Tortured, beaten, raped by her own blood. “Why is she here?”
“Demons cannot enter the Kingdom, Jonah. Any more than a man with no heart, no soul can enter the Kingdom.” Sansan held out a hand, and within it a ball of light grew, spinning and spinning. From it, light spilled and threw colors on the wall.
Voices echoed and spun around them as Jonah stared at the kaleidoscope of colors, watching until they coalesced into an image… Three men, clad in shining white, watching as a woman, winged, bloodied…beaten. She knelt before them, head bent with fear but when they spoke, she rose from a crouch at their feet, turning and snapping open the thick leathery black wings, her voice a tortured sob as she said, “I want to not be this. I want to be free of her, of this…of what my very nature demands of me.”
Around her, the men watching her nodded, looking pleased. The third one, his face hidden from Jonah, said, “Then you have the chance, Lilan. Become what you wish…now. You no longer are bound to her, she cannot harm you, not her, and not her children. Only the world around you can cause you harm—for a time. You have two months.”
Jonah felt a chill run down his spine at the fear in her eyes. “You. That is you,” he said harshly.
Sansan said, “She wanted a chance. We wanted her to have one. A demon cannot enter into the Kingdom, Jonah. But a woman can. We gave her two months, two months to prove she has the heart and the soul one needs to enter into the Kingdom.”
“You want her to face her mother.” Jonah turned away, hoping to hide the fiery rage that built within, the need to howl. Not right…what they demanded wasn’t right. “Can’t you see how terrified she is?”
Jonah certainly could. Now he understood the fear he’d seen in her eyes.
Sansan sighed. “Indeed, we see it. But having a soul means you’re willing to sacrifice all for another. If she didn’t fear her mother, there would be no sacrifice.”
As Jonah turned, glaring, he found himself alone, in an empty room. Whirling, he grabbed a stained coffee cup from the desk and hurled it at the wall. “Damn it!” he shouted.
And then he collapsed onto the ground, looping his arms around his knees and bowing his head. “Damn it,” he whispered.
He was still trying to recover his ground when the knock came, a long time later. Wearily, he trudged to the door, opening it with dread. He knew who was on the other side.
A woman he had dreamed of.
A woman he hungered for.
A woman he barely knew.
A woman who had been born of a demon.
Staring into her eyes, Jonah thought, almost wildly, I don’t care…
Whatever she had been getting ready to say died as he reached out, pulling her against him. Lowering his head, he covered the rosebud mouth with his, groaning as the clean, pure taste of her flooded his senses. This is not a creature of evil…
He knew evil. She wasn’t it.
She was spring rain, summer warmth and the light of the sun in his arms. A startled squeak escaped her as he kissed her, surprise and hunger lighting those dark blue eyes.
As her hands slid up his chest, Jonah spun her around, pulling her inside the house and kicking the door closed. Backing her up against the wall, he groaned as he felt the bite of her nails at his neck. Her entire body was quivering, vibrating against his. A hungry little purr escaped her lips as he pressed hungry, biting kisses down her neck, to her collarbone as he slid the jacket from her shoulders.
“Jonah,” she gasped out as he jerked her shirt from the waist of her jeans, his hands seeking out the cool, silken feel of her skin.
He wanted to howl as she started to whimper in his arms, rocking against him, an almost feverish hunger in her midnight-blue eyes. “Lily,” he rumbled as he dipped his head and buried his face in the soft, sweet valley between her breasts.
An insidious little whisper of doubt started to creep in as he shoved up her shirt baring the full, silk-covered curves of her breasts. The dusky circles of her nipples were a shadow under the fragile silk. Urging her closer, he took the peak of one nipple in his mouth, drawing deep, shuddering at the hot, female taste of her skin.
As he feasted on the heated satin of her skin, a voice of doubt whispered in his mind. Do you really think this is helping your situation, Adamm?
Savagely, he shoved the voice out of his head. It felt…foreign. But not Sansan. Sansan hadn’t called him Adamm since they had shoved him into this body.
Wonderful way to save your soul, fornicating like the bastard you’ve always been…
He shot to his feet, lacing his fingers through her hair as he pressed his mouth back to hers, waiting for the heaven of her mouth, and the blood pounding in his head, to drown out that nasty little whisper.
Chapter Seven
Distantly, Lily was aware of the voice of the Other. It wasn’t her mother, wasn’t a presence she had felt before. But as Jonah’s hands raced over her, she felt the presence of some demonic being passing over him, trying to come between them. She let a whisper of power escape from her, forcing its way between them and the Other.
Just a little, not enough to alert her mother or any other creature, just enough mask them.
How very odd, though. Something wanted them apart. She’d puzzle through that later.
Later…when she could think, because she certainly couldn’t manage it now, not as he ran his hands over her body. Desperate hunger glowed in his eyes and she wondered where that had come from.
***
Alila hissed as the mortal man ignored her whispering. Her mother’s orders to seek out the mortal that had been searching for the secrets behind the mark of Lilith, the Hyari, had led her here. The man alone was formidable. Just piercing his thoughts had taken every bit of strength she had. Not the strongest of her sisters, she had been sent to evaluate, not battle.
Which was absolutely perfect for Alila. She could never handle a man so strong in willpower. Her mother could, many of her sisters could. But not Alila.
If it wasn’t for the dark-haired woman, Alila would have retreated and reported back to her sisters and her mother.
But something about the woman bothered her. Her face was oddly familiar, but not. Looking at her caused a shiver of foreboding to streak through Alila.
Whoever she was, this woman must not join with the mortal man.
Together, their strengths would be immeasurable.
Worse, as she tried yet again to whisper doubts into his mind, the other woman felt her presence. With barely a flexing of her power, the woman shoved Alila away and blocked her presence.
With a shriek of frustration, the lilum flew away.
She’d done as Mother asked—she’d found the mortal searching for the secrets of the Hyari. Now she’d find herself a mortal, ride him until his body could take no more pleasure, rest, then make her report.
Later, perhaps, she might come back to investigate this mortal man and woman.
Sansan turned a blind eye to what transpired below, smiling to himself as he saw the lilum flee with rage as she couldn’t come between Jonah and Lily.
No, indeed. It would take a great deal to come between them—they were so very strong, and together, they just might be enough to save the boy.
***
Lily felt the retreat of the demon, but only distantly. Her head was spinning, her lips all but buzzing from the wonder of Jonah’s kiss as he swept her into his arms, his eyes intent on her face as he carried her out of the foyer, down the hall to a Spartan bedroom.
Am I really doing this?
It was—bliss. A man doing the taking, instead of her sliding into his room in the quiet of the night, sneaking under his guard and using the magic of the lilum to seduce him.
The lilum were succubi. Any succubus worth her wings could make a man want her—but rarely was a succubus the one being seduced and taken. Oh, it was sweet. Even sweeter still when he swept her up in his arms, cradling her against his chest as though she was some priceless treasure.
&
nbsp; He stared at her face as he carried her to his bedroom, stared at her as though he’d memorize everything about her. As though he craved simply the sight of her.
As he laid her down on the bed, he continued to watch her, his eyes hungry, intense and focused. His hands cupped her face, lifting her chin as he covered her mouth with his. One hand left her face and Lily shuddered as he cupped her breast, massaging the nipple, milking the distended peak until it ached and throbbed.
He pulled up, straddling her hips with his knees as he gripped the bottom of her T-shirt, pulling it up and off. As the cool air struck her breasts, Lily shivered. The heat of his hands was a sharp contrast to the cool air of the room and Lily whimpered, arching into his hands, her eyes nearly crossing with pleasure as he bent over her and took one swollen nipple deep inside his mouth, drawing hard.
His weight trapped her hips and she shifted, squirming hungrily, aching to feel him against her, to find some relief from the throbbing in her loins. She was starving, dying… The breath escaped her body in a rush as he stretched out over her, crushing her into the bed, arching his hips and driving his cotton-covered cock against the cleft between her thighs.
Oh, heaven and hell… Wrapping her arms around his neck, Lily rocked hungrily against that thick ridge, mindless of anything beyond satisfying the need that burned in her belly.
This was too much, too intense. Even the demon urges of the succubus hadn’t been this driving, this frantic. Always just a man, any man, would do, and all she wanted was to ride him until the ache was gone. But now…she wanted Jonah, all of him, wanted to feel his body covering hers and driving her into the mattress as he fucked her, wanted to push him onto his back and take his sex into her mouth, feel the pulse of life within him. All, more, everything… she thought mindlessly.
She grabbed at his shirt, tearing at it, hearing a surprised chuckle from him as he pulled away, staring at the scraps of cloth in her hands. Lily felt the blush burning her cheeks and cursed herself. She had shredded his sturdy cotton sweatshirt as though it was paper.
He grinned at her, a wild, wicked curve of his lips as his hands went to the center clasp of her bra and jerked, snapping it, the fragile silk tearing under his hands. Her breasts fell free and the cool air stung her nipples as he lifted her hips, jerking her jeans down her hips, tearing at her shoes.
Lily whimpered, reaching for him as he finished stripping her naked. He dealt with his own clothes just as quickly. As he came back over her, she reached down, closing her hand around the throbbing length of his cock, her eyes flying wide, a grin lighting her face as he jerked in her hands.
“Damn it, Lily,” he gasped out, catching her wrist and pulling her hand away. Pinning her hands down, he used his knee to spread her thighs, wedging his hips against the cradle of her thighs and rocking against the slick flesh of her sex.
With a cry, she arched up against him, seeking more of that contact. As the head of his cock stroked over her clit, she screamed out his name, climaxing with a sob. She dug her nails into his arms, bringing her legs up and locking her ankles around his hips as she worked herself against him.
Jonah swore as she convulsed in his arms, just from the touch of his flesh against the hard little knot of her clit. He pushed against her, the soft flesh giving under the relentless push of his hips. Her body yielded and he slid inside, the head of his cock breaching her entrance. The lips of her sex stretched tight around the width of his cock, hot, silken, sweeter than anything he had felt in his life.
Against his chest, her nipples stabbed into him. The tight little buds were hot, deep pink—his mouth watered. Dipping his head, he caught one in his mouth, biting down lightly with his teeth, scoring that turgid flesh then soothing the tiny sting marks with his tongue.
Cupping his hand over her hip, he stilled the hungry motions of her hips and started to pump into her with slow, steady strokes, his eyes on her flushed face. Tight and wet, the slick muscles in her sheath gripped his cock, squeezing, milking his flesh until he was certain he’d lose his mind.
“Look at me,” he whispered when her lashes started to flutter down, hiding that dark, amazing beauty of her eyes. “Let me see you.”
Her lashes lifted, the midnight-blue irises of her eyes foggy with need. Her tongue slid out, wetting her lips. “Jonah,” she gasped. Her body arched against his, the hot, wet tissues clutching around his cock as he pulled out and surged back in.
Her head fell back and he pressed a line of biting, suckling little kisses from her breast up her neck to her mouth, taking her lips, starving for her. She sobbed into his mouth, her hands fisting in his hair. Jonah growled against her mouth. Her nails bit into his scalp as she started to come.
The hot, snug glove of her sheath tightened convulsively around him, the milking sensations driving him near insane. Pumping into her with harsh, short digs of his hips, he rushed to meet her as she came, flooding her depths, his climax tearing from him in hot, pulsating waves.
She drained him and left him feeling more complete than Jonah had ever in his life, in either of them. The muscles in his arms unlocked and he collapsed against her, rolling over to his side and bringing her with him, cuddling her against his body.
The sweat on his body was starting to cool when his breathing finally calmed. “This is going to sound very trite, but I’ve never felt anything like that in my life,” he whispered into the dense black wealth of her curls.
Against his chest, he felt her smile, and he thought he could all but feel the pleasure radiating from her.
“Me, either,” she murmured, snuggling against him.
A chill wracked her body and he eyed the blanket tossed over the foot of the bed. Reaching out his hand, he extended his focus for just a second, and had to concentrate to do just that. With a shaky laugh, he narrowed his eyes and pushed a little, his focus wavering. But the blanket rose, drifting to his hand almost lazily.
Catching the edge of it, he pulled it up over them and closed his eyes.
Snuggled against his chest, Lily couldn’t stop smiling. The silly, goofy grin that lit her face was unlike any smile she’d ever worn in her life. For the first time in her life, her very long life, she had made love with a man. She hadn’t fucked, or taken, or seduced and devoured…hadn’t ridden him until he collapsed, his body quivering from the raw hunger a succubus created within a man.
No, she had made love…and it was so sweet.
Against her cheek, she could feel the steady beating of his heart. Listening to it, she let it lull her into sleep.
Chapter Eight
Grayson made sure his mom had left before he slid back inside the house. He had to get this done, now, before she knew what he was up to. He’d already waited too long, anyway. It had been almost two weeks since the last time he’d tried, and the misery of that failure ate at him.
He’d do it this time.
This time, Mom would see.
He wasn’t just some kid with a little bit of power—he was a witch. Every bit as powerful as her lame-ass brother, and a hell of a lot smarter. He wasn’t going to end up gunned down in some alley, in some stupid gang fight. No, he was smarter than that.
He was going to use his magic for bigger things.
Better things.
On the way to school, he had seen the foolish-looking dog, those big floppy ears that damn near dragged the ground, the friendly light in his mismatched eyes, his tongue lolling out of his mouth in a canine grin.
A sign. So he took it, coaxing the dog into coming closer, and then picking it up, steeling his heart as the dog licked at his chin and sniffed at his neck. If his heart jerked at the thought of actually killing something again, well, he’d just have to ignore it.
It was time.
The burning fire in his gut, the need for power, was driving him, urging him, compelling him.
It never occurred to him that it wasn’t his urges he was feeling.
***
Alila felt the stirring of power, recognized
the call of the Hyari pendant. Her mother whispered in her mind to rush, to go, and she would be there soon. Another young one…and this one was male. Her mother loved to destroy the soul of a male child.
***
Lily felt the touch of the lilum with dread.
Time was up.
Time had slipped away from them. Over the past two weeks, they’d waited and watched, unwilling to act unless the boy forced it.
But they may have waited too long.
It wasn’t until the Hyari woke that Lily realized something was amiss.
And then the lilum came. One of her weaker sisters, it was the same one who had tried to push between them earlier. Lily remembered that touch.
“Jonah, we have a problem,” she whispered, sitting up, the blanket falling to her waist. Her eyes closed as she focused…and found herself hovering over Grayson as he trudged along the path through the woods.
In his arms, he held another animal—a dog, young, with bright, friendly eyes. Damn, did the boy even realize he was crying, she wondered?
Then she jerked herself back, her eyes opening and focusing on Jonah’s face. “He’s going there now…and there’s something waiting for him.”
Sliding from his arms, she jerked her clothes on and prayed.
The daughter of the Queen of All Demons prayed.
They ran, the short distance to the woods seeming to stretch on forever, for miles and miles…not enough time. They hadn’t been watching closely enough. They’d let their guard down, so very foolishly. Lily had even harbored some hope that Grayson might resist the call of dark magic.
She should have known better. The urging of the pendant was too much for somebody so young to resist. Somebody so hungry…
The lilum was already there, hovering outside the trees that served as a gateway into the web of power.
Lily didn’t know her. She had never met all of her sisters, and this one was unknown to her. Small, almost frail looking…and her power was slight. Lilith hadn’t thought there would be much fight for this young boy’s soul.
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