Over the next two weeks, I settled into the temple routine, listened, and learned everything I could about Muspelheim and the demons that dwelled here. As I'd suspected, they were far more willing to talk in the midst of sex, especially if I made them wait, edging them close to orgasm, only to hold them off until they answered a few questions. It was a power game that I'd never play with an actual lover, but then, these demons were simply a means to an end. They were used to more breakable mortals, not a Valkyrie with immortal strength and sexual experience spanning hundreds of years.
Even Basmu.
I'd kept refusing him and others had accepted him in the temple. Yet I felt his eyes on me as I entertained in the main playground.
And a few days ago, I'd finally told him yes.
To give him credit, he'd tried to keep the upper hand but I'd seen others with dragons by then so I knew what to expect with the second coiled prehensile cock below their primary cock. It was definitely eye-opening to view it in action. The length seemed to depend on the dragon species, ranging from a mere half a metre in the fire-breathing, stockier species—the Samum—to two metres in the snake species—the Mushhushshu like Basmu. A few of the elves said the serpentine Apkallu species were similar, but although I'd seen one fly overhead, the ruling demon lords rarely visited the temples.
Not that Basmu had been unsatisfactory. He definitely had erotic skills and we'd both enjoyed our session immensely. My body had hummed, endorphins flooding my system afterward, even if my mind continually strayed towards a certain deliciously built sea god. He'd made his choice, damn it, and it wasn't me. There was no reason whatsoever that I should feel any guilt for enjoying the variety of demon cocks on Muspelheim.
Fortunately, my experience with Basmu hadn't only been physical. I'd also extracted a few key pieces of information from him.
As I'd suspected, only the Apkallu had the ability to create portals between Muspelheim and Midgard. Likely other worlds as well, although he hadn't confirmed it. Still, I wasn't worried about Asgard itself. We protected our towns and cities with portal interference jammers that disrupted energies across multiple dimensional matrices. The only way on or off Asgard was through the bifrost.
Last year's dungeon break by Nemain, Badb, Crom, and Llew came to mind and my fist clenched on my thigh. Okay, so the only way I knew of on and off Asgard was the bifrost, but those damned Unseelie had managed it somehow.
I chewed the cinnamon-flavoured oatmeal in my mouth, dragging my thoughts back on track.
Nabu was the well-dressed demon lord who'd spoken to me when I first arrived. So not only could the Apkallu create portals, but they could also appear indistinguishable from human. It was no wonder Asgard hadn't been able to completely bar the demons from Midgard when they could disguise themselves so well.
And given the number of mortals at this temple, only one of many temples on the planet, the demons had more interaction and presence on Midgard than I'd ever suspected. Did the All-Father already know? Our libraries held images of the massive serpentine form of the Apkallu, or the humanoid form with double wings, but I didn't think we had knowledge about the extent of their shape-shifting transformation.
"So who are you accepting today?" Ethan asked, drawing me from my thoughts as I lifted another bite of oatmeal to my lips.
I grinned, activating my wrist. "What do you think? I have two minotaurs to choose from—Kusarikku and Maximus—and you know how much I enjoy them and their thick cocks. Although, they are ridiculously messy. Why is it orange? Do they eat something odd for it to be orange?"
Ethan snorted. "I have no idea, but those bull testicles are enormous." He cupped himself. "I'm glad I'm normal-sized."
I rolled my eyes and punched him in the shoulder. "You know damn well you enjoy the minotaurs, lion demons, and wolf demons. Anything with a thick cock or a knot, and you are all over that."
His silver eyes narrowed, a smirk on his lips. "And you aren't? Please. I've seen your choices, Mist."
I shrugged. It was true. They were easy to manipulate and get information from. Not particularly good at sex, though, so I always taunted them until I got what I wanted.
"So which one? Or are you going for something else on your list?"
Scrolling down, I showed him the rest of my options.
His eyebrows rose. "Basmu wants more, does he? He certainly is persistent." Ethan leaned towards me across the table. "You do have a lot of repeat requests. Anything you want to share?"
I smirked and held up a hand. "Nope, and don't go suggesting we try each other out either. I like our friendship just fine and don't feel the need to muck it up with sex between us."
The Atlantean males in the temple often hooked up with fellow female acolytes after servicing male demons in the playground. Not to say females didn't hook up with each other, too, but not as frequently. With Atlanteans having a skewed sex ratio of five males to every female born, most Atlantean males were bisexual. Ruled by a matriarchy, polyamorous marriages in Atlantean society were the norm, with every female having multiple male consorts.
It was the opposite solution to what Muspelheim had pursued. Demons were definitely a patriarchy, and from what I could gather in my questioning, few female demons were born or hatched, depending on the species. Instead, the demon lords had created the fertility temples to ensure the predominately male population had a sexual outlet to mitigate their aggressive natures.
Not that they didn't still fight amongst themselves. They were ruthless predators. When they fought, they killed each other and ate the loser. Their own version of population control.
Ethan pouted, and I laughed.
"You are a cruel, cruel female to deny me your sexy, curvaceous body and obvious expertise," he said.
"You'll survive, I'm sure," I teased.
My wrist brand flashed, and I selected Maximus. I wanted to follow up on a previous conversation to find out how Maximus travelled between sky realm islands and down to the surface. He didn't have wings.
Ethan smirked at me, and I blew him a raspberry. Let him think it was the size of Maximus' cock that drove my selection.
My appointment with Maximus wasn't for another couple of hours, but when we weren't servicing patrons, we were expected to do the chores that kept the temple running. I was on the equipment and toy cleaning rotation today, so when the chime sounded, I followed the others out of the residence, through the gate and to the main temple playroom. Those with appointments met their patrons at the street gate when they entered, leading them to the main temple playground or to a room in the maze.
I gathered the special soaps and buckets of water from the washing stations, carting them to the shelves with the toys. Bloudwedd joined me.
"Are you on cleaning today, too?" I asked.
"Yes, my patron's appointment isn't until after the evening meal. I swapped with Cynthia to join you," she said, her yellow eyes looking not at me, but out at the bodies strapped to frames, splayed on padded benches, or on all fours.
I put a hand on her arm to get her attention, waiting until her gaze met mine. "How are you doing? You were limping after your session yesterday and I didn't see you at lunch. Did you go up to the infirmary?"
She shrugged a narrow shoulder, looking away. "I'm fine. The creams helped."
An off-note in her tone had my jaw tightening and I dropped my hand. Although not short, as elves rarely were, Bloudwedd was unusually frail for her race. Despite the creams and her own immortal healing, bruises still marred her milky-white skin where the last demon had bound her to one of the frames and the shadows under her eyes had deepened. She was not thriving here. Sex didn't seem to provide the extra boost to her energies the way it did for most elves. Whatever her powers were, she wasn't getting the right stimulus.
"What do you need, Bloudwedd? What are your powers?" I'd asked before but she'd just shaken her head.
As she did now.
My fist tightened around one of the soaps, feeling it deform under my fingertips. Her unwillingness to answer made me want to punch someone, especially since I hadn't been able to work out for weeks now. There was no way I wanted to give away my extensive knowledge of fighting skills or my ability to manipulate air and water vapour. They knew me as an Asgardian, but not a Valkyrie. Yet to not attempt to help her went against the Valkyrie code. But she wouldn't let me.
The sounds around us grew in strength. Flesh slapping together. The crack of a paddle. Moans, groans, pleading, and squeals. I walked away from Bloudwedd, needing some distance from her stubbornness and to pick up toys that had been used and discarded.
A wolf demon taunted the female he had on all fours in front of him. "How do you like that, bitch? Take that knot. Fuck, yeah."
She squealed and panted, encouraging him. As I passed her, I recognized Candy and gave her a thumbs up. She grinned, bucking back towards the male.
Threading my way through the various benches, racks, crosses, and platforms, I gathered fluid-soaked items and placed them in the woven blue grass basket looped on my forearm.
A blast of gritty air swept over me with a swirl of ever-present fine grey ash. Instinctively, I surrounded myself with a barrier of clean air, then dropped it just as fast, looking around to see if anyone had noticed. I froze mid-turn, my every muscle petrifying into stone.
Rarely had I seen a male exude such overwhelming danger and sex appeal in equal measure.
Tall, at least seven and a half feet, broad-shouldered, and gorgeously muscular, he had gleaming midnight black scales covering his torso and upper arms. Spectacular obsidian wings, two pairs, rose behind him in a wide sweep of space. A faint shimmer suggested a pattern within them that mesmerized as they continued to move in slight beats, with a curl of dark smoke twining around each wing.
An Apkallu dragon. One of the demon lords.
I wasn't the only one to have noticed his arrival. The moment he'd landed, all sound stopped. Entirely. No one moved. No one so much as whimpered or moaned. Every demon, mortal, and immortal froze in place. Statues in an erotic garden.
So intense was the formidable aura of lethal menace, I'd only experienced it with two other immortals, both Asgardians. Yet, Prince Loki was capable of disguising his deadly nature, cloaking it so completely as to be invisible... to the detriment of anyone foolish enough to underestimate him. Like the All-Father, this being didn't bother. His very breath spread erotic heat and tangible danger around him in an almost visible wood smoke-scented predatory mist. Every inhale drew it deeper inside me, sparking an unthinkable lust, the distilled essence of pure carnal temptation.
His tousled ebony hair matched the dark scruff on his strong jaw set off against olive skin. Dark bottomless eyes surveyed the space around him. Nothing seemed to escape his notice. And every eye was on him, waiting, like the field mouse in the presence of the hawk. His gaze swept over me and snapped back, pinning me in place.
When those eyes narrowed, my pulse iced in my veins. No way did I want his focus on me. Those black eyes saw too much... even the flame of arousal I couldn't quench. But I'd never betray Asgard. He'd get no secrets from me no matter how much lust he ignited. A shiver rippled over my skin, my thoughts conflicted. Damn. How would a female know if he wanted sex or food, or both? I had no desire for some deadly kink reverse black widow experience.
Still, his gaze was slow and carried an almost physical caress as his devouring eyes roved over my body to take in my bare feet curling into the slate of the playroom ground, up my bare legs to the mid-thigh length shift, and the curves of my hips, waist, and breasts. My skin flushed, warmth following the path of his gaze.
Unable to stop myself, my own eyes wandered. Black leather pants emphasized the thick strength of his thighs and did absolutely nothing to hide the hard length at his groin straining the buttons. And I knew there had to be a second one, hidden under that first prodigious shaft.
Oh my. My sex clenched and I shifted, squeezing my thighs together. Heat rose on my cheeks, an unfamiliar reaction when I'd seen more than my share of aroused males.
A slow smile grew on his lips and a sharp-bladed lust shimmered in the air between us as our eyes met.
"I don't believe I've had the pleasure yet, Valkyrie Mist," he said as he took my hand in his larger one.
Fuck! How does he know? Gooseflesh broke out in waves, my nipples pebbling. "How do you know my name?" I didn't recognize the voice that came from my throat, breathy and low.
His smile widened. "It's my business to know those new to my realm. Welcome to Pazunia."
Oh. Shit. Not just any demon lord, but Lord Pazuzu, Prince of the Aerial Kingdoms. I am so fucked.