Succubated!

He looks like a goddamn model for one of those unisex fragrance brands, Una thought while staring at the young man who’d approached her. Golden-brown skin framed by a perfectly groomed mop of dark curls, high cheekbones accentuating deep brown eyes… he looked like he could be from anywhere between Bombay and Spain.

Una simply found his androgynous, elegant looks mouth-watering—and she could tell he was genuinely concerned for her safety, or at least that of a famous actress. He smelled like a forest after rain, with just a hint of musky sweat.

She blinked, trying to clear her head of the sudden rush of desire she felt. What’s going on with me right now? The man seemed surprised by her stare, as if her reaction was unexpected, but he continued speaking. “I apologize for being forward. Of course, I wouldn’t want to disturb your privacy, especially in such an unusual and unsettling situation.”

He paused, and Una realized he was waiting for her to respond. “Oh… I mean, no, you’re not disturbing me, not at all. I appreciate the concern. Um… would you like to sit down?” She slid over to the window seat, hoping the gargoyles wouldn’t return.

As the man took the other seat, his leg pressed briefly against hers and a jolt of excitement raced up her spine; Una suppressed a gasp. Her companion almost jumped as well, looking sheepish. He extended his hand. “My name is X,” he said, managing a smile. “I know it doesn’t sound like much of a name, but I’m not a huge fan of the one I inherited from my family.” He spoke in a British accent inflected with something more unusual and musical. His hand felt smooth and warm against hers.

She smiled despite herself. “Me neither. My friends call me Una. Nice to meet you, X.”

“Likewise,” he murmured. “You’re quite lovely, but… forgive me if I’m mistaken, I thought I recognized you as Felicity Hendrickson, the television actor. You look… exactly like her.” He coughed nervously.

Felicity, not Felicia! And Hendrickson. Una tried to absorb the mental correction while matching X’s awkward but polite demeanor in her response. “So I’ve been told? But, um… can you keep a secret?”

X raised one finely arched eyebrow in surprise. “Of course.”

Una leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially in the man’s ear. She felt her borrowed top strain across Felicity’s ample chest as she shifted closer—and saw X’s pupils dilate as his gaze drifted down. The succubus inhaled the scent of his desire and let her breath brush over the shell of his ear as she whispered. “I’m actually a succubus who’s assumed Felicity’s appearance to escape my enemies.”

He pulled back slightly to stare into her eyes, his expression unreadable. “Seriously?”

Una shrugged and favored him with another dazzling smile; X’s eyes widened before he laughed, a warm tenor sound.

“That certainly sounds like an entertaining plot twist for a fantasy series, if a little over the top. Would a different actress portray the true form of the succubus? Lots of scary prosthetics, maybe?” X’s tone remained light, but his eyes searched her face.

She shook her head. “Not that scary, I promise.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Then I suppose I should simply assume I’m enjoying the company of a beautiful woman… who just happens to resemble my favorite television actress.”

Una’s cheeks heated, and she knew Felicity’s complexion made her reaction obvious. He’s so damn charming, she cursed inwardly. But wait a second, why didn’t I think of this before? She willed her perceptions to shift towards the intangible, to pick up on currents of emotion and desire.

As she’d guessed, X’s feelings were almost overwhelming: he craved her to a degree that bordered on obsession. She felt his hunger—his lust for Felicity, then noted her own response. Her body yearned to satisfy his need; after all, she’d reshaped it in reaction to his fantasy.

Of course, she realized. He’s the one I sensed earlier, who I latched onto. X was fantasizing about Felicity Hendrickson, and I rode that desire to become everything he dreams of. I’m not just Felicity, I’m a version of her who’s drawn to him. Who wants to tear off his clothes and fuck him right here on the floor…

“Are you all right?” X asked again, leaning in. She could feel the heat of his body, his warmth radiating towards her.

Una blinked, realizing she had been staring at him for several seconds while her thoughts whirled. “Yes, I—I’m sorry.” She forced herself to breathe evenly and turned away from him, towards the window. “I’m just worried about what’s going on. We’re over the park, and we must be close to our destination, but why aren’t we moving?”

“I don’t know,” X said, his voice soft. She felt him move away slightly in his seat, putting a little more distance between them. “At least those things seem to have stopped harassing us. Maybe they got bored.”

“Maybe…” Una replied, her brow furrowing. “Or maybe something else is coming.” Through the window, she could see a dark mass against the lightening sky, growing larger as it moved in their direction. She feared she knew exactly what it was.

“What do you mean, something…?” X trailed off as he saw what she was looking at. The shadow resolved itself into a cloud of tiny winged figures, and a familiar presence filled the air around the dirigible, making the hairs on the back of Una’s neck stand up.

“What are those things?” the man said, his voice low. “Are they really after you?”

Una nodded quietly. “I hope they can’t get in here. They’re Stygian moths—they can cause hallucinations.” Or worse, perhaps? She couldn’t imagine why Nezz would simply want to send her on a bad trip.

The swarm drew close enough to envelop one end of the passenger cabin, and they could hear the flap of countless tiny wings impacting the hull. The sound rose in pitch until Una could hardly hear anything except the thrumming noise; passengers began to shout and panic in earnest.

X’s face grew pale. “They can’t get inside, can they?”

Una clutched her head in her hands. “I don’t know. Try not to breathe in the dust on their wings if they do…”

“Please move away from the outer walls of the cabin,” blared the aircraft’s PA system. “We are beginning emergency decontamination. Passengers with unusual or non-rational conditions should avoid contact with the cabin floor or ceiling.” The windows were dark with the sheer volume of moths.

“What on earth does that mean?!” X’s accent made his frustrated tone sound oddly dignified. “Non-rational conditions?”

Well, I’m sure it includes demons, and the demonically possessed. Una pulled her legs up onto the seat, hugging her knees to her body and leaning towards X. A moment later, a clang echoed from the upper deck, and someone screamed. A stream of dark wings with skull-like patterns poured down the stairwell. Suddenly everyone was screaming and batting at the air.

Una closed her eyes, wincing. I don’t want those bugs all over me again… that suffocating, cloying smell! She felt something heavy settle over her, and then a loud buzzing sound filled her ears. A sensation like an electric spark jumped into her, and she felt her body spasm.

Her eyelids flew open, and she found herself with X’s jacket draped over her and his arms around her. The atmosphere had changed, crackling with ozone and still filled with people yelling, but the buzzing and the sound of moth wings had vanished.

“Miss Hendrickson!” X was saying. “Are you all right?”

Una coughed once, then straightened. Her mouth tasted as if she’d licked a battery, and she felt dizzy. “Yeah, I think so?” Her voice still sounded like Felicity’s, and—oh yeah, these are definitely still her tits. Hard to miss. “What the hell just happened?” Bodies of moths lay scattered across the floor; some passengers were stomping on them, while others were trying to sweep the insects away.

X’s eyes were wide. “If I’m not mistaken, Dracotech Air must have equipped this airship with an anti-magic field. They’re quite experimental and high-end, even for a company like that. I only know about them because my eldest brother is involved in research in that area.” He coughed. “It appears to have neutralized the moths.”

The PA system came alive again. “Attention, please! The immediate danger has passed, and the Quantum Veil of Improbability will tie up at the Central Park tower shortly. Please disembark as quickly as possible, as we need to conduct a safety inspection. Thank you for flying Dracotech today.”

Una looked at X like a port in a storm. “Quantum Veil…?”

He smiled wryly, his lush lips twisting, and finished her sentence. “…of Improbability. It’s the official name of this vessel, which makes a certain sense given how unlikely our experience just now was. Their other ship is called On Gossamer the City’s Heart Soars; I think the CEO just likes long fanciful names.”

The succubus shrugged out of her companion’s leather jacket. “Um… thank you for trying to protect me. That was awfully gallant of you.” She glanced at him with a mixture of embarrassment and appreciation, and he smiled again.

X accepted the garment from Una and shrugged back into it. As he did, Una noticed he wore more than one layer underneath, with a thick white T-shirt over some kind of tight vest. He caught her curious glance but asked her about the moths instead. “You knew what those things were, hm?”

She nodded, feeling guilty. “Yes. I’m sure they were after me; I owe you and everyone on this flight an apology.”

The handsome young stranger waved a graceful hand in her direction, dismissing the notion easily. “You mustn’t apologize for something you didn’t do. If anyone, your enemies owe us the apologies. And I suspect we’ll all receive an apology from Dracotech as well, once word gets out about this incident. They won’t want to lose customers.”

X’s smile was wry again, and his confident manner made Una wonder what sort of work he did. He didn’t look like a businessman, but his clothing suggested a certain wealth, or at least a refined taste.

Una stood slowly, testing her balance and finding herself steady in the over-large sneakers. She offered a hand to help X up, which he accepted. Other passengers, in a greater hurry to leave, piled towards the stairs to the lower deck.

“Unless, that is… you’re a fugitive from justice? I’d assumed not, with the nature of those things, but…?” X’s continued grin indicated he was only half-serious, and Una laughed.

She shook her head. “Not from justice, no. Just from… control?”

A shadow of concern passed across his face as he stepped out into the aisle to let her through. She turned towards him.

“I hate to ask, but would you mind—“ she started, just as he said “Perhaps I should make sure you—“ They both paused, smiling and staring intently into each other’s eyes, one pair hazelnut brown and excited, the other icy blue and appropriated. Finally, X gestured politely to Una.

She hesitated for one more instant, then said, “I was wondering if you wanted to get out of here and fuck me silly?”

The handsome stranger—well, they’d been through a close call, so maybe they weren’t strangers anymore—blinked at Una and swallowed. “Why, yes. I think that might be just the thing.” He offered her his arm; the aisle was wide enough for them to stroll together towards the exit, stepping on dead moths as they went.

Una couldn’t resist the temptation to slip her arm out of his and around his waist, her hand resting on one of his hips as she pressed her curves against him. She could feel X’s heart pounding and the rhythm thrilled her. “Let’s find somewhere close… and you know I’m a succubus, right? I wasn’t joking.”

“My dear,” he said in a hoarse voice, “I could not care less.”

***

Ten minutes later, X had Una backed against one of the concrete pillars that supported the disembarkation platform for the airship, high above. They’d hurried down the stairs rather than wait for the elevator, giggling madly the whole time, and found a shaded area where the pillar hid them from view.

Una had one leg wrapped around X’s thigh as he ran his slender hands under the cheeks of her ass. His breath came hot against her neck, and her fingers worked their way through his hair and gripped the back of his head. She pulled him closer, and their tongues met in a frantic tangle.

“Oh, unbelievable,” he moaned as their kiss broke. “You’re so fucking perfect. How can you be this way? Your breasts, your ass… your hair.”

She giggled as her hands slid down the front of his jacket and pushed it away from his shoulders. “All to your liking, hmm? Would you like to sample more?” She kissed him hungrily again, and he responded with an eager moan. “Because at this moment, you’re exactly my type, too.”

“Mmm,” he hummed, nuzzling her neck and kissing down towards the neckline of the scooped top. “I want nothing more than to sample every inch of you, but…”

“But what, darling?” Una purred, her fingers working at the button of his pants. “Don’t tell me your family’s expecting you?

“Hardly.” He said it with a chuckle, but his hands eased hers away from his pants, and he pulled back to look at her face. “I, ah, want you to know what you’re getting into.”

Una cocked her head to one side. “What I’m getting into…?” She grinned mischievously, letting her eyes trail downwards. “I was hoping I’d be getting into your trousers soon, but…” Her words trailed off, and she gave him a wink. “…is there something you need to tell me?”

X’s expression turned serious as he hesitated to speak. Given everything she’d noticed about the man so far—his build, his layers of clothing, and even the way her fantasy-molded inclinations responded to his body—Una had a good idea of what he might say next.

“I’m a trans guy,” he said softly, searching her eyes. “I hope that’s not a problem.”

The succubus shook her head and gave him a toothsome, conspiratorial grin. “Not a problem at all,” she whispered. “Let’s find a place with more privacy, hmm?” She led him away from the pillar and towards a row of trees.