by Cassie Ryan
Jezebeth stepped forward into Noah’s personal space, her face a mask of nonchalance. “We have things to do. Drop the jeans, and let’s get the stitches out.”
He searched for something to say, but when nothing came to mind and she continued to watch him calmly, he sighed before unzipping his jeans and shoving them down around his knees. When his cock hit the cool air both it and his balls tightened against his body.
When Jez dropped to her knees in front of him, Noah’s cock surged to life. He closed his eyes and glanced toward the ceiling instead of watching her kneel in front of him where her mouth was so close Jez could easily suck and lick him.
Noah breathed deep and tried to concentrate on the stained yellow-flower pattern on the walls and the dirty gray popcorn ceilings—anything but the uncomfortable situation. After all, hadn’t she just told him she didn’t want any energy from him? And that’s what sex equated to with her.
She’s a succubus, he reminded himself for the millionth time.
At Jez’s first gentle touch Noah jumped and then murmured apologies.
“Are you all right? Did I hurt you?” Jez’s deep voice was filled with amusement and Noah gritted his teeth. The damned succubus was playing with him! And unfortunately, after how he’d treated her earlier, he probably deserved it.
“No. I’m fine.”
“Just checking.” Her touch was gentle, the tips of her fingers lightly tracing a path over the sensitive skin of his side and then lower down his hip.
Noah bit back a curse as she snipped the exposed edges of the threads and then with a quick yank pulled out the first piece of thread with only a tiny stinging sensation. After a few more, she leaned close to get a grip on the small thread and her warm breath feathered against his skin sending a shiver flowing through him to pool in his now rock-hard cock.
Noah tried not to be too self-conscious in his very exposed position, but what really put a dent in his male pride was that Jezebeth didn’t even seem to notice his aroused state. He shoved the thought aside reminding himself that they had to get moving.
He cleared his throat and tried not to fidget as she yanked the last few threads out of his skin. “I’m really sorry about earlier. I was an ass.”
She laughed. “Yes, you were. But I know you’re not used to dealing with supernaturals, so I’m trying to give you the benefit of the doubt.”
Noah huffed out a short laugh as Jezebeth traced one fingertip over his skin. “This is going to take me a while to get used to, that’s all.”
She stopped and Noah glanced down to see her staring up at him. Her chocolate brown eyes held a very familiar glint of amusement as she dabbed a peroxide-soaked cotton ball over the tiny pinpricks left in his skin. “You realize that as a succubus I can smell arousal even if there wasn’t a very nice, erect cock in my face, right?”
Feeling suddenly overexposed, Noah jerked away and yanked up his jeans before he stalked across the room to grab a fresh shirt out of one of his duffel bags and pull it on.
“I guess it’s my turn to apologize.” She picked up the tiny threads off the floor and stood. “I know you’re struggling with all of this, and I guess teasing you was my way of getting back at you for the comments before I stormed off to take a shower.” She threw away the thread scraps and replaced the scissors and peroxide back into the first-aid kit.
Noah stopped and glanced back at her, not sure how to respond.
“I’m not sure if this will make it easier or not, but it’s just a fact that whether you like it or not, you’re attracted to me, regardless of the form I’m in. It’s biological, not a choice, so get over it.” She raised her chin and crossed her arms over her chest as if daring him to deny it.
“That was blunt.” He couldn’t help the small smile that curved his lips.
“I figured blunt would save us some time since we need to pack and get out of here. We don’t have time for you to start doubting yourself. It could get us both killed.”
“Fair enough.”
9
Lilith sank into the heated water of the underground hot spring that ran through the corner of her suite—a perk of having her lair underground. The fact that it wasn’t in the human realm reassured her that the water was pure and fresh and that it contained the healing properties that had been lost to the humans when Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden.
Hopefully the hot, bubbling waters would soothe away the aching pain that still tightened Lilith’s chest from her time at Uriel’s. A sob caught inside her throat and she hiccupped as fresh, hot tears streamed down her face to mix with the swirling waters.
At the quick flash of memory of her time with the three Archangels, a slow ache began deep in her pelvis and spread outward. But as always, her thoughts returned to the few hours forever embedded inside her memory—when Uriel had broken his vows and taken her.
Vivid memories flooded back and the swirling water against her sensitive skin became Uriel’s hands as they feathered over her skin.
That night had begun like all the others, except when he’d materialized them up to his room . . . he hadn’t disappeared. His arms remained warm and firm around her as he stared into her eyes as if searching for something.
“Uriel?” The word came out as a mere whisper as hope swelled inside her.
“Nassah, do you know why I saved you? Why when my Father sent me to expel Adam and Eve and to kill you that I begged Him for another way?”
Her stomach tightened at his husky words, and she held her breath, afraid to hear what would come next, even as anticipation skittered through her. She shook her head.
“You enchanted me,” he whispered against her lips before he brushed his warm mouth over hers. “You were beautiful and graceful, and so intelligent and sure of yourself that I couldn’t imagine a world without you in it. I couldn’t bring myself to destroy you.”
Lilith swallowed hard, not sure what to answer.
“I petitioned my Father for mercy, and He smiled and told me that temptation could have a place in this world. Then He made me responsible for you.” Uriel laughed as he brushed another kiss over her lips. “And He was right as He always is. You’ve tempted me every day since, my beautiful nassah.” He leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, while Lilith slowly traced the muscles of his back with her fingers. “Sometimes I feel I’m as weak as the humans when it comes to you.”
“God gave us free will just like the humans, Uriel. Those urges and emotions swirling inside us both, those are from Him as well.” She brought her hands to his face, meeting his raw gaze. “I love you, Uriel. I have for ages. You’ve taken care of me and befriended me when the rest of the world would have gladly tossed me aside. You take the weight of the world on your shoulders and are never satisfied with anything less than perfection. I would do anything for you.”
Uriel met her gaze, searching her face for a long, charged moment before he swallowed hard as if it took great effort to speak. “May my Father forgive me, but I’m afraid I would do anything for you, as well, ahuvati.”
No sooner had joy at Uriel’s words registered inside Lilith’s mind than his lips came down on hers like a dark command.
She opened for him, reveling in the surrender she read there as her body melted against him.
He growled deep inside his throat, crushing Lilith against him and lifting her until her feet dangled off the ground.
Lilith clung to him, reveling in the intensity of the passion that exploded to life between them. Millennia of yearning for Uriel left her surprised that he’d finally given in, if even for a moment.
Uriel never stopped kissing her as he carried her toward his large bed. He set her down gently and drew back only long enough to strip off her dress before he pulled her tight against him once more.
The erotic sensation of her bare skin against his clothes swept through her and her body tightened in response. She worked at the buttons of his shirt, eager to feel his firm skin under her fingers.
Uriel made an impatient sound in the back of his throat and suddenly he was entirely naked and tipping her backward, following her down onto the bed until he covered her. His hands were everywhere, his tongue mating with hers, dipping and tasting her lips, her teeth, every part of her mouth.
She arched against him, offering herself, begging for his touch.
He captured the sound in his mouth as his hips thrust against her hot core, mimicking what she wished he would do in reality. She moved with him, each movement rubbing against her aching clit just the way she liked. He gently rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger and she gasped. When his mouth replaced his hand, she released a moan. Moist heat closed over her sensitive peak and lava burned from the tip of her breast straight to her pussy, liquid heat pooling between her legs.
Uriel turned his attention to her other breast. She ran a hand over his hard cock and he shuddered and groaned. She cupped the hot length of him, stroking him as he suckled her breast harder, teeth scraping over her nipple until she thought she would explode.
She dipped her fingers into Uriel’s thick hair. “Please. I need you, now.”
Uriel kissed his way up her chest and skimmed his lips up the column of her throat sending gooseflesh marching through Lilith until she gasped and writhed under him.
He shifted and slid inside her in one long, slow stroke.
Lilith gasped and then moaned as he filled her, stretched her.
When his cock was fully seated inside her, he paused for a moment, allowing Lilith to savor their kiss, as the tip of his swollen head bumped deep against her core.
He raised his face to look down at her and the breath caught in her throat at the wonder she saw reflected in Uriel’s eyes, which had turned a gunmetal gray.
“Ahuvati, you’re so beautiful,” he whispered as he moved inside her and her body slowly tightened around him.
The first hard slap of energy from Uriel’s arousal surged through her body, ripping a hoarse cry from her throat and it was absorbed.
Urgency built between them, their bodies heating with the deliberate pace. The musk of their joined arousal perfumed the air, and in between drugging kisses, Lilith inhaled the heady scent into her lungs to memorize for all time.
The only sounds in the room were the little gasps of need that escaped from her every time he filled her, along with the shush of the sheets sliding with each movement.
Lilith pulled him down tight against her and captured his lips with hers. Her tongue delved inside his mouth, mimicking the purposeful movements of his hard cock claiming her body.
His movements became more deliberate as the vortex of arousal tightened inside Lilith, until it exploded outward.
Uriel stiffened over her as his hot essence spilled inside her, triggering another hard orgasm as her body welcomed the energy he offered.
The memories sailed back quick and bright, and it was almost jarring for Lilith to realize she still sat in the hot springs in her quarters millennia later, her body still aching for him.
When she’d woken that night he’d been gone, but he’d left behind the jewelry set that she’d given the companions of the four sisters.
She sighed as she trailed her fingers down under the water to trace her slick slit as she savored the memory of Uriel’s taste, his scent, and the sensation of having his long, thick cock thrust inside her.
Arousal zinged through her, and she gasped at the intense sensation. With her free hand she cupped her breast and then lightly pinched her swollen nipple, enjoying the rush of answering liquid heat that shot straight to her clit.
Lilith slowly stroked her first two fingers over the tight, sensitive nub, arching her hips with each stroke as if rising up to meet Uriel’s thrusts inside her. She let her head fall back as her eyes slipped closed, the swirling hot water caressing her sensitive skin as it teased the long tendrils of her hair that had escaped her hastily fastened barrette.
Her pussy slowly tightened around Uriel’s remembered width as Lilith continued to give herself up to the memories of that one exquisite night.
A gasp escaped her as she vividly relived the sensation of Uriel’s soft multicolored hair brushing against her breasts and neck as he thrust inside her faster and faster, as he stared into her eyes, linking them soul to soul. She still remembered the smoky campfire scent of him and soft scrape of his whiskers against her skin as he nipped, kissed, and licked her.
Urgency drove her and she rubbed harder and faster against her throbbing clit, widening her thighs as she sucked in each labored breath on her race toward impending orgasm.
A vivid mental image of the cry that ripped from Uriel’s throat as he came inside her in searing jets flashed across her mind’s eye and pushed her over the edge of her own release.
A hard slap of ecstasy engulfed her, radiating from her clit along every nerve ending until a euphoric numbness settled over her, enticing a long sigh from her throat.
“Lilith.”
The sudden sound of Uriel’s strangled voice made Lilith bolt to her feet, the warm water sluicing down her bare skin to join the swirling waist-high waters.
As if she’d conjured him with her thoughts, Uriel stood before her in the same clothes he’d worn the last time she’d seen him at his home. Fresh pain welled inside her, tightening her voice. “Uriel?” She continued to stare at him, waiting for him to turn out to be a figment of her oversexed imagination. “Why are you here?”
He stared at her for a long moment, his eyes darkened to gunmetal gray—the same color they’d turned when they’d made love all those millennia ago.
Lilith bit her bottom lip, the sharp pain helping to remind her not to run into his arms and risk him pushing her away again.
Finally he shook his head as if pulling himself out of a deep trance and reached into the front pocket of his slacks and pulled out a small, burgundy leather journal worn with time.
Confusion swirled through Lilith as she glanced up to search Uriel’s face for answers. Hurt and anger now tightened his handsome features, but anyone who didn’t know him as well as Lilith wouldn’t be able to read anything from his expression.
Whatever was in the journal, it wasn’t good.
“The letters I wrote you . . .” His voice trailed off as anger tightened his last few words.
Icy cold dread scratched up Lilith’s spine as she rushed out of the hot spring, the cool air sending a rush of gooseflesh marching over her naked, wet skin. She brushed by Uriel and headed toward the six-foot marble chest that sat at the end of her bed.
She knelt, the soft fur rug sticking to her wet skin as she raised the lid of the chest and dug under layers of memories to the very bottom. When her fingers closed over a hard wood box, she yanked it out and flipped open the lid. She blew out a slow breath when she found the hide scrolls inside still weathered with age.
These were the letters Uriel had written to her just after the episode where he’d broken his vows. The ancient Hebrew symbols were weathered and faded with time, but every word was emblazoned across Lilith’s memory for eternity.
Uriel’s gaze burned against her skin and she slowly turned to face him.
“You told me they’d been destroyed.” Hurt and betrayal lined his flat voice.
Lilith rose and then slowly closed the lid of the marble chest before picking up a red silk robe off her bed and slipping it on. She picked the box up off the bed, caressing her fingers over the smooth dark wood as she spoke. “They were all I had of you after you shut me out. I couldn’t bear to give them up.”
A heavy silence fell between them, and as each second ticked past, bile inched its way up her throat to sting the back of her tongue.
Finally Uriel slowly walked forward and laid his hand on her shoulder.
Lilith gasped at the sudden unexpected touch and raised her gaze to his, offering him the opportunity to look inside her soul if he chose. But when his eyes remained constantly moving liquid silver, Lilith clenched her fists, waiting for Urie
l to speak.
“I can’t break my vows again, Lilith. Not even for you.” He took her hand in his, laid a gentle kiss on the palm, and then laid her hand on the box containing the letters he’d written so long ago. “This is all of me I can offer.”
Glistening moisture filled his silver eyes as he dematerialized.
“Uriel, wait! What’s inside the journal?” When the Archangel didn’t rematerialize Lilith cursed and gently replaced the wooden box inside the marble chest.
Uriel materialized inside the makeshift field hospital tent. A few of the injured and dying turned their faces in his direction, but none seemed to be able to see him.
He could appear to humans when he chose, but most often they wouldn’t be aware of him at all, or he would strike them as something similar to déjà vu. Only those humans most sensitive to shifts in energy would be able to sense his presence directly.
He easily found Raphael kneeling over a dying soldier whose forehead showed a gaping head wound. The man’s soul hovered half in and half out of his body, the gauzy sheet of energy already eager to return to the other side and begin again. The human’s chest rose and fell in a choppy rhythm as he struggled to breathe, even with the help of the oxygen mask covering his face.
Raphael knelt next to the man’s cot, his eyes closed, concentration etched across his handsome face as he laid his large hand gently over the wounded man’s forehead. A golden glow erupted under Raphael’s fingertips and sweat broke out on the Archangel’s brow as he worked.
Uriel stood silently watching, but not interrupting. He’d always been fascinated by Raphael’s healing abilities. All Archangels could heal humans to some extent, but Raphael could bring them back from the dead if God’s plan required such an event.
By contrast, Uriel was known as the Fire of God, which basically meant he was God’s enforcer. Not to be confused with His right-hand general, which was Michael. That’s why Uriel had been the one sent to evict Adam, Eve, and Lilith from the Garden of Eden.