Guys, I am so sorry! I bet you all thought I've abandoned this story, but I haven't and I never will. I promise you, I'll finish it; just please be soft on me as I'm attending university now and I've always got a mass of (little) things to do.

I really hope you're still interested in the story; some recent 'reviews 'suggest you still are, what makes me really, really happy! I know it's probably rude/bold to ask you for any more reviews, but I would be so grateful!

Well, as you all wanna know what's up with Lauren I guess, I'm gonna shut up now.. Enjoy!

Ps. Thanks for the congratulations on my graduation!:D


"Babe?" Nadia inquired softly, tapping on the double door to her lover's home office. "Babe, are you in there?"

Although she'd been living with her lover for four months already, the grand and lonely hallways of The Morrigan's luxurious mansion still made Nadia feel uneasy and awkward, especially at times like this, the middle of the night. After waking up in an empty bed, alone among the cool and rumpled sheets, however, Nadia couldn't resist looking for Evony.

Trying to stifle a yawn, she was about to turn away and continue searching elsewhere as a muffled yet alluring voice reached her ears, "Come in, darling."

Evony Fleurette Marquise was always a sight to behold but Nadia was left completely breathless when her eyes found her lover inside the spacious office. The Head of the Dark Fae was sitting behind her desk wearing nothing but minimal coquettish lingerie, her mussed hair evidence of their earlier activities; Nadia was near the point of begging her lover to come back to bed and ravish her again. "God, you're so sexy."

"I know, darling," the Morrigan chuckled, smirking. "What is it?"

Nadia snapped out of her trance and squirmed in embarrassment; she hadn't intended to voice her opinion about Evony's ridiculously attractive appearance aloud. She cleared her throat before answering, "You weren't lying next to me ... I missed you."

The Morrigan's expression became almost a tender as she leaned back in her chair and looked over what was currently her fovorite toy. Lauren Lewis' ex-girlfriend might have suffered from a serious mental problem, but Evony's interest in her had been aroused the moment she discovered Nadia to be a talented photographer. Soon after, the leanan sĂ­dhe had fully claimed her as a food source and lover, growing fond of the naive little girl that had helped her break the unaligned succubus. "You're so cute, you know."

Watching Nadia blush all over, Evony got out of the chair and walked over to the other woman to plant a quick kiss on her cheek. "Go back to bed, darling. I'll be right there."

"Well," Nadia sighed, pursing her mouth with the obvious aim to get the other woman around, "at least tell me what's so important that it can't wait until tomorrow morning?"

"Business," Evony stated in a surprisingly harsh tone. Truth be told, she really liked her human pet and understood why The Ash used to keep humans around, but lately, Nadia overstepped her bounds from time to time by not obeying her orders. "Business you should stay out of."

Mentally scolding herself for such disrespectful behavior,Nadia bowed her head in submission on the spot; she couldn't stand Evony being mad at her. Little did she know that this wasn't down to love but simply to the leanan sidhe's powers; it wouldn't be long before the Morrigan drove her into madness and ultimately death. "I am sorry, mistress. I am sorry for bothering you in the first place."

"It's okay, darling," the Dark Fae sighed, her voice sweet enough to send shivers up and down Nadia's spine again. "I want you to go now, though, as I'm waiting for a phone call."

The human briefly wondered who would call Evony this late, a sting of jealousy making its presence known. She had the good sense, however, not to ask. Instead she put on an obedient smile and turned to leave, when a hand caught her wrist suddenly and held her in place. The next thing she felt was a pair of familiar lips tightly pressed against her own, arms wrapping around her slender figure.

After opening her mouth at the behest of a skilled and eager tongue, Nadia lost herself in her lover's delicious taste. She didn't mind losing yet another fervent fight for dominance, her fingertips busy caressing Evony's flawless skin. Expecting to be taken on the office desk, Nadia groaned in protest when the other woman suddenly pulled away.

"Go to bed," the Dark Fae ordered, relinquishing her hold on her pet. "As I said, I'll be right there."

Unable to do much else besides panting for breath and trying to ignore the throbbing between her thighs, the Nadia just nodded and set out for the door, wobbly on her legs. As she reached for the knob, Evony addressed her one last time, "I expect you to be naked when I come back to bed, darling."

A few minutes after Nadia left, the phone rang.

"Dammit, Francis, it's about time," the Morrigan hissed into the receiver. "I've got better things to spend my hours on than sitting around here."

"I'm sorry, Morrigan," a man said, fear evident in his deep voice. "The girl just didn't wanna fuckin' leave this time, going on and on to the succubus about how gettin' drunk every night wouldn't bring her the doctor back. She only got lost when the succubus started yellin' at her."

Evony didn't really know whether to be annoyed or impressed by Kenzi's persistence, trying to knock some sense into her best friend ever since she had turned into a walking wreck. After months of trying in vain, however, the Dark Fae figured Kenzi would throw in the towel soon enough, consigning Bo to her fate.

"Just tell me what happened," Evony snorted, rolling her eyes. "And make it short!"

"Well, she pretty much pulled the same bullshit as always," Francis quickly reported. "She came to The Dal, with the human in tow, and got as pissed as a newt in no time, fallin' over a bar stool in the process. That Light Fae wolf also had to stop her from hittin' another patron's ass up at some point, before she started clashin' with her friends, tellin' them to to 'buzz the fuck off'. They all surrendered in the end while the succubus found herself some blonde chick she went home with just now."

The Morrigan gave a sardnonic laugh, causing her henchman to flinch at the other end of the phone. Little did she know that Francis heaved a sigh of relief then as she put down the receiver, without waiting for any response.

As she headed to the master bedroom, Evony thought about how perfectly her plan was working out. With the assistance of Nadia, she had taken away from Bo what she had treasured the most, Dr. Lauren Lewis. Still, she was marvelling at the irony of Lauren having sworn her allegiance to The Ash to be given the chance to save her ex-girlfriend's life whereas the latter had sworn her allegiance to The Morrigan to be given the chance to put an end to Lauren's.

And now the succubus was drinking, picking fights and sleeping around. Simply put, Bo was short of a complete breakdown, making her vulnerable to The Dark. It was quite amazing, in fact, how the loss of a loved one could ruin someone so strong and forceful.

It wasn't for nothing that Evony had always considered love a foolish and reckless emotion, weakening a person more in the long run than it could ever strengthen one. Love was to blame for what had happened to Lauren, to blame for the hell Bo was going through at the moment, and to blame for why Nadia would allow Evony to handcuff her to the bed tonight.

"Are you naked like I told you, darling?" the head of the Dark Fae asked sultrily as she opened the bedroom door, creating a light cone on the timber flooring for the room was completely dark. She could feel the anger surfacing within her. "You better did not disobey my order, Nadia."

"I'd never," a hoarse voice answered before the bedside lamp was switched on, revealing all of Nadia's bare self, positioned in the centre of the bed with her long legs spread wide open. "I'm yours to please. I love you, Evony."

The Morrigan's anger instantly vanished, replaced by lust and complacency. Love, what a foolish and reckless emotion it was. "Grab the handcuffs from the drawer ... and the pepper spray."

\~\~\=/~/~/

Ever since Bo had entered into a relationship with Lauren, she had been as faithful as a succubus could be and never gave a damn about the possible resulting scorn from the Fae community. Lauren would've permitted her to have sex with other people so long as Bo didn't tell her with whom or when or where, but the brunette had chosen to only kiss others on occasion in order to suck their chi.

At the very beginning, however, Bo had even felt guilty for that, always ruefully huddling up against the doctor afterwards. Eventually, Lauren had started laughing so hard at the succubus that she had been afraid for her girlfriend's sanity before Lauren had explained once for all that she didn't mind but rather adored Bo for wanting to fight her nature out of love for her.

The crazy thing was that Bo had never felt like she was fighting her nature. Each time she had faced with temptation, the brunette had simply thought about Lauren, and about how a short little sex adventure wouldn't have been worth it in a million years. Granted, she had flashed the one or other flirtatious smile towards some men and women she had felt particularly attracted to, but not once had she acted on her appetite.

The first time the succubus had slept with another woman after Lauren's death, she had thrown up for three hours straight the next day out of a combination of self-disgust and the huge bottle of vodka she had downed the night before. A few days later, though, she had done it again, getting tanked up and hopping into bed with the next woman that resembled the doctor.

By now, Bo was doing this most every night as it was the only thing that still made her feel alive. She was a succubus after all, relishing naked and sweaty flesh. But she knew now how absolutely phenomenal love-making was, so simple sex by comparison had obtained a stale off-taste, and once she would come back down from her high, that brief moment of blissful oblivion, Bo would long for arms to hold her tight, for a voice to whisper softly into her ear; the next morning she would long for the intimacy of a lazy cuddle session with her girlfriend right before breakfast.

Lauren was gone, however, leaving Bo to feel lonelier and emptier than she ever had in her dreadful past. She hated herself for being so weak; lots of people lost their soul-mates and weren't half as miserable like she was, boozing, fucking, fighting and treating her friends badly, even Kenzi. Bo could feel the darkness devour her a little more every day.

"I'm usually not such an easy lay, believe me," the succubus' latest one-night stand, whose name was Andrea for all she knew, breathed heavily. "It's just that you strike me as someone special."

Busy licking Andrea's neck, Bo would have merely given a sarcastic laugh if she had actually paid any attention to the blonde's words. She was most certainly no one special, and the only reason Andrea was giving herself to the brunette so willingly after just meeting each other for the first time were her powers. In fact, all of Bo's sex partners in recent months had been the victims of her charm, eventually.

Andrea finally managed to shove Bo a little off of her after being trapped between one of her living room walls and the other woman's body, rasping, "I really think we should move this to the bedroom, don't you?"

"Uh-huh," Bo hummed drunkenly, even though she wouldn't have minded taking the blonde then and there.

Smiling broadly, Andrea grabbed the succubus' hands and quickly guided her to their destination, past elegant furnishings Bo failed to notice, just as she failed to notice the framed pictures of Andrea and a handsome guy hugging and kissing. She was concentrating solely on the blonde, who suddenly looked a lot less like Lauren than she had back at The Dal.

Whenever they had simply snuggled on the couch or in bed, Bo had spent ages contentedly caressing Lauren's soft and wavy hair, but Andrea's, however, was straw-like and dull, and her nose wasn't as delicate as Lauren's. Most notably, though, were her inexpressive eyes; Lauren's had held so much depth and intelligence, so much passion and love.

Then again, it didn't really matter anyway since Bo never looked into her lays' eyes during sex. The brunette couldn't even look into her own eyes anymore when she was standing in front of the mirror.

Reaching the bedroom at last, Bo wasted no time, pushing Andrea onto the mattress in a sitting position before she climbed on top of her to straddle her. Moaning with pleasure, the blonde removed the succubus' tank top in one swift motion and tossed it on the floor. She started kneading Bo's breasts through the thin fabric of her bra while attempting to kiss her at the same time, frowning when the brunette pulled back. "What ... ?"

"Nothing," Bo slurred in reply and pulsed some energy into Andrea to soothe her. Truth was, she rarely let her victims kiss her, and if she did, she was only interested in their chi.

After unclasping her bra, Bo grabbed the other woman's head and pressed it against her bare chest, giving her a rather broad hint. While Andrea sucked Bo's erect peaks by turns, the succubus began to rock against her, both their centres wet and throbbing. Bo was about to get lost in the sensation, her thoughts and feelings keeping quiet for once, when Andrea suddenly turned them around and unceremoniously pushed the brunette onto the mattress.

Surprised and dizzy thanks to all the alcohol in her system, Bo didn't even realize at first that Andrea was kneeling on the bed next to her, expertly unbuttoning the succubus' jeans. Only when the piece of clothing was gone and the blonde was licking and biting her stomach, travelling south while fumbling with her panties, did Bo's intoxicated brain start 'working' again. She pushed Andrea's head away from her crotch immediately, causing the woman to frown once again.

"Take ... ," Bo rasped, sending more energy into the blonde, "Take your clothes off."

She never let them taste her.

In seconds, Andrea's low-cut blouse and jeans were lying on the floor, her underwear following close behind. Watching the blonde's would-be striptease, Bo felt the succubus inside of her rising to the surface and automatically knew that her eyes were changing color. For some reason, though, even her Fae-self was no longer as spirited as before.

Andrea chuckled mischievously as Bo sat up and grabbed her around the waist, pushing the blonde onto her back. Eventually, the brunette stretched out on top of the other woman, who wrapped her arms around her immediately. Bo sneaked her hand between their sweaty bodies and entered her without any warning, evoking a cry of pleasure from the blonde. "Fuck!"

Before thrusting again inside the other woman, Bo positioned herself so that her swollen clit rammed against the back of her own hand through the totally soaked fabric of her panties.

"Oh my God," Andrea exclaimed, arching her back in delight. "Oh my ... "

Instead of replying, the succubus closed her eyes, buried her face in the blonde's neck and did what she always did in the end, cherishing the illusion that the writhing body underneath her was Lauren's, that it was Lauren's wet heat two of her digits were practically drowning in, that it was Lauren's husky voice encouraging her. And as always, tears were trying to escape her tightly closed eyes.

"Dammit, Bo!" Andrea groaned with pleasure and pain, unsure of which outweighed the other, as Bo started thrusting into her frantically. "Bo!"

"Lauren ... ," Bo whispered. "God, Lauren ... "

The succubus pulsed such a huge amount of energy into Andrea that she became her willing slave, not caring that the brunette was obviously thinking about someone else; she would say and do everything Bo wanted. Normally, Bo would have felt guilty, but not this time. She was devastated and drunk, letting herself get carried away by this fantasy.

"Lauren," the brunette sobbed, "say ... say you want me."

"I want you, Bo!" Lauren moaned.

"Say you need me, Lauren."

"I need you, Bo!" Lauren moaned.

"Say you love me, Lauren!"

"I love you, Bo!" Lauren moaned. "I love you so much!"

And Bo came undone with the doctor's name on her lips and tears on her cheeks, knowing that she would hate herself for this tomorrow morning, like every other time.

\~\~\=/~/~/

A lonesome cougar was patrolling the woods in the early morning mist, on the hunt for some unlucky prey. Finally settling its emerald green eyes on a hare, the big cat stopped dead in its tracks and crouched down noiselessly. Sharp claws extended, every single muscle tensed under its fur-coated skin, the cougar dashed forward and killed the small animal in the blink of an eye.

Once the cougar had finished feasting on the hare's stringy flesh, it set out for the nearby creek to drink some water and wash off the sticky blood from its fur. As the suns rose slowly higher, the tawny-colored cat left the creek to return to its lair; a simple rock cave, but pleasantly secluded and with two handy exits.

It was rather dark inside the cave, thanks to it's perfectly adapted eyes, however, the cougar didn't mind at all. The cat could easily spot the pair of jeans, the black silk blouse, the white undershirt and the set of matching cream underwear on the ground, a wonderful silver necklace with an elegant pendant laying on top of the bundle of neatly folded clothes.