Her Angel: Eternal Warriors Romance Series Complete Series Box Set (Books 1-5)

by Felicity Heaton

  “Asmodeus?” she said and he stopped with his back to her and raked his fingers over his black hair, drawing it tight between them.

  He sighed but didn’t turn to face her. He waved his hand and Romulus and Remus took off again, bounding back into the water.

  She edged closer to him, wanting to be near him, needing it. When the Devil had captured her and sent her to sleep, she had thought she would never see him again and it had hit home just how much she loved him, just as seeing Nevar had made her acknowledge the terrible things he had done.

  And something told her that it had made that hit home for Asmodeus too.

  “You’re thinking about what you did to Nevar, aren’t you? And the things that I said to you,” she whispered and he lowered his head a fraction of a degree and then looked out to sea at the sunset.

  “I regret what I did to him now… and I know you are struggling with your feelings about it and about me.” He looked over his broad shoulders at her, the regret he spoke of in his golden eyes, calling her to go to him and comfort him, and tell him everything he needed to hear so his pain would fade away. “I do not want you to think me evil when I have tried so hard to be good. I would hate to be alive knowing that you despised me because of the things I have done in the past.”

  She knew that. He had changed so much since she had met him, but even back then she had seen good in him and had felt attracted to him. Part of her believed that this revelation and seeing the extent of his wickedness and how cruel he could be should change her feelings for him but it hadn’t. She still loved him.

  She still wanted to be with him, even if that meant living in Hell.

  He swiftly turned and caught her hands, clutching them in his, holding them with such force that she couldn’t move her arms. She couldn’t take her eyes away from his, couldn’t speak to alleviate the nerves she could feel in him and the desperation she could see in his eyes. That desperation quickly became resolve, beautiful and fierce, lightening her heart and giving her hope.

  “Do not give up on me, Liora. I could not bear it. I have sought to protect you but in the end it was the result of my own foolish actions that placed you in the most danger and took you from me.” Asmodeus looked down at their hands and then back into her eyes, and his gaze flickered beyond her shoulder, darkening as it landed on the area around the camp, most likely settled on Nevar. Asmodeus raised one of his hands and brushed her throat, his focus lingering there and his voice dropping to a soft whisper. “And my actions have taken something of value from you… something precious to you… and I cannot give it back.”

  “What happened to it?” She had thought that it was missing, not that it was gone.

  “Nevar crushed it. He was angry with me. I am sorry, Liora. I failed you once again. I tried to take it back but I could only do so by taking Nevar down, and I…” Asmodeus pressed his palm to her chest, his fingers stroking her throat.

  “You didn’t want to kill him… because of me.” She could see it all playing out in his eyes. He had held back because he had thought of her and what she would think of him if he killed Nevar. What had she done to her proud, beautiful, wicked angel? Liora took her hands from his and cupped his cheeks, bringing his gaze to meet hers. “I don’t think you’re evil, Asmodeus, and nothing you could ever do would change my feelings for you. I don’t want you to live in fear of that happening… believing that any action you take would make me leave you. I’m not condoning you killing without reason, but, well… if there’s need… I mean, if I’d had my faculties about me a little more in that crystal room, I would have killed Nevar not just jumped on his sword.”

  Asmodeus frowned and lowered his hand to her stomach, brushing his fingers over the black material of her tank top. “I wish you had not done that.”

  “In my defence, I thought I had my pentagram on, but I don’t regret what I did because if I hadn’t… I don’t want to think about what would have happened.” Liora swallowed, trying to ease the tightness in her throat and fighting her tears.

  She didn’t want to cry. She wanted to be happy. Asmodeus was safe and alive, and so was she, and that was all that truly mattered.

  Asmodeus tunnelled his fingers into her hair, drew her to him and pressed a kiss to her forehead, lingering there with his lips against her. She closed her eyes and absorbed the love in his kiss, the tenderness and affection she could feel in it, and the relief too. She couldn’t imagine what he must have gone through or felt after discovering she was gone, and after hearing the reason why the Devil had created him.

  Liora settled her hands against his chest, feeling his heart thumping against them and sensing his confusion and pain. He had been as hurt as she had over the past day. No, he had been through worse. She had turned on him and the Devil had done the same, and now he was talking of leaving her and going back to Hell, with only Nevar for company.

  No good would come of that.

  He needed someone to help him with Nevar.

  He needed her.

  He looked down into her eyes with ones that were pure gold in the light of the sunset, filled with deep longing that she wanted to satisfy. He needed her and she needed him, and if he asked it of her, she would go to Hell to be with him.

  Screw waiting for him to ask her. She was going with him whether he liked it or not.

  She straightened and locked eyes with him, shoving her fears away and embracing her love for him.

  “You swore to me… Asmodeus. You said you would never leave me… I won’t let you leave me.” She was beginning to ramble but she didn’t care. She couldn’t stop herself even if she tried. Her mouth was in control now, voicing everything in her heart. “I know we’ve had our ups and downs, and I haven’t been the best girlfriend a wicked angel could want… and I wish I could take back what I said… but I can only try to make things better…”

  “Liora,” Asmodeus interjected, but she couldn’t stop her mouth from running.

  “I swear that things will be different. That whole thing with Nevar just shocked me and caught me off guard, and now that I look back… well, he’s sort of an arsehole. I mean, he still wants to kill you even though you said that you’d help him…”

  Asmodeus grabbed her upper arms and frowned at her. “Liora—”

  “We said that we’d help him.” She spoke over him and he growled at her. She told herself to shut up, that he wanted her to be quiet for five seconds and let him speak. Her mouth didn’t get the message. She had to keep speaking. She had to get everything out in the open and apologise and make him see that he was wrong about her. She could deal with everything that lay ahead for them, including moving to Hell. “That’s another reason I can’t let you leave. You hear me? I know I said some bad shit and I’m sorry… I’m sorry about what I said. I shouldn’t have said—”

  Asmodeus snarled, tugged her against him and kissed her hard. Liora’s eyes shot wide and then fell to half-mast and she melted under the heat of his kiss, forgetting everything she had been about to say and savouring how good it felt to have his lips on hers again. It reassured her, soothing her hurt and chasing her fears away.

  He tightened his grip on her arms and kissed her harder, his mouth claiming hers and his tongue thrusting past her lips. She tackled it with her own and pressed her palms against his chest, digging her fingers into his warm flesh. He groaned and shifted one hand to her backside, cupped her right cheek and clutched it as he devoured her. Liora moaned and tilted her head back, giving herself over to him. She flicked her tongue over one of his short fangs and he grunted, growled and yanked her closer, until every hard inch of his body pressed into hers and she burned for him.

  She whined when he pushed her back, breaking contact between them.

  “I will have to remember that kissing you is the most effective way to shut you up.” The corners of his kiss-swollen lips curved into a wicked smile. “Will you listen to me now, little mortal?”

  She nodded dumbly, trying to get her faculties in order, her
head still spinning from the kiss.

  If he was going to kiss her like that every time her mouth started running and she couldn’t stop it, she might just let it happen more often.

  Wait.

  He was talking about the future?

  Asmodeus sighed, his broad chest expanding deliciously with it and tempting her into running her short nails down it, and then brushed his knuckles across her left cheek. He stared down into her eyes, an earnest and beautiful look in his golden ones.

  “I must go to Hell… and I know how you must feel about that realm and you must think I am evil now that you have seen what I am capable of—”

  Liora grabbed him around the back of his neck, pulled him down to her and shut him up with a fierce kiss. He wasn’t evil. There was darkness in him, and it did outweigh the good, but that didn’t make him evil.

  She pushed him back and frowned up at him. “I told you… I don’t think you’re evil. Now what were you saying about going to Hell?”

  He huffed. “I must go. I cannot ignore my master’s order. After everything you have been through because of me—no, I swear to you, Liora, I will never let anything happen to you ever again. I will protect you. I will do better. I will be a good man for you… the only man that you need.”

  Liora smiled. “I know you will, Asmodeus… but if this is how you feel… why have you been so quiet and distant, so troubled?”

  His gaze shifted back to the water and the sunset. “I was thinking about our situation and trying to find a suitable solution.”

  “And what did you come up with?” Liora sidled closer, keeping her gaze on his noble profile, waiting for him to tell her that he would take her to Hell with him.

  “I will not force you to come with me to Hell. I will petition the Devil and see that he grants me leave so I may visit you.”

  Her heart fell.

  Asmodeus frowned and turned his golden gaze on her. “Your emotions changed abruptly. Why? Do you not wish me to visit you?”

  Silly male. He always looked for the negative and never the positive.

  He moved to face her, lifted his hand as if to touch her cheek and then lowered it back to his side. “I only desire to keep you safe and happy. It is all I have ever desired. I am trying to do what is right for you, Liora… to find a way that we can be together still.”

  She dropped her gaze to his bare feet and hers, hating the tiny distance between them. She wanted to be in his arms again. She wanted to tell him that he was a fool. She wanted to tell him that he was breaking her heart.

  “I’ll hardly see you,” she said to their feet.

  Asmodeus fell quiet and she could sense his struggle, knew without looking that he was staring at their feet too, his handsome face locked in a pensive expression as he tried to find a solution that would please her.

  “You said you wanted me to be happy and safe. I won’t be happy if I only see you once in a blue moon, Asmodeus.” She looked up at him and his gaze shifted back to hers. “You made a promise to me and now you have to keep it.”

  “I am trying to keep it.” The sharp edge to his tone echoed the turbulent emotions colouring his eyes, making the amber and black flakes dance among the gold. “I will do my best to visit you as often as I can. I wish there were another way… but I have run all the scenarios and this is the best solution.”

  She shook her head and he frowned at her.

  “There is another scenario where we can be together.”

  Asmodeus tipped his head back, growled in frustration, and then looked back down into her eyes. “I cannot live in this realm. I do not want to part from you for a minute… not a second… but I must.”

  “No,” Liora said and slipped her right hand into his left one, holding it gently. “Not you living here, Asmodeus. I’m talking about me living in Hell.”

  “Liora,” he started, his shock rippling through the point where they touched, and then sighed and opened his mouth to speak again.

  He was going to protest and shoot down her suggestion.

  She brushed her palms over his bare chest, skimmed them across his broad shoulders and then up his neck. She buried her fingers into the shorter hair at the back of his head and lured him down to her, marvelling that such a powerful male could be so compliant in her hands, bending easily to her will.

  When he was close, she tiptoed and swept her lips across his. He didn’t respond at first and his body remained rigid and tense beneath her hands. Liora closed her eyes and kept kissing him, refusing to give in and not wanting him to speak until she had melted his resolve and had won.

  He snaked his arms around her waist, pulled her flush against him and deepened their kiss, claiming her mouth fully and making her melt inside.

  A second later, he broke away and pressed his forehead to hers.

  “I thought I had lost you,” he whispered, husky and gruff, his hands clutching her sides.

  “I’m right here,” Liora murmured and tipped her head up, bringing their noses together. “Not going anywhere. Not letting you go anywhere either.”

  His hands trembled against her waist and then flexed and steadied, as if he had fought his overwhelming emotions and had won, finding solid ground again. He shifted one, brushing his fingers across the point on her stomach where Nevar’s sword had punched through her.

  Liora realised that he wasn’t just talking about her leaving him because of things he had done or them being separated because of his orders to remain in Hell. He had thought she was going to die.

  “I thought I had lost you too.” She stroked the pale scar on his chest, directly over his heart, her throat closing and tears threatening to line her lashes again.

  Remembering that cold terrifying moment chilled her blood and sent a shiver through her. She had been so afraid that Nevar had been about to strike Asmodeus down and that she would lose him forever. She had wanted to save him.

  When Nevar’s sword had gone right through her, she had been afraid for other reasons, feeling her life slipping away and the world growing hazy.

  She had thought that fate was going to keep separating them no matter what they did and that they would never have the ending she wanted for them. Now it was trying to separate them again, taking Asmodeus back to Hell and leaving her alone in the mortal realm.

  She wouldn’t let that happen and she finally felt as if Asmodeus wouldn’t let it happen either.

  They would never be alone again. They would always have each other.

  Liora pulled Asmodeus down to her and kissed him hard, a slave to her emotions. They were raw, fierce and demanding, pushing her to feel him in her arms and his lips on hers, to know his touch and that it was real.

  They were alive and together, and nothing would change that.

  They would have their happily forever after now.

  Asmodeus broke the kiss and pressed his cheek to hers, his warm breath tickling her throat.

  “Will you stay with me, Liora?” he whispered into her ear and she shivered in response, clutched his head and nodded.

  “You can’t get rid of me that easily,” she murmured against his cheek and softly kissed it. “Someone has to help you with Nevar, and your duties, and the hellhounds, and then there’s rebuilding our castle. I can really help with that. Magic is very good for lifting heavy objects—”

  Asmodeus shot backwards, grasping her hips and holding her at arm’s length. “Our castle?”

  She couldn’t help but smile at the wonderfully startled edge to his golden eyes and the way the flakes in them swirled, betraying the emotions she could feel in him. She had made him happy at last.

  “Our castle.” Her smile broadened when the corners of his lips tilted upwards. “I did tell you that I was adopting your hellhounds and that I was going to help you with Nevar, and technically I am one of the guardians of this… whatever it is… that Nevar woke up.”

  She didn’t want to think about that part. Whatever it was that was stirring beneath the Devil’s fortress, they cou
ld deal with it. The Devil had promised to aid them. Heaven had sent a message via Apollyon to say they would have all the angels they needed when the time came. Everyone on the island had agreed they would fight.

  Three realms working as one. Together, they would stop the Great Destroyer.

  “You will come to Hell with me. You will stay with me,” Asmodeus said, his luscious deep baritone sending a hot shiver through her. There was a command in those words. An order that she was all too happy to obey. It felt good to see him finding his confidence again. There truly was nothing sexier than Asmodeus when he was king. “I will not leave you behind.”

  “Leave no one behind. A good motto to live by,” she whispered, slipped her hands over his forearms, and caught his elbows. She drew him back to her, her gaze falling down the slope of his nose to his wicked mouth. “Now, does that mean we just moved past the casual boyfriend-girlfriend status and you’re asking me to move in with you? Because I didn’t hear that question leaving your lips and I know guys like you don’t like commitment. It’s cool. I can always make a little house of my own in Hell and just drop by to visit your castle from time to time.”

  Asmodeus grinned, slid his arms around her waist and tugged her hard against his body.

  “I do not fear commitment. I have been committed to you since the moment you placed me under your spell and stole my heart in Paris, little witch. These are strange words for me to say, but I believe I will like the result.” He raised one arm, smoothed his hand along her jaw, and tilted her head back.

  She stared into his eyes, caught in them and breathless, struck silent by how they swirled with his emotions, drawing her deeper into them and making the world fall away until all she knew was her beautiful wicked angel.

  He had said she had placed him under her spell. She was firmly under his and had been for what felt like a long time, and she hoped it never broke.

  He took his hand from her face and a black rose appeared in his fingers. He tipped it towards her, his expression solemn and serious. “I do not have much to offer you… a broken castle… a black heart… two hellhounds who will drive you crazy… but I swear to provide for you and protect you. I will do all in my power to make your life with me comfortable and as normal as possible. Will you move in with me, Liora?”