliah could have her Eye back at that moment, but in return never know what Jack had planned for Kerri and Natasha's final challenge that evening, she would delay the return of the Eye.
Anticipation is a fire fed with time.
She sat, holding that firestorm of anticipation inside her chest, while Jack slowly put a morsel of food into his mouth, chewed, swallowed, took a sip of water, and then moved onto the next tiny morsel. The process repeated hundreds of times.
Men and women had died at her feet because of a mere chance they might delay her a moment in the fulfillment of a petty pleasure. And Jack was slowly filling his belly, slowly prattling on about his day, and she had to sit there with an ice smile on her face while a gift, more enticing than any she could remember, waited in the library.
Perhaps what bothered her most was that Jack's conversation wasn't worthy of being ignored. His, 'friend' Emily noticing his suit. Quitting his job. A delightful sexual escapade that she had tasted the corruption of from across the city. It was all worthy of her attention. It was just the wrong time to hear it.
When Vanessa walked in, Saliah seriously considered waving the woman into non-existence, but that would have likely put Jack off the evening's fun.
"Jack?" Vanessa said softly, "I'm sorry to bother you but I had something to tell you, and something to ask you."
Vanessa was wearing a corset that began just above her navel and squeezed her figure tightly all the way up to her breasts, breasts that threatened to burst upwards and reveal themselves at any moment. A black pencil skirt barely covered the bottom of her toned ass, and four-inch heels completed the outfit. It was a look that Jack liked, turned into costume.
Had Vanessa been confident she would have toned everything down by degrees, relied on the hint of sexuality as enticement. Instead, she made it explicit. A poor choice.
Jack's grin didn't so much as waver, of course why would it, he had all the time in the world and was as content as any man could be. She had never hated him so completely, not since he'd touched the urn for that first time when she had been so close.
"Sure Vanessa, what's up?"
"I wanted to let you know that I'm responsible for Becky and you hooking up." Vanessa had spent so much time being proud of herself she never bothered to think how that look must appear to others. The smug smile, the glimmer of pride in her eyes, the arrogant tilt of her hips. It took three heartbeats after Jack's face fell for Vanessa's lips to faulter, the glimmer to be snuffed from her eyes.
"What do you mean, 'you're responsible'?"
Saliah kept her face impassive. Humans were such odd creatures. Social animals who so often interacted with each other without any thought at all of how others would feel. Jack had clearly been elated at having a non-magical sexual conquest. He had thought himself attractive, virile, a man who women noticed for his looks, his confidence, his greatness.
"I..." Vanessa looked to Saliah and received marble's indifference in return.
"I told her you were rich, but if she got pregnant she could get a ton of the money. I, um, your computer history..."
Jack closed his eyes, tilted his head back up to the carved wooden ceiling panels of the spacious dining room, and took his head in two hands. "I'm such an idiot!"
More a fool. Women rarely hurl themselves at men, and it had been foolish of him not to question it. But all men were fools when it came to sex.
"No... I mean... She wants to do it Jack. She wants you to get her pregnant and will play out any fantasy you tell her. She'll suggest things that you've seen... Isn't that what you want?" Vanessa stuttered out. "I can get you other women too, however you want, I just... I thought you might like not knowing it was happening."
Jack's fingers twisted in his hair, the muscles in his arms tightened and strained against frustration. Stupid girl. There had only been two outcomes possible, either Vanessa pleased Jack, in which case Saliah would feed off his delicious corruption, or Vanessa would enrage Jack.
Saliah had never seen him angry before, and what he would do to Vanessa in his rage... Saliah would feed off that as well.
