Angel of Distrust

by Tabitha Barret

  “I will always fondly remember our time in the shower, but yes, I supposed we can make another memory here,” he laughed.

  She was excited to have the use of her hands to touch him freely. She took a moment to look at his hard body in the sunlight. Gone were his pale skin and dull eyes. He was perfectly tanned and muscled, just the way she liked him. The unique shade of his eyes was made more brilliant in the bright daylight. He was watching her every move, hungry for her.

  “The sight of you naked is killing me. I need you, Anjali,” he said.

  She wiggled her hips and took her time bending over to spread out the towel on the deck.

  “You are the devil,” he hissed through his teeth.

  “No,” she said over her shoulder, “But I am more wicked than he is.”

  Laying down, she taunted him by fanning out her hair and spreading her thighs for him. She reached down between her legs and slowly rolled her fingers over her nub and up and down her slick skin. His eyes raptly took in the sight of her fingers stroking her body. His lids were hooded and his mouth was open slightly. His hard body was locked in place, unwilling to move an inch while he stared at her.

  “These are all the places that need attention, in case you forgot,” she said in all seriousness.

  He shook his head. “I have never forgotten how to please my love,” he said in a deep voice, expressing his desire.

  He knelt down and placed his hands on either side of her head. Feeling his hard body against her thighs helped to chase away all her fears and doubts in making him a Nachtghul. She pushed her hands into his dark hair and pulled his face down so that she could nibble on his lower lip.

  Groaning, he pressed his lips to hers and kissed her uncontrollably until they were both panting for air. His tongue lapped at her mouth and drove her mad. She felt his hand slowly move up her leg until he reached her apex. His fingers slid inside of her and rubbed an area deep inside of her that made her body jerk. She gasped having never felt anything as intense before.

  He chuckled darkly. “I know every place on your body that craves attention, my darling.”

  She nodded, unable to speak, as she was lost to the pleasure spiking inside her.

  He shifted his hips and plunged his stiff shaft into her, eliciting an intense orgasm. Clinging to his shoulders, she held on as he moved faster and deeper into her body. All the stress and trauma from the past days were forgotten as he pushed her higher and higher toward ecstasy.

  “You are so sexy, my love; I can’t hold out for much longer,” he panted.

  “If you pinch my nipples, I can help you finish,” she groaned. Her body still ached for his touch. She had watched him die in her arms and needed to be reminded that he was still with her. She wanted to be touched by him in every possible way to help dispel the feeling of his cold, limp body in her arms. She needed to feel his warmth against every part of her.

  He adjusted his arms and leaned down to take one of her nipples between his calloused fingers. He moved his body slightly to reach her, but in doing so, found the perfect angle to please her. His shaft and fingers moved in time with each other to create a powerful sensation that make her throw her head back and scream.

  Unable to take anymore, her body clenched his tightly, throwing them both over the edge. He yelled and called her name to the sky, startling a flock of birds flying over the cove.

  Out of breath, he kissed her nose and fell onto the deck beside her. “You never cease to amaze me. You’d think we’d be tired of having sex with each other after all this time,” he joked.

  She rolled to her side and placed her head on his chest. Playing with his dark patch of chest hair, she laughed. “I do recall there being a few awkward encounters.”

  He burst out laughing and kissed her forehead. “I remember your father walking in on us. He pulled a sword on me and told me that if I didn’t marry you, he would have me strung up in the town square and stoned to death. We were married by nightfall, which was my plan all along,” he said smugly.

  She smacked his chest. “You did not have to ravage me in order to marry me. I know that I was reluctant to give my body to you since we had only recently met, but I probably would have agreed instantly to a proposal,” she said rolling her eyes.

  “I needed certain guarantees. Your father didn’t like me for some reason and I knew he wouldn’t allow us to marry without a good reason, so I gave him one,” he said without remorse.

  “You fiend,” she snorted.

  “You belonged to me and I wasn’t going to let someone, who wasn’t really your father, keep us apart,” he retorted.

  She laughed at his lack of concern for any sense of propriety and social customs. “Actually, I was thinking about the time we met in Ireland. I was daughter to one of the kings and had been taught that sex was a terrible thing. My mother hated my father and only slept with him when forced to. She told me that I would go to Hell if I enjoyed sleeping with a man,” she said. “When the handsome horse breeder’s son came to give me my riding lesson, I had no idea what kind of riding lesson he would give me.” She laughed at Viktor’s boldness that day. He had taken her into the barn and kissed her so thoroughly that she had succumbed to his handsome face.

  “I loved your long red hair,” he sighed. “I can’t help if you looked like you needed to be kissed. You had fallen off your horse and were too upset to continue your lessons. It was my duty to soothe you and make you feel better,” he said wickedly. He caressed her back, lightly running his nails over her skin.

  She bit his chest and frowned at him. “Soothe me? You did such a good job pleasing me that I went home and cried all night because I thought I was going to Hell. I tried not to enjoy you taking me in the hay—twice. My mother thought I was possessed because I wouldn’t stop crying and I wouldn’t tell her what was wrong,” she giggled.

  Viktor’s laughter was music to her soul. This was the Viktor she remembered, the easygoing man who somehow always knew how to make her happy and fulfill all of her desires, even when she didn’t know she had desires. The man desperate to forget her was a creation of Lucifer’s jealousy that needed to disappear forever. She vowed to make sure that no one ever took advantage of him again.

  “I almost forgot. When we’re done here, we need to find a good home for the dogs back at the resort,” she said, tapping his chest with her finger.

  He nodded and smiled. “Yes, your minions nearly gave away my position, but they ran when they heard you coming. I’m sure we can find them,” he said.

  Stretching, she got to her feet and crooked her finger at him, beckoning him to follow her. “I want to enjoy a little more time with you before we return to the horror that is my life. Come with me and I will show you some other perks of being a Nachtghul, before you see the downside.”

  She moved to the edge of the bow and jumped overboard, landing in the sea. She heard Viktor swearing when she hit the water. Coming up for air, she laughed at his perplexed expression. “Come on,” she yelled.

  He appeared nervous, but did as she said and jumped into the water. When he surfaced, he wiped the water from his face and smiled. “I think I will definitely enjoy this life with you.”

  “I hope so,” she replied. She splashed water into his face and swam around the ship toward the shore. “Try to catch me.”

  This was how she wanted to spend time on a deserted island. She wished it could be like this all the time with Viktor, but sadly, this was only a short vacation.

  Chapter 18

  “So let me get this straight,” Anjali said from her Fire and Ice Throne in the Hall of Mirrors. “Calin was bitten by a Shade during a fight with the Shin No Kao, invisible assassins who periodically broke into Hell to free their girlfriend, Luna. Liam figured out how to spot them so that Hades could behead one of them. At the same time, Calin told Derick to go back to the castle so that he didn’t have to be near the Shades. Derick felt guilty for not being able to help so he went to the Hall of Shadows to see if his t
heory was correct about the attack in the cave being a distraction. Derick found a number of the Fallen unconscious and instead of getting help, he engaged the temptress even though Reese was already under her spell and unable to help him if he got into trouble. Derick proceeded to flirt with the bitch and ended up kissing a withered hag. Am I getting all this right so far?” She was furious at her Nachtghuls for putting themselves in harm’s way.

  Liam, Calin and Derick stood before her starting at anything but her. They all muttered their acceptance of the facts as she stated them and nodded their heads.

  Viktor, standing apart from them, tried not to show his amusement at their berating.

  “I wouldn’t laugh Viktor, you managed to get yourself killed yesterday,” she said sternly.

  Viktor looked at the others from the corner of his eye and frowned. “I promised that I wouldn’t make any more deals with the devil,” he muttered.

  She chuckled at his statement. “As for the three of you, Calin was bitten by a Shade, Derick was bitten by a hag and almost run through with a sword and Liam, well, Liam could have lost control of his wolf, but thankfully didn’t. On top of everything, Balthazar, Tristan, Liam and Calin fought both Hades and Lucifer in separate fights,” she said, addressing the second row of men standing in front of her.

  Alazar, Tristan, Balthazar and Haydn bowed their heads as she ran through their list of offenses in her absence.

  “Tristan and Balthazar ignored my orders to leave Alazar to decide his fate and Haydn broke the ‘no tempting of the other Predznak’ rule, but then again, he also broke the rule about not wanting to murder his master,” she huffed. “Alazar’s neck was broken, Tristan was burned by a Celestial Sword, Balthazar’s wrist was broken and Haydn was stabbed through the stomach by Demyan. Is this how you want to be remembered, as angels who died because they were unable to work together to protect each other?”

  Her Predznak grumbled their responses and agreed that they needed to learn to work together.

  “I was gone for how many days before everything went to shit?” she yelled.

  Her men and angels all looked to each other for some kind of excuse or response to her anger.

  “I left to find the Harpy because I believed you were capable of staying out of trouble. I expect more from all of you,” she sighed. “We need to work as a team going forward if we are to survive whatever comes at us next. We need to play to our strengths and where someone is weak, another will step in to provide assistance. I know that the Nachtghuls never expected this life, but the Predznak volunteered for it. I don’t want angels who run off with their own agendas. I want angels capable of working as a single unit, prepared to bring the world to its knees when the time comes,” she said, rising from her throne.

  The Predznak bowed to show that they understood her wishes and the Nachtghul nodded to one another to show that they were willing to work together.

  “Good. Now that I have addressed all the problems, come here and tell me some good news,” she smiled.

  A collective sigh went through both groups as she stepped down to hug her Nachtghuls and checked Calin’s arm and Derick’s neck, which were already healed.

  “I technically saved Hell because I love you too much to be tempted,” Derick chuckled.

  “You have to watch the replay. Derick had Luna panting. I seriously thought he was going to take her on the floor as the Shin No Kao watched,” Liam laughed.

  Calin patted Derick on the shoulder. “He took one hell of a bite. I was proud of him,” Calin snickered. “I’m sorry; I never meant to imply that Derick was weak or useless. I just wanted him away from the Shades. Liam and I have seen his nightmares from when Maraquette used him as bait for the Shades. I was just trying to protect him, but I can see how he misunderstood things.”

  Derick punched his arm. “Well, now we can both kill Shades in our nightmares,” he said pointing to where Calin had been bitten.

  Calin nodded and punched him back.

  “I think I made Lucifer wet himself when Balthazar was about to kill him,” Liam said with a grin.

  Anjali nearly died when Derick showed his perspective of the fight in the Throne Room. “Promise me you will never get that close to Lucifer again,” she said, smacking Liam’s arm.

  Liam winced and winked at her. “No promises. If he hurts you, I will bite him and he will not enjoy it.”

  Alazar stepped forward to grasp Liam’s shoulder. “Next time you decide to attack Lucifer and throw his ass on the ground, make sure that someone takes photos,” he said in all seriousness. He high-fived Liam and patted Derick on the back.

  “Do not encourage them,” Anjali frowned.

  Alazar rolled his eyes. “Balthazar made an actual joke,” he said over his shoulder to Vengeance.

  Balthazar shrugged. “I was watching you get your ass handed to you by Tristan. It put me in a really good mood. Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for Tristan to get up the nerve to seek revenge on you for being a dick to him?” he laughed.

  Alazar sighed and waved his hand at him. “I’m sure you would have jumped in to help him rather than save me,” he replied.

  “Of course I would have, oh Angel of Death,” Balthazar snickered.

  Tristan bumped his shoulder into Alazar’s. “I may be inclined to seek a little revenge. I would check under your bed before you sleep at night. You never know what might be lurking underneath,” he shrugged innocently.

  Anjali pointed at Tristan. “Don’t you dare use your power on him. Any retaliation will be dealt with by me,” she said playfully.

  She listened to her men and her angels talk about their harrowing few days without her and was happy to be home. When she saw Haydn standing off to the side, she went to him and took his hand in hers. He looked upset about something. She had hoped that he would be happy now that the Predznak were learning to get along.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  Haydn frowned. “This is how it was before our power began to cloud our judgement and turn us against one another. I was the first to hate them and separate myself from the pack. Every day was lonelier than the last. I don’t know if I remember how to get along with people and have a camaraderie with someone on a daily basis. I think it will take time for me to adjust,” he said quietly.

  “I understand. Trust me, when each of them joined with me, there was an adjustment period. Consider this something to look forward to,” she said nodding toward the other angels. “No one is going to judge you for taking your time to reacquaint yourself with the Predznak or with Hell. Alazar had a hard time even walking into my room since it invoked memories of Serena. Tristan had to force himself through the Gates of Hell to see me. I was shocked when I saw him enter the Hall of Mirrors without passing out. It will take time and I’m okay with that.”

  “Thank you,” he said. “I think it will be a long time before I can walk into the torture chamber again.”

  Alazar overheard the words torture chamber and came toward them. “Anjali’s room no longer resembles Serena’s torture chamber. It has a plush rug, a coffee table, a couch, a nightstand and an actual comforter. I promise that you won’t even recognize the room,” he winked.

  “That’s sounds nice,” Haydn replied, though it didn’t seem to ease his fears.

  “You should go rest. It’s been a long few days. You should take this time to rearrange your room, if you want,” she suggested.

  Haydn was tense, but smiled respectfully before he bowed and took his leave of her.

  “Do you trust him?” Viktor asked from behind her.

  She sighed and turned to face him. “He was once as lost as you were and he’s made a number of mistakes. Thankfully, he can finally understand the truth of things because his power is no longer influencing his decisions. He’ll be okay, with time. You should have seen how bad off these three were when I found them,” she said, winking at Balthazar, Tristan and Alazar.

  Balthazar shrugged. “I’m making amends. I didn’
t kill anyone while you were away. I even sat in that creepy-ass throne to make sure that no one was stupid enough to overthrow Hell again. I think I deserve a little credit for that. I swear to Heaven above, it feels like the skulls are judging you while you’re sitting there,” he said, crossing his arms.

  Anjali snorted. “While I appreciate you not killing anyone, please refrain from sitting in Lucifer’s throne again. You probably scared the shit out of Malcolm every time he walked into the Throne Room. I should go make sure that he doesn’t need a few days off,” she said sarcastically.

  Viktor pulled her around to face him and pushed the hair from her face. “It will take me some time to figure out how to be a part of your world, my love. I’m still trying to sort out how I can see three separate sections of this room at the same time. Whatever they were doing to keep themselves out of my head earlier, I would appreciate it if they did it again,” he said, referring to having Derick, Calin and Liam’s thoughts and fields of vision crammed inside his head.

  “That was my doing. I didn’t want to overwhelm you since things got a little crazy during your transition,” she said.

  Derick raised his hand and looked at Viktor. “Wait until you’ve been away from her for a few days and only have a connection to her through one of us. You’ll be grateful that you can see her through our eyes,” Derick said.

  Calin stepped forward. “If something is threatening to kill you, all you have to do is tell us where you are and we’ll come kill whatever it is,” Calin shrugged.

  Viktor shook his head and chuckled. “I never thought I would actually get to speak with any of you. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that you would be stuck inside my head,” he frowned.

  Liam laughed. “You’ll get used to it. Oh, and when Derick starts conjugating in Latin, you probably want to help him. I looked up some of the words he was saying, and started finishing the conjugation for him. It helps him to fall asleep faster,” he chuckled.