“I spend too much time dropping souls in Hell and the other dark, cold places of Unearth. Not many go to the realms of warmth and light anymore. I’m chilled to the bone, desperate for warmth.” And peace. He kept the last words to himself, but somehow she heard them whispered in her mind.
His breath against her throat was anything but cold as heated ripples of need slid through her. His tongue licked up under the line of her jaw to where it met her ear. Firm hands bracketed her ribs and slid up, lifting her breasts. His thumbs swept soft, subtle caresses grazing the lower edge of her nipples. The protection of her top and bra was no match for the heat he stoked in her. He bit her jaw, just below her ear, and cursed.
“Lose the shirt now. Bare every inch to me.” What did it matter? The security of her clothing was no match for his effect on her. The dominance in his voice had already stripped her bare. She doubted standing nude before him could make her feel any more vulnerable than looking into depths of his glowing eyes.
She pulled her top over her head and dropped it to the floor. The black satin bra she wore felt as if it had shrunk two sizes as she stood before him. She looked down at her breasts to see they looked the same as always despite feeling so very full and heavy. When she looked up into his eyes, she started. He wasn’t looking at her breasts. That intensity was aimed straight at her, deep into her soul.
In a sudden lunge, he scooped her up with his hands in a tight grip on her ass and in two long strides pinned her flush against the wall. Hard hands wrapped her legs around his waist. He placed a sucking kiss at the tip of her chin and nibbled and bit a path down to where her heart clattered in an erratic, frenzied beat. Sure hands slid the straps of her bra off her shoulders. Then taking advantage of the slack offered, he pulled the cups of her bra down with his teeth, baring her heavy breasts.
Those strong hands returned to her ass and lifted her higher, allowing him easier access to suckle her. Throbbing, aching, and lost, she threaded her trembling hands in the silk of his hair and held on.
Each strong pull sent waves of the sweetest torture through her, only building on itself as it raced to her pussy. A hollow, hungry yearning set in as he continued to work her breasts. One hand, fingers spread wide as if to take in as much of her as possible, started a slow, sensual slide from the back of her knee to the cheek of her ass. In a firm grip, he used it to tilt her hips just so, pressing her covered pussy tight against his abdomen. The delicious, sinful friction against her clit broke any remaining willpower she might have mustered.
Distantly, the ringing of her phone registered, but she couldn’t find any strength to voice her thoughts. Azrael had taken everything from her in the most seductive way. Yet she craved more.
The ringing paused and then resumed while Azrael barely came up for air. “Pants. Yours. Undo them now.” He punctuated the command with a fierce, punishing kiss, reinforcing the order.
Afraid she might drown and never surface, she forced herself to break the kiss. She was quickly losing every piece of herself.
“But we shouldn’t—” He swallowed her words and her thoughts whole. The instant his mouth descended on hers again, she lost all ability to form coherent thought.
“We will. You will. Pants off now.” With one large hand pressing her flush against his body, he slid her down him in a slow, torturous glide. Her feet touched the ground, and she prayed her legs didn’t give way. Half-liquid, they threatened to dump her on the ground.
* * * *
He stepped back from Diane and took a deep breath. Then he took two deep breaths. It didn’t help. His brain was still fogged by his lust for her, and he couldn’t figure out why. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, but he couldn’t stop looking at her. The fall of her satin hair, the curve of her hips, her eyes, each feature commanded that he look and worship.
Her graceful arms performed some sort of female trick and removed her twisted bra. She looked him in the eye and without blinking, gave her hips a little shimmy, slipping out of her pants. He considered himself lucky he hadn’t swallowed his tongue. How could someone so small have so much creamy, silky skin? With her pants pooled at her feet, she hooked her thumbs in the waistband of her tiny black panties and slid them off.
Gods above and below, she was beautiful. Hunger boiled in his veins, demanding he take her now. The fierce, insistent push commanded him to spread her, mount her, and slake his thirst.
Lost, helpless, he reached a hand out and felt the curve of her hip. Somehow her skin was even softer than it looked. Warm, supple, and giving, she fed the forgotten, starving male who lived deep inside the Runner.
With a trembling, light hand, he pushed her to the bed and spread her legs, exposing her pussy. Wet, glossy, she was primed and ready for him. The mounds of her breasts were sheer perfection with hard, nipples waiting for his attention. Without a thought to his chilled self, he stripped and knelt between her legs. Emerald eyes beckoned him to come closer, to immerse himself in her heat.
He melted into her, merging his worn, achy body with her slick warmth. Each point of contact thawed and went liquid as she wrapped her arms around his neck, luring him deeper. He sank his hard, hungry cock into her satin heat and lost his breath as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
She arched beneath him, silently asking for more and he had plenty to give. He pulled his cock back, resting the head just inside the entrance to her body and looked into her eyes, lost. He plunged hard. The pleasure too perfect to deny, he released the hold on his restraint. Each driving thrust pushed him deeper into peace. Each sigh and every touch she bestowed upon him banished a shadow lurking within his freeze-dried heart.
Her hands tangled in his hair, and the bite of pain at his nape spurred him even further from the darkness. Her breaths shortened, quickened, and stopped all together as her pussy tightened almost to the point of pain around his cock. The exquisite vise wrung every ounce of pleasure from him. He took her lips in silent appreciation, offering what he hoped was at least a fraction of the bliss she’d given him.
Closing his eyes for a brief rest, he held Diane close and turned to his side with her in his arms. All he needed now was five minutes of peace.
* * * *
“Azrael. I need to answer the phone. Let me up.”
“No. Not now.” The insistent ringing stopped, but the silence only increased her anxiety. Late-night news was never good.
A hesitant knock tapped on her door. Not five seconds later, a loud banging began, followed by muffled arguing on the other side of the door.
“Let me up now. I think that’s Alice. She wouldn’t come by this late unless there was an emergency.” Slowly, with a terrible glint in his eye, Azrael rolled his body, placing her on top. With his large hands, he held her hips tight, pressing his flat belly against her naked sex in a blatant reminder of the power he had over her body.
She reached for the tangle of clothes while he continued to glower and mutter curses.
“Hold on. I’m coming.”
A deep, vicious growl sounded in her ear. “Not now, but you will again soon. Damn it. Get the door before the gorilla breaks it down. I’ll wait here out of sight, but be quick. I’m not finished, and neither are you.” She left him standing just inside her bedroom, where she had no doubt he would listen to every word.
When her clothes were finally presentable, she opened the door to a confused-looking Brick and a hesitant Alice. “Alice honey, what’s wrong?”
“Um. I don’t know how to say it. You’re not going to believe it. I still don’t, and Brick was there with me and his wrecked truck has the claw marks to prove it.” Each word shooting out of Alice’s mouth came faster than the one prior. She had never seen her so rattled. Wait. What had she said?
“Claw marks? Is that what you said? What—”
Brick, as always, stepped in as the rock-steady presence, but his hands shook as he rubbed his head with one hand and then pinched the corners of his eyes with the other.
&
nbsp; “Diane. We were on our way to Alice’s place, and one moment eighty-fifth street was empty, and the next there was a shadow in front of my truck. It was instantaneous. I hit the shadow before my foot moved for the brake. One moment we were going forty-five, and the next we were slammed to a dead stop and the front of my truck had been smashed in about three feet. On the ground was what looked like a teenage boy, complete with green hair and a forked tongue. Alice and I both saw him.”
“And the tongue thing.”
“Yes, we both saw the tongue thing happen. He hissed when he spoke.”
While she was surprised that what had probably been one of Cyril’s runaway bounties had been sighted by humans, she figured it would become an increasing occurrence if the number of rogues and runaways continued to rise. But what were the chances of it happening to her employees? And why had they come to her? As far as they knew, she was human. To them even Azrael was nothing more a suspicious, hulking human who had been sniffing around her in the club.
“Alice, did you say something about claw marks? I’m not sure I understand.”
“Yes. There are claw marks raking across the hood and front of his truck. Diane?” Alice looked up at Brick, whose hand was on her back as if in support. He nodded to her and his arm moved up and down, rubbing on her back. “Diane, he had a message for you. He said to look in the last circle for someone named Lia, I think. Something about a circle nine? Or nine circles and water? Then he disappeared right before our eyes. If I’d been by myself, I wouldn’t have believed it, but Brick saw it, too. We both couldn’t have had the same hallucination. What do we do?”
Circle nine? Had Alia really gone to the ninth circle? Holy shit. It was terrible and genius at the same time. They would leave before dawn to get her. Maybe they could resolve this disaster in time.
“What’s going on? How did that thing know your name?” Confusion and maybe even a hint of anger tinted Brick’s words.
Wow, how in fuck’s sake did she explain this one? She considered these two her closest friends and trusted them, but the last thing she wanted to do was place them in any danger. She didn’t have enough power to block their memories.
Fuck. Start slow and work her way up to “oh, by the way I’m an ex-goddess living on Earth, posing as a human, and everything you know and love is at stake because my sister is a selfish, psycho bitch.” Yeah, that would work. Without her powers, she couldn’t do a damn thing about their knowledge.
Taking a deep breath, she started, not knowing what kind of story she’d have to spin. “Alice, you did the right thing by telling me. Brick, don’t file the damage with your insurance. I’ll take care of the repairs. As for what you saw—” She felt a large hand land on her shoulder and warmth at her back. Azrael.
“It’s hard to believe you hit a buck, so close to the city. It’s rare, but not unheard of. I hope he survived the accident. Most importantly, we’re relieved the two of you are okay. Diane will loan you her car until the repairs are taken care of. Brick, is it? Will you escort Alice home? We’ll take care of everything else.” As he spoke in a low, soothing rumble their eyes glazed over, and they nodded as if everything Azrael said made perfect sense. Then they stood still and silent, waiting.
She retrieved her keys from the wall hook in the kitchen and handed them to her bouncer. “Safe journey, you two.” Unable to do anything else, she kissed them each on the cheek in farewell and hoped they made it home safely. “Oh, you two take the night off tomorrow, with pay. I’m closing the bar for a night or two, and you both need the break. Be safe.” The door shut behind them, and they were on their way. Was this how mothers felt sending their young off to school? She turned to face Azrael.
“What did you do? You didn’t harm them, did you?”
The concern on his face answered her question before he spoke.
“No, they’ll be fine. Their memories are still there. I only locked them deep inside their psyche, in an unused portion of their brain.” He turned his focus from her closed door to her. “Stay here and I promise to update you after I’ve returned Alia to Luc. It shouldn’t take me long.”
“Wait. You don’t think you’re going without me, do you? You’ll scare her. She’ll run if she sees you coming. Things will only escalate. If she sees me, she’ll stop to listen.”
“She won’t see me coming, and there’s no time to waste. And the ninth circle is no place for a damn family reunion. I promise to come back and let you know she’s safe.”
“Azrael, she’s so much more than everyone believes and is not above using that to her advantage. It would also benefit you to have someone watching your back. Do you think she’s really there? Why?”
“I have no idea and honestly don’t care why. I want this finished. Now.”
So he could go back to his vacation. If he even bothered to stop by to update her like he promised, it would likely be the last time she ever saw him. He infuriated her more often than not. Why would the thought of his absence upset her so?
“I’m going. You can’t stop me. If you would stop and think, you’d realize it’s the best option.”
“Do you have any idea how cold and wretchedly nasty the ninth circle is? It’s no picnic, I promise you. Someone like you has no business being there.” His voice had softened on the last sentence. What did he mean by the words “someone like you”?
“Someone like me? You don’t know me. I’ve been there before. And yes, I agree, it was certainly no picnic, but I assure you I made it out fine. I’m here to tell the tale.” Anger and indignation made her feel ten feet tall and ready to take him down. Grim Reaper her ass. Being powerful didn’t mean he couldn’t be a dumbass, too.
With the air of a male suffering the frustration of a burdensome little woman, he barked out something resembling the word “fine.” Anger stared down at her through his eyes. With a deep breath, she reminded herself that it truly didn’t matter if he was mad at her. He could continue being mad at her forever. Alia was the only one who mattered. She had no choice but to squash her regret into a ball and swallow it whole.
Seething with anger, he growled one last sentence. “If you’re going, we’ll have to use a gate in water. We’ll use the lake outside town.”
Chapter 10
She’d taken the “someone like you” comment as if it were a slap to the face. Insulting her had been the farthest thing from his thoughts. It went against every fiber of his being to take someone as untainted and lovely as her into the ninth circle. It was one of the vilest, most dangerous places in all of Unearth. A goddess had no business ever being there, let alone an almost mortal. Yet she said she’d been there before. What the hell was she? No matter what she was or wasn’t, she couldn’t have the kind of strength or powers it would take to make it through the lake whole.
Fuckup had become his middle name. The Fates touted him as the best Runner any of the gods had put into service. But he couldn’t find one little runaway. Despite all his knowledge and contacts, they’d had to rely on a tip from humans.
He’d failed Andras, who had been well on his way to becoming a Soul Runner. If he couldn’t protect a powerful immortal with strengths that matched his, how could he protect a helpless…whatever she was?
He couldn’t let anything happen to her. He just couldn’t. Wasn’t he responsible for enough already? Yes, damn it, he cared about her, maybe even a great deal, but two problems negated his feelings. One, he had little time before he’d be going back into service. Then every waking moment of his time would belong to the Fates, so he had nothing of himself to offer her. No more than a slave with a fancy title, they owned him. The other issue? She still claimed to be Lilith’s sister, and her story didn’t make sense. How could she be sister to Lilith but then have no power? No Light? He didn’t like secrets, and they sure as hell didn’t inspire trust.
So yeah, it was best he’d pissed her off. It would only be that much easier to part ways when this was over. It was a damn fine thing she’d chased the chill from
his soul. The thaw was more than likely only temporary, but he’d take it while it lasted. It may be the only comfort he’d experience for the next thousand years, if not ever.
The dawn’s violet light mirrored itself on the lake’s still surface. Her face was still and thoughtful until she turned her focus from the moon’s reflection to him. Something about her sucked the hardness from him. She’d turned him into a damn sap, and that was the last thing they needed if they were going through with this.
“Azrael?”
“Lose the boots, Diane. If you insist on going, we’ll have to swim to the gate at the lake’s bottom. Time’s wasting. We’ll have to be lightning fast once we go through. I don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve been there, but the beasts have only grown in size and number.” His every cell tightened with the fear and impatience battling within. How would he keep them off her? If he could go alone, he’d realm hop without using a gate and bypass the water all together. The jump would take him less than the blink of an eye.
She looked up at him as if he were dimwitted. “Can’t we just hop? I thought Runners didn’t have to use gates.”
“We don’t. I can be anywhere, anytime, but you should know as well as I do that very few others can do the same. Are you telling me you can gate jump? What the fuck is going on here? I’m tired of the fucking secrets. I must be out of my mind to deal with this bullshit.” He’d been ready to travel to the farthest, deepest, nastiest place in Hell with someone he clearly didn’t know and obviously couldn’t trust? What kind of power did she have over him?
The scheming blood of Lilith had finally shown itself. He’d known it would only be a matter of time. He should consider himself lucky it appeared now and not when surrounded with all manner of nastiness in Unearth.
Hawthorn, Amy J. - Azrael's Light [Demon Runners of Unearth] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 7