"Please, Master, help..."
Jev looked to Cyd for an explanation.
"I saw lights in your place and the shape of someone moving around. Then Di messaged you were leaving the restaurant. I found this one making herself at home."
Despite the melodramatic pleas and Cyd's firm grip pressing her against the wall, the purple woman didn't seem to be in any real distress. Frowning, Jev addressed her. There was a hint of familiarity to her face but he couldn't place where he'd seen her.
"Ok, so who are you and why are you calling me 'master?'"
The sound of his voice seemed to calm her, and she stopped struggling.
"Because you're my master, master. I tried to bond with you, and then you made me submit. Now you're my master and I'm your slave. I'm here to do whatever you want. But I'm so hungry. I need to feed from you now."
She seemed to have a little frisson of joy as she referred to herself as his slave. At a loss, he looked to Cyd and Di for opinions. Both seemed similarly confused. Dione spoke first.
"Well, she's a succubus. I don't think we've ever seen one around these parts. They used to be assassins and royal consorts and the like, but nowadays they just tend to prey on people who are lost or vulnerable. Or, well, politicians. They feed on
ijinka,
and if you're not careful they'll drain you and leave you without a soul. I've never heard of one becoming 'bound' to a person before, but I'm not exactly an expert. They used to service kings and the like, so there must have been some way to control them."
Jev scrutinized the purple woman. She was being held up by her neck and now that he'd appeared she'd relaxed and seemed to be in little to no actual discomfort. If he'd been in her place being held by Cyd like that, he was fairly certain he'd be half dead. She was clearly more resilient than she seemed.
"So, what now? Do we call the cops?"
This seemed to start her panicking again.
"Please, Master, no. I need to feed from you. Don't make them take me away, I won't survive!"
Jev's frown deepened. She seemed crazy, like a stalker. And yet, he couldn't shake the annoying feeling that he'd heard something like this before.
"Cyd, let her down."
Cydwen looked at him to ensure he was certain, and when he gave a reassuring nod, she slowly lowered the woman down the floor. She rushed towards him, but he stopped her by raising his hand. She stopped abruptly, almost as if she'd hit a wall.
"Alright, let's start from the top. What's your name?"
"I'm Samahratiel."
As she spoke the name, he said it too. He was starting to get profoundly weirded out by this.
"Ok, Sam. You say you're bonded to me. This is with magic?"
She nodded.
"Alright. Di, do you think we could get Manika to confirm the existence of this bond?"
She shrugged.
"She can probably tell if there's magic, more than that I'm not certain."
"Well, it's a start. If nothing else maybe she can guide us to more information."
He sighed and looked over the violet intruder. She was nude, standing before him unselfconsciously, her tail flicking back and forth like a cat's. The wings he somehow knew she possessed were not in evidence.
"Alright, well, to start with, let's get you dressed, where are your clothes?"
He had barely finished the sentence when clothing appeared on her body, a skintight black leather bodysuit that fit her so tightly it seemed more like a coat of paint. More disconcerting than the appearance of clothing from nowhere was its instant arrival, which gave him the confusing sensation that somehow she'd always been clothed and that he'd inexplicably not noticed.
"Right... Well, no offence but I'd feel a lot better if you weren't here tonight. Tomorrow we can see Manika, confirm what you're saying, and then, once we know for sure you're not going to tear my soul out of my dick, then we can discuss 'feeding' you."
Cyd volunteered her place. She had restraints to keep herself in the house when the heat was badly upon her, and they already knew she was more than capable of handling her physically in the event she was attacked.
"Alright, Sam. You go with Cyd tonight. Be polite and don't give her any trouble. What she says, goes, just as if I said it, ok? She's going to be locking you up for the night. Then in the morning if you've behaved we'll go into town."
She nodded placidly and looked up at Cyd with what could only be described as "doe eyes". Cyd grabbed her shoulder firmly and began to lead her out of the house. As she passed him, she growled.
"You owe me, big."
He patted her furry butt in a conciliatory fashion, then closed and locked the door behind them. He let out a sigh, collapsing into one of the kitchen table chairs.
"Alright, so when does life here get less... weird?"
Dione chuckled slightly and began kneading his shoulders.
"What do you mean? Before you came along, this place was just an old man's farm. The most excitement we'd get was when the foxes would go after the chickens."
She pulled the knot of his tie loose and unfastened the buttons of his collar, laying a few kisses along the nape of his neck as the fabric loosened.
"Hopefully, all this excitement hasn't ruined your appetite for dessert... master?"
He threw his arms up in the air playfully, standing to face the voluptuous dryad.
"She's teasing me! My home gets invaded by a crazy person and she's teasing me!"
She giggled and pulled at his tie, bringing his face in to hers for a kiss.