Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Love's Tangled Web ❯ Part 9 ( Chapter 9 )

Author's Note: Armors recharged and ready to go! What will the Demons think of their newfound strength? Will it be enough to defeat them? What other emotional curveballs will be thrown their way?

/…/ denotes mental communication through the armor link.

 

 

Love's Tangled Web

Part 9

 

 

Jade walked into her room to find Rowen already there, waiting on her. She turned to leave when he caught her wrist and spun her back to face him.

 

“No, Jade. You can avoid Sage, but I won't let you avoid me. I haven't done anything to you.”

 

“Why shouldn't I avoid you? Both of you! He cheated on me. Hell, I don't even know if he was ever truly faithful to me, and now you're his new lover! You're my replacement! How do you think I felt when I opened my eyes from that wonderful, healing sleep, to see the two of you there?!”

 

“Dammit, Jade! Do you have any idea how much you've hurt him?!” The grip on her wrist tightened.

 

“Yes!!” she hissed. She tried to wrench her wrist free but to no avail. “I know exactly! Or have you been fucked so senseless that you've forgotten that this is all his fault?!”

 

Anger flared in Rowen's eyes, but he refused to submit to it. He hadn't come here to argue with her. He released her wrist from his death-grip and placed his hands on her shoulders. “He loves you, Jade. Why do you fight this? He loves you.”

 

“No…” She shook her head and backed away from him. “He doesn't. He loves you. He doesn't need me.” She felt the tears welling up, but suppressed them.

 

Rowen sighed. “Yes, he does, Jade. And yes, he does love me. But he loves you as well. Probably more. You remember a few nights ago when you burst in on us and mistakenly curled up next to me? I had to stop him from going after you when you left. After that we talked for a long time before we went to sleep. He cried that night, Jade. He cried for you, and you know how he is about showing his emotions. I think you are the love of his life, and he was just too stupid to realize what he had until you were gone.”

 

There was a long pause before she asked softly, “Then what about you?”

 

“He made room for me. I was there to listen to him and talk to him when he was going through all this while you were with Sai. I told him I loved him, and I do. He clung to that because he'd been left so bereft.”

 

Jade's back hit the wall and she slid slowly to the floor.

 

Rowen kneeled down beside her and lifted a hand to stroke her cheek. “He loves you, Jade, and he always will. I knew that when I offered myself to him, and I'd love you as well if you'd let me. In attaining him, I also got you. And now it's the same way with me. I love him dearly and wouldn't leave him for anything. I'm his best friend. So now the decision comes down to you, Jade. Whether you take Sage back or not is completely up to you, but I believe that the two of you will never truly be apart. If you do take him back, though, I come with him. And I'm willing to love you in every way you deserve if you'll have me.”

 

Jade simply looked at him as the tears pooled in her eyes and her body went cold as her mind processed what he'd just told her. “I… I….don't know what to say…”

 

“Then don't say anything. I'm just making my offer known.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her.

 

She was silent for a while, then, “Does he really want me back? Even after all the horrible things I've done to him recently because I was angry?”

 

“Yes. He loves you, and no matter what, he always will.”

 

“Oh Rowen… thank you…” She hugged him fiercely and kissed him softly before pulling away. “I still have to go, though. We need to know more about this enemy, and I have my own reason for leaving. I need to think. I…” She paused. Should she tell him? Would he understand? Could she trust him not to tell Sage? She looked up at him pleadingly. “Promise me you won't tell anyone. Especially not Sage.”

 

He frowned slightly. What could be so horrible that she didn't want anyone to know? “I promise. What's wrong?”

 

“I…” she paused, biting her lip, steeling her nerve. “I'm pregnant.”

 

Rowen blinked in shock. “You're… Oh Gods. It's Sage's?”

 

She nodded. “I was supposed to start my period last week, almost ten days ago now, on our last date. I still haven't started. And this proves it.” She pulled out a plastic case with two windows, each window containing a blue stripe. “I don't know if I'm going to keep it or not. I'm not sure I'm ready for this.”

 

Rowen nodded. He placed the pregnancy test back on the table before he hugged her close and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “You be safe, and don't forget what I said.”

 

“I won't. Thanks, Ro.”

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Jade and Rhia set out, both in their sub-armor. The castle stood like a beacon before them, and they jogged steadily toward it. They used the urban jungle to their advantage, staying off the streets and hopping from rooftop to rooftop where they could. The closer they got to the castle, the less people they saw.

 

“What do you think happened to them?” Rhia asked.

 

“Shhh…” They were quiet, and took cover as they heard the sound of wings coming closer. As they watched, two of the invaders flew by. One was an incubus, like Yoshitomo, the other a succubus, the same, but having a female form. Each carried a slumbering human in their arms as they winged back to the castle, flying into the tower. A few moments later, they reemerged and took off again for the city as another pair glided in.

 

“I wonder what they're doing with all those people,” Jade whispered. “We'll have to be extra careful. Move fast and stay low.”

 

“Right.”

 

They descended the building, having more cover from flying enemies on the street. And slowly, carefully, they worked their way around the perimeter of the castle walls, counting the number of guards posted. They all seemed fairly distracted, bantering with each other, sometimes reaching over to grope or caress. The inattentiveness was only a show, though, as when Rhia bounced a stone off of a building, a single succubus immediately swooped down and snatched it right out of the air, looking around suspiciously. The other sentries on the wall seemed not to have noticed, though Jade could now see their eyes scanning the streets and buildings close by, not missing anything.

 

The succubus who had caught the stone glided slowly in front of the wall, scanning for intruders, for moment. She paused nearly right in front of where Jade was hidden, and she could see the demon in detail. She was heavily bejeweled, like Yoshitomo, complete with the claws on her hands, her fangs exposed when she sneered. She was topless, her nipples also pierced, and wore only a short skirt. She also had a long, furred tail that twitched in agitation behind her, and where Yoshitomo's wings had been leathery, almost reptilian, hers were covered in soft, fine fur the same color as her tail, more like a bat's wings. And as Jade scanned the rest of the demons on the ramparts, she saw these differences held true for the sexes. The incubi had leathery wings in many different colors, where the succubae had furred tails and wings in colors that ranged in various whites, browns, grays and blacks.

 

Seemingly convinced that there was no one around, the succubus dropped the stone and winged back up to the top of the wall, continuing her activities with the incubus she had been kissing before the stone was thrown.

 

/Stay where you are,/ Jade told Rhia. /They're too suspicious now, and we'll be seen if we try to move./

 

/Okay./

 

After what seemed like hours, they finally crept from their hiding places, meeting up behind a building that shielded them from the demons' castle.

 

They continued around the castle, but found nothing different. The winged patrols swept in with people in their arms, and out empty-handed. The ones posted on guard duty kissed, groped and talked as much smack as ever, and Jade and Rhia were about to go find a building to camp out in, when something interesting happened.

 

Several patrols made their way in all at one time, but rather than taking the humans they carried up to the tower, they dropped them off along the wall. What had before been only light play turned into a full-fledged sex-fest. Three to four of the demons would converge around a single human, kissing, groping, sucking, licking, drawing blood. One woman looked on the verge of regaining consciousness, and was starting to panic.

 

“Here, suck on this, it'll make you feel better, honey,” an incubus said as he thrust his cock into her mouth. And, amazingly enough, she did calm down, seeming to enjoy him and the other two incubi who were taking turns fucking her. A man further down the wall was being fucked by both an incubus and a succubus and was eating out a second succubus.

 

Then slowly, one by one, the humans fell limp, dead, the demons having killed them with their feeding. Jade imagined that a single demon could keep a human alive for weeks, so long as its captive was carefully cared for, but these humans stood no chance, with three or four feeding at a time. The carcasses were thrown off the wall to be discarded later.

 

“I guess lunch time's over… Let's go find someplace safe to camp.”

 

The two of them crept away from the ramparts unnoticed.