This chapter contains explicit content.

Chapter Seven

The amazing, wonderful cinnamon musk of Valen lingered with Lilith through her trip, mingling with the memory of the strong, sweet taste of him. His presence lingered with her even when she stood in Coleta's waiting room, far above Drearing's Deep in the fortress like temple.

The aasimar hadn't been waiting long, her lips pursed and her arms crossed, when the door flew open and the magnetic, charismatic woman sauntered in.

"Lilith! Angel! Oh, I cannot tell you how thrilled I am you've decided to visit!" Coleta's dark eyes were shining with genuine glee.

Coleta Amoliana was what one would call 'an arresting beauty'. Her curves were luscious, and her skin a wonderful alabaster hue with flushed cheeks and deeply colored lips. Her eyes were a wonderful, rich brown that was offset by the thick, glorious waves of black hair that tumbled down her back. Of course, she wore ornate black robes with simplistic silver jewelry. More than her appearance, though, Coleta had a way of capturing people's attention, a confidence that radiated from her and dared people to defy her.

She moved now to hug Lilith, but Lilith took a step back and glared at Coleta fiercely.

"What the hell, Coleta?!" Lilith spat at the necromancer.

Coleta sighed, frowning now. "All right, Lilith, what moral high ground are you clinging to this time? What could I have possibly done to upset you?"

"What could you of...?" Lilith stared at Coleta in shock. "'Freed' slaves? A cult? VAMPIRES? Then there's this thing about a ritual sacrifice, and once again you've managed to push past the realms of evil into SUPER evil!" The sorcerer half yelled all this at the necromancer in absolute disgust.

"Oh. That." Coleta said, playing with her hair and sounding bored.

"Yes 'THAT'!" Lilith shot at her. "Once again, Coleta, WHAT THE HELL?"

This time Coleta laughed. "Oh fine, Lilith! If it really upsets you that much I'll shut down and move on. This place got rather boring a while ago anyway. I mean..." Coleta sighed, shaking her head. "It just wasn't a challenge! I lure in some slaves, find some gullible vampires, promise a draco-lich a bunch of bones, and bada-bing, bada-boom! Valsharess lady has an army of undead."

Lilith shook her head, scowling. It was disturbing how matter-of-factly Coleta could speak of things that were unspeakably evil. "Why are you even working for the Valsharess? Last time I checked you didn't care about power, it's all about the suffering. You're a torture girl, though, this is all fear and control based pain. I also recall you not caring about money, so why the hell are you here? What did the Valsharess offer you?"

In response to this, Coleta just clasped her hands in front of her and grinned contentedly.

Lilith almost gagged in revulsion. "Coleta!"

Coleta giggled and tossed her hair back. "She does the most wonderful things with her tongue, and bites in all the wrong places!" She said gleefully.

"I should have known." Lilith said, shuddering and feeling dirty just from standing near the necromancer. "I'm leaving, Coleta, and you better leave too!"

"Oh, Lilith!" Coleta looked stricken, going over to the aasimar and hugging one of her arms tightly. "I'll leave, I promise. Just please don't storm out this time. I'm sorry if I upset you, but you know I can't help it! I can't be anything other than what I am."

Lilith sighed, but relaxed a little. Coleta had a way of appealing to the sorcerer's logical side, and always managed to get her to forgive her for whatever she had done. Why Lilith let this happen every time they met was beyond her.

"Fine, but I'm not staying long. I need to get back to the Seer's camp." Lilith said reluctantly. It was true that the aasimar was desperate for friends, but sometimes she questioned the intelligence of maintaining a friendship with the necromancer.

Coleta waved her hand dismissively. "You should stay with me forever. I know you like having sex with me, and if you'd let me remove your conscience you'd like evil too."

"No, Coleta." Lilith said firmly. It was an offer Coleta made to the aasimar every time they met, and one she always turned down. "And we're not having sex this time."

Coleta looked at Lilith, eyes wide and her mouth opened in surprise. "Why? Did I do something wrong?"

"Other than the fact that you revolt me?" Lilith snorted.

"That's never stopped us before." Coleta pointed out. "As I recall, the self-loathing and shame was a turn on for you."

"I mean it, Coleta!" Lilith snapped, though her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Coleta watched Lilith for a long moment before a fiendish grin spread across her face. The necromancer began to glide towards Lilith, making the aasimar back up until she was pressed against the wall.

"What's her name?" Coleta purred, leaning forward so her nose was almost touching the aasimar's. Lilith couldn't help but notice the soft curves of the necromancer's breasts, or how wonderful she smelled. However, her body wasn't reacting to the other woman's as it normally did. Something had changed. This was usually the point where Lilith's heartbeat started to pick up and the heat began to uncoil between her legs. "Come on, Lilith! What's her name? Is she better than me?" Coleta grinned, then pressed herself gently against the aasimar, running a hand back through her hair. "Give me a chance to prove I'm better than her. Let me remind you."

"There is no other woman." Lilith said, looking away from Coleta and feeling very uncomfortable. She tried to shift away from Coleta, but the necromancer put her arms on either side of Lilith against the wall.

"A man, then?" Coleta asked, her eyes sparkling. "Oh, he must be something special!" Coleta sang. "I remember you being uncomfortable around men. Have you remembered why that is, yet?" Coleta asked, stepping back from Lilith now and allowing her room to breath.

"No." Lilith said, shaking her head, gratefully moving away from the wall and into the center of the room.

Coleta frowned, crossing her arms. "Very well, then." She said, observing Lilith for a long moment. "Well, I'll respect that you're interested in someone else, though I don't like the idea of losing one of my favorite playmates."

Lilith couldn't help the sigh of relief. "Thank you, Coleta. This hasn't been easy for me."

Once again, Coleta waved her hand dismissively. "I'm evil, darling, but there are some things I just will not do. There are reasons beyond the multiple orgasm that women are better than men. I have to say, though, I'm rather curious about this male that has captured your attention. Tell me, who is he?"

Lilith hesitated. Trusting Coleta was always a tricky path to tread. On the one hand, she had never intentionally tried to hurt Lilith, on the other hand... well, she WAS evil. "His name is Valen Shadowbreath." She said at last. "He's a weapons-master, a tiefling."

"A tiefling?" Coleta squealed like a little girl. "How perfectly fairy-tale! An angel and a demon. It's so..." The necromancer let out a dreamy sigh, and twirled about. "Morbid romantic!"

Lilith couldn't help but smile a bit as she watched Coleta dance about the room. This was the part of Coleta that Lilith liked, the part you got to see once you got past all the horrible things she was capable of.

"Have you kissed him? Do you love him?" Coleta clasped Lilith's hands in hers, looking at her with the sparkling eyes of a little girl who was listening to her older sister speak about her first boyfriend.

"I kissed him before I came here." Lilith said quietly, looking away from Coleta and smiling just a little at the memory of the fierce passion that had welled in her heart as she kissed Valen, and how much stronger it had gotten when he kissed her back.

Coleta sighed happily and pulled Lilith into a sweeping waltz that only she could hear the music for. "And?"

"And what?"

"And do you love him?" Coleta asked impatiently.

Lilith's gaze turned far away then, and she felt the warm feeling rush over her once again as she pondered the question.

"Yes. With all my heart."


"Valen?" A gentle knock sounded on Valen's door.

The tiefling sat straight up in his bed immediately, recognizing the voice on the other side of the door as Lilith's.

Valen had been trapped in training sessions and strategy meetings all day, and by the time he learned that the aasimar was back she had already gone to bed and it was well into evening. To say the least, he had been extremely disappointed. The tiefling still didn't completely understand what it was he felt for the aasimar, or why he was feeling it, but he knew he wanted to be around her long enough to find out.

He was up off the bed and at the door to his room in a matter of seconds. It didn't occur to him that all he was wearing was a pair of loose pants he wore to sleep in until the door was open.

Lilith stood in front of him now, her hair tousled from sleep, and dressed in a pale pink nightgown of some incredibly light fabric. Valen couldn't help but stare at her. It was the first time he'd seen her wear something that wasn't blue or white.

The aasimar had to swallow hard when she noticed Valen wasn't wearing a shirt, his glorious, muscled torso in full view in front of her. Her eyes lingered momentarily on the scar she had given him before she regained her senses and she spoke. "Something happened. We need to talk. I didn't wake you, did I?"

"I couldn't sleep anyway." Valen said, gesturing for her to come in, and then shutting the door behind her. He wasn't sure if inviting her in was the best of ideas, unsure if he could trust himself alone with her. Since she had kissed him the mere thought of her set his skin on fire and made his breathing shallow.

Lilith tried very hard not to look at Valen, knowing she'd lose her train of thought if she did. "The Valsharess came to me in a dream. She tried to seduce me, and she tried to get me to switch sides. I slapped her and told her 'no', which she did not take kindly to."

"So why are you telling me this?" Valen asked, his tail twitching nervously, but otherwise able to maintain a calm demeanor.

Lilith hesitated. She had to admit this could have waited until the morning, but she had been rather desperate to see Valen since she came back. "Because I don't want to give you any reason not to trust me. I seem to remember that being a problem with us, the whole trust thing." She said quietly, still managing to not look at him.

"You must have figured out by now that I trust you. I gave up trying to hate you a while ago." Valen said softly, the faintest of smiles touching his lips. His eyes lingered on the aasimar for a long moment, wondering how it was that he had ever doubted her loyalties.

Lilith couldn't help the small laugh that left her. "And you tried so hard to hate me." The comment was greeted with the rich, enticing sound of Valen's beautiful laughter. Lilith looked up at him now, watched him laugh and watched the grin that had spread over his face.

It was a truly silly thing, how much she loved the man standing before her. The aasimar had barely know him a month, but in the time that she'd known him, life had suddenly become worth living. She loved spending time around him, loved everything about him from his sarcastic attitude to how he sang when he thought no one was listening. Lilith even loved how incredibly frustrating and depressing he could be.

She wasn't ready to tell him this, though. She wasn't sure if she ever would be.

"Well, I suppose I'll see you in the morning, then." Lilith said, and then moved forward.

Valen knew what she was going to do, knew that she was going to give him the chaste, friendly kiss on the cheek goodnight. He knew that soon he'd be able to smell the maddening blueberry scent of her and feel her petal soft lips against his skin, and he knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself. The thought of her being close enough to him to touch, to be felt under his finger tips and held in his arms sent an unbearable heat coursing through his body.

The tiefling held out longer than he thought he would. He thought he'd grab her right away, but he managed to hold out until she had leaned up towards him. It was then that he grabbed her by the arms and pulled her to his chest, swooping down to kiss her with a desperate, needful passion that had slowly been building in him over the weeks since they'd met.

Lilith had made a small sound of surprise when his rough fingers locked tightly around her bare arms, pulling her against his immaculate chest. The aasimar kissed him back, let him part her lips with his tongue and hungrily explore her depths while his arms slid around her possessively.

The feeling Valen felt when Lilith kissed back couldn't be put into words. It was a joy and yearning and want all rolled into some unintelligible mess that he desperately wanted more of. However, he had to break the kiss. He had to break it for a moment, no matter how much he didn't want to.

"Do you want me to stop?" Valen asked. Though he had pulled back, he hadn't pulled back very far. In fact, when he spoke the words, his lips brushed against hers.

Lilith almost laughed, feeling better than she had in years. "If you hold back on me in the slightest, Shadowbreath, I will be very upset."

Valen grinned as she spoke, then stole her lips again. As if to reply to her comment, he took hold of the collar of her nightgown, and tore it from her small form.

Lilith was suddenly very aware that she was naked, and the idea that Valen had ripped her clothes from her body sent scorching waves of excitement the likes of which she had never felt before through her being. It stiffened her nipples and made her quiver with anticipation even before Valen's hands started moving over her body, intent on memorizing her curves.

Even the memory of their first kiss couldn't prepare Valen for how amazing the aasimar felt against him. She smelled even better than he remembered, and her skin under his touch felt like it was on fire. His hands played over her body, desperate to feel the curve or her breasts, the planes of her back, and every other bit of her.

The tiefling had been to Hell, or something like it. He had seen all the worst of what the multiverse had to offer. Never had he imagined that there was a Heaven, or that it would ever be held tight in his arms, kissing him with an intensity that made his head spin and his vision blur.

Lilith laid her hands on the tiefling's broad shoulders, pulling herself up and locking her legs around his waist as she pressed herself tightly against him. Valen could feel vividly her hard, pink nipples pressed against his chest, and the warm spot between her legs against his stomach. A deep growl of smoldering desire emanated from the tiefling's throat. One arm locked around Lilith's waist to help support her, but the other he pressed up her back until he tangled a hand in her beautiful hair and forced her mouth closer to his.

This had gone beyond a simple want, now. He needed to feel her skin against his. He needed to hear her cry out under his touch. He needed to taste her, and imprint upon his mind that taste and the intoxicating scent that went along with it. He needed her to know he felt all this, and he needed to know she felt the same way.

Of course, Lilith felt the same way. There was no way she couldn't feel the same way he did. She'd never wanted someone more than she wanted the tiefling. It was rare that she let a man touch her like this. Most men seemed crude, or even disgusting. Valen, though... Valen had a wonderful, unconscious grace to him that couldn't be explained. He wasn't like other men. He was BETTER than other men.

Lilith sank her teeth into his lower lip, her eyes flashing and her breath coming rapidly. "Lose the pants. Now." She commanded fiercely, tightening the grip her legs had around his waist. Her thighs were on fire, and her breath was coming so rapidly she was amazed she had been able to keep kissing him. Breathing didn't seem to matter anymore. She needed his kiss more than she needed air.

Valen had laughed in response, kissing her again as he turned towards the bed and forcefully pulled her from him and threw her down onto the bed. Lilith was startled, resentful of having to let go of him for even a moment. That all disappeared, though, when Valen started to loosen his pants.

A wonderful thrill ran down Lilith's spine as she watched the tiefling shed his last bit of clothing. She took a long, shuddering breath as her eyes trained on the already hardened length of him. "You could have warned me." She said with an impish grin as she indicated him.

Valen couldn't stop the laughter. "You never asked." He pointed out as he slipped onto the bed, above her, lowering his lips to the flawless skin of one perfectly formed small breast.

"Remind me for next time." She gasped, her back arching as he sank his teeth into her tender flesh. Valen toyed with the soft, sensitive skin, biting her and teasing the nipple with his tongue. Lilith was writhing beneath him, leaning into the tiefling's touch and letting out the most amazing sounds he'd ever heard. He had to hear more of those sounds. Simply had to. A hand trailed down the aasimar's stomach to the place where her legs met. Already she was warm, moist, and so blessedly inviting that he shivered. He'd made her cry out when he touched her, and the arousal that was coursing through her was all too evident in the way her muscles tensed as she spread her legs for him compellingly.

She wanted him more than she'd ever wanted anyone else in her life, and he knew it. The tiefling also knew that she needed this, perhaps more than he did, and didn't want to rush things. He slowly trailed his lips down over her stomach, kissing and licking the skin as he went. Lilith's cries grew louder and more desperate the lower he went.

She knew where he was headed, and the thought of it combined with the sensations running through her was making her lose her mind. She was scared of what would happen if he kept going, but at the same time knew that horrible things would happen if he stopped.

As Valen moved lower he shifted her legs so that they rested on his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her hips tightly to keep her in place, hesitating momentarily to marvel in the amazing smell of her and to remind himself that the situation wasn't a dream, that it was actually happening. Then slowly, tentatively, he began to kiss her hot folds, and run his tongue over her more sensitive bits of flesh.

Immediately Valen was glad that he chose to hold down her hips. As soon as he set to work her back arched sharply, her shoulder's almost leaving the bed and she started to squirm about. The tiefling paid close attention to the beautiful, stunning moans that were coming from deep within the aasimar's throat, quickly identifying the spots that got him the best responses. He was quickly losing himself in those sounds coming from Lilith, and the inexplicably wonderful taste of her. The tiefling couldn't help but think that it shouldn't be possible for a person to taste this amazing. That one person shouldn't be this intoxicating.

Knowing that he was causing her this level of joy was probably more arousing than the actual act of making love. Valen knew he could cause pain, but the aasimar was now begging for him to continue as he worked her masterfully with his tongue. He'd never imagined he could cause another person this level of pleasure.

Valen stopped suddenly, Lilith crying out in protest. His own arousal was growing painful, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could control himself.

"Gods... no! Don't stop. For the love of god, don't stop." Lilith cried, struggling in his firm grasp.

Valen couldn't help but smirk as he kissed her inner thigh and then prowled back up her body. "Now what fun would this be if I didn't make you wait a bit?" Valen growled against her throat, nuzzling her and biting at her skin before bringing his mouth to hers once more for another searing kiss.

Lilith could taste herself on him as his lips assaulted hers once more. That was it. This was all getting to be too much for her. The aasimar tangled her fingers in his beautiful crimson locks as she slowly pressed a leg up against him. If he was going to toy with her, she sure as hell could toy with him.

Her efforts were rewarded with deep growls of pleasure as Valen's nails involuntarily dug into her skin. She kept moving her leg against him, the sounds from him becoming fiercer and more intense. Finally it got to the point where he had to pull his lips from hers to gasp for breath, his forehead pressed against her shoulder and his body trembling.

"Now, damn you. I need you now." Lilith whispered feverously, sinking her teeth into one of his pointed ears and trailing her finger tips over the muscles of his torso. "Gods... do you enjoy tormenting me? We've already waited too long to do this..."

Valen knew she was right, felt it with every fiber of his being. He should have been smart enough to discard his suspicions when they first met and swept her into his arms. He should have kissed her with all the passion he felt now instead of questioning her loyalties. There was time now to make up for everything, though, time to make up for the way he had treated her before.

Valen kissed her, long and sweetly this time, trying to express everything he didn't know how to say to her before he took a deep, shuddering breath of anticipation.

The tiefling began to guide himself into the aasimar, moving carefully to allow her time to adjust to him as the most exquisite sound poured forth from her.

"Yes... oh gods, yes." Lilith managed between gasps, struggling for breath. She wasn't used to accommodating someone his size. Hell, she wasn't used to men in general. But he felt too good between her legs to tell him to stop, even though she wasn't sure how much she could physically take.

Valen kept going, pressing further and further into her until he was completely buried in her, his head bowed and his breathing heavy as her warm walls closed around him. He had never felt such a warm, wonderful sensation. It was intoxicating, addictive even, and he desperately wanted it to last.

The aasimar's nails dug into the tiefling's back as he began to move in her. Instinctively her hips followed his rhythm, slow at first but building speed and force.

Valen had to use every bit of self-control he had to keep from rushing. No matter how good she felt around him, he needed to make this last. He'd started slow, trailing kisses over the skin of her delicious neck and toying with her breasts. Then Valen started to quicken his thrusts as unbridled desire over took his body and mind.

The aasimar buried her face in his neck to muffle her cries, sinking her teeth into his flesh and urging him onward. She was chanting his name like it was sacred, her cries so loud he was positive that the whole public house could hear them.

Valen didn't care if people heard them, though. He loved those sounds.

Lilith was begging beneath him once more. At some point Valen's tail had wrapped itself tightly around her waist, leaving his hands free to roam her body and tease her flesh as he pounded into her. Her breath was short, her eye lids fluttering, and she couldn't form a coherent thought to save her life. All that mattered was that the sensations continue, and that she never had to part from the dear man that was causing her such feelings.

There were times when Valen slowed his thrusts, intent on drawing out her pleasure, and there were times when he moved with such ferocity that she thought she would lose herself completely. Finally, FINALLY, though, she felt everything come to one exquisite, perfect moment where she was screaming his name at the top of her lungs and her body pulsed with a sensation so wonderful it couldn't be described.

"That's it. That's my girl." Valen growled in her ear as he quickened his thrusts further. His arms locked tightly around her, closing what little distance had remained between their bodies. His breath was coming quick and shallow, and when release finally came to him he cried out loudly, burying his face in her neck and drinking in the delicious scent of her.

Neither one of them was sure how long it was before they had the strength to move again, but it was hours before they fell sleep. They spent the night in each other's arms talking, laughing, making love, or just enjoying the other's presence.

Eventually, though, Lilith lay asleep in Valen's arms with his tail wound about her waist. Valen watched the steady rise and fall of her chest, never having known her to sleep so soundly in all the time he'd known her. The nightmares, the ones she could never remember, had been one of the things she'd told him about as they'd lain in his bed. The level of trust she had in him must have been extraordinary if she felt safe to the point where the nightmares couldn't reach her while she slept curled up against him.

The thought made an amazing affection flood through Valen, and he tightened his grip on the aasimar as he settled in closer next to her. The tiefling kissed Lilith while she slept, and was glad that she didn't wake up since he didn't think he could say what he said next if she was awake.

"I love you, my lady."