Knight's Absolution (Knights of Hell Book 5)

by Sherilee Gray

  “Coat my fingers, Luna. Give it to me,” he growled against her ear.

  Trembling from the force of it, she broke, screaming his name as she came for him, as she gave him what he wanted, gave him everything.

  Gripping her tight to him, he stood and carried her to his bed and laid her on top of it. He stood there, nostrils flaring, chest pumping, and his gaze moved over her naked body. Reaching back, he gripped his shirt and yanked it over his head, tossing it aside.

  Luna fisted the covers. His chest, shoulders, those tattooed arms, all of him was a work of art. She marveled at his rippling abdominal muscles, thick biceps, and heavy, corded forearms. And his pecs, square and wide, danced as he stripped off his boots and jeans.

  He straightened, and Luna stared up at him in awe, fingers fisting the sheets. She’d seen him naked before, but the way he looked now—it was something else.

  Every muscle and tendon strained from his restraint.

  “Can’t wait any longer, love,” he said roughly.

  She held her arms out for him and he came to her.

  His massive thighs bulged as he climbed onto the bed, his cock so thick and long stood straight up, bobbing between them as he moved over her.

  His massive body covered hers, and she looked up into his handsome face, his gorgeous eyes intense as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He rolled his hips, the heavy weight of his cock dragging along the center of her, making them both groan.

  Strain lined his face as his gaze searched hers, waiting, looking for any signs that she wasn’t ready for this, for him. Even now, he would stop if she asked him to. Gunner would wait as long as she needed.

  But she was done waiting.

  She pulled him down and kissed him, then smiled up at him. “Make me yours.”

  Pressing his forehead to hers, he groaned and grabbed her butt with one of those big hands, holding her there as he rolled his wide hips, bringing the head of his cock right where it needed to be.

  His eyes stayed locked on hers as he eased inside her, slow and steady. He was thick, stretching her gently but steadily. There was no retreat, just that silent demand of his cock that she take him, that she take all of him.

  No, there was no going back. Gunner was taking her, claiming her, one perfect inch at a time.

  Her mouth dropped open on a cry as he slid deeper.

  The strain on his face grew more intense. “Good?”

  All she could do was nod. Good didn’t come close to how she was feeling. Then he was all the way inside her. It was too much, too good, and he hadn’t even moved yet. Her pussy immediately began fluttering, pulsing, and Luna had no control over the way her nails dug into his back or the way her hips tried to rock against his.

  “Fuck,” Gunner growled out. “You gonna come again, love?”

  Luna licked her lips and frantically nodded. Gunner slammed his mouth down on hers at the same time he withdrew and thrust back in. Once, twice, a third time and she exploded. A thousand stars and light and sparks, raining down over her as wave after wave of the most intense pleasure she had ever experienced rolled through her body from head to toe.

  She clung to him, and when she could open her eyes again, Gunner was staring down at her, color high on his cheeks, sweat beading his forehead, and that huge warrior's body rocking into her harder, faster, dragging out her pleasure until she was gasping for breath she didn’t need.

  “You are mine, Luna. Mine. You’ve always been mine.”

  She nodded, clinging to him with everything she had.

  “And I’m yours,” he all but snarled. “Nothing, no one can come between us, not ever again.”

  Gunner didn’t know it was possible to feel this way. Making love to her, being inside his female was beyond anything he had ever experienced in his life, but it wasn’t just that. The light inside her shone from her beautiful violet eyes as if she could see right into his heart.

  Every thrust of his hips brought her closer in a way that couldn’t be explained, it just was. Every whimper and moan, every sweet, hungry, desperate sound she made broke him into millions of tiny pieces while putting him back together again at the same time. On the outside, he was the same, but inside, he never would be again.

  Her nails dug deeper, one hand at his ass, the other low on his back, and his cock throbbed harder, balls so heavy and tight he couldn’t fucking see straight.

  He gasped when her pussy tightened around him again, then again. “Christ. You gonna come for me again, Luna?”

  Her eyes were half-lidded, sexy as hell, hot. He wouldn’t be able to hold off if she came around his cock a second time and not go with her.

  Oh fuck. The thread, silver and glittering and so incredibly fine, was right there. Proof of what he’d known since he found her.

  He locked eyes with her. “Ready, love?”

  “Yes,” she gasped out.

  Her back bowed, and fucking hell, she was coming again. Gunner grabbed on to that thread right as Luna came at him, fangs elongated, lips peeled back, so fucking sexy.

  She latched onto his throat and his mind blanked the fuck out as he lost control, thrusting into her, coming so hard his vision went dark. It was like forked lightning, bolts of rapture nailing him, shooting through him over and over. He shook so hard the bed did with him.

  Luna’s fangs stayed buried in his throat while his cock stayed buried in the wet heat of her clenching pussy.

  He’d died and been reborn.

  There was no other way to describe it. Everything was brand new. Everything was more. So much more. Her teeth slid free of his flesh as the storm began to clear. Her tongue swiped over the puncture wounds and sent another wave of pleasure through him.

  Gazing down at her, he found it hard to speak.

  Her fingers lifted, and she brushed them over his cheek, the tips coming away wet. He was crying.

  “My beautiful mate,” he said, voice like gravel. “I love you more than any words could express.”

  A bloody tear streaked down her cheek. “You taught me what it is to love, to be loved,” she whispered, her voice husky with emotion. “And now I have an eternity with you to show you—”

  She gasped suddenly, a small cry escaping as she jolted beneath him.

  “Luna?”

  Another tear slid down her cheek as she drew in a deep, desperate breath, then another.

  “Luna?” he barked out. “What’s going on?”

  She grabbed his hand and pressed it to the center of her chest.

  Gunner stilled at what he felt.

  “My heart…it’s beating,” she whispered, as more bloody tears slid down her cheeks. “It’s beating for you.”

  He rolled to his side, taking her with him, and Luna held both of their hands to her chest, shaking softly against him. His demon roared in his head, the joy too much for the both of them.

  She was his, she was finally his.

  He cupped her face, and placing his forehead to hers, he made a vow. “No one will ever hurt you again.”

  The possessive growl in his voice was unstoppable as his protective instincts shot to new heights. His brothers had warned him, but he never understood, not until now.

  Whatever it took, he would keep his mate safe.

  Chapter 32

  It was quiet.

  Gunner stood on the edge of a building, looking down at the street below. The apartment Luna had been held in for nearly a week was still empty. Not that he expected Azel to suddenly reappear.

  But still, it was too damn quiet.

  The streets were practically empty as if even the humans could sense danger and were staying away.

  There was nothing here, though, nothing he could see, anyway. He couldn’t sense any demons either. Had Ronan aligned himself with Azel again? Could he be concealing the fallen angel? It was hard to believe he would after what Luna told him. And there’d been all that blood in the apartment. They’d fought. Ronan had held Azel off so Luna could escape.

  The ang
el wouldn’t forgive the other male for that easily.

  Maybe the dark vibe he felt was just a shadow left by the evil flowing through that fucker’s veins.

  A gust of wind washed over Gunner’s bare chest, bringing with it the scent of demon blood, sweat, and rage.

  Rocco.

  He turned to his brother and pain sliced through him like a molten blade.

  This conversation had to happen, and he’d been dreading it despite the indescribable happiness he felt since he’d made Luna his mate several days ago.

  The agony etched into Rocco’s face was hard to look at. Christ, it killed him. It’d only been a few days since Gunner had last seen his brother, but he continued to physically deteriorate. His face was all sharp angles, the scruff now closer to a beard.

  Gunner took a step closer. “Brother—”

  Rocco shook his head. “I can sense it, can see it in your eyes. I’m happy for you, for both of you. Truly, I am.”

  Gunner didn’t know what to say, how to make this bearable for him. It wasn’t possible.

  “So…how was it?” Roc asked, voice so low and gritty it lifted the hair on the back of Gunner’s neck.

  “We don’t need to talk about this—”

  “I want to know,” Roc said, but there was no missing the growl, the underlying anger.

  His anger wasn’t directed at Gunner but at what had been stolen from him. Telling Roc how fucking amazing he felt, how goddamned happy he was, wasn’t something his brother needed to hear right now.

  “Gunner,” he bit out, his jaw working, fingers clenching and unclenching, body shaking. “I…I need to know, please, just…just fucking tell me.”

  Rocco was torturing himself and they both knew it. “Nothing good can come from talking about this, brother.”

  Roc shook harder. “I dream about her, think about her every day, every night. She’s the only thing in my head. And the fucking awful, twisted, horrific truth of what she’s going through right now, right at this very moment…” He gripped the sides of his head, gritting his teeth. “It’s all I can fucking see. I can’t see how things were before she was taken from me. I can’t remember, Gunner. The darkness won’t…it won’t let me see. I need you to tell me. I need to close my eyes and see Kyler and me, just for a moment, please.”

  Roc was willing to put himself through hell and back to feel close to Kyler. Jesus fucking Christ, they were losing him. They were going to lose him the way they’d lost Tobias. But Gunner couldn’t deny him. If sharing this gave him even a moment of peace, he would do it.

  “Close your eyes,” Gunner said.

  Rocco did as he asked, chest pumping, his fists so tight, knuckles so white they looked close to splitting.

  Gunner’s throat was tight, and he had to clear it several times to talk. “We…we came together, Roc, like we’d been made to fit only each other. Did you see it, that thread, when you were with Kyler…before?”

  “No,” his brother said. “Silas told me it’s not there until your female has her powers.”

  “It’s gossamer fine and so beautiful you know it has to come from something so fucking pure, so good and perfect. That connection between her and you, even before mating…you know, Roc, you already know nothing is more perfect than that.”

  “Yeah…there’s nothing like it.” Roc shifted from foot to foot. “When you mated, you saw it and you grabbed for it?”

  “Yeah, and I fucking held on.”

  “What’d it feel like, Gun?”

  “It was like Luna wiped me clean. Nothing before her matters. I cracked down the fucking middle, and when she put me back together it was with a part of her inside me. When you reach for that thread, when you take hold…for me, it was pure unrestrained euphoria. I never knew it was possible to feel so much, so fucking much. You think you reached the peak, that it can’t feel any better, but then it does, it grows and grows and somehow you find the capacity to hold it all inside you. And just when you think you’re going to die from the pleasure, the joy of it, it overflows and, fuck, Roc, fuck, it gets even better.”

  Rocco was trembling, eyes still squeezed tight. “And w-when it’s over?”

  “It’s not just you anymore; it’s you and her. You aren’t on your own, you know?”

  “Our demons…the darkness?” Roc rasped.

  Their demons, the fuckers they spend their whole lives fighting until they mated. “They’re still there, but it’s not the same. They’re leashed, brother. Your demon loves her, worships her as well. It doesn’t want to break free and lay waste anymore. It wants to be with her, it wants to protect her as well. You are of one mind. You share the same heart. Her.”

  Gunner stood there watching Roc. His brother’s eyes stayed closed and he was breathing roughly, those fists still tight, and he was deep in his own head because, for one fleeting second, his mouth curled up on the side. Like in his desperation for Kyler, to make her his, his mind was tricking him, just for that second, was letting him imagine it was him and Kyler, instead of Gunner and Luna.

  But slowly the strain crept back, the pain.

  “Roc?”

  “Don’t—”

  “Rocco—”

  “I don’t want to open my eyes, Gun. If I open my eyes, she’ll be gone again. She’ll be gone, and she’ll be suffering and so fucking scared. She’ll be calling for me. Calling over and over and I won’t come.” His eyes snapped open with a strangled roar.

  Gunner sucked in a sharp breath.

  Desolation. Annihilation.

  That’s all that was left.

  Gunner took a step toward him, but Rocco dove off the side of the building. Gunner ran to the edge, the fall wouldn’t kill him but recovery would be a living hell. Rocco plummeted toward the cracked pavement at full speed—

  His wings snapped out at the last minute, then he was shooting higher, into low cloud, disappearing into the sky. Gunner wanted to go after him, but that’s not what Rocco needed right then. Not what his brother wanted.

  It was late, the sun would be up soon. They’d been patrolling all night, looking for anything that might lead them to Azel. But so far there was nothing.

  He was tired and he wanted his mate. After being with Roc, more than ever. He wanted to hold Luna.

  His phoned beeped and he checked the screen.

  Chaos.

  Shit, they were under attack.

  Gunner’s wings burst from his back, and with two deep beats, he lifted off the building and headed for the action.

  The sun had barely risen and it was still gloomy outside.

  Gunner wasn’t back yet, and he hadn’t answered any of her texts.

  Luna shoved back the covers and pulled on her workout clothes. Gunner had explained that he might be hard to reach while he was on patrol and that she shouldn’t worry.

  How was she supposed to do that? The man she loved could be hurt somewhere…or worse. Fear tried to fight forward again.

  No. She’d know. If he was badly injured, she’d know. They were tied together now. Linked forever. If he was in trouble, she’d know.

  Desperate to get out of her own head, she headed down to the first floor to the gym. She needed to work off some of this restless energy.

  “Can’t sleep?” Grace asked when she walked in, her friend’s expression knowing.

  Luna shook her head. “How do you do it?”

  “When I’m not out there with him, I pace around a lot.”

  “Me as well,” Mia said from behind her.

  Luna turned—they were all there, Eve and Meredith as well.

  Eve held up her phone. “Just choosing music. Any requests?”

  “Whatever you usually listen to. I haven’t really listened to a lot of music.” Azel hadn’t liked her to. He said it would put stupid ideas in her head. “Nothing slow.”

  “Gotcha.”

  A moment later a fast, rhythmic beat filled the room.

  Luna followed the other females to the treadmills. There was a wall of th
em all lined up. Luna started slow and increased the pace along with the others as they warmed up.

  Eventually, they all settled into different speeds. Eve and Meredith a fast walk. Grace an all-out run, and Luna a quick jog. No, she hadn’t done much running in her life, but her vampire half gave her excellent stamina, and right now she needed to get rid of all the nerves flying around her belly.

  Her breathing grew heavier, her heart, newly beating, pounding harder. It felt good. Her hand lifted to her chest to feel it. Gunner really had brought her back to life in every way.

  A smile broke out across her face and she didn’t even try to contain it. She looked up, seeing herself in the wall of mirrors in front of them, and barely recognized herself. Her expression was animated, filled with happiness. All her life she’d seen people in magazines, TV programs, movies wearing a similar expression to the one she had now. She’d tried to fake it over the years. Had smiled at herself in the mirror, curious, but she’d never looked like this. Her eyes had always given away the truth.

  That’s when she realized Eve, Mia, Grace, and Meredith were all looking at her in the mirror as well, and their smiles rivaled her own. A giggle bubbled up inside Luna, and she had no choice but to let it free.

  They knew why she was smiling, and their happiness for her increased her own.

  She had no idea where it came from, but the sight of the three females, their cheesy grins so wide, turned her giggle into an all-out laugh.

  “We look freaking deranged,” Grace said, barking out a laugh as well.

  Meredith burst into a fit of giggles, and Eve threw her head back and belly laughed. They laughed and laughed until tears were running down their faces.

  Mia snorted. “Oh man, I needed that.”

  Eve was still grinning wide. “Excellent tension release.”

  Grace sobered. “We’re just so happy for you, Luna. You deserve this, you and Gunner both.”

  Luna couldn’t wipe the grin off her face. “Thanks, guys.”