by Riley Hunt
Lucifer shot out a hand, and Ariel clutched at her throat as if she, too, was in his choking grip. “You have all betrayed me, deceived me, sent me to work for my kingdom as a lowly rat without my memories or powers. You will pay for this. I can promise you that.” He tightened his grip. Her once beautiful eyes protruded out of her face and a blueish tinge painted her lips. “You know nothing of chaos. I will ensure that all the realms will burn.”
Michael reached for the hilt against his side and pulled out the long, silver sword that gleamed in the light. He had a God touched weapon. “Release her, or I’ll kill Ana.” He aimed the point towards me.
Fear laced through me, but I couldn’t let this happen. My feet were heavy with lead and terror, but I forced them forward as adrenaline raced through my veins.
God, please don’t let him wipe me from this world.
“Lucifer or Vex, whoever you are, please stop,” I begged. I knew I didn’t have any strength to stop him. Helius, I didn’t even have a tenth of the power of the Arch Angel he was holding in his grip. “Look at me,” I begged.
“Stay out of this, Ana.” His head snapped in my direction, and the full force of that red gaze struck hard, leaving me breathless.
Vex was still in there, though now it was clear that Lucifer had always been there too, under the surface. Like two sides of the same coin, Vex and Lucifer were part of the same man/Angel/person/being.
I needed to get Vex back.
“I need you to be Vex,” I pleaded, slowly inching my way closer.
I flicked my gaze toward the Arch Angels who’d been there to observe. Most looked on with hungry interest, while a few others stared in boredom. A long existence tended to prevent you from feeling shock, but one thing was for certain: they would be of no use in this fight.
“Please,” I paused, searching inside of me, searching for something genuine. I had just met Vex, but even in such a short time, he had become someone I could rely on, someone I trusted even though, underneath it all, he was the Prince of Darkness.
“Please what?” Lucifer spat. “I appall you now that your boyfriend is gone.”
“No,” I admitted honestly. “Yes, you scare me, but Vex is still inside of you. He is a part of who you are, and you him.” I shuffled my feet, trying to decide if the next words would help. “I need him back.”
“Why?” He turned from Michael. Ariel still hung, feet dangling, from Lucifer’s grip.
“Because I can’t do this without him… without both of you. I think you want to fix it just as much as he does…” I trailed off, biting my lip, searching for the honesty deep within my heart. “And because for the first time in my long existence, I need someone.”
I stared into his eyes. At first, the idea that Vex was Lucifer scared me, but it was the truth that they were one and the same, and I suspected he could, if he really wanted to, remain as Vex rather than Lucifer. I also hoped he felt the same affection that was growing inside me.
“Say it,” he commanded softly.
I inhaled and let it go. “I need him by my side. He’s the only one who can help me figure this out and I care about you—I mean him—even though you’re both bat-shit crazy.”
I couldn’t say love. I wasn’t sure if I loved him, but I certainly lusted over him, preferably as Vex, he had made me feel for the first time in forever. The excitement, the thrill of whirlwind of emotions wrapped up in a tight bundle, ready to explode. It never happened to Reapers, except maybe to those who’d fallen. Now, I truly understood why they fell and never looked back. Lucifer scared me, but stories tended to become exaggerated the more they were told. Perhaps the ones about him were no different, and somewhere deep inside of him, was his true self. Or so I hoped. Was that where Vex came from, his true self?
Hunger and need that went straight to the depths of his soul darkened Lucifer’s gaze as he took me in. The desire to be accepted, needed, and wanted was a scar etched deeply.
He reached for me, but I stepped back.
“First, let me have Vex back.”
A bitter smile crossed his lips. He gripped my hand, dropping his hold on Ariel, and she fell to the ground limply.
Then he pressed me against his body as enormous black wings burst out from the leather trench coat. The Angels around us started to mutter as a guard whipped out a silver baton and lunged towards Lucifer—
And just like, that we were in the alley outside my apartment.
My head spun. How was it even possible for him to travel without a portal? I broke from his grasp, putting much needed space between us. My heart to thundered in my chest. That had been too close—I nearly lost myself to his intoxicating power.
“How did you do that? No one is supposed to be able to teleport without a door.”
A warm chuckle escaped his lips and sent goosebumps shooting down my spine. It wasn’t a happy sound but a chilling one. “That is what the Angels want you to think. Us, immortals, have incredible amounts of power, but it is locked away by fear of castigation. Dread that an absent God will no longer love them.”
“No… that can’t be it. We need Adam and Eve to travel through the realms. That’s the way it has always been.”
“Are you so certain?”
“Yes?”
“I’ll give you Vex back, but you will owe me a favor. And I will collect.” His voice was raspier than before. Lucifer leaned against the building as sweat pooled at the top of his temple. He was tired. Although the devil was powerful, I think his batteries were running on empty.
“I’ll do it.” I didn’t even have to take a moment to think about it. Vex was the only one in all the realms that gave a damn about fairness. Even though he was a prick, he wanted to fix it for all the suffering souls, and that meant something.
He took a deep breath in. “Then let’s seal the deal with a kiss.”
I tilted my chin up and surrendered to the onslaught of his mouth as it captured my mine. The way his lips moved was rough and wicked… so different from Vex’s kiss. Lucifer nipped my lower lip, then deepened the embrace, almost as if he was trying to reach the very center of my soul.
“I want you too,” he whispered into my ear and stepped back, releasing me.
Desire filled my mind with a thick fog as I stumbled to regain my balance. Warmth and pleasurable tingles once again consumed my thoughts, and my finger instinctively touched my now swollen lips.
“Remember one thing, love,” he purred. “The Devil is always the Devil, no matter what you want him to be.”
And just like that, everything changed—his demeanor and the features on his face.
There once again stood Vex, with his eyes just as round and warm and sparkling as raindrops on a moss-covered tree.
Chapter Eighteen
Vex
“What the Helius just happened?” I asked.
I tried to steady myself, but the world seemed like it was spinning and getting hotter. So fucking hot. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, but it didn’t help one bit. One minute, I was cuddling Ana in that cell, and the next, it was as if someone had flicked me off like a light switch. But that was impossible… wasn’t it? Too many questions were going unanswered.
That familiar thrumming banged against my temple, and this time, it wrapped around my head and shot down the back of my neck. How did any of this have to do with my past? I wanted to scream at my brain for betraying me with every chance it could.
“Why don’t you sit down?” Ana asked.
Gray half-moons etched underneath her eyes. She looked beautiful but tired as fuck. When was the last time either of us had had a good night’s sleep? Sure, we were pretty much immortal, but that didn’t mean we didn’t need our sleep at least sometimes. Everyone needed sleep—humans, Reapers, Reavers, and Daemons. There were no exceptions. Even those snide Angel bastards had to get some shuteye once in a while.
I nodded and sat on the cool edge of the brick sidewalk.
“I think I’m going to pass out,” I admit
ted begrudgingly—hey, at least I was being honest.
“Then we’d better get out of here.”
A portal appeared as if summoned by thought alone. This one was as dark as the night sky with a crescent moon carved into the center. For some reason, it reminded me of Ana. The night—magical, mysterious and full of unknown surprises just like her. I wouldn’t tell her this, though. She would probably just punch me.
I nodded, but even that effort seemed to take too much out of me. Ana wrapped one of my arms over her shoulder and pulled me to a standing position. She dragged me through the portal and into a living room filled with books and black tower candles.
“You sneaky Reaper, you brought me home to take advantage of me.” I tried my hardest to waggle a finger toward her, but my hand just flopped down.
“In your dreams.”
She continued to drag me down a hallway and into another room. This one had a giant bed. Ana pushed me down until my head was resting on a pillow.
“Sleep it off, and in the morning, we can talk about what happened.”
She pulled off my boots and tossed them into the corner. I was too tired to say anything else as my sneaky Reaper curled next to me on the bed. Ana yanked the soft cream knit duvet over us until it reached her chin.
My eyes felt as though they were being weighed down by cement. I closed them and fell fast asleep.
The scent of rotting flesh filled the air. Angels with their wings ripped off and their petty human counterparts surrounded me, their bodies littering the blood-soaked ground. I had warned them what would happen if they tried to cage the beast. This punishment was a mercy.
It was mine to avenge, and I would repay the Angels for what they had done to me. I would reclaim the realms and kill every last one of those pricks.
I gasped as I sat up. Beads of sweat slid down my temples.
Ana groaned and turned toward me, still half asleep and her eyes closed. “Is everything okay?” she mumbled.
“I am in bed with a beautiful woman. How can anything be wrong?” I lied to myself and to her. That dream would just worry her. “We’ve already been through so much—portal rides, meeting Daemons, that Angel prick… You and I are the best team ever, like peanut butter and jam or burgers and fries.”
She smirked. “You’re such an idiot.”
“An idiot that is growing on you.”
“Maybe you are.” Ana looked so damn beautiful at this moment.
I bent down and kissed her lips. They were softer than I expected, almost like the touch of a rose petal in bloom.
“Is this okay?” I pushed a stray hair behind her ear, my fingertips brushing over the soft curve of her cheek of her face.
“Yes, it is,” Ana answered, voice very low and steady.
“Good. You’re going to be mine forever.”
I lowered my head again, and this time, the kiss was urgent. Lips and tongues reached for each other.
Ana’s hands travelled underneath my shirt and stroked the scars of my chest. I moaned softly as she pulled the soiled shirt over my head and tossed it to the ground. Her fingers traced the outline of my muscles and wandered down toward my belt buckle. My body was filled with need. I wanted to devour every single part of her.
I kissed her lips one last time before I made my way down her neck. When I lingered on the soft arch where her shoulder met her collarbone, she shivered in delight. My hands wrapped around the bottom of her shirt and pulled it over her head, revealing a lacy black bra with a lovely floral pattern. The Reaper kept surprising me. I didn’t think Ana was the floral type.
I drew back a little to take a moment to appreciate her luscious curves. Her hand made its way to my zipper, pulling it down in one quick yank. I dragged in a sharp breath and crawled up on all fours on top of her. My lips kissed from the bottom of her breasts all the way to the lace edge of her panties. Goosebumps rose in clusters across her soft, cushioned stomach. I slid her underwear down to her ankles and kissed above her clit on the lacy panties. Ana’s breathing was rapid and deep. When I slowly pulled off her underwear and slid two fingers between her thighs, she shuddered.
She gasped, and I nearly did as well, feeling how ready she already was. I enjoyed the squirming show of her pleasure. My mouth traveled down to her thighs and kissed each side before landing down on her most delicate area. Ana grabbed a handful of my hair while she bellowed in pleasure. As my tongue swirled around and licked her clit, I looked up to find her beautiful blue eyes rolling back to the ceiling. I wanted to stay here forever.
Her legs jerked, and I pulled away for a moment to watch all her waves of happiness. Ana giggled, cheeks blushing, and combed her fingers through my hair.
“I just want to fuck you,” I said huskily as I took in the entire sight of her. She was mine.
“Please, do it,” she begged.
Ana was not the begging type, and it drove me wild.
I pulled myself up, spread her legs, and slipped the entire girth of myself inside of her. She threw her hands around my neck and dug her nails into the skin of my back as I pushed myself deeper. I dragged out of her and then thrust as hard as I could back inside.
“Vex!” she cried out my name.
Her thighs tightened against me, but that just inspired me to go faster. She yelped, but I smothered the sound with another round of kisses. My hips jerked in a relentless rhythm. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could last. Everything about her was warm and familiar, as if we’d done this a million times before.
One hand propped against the bed while the other made its way back to the tip of her clit. Ana shuddered as I rubbed circles. My thoughts were disrupted by the gratifying moans of her climax. Her legs shook, and she tightened, which sent me into pure bliss.
I couldn’t contain myself any longer. The pleasure was too much. A flood of heat ran through the entire length of my body. All my nerves tingled in delight, and I finished inside of her. The arm propping me up shook and threatened to fall.
While I took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves that were on fire, Ana raised a hand and grazed the side of my face. Even the slightest touch from her tickled. I bent down and kissed her lips again before she slid off the bed.
“I wish we could stay like this forever, but let’s have a shower before our lives get any crazier.” Ana chuckled, but the sound came out nervous. “I have a feeling that this one will be the last in a long time.”
Ana made her way down the hallway, and I could hear her turn the knobs on the shower. As I followed her into the bathroom, steam began to fill the room and cloud the mirror. With the back of my hand, I wiped away the condensation.
My eyes were growing bright red.
I slipped under the warm water and ran my hand down the side of Anna’s back, then rested it on the curve of her behind. For moment, I enjoyed the vulnerability of her nudity. Anna was soft, even though she’d spent millennia with those Angel pricks. She grabbed a bar of soap from the ledge and circled around her breasts. My face nuzzled into the dip between her shoulder and neck.
“Do you really want to go again?”
“Always, love,” I purred, but the promise in my voice made her shoulders tense.
Anna slowly turned to face me, both hands over her breasts in a weak attempt to shield her body.
“You promised to give me back Vex.” Anger rose across her blue eyes that shot daggers towards me.
“The devil is in the details.” I smirked.
“Asshole.”
Acknowledgments
From Riley:
I want to acknowledge the awesomeness of my talented as hell writing partner Tiki Kos. Without her, this would never have come to fruition! And our book club, The Atomic Indies, my homies. Ali Winters, Kristine Schwartz, Kitty Gallant. In the past few years we have weathered storms together, read more books than should be humanly possible and been each others support when we need it the most. I am eternally grateful to each of them.
Also, to my readers. This is not m
y first published book. I’ve published under my other name Trish Beninato. But new and old readers you are what keep us going when we wonder in our darkest moments whether we should continue on the road of writing. I am appreciative of your support, thank you.
From Tiki:
This book is dedicated to our readers and friends. Thanks for all the support and love. We really couldn’t have pulled this off without all of you. I had so much fun creating this whole new world with Riley and we hope that you will stick with us until the end. And thank you to a certain British Fallen angel who fed our obsession.
Thank you!
Thank you for reading,
This Way To Hell, episode one.
If you have enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving us a review. We would love to know your thoughts! Reviews are so important to indie authors, they help other readers find us and know if this is a book for them!
About Riley Hunt
Riley Hunt is Trish Beninato’s pen name. Riley writes fantasy, sci-fi and paranormal with romance and strong female leads that kick ass all on their own. Riley lives in Colorado currently, but who knows where she will end up next. Even she doesn’t know. She holds a master’s in Education with an emphasis in Reading Literacy, but instead writes the literature she once sought to teach.
She is a wine and coffee enthusiast who over indulges way too much. A proud nerd to the core, you’ll find Star Wars and Marvel characters littering the shelves of her office; which she uses influence from as she writes her stories.
www.trishbeninato.com
About Tiki Kos
Tiki was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. She has been married to her husband Joel since 2015 but together for ten years. She is obsessed with coffee, chocolate, and watching too much Netflix. Tiki also is an avid collector of all things Doctor Who, Star Wars, and Final Fantasy. She loves werewolves and shares a common allergy to silver.
