Forbidden Love Series Book 6: Into The Divine

by Danielle James

  Samuel let his fingers explore her. She arched her hips to grind against his hand and when he entered her with a single finger, he felt it. She was a virgin. Of course she was. She was pure and good and she was his.

  The beast in him roared for Samuel to take her, to mark her as his own so that no one would dare ever touch her. Somewhere in his mind though, he knew that was not possible. He removed his hand and brought his mouth back to her lips. She whimpered at the loss of contact.

  When he shifted his weight, his cock came in direct contact with her wetness. He thought he was going to come right there. Then he heard her voice.

  “Sam, wait,” she said.

  “What is it, Baby?” he breathed.

  “We can’t. I mean, I can’t. If we… I will lose my grace. I can’t lose my grace, Sam. Not now.”

  The lust induced fog in his brain began to clear and he understood what she meant. She could not have sex with him or else lose everything. Shit. She was a fucking goddess. What the hell had he been thinking? He wasn’t thinking. Or at least, he wasn’t thinking with the head on his shoulders.

  He shoved himself off the bed and yanked on a pair of jeans. “I am so sorry,” he told her. He watched as the look of rejection crossed her face. “You are amazing. You are so beautiful and I just can’t seem to control myself around you.” He saw the tear form in her eye and he wanted so badly to wipe it away for her, but he knew he couldn’t just touch her once. She was like a drug to him and he needed to stay away from her. He felt like a total shit for bringing that tear to her eye in the first place.

  He bolted out of his bedroom and down the stairs. He heard Azerial call for him to wait, but he ignored it. He ignored the strange looks from his family as he ran out of the house. He kept running until he found himself in the alley where he had caught the last dealer.

  “Why don’t you listen to me?” Azerial’s voice said. Samuel spun around to see her standing behind him. He was sure he wasn’t followed.

  “How did you get there?” he asked.

  “I’m a goddess,” she answered with clear irritation. “I can go anywhere I want.”

  “You shouldn’t be here,” he told her. “Go back to the others and keep them safe.”

  “You need to be kept safe,” she reminded him.

  Samuel knew what he had to do. He hated it and his soul begged him not to. She would never understand. He couldn’t take her grace from her, no matter how badly he wanted her. He had to make her hate him.

  “Azerial, you are very innocent. You don’t need me, and I don’t need you. I don’t want you. Please leave.” The words burned his tongue as he said them. Never had he told such a vicious lie before and he hated himself for it.

  “You don’t want me?” she asked in a small, hurt voice.

  “No,” he said. Samuel watched as the sting of rejection settled in her chest. He watched as her bottom lip quivered for a moment, and then she steadied herself. He watched as Azerial shimmered and then disappeared. That’s when Samuel turned to leave. “Don’t follow me,” he commanded as he sped out of sight.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Azerial paced the alley where Samuel had left her. Of course, he thought she had gone already, but she had only made herself invisible to him. She always watched him leave. It broke her heart to see him go. There was nothing she wanted more in the world than to be with him the way a woman is with a man, but if she did, she would lose everything.

  She was willing to give up her grace for Samuel. She now knew what it was like to truly want, and she knew what it felt like to love. But if she gave up her virtue, not only would she be giving up her grace, but the fates would seek vengeance on her as well. No divine being was permitted to lie with a mortal. It was one of the few laws among her kind. She had to remain pure because the penalty for breaking that law was death.

  No, dying would not bring Samuel any happiness. She could see into his heart and even though he did not understand it yet, Azerial knew the love for her was there. He needed only to recognize it. She was happy that he had not yet. She yearned for the day that he would profess his undying love for her, but what good would it do? He could not be with her. For now, all he knew was that he felt frustrated from sexual tension.

  She could empathize. She still felt him on her lips. She had just raised her hand to her lips to trace the path he had taken with his tongue when someone cleared their throat behind her. No one could see her, at least, no one from this plane of existence. Azerial spun around and looked right into the eyes of evil.

  “Evil be gone!” She raised her hand to send the demon flying, when he spoke.

  “If you do that, I will never be able to help you,” he said.

  Azerial looked him over skeptically. “Why would you help me?” she asked. “And who says I need your help? Or that I even want it?”

  “You need me because I can give you what you want. I can give you a real relationship with your vampire,” Abaddon said.

  “I don’t deal with demons,” Azerial said. “You have been under the nails of my family and causing all kinds of trouble. Why should I believe you, Demon?”

  “Because instead of calling them your charges, you called them your family.” Abaddon stepped closer to her. “You know that the fates will never grant your wish to be human. You know that God would only cast you into hell for denying the gifts he has given you.”

  “God would do no such thing,” Azerial spat. “He is a fair and just God. He would never forsake me.”

  “Not even if you went to him and told him you were unhappy with the life of luxury that he has given you? You think he will be happy to hear that is not enough?” Abaddon was getting closer.

  Azerial put her hand up in a stop motion. “Do not come any closer,” she said.

  “You must be listening because I am not demon Tar Tar yet,” he said with a smile.

  “You have one minute. Talk. If I like your offer, great. If I do not, then I shall burn you until you are nothing more than a memory etched in the charred concrete you stand on.”

  Abaddon gathered his thoughts and worded what he needed to say very carefully. “You wish to be more human than goddess. You wish for a way to be with your vampire. I want the vampires to leave me and my business alone. I will give you what you want, and you will help me by making the king understand that they cannot hunt us anymore.”

  Azerial was skeptical. Demons were very good at lying. “And how will I hold up my end of the bargain?” she asked.

  “Simple,” he said. “You will tell them not to.”

  “And you think that is all it will take?” she asked.

  Abaddon smiled. “I know it is.” He thought for a moment. “I will even make it so that you do not lose all of your heavenly powers.”

  Azerial wanted to believe him so badly. She could be with Sam! She could keep her powers! God would not be unhappy with her because she, like humans, had a free will. He may frown upon her making the deal with Abaddon, but he would forgive her once he saw how happy she was. It seemed too good to be true. But at the same time, she knew that right now, above all, Abaddon needed Angel and Gage to back off; they were wrecking his drug trafficking business. But they could stop hunting him. They could have someone else do it. She would make sure.

  “This is not an open ended offer,” Abaddon told her. “I have things I need to attend to. You have thirty seconds to decide.” He turned and began to walk away.

  Azerial almost let him. Almost. She thought it was for the best, but then she thought of never being with Sam. She considered an eternity of loving him and never having him. Her heart broke in her chest and tears filled her eyes. The weight of her pain was so great that she felt she might collapse under it.

  “Wait,” she called to him. He stopped and she ran to him. “Ok, do it.”

  “So we have a deal then?” he asked.

  Azerial swallowed hard and nodded. “Deal.”

  Abaddon smiled and his eyes turned black. He reached his hand
up to her head and whispered, “Allunza kamata ritonis!”

  Azerial felt the world spin out of control beneath her feet and then there was nothing.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “A dragon, huh?” Keelie asked, raising one skeptical brow at Leigh. “You look like a human woman to me. Well, all but those eyes. Your eyes are magnificently weird, but in a good way, ya know?”

  Leigh smiled at her. “Yes, a dragon. If I didn’t know better, I would think you were trying to goad me into changing.”

  Keelie shrugged her shoulders. “I’m just saying you know I’m a wolf. You have seen my wolf. They say you’re a dragon, but I have yet to see any proof of that.”

  Leigh rolled her eyes. “You could just ask, you know.”

  Keelie’s face split into a huge grin that lit up the night sky. “Would you change so I can see what all the fuss is about?”

  “It isn’t wise to irritate her,” Samuel warned. “She is a fiery one.”

  “You are just having flashbacks of me kicking your ass,” Leigh snorted.

  “Yeah, and I don’t wanna go there again anytime soon,” Samuel replied.

  “I need to take Toni out for a while anyway,” Leigh laughed. “I promise not to toast anyone today.”

  “I’ll go get her,” Rebel said, kissing his wife quickly on the forehead before darting into the house.

  “The baby isn’t afraid of your dragon?” Keelie asked.

  “Of course not,” Leigh told her. “She has one too.”

  Keelie didn’t get an opportunity to reply because Rebel was coming out of the house with Toni in his arms. “Ok, Little One, go see Mommy,” he said to her. The baby crawled across the sand with ease, as if she had already done it a hundred times in her life. When she was at Leigh’s feet, she looked up at her mother with a happy expression; like a child who was about to get the greatest present ever.

  “Stand back,” Rebel told them. Keelie and Ricco backed away with everyone else as mist and fire surrounded both Leigh and Toni. Keelie watched in awe and was completely dumbstruck as the flames died down and a massive black and gold dragon stood in front of her. At the dragoness’s feet, a smaller version of the same dragon stood.

  Keelie grinned. “You have a Mini-Me!”

  The massive dragon huffed, rolled her big yellow eyes, and then spread her wings. She shot up into the sky and the little dragon followed. They circled each other and took turns diving and swooping back up into the air again over the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

  Macy laughed out loud. “I can’t believe how much she has grown!”

  Antonio grabbed her hand and kissed it. “It was worth it all just to see this,” he said.

  Leigh was enjoying playing with her daughter in the night sky. She knew that somewhere, someone was probably taking pictures of this and she found that she didn’t care. It was normal for the estate to be surrounded by fans of the guys’ band and usually, there were any number of paparazzi to go with it. From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a series of flashes that just served to prove her right. She soared higher in the sky and Toni followed her. Might as well give them a good picture, she thought.

  And then something else caught her attention. It was far away and at first, Leigh thought it was a shooting star. It looked like a tiny ball of fire shooting through the sky. She turned her body and saw that it was moving, exceptionally fast. With her keen eyesight, she could tell it was getting closer and it was on fire, whatever it was.

  Images of Merrick, the dragon who once held her captive and tried to kill not only her, but her baby and her family as well, flashed through her mind. The last time they had called Antonio back from the dead, Merrick crossed over with him. Her belly filled with dread and her breath refused to leave her lungs. Oh no, not again, she said in her mind. And then, she snapped into action.

  She sent a single command for Toni to land and go with her father. Get Toni out of here! Danger! She shouted in her mind to her family.

  Keelie immediately pulled on her magic and changed into the wolf. She crouched down, hackles raised and teeth bared, ready to fight whatever it was that Leigh saw coming. Rebel told Toni to remain a dragon but to go inside with her aunts. Brea and Jessica took the children inside and to the safety of the basement.

  The fireball sped closer and closer, and Leigh circled above the house. When it was obvious that this was no shooting star, she opened her massive jaws and roared into the night so loud and strong that it shook the foundation and rattled the windows of the house. The fireball got closer still.

  As her family stood below her, preparing to fight, Leigh made a decision. Her family would not fight this day. She was going to stop it before it had a chance to begin. She shot forward, her wings pounding against the air, faster than she thought she could go. This danger would not get close to her baby.

  Leigh barreled toward the approaching fire and noticed that it did have wings. It wasn’t Merrick; hell, she didn’t know what it was. That didn’t matter though. She had decided it was a threat and she was going to squash it. She roared one last warning to it, fire rolling from her mouth as she did it, but the winged fireball thing kept coming.

  In fact, it sped up. Leigh lunged for it as it came close enough, but it zipped past her like she was sitting still. This only fueled the rage Leigh was feeling and she gave chase. It zipped this way and that and finally descended onto the beach in her backyard where her family was waiting.

  Oh, hell no, she thought. Not tonight. She dropped out of the sky and landed on her feet, just as the flames went out on the thing and there was a man standing there. Well, a man with wings. A man with wings who caught fire and flew faster than she could. Add to that he was a threat to her family and that was all Leigh needed to sign his death warrant.

  As soon as her feet touched the ground, Leigh stomped over to the man, who was wearing a satisfied expression, and roared right in his stupid, smug face. He didn’t even flinch! Who in the hell did this fucker think he was, anyway? He was standing face to face with a fucking dragon and he was smiling? He opened his mouth to speak, but he never got a chance. Leigh could hear someone yelling at her, but she paid no mind to it. The threat to her family, whatever the fuck he was, was going to die, and he was going to do it right now.

  She opened her jaws and struck so fast the smug fucker never saw it coming. With one movement, she opened her mouth and bit down. She could hear someone scream, and after she spit out the upper half of the thing’s body, she turned to see who it was. She was prepared to fight whatever else was threatening her family. She watched with satisfaction as the thing burst into flames.

  “Leigh! Stop!” Angel was yelling at her. Well, Angel, Antonio, Rebel… pretty much everyone.

  Confused, Leigh pulled on her magic and was once again human. “What?” she barked at them. “I took care of it.”

  “Oh Leigh,” Rebel said, shaking his head. “We know him.”

  That dread feeling came back and settled like a lead weight in the pit of Leigh’s stomach. She thought she was protecting her family. That thing was someone they knew? Oh what had she done?

  “I thought,” she said, “I mean, Merrick, I didn’t…”

  “I know, Love,” Rebel said, putting his arm around her. “You fought well and you are the fiercest dragon I know.

  “Oh God,” she wailed. “What did I do!”

  “Shh,” Rebel soothed her. “Come on, we better get moving back. He is gonna be pissed.”

  “What?” Leigh demanded. She was confused, irritated, and had all her bags packed for a really long guilt trip and no one would tell her what the fuck was going on. She opened her mouth to demand just that when the ground started shaking.

  “It will be alright,” Rebel was telling her. What would be alright? Had they all lost their fucking minds?

  “Earthquake?” she said sarcastically to her family, who was making no move to take cover. It was then that she noticed they were all staring at the pile of ashes that was the
thing she killed. A low rumble was accompanying the shaking and it was getting louder. And then, the craziest thing she had ever witnessed happened. The pile of ashes exploded and when the dust settled… Oh my God, she thought.

  That man was there. Not standing, though. His wings were spread wide out at his sides, an orange and yellow flaming masterpiece. His entire body glowed from within and he was just kind of there, suspended just above the ground. His long black hair was hanging over his shoulders, longer than Leigh’s or Angel’s. His skin was tanned as if he was of Arabic descent and his eyes glowed a fiery orange as if they too, were on fire. Oh, and he was naked. So very naked.

  Leigh could do nothing but stand there with her mouth hanging open, but didn’t feel so bad about it because she saw that Frankie was doing the same thing. She saw out of the corner of her eye when Jacque placed his hand over Frankie’s eyes to keep her from seeing the piece of art that was his body.

  The man-thing dropped down to the ground and the flames went out. He walked with a stupid smug grin over to Angel and shook his hand. He stood a full foot taller than Angel and the clan leader had to look up to see his face. Then he turned to Leigh. “If you were just going to chew me up and spit me out, why did you bother calling me?”

  There were so many things Leigh wanted to say at that point, but all she managed was, “Huh?”

  Angel laughed. “Leigh, I would like for you to meet, Phoenix.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “Phoenix,” Leigh repeated as he took her hand and shook it. She thought she should probably get it together and form a coherent thought, but her brain wasn’t playing along.