by Lola StVil
“That’s not what this is about. You’re still pissed about what went down with Pryor,” I snap.
“Unlike you, Noru, I can separate my personal feelings from my duty,” the Kon insists.
“Bex, we’re out of leads here. You have to give us that list,” East says.
“Or we could take it from you,” I say as I glare at him venomously.
“I’d love to see you try,” he says in a cold and firm voice.
“Look, I love a good love triangle like any girl, but this isn’t getting us anywhere,” Swoop says.
“How long do you think you and Pry were going to last even if nothing happened between her and Silver? Did you really see the two of you flying off into the sunset?” Diana asks with growing irritation.
“Is that why you lied to her and told her that we slept together?” Bex demands.
“Look, I know I was wrong to let her think that, but I didn’t want her discovering the truth,” Diana says.
“So that makes it all right?” Bex asks.
“No, it doesn’t. But you don’t get to walk around here like the injured party. I mean, you do, but just for a weekend or so. That time has passed. So just get over yourself and move on.”
“Diana, it sounds like you have someone in mind that he should move on with,” East teases.
“Shut up, East! I wasn’t suggesting anyone,” she replies a little too quickly.
“I tried to help you by keeping your secret, and you repay me by lying to my girl and giving her a reason to go back to her old…habits,” Bex accuses as he looks in my direction.
“She didn’t need an excuse and you know it. What is with you and this need to be with the ones who don’t want you? It’s like some kind of disease with you angels. I really hope there’s a cure.”
“Diana, we need to focus. We are not here to talk about relationships. We need to get the list so that when Pryor comes back, we have something to show for the nearly four weeks she’s been gone,” Randy reminds them.
“Again, it’s not that I don’t want to help, I just can’t risk innocent Paras getting hurt. And with Silver leading this team, I don’t see anything but blood,” Bex says.
“Blood, oh, you want to see blood?” I ask.
“Okay, okay, settle down, children. Dad loves you both equally. With that said, if you two can’t play with the Pryor doll I gave you, I’m going to have to take her back. Is that what you kids want? Huh? Is it?” East jokes in his best “dad” voice.
“Does your girlfriend think you’re funny?” Bex asks.
“Mel is not my…we’re just seeing where things go…we are not officially back together,” East corrects the Kon.
“Oh good, because I saw her landing on a mountain with this hottie the other day. He looked…yum. I would have said hi as I flew overhead, but…her mouth was full,” Swoop teases.
“What? Really? What the hell was she—you made that up,” East says, catching himself before he goes into an emotional free fall.
“Yeah, I did. But you keep telling people she’s not with you and her ass won’t be,” Swoop cautions.
“Damn it, we don’t have time for this bullshit! Bex, are you going to give us the list or what?” I rage.
“There is no reason to think the Maker is even a Para. I’m not going to let you go on some wild hunt for innocent Paras.”
“Are you fucking kidding with this crap? You still consider your Paras innocent? They tried to kill us. They tortured Pryor and me. Oh, and let’s not forget, your asshole of a brother was banished and still found his way back to try to harm us. And by the way, was giving him permission to return your great idea?” I ask.
“He had contacts with very powerful Healers; they were able to mask what I had done to keep him at bay. So it wasn’t hard for him to get back here,” Bex replies.
“Great, well, I took care of him, and I swear on my wings, you don’t give me that list, and I’ll take care of you next.”
“Be very careful with me, Silver. Just because I’ve kept you alive in the past doesn’t mean your future’s promised.”
I really did think about taking the Kon out, but Pryor would be super pissed off, and the team doesn’t need to deal with any more deaths.
I had hope we’d get the Kon bastard to turn over the list, but it’s been five days and he hasn’t. Compiling a list of powerful demons was easy; between my dad and I, we knew all the upper-level players in the demon world. But I’ve dealt with angels; I know that they can be just as low-down and dark as any demon. So we need that list.
In the meantime, I have everyone on the team checking off names of demons who could not possibly be the Maker because they are either not powerful enough or have no connection to Malakaro. We are down to a dozen demons, but without the list, I’m not sure how many angels we will need to look into.
Pryor surprises us by coming home a day early. We are all in the Guardian home, about to go demon hunting, when she comes through the door. Although she is wearing nothing special but a short white jean skirt and a fitted tee shirt with a cartoon piglet in the center, she looks incredible. As soon as she walks through the door, Swoop and Randy race to embrace her. Diana hangs back, but when Pry is close enough, the two hug each other. It’s an uneasy interaction but much better than it was a few weeks back. East studies Pry but doesn’t hug her.
“East, what is it?” she asks.
“Well, I don’t want to get all mushy and stuff. I’m working on having a tougher exterior,” he confesses.
“Oh, okay. Should I make it an order, then?” she asks.
“Well, if my leader orders me to hug her, then I have to do it,” East admits.
“Then I order you to bring your ass over here and hug me.”
“I’m on it!” he says gladly as he holds her in his protective embrace.
“Don’t go away again. It’s hard being the best-looking one in the group. I need you to take some of the pressure off,” East informs her.
“I won’t leave again,” she promises.
“How was it? How do you feel? Are you okay? Do you need anything?” Randy asks, fussing over his best friend.
“It was a drag at times, but it helped. I now have control of my powers, so that’s good,” she tells him.
“Pry, I’m onto something, and well, it’s kind of crazy, but if I’m right—it’s going to save the day. I mean, like real hero stuff,” Randy gloats.
“Then I’m all for it, as long as it doesn’t include using you as bait,” she replies.
“I was thinking about that too, and—”
“No, Randy,” Pry says even before he can get the words out.
“Fine, but there might be something even better. I can’t tell you about it yet until I’m sure,” he says as he takes out his small notepad and goes over the info written on it.
“You look much better, rested. So does that mean Sanctuary Harbor helped?” Diana asks.
“Yes, it did. Aaden, thank you for making me go away. I needed it,” she says as she turns and looks at me. I can’t read her expression as she comes towards me, but there’s a lot going on behind her eyes.
“We thought we were coming to get you tomorrow,” Swoop says.
“Yeah, but I was ready to go, and I missed you guys,” she says.
“Sanctuary Harbor doesn’t normally release its clients without someone coming to pick them up. Who came to get you? Jay?” I ask.
“Um, no. Bex.”
“Bex picked you up?” I reply.
“Yeah. I called him and he came for me,” she says as if she’s bracing herself for something bad.
“Why did you call him and not…your own team?” I push.
“We needed to talk anyway. And it’s a good thing I did. He updated me on what’s going on. Any progress on narrowing down who the Maker is?” she asks us.
“We’re halfway down the list of demons, but we’re certain there should be angels on that list. But we have no idea who they are because your boyfri
end is holding out on us,” I reply before I can stop myself.
“He gave me the list after we stopped off to check on my mom,” she says sharply as she takes out a small orb with the seal of the Kon and writing on the inside.
“Really? And what did you have to do to get that list?” I demand. Argh! Even as I said it I knew I screwed up, but I am so mad by this point, I can’t stop myself.
“Excuse me?!” she says.
“Did you tell him that you two would give it another shot? So what, we have the list, but you belong to Bex now?”
“First of all, I don’t belong to anybody. My father didn’t raise me to be property. Secondly, Noru, you will watch how you speak to me. Is that clear?”
“Yeah, it’s very clear; no matter what happens, you’ll never be done punishing me.”
“What? No! I told you that I forgive you for breaking up with me. I meant it.”
“Bullshit! You are with Bex because you know it hurts me to see you two together.”
“You’re wrong.”
“The hell I am! Every single time I see him touch you, I feel like someone took a damn chainsaw to my soul and split it down the middle. And that’s what you want. You want me bleeding and broken because I broke up with you.”
“For the last time, that is not what’s happening here.”
“Then what is it, Pry? Because from where I’m standing, we love each other. We want to be together. We should be together. So what the hell is the problem?”
“Everyone get out. I need to speak to my second in command, alone,” she orders.
“Yeah, sure. We’ll get started on the list of angels,” East says as he takes the small engraved orb out of Pryor’s hand.
Once they all leave, the two of us are left alone in the house, in “standoff” mode. Pryor is the first to speak. Her voice is no longer raised but maintains its firmness.
“Is that why you made me get help, so that I would fall into your arms later?” she asks.
“You know that’s not why I did it.”
“Are you sure? Because I’ve barely walked in the door and you’re looking at me as if I owe you something. Do I, Aaden? Am I indebted to you?”
“No!”
“Then what is it? Why are you freaking out because I didn’t call you?”
“That’s not it, and you damn well know that. It’s not who you didn’t call, it’s who you did. Pry, when you needed someone, you called him.”
“Aaden, I needed to talk to Bex. Bex and I—”
“I don’t want to hear about you and Bex!”
“You don’t even know what I’m about to say,” she protests.
“Yes, I do. You’re about to tell me some crap about how you and Bex are going to give it another try.”
“Aaden, that’s not what happened!”
“THEN WHY THE HELL CAN’T YOU LOOK ME IN THE EYE?”
“BECAUSE I WANT YOU SO MUCH, MY BODY IS FUCKING VIBRATING.”
We stop and stare at each other angrily. We’re outraged by how powerless we are when it comes to our emotions for one another. I hate her for filling all the spaces in my head and heart, leaving me no room to think or function. She hates how her body responds to me and how powerless she is to stop it. She’s livid with me because despite the pain I caused her by walking away, she still loves me. We are determined not to give in to our love, so we give in to our anger.
She grabs me by my shirt and throws me against the wall, and she kisses my lips so aggressively, she breaks the skin. She wraps both legs around me, and she’s using her tongue to punish me. I cup her ass with both hands and fly her over to the dining table. I rip her clothes; she counters by stripping me naked.
I lean toward her on the table, and she attacks with her fists and nails. There’s a mix of anger and desire in her eyes. She’s not done fighting me. She’s not done hating me. She tells me by cursing me out. But when I start to pull away, she places her legs around my thighs and traps me.
I’ve always been able to walk away, but now I’m pissed off because there is no walking away from this woman. Damn her for enslaving me. Damn her for being my only thought for years without fail. I rip her shirt and panties off so harshly my hands leave a mark. I pry her legs open, and she braces herself for what’s to come, but once my lips part her center and suckle on her swollen peak, she learns there is no bracing.
She grabs a fistful of my hair, trying to lessen the effects of my lips between her legs, but there is no rest, no retreat, and no escape from the ecstasy taking over her body. Her body shivers and jerks wildly off the table. She tries to get away, but I pull her closer, so close there is no air between my lips and her center. I focus on one spot over and over again until she’s so weak with exhausted desire and longing, she passes out. She wakes up two days later.
She finds herself waking up on a wrought-iron bed with sheer white sheets surrounded by panoramic views of the Mediterranean Sea. The sunset outside bathes the mountain in breathtaking gold, red, and purple hues. I assumed she’d ask questions, but she doesn’t. Instead, she rolls over and mounts me. I greedily dine on her taut nipples and suckle on her trembling mounds of flesh.
Her touch is light but thorough. It only takes a few minutes for the room to start spinning around me. She travels down my body with one mission: destroy my willpower. She sips, sucks, slides, and samples every inch of me until I am begging and cursing loudly.
She lowers her head into my lap and takes me in her mouth like an ice cream cone. I can feel the warm wetness of her lips at the base of my member. She swirls and slides her way back to the tip repeatedly, sending me into orbit. She reaches down and massages the two orbs between my legs with her hand. She then takes the orbs in her mouth; I damn near cry.
She pulls herself up so that we are eye to eye and kisses me possessively. I summon a vial of Tam; it appears and floats just above our heads. She then impales herself onto me. She grinds her hips with skill and control. She takes me to the brink with every wicked thrust, but she never lets me go completely over the edge. I’m panting, dizzy, and shaking from the merciless ride she’s taking me on, so much so, I can’t keep my eyes open.
“Open your eyes,” she orders. I do as she wants, fearing she’ll stop. And I can’t take it if she stops. It’s insane, but the truth is if she stops grinding herself into me, I feel as if I will actually die.
“We’re going to play a little game. I ask and you answer. Do you understand?” she says.
I nod, but she’s not satisfied, and she shows me by milking me even harder.
“Say it,” she shouts.
“Yes,” I groan.
“Good. You belong to me, no one else,” she demands.
“Yes.”
“I don’t hear you.”
“Yes, yes, babe.”
“Say. It. Again,” she instructs.
“I belong to—to-to—oh shit!
“YOU! BABY, I BELONG TO YOU!” I scream as my body convulses so hard, I nearly knock us off the bed. Her orgasm soon follows. She then takes my sweaty, exhausted face between her hands and looks into my eyes.
“From now on, it’s you and me. Aaden and Pryor. No running away. No bullshit. No matter what. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven:
Everything That's Good
It takes a full day for me to gather enough strength to even open my eyes. When I do, I find her wearing my shirt and studying her surroundings. While the cave still has its rustic, earthy feel, I’ve added a few things I thought she’d like. A simple wrought-iron bed with sheer lightweight sheets. A basin carved out of a slab of stone, a white scooped-out ceramic tub, and candles with flames that never go out, giving the room a soft warm golden glow.
“I thought you’d never wake up,” she says as she comes over to the bed and sits beside me. I move closer and place my head on her lap. She runs her fingers through my hair and tells me how much she loves the cave.
“I stumbled onto it once on a hunt
. I’ve been getting it set up for…”
“For what?” she asks.
“I’ll tell you later, if you earn it,” I tease. She laughs and playfully casts me away from her lap. I sit up and pull her against my bare chest.
“So you’re not gonna tell me what you’ve been planning?” she pushes.
“Nope. You have to wait and see.”
“Well, can you at least tell me where we are?”
“Greece, the Santorini mountains.”
“I should have known by the blue dome.”
“You like?” I ask.
“I love. It’s just perfect,” she says, beaming.
“Did you talk to the team?”
“Yes, they’ve eliminated another ten names off the list of angels. They have four more names to go through. And half a dozen demons,” she reports.
“If the Maker is on that list, we’ll find him. This is the closest we’ve come to having something on Malakaro.”
“Yeah, I know. At Sanctuary Harbor, they asked me, if I had the chance to take Malakaro’s powers away so that he was harmless, would I let him live?” she says as she looks off in the distance.
“Really? What did you say?”
“No, I would not. Malakaro has to die. Powers or no powers.”
“Okay.”
She looks up at me and asks if that makes her a bad angel. I assure her that it doesn’t. She explains that even without his powers, Malakaro can cause trouble. I agree; sometimes there is no other choice but to take a life.
“So, catch me up on the team,” she says, not wanting to dwell on the subject of Malakaro.
“I thought you were all caught up,” I remind her.
“No, you updated me on business. Now, tell me what I missed with the team and all that comes with it,” she tells me.
“You mean the unimportant, childish, soap opera drama?”
“Exactly! The important stuff,” she teases.
“East isn’t officially back with Mel, but they spend a ridiculous amount of time on the phone. She’s his first call in the morning and his last call before he Recharges.”
“Oh really?”