Carved (The Road to Hell Series, Book 2)

by Brenda K. Davies

  “I snapped. I’m not saying it won’t happen again. It will if your life is at stake,” he said. “And I will not hesitate to do it again. Not for you. But I will not do it with such haste again, and I will not kill a human unless it is necessary.”

  I remained unmoving, unsure of what to say or do. He was overbearing, bossy, impatient, and vicious, but he did care for me. And I had lost my heart to him before I’d even realized it. I was bound to him in some way I could never explain and couldn’t deny.

  “What if Lucifer somehow gets a hold of me, and don’t say it will never happen. It could. What then?”

  “Then I will do everything I can to get you back.”

  “He must be stopped.”

  “I know.”

  I seized his hand, drawing his eyes away from my lips and back to me. “No matter what it takes, he must be stopped.”

  His hand squeezed mine. “I will do whatever is necessary to put back to right what Lucifer and the humans have destroyed.”

  “Including sacrificing me.”

  I could feel the fury vibrating through him as his muscles bulged before me. “I will do what must be done. There are thousands of demons depending on me, fighting for me. They have been for over fifteen hundred years. I won’t let them down.”

  I rested my palm against his cheek, relishing in his flesh beneath my hand. My body reacted as if it had been starved and was finally being sated as it jerked toward him and golden-white sparks of life danced over my fingers.

  “I will defend your life with my own, River,” he grated.

  “I’m scared of what I could become.”

  “I know, but I’m not.”

  I didn’t argue with him further. I couldn’t. He believed in me and I believed in him.

  My hand pressed more firmly against his cheek as he held my gaze. A wetness spread between my legs as my starved body prepared itself for what it had been lacking. Him.

  Growling low in his throat, his hands settled on my waist and he dragged me against him, sleeping bag and all. His teeth bashed against mine when his mouth claimed my lips in a brutal assault. I eagerly welcomed him as our lips ground together and my mouth opened to the demanding probing of his tongue. He swept past my lips and into my mouth to taste me in deep, penetrating thrusts that had me nearly going out of my mind with need.

  Too long. Denied for far too long.

  I needed him and the rush of life and power he brought to me. Needed him inside of me, claiming and marking me again. The sensuous dance of his tongue entwining with mine had me tugging at his hair and grinding against his erection like a wild woman.

  Yes, we’d both been starved, and I didn’t care how brutal it was. I wanted him inside of me so badly I found myself pawing at his back and chest. Grabbing hold of my sleeping bag, he jerked it back. I didn’t know if the zipper came undone or if he simply tore it apart, and I didn’t care. The night air brushing over my skin did nothing to cool the ardor growing within me.

  A mewl escaped me when he pulled back, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke. “No going back, no denying me. If we do this tonight, River, I will never let you go again. Ever.”

  His amber eyes searched mine as savagery radiated from him. I couldn’t catch my breath, couldn’t think. I knew he meant those words, knew if I tried to escape him again, he would never let me walk away. If I tried to, I may become the thing that destroyed the man he was now and turned him into something far more savage and uncaring, like Lucifer.

  But could I throw myself into this? Could I push aside all doubts and worries and give myself over completely? Then I recalled Corson’s words to me right after I’d separated myself from Kobal. “Will you survive without him?”

  The answer now had been the same as it was then, no.

  This powerful bond between us, our uncertain future, and Lucifer’s words all frightened me, but I couldn’t continue on without him. He was a piece of me.

  His eyes became distant, and his hold on me eased as he started to draw away from me while I tried to put everything together. “I won’t ever tell you to go again,” I whispered.

  His body thrummed with tension before something within him seemed to unravel completely. The harsh sound he released reminded me of an animal defending its mate. My fingers curled into the thick muscles of his broad back when he leaned over me, dragging me against his chest.

  His hands were curling in my shirt. Seconds before he tore the front of my shirt open, exposing my flesh to his hands, I recalled I’d started to strip before going to him to save my clothing. I’d slept with my bra on in case we had to move fast from here. He didn’t bother with trying to find the clasp before slicing the front open with one of his claws.

  I sucked in a breath, arching toward him when he pulled his mouth away from mine to greedily lick and knead at my exposed flesh. I squirmed beneath him, my body begging for more, seeking release from the overwhelming sensations crashing through me. I considered myself mostly human, it was what I knew best after all, but in his arms, I was something completely inhuman. Something uninhibited and primitive.

  My nails raked down his back. He lifted my hips into the air and thrust his erection against my center in a way that had my breath coming in rapid pants and my body bucking uncontrollably beneath his.

  His tongue laved my nipple, swirling around it before sucking it eagerly into his mouth. He pulled on it as he nipped it with his teeth.

  “Kobal!”

  I had to be put out of my misery, but I never wanted this wondrous torment to stop. As he released my nipple, I felt the scrape of his four fangs against the sensitive flesh of my breast before he bit. A shriek of bliss caught in my throat as waves of pleasure battered my body. My hands scrunched in his hair, holding him closer as he marked me as his again. I didn’t realize how badly I’d missed this claiming until my entire body cried out in relief and bliss.

  He released my breast before biting down on my shoulder and then my neck. My nails raked over his back again, causing him to moan. Turning my face into his shoulder, I didn’t resist the impulse to bite down. I clamped onto his flesh to once again mark him for everyone to see. I was going to orgasm just from the taste and feel of him as the tension within my body coiled higher and he ground against me.

  His hands tore at my pants, ripping the button and zipper away as he shredded the cloth from me. “Harder,” he snarled in my ear. My teeth clamped down on his shoulder more as he pulled aside my ruined clothes to bare me to him. “Harder, River.”

  I felt his hands tugging at the button on his pants and then heard more cloth being torn away. I bit deeper into his flesh, spilling his blood. The hot influx of it filled me, seeping into my body.

  CHAPTER 8

  Kobal

  I couldn’t control myself as her luscious breasts molded against my chest and her small teeth punctured my flesh. I could never forget how amazing it was to have her in my arms, but the sights and sounds of her overwhelmed me. The scent of her had me on the verge of coming as I slipped my hand between her thighs.

  The black curls shielding her sex were already wet with her wanting for me as my fingers slid over the delicious heat of her. “So wet,” I breathed against her ear. “For me.”

  Her bite on me eased, causing my hands to entangle in her hair as I held her closer. “Only for you,” she panted against my neck.

  I pulled her head back to expose the delicate column of her throat. Striking, unable to control myself, I sank my fangs into her at the same time I thrust a finger into her tight, hot recesses. A cry escaped her as she ground more demandingly against my finger. Stretching her further, I slipped another finger inside her to better prepare her for me.

  Her hands slid between us, her fist wrapping around my rigid dick as she stroked upward, causing my hips to surge forward within her grasp. I wanted to draw this out, to make it last for hours, but if she kept doing that, I was going to spill all over her lithe body.

  Sparks of life danced across her fi
ngertips, lighting the night as they burst over my skin. I withdrew my fangs from her neck to watch her as the sparks illuminated her pretty features and the exquisiteness of her amethyst eyes staring dazedly back at me. I’d encountered many beautiful women in my extensive life, but all of them paled in comparison to River with those sparks playing over her face and bathing her in an ethereal light.

  She was mine. She was where I belonged and always would. I thrust forward again, driving my fingers deeper within her. Bending my head, I swirled my tongue over one of her taut, dusky nipples, relishing in the gasp she emitted.

  “Kobal!”

  My name on her lips caused me to shudder. Her thumb rubbed over the tip of my dick, spreading the bead of moisture forming there across the sensitive surface. My cock jerked in her grip, aching for release. I could explore her body for hours again later. Right now, I had to be inside of her before I lost complete control of myself.

  ***

  River

  “I have to be inside you.”

  His words barely registered in my dazed mind before his fingers were slipping away and he was pulling his shaft from my grasp. His hands curled into my skin as he lifted my hips. I felt the head of him against my entrance before he thrust his hard, thick erection into me and his body took possession of mine.

  Home. I was home again.

  I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think beyond my need for him and the ecstasy rocking through me. Why had I ever denied us both this? Why had I ever wasted one second not being with him?

  I couldn’t recall now as my heart swelled with love and my muscles grasped greedily around the heavy length filling me until I couldn’t tell where he stopped and I began. He was a part of me, and I was a part of him. Reacting on instinct, I sank my teeth into his shoulder again and licked over the saltiness of his skin.

  My hands grasped at his firm ass as he pulled back before driving into me again. I let go of my hold on him, inhaling greedy gulps of air as I became caught up in the tempest of our reunion. I was so close to finding the release I’d been denying myself, so close to the edge.

  A mewl of disappointment escaped me when he abruptly pulled out of me. Lifting me up, he turned me over so I was on my hands and knees before him. My fingers dug into the cool earth as he knelt behind me and nudged my knees apart. Taking hold of his shaft, he guided it to my entrance once more and thrust into me again.

  The flow of life beneath my hands and the feel of him within me, caused more sparks to fire over my fingers and hands. Their glow spread to my wrists as he encircled one arm around my waist to keep me up when my arms almost gave out.

  I couldn’t breathe. I was too consumed by the sensations rioting through my body to think of anything beyond how right this felt. He took me with a savagery I’d never experienced before, and I loved it. I craved his ownership of my body right then more than I wanted my next breath.

  Fisting my long hair in his hand, he leaned back, pulling me off the ground so that my back was against his chest as he continued to drive into me. His other hand wrapped around my throat, holding it loosely in his grasp while he pinned me against him. My fingers dug into his arm as his next bite caused fresh waves of pleasure to radiate through my body.

  Releasing his bite on my neck, his breath rasped against my ear when he rested his lips there. “Are you ready to come for me, River?” His fingers tightened on my throat. His other hand slid between my legs to brush teasingly against my clit. My hips surged toward his fingers as he relentlessly pumped in and out of me. “Are you?”

  “Yes!” I panted, out of my mind with the need for release.

  His fingers stroked over me as he continued to thrust into me. I fractured, my body coming completely apart as waves of ecstasy crashed through me and my limbs went weak from my orgasm. Behind me, he again sank his fangs into my shoulder before abruptly pulling out of me. Against my back, I felt the hot brand of his semen lashing my skin.

  His breathing was ragged when he released his bite on me, buried his face in my neck and inhaled. I wanted his release inside of me, to feel him filling me, but no matter how badly I wanted it, I knew it was a bad idea. He hadn’t spilled inside of me since our first time when we’d both agreed getting pregnant right now would prove disastrous.

  A shiver went through me when he sat back and the night air brushed over my flushed skin. Grabbing a ruined piece of clothing, he tenderly cleaned my back off before dragging me down to the ground and enveloping my body with his. He tugged the sleeping bag around us both and rolled over to cushion me against his chest.

  “I was too rough with you. Did I hurt you?” he inquired.

  “No you weren’t. I… that was amazing,” I breathed.

  His fingers trailed up my arm before resting on one of his bites on my neck. “I meant what I said, I won’t let you leave me again.” His voice was ragged and hoarse against my ear, and his arms tightened around me as he pulled me closer.

  I ran my hand over his sweat-slickened flesh. “I know. I won’t try to leave you again, but that doesn’t mean I won’t fight you on some things.”

  His breath tickled my neck when he chuckled. “I’d never expect you to stop standing up for what you believe in.”

  “Good.”

  “We’re just getting started tonight, Mah Kush-la.”

  Hearing his endearment for me, meaning my heart in his own language, caused warmth to pool through me. It had been far too long since I’d heard him say it. “I certainly hope so.”

  I felt him lengthen against my thigh before he slipped into me again.

  CHAPTER 9

  Kobal

  “You really have to stop ruining my clothes.”

  I glanced over at River as she held her shredded shirt and torn bra before her. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t wear anything,” I admitted with a smile.

  Her head tilted to the side as she placed her hands on her bare hips. “You’d prefer it if I walked around naked in front of everyone?”

  My smile vanished at the idea of anyone other than me seeing her body. My admiring gaze ran over her full breasts and flat, faintly muscular stomach. Her rounded hips were enticing, but not nearly as enticing as those black curls shielding her sex from me. And those thighs, I grew hard simply thinking about spreading those thighs and dipping my head between them to taste her. She was toned from all of her training, but still curvy and her stamina nearly matched my own.

  “No one else will see you,” I told her.

  “Well, that is what’s going to happen if you keep ruining what little clothing I brought for this journey.”

  “Good point.”

  “I’m going to need some clothes from the truck.”

  “I’ll get them.” I walked over to kiss her forehead. My eyes closed as I inhaled her delicious scent and pulled her against me. I hated this vulnerable, unfamiliar feeling within me. I was leading her toward her possible death and all I wanted was to protect her from any harm.

  She was mortal, but she didn’t have the same frailties as most humans. She had more lethal power within her than many of the demons I’d encountered over my extensive life, but she could still be killed with a single blow. I could end her mortality, take away her biggest vulnerability, but at what cost? What would she become if I turned her? Would she even survive it? Would she even want to try to become an immortal once she learned the risks?

  They were questions I wanted the answers to, but I wasn’t willing to put her in the position of answering them now. When this was over, I would discuss it with her.

  “Kobal, I’m naked.”

  “I know.” My hands slid over her hips toward her thighs.

  “We have to get moving.”

  “We will.”

  She laughed and took a step back. “Now.” I went to take hold of her again but she danced beyond my reach. “They’re going to come looking for us soon if we don’t get moving.”

  I groaned in frustration, but she was right. Searching the surrounding forest, I
scented for any hint of a threat, but all I detected was the wildlife creeping through the underbrush and the birds flitting through the trees. Satisfied it would be safe to leave her here, I lifted her sleeping bag and draped it around her shoulders before kissing her nose. “I’ll be right back.”

  It took only a few minutes to gather her clothes and some breakfast for her before returning to her. I watched her dress then handed her the food. She eagerly ate the apple and beef jerky before rising to slide her holster and guns around her waist and buckling it there.

  Almost everyone else was gathered around the vehicles when we exited the woods. I kept my hand on her elbow as I led her toward where Sue stood by the passenger door of the truck.

  All of the humans’ eyes followed us, but none of them spoke or whispered like they had when I’d first claimed her as mine. And there was no denying I’d claimed her again. We both bore the marks on our necks for them to see.

  “I’m going to have you drive, Sue,” I said when we reached him and I handed out the keys.

  “Hawk,” he said and took the keys from me.

  I didn’t acknowledge his correction before turning to River. “Ride with him.” A muscle in her jaw twitched when her teeth clamped together. I forced myself to add, “Please.”

  She relaxed a little. “What about you?” she inquired.

  “I’m going to walk through the city with the others. There are too many places for something to hide amongst those buildings. We’ll be ready in case of an attack.”

  “I’ll walk with you.”

  “I’d prefer it if you didn’t.”

  “I’m stronger than you think,” she insisted.

  “I know.”

  “Then let me walk with you.”

  My eyes fell to the marks on her neck, the four sets of imprints from where my upper and lower fangs had sunk into her repeatedly. Mine. My initial impulse was to tell her no and order her into the truck, but that would only earn me her lethal stare and the cold shoulder. She’d just returned to me; I didn’t want to risk losing her again, but giving in to her went against every instinct I had to protect her.