Trust the Fall (Fallen Hunters Series Book 2)

by Melissa Winters

  My chest heaves from the exertion of fighting mixed with the heady scent that is all River. His scent is all over me, flirting with my senses and begging me to lean in just slightly. He knows what he’s doing in a battle of wills as much as in true combat.

  “Watch it,” River yells, pushing me out of the way as a horned demon nearly bulldozes into me. River expertly dislodges his head, and the body topples to the ground in a heap of gore.

  I shake my head to clear it of the fog. What the hell is wrong with me?

  My eyes land on Lilith, whose grin is a dead giveaway.

  That bitch is messing with my mind.

  “Rix, take Victoria to the parlor. I’ll be there soon,” Luke calls over the waning battle, as the last of the traitor demons are brought to their knees.

  The demon dog, whom I specifically told Luke to keep away from me, moves toward the hallway, looking back to ensure I’m following him.

  Needing to get out of this room, I push aside my hatred for the beast and follow him. We walk for several minutes until we come across an open door.

  It’s a bare room, much like the one I was held in when I first arrived.

  I walk inside and the door slams behind me. I pace the floor, concentrating on my breathing.

  Damn Lilith and her games.

  Does she know who River is to me? Or is she simply choosing the first pretty face just to drive a wedge between Luke and me?

  The door opens and I spin around, ready to throw myself at Luke, but it’s River standing just inside the door.

  “What are you doing here?” I hate how rude the words come out. River hasn’t done anything wrong. It’s my own conscience incorrectly placing the blame.

  “I wanted to make sure you were all right. Satan might trust that mutt, but I don’t.”

  I blow out a breath. “I’m fine. It’s just . . .”

  “This place?” he cuts in.

  “Yeah.”

  “Listen, I didn’t mean to act inappropriately back there. If I made you uncomfortable, I apologize.”

  “You didn’t. It’s not you. It’s just—”

  The door crashes open, stopping my words.

  “Get out,” Luke growls.

  River grins and I fear more bloodshed.

  God help me.

  TAKE ME TO CHURCH

  River remains still, tracking Luke’s every move as he circles him like a jaguar stalking its prey.

  “Reaper,” Luke warns. “Get the fuck out.”

  River’s eyebrow lifts before he turns to me. “Will you be all right?”

  “She’s fine,” Luke bites, taking a threatening step toward River.

  River doesn’t move, seemingly unfazed by Luke’s hostile demeanor.

  “I didn’t ask you, Satan.” His eyes remain fixed on mine. “Do you want me to leave, Victoria?”

  “Yes.” I’m practically choking on the testosterone in the air. These two equally matched men are itching to go rounds.

  I need River to leave, because I won’t have them fighting over me. Not when they need to form a pact to help with the impending wars.

  River shrugs. “I’ll be around if you need me.” He doesn’t look at Luke as he exits the room with a smoldering swagger that’s impossible not to notice.

  Luke’s chest heaves with barely restrained fury.

  “Tell me you don’t want him, Victoria,” he says, as he stalks across the room toward me. With every step he takes forward, I take one back.

  “I don’t . . . want him.”

  I continue my retreat. Not because I don’t want what’s coming, but because my need for him is so intense, I feel like I might explode. It’s overwhelming. All-consuming.

  “Is it me that you want, angel?”

  When he finally reaches me, I’m lifted into his arms, my legs wrapped around his hips. He backs us into the wall, trapping me against it for leverage. “Say it, Victoria. Tell me you want me inside of you.” He practically growls the words.

  “You. I want you inside of me, Luke.” My voice doesn’t sound like mine. It’s deep and full of wanton lust.

  My arms lift into the air and, with one hand, he pulls the black crop top over my head, discarding it.

  Our lips fuse together, and I don’t know where I end and he begins. His hands roam over my body, possessive and indulgent as my arms cling to his neck and my legs squeeze his hips.

  “I need these gone,” he grits through his teeth.

  Just like that, my leather pants disappear.

  “No undergarments?”

  “Please don’t ruin the moment,” I whine at his incessant need to talk.

  “What would you prefer I call them? Knickers?” He places a kiss to the corner of my lips. “Skivvies?” Another kiss to the other side. “Panties?” He grins devilishly.

  “Luke . . .” I warn.

  “Are you ready for me, angel?”

  “Please, Luke.”

  I don’t want to talk anymore, and I don’t want him to be gentle. I need him to claim me. To make me his.

  “Mine,” he grunts, thrusting into my center. I whimper at the contact, craving more.

  We waited too long to be together, and all of that pent-up frustration is what’s being released with every thrust.

  We’ve been separated for too long.

  “I love you, Luke. Take me. Please.”

  He drives upward and in one swift motion, he’s fully seated inside of me. My body exhales in absolute contentment. He allows my walls time to adjust to his massive length before moving once more.

  His cock is so deep inside of me, I whimper with every thrust of his hips. No matter the roughness of the whole act, I can feel his love in every touch. Every kiss. The passion is a burn that I feel from the top of my head to the tips of my curling toes.

  This isn’t lovemaking. It’s not soft or slow. It’s hard. Demanding.

  It’s born of a blind need, greater than either of us can comprehend.

  Nothing has felt more right than this moment. The hardships ahead of us are the furthest thing from either of our minds. Right now, nobody else exists. It’s only him and me and this complete bliss.

  His hand cups my breast as he fills me to the brim.

  “We will do this again tonight, and it won’t be up against a fucking wall,” he growls.

  “Yes,” I moan.

  He slams into me harder, and my back scrapes against the rock. The pain that follows is washed away by the pleasure of Luke’s expert moves. This has never felt so good.

  Another moan that I’m sure the whole of Hell hears rushes from my lips and Luke smothers it with a kiss. My body is in flames, and I relish the burn. Every place his hands touch tingles.

  “More. Faster.” I’m so close and I need the release. “Please.”

  He slams into me again and again.

  “I can’t hold it, Victoria.”

  “Don’t stop. I’m right there with you.”

  Once. Twice. Three more pumps, and he’s spilling into me.

  As my own orgasm spasms through me, I collapse into his arms, and he holds me as I come down from the high. We stay like this for several minutes, both breathing heavily, neither of us wanting the moment to end.

  “That was . . .”

  “Everything,” he finishes.

  A knock at the door has us both straightening.

  “What in the hell is with people interrupting us?” he grumbles.

  Setting me on my feet, he snaps his fingers so that I’m dressed once more. I’m back in the black leather I’d put on before leaving the loft.

  “Hell clearly has its advantages,” I chuckle.

  “I could have you naked just as quickly on Earth,” he grins.

  Another knock. “What?” We both yell in unison.

  “You two done? We have shit to do,” River grates from the other side.

  At the sound of his voice, Luke’s demeanor shifts. Back is the broody Satan from earlier.

  “Luke? What’s—” />
  “Not now, love. We have plans to make. I need to claim my throne.” He places a chaste kiss to my forehead.

  The door springs open and in walks Lilith. As soon as she sees us, her face turns a shade of green I thought was reserved for the witch that melts in water. I wonder if that would have the same effect on her.

  A grin spreads across my face with the knowledge that she’s tuned in to exactly what just occurred in this room. The air is thick with the scent of us.

  Her balled fist at her side unclenches, and I watch her flick her wrist. Instantaneously, I’m assaulted with images of her and Luke as he loses himself in her. My stomach twists and I feel like I’m going to be sick.

  “Victoria?” Luke questions, completely oblivious to what’s transpiring.

  How the heck does he constantly reach my mind, but miss Lilith playing games?

  I bare my teeth, and she throws her head back in laughter.

  My feet are moving before I think better of it. When I’m standing in front of Lilith, my arms dart out and push her shoulders back, throwing her into the wall.

  She continues to laugh like a deranged psych patient.

  “What’s wrong, angel?” She sneers the moniker as an insult.

  “Stop messing with me. I won’t allow you to put those thoughts into my mind.”

  Her head tilts to the side. “Oh? Would you prefer these?”

  A montage of River and me in various states of pleasure filters through me. A wave of tingles races across my body.

  “Stop!” I yell, grabbing the sides of my head.

  “Oh, darling . . . if you think I had to put those thoughts into your mind, you’re the only deranged one of the two of us. You want him all on your own.”

  “Ugh,” I bellow, before tackling her to the ground.

  She rolls out from under me, flipping me to my back and straddling my chest. “Do you really want to fight me, Victoria? Here, I hold all of the power.”

  “You’re a concubine.” I bite the word. “You have no power. You’re simply a whore.”

  She growls, raising her fist to strike me, but the blow never comes.

  She’s ripped from atop me as Luke yells, “What is the meaning of this?”

  The room is silent. Luke holds a squirming Lilith to his chest, while a bewildered River runs through the door, stopping as soon as he sees what’s happening.

  “Let me go, Lucifer. I’m going to kill her,” Lilith screeches.

  He pulls her further into his chest, squeezing. “Enough, Lil,” he whispers into her ear, and she settles back with a sigh.

  The hair on the back of my neck stands on end at the intimate way he says her nickname and how she’s currently melting into him.

  It’s too much. Especially after what we just shared.

  I stand to my feet and stalk from the room, back into the hallway. I don’t get far before Luke is on my heels, calling out my name.

  “Victoria. Stop.”

  I stop but refuse to look at him. I’m too angry at the moment.

  “What was that?” he asks, and I huff a humorless laugh.

  I slowly turn to face him, cheeks heated in fury. At Lilith. At him.

  “Why don’t you ask your whore, Satan?”

  He flinches. I never call him that, and when I do, it’s always out of anger.

  “I didn’t ask her. I’m asking you.”

  I shake my head, not wanting to talk about it. The truth is, I question if what she said holds a bit of truth. Am I attracted to River?

  As soon as I think it, I regret it, because it’s clear that Luke is reading my thoughts yet again. This is exactly the reason I’m paranoid. River is right, he has done a number on me. In many ways.

  His features darken and his lips press into a harsh line. “I don’t need to know any more. You’ve said enough.”

  “Luke, I—”

  His hand flies up. “No.”

  “You don’t get to do that,” I yell. “Not after the way you held her back there. And ‘Lil’? Do you really have to use your fucking pet names with your whore in front of me?”

  “Victoria, I’m sorry. I never meant anything by it. I was only holding her back. I’d never let her touch you.”

  My rage lowers to a simmer. It’s Lilith I’m angry with, not Luke.

  “What’s going on out here?”

  My eyes close at the sound of River’s voice. Now is not the time for him to appear.

  “I couldn’t stop him, Lucifer,” Lilith calls, and once again, I’m boiling over.

  It all makes sense. She orchestrated River’s appearance to further the divide between Luke and me.

  “Stop making this about her,” Luke snaps at me, and I shiver at the harshness. “This isn’t about Lilith. It’s about you and him.”

  “Now you’re angry at me?”

  “Damn straight. Did you think I’d forgotten what started our argument in the first place? You were thinking about him.”

  “There’s nothing between us,” I say, taking a step toward Luke, but he retreats by two steps.

  “You and I both know that isn’t true. You’re his betrothed, after all.”

  “What?” River asks, looking anything but authentic. His head bobs back and forth between Luke and me, playing like he’s waiting for one of us to explain, but it’s obvious he’s known all along.

  “Go ahead . . . tell him,” Luke goads, and I shake my head, wanting him to stop.

  “What’s he talking about, princess?”

  I shoot River a glare that should signal I’m on to him and will cut him if he keeps up this ridiculous charade.

  “Princess? How cute,” Luke mocks River. “You already have pet names, and here you were just censuring me for the same fucking thing.”

  “Luke, stop,” I warn. “This is getting out of hand.”

  “You’re right; it is. I saw you two, Victoria, back at the battle. You almost kissed him.”

  “It was her.” I motion to Lilith, who wears a false appearance of bewilderment.

  “What did I do? I didn’t make you fall for him.” She points to River.

  “Shut up,” I scream.

  “Will someone tell me what is going on?” Lilith’s shrill voice cuts off my outburst.

  “She’s the reaper princess,” Luke says without fanfare, “his betrothed.” He never once looks in my direction.

  River says something, but I don’t hear a word of it. I’m too focused on the cold, detached iciness coming from Luke. I’ve witnessed it before, the night he left me on Earth.

  He’s pulling away again, and that truth breaks me a little.

  “Luke,” I call out, but he’s already retreating, with a gloating Lilith by his side.

  “Victoria,” River says, but I ignore him. “Victoria.”

  “What?” I snap, pissed beyond reason that he knew all this time and never said a damn word.

  “I’ve been calling your name. Are you all right?”

  I lift my chin. “No. You liar.”

  He sighs. “I didn’t lie. I had to keep it to myself, what with all the demons lining up to get in your head around here. I couldn’t risk Nolda finding out and keeping you locked up.

  I suck air in through my teeth, attempting to rein in my temper. “It doesn’t matter. You knowing doesn’t change anything.”

  “Which is why I have to ask again . . . are you all right?”

  “Do I look all right?” I sound like a lunatic, but who wouldn’t, with all the lies and half truths?

  He purses his lips. “You look like hell, but I didn’t think now was a great time to tell you so.”

  “Asshole.”

  “I’m glad to see you haven’t lost that fire.”

  He chuckles, but I don’t say anything. I’m tired and sad. Lilith only just started her games and so far, it’s Lilith: one; me: zero.

  “Care to fill me in on what’s going on?”

  Inhale.

  Exhale.

  “That bitch is playing game
s and causing issues.”

  “I’m not asking about Lilith, Victoria.”

  I sigh. “The archangel Michael was the one who broke the news about me being the reaper princess.”

  River narrows his eyes. “Michael told you this?” I nod. “How does he know?”

  “He claims he’s my father.”

  River staggers backward. “Michael and Camille? It . . . makes sense.”

  “Don’t say that,” I beg. “This . . . it isn’t right. I’m not.”

  “You are,” River says with no trace of doubt. “I see it. I always have. It all makes sense.”

  “What makes sense?”

  “Why the queen wanted me here. Why I felt compelled to stay. It’s you. I see it now,” he repeats. “My . . . attraction.”

  I shake my head violently. “Stop. Please. River we can’t go there.”

  “I need to take you to Camille, now,” he says, ignoring my refusals. “She’ll want to make plans right away.”

  “I’m not going, River,” I say, raising my voice to snap him out of it. “Just stop.”

  His head jerks back and his eyes squint, as though he doesn’t understand me. “Why wouldn’t you want to go home? You’re to be queen, Victoria.”

  “I don’t give a shit about any of that. It’s not my life, River. I don’t want it.”

  “You might not have a choice. If the angels are involved, it’s willed not only by the reaper kingdom, but by Heaven. Are you prepared to go on the run?”

  And that’s the million-dollar question. If I resist, what happens?

  SEPTEMBER

  LUKE

  I throw back the glass of whiskey before pouring myself another. Drinking away my misery isn’t working out like I’d planned. If anything, I feel worse.

  I made sure that Victoria got back to my castle and settled in a room, but I haven’t spoken to her since our fight. She’s asleep in a random room somewhere within these walls. She refused to sleep in my bed.

  I just got Victoria back, and we’re already at odds.

  I’m a fucking idiot.

  I should go to her. Beg her forgiveness.

  But there’s the whole matter of her thoughts about the reaper.

  A snarl rips through my chest at the idea of her with him. I’d kill him before he so much as touched her. My hands clench the glass so hard it cracks. “Fuck!” I throw the glass, and it shatters on the stone.