Grave Consequences (Hellgate Guardians Book 2)

by Ivy Asher

  “Yes,” Iceman agrees, reaching down to take my free hand. “Let’s go home, shall we?”

  Those are just about the best words I’ve heard in a long time, and my spirit practically sings. “Hell yeah. Get me out of this asylum before I catch the crazy too.”

  “I wouldn’t normally object to you taking off your clothes, Maverick, but why exactly are you stripping down in our driveway?” Iceman asks me.

  I growl as I contort my body in the weirdest angles so I can reach the zipper and peel myself out of the now soaking fabric of what used to be a beautiful dress. So much for keeping it and wearing it on my bloated PMS days when I need to feel beautiful and eat until the hormonal rage subsides.

  “The fucker probably did that on purpose,” I grumble as I step out of the moonstone encrusted purple fabric that was my gown. “Could have portaled us to the front door of the mansion or right into a nice warm bath, but noooo.”

  “No shifting within a mile from the Hell portal remember?” Jerif tells me. “We’re probably as close as he wanted us to get.”

  I give a huff. “You guys get dropped on the driveway, and I get dropped right into the fucking bog you have hidden at the bottom of your estate’s stupid hill,” I growl. “Not fair.”

  I can tell the guys are trying really hard not to laugh at my slimy, muddy state. I can taste the sludge in my mouth, and it’s already saturated my wings.

  “I was holding your hand, so you tell me how I ended up down there and you didn’t?” I ask Iceman. But my eyes widen when I see what he’s holding in his hand. “Wait a minute. You managed to catch my scythe and save it from the bog, but not me?” I ask, fixing my glare on him.

  He looks down at the stick a little sheepishly before quickly passing it back to me. “Apologies.”

  Shaking my head, I kick off the one shoe that survived my tumble and try to wipe off my legs with the less sludge-covered portions of my dress. “Ugh, why does this shit happen to me?”

  The other guys cover their mouths with their hands, but the snickers leak out despite their best efforts. I whirl on them, putting one hand on my hips while I hold the scythe in the other. I’m now only decked out in a skin colored, corseted bodysuit, and the mud that’s slowly dripping down my calves.

  “You know Grumpy Lurch is going to cut me in my sleep if I trek in another mess,” I tell them. “He’ll fuck with my food, probably Nair my shampoo, and fill the house with doves because he’s petty like that. So I’m stripping down now before we get there.”

  None of them argue my logic. I bend over, trying to get as much filth off of my feet as I can. I should probably be grateful that I’m not entirely covered this time in muck, but I’m tired and hungry and I’ve just barely survived Hell to end up in a pit of mud that smells like that nasty worm pasta that Satan likes to eat.

  “Fine by us. We enjoy the view,” Crux says with an appreciative smile as his green eyes skate up my body. Even though I look like a runner-up at a bad mud wrestling competition, I still can’t help but blush.

  Iceman’s amused gaze suddenly veers off in the direction of the graveyard for a moment, and his navy blue brows furrow. “Jerif, you and I are on boost duty tonight,” he declares, and both of them look back at me longingly for a moment before Jerif nods.

  “We should induct Delta as soon as she’s fed and rested,” the lava demon states before his eyes land on me. “That is...if you still want that.”

  I snort. “Did you not just hear me going to bat for this job against my sperm donor?”

  Jerif shrugs. “You could have just been digging your heels in for the sake of being stubborn. Doesn’t mean you might not have second thoughts about all of this, especially now that you know you’re a Nihil.”

  I study Jerif for a moment, getting the impression that he’s asking about more than just my accepting my duty to the Hellgate.

  “Nihil or not, I meant everything I said,” I tell him evenly, surety ringing in my tone and words. I don’t break eye contact. I want him to see exactly how sure I am. About everything.

  Jerif’s flame-filled gaze fixes on me, and I feel the intensity and weight in it before he nods slowly, his lips slightly curving up. “Okay, then. Get some rest, and we’ll settle things tomorrow.”

  My stomach flips at those words, and greedy anticipation bubbles up in my belly. Mmmm.

  “I look forward to it,” I tell him, unintentional seduction dripping from the statement.

  Jerif’s jaw pulses, and his heated gaze rakes down my body and slowly back up again. “Tease,” he accuses gruffly before turning on his heel and storming off in the direction of the graveyard.

  “You know you like it, asshole,” I shout after him with a smile.

  Iceman shakes his head and chuckles before kissing me lightly on the lips. He huffs out an icy breath against my mouth and then moves to follow Jerif reluctantly. I watch his ass as he goes, disappointment fluttering through me that I’m not going to be reenacting any fivesome sex dreams tonight.

  For a second, I’m tempted to volunteer that we all hang out near the Gate so we can fuck like rabid bunnies in its needy presence, but I’m not ready to go back into Hell yet, and I’m pretty sure Jerif and Iceman are going into Hell’s Embrace, since that’s where the actual Gate is located.

  Despite the fact that I’m covered in muck, I look gratefully at the mansion in the distance. It sure beats the Center Ring of Hell, and it’s damn good to be back.

  11

  I sigh and turn to Echo and Crux. “Be honest. How much is Grumpy Lurch going to hate me if I walk in there like this?”

  Echo and Crux run amused yet hungry gazes over me. “A lot,” Echo says.

  “Yep,” Crux agrees. “I better carry your half-naked, filthy body so that you don’t drip all over the mansion.”

  My cheeks flame with as much heat as the space between my thighs.

  “Yes, we don’t want her to get punished like a bad girl,” Echo adds. “Do we, Crux?”

  “Definitely not.”

  I can’t reply. My tongue wants to leap down my throat and lick my own clit, that’s how throbbing and desperate it is. How can they affect me so much just by saying a few dirty words?

  Looking smug as shit, Crux walks up, but instead of scooping me in his arms all romantic-like, he opts not to, since he doesn’t want to crush my wings.

  So instead, he gingerly takes the scythe from my hand and then steps in front of me and kneels down, letting me hop on his back. I wrap my hands around his neck. My fingers dig into his throat, and I give his neck a little squeeze, just to see if he’s into it. Since Taz interrupted us, the low burn in my stomach hasn’t let up, and I know the guys feel it too.

  “Oh, Jeter,” Crux rumbles, his voice dropping down an octave as he looks over his shoulder at me. “I knew you were a pro batter, but I didn’t know you liked to give a good choke up.”

  I swallow at the dirty baseball innuendo, and I can practically feel my eyes dilating with desire. He’s mixing my love for sex and baseball all in one, and it’s fucking working for me.

  Crux starts walking the rest of the way down the driveway, his long, even strides not even jolting me. I take advantage of my spread legs wrapped around him and slowly grind my center against his back, just to give myself some much needed friction.

  “Here, let me help with that.”

  I gasp as Echo’s hands come up, pressing against my ass. The bottom of my cheeks are exposed from the bodysuit, and he wastes no time squeezing the bouncy flesh. With his touch, he grinds me harder against Crux’s back, and I instantly bite down on my bottom lip. Wicked heat flutters through me like my tummy butterflies have suddenly caught on fire.

  Crux keeps walking, and Echo keeps palming my ass, pressing all my achy parts against Crux like it’s some integral part in getting me to the mansion. It’s all so fucking wrong and dirty, but I don’t want it to stop.

  When we get to the front door, Echo sends his shadows ahead, and they turn the handle and
push the door open for us. Crux doesn’t even break his stride, he just tromps right in, Echo’s hands still on my ass. He doesn’t even move them when GL appears from a side room in all his stuffy butler glory.

  “Good day, sirs.”

  “Hey, Strut,” Crux says cheerfully, as if he’s not carrying a half naked and half muddy me on his back.

  I give Grumpy a two fingered wave. “They’re carrying me so I don’t get the floors dirty, see?” I brag in a you can’t be mad at me for this tone.

  “Hmm.” He doesn’t sound impressed, but it’s a lot better than raving mad like my last bog incident.

  Echo gives my ass a little shove, hurrying Crux along. “Could you send up some food, Strut? We’re all famished.” Echo punctuates that word with a little shadow action, as the dark wisps wrap around my waist and start moving up to tease the edge of my breasts.

  “Of course,” Strut answers as Crux starts climbing the stairs.

  “Thank you!” I call back to Grumpy. I really want to get on his good side, especially now that he’s delivering our meal. I can’t have another food fiasco so soon after the dinner party.

  I’m insanely curious as Crux takes me upstairs and into a part of the mansion I haven’t been to yet. This place is huge, and I’ve seen very little of it. “What’s with the not having electricity in this place?” I ask, looking around as Crux hits the top of the staircase and then walks down a lantern-lit hallway.

  “Jerif prefers candles and fireplaces since he can control it,” Echo replies.

  “Yeah, but what about TVs and internet? Or a working fridge and microwave? He can’t control all of that.”

  “We have imps to cook for us, and we don’t have time for the other stuff. We’re always dealing with the Gate.”

  For some reason, that makes me feel sad. “I’m sorry that you guys have had to struggle with this for so long,” I tell them. “I hope I can help lighten the load.”

  Crux’s hand gives my leg a little squeeze. “You helped us the minute you agreed to try. Knowing now you’re a Nihil means we’ll probably be set. You’re more powerful than all of us, and I can’t see the Hellgate needing more than the five of us to keep it stable for a really long time.”

  I lean forward and place a kiss on the side of his neck, making him hum in appreciation. “Good. I’m glad.”

  Once again, Echo’s shadows open one of the doors, and Crux strides inside. He doesn’t stop in the bedroom though. I barely get a chance to take in the dark wood and forest green bed as he tosses my scythe on it before he heads right for the en suite bathroom.

  The whole back of the space is a giant wet room made of dark gray tiles, with just a short glass half-wall separating it from the rest of the bathroom. There’s one large rectangular waterfall showerhead on the ceiling that spreads along the span of the wet space, and a few chrome handhelds installed on the wall.

  Crux veers toward the gray countertops, backing up so he can set me down. I let go, my ass hitting the cold marble. My wings have to open up to fit, so the backs graze against the large mirror behind me. The guys stand in front of me, taking me in. I cross my legs and lean back on my hands, knowing very well how this position arches my back and juts out my breasts. The perky twins look good in this corseted bodysuit.

  “You’ve got me up here...so what now?” I ask with a teasing, sultry edge to my voice.

  Echo bites his lip. “Let’s get you cleaned up, and then...we eat.”

  Fuck. I don’t think he’s talking about the food.

  His shadows move out, spiraling over to the faucets in the wet space, making the lengthy showerhead on the ceiling start gushing steaming hot water.

  “Come on, dirty girl,” Crux says, quirking a finger at me. “Let us help you wash the bog away.”

  With a smile, I hop off the countertop and head for the shower, making sure to sashay my hips a little more than usual as I walk toward the water. I can feel their eyes on me, following every inch of exposed skin, and it makes me feel so sexy to be the center of their attention.

  Excitement rushes through me because I know this is going to be good, but it’s more than the promise of amazing sex that has me panting and ready to squeal like a kid who just got a surprise puppy. There’s an ease to the way I am with them that I’ve never had before. I don’t feel shy or nervous or self-conscious. I just feel ready to take everything to the next level.

  The thick glass of the half-wall separating the massive shower from the rest of the room supports me as I lean forward against it. I look over my shoulder and fix Echo and Crux with a look.

  “I need to be unhooked,” I state in invitation, pointing to the clasps that have me caged into the corset bodysuit.

  Neither one of them move, they just watch me hungrily until all of a sudden I feel Echo’s shadows move up my legs slowly, like he’s tracing his fingertips up the back of my calves, behind my knees, up my thighs. They tickle the globes of my ass and then skim up the center of my back. I feel the first hook and eye clasp on the corset come free, and then another, and another.

  I look at the two demons over my shoulder, each clasp coming undone and sending a flare of sensation right between my thighs. They watch me, like I’m performing some erotic strip tease, captivated by my every breath. The lust and want wraps around us like a fog thicker than the steam filling up the room. I know that I’m so worked up, all it will take is one barely-there touch to any erogenous zone I possess and I’m sliding right into orgasm home base.

  The last of the corset comes free and folds down, and I push the rest of it off my hips while reveling in the full deep breaths I can once again pull into my lungs. I pull the rest of the bodysuit all the way off very slowly. Every lift of my hip and wriggle of my ass purposeful, tailor-made to my audience. I want them as ready as I am.

  When I’m completely bare, I walk around the glass partition and step under the water, turning around so that they get a full frontal view of me as water slicks down my body, steam pricking at my pointed nipples, my head falling back so that the water can wet my hair.

  “Fucking Hell Rings,” Echo groans.

  “That’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Crux puts in.

  I open my eyes languidly, my lids hooded as I take them in. “Undress. Slowly,” I tell them. I want to get as much of a show as I gave.

  Echo smirks, but his shadows come back to wrap around him, and he stands there motionless, once again letting them do the work. I watch them lift his shirt right off, and then I lick my lips as they curl into the waist of his pants, popping off the button and pulling them down.

  I don’t play demure or shy. There are no games between us. I drink my fill of him unapologetically, enjoying every inch of his pale, corded body, loving the sight of the shadows that cover him, moving and slinking around like they’re waiting to reach for me.

  He boldly wraps a hand around his proud, rigid cock, giving himself a slow stroke. It’s so fucking sexy seeing him hard and ready. When I see more clothes falling to the floor, my eyes move over to Crux, and I let out a satisfied hum. Tanned abs, a thin blond happy trail, and another hard cock jutting out to greet me.

  I’m the luckiest fucking demon in all the Rings of Hell.

  I study every curve and definition, taking them both in, trying to sear this picture into my memory. “Come play,” I invite, ready to touch and be touched.

  This moment has been a long time coming, and I feel like I’m going to combust any moment now. This attraction that’s been between us since day one is about to detonate, and I can’t wait to be caught in the explosion.

  Both of them move like predators sizing up the game, picking the best points of attack for maximum damage. Goosebumps spring up on my arms despite the hot water falling on me. Crux reaches me first, and I’m taken by surprise when his lips slam to mine in a searing kiss that tells me there’s going to be no soft and slow right now. It’s all going to be fevered and hard and feral.

  Fuck yes.

  I ki
ss him back, my lips and tongue begging for everything he wants to give me.

  “I’ll sip you later, Delta, but right now, I need to drown in you,” Crux whispers gruffly in my ear before he nips my lobe, letting his forked tongue come out to play.

  In response, I jump up and wrap my legs around his waist, letting out a hiss as he takes three steps and pushes me up against the gray tile of the shower wall.

  “I’ve wanted this since the moment you tumbled into the mausoleum, batting away at us and spewing threats. Except now, I don’t just want you, I need you.”

  Crux kisses me hard, the piercings on each side of his forked tongue clinking against my teeth as he drags it sensually through my mouth. I moan at the feel of that naughty muscle of his as it flicks against my eager tongue. And then, without any more preamble or wasted time, he reaches down between us and moves himself to my entrance. I arch up, giving him the perfect angle, and he slams into me with one quick thrust.

  I cling to his thick neck for leverage, dropping my head back on an indulgent moan. There’s no pause or savoring as Crux pulls out and thrusts into me again. This is hard. Fast. Intense. This is lust and desire ringing out, like he’s desperate to have me right this second, and he’s unable to wait any longer. It’s hot as fuck to know that I made him this way. He’s desperate for me.

  He sucks on my bottom lip and inhales every moan and pant of pleasure I make as he sets a deliciously fast pace like he’s racing me to an orgasm. His green eyes lock on mine, teasing and flashing me hints of the pleasure he’s feeling, and I eat it up as he fucks me hard against the shower wall.

  I’m not sure where Echo is, and that’s fine, because this moment, audience or not, is all about me and Crux.

  He hits an especially sweet spot inside of me, and I groan and bite out a yes. Crux’s hips slap against my spread thighs. “Ah, so right there, then?” he teases as he swivels inside of me and thrusts up hard, hitting exactly the same delicious spot. “Oh, yeah, I can feel you tightening,” he observes as he hammers himself against the sweet spot over and over again.