“Is that what I think that is?” her voice is barely above a whisper.
My throat is so tight from the tension, that when I open my mouth to answer her, nothing comes out. I nod, because it’s the only thing I can do.
Yup, I knew it was too soon. I don’t know what I was thinking. I should have waited and talked to the guys first. Neither of us makes a move or a sound. I’m staring at Finley trying to decide if I should just continue and take the obvious rejection, while she just stares at the box. Fuck it. I’ve already come this far, might as well see this through.
I open the blue box, turning it so show Finley the ring. It’s a sterling silver band with a one karat, radiant cut, pink diamond in the center surrounded by small white diamonds. The moment I saw it, I knew it was the perfect ring to get her.
“Oh. My. God.” Finley’s voice comes out in a higher pitch than normal. I hope that’s a good sign.
Finley hasn’t taken her eyes from the ring since I opened the box. She tentatively lifts her hand, reaching out to touch the ring, but stops. She looks up at me, and there are unshed tears in her gray eyes, and my heart breaks. I don’t know if those are sad or happy tears, but there’s only one way to find out.
I take the ring from the box, closing it, I put it back into my pocket. I have the ring gripped between my thumb and forefinger. With my other hand, I reach out and grab Finley’s left. I clear my throat a few times, trying to get rid of the lump that’s been there since I showed her the damn thing.
“I know it may seem fast, but I love you, Finley. You are my everything, and I want to experience this life with you. I want to go on all the crazy adventures you drag me into.” She giggles, and hope blooms in my chest. “We don’t have to get married right away, but sometime in the future, when you’re ready. You’re amazing, funny, smart, fierce, loyal, and I couldn't have asked for a better mate. You’re perfect for me. Will you…” I close my eyes and take a deep breath. When I open them, there are tears streaming down Finley’s face, but there is a smile on her lips. It gives me the courage to finish. “Will you marry me?”
Finley rapidly nods her head. “Yes.”
Everything in me relaxes with her answer. I slide the ring on her finger. A second later Finley launches herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck, and her legs around my waist. I wrap my arms around her to keep her from falling. She starts to pepper my face with kisses, saying yes between each one. I hug her tighter to me, because this is a moment I want to cherish forever. I want to revel in this feeling for as long as I can.
I laugh as I twirl us around, getting lost in the moment with her. When I stop, she pulls back, looking me in my eyes. There is so much happiness radiating from her. Her eyes sparkle with love, and the biggest smile I’ve ever seen is on her beautiful face. I could get lost in that look. Everything fades away, except for her. In this moment, it’s just the two of us, and it’s everything I could have ever wanted.
“I love you, Finley.”
“I love you too, Verkor.” She presses her lips to mine.
“You guys know there is a time and a place for this, right? Maybe the middle of the street, isn't it?” There’s a teasing note to Stolas’ voice. I don’t want to break this moment with Finley, so I turn us, and flip him off. He just laughs.
“We have food, love,” Stolas says. I know what he’s doing, and it works.
“Yes, food! I’m so hungry.”
But she doesn’t look away from my face when she says that, and I catch the double meaning. Heat and desire flare in me. The image of fucking her with nothing but my ring on, flashes through my mind. I growl, before attacking her lips once more. I pull back, placing my lips next to her ear.
“You’re mine later.” I nip and tug on her earlobe. Finley sucks in a sharp breath and it’s music to my ears.
“Ha, I knew it!” Stolas exclaims excitedly. I turn to look at him, confused on what he’s talking about.
“Knew what?” I say.
“The reason you left for a little while earlier.” He points to the ring on Finley’s finger. He walks over to me, throwing his arm around my shoulders. “You sly fae.” He shakes my shoulders a few times, smiling like a loon. He’s entirely to giddy about this. “Maybe not sly because I totally knew what you were up to.” He lets me go, focusing on Finley.
I take a chance and look at Obsidian. He nods his head. His form of approval. I feel bad about not telling them my plans first, but I’m glad they understand. I feel myself relax. I didn’t know I was holding any tension in my body. I knew they wouldn’t be mad, but we’re a team, a family, and if you do something, we should all agree to it.
Stolas whistles. “You did good, Verkor. That’s some ring.” I can’t help but feel a little smug about it. I knew it was perfect.
“We should get going,” Bael says, breaking the moment and reminding us of where and why we’re here. “We have a lot to talk about.”
That effectively breaks the mood. I gently place her on her feet, making sure she’s steady before I let her go. I lace my fingers with Finley’s as we follow Bael through the crowd and back to his place.
Every so often, I glance down at Finley and see her smiling. She holds her hand up, moving her finger around, making the ring sparkle. An ease settles through me knowing that she agreed to be mine and that she’s happy… that we’re happy.
Finley
I’m so glad Verkor has a hold of my hand, guiding us as we walk through the street, because I can’t stop staring at the ring on my finger. It’s perfect. When I first saw the box, I started to panic. A range of emotions raged through me, from fear to excitement. In that moment, all I could think about was how I wasn’t sure if I was ready for this. Everything is moving at light speed. My life has been turned upside down from the moment I met them. I wouldn’t change any of it. I love them.
I saw the emotions written on Verkor’s face. The ones of love and uncertainty. I knew he was feeling the same things I was. The way he asked and the things he said, made it special. I don’t care that it was in the middle of the street in hell. All I cared about was Verkor in that moment. Yeah, things might be moving fast, but like he said we have time. We don’t have to jump right into it. That settled me and my emotions. This may not be right for everyone, but it’s right for us. I look up and see Verkor smiling down at me, and my heart takes off. Yeah, I made the right decision.
I glance around at my surroundings and see we’re at Bael’s. That walk went faster than I thought, but then again, I was distracted the whole time. Bael unlocks the door and all of us file in after him. Obsidian walks down the hall toward the bedrooms, which I assume is to put my bags in away. Verkor and I follow behind Bael and Stolas because they have the bags of food and I’m starving.
We walk straight to the table. Verkor pulls out a chair for me, taking the seat next to me. Stolas and Bael are taking containers out of the bag, placing them on the table when Obsidian returns. He walks over to the cupboards grabbing out plates and utensils. He passes them out. Once the food has been dished out and everyone is settled, Bael tells us what he’s learned.
“The rumor going around is that Lucifer keeps his most important items, documents, and such in his office, which we kind of already guessed.” We all nod. “I’ve been in his office, it’s been a while, but I don’t remember seeing anything of value out in the open. That’s not to say that hasn’t changed, but…” he trails off.
“That means if he does keep his valuables there it’s hidden,” Verkor finishes. Bael nods.
“Yeah. So, I asked around specifically about the legend of the map. I made them think I was going to try my hand at finding it. I was trying to narrow down where it could be hidden. Rumor has it, it’s in his desk.”
“Wait, why would he leave something this important in his desk?” I question.
“There’s a secret compartment,” Bael replies.
“How would someone know that?” Obsidian asks, holding his arms over his chest with a scowl
on his face.
“Apparently, his guards get loose lips when they drink too much,” Bael responds. “One of them saw the hidden drawer but didn’t say how it opened.”
“Well, that’s great. It’s more than what we had,” I say. I pull the chopsticks from my hair, letting it fall around my shoulders. I flip the chopstick through my fingers, back and forth, careful of the blade on the end. “So, how does this affect the plan?” I glance around the table, noticing that my guys are watching the chopstick I’m flipping, and Bael is just smiling.
“It’s doesn’t. We now have an area to focus on in Lucifer’s office. If anything, it made this easier for us. We should be able to get in and out faster,” Obsidian says.
“Okay,” I say, nodding my head. “So, after we meet up, how are we getting out of here? We can’t travel back through all nine levels, especially with Lucifer hot on our tails.”
“I can help with that,” Bael states. “There’s a gateway in the garden behind the castle.” I sit there stunned, no longer flipping the chopstick through my fingers.
“Then why the hell did we go through all nine levels, if we could have used the gateway to get here?” My voice rising with each word. I’m trying really hard not to stab Bael’s table with the chopstick in my hand.
“You wound me, brother. How could you not tell me?” Stolas scoffs.
“Because I know that you would use it every time you came home,” Bael replies indignantly. “How could we have explained four people coming through the gateway in Lucifer’s castle? Very few people even know it’s there. I’m not supposed to. It’s for Lucifer and his guard’s private use only. That’s why it’s at the castle. I stumbled upon it while I was there giving a report. He was out in the garden ‘entertaining’.” I almost laugh at the finger quotes and the exaggerated way he said entertaining. I get the meaning behind it. “If he wasn’t so occupied at the moment, I doubt I would have seen it.”
“Fine,” I say, waving a hand. “But I’m telling you right now, I’m not going through all nine levels every time I come here. Once was enough.” I don’t want to admit how tough it truly was getting through those last few levels, but from the looks on the guys’ faces they understand without me having to say.
“How is Lucifer able to have a garden when you can’t even have grass?” I ask.
Bael lets out a laugh. “It’s Lucifer, you don’t think he can’t have someone magic a garden for him?”
“Well, when you put it that way,” I trail off.
“How about we worry about this task first?” Verkor asks, trying to get everyone back on track. “We will deal with the rest of this later.” Verkor turn his attention solely on me. “Are you done eating, baby?”
“Yup,” I say popping the ‘p’.
“Good, Stolas can clean up tonight.” Verkor stands holding out his hand to me. “Come, let’s get you settled for the night. You have a big day ahead you tomorrow, and you should be well rested.”
“Oh, is that what you’re going to call it?” Stolas snickers, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.
I chuckle, finding it funny. Verkor, on the other hand, doesn’t, if the scowl on his face is anything to go by. It only serves to make Stolas laugh harder. I place my hand in Verkor’s still waiting one. Stolas stands and walks over to me, placing a kiss on my lips. His hand goes to my belly, rubbing his thumb on it.
“Go relax, love. We’ll be in a little later.” Stolas gives me another quick kiss, before stepping back and gathering plates from the table.
Bael moves over to the counter, grabbing a few glasses and a bottle of liquor, before taking his seat at the table again.
“I need a drink,” he states, pouring the amber liquid into three glass.
He holds one out to Obsidian, who leans across the table to accept it. My eyes meet Obsidian’s, and he gives me a slight nod. I smirk, knowing that’s all I’m going to get from him.
Verkor leads me down the hall and into the bedroom, closing and locking the door behind us. As soon as I see the bed, I realize just how tired I am. I can’t wait to curl up into its pillowy softness.
“Do you remember what I said to you earlier?” Verkor asks next to my ear. I shiver from the sound of his voice.
I nod. “You said later I’m going to be yours.”
“Good.” He presses feather like kisses on my neck. “Now strip. Take everything off but my ring.” Normally, I only take orders from Obsidian and only when we’re in the bedroom, because that shit does it for me. But this demanding side of Verkor is pretty hot. Verkor walks around to stand in front of me, watching my every move and I clench my thighs together. The act turns me on.
I could have put on a show, but I’m too eager for what I know is coming next. I waste no time divesting myself of all of my clothes. I stand in the middle of the room, naked as the day I was born, except for my engagement ring. I watch Verkor’s eyes travel up my body, darkening with lust. It’s a heady feeling my mates give me every time they look at me.
I don’t move, letting him take his fill. He eyes linger on my left hand, before traveling up the rest of my body. When his blue eyes meet mine, there’s a fire in them, a want, a need.
He grips the hem of his shirt, ripping it up and over his head, tossing it to the side. In the blink of an eye, his wings burst from his back. He stretches them out, ruffling the feathers. I feel my pussy pulse, and I bite my lip trying to keep myself from moaning out loud. He knows I love his wings. He’s not playing fair.
Now it’s my turn to take in the sculpted perfection in front of me. I can practically feel the dips in his stomach from his well-defined abs. I want to run my tongue over the indents of his Adonis belt. Verkor’s hands move to the button on his pants. Slow and torturously, he unbuttons and unzips them, shoving them down his muscular thighs. His impressive cock juts out in front of him, long, thick, and proud. I lick my lips at the sight. Verkor struts towards me. He cups my face, running his thumb over my bottom lip.
“I would love to see these pretty pink lips wrapped around my cock, but tonight I’m going to worship your body. I’m going to make you cum so hard that you won’t know where you end and I begin.” He crushes his lips to mine, and I get lost in the pleasure.
Verkor
I lift Finley and she wraps her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist, trapping my hard cock between us. I want to slide into her welcoming heat, but I told her I was going to worship her, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing.
I break our kiss long enough to walk over to the bed and tumble onto it. Finley giggles, flashing me one her giant smiles. As much as I love sight, I want to see her in the throes of passion.
I place a kiss on her lips, then to her cheek, making my way down her neck. Her hand drifts to my hair, her fingers tangling in the blonde strands. A moan escapes her lips, but I want more; I need more. I continue my path, kissing her collarbone and down between her breast. I wrap my mouth around one of her perky pink nipples, sucking, licking, nipping. I massage her other breast with my hand, pinching at her nipple. Finley sucks in a sharp breath.
“Verkor,” she whispers.
I glance up, meeting her lust filled gaze. I maintain eye contact as I let go of her nipple with a pop. Her legs tighten around me, bucking her hips upwards. I can’t help but smile. I lavish her other breast the same way I did the first. I release that nipple, kissing a path down her stomach. Finley’s breaths are coming out like pants. She knows what’s coming. She’s anticipating it. I kiss the top of her mound, right above her clit. She moves her hips up to my face, and I chuckle.
Without any warning, I stick my tongue into her opening before licking up and clamping my mouth over her clit. I do this over and over again, before adding my fingers into the mix. The grip she has on my hair tightens, and her pussy flutters over my fingers. She’s close, but I want her cum all over my cock. I pull back, and a whine pushes past her lips. I kiss a path back up her body. I pause, looking down at her. I line my cock up with h
er entrance.
“Don’t worry, baby. I’m going to give you what you want. What we both want,” I say right before plunging deep inside her.
I shiver at the heat and feel of her. I shiver harder when her fingers thread through my feathers. Fuck, she feels so good. I pull back, snapping my hips forward. I reach down, hooking her leg over my elbow, changing the angle. I slide deeper inside her. I get lost in the feel of her hands on my shoulders, in my hair, on my wings, her nails scratching my back. I bury my face in her neck as I pound into her.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she chants. It spurs me to go faster.
I feel the pleasure of my release coming. My balls tighten and sweat drips down my back. I won’t go over that cliff first. No, Finley has to, then I’ll follow. I grit my teeth, trying to hold back my release, just a little bit longer. Then just when I think I’m not going to be able to hold back, Finley screams her release and I let go, emptying myself inside her. I twitch from the force and the sensation of my release. I barely catch myself before falling on top of her.
The only sounds that can be heard is our heavy breathing, both of us spent. I place my forehead on hers, soaking up the moment.
“I love you... Finley... so damn much,” I say between breaths.
“I love you, too.”
I place a kiss on her lips, before sliding out of her. I pull my wings back into my body, before lying on the bed next to her. I really don’t want to get up, but I need to unlock the door. I groan but shift to sit up. I feel Finley’s fingers trail down my spine.
“Where are you going?” she asks.
I look over my shoulder at her. She looks amazing laid out on this bed with her sex tousled hair, and bedroom eyes gazing at me. I really don’t want to leave this bed. I would rather feast on her body again.
“I have to unlock the door for Obsidian and Stolas. Plus, I need to get you cleaned up.” She rolls to her side, propping her head on hand. I shift so that I’m sitting sideways on the bed. I reach over pushing a lock of her hair behind her ear. A serious expression clouds her eyes.
Stolen Fire Page 24