The Dark God's Bride

by Dahlia Lu

  The beast roared. Master!

  The cut was unable to heal.

  Another arrow followed her and grazed her neck.

  The Archangel ceased his attack.

  They were warning shots? Nala’s cheeks burned with fury. She should have known a skilled archer like the Archangel Michael would never miss.

  “If you’re going to shoot me, do it seriously!” She shouted at the Archangel. “How dare you use me as a practice target?”

  This time, the Archangel was aiming for her core. If the arrow hit, she would be incinerated in an instant. Parts of her hoped it would reach its destination. End her suffering once and for all. It was not exactly the worst fate she could think of.

  The Archangel released the arrow.

  The beast growled viciously, while Nala braced herself.

  “Nala…!” A white lightning bolt knocked the arrow off course. The eight winged Archangel Gabriel came to her rescue. He flew to her and stood in front of her in a defensive stance.

  Fai was getting weary of the situation, but she petted him on his side to calm him down.

  “Gabriel?” The Archangel Michael questioned Gabriel’s behavior.

  “You can’t hurt her,” the Archangel Gabriel retorted. “I won’t let you.” He slightly turned his head to look at her. “Are you alright?”

  The Archangel Michael was not the only one surprised by Gabriel’s actions. Nala had only met Gabriel twice before and both times were very brief. She didn’t even remember having a full conversation with him. She wondered why he was defending her.

  “I don’t want your help!” She stubbornly said to him.

  “Want it or not, I will get you out of here safely,” he replied quickly. He eyed Michael. “She will get home safely, wont she, Michael?”

  “You are acting strange, Gabriel.” Michael furrowed his brow in deep confusion. “You know this demoness?”

  Gabriel stiffly nodded. “Your words, Michael...”

  “That depends on her intentions.” Michael gave her his full attention. “For what purpose have you come here? Are you aware that you are trespassing?”

  “I am looking for someone.”

  “Who are you looking for?”

  “That is none of your concern,” she replied flatly. “After I have found him, I will leave. Or you can shoot me down right now. It’s your choice. I don’t care either way.”

  “Interesting friend you have, Gabriel.” The Archangel Michael observed with a frown. “Odd. The wild spirits in her eyes remind me of our headstrong brother.”

  Nala knew he was referring to the sire she’d never met. She found it hysterical that even the Archangel Michael saw the likeness. They say she was Lucifer’s child in spirit and she heard that quite often.

  After that, Michael allowed her to stay on the condition that Gabriel accompanied her. Fai was forced to leave. They were overly cautious, as if they were hiding some kind of deep, dark secrets. That or they were protecting something. Truthfully, she was a bit curious.

  She and the Archangel Gabriel traveled on foot for several hours before she broke the silence between them. The Archangel had an awkward reserve about him that wasn’t in his nature. She remembered him to be a cheerful and slightly eccentric person with a cool sense of humor.

  “Do you have a spell that could help us escape detection, just in case we find them?” She asked Gabriel, as they were walking across the self-suspending bridges.

  “Who are you looking for?” He asked after he cast the spell she requested.

  Nala didn’t know exactly who he was. She only knew that he was the one who severed Trent’s arm. It was reason enough to take his life. However, he was immortal, but that wasn’t going to stop her. It wouldn’t be her first time feuding with a god. Her adversaries were mostly green-eyed goddesses. She fought over males she was not even interested in, but she liked the thrill of winning. It took female rivalry to a whole new level.

  “A man,” Nala answered.

  “That is rather vague.”

  She shrugged. All men were the same to her with the exception of one.

  Gabriel paused and pointed. “He wouldn’t happen to be that guy, would he?”

  She followed the direction his finger was pointing. They were standing a mile away, but their kind was gifted with impeccable eyesight. She recognized his face immediately and nodded in confirmation. He was sitting against a tree trunk with Amara in his arms. Neither of them had anything on.

  “That’s him,” she said, watching the couple sharing an affectionate kiss. “Although, I had not expected this kind of development. I wonder if they’ve had sex, or made love.”

  There was a big difference between the two. Sex was purely physical, but love making included emotional attachments. If they had made love, she was curious if they’d formed a bond. The stronger the better…. She didn’t want to guess. She wanted to be sure.

  Gabriel’s green eyes, the color of fresh spring leaves, met hers for the first time. “Is he your lover?”

  “No.” Her reply was accompanied by a soft sardonic laugh. “He is my enemy.”

  “You risked your life to come here so that you can track down an adversary?”

  She didn’t like the incredulity in his tone. “It’s as good a reason as any.”

  “Has anyone ever told that you are unconventional?”

  “More than once...”

  “Now that you’ve found him, what do you plan to do with him?”

  Originally, she thought about chopping him into fine pieces and fermenting him in several wine barrels for a decade or two. A large man like him would not be able to fit into just one. If she wanted quality wine for her bath, she may even hold out for a century.

  But then she thought of a better idea.

  “I will observe him… them.”

  “Simply observe?”

  “Know thy enemy,” Nala mused as she watched the scene unfold.

  Abruptly, the girl pulled away from the kiss.

  “No!” Amara protested.

  The deity cupped her face with his hand. “Give in to me,” he grated.

  “No.” Amara shook her head. “No…”

  He subtly sighed at her rejection. He guided her head, as he would a lover, to his chest. His hand caressed her cheek and neck with palpable gentleness.

  Nala frowned at what she saw. She pondered into the situation, and abandoned the frown. “He cares for the girl,” she concluded.

  “How can you tell?” Gabriel asked curiously.

  “I’m very good at reading people. Besides, if he did not, he would have pushed her onto the grass and shoved himself inside of her thirty seconds ago. What I don’t understand is why she rejected him. She obviously enjoyed the kiss.” Before he asked the question, she answered, “I’m a woman.”

  She had decided. “I will give him a taste of his own medicine and it will be the bitterest he’s ever experienced. But first, I’ll need some contrasting sweetness. I need to find a way to bring them together.”

  Gabriel lifted a brow at that. “What did he do to offend you?”

  “I’m getting him back for the attempted abduction of my mother to get back at my father. He also severed the arm of the man I love. Unforgivable crimes...”

  “Dare I guess the identity of your sire?”

  “Lucifer...”

  He sighed wearily and ran a shaky hand down his face. “I’d thought so.”

  She detached the small white pouch from her waist band and dumped the contents on the palm of her hand. Dozens of small glowing vials poured out of the pouch.

  “What are those?”

  “I know an excellent caster.” Mischievousness was all over her face. She pointed at each vial to indicate its uses. “That is poison, poison, sleeping potion, persuasion potion, poison again, ah… conce
ntrated lust. I think I will use this one. It will be a little too diluted in vapor form, but she is a mortal.”

  “You’re going to make them fall in love?”

  “No one can do that.” It was the truth. Not true love anyway. “As you can see, there is already something there. I’m just going to give little, shy Amara a small push. You’re not going to stop me, are you?”

  “If you are anything like your sire, I’ll just be wasting my breath. I will not stop you, but I will not encourage you either.”

  With a proud smile, Nala concentrated her energy into the selected vial, until it bursts. The liquid vaporized in an instant. “That should cover a three mile radius.”

  Gabriel covered his nose and mouth. Do you think that it’s wise to break that here? He asked her through telepathy.

  “I can drink a gallon of this stuff and it would have no effect on me. Oh, you mean yourself. I didn’t think it through, so just don’t breathe for a couple of hours. Besides, we cannot escape detection any closer than this.”

  How are you immune to hormonal chemistry?

  She gave him an ‘I don’t have a clue’ shrug. Demons were capable of developing immunity only to substances that do not normally occur in their natural body. If Gabriel had not asked, she wouldn’t have noticed.

  “If you don’t believe me, then I will prove it.” She had a spare concentrated lust vial, so she opened the cap and downed it.

  He waited for a reaction.

  She threw the empty vial aside and flashed an alluringly smile up at him.

  He unconsciously removed his hands from his mouth. “Nala…?”

  Her little pink tongue licked her upper lip invitingly. She stared mesmerizingly at him. “You have the most beautiful, green eyes.” Her hands reached for the back of his neck. She pulled herself up against him and kissed the corner of his lips.

  She broke into a giggle. “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist…”

  When his lips slanted over hers, it caught her by surprise. His arms tightened around her waist, and pulled her even closer. Oh no, she thought, he inhaled the scent. She struggled to get away, but his strength was frightening. She could easily lift her thirteen ton pet elephant, but she was completely helpless against this man.

  Nala dematerialized to get away from him. “You were supposed to hold your breath.” She knew better than to stay anywhere near a powerful man under the influence of concentrated lust, no matter how insignificant the amount. She had no choice, but to leave him until the effect had worn off. “I’ll come back another day to check on the progress.”

  “Nala, wait!” he called out to her.

  She didn’t.

  The stage for her first plot was set. It was time to move on to another.

  Noctis knew torture and this may be the worse of them all.

  His veins were boiling underneath his heated skin. His body was aching and throbbing to the beat of his heart. He was burning with lust and the female in his arms was most unwilling. She’d rejected him and that should have been the end of that.

  He muttered a curse in his language underneath his breath.

  He still wanted her. Badly...

  It was an uphill battle trying to make a conscious, moral decision with only half a working mind. Especially when he could smell the inviting scent she was giving off. That and he could feel her dampness on his lap. Not only did she deny him, she denied herself.

  Another curse came from him.

  She didn’t reject him because she found him lacking as a male or that she didn’t want him. She rejected him because of her sense of loyalty to the man she loves. Vicious jealousy was burrowing into his veins.

  It doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter.

  But it did. It was gnawing at his insides, fueling his already deep hatred toward Lucifer. They were more than just enemies. They were love rivals, which made things a hell of a lot more complicated than they needed to be. He wanted more than just her body. He wanted more than her companionship. He wanted the heart that she had already given away.

  “Give in to me,” he asked once again.

  “I can’t,” she replied in a trembling voice.

  “You can’t or you won’t?”

  “I can’t and I won’t.”

  “Because of him…?”

  She hesitated before she answered, “Yes.”

  “Is that the only reason?”

  “Yes.”

  He was seething with jealousy. “Perhaps you have forgotten one tiny little fact. You belong to me now.”

  She looked up at him and he seized the opportunity at another kiss. He didn’t give her a moment to contemplate the situation. He kissed her soft trembling lips with all of his skills and precisions. To his surprise, she let out a soft moan and kissed him back with equal passion. His mind went blank, he had forgotten how to kiss, and had no choice, but to follow her lead. Just when he thought he’d received her consent, she abruptly broke the kiss and shoved her hands against his chest. Her strength didn’t budge him, but the message was clear.

  “You said you would never take an unwilling woman,” she used his words against him.

  Not all that unwilling, he discovered. Her body was far more honest than she. “Those were the words of a sane man,” he grated against her ear, “You drove me mad, mortal.”

  She shuddered when he nibbled on her earlobe. Her breathing grew shallow.

  “Besides, I’m the villain,” he reminded her. “I can do no right. Remember?”

  She went speechless and swallowed hard. Her complexion flushed bright pink. He closed his mouth over hers again to taste her feminine sweetness and she reciprocated.

  “I can’t…” she breathed softly, as if to herself, between fervent kisses. He could tell that her resolution was melting away.

  Her mind and body were out of sync.

  He slowly kissed down her neck, caressing each inch with admiration. She arched her body to present him her perfectly shaped breasts. When he accepted her gift into his mouth, she achingly whimpered.

  She was lovely beyond words.

  He shifted her left leg so that her body was fully facing him. She ran her tantalizing fingers into his hair. Her small body suddenly froze when she felt him against her untouched entrance. Panic set on her face. She knew what he wanted and so did he.

  Kissing her reassuringly, he entered her slowly, inch by agonizing inch. He couldn’t rush it. He was a man twice her size and proportionally blessed.

  Her fingers bit into his shoulder blades, as he slowly filled her. She let out a sharp cry as he slowly went deeper into her.

  He’d never been with such a small woman before. The fit was so tight he could hardly move.

  The scent of fresh blood was a sudden blow to his head.

  He jerked his head back and stared at her with shock and incredulity. He saw something in her grey-blue eyes that closely resembled fear. Fear turned to worries. Worries turned to helplessness. And unexpectedly, she broke into tears at the realization of what she’d done.

  It suddenly occurred to him that she had been keeping a secret all along and this was what she didn’t want him to find out. She didn’t reject him because of any of the reasons he surmised. She rejected him because she didn’t want him to know that she was an untouched virgin.

  Her eyes shied away.

  She couldn’t be who she claimed she was.

  The first emotion to surface was the anger of being deceived. His hand fisted in her hair and forced her to look at him.

  “Who are you?”

  His left hand was grasping her hair. His right hand found its way to her neck and held it there threateningly. His blue eyes were naturally fierce. When enraged, the ferocity intensified manyfold. He was forcing her to look into them to extract an answer from her.

  Her body began to tremble fr
om absolute terror. She knew this would happen, but she had little control over herself, as if someone else had taken over her body. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t rationalize. Now her own mistake would cost her own life and her mother’s safety. She was a failure in every sense of the word. She was bitterly disappointed with herself, because even at that moment, mentally petrified and physically pained, she wanted him.

  “Who are you?” He demanded her answer with grave urgency.

  At present, I am your lover.

  She didn’t answer him. Instead, she resumed the kiss he had rudely ended and reclaimed the passion she was improperly introduced to. She tempted him, lured him, until he responded. Already, she was burning with needs so overwhelming that she was unable to think.

  He leaned forward and her back landed on the tall, soft, iridescent blue grass. His left hand released the fist and guarded her head from the ground. She cried out again when he pushed even deeper into her flesh. The sharp pain broke her into sweats. He withdrew and slowly plunged into her again and again, until each stroke eased the last. The slow building fiction created a flash of white heat.

  Without warning, the sweetest feeling she had ever felt swept through her. What escaped her lips was not a cry, but a pleasurable moan. His breathing labored when her hips involuntarily began to writhe.

  His kiss turned feverish, possessively plundering her mouth. He was leading and she was following, until she couldn’t keep up with him. He left her behind to face the unfamiliar waves of shattering ecstasy. It was simultaneously exhilarating and frightening, because she hadn’t expected anything anywhere close to what she was experiencing. Her body had never felt more alive, but her mind had never been closer to death.

  She clung onto him for dear life, feeling him thrusting faster and sinking deeper into her. Her body was pulsating violently against him, against the wild uncontainable pleasure that was driving her mind into the state of oblivion. She was forced to yield to the flame that threatened to consume more than just her vessel, but her very soul.