Speak Thy Name (The Nephilim Book 3)

by Dana Marie Bell

  She could listen to him speak all day, but something told her when to stop him. Too much more and her mortal shell might not be able to hold her any longer. “Stop, Damien. I’m healed.”

  She shuddered as silence fell over the room, heavy and human once more.

  “I’m sorry. I went too far.” Damien’s touch soothed her, brought her back to earth. She was so sensitive after his words that every hair he touched stood on end, reaching for more of him. “Shh. This will pass.” And, to her surprise, he began speaking in other languages, each word whispered into her hair, brushing against her scalp. “Per te farei di tutto, tesoro mio. Giorno e notte sogno solo di te. Sei tutto ciò che voglio. Nei tuoi occhi c'è il cielo.” He lifted her chin and stared into her eyes. “Io sono tua.”

  She gulped, arousal swimming through her. “Will you tell me what that means?”

  His smile was secretive before he took her lips, kissing her with slow, sweet need. He cupped her breast, his thumb caressing her nipple as he continued to claim her mouth. She could taste him, their earlier lovemaking still on his lips. The flavor sent a shaft of need through her veins, her clit throbbing in response.

  When he lifted his mouth from hers it was only to start speaking again, only this time in a different language. “Que mes baisers soient les mots d’amour que je ne te dis pas.”

  Oh. Her heart melted to hear the French words dripping from his lips. There was no mistaking the sound, the beat of the language of love. “Oh, Tish. Speak French to me.”

  He laughed as he rolled on top of her, keeping his weight off of her with his elbows. “I’m Gomez, remember?”

  “Prove it.” She grinned, beyond pleased that he was willing to play a little in bed.

  His legs nudged hers apart, bringing his hard length against her. “There. I poked you with my cigar.”

  “So bad.” She groaned. She arched off the bed, already eager to feel him fill her, complete her. She’d never known that Damien could be such a romantic in bed, but he was fulfilling fantasies she’d barely acknowledged, even to herself.

  He stroked her hair off her forehead. His gaze was filled with something more than affection, deeper than friendship. She didn’t think it was love, not yet. It was too soon to speak those words to each other, but what she saw in his eyes made her believe that there was more to them than she’d dared hope for.

  “Tu est pour moi la plus belle.” Damien slipped inside her, his regard steady as he filled her. His gaze never left her face as he continued to whisper sweet, decadent words to her. “Tu es ma joie de vivre.”

  Was he calling her the joy of his life? She shuddered, wondering what else he’d called her that she didn’t know.

  He continued whispering to her as he thrust, watching her reactions to what he said. He had to be aware of how his voice affected her, whether he spoke French, Italian, or English, because he kept using it, switching languages back and forth. The French came while he was slowly fucking her, building the arousal between them, but it was Italian that poured from his lips as he picked up the pace, making her moan in wanton desire. She arched her back, her nipples brushing against the hairs of his chest. The slight friction teased her senses, adding to the exquisite passion that roared between them.

  “Ti desidero, voglio fare l'amore con te.” Damien began to thrust harder, his expression filled with passion.

  Sam lifted her legs and wrapped them around his hips, silently encouraging him to move faster, harder. She dug her nails into his shoulders, groaning when he hissed. Deep inside, she knew she was marking him, making him hers, her bruises in his skin the only ones that would ever be there again. She pulled him down and began sucking up a hickey on his neck, all the while listening to the filthy things he whispered in her ear. And they were filthy, if the way he spoke through gritted teeth was anything to go by.

  “Voglio scopare te. Sto godendo. Io amo il tuo sedere.” He squeezed her ass cheeks, pulling her even closer to his cock. No longer holding up his weight with his elbows, Damien’s chest was now in direct contact with hers. Her nipples hardened against him as the gentle friction became more. Her breasts bounced against him as he fucked her. She clutched his shoulders tighter, her arms crossed behind his back. She bit down harder on where his neck and shoulder joined, crying out when he jolted in her arms.

  “Fuck, Sam. You’re a dream come true. Io sono tua.” Damien pushed up just far enough that he could kiss her. It was rough, hungry, brutal in its need, and Sam ate it up like a starving woman. The kiss was so fierce it drew blood, whether from him or from her she didn’t care. It just added to the moment, the ferocious, rough desire they’d sparked in each other. The copper taste was like a shot of adrenaline, making her heart race even faster.

  Words finally seemed to leave him, his expression fierce as he fucked her. The tingling that signaled her orgasm, from her breasts to her clit, was driving her insane. The need to come became a brutal demand. Now she was the one who spoke, her words broken by gasps and moans, begging for release from the only man who could give her what her body craved.

  Damien reached between then and stroked her clit, giving her that last little bit she needed to send her over the edge. She gasped as every muscle locked in a brilliant flash of ecstasy that blinded her to everything around her.

  When she came down from her high and could finally see again, Damien was curled up around her, holding her tight. He kissed her forehead. “Sleep, mon ange. We have a busy day tomorrow and you’ll be spending tomorrow night in the security room, waiting for us to come home.”

  She yawned. “Damn straight.” She snuggled up against him, their damp flesh practically fusing together. “We’re going to have a hard time pulling apart in the morning,” she laughed.

  “Hmm. I could get used to that.” Damien sighed softly and soon began snoring lightly.

  Sam closed her eyes and followed her lover into sleep.

  Chapter 24

  By the time Sam made her way downstairs the following day, the house was bustling with activity. Dante and Seth were double-checking weapons. Seth was dealing with the knives and one sword, while Dante made sure all guns were prepped and ready. Zeke and Sasha were setting up air mattresses. The kids were helping, carrying pillows, sheets, and blankets to each one. Piotr and Micah could be heard in the kitchen, checking their supplies. Rafe and Gio were going over medical supplies and complaining that they were low on bandages.

  Damien and Gabriel were quietly discussing their plans for those they found. Sam joined them just in time to hear Gabriel say, “I’ll contact other cells in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Any prisoners we find will probably be from cells in those areas.”

  “And if they’re from farther away, hopefully they’ll be aware enough to tell us.” Damien put his arm around Sam’s shoulders. “Hey, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?”

  She nodded, burrowing into his side. “Yeah, I did.” She smiled at Gabriel, hoping he couldn’t tell that she’d had mind-altering sex the night before. “Hi, Gabriel.”

  The angel smiled. He showed no sign that he saw how thoroughly she’d been ravished. “How are you feeling today? Better?”

  “Yes, much better.” She ignored the smug smile on Damien’s face. “I think I needed something to ground me.” It had helped that he’d continued to whisper in that glowing language, taking her healing even further before making love for the second time. She probably would still be curled up in a ball of pain if not for that.

  She glanced around the room and watched the controlled chaos. “What’s the plan?”

  “Dante, Seth, and I are going to the shelter that houses families.” Damien stroked her arm. “Dante will say that there have been reports of someone lurking around the building.” He opened his mouth, a small frown on his face, then shook his head. “We’ll have someone call it in so that it’s legit. Seth will stay outside to guard for any Shem that might come while Dante and I go inside the building. Dante will be the one who actually checks things inside while
I look for the entrance to that lost space.”

  She frowned. “So does that mean you’ll be the one in the line of fire?”

  “More than likely.” Damien kissed the top of her head. “I’ll be fine. I’ve done this before.”

  “But did you do it surrounded by humans?” Sam frowned. “We need to set up some sort of surveillance system where I can warn you about anything coming at you.”

  He seemed confused by her concerns. “Seth will be flying over the building, keeping watch on the outside.”

  “But no one will be on the inside.” She tilted her head, thinking fast. “I can hack the security systems of all three locations. It’ll take me maybe half an hour if I’m careful not to leave a trace, five minutes if I bull my way through. Then we can set up surveillance through their own systems, keeping watch on both of those inside and those outside the building.”

  Damien shared a long look with Gabriel before responding. “Do it, but take your time.”

  “Have Abby and Beth help you, Sam,” Gabriel added. “You can’t watch all three locations by yourself. Abby can watch Piotr’s team, while Beth can keep watch on Gio’s.”

  Damien turned her toward the security room. “I’ll have to help you set everything up. Excuse us, Gabriel. We’ll be back shortly.”

  Gabriel waved them off, and Damien took her straight into the security room. He stood there, hands on his hips as he looked around. “How do you want this done?”

  Sam began setting up monitors. “Beth here, Abby here, and I’ll be here.” She pointed to each one, leaving the middle one for herself. “We’ll need someone upstairs to watch the children.”

  “I think Gabriel and the dogs are up to the task of keeping Nate and Elsa occupied, and I’d bet he’d love to play with Rose for a few hours.” Damien smiled as he helped her hook up the monitors on stands that could be kept at either standing or sitting height, whichever the girls preferred.

  Sam set her own to her preferred height and took a seat in front of the computer. “When do you want me to start hacking?”

  “When we leave. Let Armageddon deal with any attempts to trace you. So far we’ve had no trouble on that front, but Armageddon can more than deal with shutting them down. You concentrate on us not getting caught.” Damien made an adjustment to one of the stands. “We’ll get earpieces so you can communicate with us. It’ll be through Nephilim channels, so you won’t be traced by that, either. You’ll be perfectly safe in here.”

  “Good.” She turned in her chair. “And I’ll keep watch and make sure you’re perfectly safe as well.” She tilted her head, thinking. “In fact, if what I’m thinking is correct, I might even be able to give you a heads up on what you’re walking into before you even get there. It’ll allow you to change the plan on the fly if you need to.”

  “You think there might be security cameras where they’re holding the Neph?” Damien began to pace, his expression excited. “That’s a great idea.” He stopped, came back to where she was sitting and leaned over her. One of his hands was right by the keyboard, the other was on her shoulder. “Break in now.”

  Sam nodded and began to do what she did best. Soon she was in the zone, finding and dismissing things that weren’t what she was looking for. It took her about fifteen minutes to hack into their system. “Their firewall really needs to be updated,” she muttered.

  “No kidding. That was almost too easy.” Damien reached over and tapped a few keys. “Take a look at this.”

  “Another firewall?” Sam began checking out the system. “There’s a number of them.”

  “And to find what we’re looking for, you’ll have to hack each and every one of them.” Damien cursed softly in a language she didn’t know, but it sounded brutal. German, maybe? “It could take you all night to do this.”

  “Not necessarily.” She began navigating the system, looking for the small holes in the code that would allow her to slip through undetected. “But I’ll have to do this for all three sites.”

  “Then let me take over here and you get us into the next one. By the time I’m done here, you should be in.” Damien pulled her chair away from the computer and toward the laptop. “Get us in, and I’ll have a treat to surprise you with.”

  “Oh?” Sam began working, setting up the male-only shelter’s site. “What might that be?” Oh God, don’t let me lose focus. I can’t remember what we did last night. I have work to do.

  But man, can he make me scream.

  Sam’s cheeks heated so badly she could actually feel it travelling down her neck to her chest. She hunched her shoulders and prayed Damien didn’t notice.

  “I was thinking brownies,” he whispered in her ear, “but we’d both enjoy your idea of a treat much more.”

  She shivered hard, her imagination going into overdrive. “We could do both,” she whispered back.

  “Even better.” He kissed her ear and moved back to his computer. “But first, we have to search and rescue.”

  She nodded, reminded of what they were supposed to be doing. She tried to wrangle her wayward thoughts back to where they belonged, but even as she concentrated on her task she found herself thinking about the feel of his skin, or his scent, or the touch of his hands. It was making her crazy, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.

  There. She’d gotten through the last of the firewalls and so far no alarms had gone off. “I’m in.”

  “Good job,” Damien whispered. “Can you see anything out of place or odd?”

  Sam scanned the security cameras, the setup just as if she sat in the building’s security office. The display was chopped into six screens, the images a little grainy but still in color. There was no sound. “Damn. I’d hoped that said the cameras came with sound.”

  “Can you read lips?” Damien stared at the screens as they flickered between scenes. Some of the rooms showed the inhabitants, some getting medical help, others being fed, still others quietly reading or playing games like gin rummy.

  “Nope. Not in my skill set.” She tilted her head as one of the images flashed by. “Did you see that?”

  “See what?”

  Sam shook her head. “I’m not sure. It went by too quickly, but there was something odd there.”

  “Keep your eyes open. I’ll get Abby and Beth down here and we can get them set up as well. As long as no alarms go off, you should be able to stay in the system indefinitely.”

  “Good idea. Then we can give you a heads up on layout or if you make a wrong turn.” Sam turned away from the screen and puckered her lips.

  Damien delivered, giving her a quick peck. “Be a good girl down here, Sammie.”

  “I will.” She turned back to the screens. “We’ll need the headphones as well. You guys have gamer headphones? They have some of the best noise dampening and mics. This way Beth, Abby, and I aren’t tripping over our instructions to each team.”

  Damien grinned. “I’ll have Beth gather them up and meet you down here.” He raced up the steps. She bet he couldn’t wait to get out there and put the hurt on some Shem.

  She just hoped none of that hurt landed on his very fine ass.

  Sam watched the feed for a bit, jumping when she heard footsteps. “Beth?”

  “Yeah.” Three black pieces of equipment dangled from her hand. “I’ve got the headphones.” She pushed her glasses up her nose, her gray eyes flashing. “I hear we’re going to be command central for the op tonight?”

  Sam laughed. “You’ve been hanging around Dante too much, but yeah, pretty much.” She pointed to the screen she’d been watching. “Keep an eye on this while I set up the communications between us and the guys, okay?”

  Beth grunted but did as she was told. “Is Damien aware you’re doing something illegal?”

  Sam nodded, her flush at having succeeded and pleased Damien fading. “Yes, he knows.” She remembered how against doing anything illegal he’d been when Beth had asked for her help in checking out the Blessing campaign. Sam had done everyt
hing above-board on that one, but she’d more than once been forced to do something not quite legal for clients in order to survive.

  “Can you stop reminding my lover of how much of a jackass I can be?” Damien’s tone was annoyed as he stomped down the steps.

  Beth’s brows rose. “Lover?” She glanced at Sam before returning her gaze to the screens. She plugged in the headphones and placed them down on the desk.

  Her face started to burn with embarrassment.

  “Yup.” Damien put his arm around Sam. “You getting ready to break into the other systems?” His tone completely changed when he spoke to Sam, going from irritated to gentle.

  “Yes.” She was still embarrassed, but Beth was just…Beth. Blunt to the point of rude but loyal till death. “It’s okay, Damien. I’m used to her.”

  Damien shot one more scowl Beth’s way before giving Sam his undivided attention. “What, not done yet, Supergirl?”

  “Pfft.” Her fingers began to fly over the keyboard. “You hack one, you hack ’em all.” And it seemed all of the homeless shelters used the same security software to monitor their cameras, because she found herself in five minutes after she’d started typing. “In. They’re using stable encrypted channels to allow all the sites to communicate with each other. Makes it easier on me to get into each, but sucks for them, ’cause I’m in like Flynn.”

  She moved to the next terminal, ignoring the quiet conversation between Beth and Damien. She was in the zone, her mind totally focused on getting into the women’s shelter.

  She stood up, shoving her hair out of her eyes impatiently. “Done.”

  Damien held out a plate of food. “Here. Eat.”

  She blinked as she took the plate of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. “Is it dinner time already?”

  “Yes. You’ve been so busy you didn’t notice how much time had passed.” Damien picked up her fork and scooped up some mashed potatoes. “Eat, woman.”