Summon Dorn (Archangels Creed)

by Azure Boone

  "Jessie?"

  She rose up on her knees and stared at him with a make all his dreams come true look in her beautiful eyes. "Yes?"

  He swallowed, thinking himself crazy and yet feeling like a genius all at the same time. He switched places with her, putting her on the couch with him between her legs. He took her hand and couldn't stop his silly happy laugh at realizing how much he wanted the insane idea.

  "What," she demanded with a curious smile, laughter in her voice.

  He leaned in and gave her a tender kiss, then locked his gaze on hers, making a deep and meaningful connection before whispering the four words he never dreamed he'd ever say, "Will you marry me?"

  ****

  Everything faded into a haze, but Sally was sometimes aware enough to know there were several other women in the same room, or chamber, whatever it was called. A big area with stone walls, timbered ceilings, and heavy furnishings built in. Light came from oversized wall sconces and hanging oil lamps.

  She'd been moved from where she'd been displayed to the man who declared her worthy of something. Instead of cold stone, she lay on a soft mattress—a feather-bed?—with warm blankets.

  Intent on studying her surroundings, she failed to notice the approach of two nuns until they reached her side. Maybe they were nuns anyway. She'd never seen a habit of flowing white robes. Their faces were veiled but silky black hair flowed to their waists.

  "Come along, Miss. Time to prepare you for His Visit." They each took an arm and hefted her out of the bed. Her weak and shaky legs refused to support her, so they did. She thought of objecting as they led her to an alcove at one end of the chamber, but couldn't summon the energy.

  Fabric ripped, sending a chill down her spine until her plain cotton nightgown fell to the floor at her feet, ripped in half. Sally stood stark naked, but when she moved to cover herself, the women took her hands and stopped her, then guided her forward to step into a big sunken tub. The whole thing should weird her out, but the grogginess plaguing her limbs extended to her mind and emotions. She couldn't bring herself to care what the nuns wanted her to do—well, not enough to argue, or even ask questions.

  Hot water enveloped her, soothing all the aches and soreness of the journey up the mountain. In no time she lost herself to the comfort of the hot bath and scented soaps and gave no further thought to any strangeness in the situation.

  All too soon, the bath ended and she stood drowsy and groggy, while the nuns dried her body and slipped a silky soft gown over her head. They led her back to the bed and tucked her in just as she fell back to sleep.

  A velvety masculine voice rumbled nearby, bringing Sally up through the layers of sleep until she hovered near enough to the surface to open her eyes a slit. At a bed across from her, a naked man lowered a woman onto the mattress. The woman stretched languidly and accepted his lingering kiss with a soft moan.

  The man straightened and moved to the center of the chamber, nearly floating in a loose-hipped stride that emphasized every single exquisite muscle and angle. Smooth skin glowed over a form so perfect it could never exist in reality. Heavy dark auburn hair swung in loose waves to his shoulders, reflecting highlights of every imaginable shade of gold.

  He stood there like a king surveying newly conquered territory. Golden amber eyes missed no detail and sensual lips curved in satisfaction. "My darlings." His velvet voice left no part of her untouched. "I am Kharef. Over the next days, I will visit with each of you for a time." He turned to look toward Sally, his nakedness on proud display.

  Oddly enough, she didn't care that his brazen erection twitched and leaked visibly when his gaze landed on her. Insane heat tightened her belly when he moved toward her, penis leading the way.

  He paused at the side of her bed, his golden gaze almost a physical force. The blanket over her dissolved and her silky gown faded away to nothing. "Beautiful." He trailed one finger across her cheek, down her neck to continue between her breasts and to her belly button. "You, I shall save for last."

  Sally's heart banged against her ribs and her nipples hardened. "Who are you?" Somewhere in the fogginess of her mind, it seemed she should fear him, but she couldn't pin down why.

  "I'm the answer to your every desire, my darling. I will give you unimaginable pleasure." He cupped her breast, rolling the nipple between finger and thumb. "In return, you will give me victory."

  Merciless heat rolled through her body, arching her back off the bed. Any thought of fear fled.

  "That, my darling, is but a hint." He released her breast to slide his hand down her belly and cup her mound, dipping one finger into her folds. "Now be a good darling and rest."

  By the time the waves of a savage orgasm receded from that one touch, leaving Sally trembling and soaked with sweat, he was gone. For the first time since she sipped wine in Connie's office, the thick layer of dryer lint cleared from her mind.

  Panic surged, insisting she run from what felt like some insane nightmare. She struggled to raise her head, but though the fog had cleared from her mind, her muscles remained uncooperative and weak. Only an inch or so off the pillow, her head fell back with exhaustion. A frustrated grunt escaped her throat.

  What was wrong with her? The wine in Connie's office must have been drugged, but Connie had consumed more of it than Sally. And Connie was presumably not flat on her back with some insanely hot guy sending her off the deep end of orgasms with a single touch.

  Whatever that man had done to her was so far out of the realm of normal sex, it was like comparing a kid's pedal tricycle to a Ducati motorcycle, but not in a good way. Sex like that could easily be a lethal thing.

  Now what? She had to find a way out before that man came back for her. Even if she managed to survive an encounter with him, and she wasn't so sure she would, there was more to it. What came afterward? And what kind of man had a convent basically kidnap a bunch of women who wanted to be nuns just so he could screw them? The struggle to put two and two together took a serious toll and left her fumbling for the simplest concepts.

  A harsh noise, like a rhino with a serious gas problem, drew her attention to the other side of the aisle between the beds. Back to the woman who'd been brought back in after her time with… what was his name? …Kharef. The woman writhed on the bed, in obvious agony.

  Sally looked around. Where were the nuns? Surely they wouldn't let her lie there and suffer like that? "Hello? Is someone there? She needs help!" She tried to shout, but her voice refused to cooperate and stayed quiet.

  The woman kicked off the blanket with her restless movements, rolling to her side to hang over the edge of the bed. The woman vomited spasmodically in another round of rhino-farts with a tremendous volley of splashes and plops. She groaned and collapsed back on the bed.

  Sally tried to call for help again, with no better result than before. Maybe she could get over to the woman herself and help. After a monumental battle failed to get her up to a sitting position, she had to abandon that plan. Breathing hard from her exertions, she paused to rest and think. Somewhere out of sight, a heavy door opened and closed and several sets of heels hit the stone floor. Finally! Someone had come to help, thank God. The woman obviously had something seriously wrong with her, possibly even life-threatening.

  The brown robed nun who had taken Diana away when Sally and the others first arrived crossed to the woman's bedside. She conducted a quick examination, then looked back the way she came. "Let the Mother know it's started. Half an hour."

  What had started? And who was the Mother? Before Sally could summon the energy to try and ask, Brown Robe looked directly at her for a moment and gave a very slow, deliberate shake of her head and raised one finger in a gesture for silence.

  Brown Robe turned back to the bed and went to the headboard and flipped a lever. A pair of steel poles slid up out of the side rails. Quick as a striking cobra, Brown Robe grabbed the woman's wrists and slid them into leather straps. The woman tried to struggle, arching to pull against the straps.
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br />   "Bravo, Sister Helen." Sally recognized Sister Connie's voice.

  Connie strode into Sally's line of sight, another nun walking beside her and pushing a wheelchair with a giant blob of a nun

  "Everything is progressing normally?" The nun pushing the wheelchair spoke while she parked the chair and set the brakes.

  Brown Robe finished setting the stirrup back up and pulled the patient's foot in and secured it. "Yes. Twenty minutes now, or less."

  Oh God, what were they doing? This can't be happening, God help me, help us.

  "You do remember the last time? Because you forgot to put more sulfur in the kit?" Connie's angelic smile was all the more disturbing for the context of her words. "Kharef hasn't forgotten, and if something like that happens again, Hellfire will rain directly on us."

  Chapter Sixteen

  Jessie smoothed her hands along her jeans, looking out the passenger window. The city was quiet for the most part during the nerve-wracking drive to the hotel to meet the couple belonging to that red angel. Her heart fluttered when Lucian reached for her hand and drew it to his mouth. The flutter turned to banging the second his full warm lips pressed into the back of her hand.

  She wasn't sure what was more surreal. Her ending up with a guy like Lucian, or joining angels to help save the world. Not just angels. Archangels. She lowered her gaze over his body until it locked on his groin. The memory of her hair getting caught in his zipper flooded her face with heat. Of course that would happen to her. She hadn't been surprised.

  The other memory sent heat rushing through her body. She'd come so close to doing something she'd never tried before. What had gotten in to her? She wasn't a fan of the idea of blowjobs and until Lucian, the very thought had disgusted her. But now, her mouth watered to taste him, to feel the texture of his skin and explore the contours of his body.

  "So deep in thought." His voice made insane excitement dance in her stomach. Deep and silky. God how he affected her.

  She nodded, hoping he didn't ask what she was deep in thought about.

  "Tell me."

  His voice had dropped to sexy secretive and coupled with the idea—complete with mental images—of what she'd been thinking about, cranked up that stomach circus. Okay, now add the tender kisses he was applying to her hand.

  She wanted to pull her hand away from the assault because she didn't trust herself not to attack him. The last time she'd felt like she did at the moment, she'd turned ravenous for him, like literally ready to tear into the man.

  That may be the most surprising aspect of the whole situation. She'd always considered herself to have somewhat normal appetites, even if she did have to satisfy them herself. But with Lucian, she needed to devour all of him and it still wouldn't be enough.

  She sat there, staring at his lips on her hand, mesmerized. They suddenly pulled with a smile and she looked away, realizing they were sitting at a red light and he was watching her.

  Her heart stopped when he leaned over until his face was maybe six inches away. Feeling like she would swallow her tongue, she gave only her eyeballs permission to move and discover what he wanted. Oh God. That look in his eyes, that liquid sparkly thing they did when he was…what he was in that second.

  He drew away slowly and she turned to see if she'd offended him. He was smiling that sexy smile still. Crappers what did that mean? "What?"

  He shook his head and the light turned green. "Atât de timidă și pasionat." The foreign syllables rolled off his tongue in that silky, sexy tone of his that urged her to just go ahead and attack him right there in the car and devour him.

  "What…does that mean?" He must think she was some kind of blathering idiot.

  "So shy and so passionate." His voice vibrated with erotic need.

  She bit her lower lip. "Is that wrong or…bad? To you?"

  He pulled into a parking space at the hotel and turned to her with a huge grin that Jessie couldn't help but return. Made her feel like she'd said something fantastic. This time when he leaned in he didn't stop until his lips covered hers softly. She gripped the door rest and seat with both hands, holding on as he moved those full lips in an achingly soft and sexy slide over hers. The motion was pure erotic and made her blood boil in her ears. She finally gasped for breath and he made a soft appreciative sound, like he'd wanted that from her. Maybe needed.

  "Lucian."

  His lips continued to stroke over hers, teasing satin. "What?"

  A moan was all she could respond with. Lucian deepened the kiss in return, gently pushing her lips open, a deep throated groan accompanying the silky glide of his tongue against hers. Jessie let her fingertips get to know his face as his jaw moved to the artful exploration of her mouth.

  He finally broke away and cool air rushed in, leaving her gasping and feeling like a fish floundering out of water. "Wow," she whispered, amazed.

  He turned the car off and pulled the keys out of the ignition, angling a grin at her. A grin that said he knew just how good it was. And that there was much more that he couldn't wait to do.

  ****

  Lucian was without words. No, not true, he had plenty of words. But the words on his tongue were meant to be whispered in her ear while he drove her crazy with pleasure. He couldn't remember ever wanting anything with a woman so much. But the innocence in Jessie's passion was peeling away the covering over his hard exterior. The one that prevented him from being a whole man. But if he didn't control himself, he'd be too much man all at once, all over her. Although, something told him she would easily be able to handle it.

  Oddly enough, the details of their coupling concerned him far more than the fate of the world. "You ready to meet the other poor humans in this mess?"

  She nodded then did that thing that was fast driving him crazy with desire. She bit her lower lip, sinking those small white teeth gently into the plump fullness. He wanted to take over doing it for her every time. Had the blue angel put some kind of hex on him? Some kind of lust insanity? Surely that would be cheating.

  Before Lucian could knock on the door, the red angel opened it. "Lucian. Jessie, glad you came."

  He reached for Jessie's hand and led the way in. They came to a stop just before the first double bed, nodding at the couple he'd assumed they were to be meeting.

  "This is Troy and his wife Devyn," he welcomed another petite girl under his arm, "and my wife, Karly."

  Wife?

  "By the look on your face," the girl named Devyn said, "we'd better get busy explaining what's going on." She glanced back at the man next to her. "You want to or you want me to?"

  "No, you can."

  "You guys can have a seat on the bed." This from the small blonde haired girl with sky blue eyes tucked under the giant angel's arm. She slipped from his hold and walked off while they sat on the edge of the other bed. The sprite girl returned with two soft drinks and they both mumbled their thanks. The angel had taken a seat in one of the chairs at the small table, looking quite comfortable in his own skin, one foot under the chair, the other leg stretched out before him. Lucian tried not to watch as the girl climbed into the angel's lap, but couldn't turn away from the display of affection he gave this girl, leaning in to stroke her shoulder with his mouth, brows drawn in an agonizing savor. How odd. An angel with a human. Surely that couldn't be good.

  The Devyn girl gave a light clearing of the throat. "So yeah, I'm guessing you're pretty freaked out right now." Lucian and Jessie turned a little to face her. "But we're here to assure you that the sooner you get this over with, the better. And trust me, I know it's totally screwed up to have an angel pop into your life and tell you that you need to…to…"

  "Make love," her husband offered in a near whisper.

  "Well, I wouldn't exactly call it making love since they're practically strangers."

  "I'm just trying to find the least offensive way to present it,"

  "Welllll I just think sugarcoating isn't the best thing in this." Her words matched his careful low tone.


  "It's not sugarcoating, it's simply choosing a less crude term for—"

  "Screwing is not crude Troy, fucking is crude. And making love requires people to know one another, be bound emotionally is all I'm saying."

  "Oh for heaven's sakes," the red angel muttered. "Making love, screwing, it doesn't matter, can we please continue, they're here to be counseled not sit through a vocabulary lesson."

  The girl received the rebuke as well as any street fighter received a punch to the face. "Why can't you back me up for once instead of taking Troy's side?"

  "Honey," the gentle but guarded word came from Karly. "He's not taking either side. You're fine."

  "Just stay out of it, Karly," the offended party snapped.

  The Kassern giant stroked the girl's arm and she seemed to melt back into his embrace, losing the furrow at her brow. "This is the deal again." Kassern's words were uncompromisingly soft with an interrupt and die edge. "There is one power on earth that far surpasses any other we can harvest. And that is the power of a man and woman's union. We need that to create the warriors necessary to defeat the devil who is creating countless beings via human and animal DNA combined with demonic spirits."

  The idea of Satan re-inventing the wheel didn't make a great deal of sense to Lucian. "Why would they bother creating something new? Can't they just take possession of humans?"

  Kassern nodded "Yes, they can, as long as the vessels are willing, even if their cooperation is gained by coercion and manipulation of the human free will. But demons using sinful, selfish humans with free will to organize a take over the world party is a laughable concept."

  "Why don't you guys just destroy all the demons? Surely Archangels could do that?" Jessie's voice remained low, almost timid, and her hand trembled within Lucian's.

  Devyn's husband, Troy spoke up. "Believe it or not, there are actually rules to the whole Good Versus Evil battle." The handsome blond guy leaned on one elbow. "As long as they haven't broken any rules, the archangels can't just fly in and wipe them out. They have to fight them using the same doorway the demons created, and on their battle field, preferably before they get too far."