Present Tense (Out of the Fire #3) - Candace Blevins Page 0,131
other creature tossed over his shoulder, and as he flung him to the ground, I saw silver laced zip-ties around the creature’s wrists and ankles. I smelled burning flesh, and it was worse than usual.
Good to know these creatures had an allergy to silver, but I took shallow breaths to keep from gagging. Burning goat flesh smells even worse than burning human flesh. Or, burning werewolf flesh, I guess.
Aaron wore a backpack, which I assumed contained Nathan’s clothes, which meant my guns should be in it, but now wasn’t the time to ask for them. Instead, I asked, “Can I have the roll of silver twine, please?”
The twine wasn’t all silver or it wouldn’t have worked to restrain the various creatures we caught. There were silver threads woven into the outer casing, and it was quite painful to most shapeshifters. Silver didn’t bother Aaron, but would burn Nathan, which meant either Aaron or I would need to truss the second guy.
He tossed me the roll, and I deftly caught it and stepped to the goatman restrained under Nathan’s paw. I made short work of binding his goat ankles together — he was completely furry and wasn’t wearing clothes, so I tied the twine tight enough to burrow into his fur and touch skin. I heard the sizzle and smelled the burn, and finished the knot as quickly as possible while holding my breath.
Now he was thrashing under Nathan, but the huge paw on his chest kept him from moving too much.
No stranger to the human version of CBT, I reached into the fur at the goatman’s crotch, found his genitals, and wound the rope around his nuts first, then his cock. I would’ve paid someone ten thousand dollars for a pair of gloves in that moment, but didn’t let the goatman know how skeeved I was — he needed to think this was a normal day for me.
Nathan had his mouth off the man’s neck now, but still held him down with his massive paw, and I saw the claws dig in when the man moved around too much.
“Please, Azazel below, please save me from this torment!”
Most people beg God or Jesus when tortured, but this was the first I’d ever heard someone beg one of the lesser-known demons of hell.
“Doesn’t look like your demon’s listening,” I told him. “Where are the women?”
“Lucifer, Belial, Mephistopheles, Asmodeus!” he called. “Someone! I need help!”
I looked at Aaron as gears started turning in my head. Azazel was somehow related to goats and was a demon, and the other beings he called were also demons or devils. Asmodeus is supposedly tied to lust somehow, but I wasn’t clear on how or why, or how powerful he may or may not be.
“They’re half-demons,” Aaron said, his face a mask so I had no idea whether this was a bad thing, or a terrible thing.
I must’ve looked confused, because he further explained, “He’s calling demons because he’s related, though probably distantly. However, he’s right about the lion not eating them — they’ll taste horrid.”
“How do they survive here? Do they have a more human looking form?”
Aaron shook his head. “Just as some beings of faery can come into our realm and have sexual relations with women, so can the lowest of the demons. Most of the inhabitants of the hell realm can’t get into our world through a normal gateway, but a few without much power can. You’re looking at their offspring.” He looked in the direction of the cave, though we were too far away to see it, and added, “My guess is they can pass through gateways with ease, which means they probably live in the hell realm and only come here when on an assignment.”
Nathan gave a pissed-off cat grumble, and Aaron looked at him a few seconds before shifting his gaze back at me. “I’ll try to get information from them, but the odds are we’ll need to hand this off to someone else. This isn’t my forte.”
I looked at the goatman and noted a change in his entire demeanor. He was hurting, but he was getting off on it now. I looked to his groin and saw his erect penis poking up through his fur.
Aaron might be right, but I wasn’t ready to toss in the towel just yet, so I told him, “If you’ll bind this one so I can play with him without needing the lion to hold him in place, then maybe you can take the more human of the two and let me have a go at this one?” Nathan wouldn’t want us to name him to enemies while he was in lion form, so we didn’t.
Aaron realized I had a better chance of getting somewhere with the half-demon who was sexualizing pain, so he nodded.
Three minutes later the grotesque goatman was strung with silver-laced rope between two trees, his erection still peeking out of his long fur, and the smell of burning goat-meat permeating the air.
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About the Author
Candace Blevins has published more than fifty books. She lives with her husband of twenty-two years and their two daughters. When not working or driving teens all over the place, she can be found reading, writing, meditating, or swimming. The family’s beloved, goofy, retired racing greyhounds are usually at her side as she writes, quietly keeping her company. Or sometimes not so quietly.
Candace writes urban fantasy, paranormal romance, contemporary BDSM romance, and two kick-ass motorcycle club series.
Her urban fantasy series, Only Human, gives us a world where weredragons, werewolves, werelions, three different species of vampires, and a variety of other mythological beings exist.
Candace's two paranormal romance series, The Chattanooga Supernaturals and The Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club, are both sister series to the Only Human series, and give some secondary characters their happily ever after.
Her Dark(ish) Faerie Tale series gives us a close-up and personal look at Queen Mab, and her Dark Underbelly series is, as you’d expect, dark and (if you’re a little twisted) oh-so-yummy.
Her contemporary Safeword series gives us characters who happen to have some extreme kinks. Relationships can be difficult enough without throwing power exchange into the mix, and her books show characters who care enough about each other to fight to make the relationship work. Each couple in the Safeword series gives the reader a different take on the lifestyle.
You can visit Candace on the web at candaceblevins.com and feel free to friend her on Facebook at facebook.com/candacesblevins and Goodreads at goodreads.com/CandaceBlevins. You can also join facebook.com/groups/CandacesKinksters to get sneak peeks into what she's writing now, images that inspire her, and the occasional juicy excerpt.
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