Handbook of Erotic Fantasy: Borrowing

PROFILE OF A HOOKUP

• Location — Just outside. After slamming the bedroom door on last week’s unpleasant situation, Thief was startled to discover Succubus leaning against the wall of the Heroes’ Guild Hall.
  
  
• Flirtation — Thief drew a deep, steadying breath. “Come to gloat?” she asked.
  
  Succubus cocked her head to one side, perfect hair framing a too-perfect face. “Why would I want to do a thing like that? After all, what have I to gain from all...” She gestured vaguely towards the sounds of feminine laughter, breathy moans, and Crüxshadows music issuing from beneath the door. “...All that?”
  
  “Oh gee,” said Thief. “I can’t imagine. Your sworn enemy at the bottom of her character arc? Her love-interest successfully seduced?” 
  
  “Ancient history!” protested the fiend. “I wasn’t even a named character in those days. Besides, it takes more than a little petty lust to rouse my appetites. Add the tears of a woman scorned though, perhaps a burning desire for revenge, and you might as well chalk out the summoning circle and call me direct.” 
  
  Thief clenched her fists. The moans were coming louder now, along with the painfully familiar sound of a groaning bed frame. Her bed frame! And here was her rival come to mock her. To remind her with that oh-so-perfect beauty that some other version of Thief, perhaps with fewer eyes, a pinker complexion, or a fuller fiendish figure might have kept her man… woman… whatever. Blood pounded in the tiefling's ears.
  
  There were daggers in Thief’s hands before she knew it. She had Succubus pressed up against the wall, and there were indeed tears welling in her many eyes.
  
  “Go away,” growled Thief, one dagger pressed against a slender red throat. But Succubus did not shrink away. She only returned Thief’s agonized gaze with a calm one of her own. 
  
  “Counter-proposal,” said Succubus. “Come with me.” And she dabbed gently — oh so gently — at Thief’s tear-stained cheek.
  
  
• Seduction — The plot was hatched over cosmos at The King’s Arms. Succubus asked all the right questions, and the plan came together with the precision of a jewel heist. What did Wizard care about most? When was laundry day? Where lay her insecurities?
  
  “But you must understand,” said the crimson-skinned temptress. “I’ve been in this business for more millennia than a girl would like to admit. If you want this thing to come off properly, it’s going to have to look natural. We should rehearse.”
  
  Being a Charisma-based monster has certain advantages. A few well-chosen words and Thief’s final misgivings evaporated. And after their tops were off, and their tails were entwined, and bright red nails were raking down a lavender back, the rehearsal became enthusiastic indeed.
  
  “This is going to be good,” panted Thief.
  
  “Oh yes,” whispered Succubus, her devilish smile hidden beneath a cascade of perfect hair. “Yes it will.”