The Demon and the City - By Liz Williams Page 0,40
here, I'll show you." Reaching out, he drew her close. Jhai stiffened for a moment, then relaxed against him. It felt alarmingly natural to be so close to him. His skin was smooth and cool, and the silk jacket was soft against her skin. Zhu Irzh bent his head, and kissed her. There was a familiar tightening deep within her; she stepped quickly back.
"Would you like a drink?" the demon asked, after a slightly bewildered pause.
"Yes." Jhai said shortly. She felt as though she'd been hit by a sledgehammer.
"Wine? Brandy?"
"Whatever." She leaned back against the windowsill.
Zhu Irzh came back with a bottle.
"It's brandy. Hell's own. A little rough, perhaps, but it grows on you. Here." He held out a generous measure. Trying to get me drunk, Jhai thought, but suddenly it seemed like an excellent idea.
"You look very nice," the demon said admiringly.
"Thanks." She took a large swallow of brandy and choked. Tears streamed down her face, so much for the make-up. She'd look like a panda.
"Are you all right?" Zhu Irzh asked, in some alarm. Jhai leaned against him, mastered the coughing with an effort, then reached up and pulled the demon's head down to kiss him. Zhu Irzh put the bottle on the windowsill and responded with enthusiasm. Then the tension was back, lust jerked into submission by the iron pull of the drug, and Jhai found herself struggling.
"We don't have to if you don't want to," said Zhu Irzh reproachfully.
"Don't we?"
"I mean, I may be from Hell, but I can still behave like a gentleman if the occasion demands it." He looked as though it had cost him quite a lot to say that. Doubt assailed Jhai. She used people so much that she wasn't sure anymore whether she'd know if they were using her: this is the trouble with power, the small voice said in the back of her mind. Zhu Irzh was watching her, his golden gaze shadowed, and it had been a bad idea to drink that brandy, because she wasn't sure what was real and what was not, and she had given him control. She turned away from him and stood looking into the room, and felt his hands take her by the shoulders and run lightly down to her waist, making her shiver. Then he turned her around again and drew her against him.
"What do you want me to do?" he whispered against her throat. "Tell me what you want." Anything, she wanted to say, anything you want, and shut out the voice inside her head and the insistent wire-taut singing of the drug. "Do you want to go and lie down?" he asked, and she nodded against his shoulder. Zhu Irzh put his arm around her waist and led her to the bed, where he sat beside her.
"What do you want?" she asked in a very small voice.
The demon considered this. "Apart from the obvious? I'd like you to enjoy yourself." He kissed her, and she put a hand over his. As she did so she felt the claws slide out from his fingertips. Her hand jerked.
"What's wrong?"
"Zhu Irzh, I'm afraid of you," Jhai said, horrifying herself.
There was the sudden glitter of teeth in the dimness.
"That," said Zhu Irzh softly, "is very wise. Now, will you let me make love to you?"
So she lay back and let him. He was very gentle, taking a lot of time, and eventually she was amazed to find that his hands and his mouth were drowning out the tug of the drug. Lost in desire, she ignored the fact that its control was slipping away until Zhu Irzh rolled over, pulling her with him so that they were both half-sitting. He cupped her breast in one long hand and reached behind her with the other, stroking her back.
"Well, well," the demon said softly. Jhai felt a twinge at the base of her spine, and then something . . .unrolled. It happened very fast, with a twinge not unlike neuralgia. Jhai and the demon looked down. A tail was coiling around the demon's wrist. It was not like Zhu Irzh's own whip-thin tail. It was sleek, and tiger-striped. Jhai glanced down. Her rib cage was banded with shadows. She opened her mouth and her incisors slid neatly down behind her upper lip.
"I must say," Zhu Irzh remarked, as if commenting on the weather. "This does explain a lot."
"Zhu Irzh—"
"You," said the demon reprovingly, nipping her throat, "are a very bad girl."