Descent (Fated Book 2)

by Liza James

  I choke on his touch just briefly, and when he pulls his fingers from my mouth he slides them harshly across my cheek and then down my throat as he marks me in my own arousal. Showing me exactly what he elicits from my body.

  “I need to see you bleed, baby. You’re going to obey, right?” He wraps his fingers around my throat and squeezes just slightly, jerking me forward until his lips brush against my own. “Stay quiet while I cut you open and watch you bleed for me.”

  It’s strange, but I want it. I do want to bleed for him, bleed with him. I crave this intimacy, the closest we can possibly get without uniting our Fated bond. This is it, we can give each other something as vital as the life force that thrives in our veins. Connect in a way that no one else has ever experienced with either of us.

  Danner was dominant, he knew how to speak to my Succubus, call her forward and draw her attention. But we never did this, never experimented in any way like this. With Nathanial though, it’s different. We always seem to find ourselves in this place, somehow dancing with each other’s blood whether we intended to or not.

  But this is the first time it’s been intentional and I’m coming alive at the idea of it. My body hums for him, leaning farther into his touch as I lift my lips and close the distance between us. At first, he kisses me gently, in something far more intimate than what I’m used to.

  Because I think he knows this is rather crucial, something monumental happening between us. We’re both going to experience the pain and pleasure from what transpires. Fighting against the draw our Fated bond brings, surrendering to the pleasure of our unmatched magnetic attraction.

  He drags me closer, flexing his hand against my body as he sweeps his tongue inside of my mouth. I can still taste myself on his lips, my arousal on his skin as he becomes more possessive. His kiss turns wild and hot, burning us both up as I silently agree to do this with him.

  Nathanial breaks away from my lips and steps off the bed, moving back towards the chained wall where a small brick shelf also resides. It looks like he placed his watch there earlier, but he reaches for a small, slender knife that lies next to it. He turns around and stalks back towards me, drawing the knifes tip slowly across the skin of his finger. He feels the edge, traces the sharp blade until he walks to the side of the bed and climbs up behind me.

  The fact that I can’t see him, can’t watch what he’s actually doing sends waves of fear rolling through my body. But when his chest comes flush against my back, a mild sense of relief replaces only a small portion of the apprehension.

  His hand lifts to push down on the back of my head, and I try to slow the rapid breaths I’m uncontrollably taking. I drop my head forward and he uses the blade to drag all of my hair to the left side. I feel the sharp tip scrape slowly across my skin as it moves from one shoulder to the next before vanishing once again.

  “Nathanial,” I whisper, my voice shaky with alarm and uncertainty.

  He leans forward silently, brushing his lips against my ear as his free hand slips around the front of my throat. He tilts my head to the side, exposing the long column of my neck to his touch.

  “Shh,” he says darkly, and the venom in his voice poisons my mind in a flawless euphoric high. “Quiet, remember?”

  I nod my head as much as I can manage within his firm hold and then I freeze as I feel the cold blade drift along my shoulder and up the side of my throat. I wait anxiously, preparing myself mentally to feel the sting of his cut but it doesn’t come.

  Instead, his hand releases my neck and both of his arms wrap around my waist, coming straight in front of me while he takes the knife and drags it across his own wrist. He slides it into his palm, and carefully slices a shallow cut that spans the entire length of his hand. I hear him hiss in my ear, but my breath catches at the sight of dark red, spilling free from the wound and painting his flesh in something undeniably erotic.

  A single drop trails down his finger, until it reaches the end and falls freely to stain the bed below us. My eyelids fall to half-mast as my blood immediately surges at the sight of his. I feel electric, too vast for my body to hold on to. It billows below my skin, boiling and frothing and begging to be free.

  “Do you feel that?” he asks as he slides his injured hand across the base of my neck. His warm blood coats my skin as he lets it fall lower, until he’s gripping my breast and massaging the flesh. He marks me in red, claims me in the only way he can now. Without our Fated bond, but with something so intimate in its own rights. I let my head fall back against his shoulder as he plays with me, tugging and pulling my nipple until it’s covered in his blood as well. “The way your blood innately calls to mine. The electric sting of need and fucking addiction that our Fated bond begs for?”

  “Yes,” I say as I watch his hand move over my breasts. He grips and pulls, pushing and kneading me until I’m a whimpering mess in both arousal and blood. “Cut me, Nathanial. I’m ready.” I brave the words, driving myself closer to this impending disaster.

  He pulls his hands back and lifts the knife to the side of my throat. Slowly, confidently, he pierces my skin with the tip. Starting at the space below my ear and gliding in a shallow slice downward. In a fleeting thought, I’m thankful for Nathanial’s medical skills and the ability he has to do this in a way I know will be safe for us. He’s been trained over hundreds of years in healing for both the supernatural and human races. There’s no one else I’d rather risk something so potentially dangerous with.

  I gasp as the sting finally vibrates through my neck, spiraling out and through my shoulder when he pulls the knife away from my skin. I turn my head to look down, and only see the trail of blood as it slips down the front of my shoulder and over my breast. I immediately release a pained moan at the wound, and at the sight of my own life force spilling slowly over my body.

  “God, so fucking beautiful. Your blood, mixing with mine over your tits. Fucking perfect, baby girl.” He drops the knife beside us and I feel his fingers lift to the slice on my neck. He slides his touch across the wound, pressing against it until I’m hissing in pain. His lips drop down, replacing his fingers as he licks and kisses along the same path.

  “Shit,” I mutter, arching my back and pressing my ass against his hard cock. He lifts his head and wraps my hair around his fist tightly, twisting my neck so that his lips can crash against my own. He moves against me, rolling his hips forward while his cock slips between my legs. I taste the metallic burst of flavor between us and he bites my lower lip before sucking it harshly into his mouth.

  “Let me go,” I say as I tug on my wrists in order to show him what I mean. I want to touch him, taste him, watch my own blood flow over his body.

  “Doesn’t work like that, Stella. You better beg for it if you want your freedom.” He yanks my head back again, as he teases my pussy with the head of his cock, just barely slipping in before he pulls out. Mother fucker.

  “Please. Please let me go. I want to touch you, taste you while you fuck me.”

  His hands coast up my arms until they reach the tight fabric of his shirt. He quickly unties it, until my wrists fall in relief from being released. I rub my thumbs along the red marks, the aching pain a reminder of his authority and control.

  He grips my waist and turns me towards him as he sits back against the bed, pulling my leg over his hips so that I’m straddling him. I immediately reach for his hand, the one he cut open and slide my thumb along the wound, gathering his blood and painting my own skin with it. I feel the tension fall from my shoulders, but a new energy bursts through my flesh at the feeling of him. He watches me intently, letting his other hand slide up my stomach as he continues playing with my breasts. I rock my hips forward while I bring his palm to my lips, keeping my eyes on him as I slip my tongue through his blood.

  “Why did you kill me?” I ask once I’ve tasted everything he offers me. I can’t help but remember the bit of information Lucifer shared earlier. About how Nathanial chose to kill me.

  He grips my hips ti
ghtly, halting my languid movements as he sits up and brings his lips closer to mine. “It was that or fuck you.”

  “And why didn’t you choose that?” My voice shakes with hesitation, not understanding why he would choose to end my life—not with how we are now.

  “It wasn’t you, Stella. It was a Demon who looked like you, but it wasn’t you. Not my Stella. There was no way in Hell I was going to let him take you away from me. Or force me to give something of myself to someone who wasn’t you.” He uses his hold on me to drag my pussy forward, grinding against his thick cock before he suddenly flips us over so that I’m pinned beneath him.

  “So yeah, I fucking killed it. It’s why I crave so badly to see your blood now, to taste it on my tongue. Because I know you’re alive. It shows me that your heart is beating, throbbing inside of that perfect chest. Pulsing for me, fucking living for me. Because I need you, Stells. I’ve always needed you.”

  His hand falls to my thigh as he pulls my legs apart, he slips the head of his cock inside me and I gasp at the sudden intrusion. He’s thick, and while I’m pinned beneath him, he feels even heavier while he rolls forward. Some of my blood has fallen to his chest from earlier, when I was on top, and I realize now how it’s transformed into a shade of black against his skin. I know it’s the Demon blood in me, coating his Angelic flesh in something tainted. Which is ironic, because now I feel that he’s the one who’s introduced me to the true darkness. To the things that feed my Succubus nature like no other.

  He fills me completely, sliding all the way in until my back is arching and my fingers bite into his shoulders in order to ground me. He stretches me with how big he is, but doesn’t give me the time to adjust before he’s pulling back out and quickly thrusting in again.

  “So tight,” he says as he sits back and yanks my legs wider across his hips. He leans away as he pulls out, holding me in a position that gives him the perfect view of my pussy. He slides his fingers through my slit, watching the movement before he slowly thrusts inside again. We’re both watching him fill me, stretch me wide until moans spill from my mouth in both need and pleasure.

  “Such a greedy little pussy,” he says as he slams forward and fills me to the hilt. I throw my head back and cry out, begging for more. “So impatient. Are you ready to come, baby girl?”

  “Please. Fuck, I need it,” I say, rolling my hips up to meet his thrusts until his hand slams down on my lower stomach, holding me in place so I can’t move.

  “Who owns you,” he grinds out, deliberately slowing his movements until I’m practically dying with the need to release. But I don’t answer him right away, my mind completely unravelling at the feeling of him moving inside of me.

  “Answer me,” he says as leans forward and wraps his fingers around my throat. He picks up the speed slightly, rolling into me over and over again while my legs fall wider apart for him. “Who do you belong to.”

  “You,” I breathe out, letting my fingers trail up and around his wrist, circling it with both of my hands as I surrender to him completely.

  “That’s right, baby. Me. You belong to me. No one else gets to put their fucking hands on you, no one else gets to lay a fucking finger on you. Not Leon, not Danner, not anyone. From now on, you feed from me and only me. Do you understand?” His grip flexes around my throat as he leans forward and brings his lips back to mine. He slides his tongue across the seam, parting me for him so that he can devour me completely.

  “Yes,” I say, a tiny smirk playing on my lips. It’s all he needs to let go completely, and suddenly he’s slamming into me without restraint. Moans and whimpers fall from my lips while we kiss. He swallows every sound, every painful cry, every pleasurable mewl. He takes them and owns them, because he owns every part of me.

  “Good girl.”

  My orgasm builds and floods my system at the same time that his thrusts grow more frantic. We both come, him right after me as he pulls out and spills across my stomach and tits, another mark mixing with the blood he drew from us both earlier.

  It’s dark, what we’ve done tonight. It’s fucked up and it’s messy in a sinister way. A hellish reminder that I’ve never felt fuller, more satiated, more fucking desired than I do right now. And as I look around at the space around us, as Nathanial collapses to my side and drags me on top of him while we catch our breaths, I relish in the feeling that I don’t feel alone. I don’t feel strange or inadequate, or guilty over our dark cravings.

  I feel like I’m home.

  Danner came to Stella in her dreams again after we fell asleep. Even when we sleep together, when I have her in my arms where I know she’s safe, he can still reach her. I didn’t realize she was dreaming until I felt her breaths pick up and body tremble against my own. Her skin felt icy, chilling through me and subtly pricking at my mind, alerting me to something being wrong.

  When I heard her cry, my eyes snapped open in the dim, flame lit room. I quickly realized what was happening and that we were still in the Underworld. I immediately shut my eyes and slipped into her mind, in the ways I can only do because I’m Incubus. I’ll admit, it’s never really happened like this until Stella. I’ve never had the ability to so easily permeate someone’s mind until I met my Fated. I reflect her qualities, mirror her abilities and emotions. We feed off of each other in so many more ways than simple sexual tension.

  As soon as I emerged in the dreamscape Danner created, I was impressed to see that she was actually fully clothed. In every single dream he brings to her, she’s naked. I fucking hate it, and I want to fucking kill him for it, among countless other reasons.

  But not tonight. He barely got a hand on her before she was fighting back and telling him to fuck off. He taunted her, trying to call to her Succubus with dominance and memories of what they shared at one point. He told her he had almost found her—which I’m sure he was lying about. And that was the only time I saw her falter. The fact that he can threaten the people she cares about, pretend he knows where she is and she responds to it? That’s what concerns me the most.

  Because I know he’s lying. But as Stella becomes stronger, as she feeds more, as her and I give into this magnetic pull between us, her restless mind finds peace. And as her reflection, I do as well.

  We’ve changed, her and I. Grown and transformed into people who prefer the darkness, while still thriving in the light. We take both on, gladly. But Stella has begun taking cautious steps more often, she isn’t as impulsive, as reckless as she was when she was starving and fighting to feed when she could. When I was pushing her away and rejecting her instead of trying to make something fucking work between us.

  I didn’t realize it could be like this.

  However, it’s some of those characteristics of her past that worry me. I fear that Danner will sink his claws into her head, shred her mind in the idea that she needs to protect the rest of us.

  I have hope though, because after her quick hesitation, she shattered the dream and all but kicked Danner to the fucking curb.

  It was fucking beautiful. Her strength pulsing and radiating out of her like a whip. Striking and destroying the evil that plagued her. She did it on her own, and I stood back and watched, thoroughly entranced by the woman who was created, designed precisely for me.

  A goddamn masterpiece. That’s what she is.

  So, we’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing. Hiding her until we know where Danner is and what his end game will be. I pulled her against me after she escaped the nightmare, slipping my hands around her waist and stomach as I brought my nose into the strands of her hair, breathing her in.

  She arched her back, pressing her ass into my already hard cock. Watching her kick ass is a fucking turn on. And then she turned around to face me, pressing her hands against my chest until I rolled over and she could climb on top. Those sweet thighs straddled my waist as she sat up and I slipped inside her. She fucking rode me again until we both came and then passed back out against each other.

  That’s my kind of night, th
at’s for damn sure.

  But now we’re getting ready to head back, and it’s clear that Stella has slid into her own mind a bit. She’s been walking around with Esme, after picking out an outfit to wear home. Seeing as I destroyed her dress last night, she had to find something available here. Now, she walks around in black fishnet tights that come up to the smallest part of her waist. She layered them under cut off jean shorts, threw on a black studded belt and picked out a cropped vintage AC/DC T-shirt. Of course, she picked a pair of black, grungy boots to top it off and fuck if I don’t want to tear everything off her except the fishnets and fuck her senseless.

  As the two of them continue talking about the different domains of Hell, Lucifer strides up and the three of them are lost in conversation.

  “Avernus will be the portion of Hell you and Nathanial will rule eventually,” Lucifer speaks casually, as if it’s a simple fact that it will happen.

  “Lucifer—" I admonish, trying to avoid having Stella feel pressured into anything. But he ignores me, like fucking usual. The prick.

  “It houses the club from last night, among many other things. It’s primarily a sexually influenced domain. It stretches out and spans an entire forest scape. But the realm hasn’t thrived in quite some time. We’ve appointed countless individual leaders over it but have realized that Avernus needs two rulers. An Incubus alone can’t provide enough of the energy it needs to help bring prosperity to the land. A Succubus alone is the same way. Sure, they can feed off countless others, but the power of both an Incubus and Succubus together is simply unmatched. And a Fated pairing? It’s undeniably the best option for Avernus to flourish. You’d be able to feed from each other without restraint, your energy and power would spill over and into the land, bringing the forests back to life, the vegetation would be like never before.”