Infernal Town

"Well, this is a surprise," said Melba. "What brings you here to darken my doorstep?"

"C'mon, Melba, let me in," Sam Carville pleaded. "I don't want to be seen out here."

"Oh, yes, of course." They were always too good for her, and yet they came anyway. She stood aside, her blouse open enough to show some cleavage, her skirt short enough to show some leg. That was just good business. High heels would be good business, too, but her ankles wouldn't stand more than an inch, and even those she put on just before she answered the door. "But still, what brings you here?"

"I wouldn't be here if Brenda..." Sam started.

Melba nodded with her best sympathetic look. It was always the wife's fault. Never "I'm a horny bastard and I just want more." "Cash up front," she said. "A hundred dollars. More if you want something special, but we can settle that at the end."

"But maybe I just need to talk," he said.

Melba resisted rolling her eyes. "Sure. That's what the hundred is for," she said. "Talking takes more time than the other, usually, anyway."

Sam pulled out his wallet. "You're cleaning me out," he complained. "I don't carry a lot of cash these days."

Melba shrugged. "Credit card companies don't love the business I'm in, darling."

Sam handed five twenty-dollar bills to Melba, and she tucked them in her cleavage. He followed her as she headed deeper into her small home, and led him to the bedroom. She sat down and undid a button on her blouse, taking the money out and putting it in a drawer in the nightstand before sitting down. "So tell Melba about it, dear," she said, patting a place on the bed next to her.

He sat down. "I didn't imagine the place to be like this."

The sheets were freshly changed, and the hardwood floor was clean. The only things on the nightstand were things that gave the customers ideas, or provided some security. Lube, a box of condoms, her birth control pills, a dildo. Two robes hung up on hooks next to the door, not silk but Melba thought they looked like it. A riding crop hung from another hook, just in case people wanted that sort of thing. "What, you thought that Kublai Khan decreed a pleasure dome in Shadow Creek? Sorry, honey. I'm lucky to have this place."

Sam shrugged. "I imagined mirrored ceilings."

"Honey, I'm usually the one on my back and it wouldn't always be a good view."

Sam snorted.

"So, tell me about it, dear," Melba said. He was going to anyway, might as well get on with it.

"Brenda's started fucking that demon."

Melba shrugged. "So? Don't tell me you imagined she was faithful to you."

"Well," Sam said, and let it hang.

Melba patted him on the thigh. "Oh, bless your heart," she said. "But I get it. And I agree. If she's getting some on the side, there's no reason you shouldn't." Heck, if she turned away married dudes she wouldn't be able to make a living. She didn't like to play it up, but business was business. "Just let Melba help you forget it all. How do you want it, love?"

But Sam had started talking, and wasn't going to stop. "So yeah, I knew she did things occasionally. But it was always to get what she wanted. God, I'm making her sound like some kind of whore."

Melba tried to keep a straight face as she said, "Perish the thought."

"What I mean to say is that she never made me feel inadequate before. But now? Apparently this Malphas has a huge cock, twice my size. And it gives her way more pleasure, because of demonol or whatever. It's like I'm a second class man compared to him, you know?"

"Oh dear," Melba said, moving her hand up to grope his crotch. "Well, this doesn't feel second class to me." What it felt was soft, but she could work on that.

Sam smiled thinly at that. "It's like they can have any woman they want. Brenda's not his only, not by a long shot. In fact I think he's doing my daughter, and my daughter's friend, and Wanda Gonzales, and... hell, he's got a harem, and what do I get? Sloppy seconds?"

Melba always washed thoroughly after each customer, and if she trusted them enough and they paid extra enough to not use condoms, she douched. No sloppy seconds in her house. "I'm so sorry, darling. Let Melba make you forget all about it."

"You, too," Sam said. "You'd probably give it away for free to one of them."

Melba shook her head. "Would not. I wouldn't do them if they paid me," she lied. "I have a fetish for humans. Call me old-fashioned." She worked on the zipper. Sure, if she knew she could get a hundred dollars for just talking, she'd take it, but it hardly ever ended up that way, and so she might as well get the main event over with. She fished his cock out and stroked it. It hardened a little in her hand.

"Really?"

"Cross my heart, darling." She was way too superstitious to add the "and hope to die" but the heart crossing motion drew attention to her cleavage. She stood up and took her blouse off. Sam watched.

"You don't look any older than my wife," he said.

What every girl wants to hear, especially when they are, in fact, two years younger. "Why thank you, dear," Melba said.

"I just wish there was some way we could run them out of town. Don't you?"

"Absolutely," Melba lied. She hadn't been sure, at first, but the demons had been good for business, mostly because of people like Sam. Maybe the fact that wives and girlfriends were getting some first-class nookie on the side made them feel less guilt about coming to Melba. Or maybe, like Sam, they came to deal with their feelings of inadequacy. Possibly, just possibly, the presence of demons just made the whole town a little hornier.

She got her clothes off and gave Sam a blowjob. She was pretty sure she could handle him without actually fucking him, as long as she made plenty of eye contact.

#

Melba was not the only person in town whose business was looking up.

I didn't want this, Ginger Harwell told herself.I voted against it. But some people want to move out now, and enough people want to move to Shadow Creek that prices are actually rising.

"I think you'll like this place," she told the young man and his two girlfriends. The guy was kind of plain, a little on the short side, nerdish down to the pocket protector. His two girls, a blonde and a brunette, were knockouts, with big boobs and big cabooses, their curves stretching short, low-cut knit dresses. The blonde wore pink and the brunette wore blue. "Three bedrooms, so -"

"Oh," said the blonde, whose name was Sally. "We all sleep in the same bed."

Ginger nodded, trying to take it in stride. "But still, it's good to have space. The kitchen's worth taking a look at, too. Recently updated." She took them all to the kitchen, and showed them the stainless steel fixtures and granite tabletops.

"Good," said Monica, the brunette. "We need to keep our energy up so we can handle our stud with just the two of us."

"What I want to know," said Albert T. Magnusson the third, "is just how welcoming is Shadow Creek, anyway?"

Albert hadn't said that he was a demon in human form, but then again, he hadn't needed to. Ginger could put two and two together. Guys like him didn't get girls like those - certainly not two of them at once. And they deferred to him.

"Very welcoming," Ginger said. "We passed a referendum, you know."

"That's why I'm here. That and my friend Malphas recommended the place. But he also told me something interesting."

"Hmm?" Ginger asked.

"That you voted against it. Feels a little funny, you know, doing business with someone who doesn't think we should be here. Who doesn't think we should exist."

"I never thought you shouldn't exist," Ginger objected. If he knew that, why had he taken her on as his realtor? They had other options. There was Abigail Dalton, who was the listing realtor on this property, and she hadn't gone on record about demons one way or the other. And they could get someone from Pittsfield to trek out here. Why bring it up now, when they were alone in a house on the outskirts of Shadow Creek, with the closest house a hundred yards away, with no witnesses except his two girlfriends?Oh, shit.

"Do you like this place, girls?" he asked Sally and Monica.

"It's great!" Sally enthused.

"Works for me if it works for you," Monica said. "Of course, a paper shack would work for me if it had you in it. This is way better than that, though."

"I'll have to suggest that they include that in their description," Albert said. "Way better than a paper shack."

The girls giggled in unison. Ginger was too nervous to laugh, but being professional was the best way to deal with her nerves. "We think the market's likely to pick up," she said. "But I think you can get away with offering less than they are asking."

"Doesn't that cut into your commission?" Albert asked.

"I get more customers in the long run if I look after their interests," she said.

Albert nodded. "Yeah. Malphas said you might not be on our side, but you were honest."

"I don't think I know Malphas," Ginger said. But maybe she did, in his human form. She must have helped Malphas find a house. She thought about her customers, and when the demons had started showing up.

She thought of Mark and Louise Jamison. Malphas and Lilitu, same first initials. And Brenda, who had turned pro-demon, had pushed for Louise to get on the council. Ginger, eager to have another woman on the council, had supported it. She'd been favorably impressed by the young professional woman when she'd helped them buy their house, too. She couldn't be certain, but it fit. The demons had to be someone, and two of them had shown up together. Why not Mark and Louise?

Albert chuckled. "I think they intend to go public soon," he said.

"Ah," she replied. "Well, whatever encounter I had with him, I'm glad he was favorably impressed."

Albert nodded. "Are you still opposed to us being in town?" he asked. The two girls moved into position on each side of him. Sally put her hand around Albert's waist. Monica rubbed his chest.

"If I felt that way I wouldn't be showing you this house. It's not like I didn't guess when you showed up. I don't have anything against infernals or demons or whatever, I just - my daughter." She sighed. "I've... adjusted my thinking. But if you don't think you can be happy with me as your realtor, I'll be happy to recommend someone else."

Albert shook his head. "Just a moment," he said, and went to the bathroom, leaving her with Monica and Sally.

"Sex with Albert is the best thing ever," Monica said suddenly. "He's so big, and strong, and he can go forever. He can wear both of us out in a single lovemaking session, and still be fresh."

Ginger blinked. "Uh, that's nice."

"And the orgasms," Sally chimed in. "I'm a screamer, and my voice gets hoarse. God. So many orgasms. I lose count. But more than a dozen. Best a human man ever managed was two."

"I don't think -" Ginger said.

"It isn't just quantity, either. It's quality. I cum so hard!" Monica said. "Do you cum easily, Ginger, or is it a challenge for you?"

"That's kind of personal, isn't it?" Ginger asked.

"C'mon, just between us girls," Monica wheedled.

"It's... it can be a bit of a challenge, I suppose." Ginger said. "It's been a while, but usually, the guy came first." She frowned, remembering.

"And then lost interest?" Sally asked.

"Or his erection?" Monica added.

"Well," Ginger said. "Biology."

"Albert stays hard. We don't mind if he comes first, because we know he'll keep going..." Sally said.

"And going, and going," Monica said.

"All night long."

"And into the morning."

"I'm very happy for both of you," Ginger said, meaning it, mostly. Was Malphas like that, too? He must be, given how many lovers, including Ginger's daughter, he'd acquired in such a short time in town.

A demon came out of the bathroom. Big, red, bare chested. His horns were little things, just poking out of his head an inch or two, but that was the only thing small about him. His biceps were huge, his chest broad, his thighs massive and straining the fabric of his tight, stretchy pants. And then there was the bulge. The pants were so tight they revealed the lolling outline of a soft, but still very large penis. They had to be made of Spandex.

Ginger stared.

"Sorry for the tight pants, but we have difficulty finding things we can wear in our human form, but still fit, after a fashion, in our demon form," Albert said.

"I though the correct term was infernals," Ginger said, not wanting to risk offense.

Albert shrugged. "Who knows what's correct? Infernals, as I see them, are the people who gave us a piece of their souls to turn us into what we are. Infernals and Celestials, the two great powers. But one might call them demons and angels, too. Us? We are what we are. People with a bit of an infernal soul. It's not the words you use, it's the intent behind them. Infernal, demon, whatever... if you're saying it with an understanding that we were human first, and now have become something more, then it's all fine. If you're trying to say we're monsters, that's not cool."

"Hellspawn is bad, though," Monica said. "Now that's a slur."

"And inaccurate," Albert said. "Anyway, in this form, I go by Abraxas."

Ginger nodded. "But why... why did you change? It's not like I didn't guess. I mean..."

"You mean a guy like me doesn't pull two hotties like these girls?" Albert asked.

"Oh," Sally said. "He might, if he had mad skills like Albert."

"And if he was the sweetest guy," Monica added.

"I have a proposal to make," Albert said. "I think we'll take this house, and I'd love for you to be our agent, but I need to be satisfied that you've had a change of heart since that vote. Adjusted your thinking, as you've said."

"Ah," said Ginger. "You wanted to see if I balked after seeing you in demon form. No, I'm still happy to represent you."I wish I could tell him to keep his hands off my daughter. But I suppose she's an adult and doesn't need mamma's interference. Certainly, she doesn't want it, whether she needs it or not.

"That's part of it, Ginger. But I wanted to offer you a deal." He walked forward. It was all she could do not to back up as he towered over her.

He smelled like jerk chicken, was her first thought, but just the spice part. Allspice, that's what it was. It was making her hungry. "What kind of deal?"

"You show you don't have any problem with demons, and I'll give you a bit of heaven."

"A bit of heaven?" she repeated. "But how do I show you that?"

"He's offering to fuck you," Sally said.

"And if I were you," Monica said, "I would say not only yes, but hell yes."

"Is that a threat?" Ginger asked, looking at Albert.

Albert frowned. "Of course not. What sort of monsters do you think we are?"

She stared at him for a moment. Saffy had raved about sex with Malphas, to where Ginger had started covering her ears. Alice Carville had chimed in once in agreement. And Monica and Sally had given their testimonials - with a purpose, she now realized. She should say no. It would be a little like having sex for a commission, if she said yes, and at that point, how was she any different than Melba?

But she was also curious and a little horny. She didn't get horny very often these days. Malphas was off limits, because he was with her daughter. Lilitu didn't interest her. But this was her chance, possibly the only chance of her lifetime. Maybe she should say yes, not for the commission, but just for the opportunity to experience it. She was an adult, divorced. There was nothing wrong with having some physical love if she chose to.

"I'm curious," she admitted.

"May I kiss you?" he asked.

"Wait. Right here in front of your... your..." What were they, exactly? Girlfriends? Wives?"

"We don't mind," Sally said.

"We know we have to share," Monica said.

Ginger took a deep breath. "Uh, sure." It was just a kiss.

He bent over and kissed her. He had to lean pretty far down. Ginger was not a tall woman, and as Abraxas, Albert was very tall indeed. Their lips met, and the scent of allspice grew even stronger.

A heat grew between her legs.

Her lips parted. She let him slip his tongue inside. It wasn't forked, but it tasted good. Her tongue danced with his, and the longer they kissed, the more aroused Ginger became.

Albert pulled away first, leaving Ginger breathless. A kiss with a stranger had no business feeling that good, and it had been so long since she'd kissed any man. Now he was looking down at her, smiling confidently, as if he knew he was all that, and was amused somehow that now she knew it too.

She wanted to wipe that smile right off his face, and she wanted another kiss, too. And possibly more.

She suddenly realized what a compromising position she'd put herself in. She whirled, but neither Sally nor Monica had their phones out.

"Now that's a different reaction," Albert said.

Ginger couldn't very well say she was worried the girls would take a picture or even a video and try to blackmail her. "I'm, um, curious about the dynamics of your, er, polycule." Saffy had taught her that word. "So I wanted to see their reactions."

"Ah. It's just a kiss," Albert said. "If you wanted to be a member of my harem, I'd really have to get to know you much better."

"You call it a harem."

"Because polycule sounds so egalitarian," Sally said.

"And we're not worried about that," Monica added. "We're his women. His girls. His bitches and his sluts."

Is that how Malphas saw Saffy? Her worst fears, realized. But Sally and Monica seemed happy. Women should want to be equal; they should insist on it. But demons flipped all that and added a new variable.

"Would you like more than a kiss, Ginger?" Albert asked.

"Oh," Ginger said. "You don't want me. Not with these girls. So much younger, and so pretty."

"You let me worry about my desires," Albert said. "You're a good-looking woman, Ginger, and maturity can be attractive too. The question was what doyouwant?"

Ginger stopped. She didn't ask herself that much. A lot of her life, for years, had revolved around the question, "What would be good for Saffy?" The last year or so, on the council and with Saffy going to college, there had been, "What would be good for Shadow Creek?"

It was uncomfortable for that to change. For all her ideas about women being equal, she realized she had pushed her own desires down in the service of other people. That wasn't always a bad thing, unless she put herself in danger of disappearing completely, so that only the servant remained.

How strange that a man who dominated his women could at the same time be the agent of liberation, a way to put herself first.

Her body knew what she wanted.

"I would like more," Ginger said, biting back the please she started to add. She would not beg.

He kissed her again, and this time, he put his hands on her ass as he did. His lips, his tongue were as good as she remembered. He picked her up that way, bringing her to a level with him so he didn't have to bend down, and her sudden fear of being let go and falling made her wrap her legs around him.

At least, that's the instinct she blamed. The fact that it spread her legs and pressed her crotch against the bulge she'd admired earlier was just a happy accident. She wished her skirt had been shorter, because even though it bunched up there was too much fabric, and it was in the way. It would feel different with only panties and his Spandex pants between them. Or without the panties.

Without the pants, too, there'd be nothing stopping him from being inside her. That would certainly feel different.

Easily holding her in one hand, he pulled up her skirt with the other, adjusting his grip so that his hands were on her bare ass. If she'd known she wouldn't have worn white cotton full coverage panties. Well, he'd have to take her as she came and accept that she hadn't dressed up for him like his girlfriends so clearly did.