by Maya Daniels
“It could work.” Raphael looks shocked at his own words.
“We will talk about this no more!” Eric is done playing nice.
I shriek like some damsel in distress again when he jumps off the floor with me still in his arms. His body is vibrating in anger that not even I can soothe right now, probably because I’m the cause of it. People part when he strides through the room, and I hear Narsi hissing something from behind us. My sidekick whimpers at the same time when Eric’s body jerks. The loud thump confirms my fears that my mate just kicked the Trowe. Poor little creature. If I weren’t in so much trouble, I would’ve been upset on his behalf. But I have to make Eric see this is the only way to beat the jinn at their own game. Looking at the storm on his face, I press my lips tight and start riling myself up for a fight.
A fight monster boy is not going to win.
I sit stiff as a board in Eric’s arms while he stomps through the hallways of the building. Anxiety from being in this place is pushing to the front of my mind, but I have so much other shit to deal with, it’s easy to ignore it. Eric’s caveman attitude is not helping one bit with any of it, and I think I’m at the end of the rope on my sanity.
He shoulders a door open and slams it shut with his foot the second we enter the room. Leaping out of his arms, I whirl around, slamming my hand on my hips. Wincing when the hilt of the dagger still clutched in my hand hits my hipbone, I grimace, sliding it to the small of my back.
“Are you trying to punish me, Hel?” Eric looms over me, his green eyes burning with anger and pain. “Is that what this is?”
“Punish you?” Taking a step back like he slapped me, I stare at him incredulously. “Why the hell would I want to punish you, monster boy?”
“I was reckless.” Snarling, he starts pacing in front of me, yanking on his hair with both hands. “I didn’t think of you, or your safety. Getting myself hurt and leaving you to fend for yourself in the middle of Hell with jinn running loose all over the realms and Mammon at our gates.” I open my mouth, but he keeps rambling. “Instead of being the shield in front of you; I added to the weight on your shoulders, while my estranged brother fights by your side. I don’t blame you for seeing me as weak. I’ve always been reckless, but this time I pushed way beyond what’s acceptable.”
Watching him pace, I frown, chewing on my lip.
“Acceptable to whom?” When he keeps mumbling and pulling on his hair, I can’t help the snort that escapes me. “Yo, monster boy. Acceptable to whom?”
“What?” I’m thankful he stops because I am getting dizzy. The confusion on his handsome face almost makes me laugh.
“You said you were reckless beyond the acceptable limits. I wanna know who is the one that accepts them so I can apply to increase my limit.”
Eric glares.
“Listen.” Coming closer to him, I take his hand. “It’s not me punishing you, it’s you punishing yourself for something out of your control. It wasn’t your fault that you got hurt.” He tries to yank his hand away, but I’m having none of that, so I tighten my hold, digging my nails in his skin. “Eric, stop. It’s not me blaming you for anything. You are blaming yourself, and all for nothing, I’ll tell you that right now. Do you have any idea how badly I wanted you to wake up?”
“I shouldn’t have been a deadweight in the first place.” He is still snarling, but at least he is not trying to pull away.
“You didn’t ask for it, and neither did any of us when we got hurt. That’s why we must do this. I must do this.” I’m praying he will understand so I don’t have to push him away to do it. Because whether he agrees or not, my mind is already made up. “The longer we wait, the stronger the jinn will become. We can’t let that happen. Did you look around on our way through Atlanta? I haven’t seen any humans since we got back from Hell, and this world belongs to them. Not to the angels, not to the demons… and most definitely not to the jinn.”
The green darkens in Eric’s eyes as he keeps his gaze locked on mine. He doesn’t say anything, but I can tell that he is finally listening, so I keep pushing, hoping that he will see reason. I really want him on my side right now. I’m not sure I’m strong enough to do it alone, regardless of who else will stick by me.
“Isn’t that what both of us were doing before all this? You protected your own kind, yes. But you also protected the humans from the rogues, too. Just like me.”
“You are asking me to hand my mate over to those that want her dead…or worse.” It looks like it’s painful for him to say the words, and my chest feels tight. “Maybe a better male could do what you asked, Hel. I’m not that male.” His fingers tighten around mine in a punishing grip. “I can’t. I will destroy everything and everyone if something happens to you. You must know this.”
“Yes, I know. And all that would’ve been perfect if I couldn’t defend myself or I was some unfortunate soul accidentally getting in the middle of this. But I’m not. If I don’t try to do something to get one step ahead, they are not going to miraculously go away and forget about me. The jinn will keep coming until they capture me, kill me, or kill everyone I care about. I will not hide and stand back until that happens, Eric. Not for you, not even for myself.” Releasing my hold on him, I rub my temples to eleviate my pounding headache. “I don’t have a death wish or a desire to play martyr, not anymore. I want to live and not be scared every second of my life that someone will sneak up and stick a knife in my back…or yours, for that matter.”
“We can fight them more.” He is clenching his fists in rapid succession, as if imagining squeezing the necks of the jinn. “We will get more allies. There are other ways to go about it.”
“True, but all of that will take time.” Pointing a finger at his chest, I make sure he understands. “Time, we don’t have, or we will all get destroyed. The portals are opening all over the world, Eric. We can’t be everywhere at once.”
“I see there is nothing I can say that will change your mind, cupcake.” Warmth spreads through my chest at the nickname I used to hate at the beginning.
“Not on this, monster boy.” Smiling sadly at him, my heart breaks, knowing how much it costs him to go along with it. “But I do hope you’ll be there to catch me, like always, if I fall.”
“I’m definitely planning on catching you, Hel.” His eyes blaze, glittering dangerously, and my heart skips a beat.
“What are you doing?” Taking a step back, I watch him warily when his body coils up like a spring.
“Just because I can’t stop you from doing insane things doesn’t mean I can’t do something else.” He takes a slow, measured step towards me.
I take another step back.
“Like what, exactly?” Goosebumps cover me from head to toe from the hunger in his eyes. My heart is jackhammering in my chest, and butterflies burst into a frenzy in my lower belly.
“Like reminding you who owns your body and soul, and why you have to make sure you stay alive.”
My back hits the wall at the same time as Eric’s hands press against it on both sides of my head. He is looking down at me and, just from the intensity in his gaze, I can feel the wetness soaking through my pants. Pressing my palms flat on either side of my hips so I don’t grab him like I’m starved, because I am, my tongue wets my dry lips. He is watching that like it’s the most fascinating thing he has ever seen. I’m already panting from his nearness, my breaths coming out fast in small puffs of air.
Eric’s nostrils flare, and I whimper.
How he manages to turn me into a whimpering mess who’s ready to beg simply by being near me—even after everything we’ve already done—is something I don’t think I’ll ever understand. He smells of male and sin, and I’m spiraling down the rabbit hole so fast my mind is spinning. He wasn’t joking when he said he owns my body and soul, because right now, I will offer him my soul on a silver platter, and all he has to do is ask.
Eric presses his chest more firmly to me, my already hardened nipples rubbing deliciously on the fabric
of my shirt. Bumping my head back on the wall, lifting my chin, I close my eyes. I can feel plaster filling up my nails as I dig them in the wall. He is controlling himself just so he can prove his dominance, despite me getting my way in our argument. I know it but damn if I don’t want to cave and yank his mouth to mine.
“What do you want, Hel.” Eric’s deep voice vibrates through my whole body like I’m standing next to a bass speaker in the middle of a concert.
“The same thing you do, monster boy.” My voice is breathy and sultry, but I don’t look at him. I’m screwed if I do.
He chuckles.
Releasing a shuddering breath, I shift my hips restlessly. I guess he saw that as an invitation. His thick thigh forces its way between my legs, rubbing the seam of my pants over my clit. A low moan wrenches from my chest, and I undulate on his muscled thigh, my body riding his leg with a mind of its own.
“Fuck!” My eyes snap open at his outburst.
His jaw is clenched so tight I can hear his teeth grinding. The arms where he leans the wall to stop himself from crushing me are trembling, the muscles twitching and jumping as I watch. A smile stretches my lips at the way his face is twisted in a snarl because I know how much it costs him to hold back. It costs me too, because I think my fingers will be bleeding from the way I’m clawing at the wall.
“Don’t push me, Hel.” His words say one thing, but his face tells me another.
He wants to be pushed. And I want to push him.
Keeping my eyes on his, I arch my back, pressing my breasts harder to his chest. His heart is beating as fast as mine. I feel it like a fist thumping on my ribcage. Letting his thigh hold more of my weight, I move against him, giving him a full body rub with each twist. We both moan deep and low at that.
Eric buries his face in my neck, his harsh breaths searing my skin. Tilting my head to the side, I give him more room. He growls like an animal, pulling his lips back over his teeth. I can feel their movement over my skin and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Sniffing, he runs the tip of his nose from my shoulder to the back of my ear and back. Alternating between that and rubbing his face wherever he can, the scrape of his five-o-click shadow on my skin is eliciting sounds from me I’m not aware I’m capable of making.
It occurs to me that I’ve been recently fighting, running around, bleeding, and I must smell horrible, but it doesn’t look like Eric minds. As if reading my mind, he snarls again, lifting his head up and pressing his forehead on mine.
“You smell of blood and sex, Hel. I want to bury myself inside you so deep that you’ll never be able to remove me from your body.”
Our breaths mingle as we share the air. With every word, his lips graze mine. I can feel the tingling where our skin touches all the way to my core. My channel is clutching emptiness, begging to be filled.
“Do it.” I dare him with a sharp look, my belly tightening to extreme levels.
“No.” His eyes flash dangerously, and one side of his full lips lift up. “Not until you beg, cupcake.”
I’m going to cum just from the look on his face alone. The man is too sinful for his own good, and for mine. But he is not the only one that can tease and bring the other person close to insanity. Still watching him, I shove one hand between us, cupping the thick erection that has been stabbing my hip this whole time. Eric gasps as his hips jerk up, pushing his cock to slide in my palm through his jeans. Tightening my fingers around it, I rub him up and down, in sync with my hips riding his thigh.
“Let’s see who begs first.” I’m delirious with need, every thought apart from pushing him to a point where he rips our clothes and fills me with his cock is pushed aside.
Eric growls, snarls, and curses more, but his hips continue pumping his cock in my hand, as if he has lost all control. My hips move as well, rubbing my clit on his thigh like we are horny teenagers unable to control our raging hormones. If we don’t stop, I know my orgasm is going to knock the breath out of me.
It hits me so suddenly that my eyes roll to the back of my head and stars burst behind my eyelids. Eric crushes his mouth on mine, pushing his tongue past my lips and captures my scream. My body convulses for a long time, Eric moaning viciously in my mouth before I sag, sandwiched between his chest and the wall.
Eric
My mate knows how to make me crazed with just a blink of her eyes, or a flip of her hair. Her sharp tongue does the same, although I’ll never tell her that. If immortals could die from stress or a heart attack, I believe I would’ve been the first to go.
She is worth it.
Watching her in the throes of her passion is something I will never get tired of. Her cheeks are flushed, her lips swollen from my kisses and her hair wild from the thrashing. I fucking love each and every single thing about this woman. It scares the shit out of me as much as I love it. Her glazed over eyes blink open lazily, and I smile. If she thinks I’m done with her, she has a surprise waiting. I’m not letting her out of this room until she’s unable to stand, or walk…
Or both.
She’ll eventually figure out what I’m doing, but until then, I’m going to enjoy my mate. I’ll stall the inevitable by burying my fears and my cock inside her pliable body, and maybe both of us can disappear in our own world of passion, love, and lust. We won’t, but I’ll keep trying. The other option is to let her face the jinn, and I’m not ready to think about that yet.
“Eric…” Her voice is raw from her screams, and a prideful smile hurts my cheeks. It’s good to know she can resist me as much as I can resist her. In other words, we are both goners.
“Shhh…” Pressing her lips closed with a finger, I rub it over her swollen, red lips. “I’m not done with you, yet.”
Her green eyes flash, and she nips at my finger. Nostrils flaring, a groan rumbles in my chest when she closes her teeth over it before sucking it into her warm, wet mouth. My cock strains in my jeans, jerking as if trying to get her attention that she needs to suck on it, not on my finger. Judging by the sultry smile on her face, she knows the effect it has on me. My mate is too pure for the wicked thoughts running through my head right now. Pushing the all-consuming hunger to the back of my mind, I slide my finger out of her mouth.
“We are wearing too many clothes.” Placing both palms on my chest, she gives me a nudge. “I missed you, and I need to see all of you.”
Stepping back, I wait to see what she does. It takes everything in me not to bend her over and fuck her until none of us can move. But she deserves better, so I wait. Helena pops open the buttons of my jeans, one by one. It’s a new torture technique if I’ve ever seen one. The smile stays on her face, and I narrow my eyes. Maybe she is not as pure as I keep making her out to be. She sure figured out a way to kill me.
Her palm slides inside the jeans, her fingers wrapping around my pulsing cock. My hips jerk at her command, pumping in her hand out of my control. If she keeps it up, I’m going to spill all over both of us. My hands lift to remove her fingers, but she swats them away. Dropping on her knees, I have no time to even think of stopping her before she swallows my cock down her throat.
“Fuck, Hel!” Snarling and moaning, I tangle my hands in her hair with every intention of pulling her up.
She will have none of that. Moaning and humming, her head keeps bobbing up and down, her tongue swirling wickedly over my length. The harder I pull on her hair so she can release me, the harder she sucks my cock into her mouth. My hips speed up, and my lips curl up as I watch myself fuck her mouth. One of her hands glides off my hard length, and she cups my balls, massaging them between her fingers. Her eyes snap up, locking on mine a second before she sucks hard, the head of my cock hitting the back of her throat, and then she swallows.
“Fuck!” The roar is wrenched out of the depths of my soul. “Fuck, Hel!” Her chuckle sends sparks through my cock, all the way to my toes.
She squeaks when I yank her off my throbbing erection and flip her around. The scrape of her teeth on it only drives me crazy
more. Wrapping myself around her like a snake, I jerk her top down, freeing one of her breasts. She laughs, but a deep moan follows when I pinch her nipple between my thumb and forefinger, rolling it between them.
“You wanted a crazy beast.” Snarling I nip her ear and hold it between my teeth still talking through a clenched jaw. “You got it.”
I shove my other hand down her pants, finding her drenched folds. With no warning, two of my fingers start pumping in her hot channel while I lick, bite, and suck on her neck. Her hips grind on my cock, pushing my sanity further down the abyss.
“Eric.” Her head is thrashing left and right, and she keeps moaning. “Fuck me, please. Now, Eric!”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Pulling away just enough to drag her pants down to the middle of her thighs and her top up above her breasts, I sheath myself inside her body with one hard push of my hips. The dagger clatters on the floor. Helena screams, and it only drives my hunger to unbearable levels. Grabbing both her breasts in my hands, I use my hold to pound inside her like a crazed beast. The sound of our skin slapping on skin only adds to my insanity, and I can feel my claws lengthening around her soft flesh.
Panic chokes me, and my thrusting falters for just a beat. The crazy woman wraps her hands over mine, her fingers tangling between my claws as she continues slamming her ass on my groin, impaling herself on my cock. It’s the hottest fucking thing I’ve seen in my entire existence.
“Harder, Eric.” She looks over her shoulder at me, and that look on her face is my undoing.
Pulling her flush to my chest, I shove my tongue down her throat, tasting myself on her lips. With one hand, I grab a fistful of her hair, holding her mouth captive, and with the other, I hold her hip so I can pump my hips harder. Her channel is sucking me in like she is as wild and as crazed as I am and doesn’t want to let me go. My pumping becomes punishing and brutal, and she matches it, thrust for thrust.
