by Julie Kenner
* * * *
Hades had never in his entire life been this turned on. As an angel, he’d had a couple of sex partners, but he’d been overeager and underexperienced. The encounters had been nice, but all these years later, he could barely remember them.
As a fallen angel, he hadn’t had much opportunity to get down and dirty, but when he had, he’d taken advantage of it. The rare times when Azagoth allowed him out of Sheoul-gra, he’d hit every succubus he could find, visited every demon pleasure palace he could get to in his allotted time.
He’d learned a few things, for sure, but one thing he’d never learned was to care. To take the time to enjoy a female with not only his body, but his mind and soul. Maybe because he’d always known he couldn’t get attached to anyone, so he’d kept his distance, used jokes and a carefree attitude to breeze through a one-hour stand.
But Cat changed all that. She’d wormed her way into his heart like a dire leech, and all he could do was hope she’d drain him.
Bracing himself on his fists, he looked down at her as she lay panting, her face flushed, her lips parted to reveal just a hint of pearly teeth and tiny, pointed fangs. As the tip of his cock prodded her wet opening, she gasped and rolled her hips, inviting him in.
“I’ve never done this before,” she said. There was no shyness, no self-consciousness, just a plain and simple fact that left him speechless for a second.
“But...Zhubaal,” he finally blurted.
She shook her head, making her hair shift in shiny red waves on the pale yellow bedspread. “Nothing happened.”
Oh, great, so he’d been a jealous jackass for nothing. It was probably a good thing he hadn’t given in to his desire to rip Zhubaal’s head off and shove it up his ass every time he saw him, too.
Hades looked into her gorgeous, guileless eyes, loving that she was trusting him to be her first. Pride swelled, but close on its heels was shame. This might be the only time they had, and to take the gift of her virginity, knowing they might never again––
“Knock it off.” She dug her nails into his shoulder, the little pricks of pain snapping him out of his train of thought. “I can see your mind working, and I know what you’re thinking. I’m capable of making my own decisions, and even if we can’t be together again, I want to always have this, same as you.”
Ah, damn, she was a gift. This was going to be worth anything Azagoth put him through as punishment. Anything.
Reaching between them, he gripped his cock to guide it inside her, but once again, she clawed him. “Wait. I want to...” She trailed off, a burst of pink blooming in her cheeks. “I want to taste you.”
At those words, his cock damned near humiliated him. It jerked in his hand, all, yes, please, and do it now.
“Okay,” he said, proud of how he didn’t sound completely strangled with lust, “but only for a second. You’ve got me way too worked up.”
Her cocky grin made him regret agreeing to this as he climbed up her body and kneeled next to her head. He barely had time to push his unruly erection down when she lifted her mouth to it and flicked her tongue over the bead of pre-come at the tip. He hissed at the contact, hissed louder when she did it again.
And then the crazy little angel swallowed his cock from the head to the base and sucked like she’d been born to do this. A sound somewhere between a shout and a bark escaped him as she slid her mouth upward and swirled her tongue around the crown. Holy hell, she was no tentative kitten lapping at a bowl of milk. This was a she-tiger with an appetite for man, and––
He pulled back and squeezed his cock so hard he lost his sight for a heartbeat. A hot climax pulsed in his balls and his shaft, and there was no way he was blowing down her throat. He needed to be skin-on-skin with her, body to body, sex to sex.
For the first orgasm, anyway.
“Not nice,” he scolded, but she just gave him a wide-eyed doe look he might have bought if he hadn’t just experienced the rabid carnivore she really was.
“I thought I was being very nice.” She batted her eyes, still playing innocent, which only made his cock throb harder.
Time to teach her a lesson.
In a quick motion, he flipped her onto her belly and dove between her legs again, lifting her hips for prime access as he stabbed his tongue into her dripping sex. She cried out in surprise and pleasure as he licked her, this time not even trying to be gentle. He growled against her core, nibbling and feasting as he ground his cock against the mattress to keep the bastard happy.
Then, just as her cries and breaths signaled that she was on the edge, he rolled her again. Her legs flopped open, spreading that beautiful pink flesh wide for him. He wanted to lick her some more, but the foreplay had set him on fire, and the bed-humping had fanned the flames.
Time to burn.
He positioned himself between her thighs and pushed against her opening. She arched, giving him even more access, and his head slid into her warmth.
“Tight,” he groaned. “Ah, damn, you’re tight.” Her eyes caught his, held them as he pushed in a little more. Like many angels, she didn’t seem to have a barrier, but the invasion still couldn’t be comfortable. “Does it hurt?”
“No,” she breathed. “It just feels...right.”
She couldn’t have said anything better. Throwing back his head, he thrust deep. At her cry, he panicked, but the expression on her face wasn’t pain. It was bliss. She was so ready, so eager, and he was so damned lucky.
He pulled nearly free of her body and slid back in, keeping an eye on her, gauging her reactions in case he hurt or frightened her, but she was gloriously free of inhibition, fear, or discomfort.
“More,” she begged. “Don’t hold back. I want it all.”
It was the same strength of character she’d exhibited in the Inner Sanctum, the drive to get what she wanted at all costs, and this time, he was going to give it to her.
Dropping to his elbows, he kissed her as he pumped between her legs, his thrusts growing faster and harder as his climax began to tingle at the base of his spine. The wet slap of their bodies grew more furious as she clung to him, wrapping her legs around his waist with more strength than he’d imagined she had in her entire body.
She met him thrust for thrust, both with her hips and her tongue. He heard the bed banging against the wall and sliding across the floor with the fury of their joining, and shit, he was close, so close that when she came, all he could do was hold on for the ride.
Her sex rippled along his shaft, wringing the climax from him in long bursts that bordered on agony. Sweet, sweet agony. He couldn’t think, couldn’t see as he came once, then twice, the second sending his entire body into spasms of ecstasy. He filled her, but she filled him, too, with emotion he’d never known.
And as he collapsed on top of her, his skin coated in sweat, his lungs struggling to pull in enough air, he wondered if he should tell her how he felt about her. Would she believe he was capable of love? He hadn’t thought so, but what else could explain his inability to stop thinking about her? What else could explain his willingness to disobey Azagoth? Would it be fair to tell her he’d fallen hard for her?
They had, after all, only known each other for a short time. Worse, Azagoth might kill him.
And then, as if just thinking about the male was a curse, the door slammed open. The Grim Reaper burst inside, the whites of his eyes swallowed by inky black, swirly pools. Massive, leathery wings brushed the ceiling, but it was the set of ebony horns sprouting from his forehead and curling over the top of his skull, that filled Hades with dread. Azagoth only took out his horns when he was pissed.
Yep, Hades was dead. And this time, he had a feeling the “mostly” part wouldn’t apply.
Chapter Nineteen
This was a nightmare.
Terror winged its way through Cat as Azagoth strode into her little apartment, black horns jutting from the top of his skull. Lilliana had once said that when the horns came out, so did his temper.
Whi
ch was bad, considering that he did most of his killing while being perfectly calm. She didn’t even want to try to imagine what he’d do while seriously pissed off.
She and Hades leaped off the bed, and while she scrambled for a robe, he very coolly pulled on his pants. Azagoth had the decency to avoid looking at her, but his eyes burned holes through Hades. Who, for his part, showed no emotion at all, although he did keep himself between her and Azagoth. It was sweet of him to want to protect her, but she had a feeling he was in far more danger than she was.
“Azagoth.” Hades held his hands up in a placatory gesture, but Azagoth kept moving toward them in a slow, predatory gait. “This isn’t––”
“Isn’t what it looks like?” Azagoth’s words, sounding as if they’d been dredged in smoke, were a dare, and Cat hoped Hades didn’t take it.
“No,” Hades said, standing his ground and looking completely unruffled. “It’s exactly what it looks like. But it isn’t Cat’s fault. I came to her.”
Tugging her robe closed, Cat stepped next to Hades. “Please, Azagoth,” she begged, and she’d go to her knees if she had to, “don’t punish him. He saved my life.”
Azagoth halted a few feet away, clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides. Claws at the tips of his fingers shredded his flesh, and blood began to drip from his hands. “And you felt grateful enough to sleep with him?”
“Of course not. This started before he saved me.” Cat immediately realized her mistake when Hades groaned and Azagoth growled. Quickly, she added, “It was all my fault. He kept telling me he couldn’t, and I kept...seducing him.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“It’s the truth,” she said, “so, yes.”
Azagoth turned to Hades, and was it her imagination or had his horns receded a little? “And what have you got to say?”
“She’s telling the truth. But...”
“But what?”
“But I could have resisted more. I chose not to.” He took her hand. “I want her.”
“I see.” Azagoth scrubbed his palm over his face, leaving behind smears of blood like evil war paint. “Lilliana has made me soft,” he muttered. He dropped his hand and studied each of them in turn before focusing his laser gaze on Hades. “Will you fight for her?”
Hades growled. “I would fight Revenant himself for her.”
Azagoth’s upper lip peeled back to reveal a set of huge fangs. “Would you fight me?”
“I’d rather not, but if forced to, yes.”
The expression on Azagoth’s face became stony, sending a chill down her spine. “Will you beg?”
Beg? What a strange question. But it seemed to get a rise out of Hades, because he stiffened. “I...have never...begged.”
“I know.”
Hades dropped to the floor so fast and hard his kneecaps cracked on the stone tile. “Please, Azagoth,” he began, his gaze downcast, his hand clasped against his thighs. “I’ve served you well, but if you want me to do better, I will. If you want to torture me every day for the rest of my life, I’ll gladly submit. All I ask is that you allow me to see Cat between sessions.” He lifted his head, and she had to stifle a cry at the liquid filling his eyes. “I am sorry about your son. His death must sit on your heart like a bruise, and if I could heal it, I would. I can only keep trying to make it up to you, but without Cat, I don’t know how long I can survive to do that. Please, my lord, let me find the same happiness that you’ve found with Lilliana.” His voice cracked with emotion. “Please.”
Cat lost it. Truly, hopelessly, lost it. Sobbing, she sank down next to Hades and wrapped herself around him, needing to comfort him as much as she needed comfort. Her heart ached and her throat closed, and her skin tingled with the sense of goodness that radiated from Hades. Right now, he wasn’t a fallen angel who ruled a demon purgatory. Right now he was a male, in pain and vulnerable, whose intentions were truly pure.
“Yeah, yeah,” Azagoth muttered. “Fine. Get up. You have my blessing. That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Cat nearly burst with happiness as Hades blinked up at Azagoth. “Holy shit, so that’s all I had to do was beg for your forgiveness?”
“Yep.”
“So I could have done that centuries ago?”
“Yep.” Azagoth’s voice took on a haunted quality that struck Cat right in the heart. “All I ever wanted from you…after enough pain, of course…was an apology for taking my son’s life.”
Cat’s eyes watered anew as Hades swallowed hard. “I am truly sorry, Azagoth.”
And that fast, Azagoth’s appearance returned to normal, the blood gone, his eyes glinting like gems. “I know.”
Then, in a move that left Cat speechless, he offered a hand to Hades. Clasping Cat’s hand first, Hades reached out with the other and allowed Azagoth to bring them to their feet. The two males locked gazes for just an instant, but in that brief, intense moment, something passed between them. Something she could only describe as mutual respect, and by the time Azagoth stepped back, she knew that this was the beginning of a brand new relationship between the two.
Hades tugged Cat close. “You know, I’m glad I didn’t beg sooner, because if I had, I wouldn’t have Cat.”
“Yeah, well,” Azagoth said wryly, “you did have Cat, and let me tell you, everyone in Sheoul-gra knows it.”
A hot blush spread over Cat’s face. Now she knew how Azagoth had learned about them. As the blush worked its way down her body, Hades planted a kiss on the top of her head, and the blush turned instantly to fierce, uncontrollable desire.
“I think,” she said, “that everyone is going to know it again.”
Azagoth cringed. “I’m out of here.” He paused. “Before I go, do either of you know why my Seth statue is fucking itself?”
Cat nearly choked on her own saliva, and Hades held his hands up in denial. “No idea what you’re talking about.”
“Really.” Azagoth’s dubious expression said he wasn’t buying it. “So you have absolutely no idea who glued Seth’s penis to his ass?”
“Nope.” Hades slid his hand to Cat’s butt and gave her a playful pinch. “Didn’t you say you were leaving?”
Muttering obscenities, Azagoth hotfooted it out of the apartment, and Cat turned to Hades with a sly smile. “You are very naughty.”
Hades’s eyes glittered as he trailed a finger along her cleavage. “You think?”
“I know.” She went up on her toes and brushed her lips over his. “What do you say? Should we show everyone why they need to invest in earplugs?”
Hades tore open her robe and tugged her to him. “Earplugs? Baby, we’re gonna need to soundproof this room after what I’m going to do to you.”
“And what,” she said, as she cupped his swelling erection, “would that be?”
“Everything.”
“Promise?”
He reached around and slid his fingers between her cheeks as he lowered his mouth to hers. “Promise.”
As it turned out, Hades kept his promise. And as it also turned out, everyone knew it.
* * * *
“Hello, Cataclysm.”
Cat yelped in surprise as she whirled around to face the newcomer who had flashed into the courtyard in front of Azagoth’s manor. She’d just been on her way to the Unfallen dorms to help Lilliana set up a new training program after spending an entire day in bed with Hades, and if she hurried, she could get back in time to join him in the shower.
“Reaver,” she breathed. He stood there next to the fountain, his angelic glow radiating around him. “It’s good to see you again. Azagoth is––”
“I’m not here for Azagoth.” His deep voice rumbled through every cell in her body. “I’m here for you.”
Her heart skipped a beat. Then another. And another, until it felt as if the organ was nothing but a shriveled husk in her chest. What if he was here to finally punish her for her stupidity in helping Gethel conspire against him?
“Me?” she croaked. �
�Why?”
“Because your actions in preventing the escape of millions of evil souls has earned you a reward.” He smiled, his blue eyes sparkling. “I’m here to give you your wings back.”
She sucked in a harsh breath as relief and joy filled her with such happiness that her body vibrated. He wasn’t here to destroy her! But...why not?
“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but...surely you understand what I did to you and your family. You know my history with Gethel, yes?”
Dark shadows flashed in his eyes, and she instantly regretted bringing up the evil bitch who had tried to start the apocalypse. “I am very well aware of your role in Gethel’s machinations. But I also know you didn’t realize the depths of her depravity until it was too late.” The shadows disappeared. “She’s paying for what she did, and you’ve paid the price as well.”
“I’m not sure I have.” She looked down at her bare feet as if her fresh blue nail polish would help her out. “I haven’t apologized to you, either. I’m so sorry, Reaver. I didn’t know what Gethel was planning, but I knew it wasn’t good. I tried to go to Raphael, and he swore he’d look into it, but––”
“He didn’t.”
She shook her head miserably. “No.”
“That’s because he was tangled up in a million different plots to overthrow Heaven and screw me over,” Reaver said. “I’ve always thought your sentence was too harsh, but once I learned that it was Raphael who sentenced you, it made sense. He wanted you out of Heaven because you knew too much.”
“But I didn’t know anything,” she protested.
“I know. But he couldn’t take any chances. Forcing your name on you was unnecessarily cruel, but not exactly a shock. He was, as one of my Seminus demon friends would say, a major dickmunch.” He smirked. “Raphael’s gotta be hating life right now.”
No doubt. Thanks to Reaver and his brother Revenant, Raphael was sharing a ten by ten cage with Satan, Lucifer, and Gethel for the next thousand years. Wasn’t long enough, in Cat’s opinion.