by Liza James
I trail my fingers underneath the wave of her hair and let them rest against the back of her neck as I lean down and speak into her ear. This is a private conversation, and I don’t want everyone’s opinion on it.
“What are you thinking?” I ask, scraping my teeth along the line of her jaw before I kiss her.
A shiver races up her spine at my touch and she rolls her shoulders as she pushes farther into me. “I don’t know if I’d rather stay here or there,” she admits softly. “I’m drawn to Avernus, it’s like an attraction. It’s a home I didn’t realize I was missing until we were there. There are aspects of it that I hate, but there’s a part that satiates the Demon in me. It devours my spirit in a way the upside doesn’t.” She pauses as she turns her head even further and drops her eyes from mine. “I crave it.”
Fuck, I’m hard. And I don’t even know why necessarily. Maybe it’s because I realize more and more that Stella is everything to me. She’s my counterpart, my equal, my sobriety and my addiction. The way she speaks of the Underworld, is exactly reflected in my own thoughts and feelings.
I let my free hand slide to the front of her stomach, grazing my fingers dangerously low and then pull her back against me. I roll my hips forward just slightly, and I hear the nearly silent moan slip from her lips as they move against my neck.
“I want to fuck you,” I say as I pull her by her neck and crash my lips against hers.
“Jesus, get a fucking room,” Leon snaps. He’s been like this all day, growing more and more irritable by the minute.
Stella laughs and pulls away, but I hold her still and push forward once more, claiming her one last time before meeting her heated eyes. “I agree. But it doesn’t have to be a choice. We can spend time there and come back. We can move through the realms easily and frequently. You don’t have to choose light over the darkness. You can have both, baby girl.”
Her forehead drops to mine as her breaths slip out in heated pants. She drags her hands up my shoulders as she turns to face me a little farther. Everyone around us slips away, it’s only her and I in this moment and I’m eager to fucking consume her. Her fingers trail against my neck, searing my skin as the bond rages and surges to the surface between us. Her lips come to mine again and I end up giving everyone the finger as I wrap my arms around Stella’s waist and lift her while I stand. “I have something for you,” I mention as we turn around and I walk us both up the stairs. Her legs are wrapped around my waist as her lips trail across my jaw and down my neck in slow, sensual kisses.
Once we enter my room, I walk to the edge of my bed and sit her down on it. Her eyes stay focused on my own as she leans back on her elbows. “Can I guess what you have for me?” She asks, her voice pitching a little higher and her words drawing out into longer, sexier sounds.
I narrow my eyes at her when she continues speaking. “Is it long? And hard? Fuck I hope it’s hard.” She’s fucking distracting and I reach forward until I’m holding her neck in my hand. I step on the bed, bracing a knee on either side of her as I push her back to the mattress. “Will you slip it inside of me when I beg for it, daddy? Will it even—”
“Hush,” I grind out as I suck her bottom lip into my mouth and bite down. She moans, writhing beneath me as I grind my cock against her pussy. I pull away, breaking our kiss. “Listen to me first, and then I’ll reward you by fucking you exactly how you need it, greedy girl.”
She takes a slow and intentional breath, as she attempts to reign herself in. I fucking love that. Love that she has to work to hold herself together. “Okay,” she says as I release my hold on her and step back off the bed. She sits back up and watches as I slip my hand into the back of my slacks and pull out the object I had Lucifer and Esme create earlier.
Her eyes widen just slightly as they fall to my hand and back up to my face. It’s a ring, one I had made from a particular diamond. It’s a raw blend of darkness and light. The actual diamond has flecks of black, creating a beautiful piece that represents Stella perfectly. I took her choker earlier, the one that Leon had bound with protection by Esme during her projections. I’ll give it back, but I want her to know that this piece is what’s bound with the spell now. And I have a similar band that holds the same magic as well. We’re both protected through our travels, and we’re both unified through our Fated and blood bonds.
“Nathanial,” she says quietly, but her blood pulses with anticipation as she shoots up and shifts to sit on her knees. Her loose hair bounces around her shoulders and her body vibrates with anticipation. I reach out to take her hand and slowly slide the ring on her fourth finger.
“It’s only ever been you and me. It’s only ever going to be you and I in the future. I love you. I love how wild you are, how your mind runs freely with unrestrained ideas. I love how you don’t hold anything back, you fucking call me out when I need it and you push me farther when I want to refrain. But I love your cautious mind as well, the parts of you that place everyone else above. The way you overthink situations until you know, without a doubt, what you want to do.” I step towards her again, placing my hands on either side of her jaw as I turn her head so that I can speak into her ear. “I love the filthy things that come out of that dirty mouth, the way you submit and take everything I give you. I can’t get enough of you, I never will.”
“I love you too,” she replies quietly as she wraps her arms around my neck and drags me down to the bed on top of her. Her legs fall wide open and her mouth crashes to mine frantically. We lose control, tearing everything apart within each other. “Everything about you, all that you are, both the Angel and the Incubus. How you take control speaks to me in ways nothing else can. Your Incubus is the ultimate match for my Succubus, but you, Nathanial, are everything I could ever hope to have in my other half.”
She’s good. She’s flawless, and I feel everything we’re saying, every word we convey through our voices is reflected in our blood as well. I swallow her sounds as I roll my hips into hers, letting my cock grind and push against her pussy. She’s in a large, thin t-shirt, and silky pink shorts now that she’s changed after last night. I threw on a new pair of slacks and a comfortable black shirt that clings to my chest and tapers down my waist. But now, all I want to do is rip these clothes off of her, tear my own off so that I can feel her flesh pressed hotly against my own. I lean back and quickly pull my shirt over my head before falling back down and keeping my eyes trained on hers.
I drop a hand in between her spread legs, grazing a finger across her pussy and can already feel how wet she’s become. I love watching her while I touch her. Shifting down, I growl into the space at the base of her neck before biting, “So fucking wet for me. Only for me,” I say, possession taking over my tone and thickening the tension between us. “Say it.”
“Only for you,” she says breathlessly. Her heated body is writhing beneath me, her hands moving frantically across my shoulders and down my chest. “I’m yours.”
A spark of both excitement and the need to dominate her rushes through my limbs and my other hand quickly darts forward to grip her wrists tightly. I yank them up and above her head, pulling her body tight, stretching her out while her back naturally arches in response.
God, her eyes drift closed and everything in her immediately relaxes into my touch. It’s a messy mix of excited need and succumbing to the waves of dominance I unleash around her. She wants it, I feel it as it sparks our blood and dances under our skin. She also drowns in it, letting it fill her mind and her Succubus takes over.
I reach over where my bedside table sits and grab a black tie I had resting there from a few nights ago. The urge to string her up and keep her at my mercy overwhelms my senses as I watch her. Images flash through my mind, her legs open wide, her soft body bared before me, those pert pink nipples hard and begging for attention. But I slip the tie in my back pocket before I drop my hand to her jaw and hold her tightly.
“Open your eyes,” I order, and I watch as the corner of her mouth slips into that absent
smile I love so much. But she doesn’t obey, of course. No, my greedy girl likes the fight. “Open your fucking eyes and look at me.” I squeeze even tighter, enough to cut through her air supply just as she tries to suck in a breath. Her eyes immediately fly open, and I’m met with everything I hoped to see in them.
They’re white, that sexual, milky ghost that reveals exactly how I’m affecting her. She’s giving me something special, the ability to control her, to revel in the added intimacy she offers.
I lift my thumb and brush against the thin skin under her gaze, letting my eyes do the same and slipping into the familiar high we share together. “I love this,” I say quietly, as I lean down and take her mouth once more in a quick break of a gentle touch. But just as she melts below me, I suck her bottom lip into my mouth and scrape my teeth along the swollen flesh before pulling away and meeting her eyes again.
“Do not move your hands, do you understand?” I say, letting my tone fall back into that hard space between us. Her blood flashes with desire and she nods her head in acknowledgement.
I release my hold on her hands, watching for a moment in order to make sure she obeys. When she does, I drop my hands to her waist, trailing down until I reach the waistband of her shorts and slip my fingers inside them. I lift my eyes to hers, but she’s watching my movements, her gaze trained on my hands as I slowly drag them down her legs.
Her breaths pick up speed and her chest rises and falls in quick intervals. I love the sight of it, and her nipples are hard pointed tips pressing against the fabric of her white tee. “Spread your legs, baby girl.” My voice drops lower, into a husky sound as my cock throbs underneath my slacks. I’m raging to be inside of her, but I want to draw this out, savor these moments between us.
She pauses, and her legs tense before she slowly pulls them apart and exposes herself to me. “That’s right, just like that. Wider, Stella. Show me how wet you are.” She whimpers at the command and her body responds with electricity. Every part of her is pulsing in our blood, and I can see how slick she is as she bares her sweet pussy for me. I drop my hand, spreading her even farther apart as I watch her, taking in every glorious inch of her. I brush my thumb against her clit, pushing down until she whines and rolls her hips against my hand.
“Please,” she begs quietly, and I know what she wants. She’s feeding from this—we both are—but she needs more. More dominance, more of me, more of this wildfire that blasts through us.
“Not yet,” I say as I slip two fingers inside of her, stretching her immediately as she sucks in a harsh breath and pulls away for a brief second. But I use my other hand to grip her hip and drag her back down, pushing even farther inside of her until I’m finding that spot deep inside of her. “I’m not finished playing yet.”
Her hands fall to grip my wrist as I pump my fingers inside of her, slipping all the way out before sliding back in again. But as soon as she makes contact, I pull out and halt her pleasure, pushing her hand away and then gripping her knee in my hold. I pull her leg across the front of me, so that her waist is twisted and the side of her ass is exposed. I slap it, my own cock pulsing at the sight of the pink hand print I’ve left behind. My mark, my point of declaration on her flesh. She yelps, and then moans as her back arches and her ass pushes out even further. She wants more of it. “I told you to keep your hands above your head, Stella.”
I intentionally draw out my movements as I unbutton my slacks and slip my hand into my briefs. I grip my stiff cock at the base and begin pumping it slowly, watching as Stella’s eyes drop to the action. I lean forward, pulling my cock free so that she can see while I stroke myself and whisper into her ear. “Now if you’re a good girl, I’ll give you this. I’ll make you come on my cock while I fuck you. I’m going to tie you up, make sure you don’t move your hands again. But if you fight, if you try to move them anyway, I’ll get off without you and make you watch the entire time.” Her breaths are racing, the hot air brushing against my jaw while I speak. I can feel her heart hammering in chest and throbbing through our blood at every heated word I utter, every authoritative command I give.
I release my cock and reach behind myself for the tie before sitting back and straightening myself above her body. I drop a hand to her stomach as I grip the hem of her shirt and tug it up, just above her breasts so that I can expose her fully to me. I lean forward and can’t help but drag my tongue across one of her nipples, taking a taste of that hard tip before sucking into my mouth and listening to her seductive moans.
Fuck, she gets me. She’s under my skin and in my bones. She’s woven through the strands of my DNA now, and I can’t ever get enough of her.
I sit up and immediately reach for her wrists again, wrapping the thin fabric of my tie tightly around her before pulling up and through the knot I’ve created. Yanking her hands up higher, I stretch her arms farther up the wall where I then anchor my own fists. I drop my lips to her ear as her breath catches in her lungs. There’s a fire exploding between us and I feel it radiating off of her skin and pouring through my own. “Are you going to be a good girl?”
“Yes, I promise. I will,” she pants as I roll my hips into hers and drag my cock along her core.
“Fight, and I won’t let you come, understood?”
“Yes, yes. Please, I need you.”
I pull back for a second, aligning myself with her opening before roughly thrusting into her in the next moment. She immediately stretches for me, and the cry that slips from her lips is loud and addictive. I crave those sounds and the feel of her body melting with my own.
“Shit, Nathanial. Harder,” she begs and I give her exactly what she wants. I pull back and grip her hip tightly as I slam into her again, shifting her up the bed as we move against each other. My hold on the tie tightens and I drag her hands farther up the wall with each movement, pulling the binds tighter so that they’re biting into her flesh and leaving her skin red where held.
“Come, Stella. Show me what only I can fucking do to you,” I grind out the words as I drop my forehead to hers, listening to every breath she takes, every sound she makes while I thrust into her. The words I say act as a trigger, the last push she needs to fall over the edge of her orgasm. Just as she breaks apart, I take her mouth once again, swallowing everything she gives me as I find my own release and spill inside her. Her pussy clenches around my cock, pulling everything out of me while we ride the wave together.
My hand relaxes as I release my hold on the tie and pull her hands down from the wall. I slip out of her, sitting up as I shift to the side and use the bind to pull her on top of me so that she’s straddling my waist. She’s silent as she watches, and I pull her bound hands in front of my chest. I slowly release the knot, pulling the fabric away from her skin and drag my eyes across her marked flesh. “I love this,” I admit, as I graze my thumb across the reddened marks and slowly bring her wrists towards my lips. “Every mark I leave on you, every brand that makes you mine.” I press my lips against her hot skin, kissing each intentional place the fabric bruised.
“Everything you do to me, I want,” she whispers as her eyelids fall heavy and she eyes my movements. I feel the desire blooming through her blood. These intimate moments are just as potent as the darker avenues we like to play in. “I crave it, just as I crave everything about you.”
I pull her on down on my chest as I drop the tie to side of the bed and wrap my arms around her waist. I press a kiss to her lips as we surrender completely to each other. Our bond overflows with love and passion as we come together in a powerful collision—finding a home within each other. Finally.
My heart is on a constant stream of hammering in my chest when Nathanial’s around. He did fuck me like I wanted him to, and I drowned in every sensation I was feeling with that flawless ring resting against my finger. It’s a large speckled diamond, and he told me why he chose that specific kind. The fact that he knows me so well is something I will never get used to.
“They’re both bound with the magic we nee
d to protect us while we travel,” he says as he trails his hand down my waist and over the swell of my ass. We both lay in his bed, completely naked while we catch our breath.
“It’s perfect,” I say as I lift my hand to look at the rose gold band that builds and twists beautifully around the peppered diamond. Nathanial showed me his as well, and I slid it on his finger, sharing this moment with only each other. It’s exactly how I would have wanted it. I don’t care much for weddings, neither myself nor my sister ever really have. But I care about having this time with him, these private moments that we continue connecting through.
He was right about everything. It’s only ever been him, it’s only ever going to be him in my future. We’re bonded through something so intricate and vulnerable. We’re literally written in the universe, designed for each other alone.
Nathanial glances at the clock behind my head and gives me a wary smile. “Time to go, baby girl.”
We both climb out of bed and get dressed. I choose to wear a pair of black jeans, paired with a tight, deep purple crop top. It has long sleeves and a strappy bottom portion that wraps around my waist and ties on the side. Nathanial surprises me by sliding on a pair of white, distressed jeans. My eyes fall down to his strong thighs, where the denim clings snuggly down his legs. He’s sliding his heavy arms through the long sleeves of a black button up. It’s a different fit, something a little more casual as it hangs a bit looser around his broad chest. But when he slides his fingers to the buttons, he only clasps the bottom two and tucks the ends into his jeans.
Fucking hell. It’s hot. His shirt falls open over his golden chest and he adds the final piece by sliding a brown belt through the loops of his jeans before putting on his shoes.
“Are you trying to keep me home?” I ask as I walk towards him and lean up on my toes. His hand slides around my waist and then falls to slap my ass.
