Kiss of the Succubus Ch. 03

"Grace, the guy is dead. What are you doing here?"

Grace glared at the refrigerator.

"Making sure he stays that way."

* * * * *

Ted awoke that morning, and felt a warm body snuggled up behind him. Her arm was wrapped around his torso, her hand on his chest. Her smooth bare leg lay on top of his own leg. For just a moment, Ted considered the possibility Grace had chosen to come home, and join him in bed.

Yet when he rolled over to face his bedmate, he was not surprised to find the woman lying there was not his wife.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Liana said.

His head felt foggy. He honestly couldn't remember inviting her over the night before. The last thing her remembered was Grace calling him, telling him she wouldn't be home that night. And Ted's first thought: he could see Liana again for more extramarital misbehavior.

From the looks of it, they had. Liana was naked, so was he. She smiled sweetly as she ran her palm in gentle circles across his chest.

"My wife might be home soon. You should go," he said.

"We still have some time," Liana said. "A few more minutes?"

She batted her eyelashes, and Ted couldn't say no to her.

He placed his hand on her neck, and leaned in for a kiss. She pulled away.

"Why?" Ted asked.

"It's not the right time," Liana said. She sat up, pulling the sheet from her body.

"It's never been the right time. We've had sex how many times, and we've never kissed."

He ran his fingers across her bare back.

"Kissing is special to me," Liana said. "I only do it with certain guys. Maybe when you finally work up the balls to tell Grace it's over, then maybe I'll make with some kisses."

Ted nodded glumly. He knew it was past time for him to make his choice between leaving his wife and ending things with Liana. As much as he wanted to stay with Grace, Liana was far too tempting for him to simply walk away. He hoped he would be able to make a definitive decision soon. The sneaking around was wearing on him, and he suspected, even making his illness worse.

"I'll do it soon," he said, unsure if he really meant it or not.

"I know you will," Liana said, smiling.

Ted placed his hand on Liana's arm, and traced his fingertips across her body. He caressed her shoulders, around the curve of her breast, and pressed his thumb on her nipple. She smiled.

She lay onto her back, and opened her legs. As she did, he caught a glimpse of a mark on her inner thigh. He'd noticed it before, but now, with the morning light illuminating her body, it was the most noticeable. It was the letters "LB" printed into her flesh.

"Hey, what's that?" Ted asked, pointing.

"It's my vagina, silly," Liana laughed. Ted chuckled.

"No, I mean the letters. It says 'LB'. What is that?"

"Oh this?" Liana asked. "It's a brand. Like a tattoo you can feel. I always wanted one, so I figured why not my initials?"

Ted's eyes went wide.

"Did it hurt?"

"Horrendously. Now, are you going to make love to me, or do I have to beg for it?"

Ted glanced at the clock on his nightstand and saw it read "7:46." He shook his head.

"My wife-"

"-is a very busy woman. She won't bother us."

Liana grabbed Ted's penis and gently tugged it. She shot him a seductive come-hither stare. With every tug she drained Ted of his reservations of sleeping with her, and soon he was on all fours climbing over the seductress and easing his fully erect member inside her.

She had that power over him. Every time his penis found that special sweet spot inside her, his mind went blank. He had completely forgotten about his wife, who might be home at any time; of his daughter, who slept soundly in her bedroom just down the hall. He had completely forgotten about everything but how good it felt to be inside Liana's pussy.

He thrusted, repeatedly and desperately; each thrust leaving him craving the next one. Liana moaned with each one; deep sexy moans that kept Ted wanting more of her delicious body.

"Ooh! Harder, Ted! Harder!"

Ted was all too happy to comply. He pumped in and out, faster and faster. Liana's large breasts jiggled about, arousing Ted further. Slowly but surely, Ted edged towards orgasm. He might have reached it, if he hadn't noticed Grace's Chrysler pulling into the driveway. He immediately froze.

"She's here," he said, dread in his voice.

"You can finish. There's still time," Liana said.

Ted attempted to withdraw, but Liana wrapped her legs around his waist and held him at bay.

"Ted. Cum inside me. Now."

Ted was speechless at Liana's audacity. Grace was getting out of her car, and Liana had no intention of leaving his bed until he'd released his load. Realizing he was on the brink of orgasm in any case, and in fact quite turned on by the danger of his possible imminent discovery, Ted resumed his thrusting, even as he heard the front door open.

"Mommy!"

Ted could hear his daughter rushing to greet his newly arrived wife, buying him precious seconds.

"Hey baby, where's Daddy?" Grace asked.

"He's still sleeping," Kayla said.

Ted pounded Liana faster, desperate to finish his deed.

"Uh oh. He's not sick again, is he?" Grace asked.

Ted couldn't hear his daughter's reply, but he thrusted and thrusted, until his arousal reached a crescendo. He felt his penis explode with desire, as he emptied the contents of his balls inside the naked woman below him. He let out a soft moan, and wondered if he might be heard. Liana stared him in the eye, grinning, as she released the scissor grip she held around his waist and let her legs fall to the bed.

Quickly, he withdrew his penis from Liana's drenched vagina, and noticed to his dismay, the sheets beneath her were soaked with her juices.

"You have to go. Now!" Ted barked, trying to express the urgency with his tone while keeping his voice down to a whisper.

Liana cocked her head.

"Give me a minute to get dressed."

"She's going to be in here any second!" Ted whispered.

Liana frowned at Ted indignantly, and climbed out of the bed. She slipped into a black dress, forgoing a bra and panties which she'd apparently not brought with her. Ted could hear Grace's footsteps approaching from down the hall.

"You need to hide!" Ted hissed.

"Don't rush me!" Liana snapped. She fumbled with the zipper on her dress as the bedroom door handle began to turn.

Liana ducked behind the bed just as the door opened. Grace entered, and looked at Ted with fatigue in her eyes.

"Oh Ted, you're drenched with sweat!" Grace cried. She hurried to the bedside and put her hand to his forehead. "Were you at the gym yesterday?"

Ted nodded. He kept the covers over his chest to conceal his nakedness. He hoped his clothes were not lying conspicuously anywhere nearby.

"That's it. No more gym for you. That's final."

Ted let out a disappointed sigh.

"I'm sorry, but I can't deal with a pregnancy and you being sick every other day. Now, I need to take a shower."

Grace walked off to the bathroom and slammed the door.

Liana stood up. When he heard the shower switch on, Ted spoke.

"I'll need a new alibi if I'm going to be able to see you."

"No, you need to ask her for that divorce," Liana said. "If you don't do it soon, I will."

Ted felt his throat tighten at that suggestion. He didn't want Grace to ever find out about Liana, divorce or not. He felt a weariness in his head and lay down, his energy drained. Liana paid him no mind as she walked out of the bedroom and out of the house.

He had to muster all of his strength to pull himself out of bed and get dressed before Grace was out of the shower. He quickly removed the sheets from the bed and stuffed them into the washing machine before starting the load.

Kayla seemed content watching her cartoons on TV and eating her cereal, and did not appear to have noticed Liana leaving the house.

The act of starting the laundry left Ted drained completely, and he quickly returned to bed and collapsed into a deep sleep.

* * * * *

Grace stayed home that night. There was no indication Lukas was anything but stone dead, other than Grace's gut instinct. Night after night passed, with no sign of disturbance.

As Grace feared, the department closed the case on Lukas Balko. The coroner could not identify a specific cause of death, but given Balko's advanced age, no questions were raised. Balko was interred at his family crypt.

Grace spent some time reading her new book, The Kiss of Death, and found herself intrigued and disturbed. The first story described a man who led his family to financial ruin in his efforts to please his mistress. This mistress bore a strong resemblance to the wife of a baron who had murdered her decades earlier.

Another chapter described a captain of a ship lost at sea, who'd slaughtered his entire crew. He claimed a siren who wandered in the ocean had demanded he do as she asked if he ever wished to return to shore. The same siren had been described by three other seamen who'd committed similar acts.

One chapter in particular caught Grace's eye. It chronicled a man's affair with a wealthy widow. Over the course of several months, his health deteriorated until he was in a near vegetative state. He married her just days before his death, and soon after, the twice-widowed woman vanished along with all of her newly acquired assets. The same woman was recognized by both of the man's sons a half century later, without her having aged a day. Grace looked at her emaciated husband as he slept beside her and slammed the book closed, deciding she'd done enough reading for the night.

As Grace lay awake that night, she was awoken by "Ride of the Valkyries." Ted rolled over to grab his phone. Feeling rage overcome her, Grace grabbed the phone out of Ted's hand. The call ID read "Larry." Grace answered it

"Who is this?" she demanded.

There was silence on the other end. Grace could hear breathing, and nothing more. The caller hung up.

"What the hell you doing?" Ted mumbled.

"Why is 'Larry' calling you in the middle of the night?"

Ted rubbed his forehead. He suddenly realized he had a pounding headache, and being woken up and interrogated by his wife was not helping the matter.

"Maybe he's drunk and needed a ride?"

Grace shook her head. She slammed Ted's phone on the nightstand and went back to sleep. Ted peered over his wife's sleeping body at his phone resting by her side.

Shit, Ted cursed quietly to himself.

Grace's suspicions about her husband's fidelity waned over the next few days, in main part due to his declining health. Ted had dropped over seventy pounds over the past seven months, and was now little more than skin and bones. Even when Grace initiated sex with him, Ted was never able to perform. Not to mention, his penis seemed to have decreased in size. As his weight came down, his penis became shorter and slimmer with each passing week. He became very defensive when Grace mentioned it, and she never brought it up again.

Her thoughts drifted back to Lukas Balko, as she debated what his next move would be, and what hers should be. It seemed to her, if Balko was smart, he would seize this opportunity to stay hidden from the public eye and let the world assume him dead.

But Balko would not do that. Grace was certain. His hunger was ignited when he killed Marianne LeClair, and he would need to feed again. He would come after Grace for sure. He'd already tasted her blood, and he would need to finish her. It was simply a matter of when.

It occurred to Grace that she had the upper hand in this stalemate. She knew where Balko was, and she knew for the time being, he couldn't come after her. In spite of the perpetual torment she felt each day anxiously dreading Balko's next move, the ball was actually in her court.

The thought filled her with both elation and terror. She could end this. Today.

The moment she opened her eyes, and felt the dawn of a new day seeping into her bedroom, Grace knew what she needed to do.

* * * * *

"Ted."

He grunted, and opened his eyes. Grace stood before him, dressed in dark jeans and a leather jacket, with an old knapsack slung over her shoulder. It was nearly four in the afternoon, and Ted had been sleeping on the couch most of the day. His head still felt swimmy, and he was unable to pull himself from the living room couch where he'd been lying most of the day.

"What?" he grunted, his voice hoarse and raspy.

"I need to go out for a bit. Do you feel well enough to watch Kayla?"

Ted unleashed a loud, phlegm-filled cough. He nodded yes as he reached for a glass of water on the end table. He took a long gulp of water and set the empty glass back on the coaster.

"Where is she?" he asked.

"In her room, watching Frozen."

"Okay. I'll turn the game on. It should keep me awake."

He reached for the remote, but it slipped out of his hand. Grace retrieved the remote from the floor and clicked on the flat screen for him.

"I'll check on you when I get there. Where's your phone?"

Ted looked around, and immediately felt dizzy.

"It's- somewhere..."

"I'll call the land line then," she said, checking to see that the phone resting on the end table was plugged in and working.

"Could you get me a glass of water, please?" he added. She took his empty glass and refilled it from the tap.

"I'll just be a few hours. Hang in for me, okay?" She placed the glass on the end table.

He nodded, and pulled himself into a sitting position, groaning in pain as he did. Grace looked into her husband's glossy, bloodshot eyes one last time before she left. She couldn't be certain, but a feeling deep inside her told her there was a chance Ted's health would improve once she'd done this deed. Many things would improve once this task was done.

Grace dropped her knapsack into the passenger seat of her Chrysler, and started it up. She entered the address for St. Harold's Memorial Cemetery in her GPS, and was on her way. Now, it was Grace who was on a quest for blood.

She was not gone ten minutes when Ted heard the front door open. Ted opened his eyes and realized he'd already slipped into slumber in front of the TV.

"You forget something?" he mumbled, forcing himself to sound more awake than he was. He turned his head to see Liana standing in the doorframe, wearing a long overcoat and high heels. She shut the door behind her. "What are you doing here?"

"It's time for you to make a choice, Ted. Me, or your wife."

Ted felt his stomach tighten.

"Look, I will, but not now. She can't-"

"No, Ted, now," Liana said. "Or you'll never get to see this again."

She removed her coat, dropped it to the floor, and revealed her beautiful body clad in erotic black lingerie. She walked over towards the couch and took a seat next to Ted, letting her hip press snugly against Ted's as she did.

"We're going to wait for your wife to get home. And when she does, you'll tell her everything. About our affair. And your intention to leave her. Unless it's me you want to leave?"

"No!" Ted replied sharply. "I'll divorce her. Just don't leave me!"

Liana smiled, and touched her finger to the tip of his nose.

"That's what I like to hear."

* * * * *

When Grace pulled in front of the cemetery, the anxiety that gripped her felt like a weight on her chest. She needed a minute to calm her nerves before she could even exit the car. It only took a glance at the long stretch of gravestones just beyond the iron fence to remind her of why she needed to be here. Grace climbed out of the car and hurried through the gate.

Most of the graves were over twenty years old. The cemetery had been around for more than a century and was coming close to capacity. Grace held her left hand under her belly as she crept down the gravel path, searching for her destination. She passed an open grave and felt a wave of goosebumps across her flesh.

It was near the back of the cemetery that she found what she was seeking. The Balko Family Crypt towered over the other crypts in the vicinity, standing as a constant reminder of the power and status that money could bring.

Grace looked over her shoulder and saw that the graveyard was mostly deserted. She could hear the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves in the wind, and nothing more. Confident that she would not be spotted, Grace sneaked down the cement steps, feeling the crunch of the recently fallen autumn leaves beneath her boots.

Not surprisingly, the crypt door was locked, prompting Grace to grab the skeleton key she kept around her neck. She eased the key into the sturdy brass lock and turned. The crypt door opened.

Grace smiled. She'd tested the key on every lock in her home beforehand, and to her amazement, it worked on every one. Praising her good luck, Grace slipped inside the crypt and shut the door behind her.

She fumbled around inside her knapsack until she found the flashlight, and flicked it on. Nearly a dozen caskets stood motionless in the dim light. Swallowing, Grace took one step forward, and then another.

Each of the caskets had the entombed's name engraved into the cover plate. Edwin Balko, Lukas' father. Genevieve Balko, his mother. Annabelle Balko, his wife. Catherine Balko; Grace shuddered as she passed by the casket of the wicked murderess.

Finally, entombed beside his long deceased wife, was Lukas Balko. Grace shined her light across the inscription again, just to be certain. This is where he lay.

The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She was certain she was being watched, or that someone or something was aware she was there. She could feel her unborn daughter kicking her from within her womb, as if she were begging her to leave this place.

Grace took a crowbar from her knapsack, and carefully wedged it underneath the coffin lid. She pulled down, hard. For a moment she worried it wouldn't budge at all, and she'd have to find another way in, but the seal broke, and Grace was able to pull the lid open.

Grace.

She turned around suddenly. Something had whispered her name, but she couldn't tell where it had come from. She shined her light inside the coffin and saw him there.

He looked the same as he had in the morgue. He was now dressed in a fine black suit, adorned with shimmering white buttons down the front. His face was the same pale, lifeless corpse he'd always been. Grace grabbed her crucifix and squeezed it tightly.

She was most afraid of this part, and hoped she'd be able to follow through. From her knapsack, she produced a sturdy wooden stake. She found a branch from her back yard that looked long and thick enough, and with a trusty pocketknife, she'd whittled it down into a deadly spike that would make Buffy proud.

Holding the stake in her left hand, she took a mallet from her knapsack with her right, leaving the flashlight balanced on the coffin's edge. Holding the stake as steady as she could, she placed the point directly over Lukas' heart. Mustering all of her courage, she raised the mallet in the air.

And then she heard "Ride of the Valkyries."

Ted's ringtone. She checked her knapsack to see if she'd accidentally taken it with her. She didn't. Searching around, she realized to her discontent the tune was coming from inside the coffin. From Lukas. Grace opened Lukas' suit jacket, and there, in the inside pocket, was Ted's cell phone. The Call ID read "Larry."

Grace felt the air leave her lungs. The feeling she had before, the belief that she had the upper hand, vanished. Somehow, someone had known she would be here. And that someone was prepared.

Grace picked up the ringing phone. She answered it.

"Hello?" Grace greeted, her voice trembling.

"Hello, Grace." It was a woman's voice. A voice that was familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place.

"Who is this?"