“Are you sure you’re okay?”
I flicked my eyes up to his as he glanced over at me. “I’m fine, really. Why?”
“Well, it’s just... you’re very quiet. And you’re breathing kind of hard, and your heart is racing. Are you worried about being alone with me?” He stared straight ahead, but I noticed his hands gripped the steering wheel tighter.
“Oh, no. No, nothing like that. Why would I be worried?”
“I mean, I get it. We barely know each other, you’re finding out all this stuff about yourself and your family. I imagine it’s hard to know whom to trust right now. Getting in a car with a complete stranger…” He genuinely sounded concerned.
I shifted in my seat so I was angled towards him and placed my hand on his thigh. “You’re sweet. I am totally fine with being in the car with you. Maybe a little... shy after last night, is all. It was rather unexpected.”
He glanced down at my hand and smiled. “I guess it was.”
“I’m not usually... I mean, I have... with guys... just not two at a time. I don’t usually get like this, but with you two being a couple, I don’t want to cause problems, and I guess I’m feeling a little uncertain.”
“About what?” He glanced in the mirror and pulled off the motorway onto the slip road. I shifted forward, feeling embarrassed.
“Well, about what that makes me.”
Alex looked over at me, then suddenly spun the wheel so we veered to the side and pulled up in a small layby. Two cars whizzed past, blaring their horns at his sudden manoeuvre. Alex ignored them and turned to me. “Did you enjoy last night? Honestly?”
I toyed with the zipper on my jacket. “Yes, very much.”
“Did you feel like you had to go along with it, or did you feel like you could stop any time you wanted?”
I looked up at him in surprise. “No, I never felt pressured or anything.”
He took my hand in his. His skin was cool, and his thumb stroked my palm gently. “Then it was three adults having a good time and enjoying themselves. I think, as much as last night was seriously hot—well, for me anyway—you needed to know you weren’t alone. And that makes you a beautiful woman who enjoyed having two men pay her exactly the kind of care she deserves.”
I nodded and smiled, feeling slightly better. “You’re right. And I never usually get like this, just with everything changing, finding out I’m not who I thought I was, it makes me question everything.”
Alex slipped his hand into my hair and made me look straight at him. “I haven’t known you long, but I can tell you that finding out you are capable of more than you thought doesn’t change who you are. You are still the Faith you were a week ago.”
“Just more kick ass.”
He laughed and turned forward, starting the car up again. “Definitely more kick ass. I, for one, can’t wait to see what you can do.”
I grinned as he pulled back out onto the road, more slowly than he’d pulled in. I cocked my head, still watching him. “Alex, what exactly do you do? I know they said you were a science whizz, but what does that mean? I wouldn’t have thought science had much of a place with the whole Heaven and Hell scenario.”
He smiled. “You’d be surprised. Science is still very real. The discovery of how the universe was formed and how it works is still an ongoing quest, even if you believe some greater being started it all off. That being said, my job is actually pretty boring to most people. I oversee the labs for Concordia Northeast. We have several scientists who work on everything from supernatural biology to magical chemistry, plus studying things like the effects of electricity on someone’s ability to perform magic, and using equipment like heat scanners to locate magical sites that are currently undiscovered. Even theological archaeology, like your mother.”
“You knew my mother?”
“I’ve run into her a few times. I don’t work in the lab much, I’m more of a computer nerd, but I saw her a few times when she came to use the facilities here rather than causing mayhem at the university.”
“Why would she cause mayhem at the university?”
He grinned. “Can you imagine taking a dagger forged in Hell, made of metals currently undiscovered by humanity, to be carbon dated at a regular university lab?”
I raised my eyebrows. “Fair point.”
He looked over at me. “I didn’t really know Rose. She seemed nice. I helped her use a machine once, and we exchanged pleasantries when I saw her in the hallway. That’s all, I’m afraid.”
“No, that’s fine. So what else do you do? You said you were usually around computers, right?” I tried to bring the conversation back to him, not wanting to think about Rose right now.
“It’s kind of mundane. I basically do tech help for every department. If they need information dug up or are acquiring from more ... tricky places, if they need data recovered from hard drives they’ve found, or tech wiped to remove evidence that could reveal the Concordia, that kind of thing. Plus, I like to tinker with little tech gadgets too.” He pulled into the driveway in front of Concordia.
“So you’re a hacker?”
“Well, if you want to put it like that…” He turned off the engine.
“That’s illegal... you seem way too well-behaved.”
“The Concordia has contacts everywhere. We’ve infiltrated every official government and military organisation in the world. We kind of have immunity to most human laws.”
I unclicked my seatbelt as he did. “So you guys are like secret agents? Except instead of investigating terrorists and arms dealers, you go after demons?”
“Well, Cas and Sam are more like your stereotypical secret agents. I’m more like... Q.” I laughed, and he grinned at me. “And we only go after some demons. Others are quite amenable.”
His tongue darted out and swept over his lips, and I realised he was thinking of Amadi. My thoughts went straight there too, remembering the glowing blue tattoos over his dark skin while Alex held onto Amadi’s horns, pulling his mouth farther down his cock…
My eyes met Alex’s, and he took a breath. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?” Damn, what is he? Can he read minds or something?
“Whatever you were thinking about.”
“Why?” He’s definitely reading my mind.
He leaned over and brushed his lips over mine, trailing them across my cheek to my ear. “Because I can hear your heartbeat and your breathing speed up, and I can feel you growing warmer.” His lips moved over my neck, and I felt his hand gliding up my thigh and slipping between my legs. I moaned softly as his fingers pressed against my core through my jeans. “I can smell your wetness from here, and it’s driving me crazy knowing I have to go into work right now when all I want to do is kneel between your legs and taste it.”
His mouth fastened on mine, and I was lost in his kiss. I didn’t care who saw us as I slid my hands into his hair, pulling him closer. His fingers pulled away, and I growled in frustration until I felt him undo my belt and slip his hand inside. He didn’t waste time teasing me, instead sliding two long, graceful fingers into my pussy and using the heel of his hand to rub circles around my clit. His lips broke away for a second.
“Alex…” I pushed my hips against him, and he slipped a third finger inside me.
“There’s about to be a guard change in a few minutes, Faith, so I need you to come quickly. Can you do that?” he murmured in my ear.
“I... I don’t... know…” I closed my eyes, my head tipping back as I felt his fingers slide back and forth in my wetness. I could feel the sensation building. His lips still tickled my ear, and his voice was soft and low, even as his fingers moved faster.
“Maybe you wouldn’t mind if they came out now. I mean, you seemed to be pretty turned on last night watching Amadi and me. Maybe the idea of them standing outside the car watching would turn you on even more.” My breath caught in my throat, and I opened my eyes, staring straight into his. He grinned. “I think you’d like that. Yes, you definitel
y like that idea, don’t you, Faith? You’re so wet. Maybe next time you surprise Amadi and me, we’ll switch places. I’ll let him stand back and watch your pretty lips slide over my cock. Can you imagine that? Him standing there, his cock in his hand as he watches you pleasure me?”
I moaned, twisting against him, unable to keep still. “Alex, please... please…”
“Or maybe we’ll just have a repeat of last night, and we’ll invite Sam and Cas to watch us. I love the idea of them standing there wanting you so badly, yet having to watch me lick your dripping wet pussy, knowing they won’t even get a taste…” He lowered his mouth, slipping his tongue over my neck as he gently bit down. I could feel the climax building within me.
“Alex, please…”
He hooked a finger into my t-shirt and pulled the neckline down over my shoulder. “Looks like the door’s opening, Faith. You’d better be quick. Come for me, beautiful creature.” He slid his fingers out of my pussy, pinching my clit hard as he bit down on my shoulder, just above my collarbone, and the sharp sting tipped me over the edge as I completely fell apart. I turned my face into his chest, trying to muffle my scream. He held me tight, his tongue moving over my skin, before he gently pulled his hand from my jeans as the waves subsided.
As my brain started to clear, I snapped my head around to the front door. It was open. A man and a woman stood in the doorway chatting, completely unaware of the two of us in the car. Shaking, I redid my belt and ran my hand through my hair. Alex watched me, a strange smile on his lips. I turned to him and he slid his fingers into his mouth, licking my wetness from his skin.
“Fuck, Alex,” I breathed.
“Shh.” He leaned forward and kissed me. I could taste myself on his lips, and I sighed.
Pulling away, he twirled a curl of my hair around his finger. “Don’t tell Amadi. He’ll get jealous.”
“Oh, my... I’m so sorry, I didn’t think!”
Alex laughed and adjusted his trousers. “I meant he’d be jealous of me getting you to myself. He thinks you’re hot as hell, or didn’t you get that?”
I blushed. “I just can’t get used to the idea that you’re a couple and yet…”
“We’ve been together a long time. Sometimes it mixes things up to have new playmates. Besides, you’ll find the ‘couple’ thing isn’t as common amongst supernaturals. It’s actually more common to have groups of beings sharing each other than just two.”
I stared at him. “Groups of beings?”
He opened the door and started to get out. “I mean demons, vampires, shifters, that kind of thing. Though they usually stay with their own species. Amadi and I are unusual like that.”
I opened the door and got out, looking at him over the roof of the car. “Amadi is a demon.” It wasn’t really a question. The horns and glowing skin had kind of given it away, but Alex nodded anyway. “So... what are you?”
He smiled at me, reaching into the car to grab his laptop bag then locking the car and heading towards the door. The two guards had left a couple of minutes before with a nod to Alex and a curious glance at me as they passed. I followed him, and he held the door open for me.
“Well, according to you, I’m cute, sweet, and well-behaved.” He reached down and pinched my bum as I walked past him. “That’ll have to do for now. Deliah’s waiting.”
Chapter Fifteen
FAITH
After Alex knocked on the door to Deliah’s office, I shifted my weight nervously from foot to foot, my confidence waning now that we were standing outside the door of a very powerful witch who descended from angels.
Alex touched my hand. “It’ll be fine. Deliah doesn’t bite.”
I looked at him in shock. It suddenly occurred to me that considering the amount of supernatural races showing up in my life, she might actually have been the type that did bite. When the door swung open, the woman standing in the doorway was not what I had been expecting. Having witnessed Cas’s obvious admiration for the woman that morning, I had formed a picture in my head of what Deliah would look like—sultry, sexy, confident, tall. At the sight of a small elderly woman wearing cream twinset and pearls with her silver hair pulled back in a bun, my mouth fell open in astonishment.
“Ah, Alexei, how delightful to see you again.” She extended her hand, and to my surprise, Alex didn’t just take it, he pressed his lips gently to her fingers.
“Deliah, a pleasure, as always,” he murmured. She turned to me and took my hand in hers.
“And this must be Rose’s daughter.”
Alex nodded, stepping back slightly. “This is Faith. Faith, this is Deliah Trowbridge.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said with an overwhelming urge to curtsey. This woman felt... strange. I could see why the guys were slightly intimidated by her. Power rolled off of her in waves, as though her size was merely an illusion.
There was a strange look in her pale blue eyes that I couldn’t quite place, although she smiled at me. She turned back to Alex. “Thank you, Alexei. I’ll send for you if we need you. Faith and I have much to discuss.” Well, that sounded ominous. Alex nodded and smiled at me before turning and striding off down the hallway. Deliah stood back from the door. “Come in, my dear. Tea?”
“Um, that would be lovely, thank you.” She pushed the door closed behind me and walked over to an ornate tea trolley that stood in the corner to our right, bearing a china teapot and teacups and saucers. I stood and looked about the room. As with Deliah’s appearance, I had been expecting something more... witchy. I wasn’t sure what, a cauldron maybe? Instead, the room was light and elegant. A tall white marble fireplace dominated the wall to our left. The alcoves on either side were shelved from floor to ceiling and were filled with books with worn leather spines. The windows that stood opposite were also tall and draped with sheer white voiles, framing a seating area much like Hargreaves had in his office. In the centre were two ornate sofas and a glass and mahogany coffee table, which held a huge vase of gypsophila. To my right was a large mahogany desk, which was clearly used regularly but as neat and tidy as the rest of the room.
“Have a seat on the sofa, my dear.” Deliah moved past me, carrying a tray with our cups on it. I followed her and took a seat on the nearest sofa. She placed the cups on the table, as well as a plate of biscuits. Normally, I’d have grabbed a couple, but I was feeling way too nervous, and my stomach flipped at the thought of eating right now.
Delian took a seat opposite me, tucking one ankle behind the other. “How are you doing with all of this? I imagine the revelations you have been subjected to came as quite a shock.”
“You think?” That came out wrong, and I cringed.
Deliah leaned forward and picked up a cup and saucer, adding a drop of milk to the cup before pouring in the tea. “I imagine you have a lot of questions. I hope to be able to answer at least some of them.” She passed me my cup and poured another for herself.
I sighed. “I just... can’t understand why my... why Rose didn’t tell me anything about this. That she was a witch.”
“Rose studied under me as a young witch, as did your adoptive father. They met in my class and went on to get married.”
I raised my eyebrows. “My father was a witch too?”
Deliah nodded and sipped her tea. “Yes indeed. Neither of them were particularly powerful, but both were extremely intelligent and wanted to serve in Concordia, therefore they were perfect to slip into human organisations. When they discovered they couldn’t have children, they were distraught. It took them a good few years before they decided they wanted to adopt a child. When you started showing signs of being a witch, they were…”
“Surprised? I was under the impression witches were fairly rare.” I took a sip of my tea. It was still too hot, but I felt the warmth spread through me so fast that I gave the liquid a suspicious look.
“Extremely surprised. The Concordia keeps records of all registered witches and their offspring. You had somehow slipped through the net, and nothing on th
e register showed any witches who had recently had a child.”
I stared at her in surprise. “The Concordia keeps tabs on everyone?”
She nodded. “It tries to.”
“But you knew?”
She set her cup down in its saucer and met my gaze head-on. “Yes, your mother confided in me early on. She asked me to keep it a secret and to help protect you from the supernatural world, and I did. What did Phillip tell you about witches exactly?”
I frowned, trying to remember. “Something about how there were only a few of you with any real power, and you were descended from angels who came to Earth and slept with human women.”
Deliah set her cup down on the table and moved over to the bookcase nearest to us. She skimmed over the titles until she found the one she wanted. Drawing it out, she came and sat back down next to me. Flicking to a spot a little way in, she glanced up at me. “This is the Book of Enoch. Enoch was the great-grandfather of Noah. He describes the angels that came down from Heaven. Listen.” She began to read, running her gnarled finger along the lines of text, which were written in a language I didn’t recognise.
“And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.’”
Nephilim the Awakening (Wrath of the Fallen Book 1) Page 14