by Kristie Cook
I was glad to have awoken before her, because the fit of rage I’d felt when I saw the injury would have sent her back to the Otherworld if she’d seen it. The guilt had nearly sent me back to Hell. I’d barely been able to control myself—not all of the destruction in the village had been from Norman bombs and the Daemoni, some had been caused by my own hands—but I forced myself. She had that scar because of my guilt. When I told her last night how I’d asked the Demon to take me to her in the Otherworld, she’d thrown a fit, but I knew without a doubt she’d do the same. She already had—she’d followed me into the darkness when I couldn’t break myself free. I wasn’t about to risk her life and soul again because of my weakness.
“What I don’t like about it,” I tried to explain while keeping my voice steady, “is that you wouldn’t have it at all if I’d been strong enough.”
Her eyebrows pinched together. “But you were, in the end. We made it. Together.” She glanced down at the scar, and then lifted her warm, brown eyes back to mine. “If this is a badge of honor, then it’s for both of us—showing what we do for each other.”
I stared at her for a moment, always amazed at the love she had for me, and then I nodded before lowering myself to my knees. “Like I said. It’s beautiful.”
My hands pushed hers apart to let the vest fall open, and I pulled the sides over her shoulders. She let it slide down her arms and drop to the ground. Then I leaned in and pressed my lips to the tip of the puckered skin at her shoulder. She smelled like her usual dark chocolate and raspberries and tasted the same, too. I thanked God for that, because I’d been afraid of what might linger under the skin. When I first saw the wound gaping open when I regained consciousness, I’d tried to heal it, but my best efforts left her like this. I wished I could kiss away the blemish completely as she’d done for me, but the dark magic that had been left behind by the Daemoni didn’t compare at all to the Hellfire that had done this to her.
Because of me.
I continued kissing down the scar, hoping to show her that it was no different to me than any other part of her glorious body. And speaking of glorious—I found myself in the valley between her breasts. My gaze rolled up to look at her. She stared back at me with half-lidded, smoldering eyes, and her lips parted slightly. When I skimmed my mouth to the side, along the softness of her breast, her skin pulled taut and her dark pink nipple hardened. She moaned as my tongue tasted her, and I ached to hear her do it again. My mouth clamped over her breast, sucked it in, and I couldn’t get enough of her. When she whimpered, I nearly came undone. She caused a short circuit in my brain, as she always did, and my body acted on its own. Without thought, my hands, mouth, and tongue roamed over her soft skin, tasting every inch of it. Never getting enough.
Her fingers skimmed over my shoulders and upper back, and then her nails dug into my flesh. As I took her other breast into my mouth, her entire body quivered under my touch. I pulled back and blew on her nipple. Her knees gave out from underneath her. I easily caught her in my arms and laid her down on the smooth, marble slab. I lay next to her on my side, propping myself on my forearm, admiring the alluring creature in front of me. I cupped her cheek with my free hand and gazed into her eyes, full of desire, and then her perfect lips. Her tongue darted out, and I couldn’t control myself. My mouth crashed down on hers.
Her lips parted. Her tongue delved into my mouth. My hands explored again as hers reached around my neck and pulled me closer, deepening the kiss. She twisted up so her breasts pressed against my chest, and she hitched her leg over my hip. Her pelvis ground against my erection. I grabbed her ass, pulling her tighter as we moaned into each other’s mouths.
“I need you, Tristan.” Her voice came thick and husky with desire.
Her hands slid over my chest and abs to the button of my pants. She had it undone in a second, and while I kicked off my boots, she slipped her hands under the waistband, pushing my clothes off and freeing me. I about lost it with the look she gave me. I’d had to move and shift to remove my pants, so now I rose up and straddled over her. Her eyes widened at the view in front of her before making their way up my body to my face while her hands encircled me. My eyes dropped closed as I tried to think of something horrible before I lost myself completely.
“You’re so beautiful,” she said as she stroked, and my eyes popped open.
“I think that’s my line,” I murmured as my hands grasped hers to pull them away and my gaze roamed over her half-naked body. “But you’re entirely too clothed.”
I reached behind me and removed her boots while she unbuttoned her leather pants. Before she could slide them off, I grabbed the waistband and yanked them down. She lifted her butt to pull them off, her hips raising to nearly my eye level. My throat went dry. Her pelvis dropped, but then her legs fell open. My mind blanked out. After shoving her pants out of the way, the only thought that remained was how much I needed to taste her. My tongue slid over my bottom lip in anticipation.
“Make love to me, Tristan,” she whispered. After a heartbeat or five, my eyes reluctantly flicked up to hers, but then back down. I couldn’t help it. I had to touch. To taste. My mouth already watered for her. My hands slipped between her thighs and pressed them further outward. I lowered my head. “No, make love to me. I need you.”
Not happening. I glanced up at her, wanting to beg but forcing my voice to take command. “Just a taste. I need to taste you.”
Before she could argue, I dipped my head down and swiped my tongue over her. I knew full well that would shut her up, and she’d let me have my way. As expected, her pelvis thrust against me, and she let out a cry. Her reaction sent a thrill of excitement through me, and I had no choice but to give her more. I licked and lingered, my tongue pressing and twisting, lapping and tasting her in every way possible. And she tasted so damn good. Dark chocolate and raspberries sprinkled with honey.
I glanced up at her, watched as her chest heaved and the perfect globes of her breasts bounced while my mouth continued to ravage her. My beautiful, brave, warrior wife mewled like a kitten as she bucked against my face. Her hands clasped onto my head, her fingers curled into my hair, and her nails scraped my scalp as she pulled me closer. My need for her skyrocketed, but first I’d make her scream, and then make her beg. My thumbs rubbed circles into her upper thighs and the soft flesh between them as I devoured her until she shouted my name with breathless cries. I loved seeing her lose herself like this, knowing that I brought her to these heights of ecstasy. It made me so rock-hard, I was about to explode.
My mouth moved upward, over her pelvis and trembling stomach, kissing my way back up to her breasts. Our eyes locked as my tongue swirled around her lengthened nipple, then I pulled up to appraise her entirely. This girl. This woman. Her soft curves, her luscious skin, the mischievous spark in her eyes as she panted for me … perfection in one tiny package. Every time I looked at her like this, I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach, but in a good way. The kind of breathtaking blow I’d crave the rest of my days.
“Please,” she panted.
Shit. That one little word nearly ended me. But slowly, trying to maintain control, I rose and settled between her legs. I gave her a smirk, even while I ached and throbbed against her.
“Now I’ll make love to you.” My hands circled her legs behind her knees and spread them as I lifted her hips off the slab. My entire body tensed up with anticipation as I slowly slid just an inch inside her. “Unless you want more.”
My gaze held hers, and her brown eyes widened. She nodded. I pulled out, and this time, I thrust hard and deep into her, all the way in, sending a ripple up through my body. I couldn’t stifle the groan.
“Yes,” she said. “More.”
I could deny neither of us any longer. I pumped into her, again and again, my eyes focused on her swollen, red lips as my mind gave over to the physical sensations. She felt so good. So tight. So perfect. My hand left her thigh for her swaying breast, and I kneaded and pinched it as I stroke
d in and out, harder and faster, her hips bucking up to meet me every time.
“Yes, Tristan,” she begged. “Harder.”
My eyes fell closed, and I groaned as I gathered her into my arms, plunging deep and relentlessly. Her mind opened and sucked mine in as she shared the intensity of her pleasure with me and I shared mine with her. It was an experience like none other, something only the two of us could ever share. Indescribable. Not needing to be described. Pure, unadulterated ecstasy as our hearts, souls, and bodies unified. I pounded until we exploded into oblivion together. Soared into another time and space. Shouted each other’s names and gasped for air in our aching lungs.
Floated weightlessly on a shared high before slowly drifting back down.
“I love you, my beautiful, Sexy Lexi.” I heard myself speaking before my brain could even function, my mouth spewing words that came from somewhere deep—from my soul. She sighed as I dropped kisses all over her face as I laid her down on the slab. I lay next to her, the smooth marble cool against my flaming skin.
Our rest didn’t last long because my fingers couldn’t stop touching her, wouldn’t stop trailing up and down her bare back, and her lips wouldn’t stay off my face. A thought occurred to me, and I revealed my wings, brushing the tips over her legs. She gasped and her eyes lit up, but what she felt couldn’t compare to what I felt on this end. The tips of the feathers that could become as solid and unbreakable as a titanium shield, according to her, had the most sensitive nerve endings at the moment that ran all the way to my center. My eyes widened, and her brows lifted at my reaction, then her wings came out, too. With a smile, I wrapped my arms around her and lifted us in the air. She cupped my face while devouring me in a kiss. Our legs entangled as we hovered twenty feet above the ground, and then her wings disappeared so mine could wrap around us, enclosing us in our own world.
We may have looked like Angels at first glance, but the way we made love next was borderline sinful.
Later, we lay side-by-side on the marble slab with exhausted bodies and pounding hearts. I turned my head to look at her.
“Merry Christmas,” I said. “I gave you some of me. That fits the rules, right?”
She laughed, but then her head rolled toward me, her brows scrunched. “Wait. Christmas?”
I looked back up at the dark blue of the sky as the sun hung over our toes, about to set over the water. “Based on how the sun crossed the sky and where it’s setting now, I’d say it’s late fall or early winter. Around Christmas, maybe Thanksgiving, but definitely not New Year’s.”
She didn’t reply at first, seeming to take this in. “You can determine that so easily?”
“Mmm … I’ve spent enough time on this island—on this world—to make an educated guess.”
“Wow,” she said after another moment, and I smiled at her ceaseless wonder. “So we lost over a month, maybe two in the Otherworld?”
My smile faded. “I’m afraid so.”
“Huh.” She huffed out a breath. “I honestly thought it was longer. It sure felt like an eternity.”
I took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Yes, it did, my love. I’d rather not do it again.”
We lay in comfortable silence as the air began to chill our naked bodies with the setting sun. With a moan, I pushed myself to sit up.
“Up until a few hours ago, I thought my strength had fully returned, and we could go,” she said as she still lay on her back. “I’m not so sure now.”
I chuckled. “You’ve sapped my strength, too. Another day of rest, and then we take back the world.”
As expected, she didn’t respond. My girl, who had always had trust issues but had still managed to hold on to a childlike wonder as well as her spiritual beliefs, had become a jaded cynic. She’d lost her belief in pretty much everything important. I had to figure out how to bring her back before I lost her forever.
As we pulled our clothes on, she leaned over and studied the edge of the marble slab and started laughing. I cocked a brow.
“We made love on the council table!” She continued chortling, and I couldn’t help but laugh with her. “I wonder what those uppity council members who tried to oust us would think of that.”
“Maybe what he does.” I nodded toward a mound of broken marble where the stairs to the council hall had once been.
One of the statues of the warrior angels that had hung in the main room lay there—part of its wing and head, anyway. But rather than the fierce expression they always held, this one, with chunks of its jaw and forehead missing, seemed to be staring at us with a lifted brow and a small, knowing smile on its face.
Alexis returned its expression with a frown. Then she threw a bolt of electricity at it, effectively shattering the marble into small pieces.
Nice, I thought with a silent sigh. With an attitude like that, we were in more trouble than I realized. But I vowed to restore her heart and soul, no matter what it took.
Chapter 13
I sat upright in the dark, a gasp in my throat. “Dorian.”
I’d been dreaming about him, but only bits and pieces came to me now. Dorian as a baby, always grabbing at my necklace. Then Dorian flying away from the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. And then Dorian in Hell, Lucas by his side, in the luxurious parlor with the dark blue curtains and thick carpet. Satan’s beastly form sat in the chair by the fire, his animal-like legs crossed and his black-nailed fingers lifting a cigar to his mouth, only it wasn’t a cigar but a baby’s arm. Dorian took a knee in front of him and bowed.
Although I knew now that such a scene would only happen if Dorian chose it—and my sweet boy would never do such a thing—I couldn’t shake the terror blanketing me.
“It’s time to go,” I told Tristan, who’d sat up next to me.
“You’re ready.” And it wasn’t a question.
Good thing, because whether he agreed or not that I’d regained my strength and health, I was leaving today. Using one of the bottles of water and a blanket we’d found in the village that we’d no longer need, we did our best to clean up and then dress in our fighting leathers.
“Where do we start?” I asked as I laced up my boots.
“I think we find Noah.”
“He’s the last we know who’s seen him,” I agreed. “But how? Where? If you’re right that it’s December, he could be anywhere by now, with or without Dorian.”
He pulled on a t-shirt he’d found yesterday after our … escapades. “One guess would be Noah would go to his homeland of Italy.”
“Okay then. I guess we head there.”
A few minutes later, we stood outside the demolished Amadis council hall one last time before launching into the crisp air. Flying several hundred feet over Earth, alongside my man, and a deep blue sky above us, should have been an incredible experience. Although the wind blew through my hair and against my cheeks in the same way, riding a motorcycle didn’t come close to comparing to this feeling of freedom and thrilling release. But the beauty of the day was ruined by the way the sun’s yellow rays shone brightly down only to fall flat on an iron-black sea and a gray Earth below. The peace was suffocating, because the feeling of being the only two people on Earth was more than an illusion. It was our reality.
I watched the ground with eagle eyes, searching for any sign of life just in case, but as expected, I saw none. No fish in the sea. No birds in the sky with us. No fishing boats out for the restaurants’ catch of the day. Once we flew over land, no restaurants open or people to go to them for a night out. Not even a green leaf on a tree or a blade of grass. Granted, if Tristan was right, winter might have set in, but Greece had a mild climate. It shouldn’t look like a thin layer of dirty snow had stained everything an ugly gray.
The smaller villages we flew over showed wear and tear, but most buildings remained standing. Still, though, no people. Not a single mind signature to be found. No cars or buses traveling on the roads or trains chugging through the countryside. Trucks didn’t carry goods from source to consumer. As
the villages became suburbs and the suburbs the city of Athens, my breath caught at the sight. Half of the city was blackened from fire, and the rest destroyed. The ancient structures had been demolished. A greenish haze hovered over the city with an acrid smell that burnt my nose and eyes.
My heart sank at the sight of such loss. Such overwhelming loss. Millions of people should have been living their lives, going to work or coming home, shopping for food, picking up children from school, walking dogs, visiting the Parthenon … going about their normal days or enjoying their long awaited and much deserved vacations.
So much beauty and history … so many people … gone, I thought to Tristan.
He didn’t answer, but swooped closer to me, slid his wing over mine so he could reach my outstretched hand, and gave it a squeeze. Then he pulled me along, farther west.
You’re sure about Italy? I asked him as Athens disappeared behind us. What if Satan lied to us? What if what he showed us were mere deceptions? What if both Noah and Dorian died in the bombs with the rest of the world?
“Did you see Dorian in Heaven?”
I frowned. They told me he didn’t belong there.
“And he doesn’t belong in Hell, so he can only be here, somewhere on Earth.”
That was pretty much what I’d concluded before, too, but I wasn’t sure I trusted Mom, Rina, and Cassandra anymore. Or anyone else, really. Especially when it came to Dorian.
“Italy is the closest option of where Noah could be,” Tristan continued, “so we may as well check there first. Keep your mind open.”
Without the millions of Norman signatures filling my head, my mind could reach much farther than usual, allowing us to do a quick sweep over southern Italy. Every now and then, I picked up on some mind signatures, especially as we approached Rome. All Daemoni, but none Noah.
We headed north from there, flying nonstop until we hit a snowstorm over the Alps. We tried to press on, but the wind gusts kept flipping me over and I’d careen into Tristan. Even he had a hard time fighting the wind, and when we flew over a castle still standing on a mountainside, we dipped down to check it out. No mind signatures were around for as far as my sense could reach.
