Edge of the Darkness (Hell on Earth Book 4)

by Brenda K. Davies

  “What was Hell like before Lucifer arrived?” I asked.

  It was the first time either of us had spoken in hours, and if the quirk of his eyebrow was any indication, he hadn’t expected the question.

  “It was Hell. There were demons and a king who ruled over us all.”

  “Was there constant fighting?”

  “Demons have always fought each other. It was the only entertainment, other than sex, we had. Was it worse after Lucifer entered Hell? I don’t know; I never experienced what Hell was like with Lucifer there. After everything I’ve heard, I’m going to assume it was worse after Lucifer arrived, but I can’t say for sure. If he were still alive, I probably would have joined him after being set free of the seal.”

  “You know it was Kobal’s queen, River, who set you free, right?”

  “Yes. I also know it was against her will.”

  “It was, but there are other demons she freed who have decided to stay by her side.”

  “I won’t follow the varcolac. There was a time, though….” His voice trailed off as he stared at the golden landscape.

  “There was a time what?” I prompted. “When you followed the varcolac?”

  He shrugged as he looked at me again. “I’m not sure. It was all so long ago, I barely remember any of it.”

  I wasn’t sure if he was telling me the truth or not, and then I recalled he didn’t remember his parents. I couldn’t imagine ever forgetting my parents, not even if I lived another fifty thousand years, but our lives were completely different.

  I was sure there were things in his past he’d completely forgotten and others he preferred to forget—just as there were things in mine that I’d prefer to forget, like watching my mother die.

  Some memories were etched so deeply into my mind it was as if they happened only yesterday. However, there were so many things I’d forgotten over the years. I could barely recall the demon I was eight hundred years ago, never mind twenty some odd thousand years ago.

  “Do you miss Hell?” he inquired.

  “I miss the heat. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the cold of Earth, but that’s all I miss. Do you miss it?”

  “Do I miss being locked behind a seal and unable to enjoy any freedom whatsoever? Only sometimes.”

  I couldn’t help but smile over his sarcastic tone. “I guess there’s not much to miss there.”

  He tapped his fingers on his shin while he studied me. “You’ve spent your whole life fighting, haven’t you?”

  “Haven’t you?”

  “I think there was a time when I didn’t fight, but I’m not sure. I always enjoyed causing problems, and many times I’d get demons riled up so I could kill them.”

  He gave me a smile that revealed his dimple. I should be keeping my distance, but I was so glad to see that dimple again. However, no one should look that gorgeous while discussing how they liked to use their power to entice demons into a fight to the death.

  “What?” he asked innocently. “It was fun.”

  “We have very different ideas of fun.”

  His gaze fell to my mouth and then my breasts. The amusement was gone from his eyes when they met mine again. “Oh, I’m sure they’re not that different.”

  I gulped and resisted tugging at the collar of my shirt.

  “But, unlike you, I didn’t spend my entire life fighting against something. I spent it having a good time until the varcolac ruined that.”

  “What an asshole he was for trying to keep demons alive.”

  His dimple returned. “I couldn’t agree more.”

  I was shocked to find myself laughing. “You’re an asshole.”

  “I would never argue that.”

  When I realized I was flirting with him, some of my amusement vanished, and I looked nervously toward the front of the cave. “I want things to be peaceful on Earth.”

  “Then what will you do with yourself?” he asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  I’d been fighting for so long, I didn’t know what else to do or if I could do anything else. Sometimes I worried I might go a little insane without the fight, and other times I coveted one minute of security. I’d never fallen asleep without the worry something might attack and kill me before I woke. One night of knowing what that was like would be amazing.

  “I’m nervous about my life without the constant fight, but I’m more scared I’ll never know a single moment of peace,” I said.

  I couldn’t believe I’d admitted such a thing to him. However, until I said it, I’d never realized I thought it, but as soon as the words left my mouth, I knew they were true. The idea of not having a goal scared me, but the possibility of spending the rest of my life fighting others, petrified me.

  His inky black eyes studied me as if he didn’t know me, but I also saw fascination in them.

  “You’re a bizarre demon, Bale,” he murmured.

  “So are you, Wrath.”

  I turned my attention back to the cavern and stifled a yawn. I barely slept last night, and what little sleep I got was fitful at best. As the silence stretched between us, I found it increasingly difficult to keep my eyes open.

  “Go get some rest,” he said. “I’ll keep watch.”

  I was about to argue with him, but I didn’t see the point. I needed sleep, and it wouldn’t do either of us any good if I were exhausted. Resting my hands on the ground, I pushed myself up.

  “Wake me in a little bit, and I’ll take over,” I told him.

  He nodded but didn’t look at me. I studied him before walking deeper into the cave and curling up on the ground. I didn’t find it unpleasant; after years of sleeping on hell rocks, this smooth, gold bed was soft and fluffy.

  Resting my head on my hands, I tried to keep my attention focused on the wall, but after a few minutes, my eyes shifted back to him. I was trusting one of the horsemen to watch over me and protect me while I slept, and I didn’t feel one ounce of trepidation about it. I’d denied him multiple times, and he was probably still pissed about last night, but I had no doubt he would protect me. Things had changed so much over the past month.

  I couldn’t stop my ravenous gaze from running over his broad shoulders and powerful physique. When that hunger blazed to life inside me again, I shoved my hand into my mouth. Biting down, I drew blood, but the sting helped bury some of my lust.

  It was going to be another restless night.

  Wrath

  I did everything I could to ignore Bale’s whimpers, but when she whispered my name, I couldn’t stop myself from looking at her. She lay on the ground with her hands beneath her head and her knees drawn up to her chest. Her mouth parted as she murmured something I couldn’t understand.

  This dream was all her own doing; I had no hand in it, but I was still there. The knowledge she dreamed of me almost drew me away from my post, but after last night, I’d vowed she would come to me next time, and I would uphold that vow. I would not be rejected by her again.

  Still, listening to my Chosen murmur my name and being unable to do anything to ease her was one of the worst forms of torture I ever endured. Rising, I rested my hands against the wall as I willed myself to remain where I was. My shoulders hunched forward as Bale’s moan caused my growing erection to strain against my pants.

  I almost unbuttoned my pants and took hold of myself to release some of the strain, but I already knew it would only leave me more frustrated. My hand fisted against the wall.

  I had to keep my ability suppressed. I couldn’t alert Mytaz to where we were, but Bale was tearing me apart. Unable to control it, flames sputtered to life at the tips of my fingers. I tried to extinguish them, but when I failed, I walked away from the entrance and stalked deeper into the shadows.

  Slipping into the darkness and moving past Bale, I stopped twenty feet away from her and rested my hands against the cold, smooth wall as I sought to regain control. My shoulders hunched up as a bellow built in my throat.

  I couldn’t recall the last time
my ability felt this out of control, but Bale was pushing me to the edge, and I had no idea what kind of savagery I would unleash if I went over.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Bale

  I jolted out of my dream of being locked securely in Wrath’s arms as he was about to enter me. For a second, I lay on the floor with my eyes closed and wished I was back in my dream, finishing what we started. I’d give anything to escape the constant ache of my body that the dream only intensified.

  However, I couldn’t spend the rest of my life sleeping so I could avoid Eldorata and Wrath. Slowly, I opened my eyes and frowned when I noticed light and shadows flickering over the walls.

  What the…?

  Then I realized fire was causing the strange light. Wrath! Is he in trouble?

  I bolted upright and turned toward the flames. I spotted Wrath fifteen feet away with his hands resting on the wall and his shoulders hunched up to his ears. Flames covered his arms to his elbows. The thick, corded muscles of his forearms and biceps bulged, and the veins stood out as he kept his head bowed and his legs braced apart.

  I glanced nervously toward the entrance, but darkness still engulfed it; the glow of his fire didn’t spread far past me. He was far enough away from the opening that his flames couldn’t be seen outside.

  His power undulated against my skin as torment emanated from him. I had no idea what had caused this unraveling in him, but he must have sensed my attention as his head turned toward me. My breath sucked in when I saw the red and orange fire burning his eyes.

  His lips skimmed back to reveal fangs he bared at me. Fangs that he would sink inside me while marking and claiming me as his. I didn’t recall thinking about rising, but I was suddenly on my feet and stepping toward him before I stopped myself.

  I was desperate to ease his savage longing, but when I started toward him, he snarled at me, “Don’t come any closer.”

  I stopped as reason started to return to my frozen brain. If I went to him now, there would be no turning back, or I could continue to deny us until one of us snapped. Looking at him now, that was going to happen sooner rather than later.

  Or I could give in and discover what it was like to be with my Chosen. And considering there was a good possibility we might not make it out of this, I didn’t see any reason not to let us go out on a happier note.

  If we survived this, I would deal with the consequences after. And those consequences would be bad, but that future might never happen. All we had was right now, and each other.

  This time, there were no doubts in my mind as I sauntered toward him. I grasped the bottom of my shirt, pulled it over my head, and tossed it aside. The flames in his eyes leapt higher when they latched onto my breasts, swaying back and forth while I walked.

  “Did you enter my dream again tonight?” I asked.

  Those fiery eyes met mine again. “No. I have to be asleep too for that to happen.”

  Lifting my hand, I trailed my fingers from my throat to between my breasts. “So, you have no idea about the things you just did to me.”

  “Don’t fuck with me, Bale. I won’t stop this time.”

  “I won’t stop you.”

  Keeping my eyes on his, I undid the button on my pants before pushing them down my legs and kicking them off. Lifting my chin, I continued to hold his gaze as his eyes raked me from head to toe.

  He moved so fast I missed it when I blinked. One second, he was still a few feet away from me, and the next, his hands were planted beside my head as his flames caressed my skin. The crackle of those flames and his proximity caused me to gasp as my body arched toward his. His eyes still burned with fire as he lowered his head, so we were eye level with each other.

  When he moved closer, I moaned as my breasts brushed against his chest. Everything inside me screamed at the rightness of feeling his bare skin against mine while his gaze roamed my body.

  I’d been naked with many men before, but I’d never felt bared to them the way I did to Wrath. Every part of me was on display for him. He saw more of me than any of those men ever had, and I allowed it to happen. I was tired of fighting and being on guard around him all the time. I would simply enjoy him while I could.

  Now would be the time for him to turn away from me as I had done to him. Instead, his gaze lingered between my legs, and his flames burned hotter.

  I undid the button on his pants and pushed them down while he stared at me. He was unmoving in a way I hadn’t expected, but he was probably waiting for me to push him away, or he was contemplating punishing me and walking away. Payback would be a bitch.

  However, when his erection sprang free, there was no doubt about what it wanted as it stood proudly out from his body. He was so swollen the flesh was turning purple and the veins running along the side of his shaft stood out.

  My mouth actually watered as I took it in and imagined all the hours of pleasure it would bring me. Wetness spread between my legs, and of their own volition, my hips started moving back and forth as I sought to have him inside me.

  Wildness radiated from him, but he didn’t touch me. When I reached for his chest, he seized my wrist and pinned it over my head. Before I could protest or try to jerk it free, he encircled his other arm around my waist and pulled me toward him.

  I felt a further unraveling in him as the fire in his eyes burned hotter. His power wasn’t out of control, but he was as he lifted me onto him. He bared his fangs at me again as he released my wrist, grasped my hips, and buried his cock inside me. I was already wet for him, but I still wasn’t prepared for the size of him.

  “You’re mine,” he growled. “And you’ll never deny it again.”

  I couldn’t deny anything; I could only cling to him as he plunged so deep, I swore he touched the very essence of me. I’d never felt anything as right as having him inside me, thrusting deeper as his flames burned around us.

  My head tipped back as my nails raked his flesh and his hot breath warmed my neck. His sounds, the movement of his body, and the ripple of his muscles beneath my hands unleashed something so primitive in me that I never knew it existed before.

  I grasped a handful of his hair and, pulling his head back, kissed him with a brutality I’d never experienced before. I may be his, but he was also mine, and I would make sure he knew that. There would be no more tree nymphs in his future. There would be no one else, or I’d kill him.

  Our tongues entwined, and he grasped my ass with his large, strong hands. Sweat slickened our bodies, and the world outside this tunnel ceased to exist. He became the center of my world as a missing piece of me clicked into place.

  This was where I belonged; it was where I would always belong.

  And then I came apart in a way I never had before. My orgasm didn’t build until it broke; no, it came out of nowhere and was so fierce that my cry would have echoed throughout Eldorata if his kiss didn’t muffle it.

  I’d never experienced anything as intense or magnificent. They weren’t lying; it was so much better with your Chosen. I felt like I was having sex for the first time, as if I was just discovering the ecstasy two demons could give each other.

  Then, for the first time in my life, I felt the pulsations of a demon coming inside me, and I welcomed it as he groaned and his body tensed against mine.

  I cleaved to him as the savage frenzy of our joining dimmed. Our kiss eased into something more tender, and I released my death grip on his hair as he went to the ground. I kept my legs locked around his waist as he knelt on the floor before laying me down.

  He broke the kiss, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself staring into his jet-black eyes once more. The tenderness in those eyes was more unnerving than anything I’d ever experienced before.

  What is happening between us? I didn’t know the answer, and before I could ponder it for too long, he started moving inside me again.

  When my arms fell limply over my head, his gaze latched onto my breasts. He bent his head to take one of my nipples into his mouth. I closed my
eyes as my back bowed off the floor and he teased me with his tongue.

  His fangs scraped my flesh, and I jerked when he sank them into me. He’d claimed me with his body and his bite; he’d marked me as his Chosen for every demon to see and know. The rush that came from my Chosen claiming me buried my panic.

  However, even as he was claiming me, I wanted more. When I opened my eyes, my gaze fell on his neck. My fingers dug into my palms as I was lashed with the overwhelming need to claim him too.

  But I couldn’t. If I did, I could never turn back. However, there was no turning back from this. I already knew what it was like to be in the arms of my Chosen.

  When he released his bite on my breast, he lifted his head, and his eyes met mine. I didn’t know what he saw there, but it caused him to still inside me. His sudden cessation of movement almost made me scream. He couldn’t stop; none of this could end.

  I didn’t dare to breathe as he gazed at me with a look that was becoming increasingly wounded. I couldn’t stand the withdrawal in his eyes or the harshness descending over his chiseled features.

  Clasping his cheeks in my hands, I drew him down for another kiss. At first, he resisted, but when my tongue teased his mouth and I lifted my hips, his lips yielded to mine, but he still didn’t move inside me.

  I should give in completely. I’d come this far, there was no turning back, but though my body and fangs screamed at me to seal the bond, my brain refused to yield.

  When I teased his tongue with mine and nipped his bottom lip, he eased against me. His hands clasped my face, and his thumb stroked my cheek before his fingers slid through my hair. Breaking the kiss, he propped himself up with one hand as he began to move within me again.

  He ran his fingers down my throat and between my breasts. The reverence in his touch created a flutter in my belly. He caressed my breasts before his hand slid down my stomach to between our joined bodies.

  I traced the ridged muscles of his abdomen as he rubbed my clit. My head tipped back, and a plea for mercy whispered from me as he teased me to higher and higher levels but didn’t give me the release I desperately sought.