She smiled, rosy lips curling slowly into it, and a light entered her eyes, a twinkle that he knew he had put there. He had never made anyone smile like that before and he found he liked it and wanted to make it happen again. He just wasn’t sure how. He had zero experience of being amusing or entertaining, unless you were the Devil. He could entertain his master no end by torturing demons for his viewing pleasure.
Asmodeus didn’t think that would entertain or amuse Liora.
“More powerful,” she echoed his earlier words and he found himself smiling at her.
Liora turned to face him, her left arm remaining leaning against the black railing, and held her right hand out in front of her.
She snapped her fingers and a glowing black rose made of light appeared in her hand.
She held it out to him and when he went to take it, she evaded his hand and brushed the soft warm petals over his bare chest. His heart thudded hard and the smile that had been working its way onto his lips dropped away. The air around him sizzled and the awareness of Liora he felt at times came back full force, flowing through him like electricity, coursing through his blood and making him hot all over.
Liora looked up at him, the action of tilting her head back causing her lips to part invitingly.
Asmodeus swallowed and fought the dark instinct to claim those lips and devour them.
Unless she wanted him to kiss her.
Was that possible? He had studied the couples in the area, and how they courted with smiles and laughter, and light touches that seem designed to arouse and excite the interest of their partner.
He wanted to kiss her.
No good would come of it though. It would only increase his desire to keep her from the Devil and fight his master’s orders, and it would only cut him when he failed and delivered her to that wretched male.
The black rose disappeared and her hand settled against his bare chest. It was shaking. She was nervous too, afraid of whatever this was that zinged between them whenever they were close.
Asmodeus raised his hand to cover hers and froze when a shiver bolted down his spine, hot and fierce, and the ground trembled.
“Conceal yourself,” he barked and she stared blankly at him. He cursed and cast a veil over her, and pushed her behind him at the same time, shielding her with his body and his black wings in case his spell failed.
A bright orange spot formed on the pale stone slabs before him and then forked outwards into a glowing fault line. The ground trembled again and the fiery line cracked open, becoming a fissure. Steam and smoke rose from it and the mortals in the area screamed and ran.
Liora shook beneath his hand that clutched her wrist but he could feel her power rising, growing in the face of her fear.
A Hell’s angel burst from the earth and beat his crimson wings. He drifted down to stand a few metres from Asmodeus and furled his feathered wings against his back. Whenever they travelled to the mortal realm, Hell’s angels preferred to use an angelic appearance, looking human for the most part. The dark-haired male’s red-edged obsidian armour gleamed in the light from the fiery streak at his feet.
Asmodeus had never liked the colour of their armour pieces. It was the only reason he hadn’t defeated one and stolen the breastplate and black plate that covered their upper torso or the vambraces that shielded them from wrist to elbow.
“Report,” the male said, voice gravelly and thick as the smoke billowing behind him.
Asmodeus straightened to his full height, his anger spiking over being spoken to without a shred of respect. He bared his fangs at the fallen angel and unleashed a fraction of his power, enough that the male would feel it bearing down on him but not so much that he would harm Liora.
“I meant to say… our master would like a progress report, King of Demons.” The fallen angel pressed his left hand to his black breastplate and lowered his head.
“Tell him that I have not yet located the female.”
The male lifted his gaze to him and a wary edge entered it. Asmodeus prepared himself, sensing the male was about to make a grave mistake and insist that he had found the female and demand he take her to the Devil.
The Hell’s angel slowly lowered his left hand to his side and a short black rod tipped with two curved red blades the length of his forearm appeared in his grasp.
A declaration of war.
The fallen angel’s eyes flashed red and the skin around them turned black.
He meant to take Liora to the Devil.
Asmodeus would not allow this male or any other to lay a single claw on her.
Asmodeus’s claws and fangs extended, his eyes blazed crimson and he snarled as he called his golden blade to his right hand. He released Liora, gave a powerful beat of his wings that tore a shriek from her, and shot towards the male. The man didn’t have a chance to block him.
He swung in an upwards diagonal arc with his curved sword and sliced straight through the male’s sword arm. It dropped and before it could hit the pavement, Asmodeus had spun around behind the male and decapitated him.
He came to a halt with his blade extended out at his side, blood rolling down its length and dripping to the ground, and breathed hard.
What had he done?
Bright light burst from the sky, the golden shaft encasing the dead angel. The body disappeared and the light faded, and Asmodeus continued to stare at the pool of blood that remained.
Something moved on his senses. He jerked his head up and had his sword at the ready before he had realised it was Liora. He lowered his weapon and sent it away, still reeling from what had happened.
Liora moved another step forwards and he moved his gaze from the blood to her. Shock filled every beautiful line of her face and it echoed within him.
“Why did you do that?” she whispered and stared down at the blood on the ground between them. “Was the female you mentioned me… are you supposed to take me to the Devil?”
Asmodeus’s shoulders slumped. There was no going back now. There was only going forwards. He had killed one of the Devil’s men and sent him back to Heaven. The Devil wasn’t a fool. He would know that it had been his doing and that it had not been the act of an angel of Heaven who happened to be in the city. There was no way of concealing what he had done.
He stared at Liora. It would be so easy to lie to her and say he had meant another female, and it was what he would have done with anyone else, but he couldn’t bring himself to say false words to her.
Even if the truth would drive her away.
Perhaps it was better that way.
She was safer away from him.
“The Devil sent me to the mortal realm to capture you and bring you back to him.”
Her eyes slowly widened with each word he spoke and her anger rose at the same pace, together with another emotion he found he didn’t like feeling in her.
Hurt.
“You were allowed to come to this world for the first time… because he wanted you to take me to Hell?” Liora’s hazel eyes narrowed on him and her power increased in strength, until it flowed around him, buffeting him like a strong wind, jabbing at him and shocking him. The ground beneath him shook but it wasn’t the impending arrival of a Hell’s angel this time. It was Liora.
The trees swayed, leaves breaking free of their branches to swirl around him.
The sky darkened, black clouds blotting out the early stars.
The streetlamps lining the square flickered and buzzed.
“You meant to take me to your master?” she hissed and her eyes darkened. Red ribbons curled around her fingers and up her arms, twining with black and purple. Lightning forked across the sky and slammed into the ground in the distance. He decided he was glad he had never met a witch before meeting her. He hadn’t anticipated the level of her power would be this strong and it was still growing stronger, and he had a feeling she was intending to use every ounce of it on him. She breathed hard, each one laboured, and struggled to speak. “This was all a sick game to you�
� lies and deception… a cruel and vicious… twisted game. You bastard… I thought… I wanted to see the real you and I guess I just did.”
She raised her hands to attack.
Asmodeus raised his in an act of surrender. “Liora… I have no intention of doing as the Devil bids. I swear it. I have not deceived you. These hours with you have not been a game. I do not want to let the Devil have you.”
He knew she had no reason to trust him or believe a word he had said, but a quiet, hidden part of him hoped that she would listen and wouldn’t hit him with everything she had. He wasn’t sure he could survive such a blow and he didn’t want the first female he had ever desired to kill him when he had done nothing wrong and had not yet tasted her lips.
Her magic faltered and her frown lessened. “Why not?”
Asmodeus laid it all on the line without hesitation, knowing it was the only way to halt her attack and convince her that he only wanted to protect her from the Devil, even though he was far from a white knight. He would be that for her if he could though. He would somehow find a way to show her that while he was born of darkness and evil, he was deserving of her light and good. Somehow.
He held his right hand out to her and focused hard on it, materialising something he had never created with his power before and never thought he would create either.
A black rose that he offered to Liora.
“Because I want you for myself.”
CHAPTER 4
Liora reacted to Asmodeus in the same way she reacted to everything. She embraced her impulses and was in his arms before she could reconsider what she was doing or even contemplate how far south of crazy she was about to go. She tiptoed, slid her right hand around the back of his neck and dragged his mouth down to hers. The moment her lips meshed with his, he froze, going stock-still and as stiff as a board.
Either he didn’t want her quite as much as he had just said or the impossible was possible after all and he had never done this before.
“Relax,” she murmured against his lips and was pleasantly surprised when he obeyed her and the rigidness left his shoulders and his neck, and his mouth fused with hers.
She moved her lips across his, gently grazing them and easing him into it, and he began to mimic her. She liked the firmness of his lips and how his hands settled possessively on her hips, drawing her front against the full delicious length of his. She tilted her head back further, not wanting to break the kiss for any reason.
Asmodeus dug the points of his fingers into her back and pulled her closer still, a low growl rumbling in his throat, thrilling her. The strips of armour protecting his hips pressed into her stomach and each ragged breath he drew caused his chest and stomach to heave against hers. She slanted her head and opened her mouth, and flicked her tongue across his lower lip. That earned her another low, huskier growl and he angled his head, fiercely claimed her mouth and ripped a moan from her. The man was a natural.
Liora’s hands slipped to his shoulders and she lost herself in the kiss. It was gentle and soft, and everything she hadn’t expected. It overwhelmed her and she couldn’t help melting into it, letting him take the lead because she liked how this powerful, sexy male kissed her with tender reverence, as if he was afraid of hurting her.
As if he was worshipping her.
She didn’t feel as though she was kissing an evil angel, but Serenity would be the first to remind her of what he was if she ever found out about this, and Apollyon would likely have some harsh words to say about her choice of male.
She couldn’t help herself though.
She couldn’t help her feelings.
She had felt attracted to Asmodeus from the moment she had noticed him back at the Eiffel Tower and had been struggling to resist the urge to kiss his wicked lips ever since.
He was dark, but handsome.
Evil, yet sweet.
Protective.
Passionate too.
She could feel it in him, bubbling beneath the surface, held back by his inexperience.
He was exactly the sort of man she had always felt drawn to but had never been with before.
He tightened his grip on her hips and deepened the kiss, his tongue thrusting past her lips to tangle with hers. His moan was wanton and erotic, full of undiluted hunger and pleasure that echoed within her. She tackled his tongue with her own, taking the lead, pulling another groan from him and joining him this time.
When breathing became a serious issue, she reluctantly pulled back, breaking apart from him. He breathed hard, his swirling golden eyes bright in the darkness and locked on her lips. That hungry look thrilled her. He wanted more and she wanted to give it to him, but they really needed to pace themselves, and perhaps get away from an area that now looked like a murder scene.
She guessed it was in reality.
Asmodeus had killed one of his master’s men because that fallen angel had wanted to take her from him.
She broke her own rules and kissed him again, silently thanking him and fearing he would get into trouble with the Devil now because of what he had done. Would the Devil send more men to claim her? Why did he want her?
Was the Devil the presence she had felt watching her at times during these past few weeks?
It couldn’t have been Asmodeus. When he had been watching her at the Eiffel Tower, she had sensed his eyes on her but it had felt different. Not a dark threatening feeling like the other times.
She had to speak with Serenity and Apollyon. They might be able to help her figure out why the Devil wanted her and would be able to protect her. She would pay a high price for asking them for assistance though.
Asmodeus had made his dislike of Apollyon clear during the short hours they had known each other. Apollyon hated Asmodeus too. Putting them together in the same room would be asking for trouble.
She drew back to ask him to come with her to Serenity and Apollyon’s home but the words fled her lips when she looked at him. If she asked him such a thing, he would leave her. He would return to Hell. She would lose him, and probably one of her best shots at remaining out of the Devil’s hands. Apollyon could protect her, but she had felt the power in Asmodeus and had seen him deal with that fallen angel, effortlessly killing him. He was stronger than Apollyon, whether Apollyon wanted to admit it or not.
He was her best shot at surviving whatever was coming.
That and she didn’t particularly want to let him go now that they had rocketed past that awkward ‘I want to kiss you but I don’t know how to approach it’ phase.
“Come, we must move.” Asmodeus scooped her up into his arms and beat his wings before she could even form a response, taking off into the crisp night air.
It was getting chilly.
Liora used it as an excuse to cuddle up to his bare chest and was thankful he only had partial armour. It was much nicer curling up against hard hot flesh than it would have been rubbing against cold metal plates.
“You’re going to be in trouble, aren’t you?” she said and the breeze carried her voice over his shoulder.
He beat his shadowy black wings and took them higher, until they were gliding above the city and she couldn’t take her eyes off how beautiful it was. All the lights twinkled in the darkness and cars streamed down streets forming bright slashes of red and white. Boats caused the wide river to glow in places. The Eiffel Tower sparkled in the distance.
“Perhaps,” he whispered and she felt his gaze shift to her, boring into the side of her face. “But I have a feeling that you may be worth it.”
She smiled at that. How could anyone think this man pure evil? She had only had to speak to him to know that while he held darkness inside him, and was capable of great cruelty and violence, there was still some good in him, hidden away beneath the vicious exterior he wore like a shield.
She turned her head to look at him but he moved his gaze away from her, looking down at the city as they flew over it instead. She drank him in, studying the nuances of his expression as his golden gaze fl
itted around, taking in the scene stretching below them. The wind ruffled his wild black hair and she ached to brush her fingers through it, combing it back and feeling its silkiness just as nature was allowed to do.
“Will the Devil send more men for me?” She feared the answer to that question even though she already knew it deep in her heart.
The black slashes of his eyebrows met in a frown and his golden eyes darted to her. “Yes.”
“Will you fight them?” Her voice trembled and she hoped he would think it was the wind that caused it, not the fear growing in her heart. She had never been this afraid before, had always faced things head-on and without flinching, even as a child. The thought that the Devil wanted her for some nefarious reason and had sent his best man to retrieve her, marking her as important to him, made cold steal into her veins and sent a shiver through her soul.
Asmodeus hesitated and something surfaced in his eyes, something that set her on edge. He looked uncertain.
Over a year ago, Serenity had called and told her that they had to cancel their get together because something had happened to Apollyon. Heaven had exercised its will on him and had controlled him, forcing him to do their bidding against his will, and it had shaken the powerful male.
If Heaven held that power over Apollyon, did that mean Hell and the Devil wielded it over Asmodeus?
“I will try.” He looked away again, the sombre note to his deep voice and the fraction of his emotions that she could sense with her power conveying that he meant it but he didn’t believe he would be able to defeat whatever force the Devil sent after him.
All the more reason to ask Apollyon and Serenity for help, but she still couldn’t bring herself to raise it with him, not while everything felt so tentative and liable to fall apart if she mentioned the other angel.
“Perhaps you would be safer away from me.”
Liora stared at him, shock rippling through her. “No. I’m safer with you.”
“Do not fool yourself, Liora. I feel your fear. I thrive on that emotion. It gives me pleasure as much as anger and rage, and pain.” His voice gained a dark edge that echoed within his power and she frowned when she realised what he was doing. He was driving a wedge between them. He meant to make her leave. “You are safer away from me.”
Her Angel: Eternal Warriors Romance Series Complete Series Box Set (Books 1-5) Page 78