Redemption (The Keepers of Hell Book 3)

by James, Danielle

  “That man,” Ash said, shaking his head.

  “I like him.” Elizabeth turned to face Ash and draped her legs over his, straddling him. “But I like you more.”

  “Hmmm,” Ash hummed, “Speaking of teeth,” he said, “You seem pale. Are you hungry?”

  Elizabeth grinned and Ash stood, taking her with him. She wrapped her legs around his hips as he walked them both to his bedroom.

  ***

  Jake and Shelly flashed to his sleeping quarters. He let go of her only long enough to make sure the door was locked. “No one is getting in here tonight,” he told her.

  Shelly was standing there with her arms wrapped around herself, as if she were trying to hold it together. And why wouldn’t she be? She had just been through a terribly traumatic experience, and the fact that it was a blur to her only made things worse. “I don’t understand,” she said softly.

  “Shh,” he whispered to her as he took her into the circle of his arms. “Right now, you need to rest.” He led her over to his bed, and the fact that she allowed him to lead her at all was a testament to how shaken up she really was.

  She sat on the bed and tried to clear the confusion from her mind. Her body felt as if she had been standing for days, and in reality, she had been. How long had those humans kept her prisoner? That she had been taken at all grated against her nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard. “How could I have been so careless?” she asked. “Why didn’t I see what was going on? How can humans be so powerful?”

  Jake thought maybe she wasn’t talking to him, exactly, but more as if she were thinking out loud, sorting things out in her head. He let her ask her questions before finally laying back on the bed and pulling her down beside him. “Come on,” he told her. “Stay with me tonight.”

  Shelly started to object, but by the time she had a good argument formed, Jake had positioned her within the crook of his arm with her head on his chest. She could hear the steady drum of his heart under her ear and the sound was soothing. His arm was wrapped around her back and he was holding her close to him, as if she were precious to him.

  She tossed her objections aside and allowed herself the comfort of another soul. Shelly had always been a loner, never trusting anyone too much, but she felt as though she could trust Jake. With her life, as it were.

  There was just something about him that called to her and something that smoothed her rough edges and made her feel things that had been completely foreign to her before.

  Trust was one of those things. Safe. Loved.

  Even if Jake didn’t know it, Shelly knew. He loved her. It was obvious in the way he held her. No one could fake that kind of concern or the kind of protectiveness he displayed for her. In the shelter he provided her from the rest of Hell, Shelly allowed herself to do something she had never done before. She let herself fall asleep in the presence of another.

  ***

  Jake didn’t know how long he watched Shelly sleep before he drifted off himself. He woke a few hours later to the feel of her small hands on his chest.

  She wasn’t being still, either. Her hands were exploring his torso as if she were learning each and every curve of muscle and each follicle of hair that scattered over his chest. Her nails drifted over his skin and gooseflesh broke out all over his body.

  His skin wasn’t the only organ affected by her touch. He had fallen asleep in his jeans and they were becoming very uncomfortable, very quickly.

  He tried to pretend that he was still asleep for fear that she would stop touching him, but when her nail raked over one of his nipples, his sharp intake of breath gave him away.

  “Like that, do you?” she smiled, looking up at his face.

  Jake opened his eyes and found her staring back at him. “I could wake up every day to that sight,” he mumbled.

  “I don’t know about every day,” she said with a smile, “but for today it seems to be working.”

  Jake smiled at her and craned his neck down to kiss her forehead. She pushed up on her arms and fused their mouths together. Her lips were soft on his and she took her time exploring him.

  Jake leaned back and let her. He didn’t want to push anything on her at that moment, so he let her do whatever she wanted to him.

  For the time being, she seemed content to nip and suck at his lips. It wasn’t long before Jake couldn’t be submissive any longer. He reached up and cradled the back of her neck with his hand and drove his tongue inside her mouth.

  Shelly moaned softly and allowed Jake’s tongue to boss hers around. She sucked at him and reveled in the shivers he tried to control. He was hers.

  She moved her body to straddle his and he wrapped his free arm around her, pulling her chest to his own. He could feel her heart beating against her ribs and his own heart echoed the same beat. “I need this,” she whispered in his ear.

  Jake was all too happy to oblige her. He held her tight and flipped their positions so that she was underneath him. In the amount of time it took him to move, the entire dynamic of the situation changed. Jake became suddenly desperate for her.

  He lowered his head to her lips once again, but this time he was not gentle about it. He ate at her like he was starving and she was the river of life. Her mewls and moans were all the encouragement he needed to keep going. He finally dragged his lips from hers and left a blazing trail of hot kisses down her neck and across her collarbone.

  That shirt she was wearing had to go. He pushed up on his arms and then shifted his weight to one hand while the other yanked it up over her head.

  Shelly was happy to help him and sat up just enough to get the shirt off. “Stunning,” Jake said to her as he took in the sight of her breasts in front of him. He paid homage to the soft skin on her chest and to each pink bud that strained toward him, begging for attention.

  Then he kissed his way down her stomach until he reached the barrier her jeans presented. “Gotta go,” he said to the material as he ripped it open and shoved it down her legs.

  Shelly giggled at his antics. She had always been the alpha in any relationship she had, but she liked this caveman attitude he was showing her. She liked that he was desperate for her, almost as much as she was for him.

  Jake split her thighs with his large shoulders and settled on his elbows. He breathed in her scent before lowering his head for a taste of her core.

  Shelly’s hips shot up off the mattress at the first contact and her hands secured his head in place. His tongue teased and tormented her, but it was such sweet torture.

  After he had licked and nibbled and kissed every inch of skin he could find on her, Shelly was finally able to convince him to let her do a little exploring of her own.

  She started at the top, kissing his neck and shoulders, and worked her way down. He was happy to kick his pants off for her and Shelly paused her lick-fest to admire his body. “You are perfect,” she told him.

  “Not perfect,” he argued.

  “You are to me,” she said, and as the words left her lips, she realized how true they were. He was perfect. From his strong arms to his broad shoulders, his tight abs all the way down to his toes, she couldn’t find anything that didn’t make her engine rev. Even his cock, which she held in her hand at the moment, was perfect for her. Shelly looked up his body at his face. “I wish I had some chocolate right now,” she said with a grin.

  Jake picked his head up. “What?”

  Shelly shrugged as her hand tightened around him. “Everything is better dipped in chocolate.”

  “Oh,” Jake said with wide eyes when he realized what she was talking about. “I really need some chocolate right now.”

  Out of nowhere, a bottle of chocolate syrup appeared in his hand and he laughed. “Angels always have what they need,” he chuckled and handed the bottle to her.

  Shelly pushed up to sit on her knees and opened the bottle. With a sly grin, she tilted the bottle on its side and watched with fascination as the thick dark liquid poured out. She aimed for his cock, drizzling the
sweet syrup over him in short lines.

  “Oh, that’s much nicer than I could have imagined,” he breathed as he watched her. He pushed up onto his elbows to have a better view. His whole body jumped when she licked her upper lip. Then, she went in for dessert.

  Shelly licked and sucked at the chocolate, running her tongue along his length and back up again, until there was nothing left but smooth skin that stretched tight over steel. Jake had muttered encouragements to her at first, but eventually, all he was left with was incoherent moans.

  He was loathe to take his eyes off her, unable to wait to see what she would do next. Everything she did surprised him in a way that he couldn’t imagine ever having to live without. He wondered how he had lived without it in the first place.

  She climbed up his body and angled her hips over his erection. “You ready for this?” she asked.

  “More than you can imagine,” he groaned.

  And then she slid her body over his, taking him inside her. Jake was lost to the sensation of being one with this incredible woman. He watched her as her back arched and her hips flexed over him, her head tilted back as she gave in to the pleasure he was giving her with every move of his hips. He was hers to command, but she was his too. He knew it deep inside himself. This demon had worked her way into his heart and made a home for herself there, and he would spend every hour of every day making sure she stayed there.

  As he pushed himself further inside her, Jake gave her all he had to give. He gave her his body, his heart, and his soul. As they made love, and even though he didn’t know how he did it, Jake knew without a doubt that he gave her just a little piece of himself that would stay with her forever, marking her as his mate for the rest of eternity.

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  Jake and Shelly walked into Ash’s office when the heavy doors opened for them. Ash knew they were coming. The pair had been allowed their alone time, but now, it was time to debrief. Ash was sitting behind his desk with a blade in his hand. He had the handle secured in his right hand and the tip was just touching the palm of his left. He was turning it over and over again, as if he were doing it subconsciously to what he was thinking about.

  “Hey,” Jake said as he led Shelly into the room.

  “Have a seat,” Ash said, motioning to the two chairs across from him. This was the man Jake first met. He was serious and menace poured off him. This was the angel that nearly killed Jake when he put his fire out. This was serious. “I won’t get into any niceties right now. We need to know what happened. I need to know everything you remember,” he said to Shelly.

  Shelly straightened her shoulders beside Jake and he slipped his hand over and laid it on her knee to lend her support. “I honestly don’t remember very much,” she admitted to him. “I was summoned and I thought it was you, so I went with it. The rest is just a blur.”

  “You don’t remember anything about your abductors,” Ash said. Not a question. But he had already known that.

  Shelly shook her head. “I think they put a spell on me to make me not remember. I can remember bits and pieces, but that’s it.”

  “Why don’t you tell me what those pieces are,” Ash recommended, leaning forward and bracing his elbows on his desk.

  Shelly eyed the knife he was toying with. The blade was as black as his wings were and the handle was made from bone. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what it was. Any demon worth their own weight knew of it, just very few had seen it. Those who had seen it didn’t live to tell about it. Shelly swallowed hard. “Is that what I think it is?” she asked, staring at the blade.

  Ash plunged the knife down into his desk and allowed it to stand on its own. “It is,” he told her. “The Blade of Darkness really does exist. Now talk.”

  Jake gritted his teeth together. He didn’t know what was so special about this knife and he didn’t care. The fact that it had given Shelly pause grinded his gears and made him want to take her out of there immediately.

  “I remember something about a gate and Balthazar. That’s it, though, I’m afraid,” Shelly said without looking away from that knife.

  “What the fuck is that thing?” Jake finally asked, unable to stand it any longer.

  “The Blade of Darkness is a knife used to kill demons,” Ash told him. Then he turned his attention back to Shelly. “You don’t remember anything else?”

  She dropped her head and shook it. “No, I’m sorry.”

  Ash leaned back in his chair. “We have to assume that they have your blood,” he told her. “You know I really do like you.”

  Shelly nodded but didn’t meet his eyes. Jake watched as the pieces started to fit together. The blade of Darkness… Shelly’s defeated attitude… the sadness in Ash’s eyes… Oh hell no. “Wait just a minute,” Jake barked, standing from his seat so fast that it knocked over behind him. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  “Please sit down,” Ash said quietly.

  “Hell no I won’t!” Jake bellowed. “You’re planning to kill her, aren’t you?”

  Ash looked at Jake with a completely unreadable expression.

  “Answer me, damn it!” Jake demanded, slamming his fists on Ash’s desk and getting nose to nose with him. “You will not touch her!”

  Ash rose slowly from his seat and met Jake’s eyes. Both men had taken on the signature red in their eyes that meant the shit was about to go down in a serious way. “I do not believe you are in any position to give me orders,” Ash growled at him.

  “Fuck that!” Jake snarled, unafraid of Ash’s wrath. “Why would you even consider it? I thought you were good. Why would you punish her for something she didn’t do! For something she had no control over?”

  Ash shoved the desk out of the way and shoved Jake against the wall. “Because they have her blood!”

  “So?”

  “They can summon her again! They can use it for spells. They can control her with it!” Ash shouted in his face.

  The anger quickly dropped to a simmering rage in Jake. “Control her?” he asked.

  Ash stepped back from him. “Yes, control her. As in, use her as a puppet to infiltrate and destroy us. I am thinking of the greater good for everyone here. I don’t want to kill her!”

  “I won’t let you.” Jake met his leader’s terrifying stare. “I won’t do it. I will destroy you first.” He didn’t raise his voice. It was not a threat. It was a promise and Ash knew Jake had every intention of keeping it. Shelly was his mate and mates would die for each other.

  “What else can I do?” Ash asked him. “If you have another way, I am open to suggestions.”

  “I’ll stay with her. At all times. I won’t let her out of my sight. If they summon her, I will follow. I will protect her and kill anyone who tries to harm her. We know what they are looking for. Balthazar. So I say we find him first.”

  Ash paced the room while he pondered Jake’s words. He looked from his angel to his demon. They were mates. How could he kill her? He would let no one near Elizabeth and Ash understood better than anyone the need to protect one’s mate. Perhaps Jake was on to something.

  “You stay on her like stink on shit,” Ash commanded. “If anything goes haywire, it’s on you. Do you understand me?”

  Jake let out a breath of relief. “I understand.”

  Shelly had watched the whole exchange in silence. She had known that Ash intended to kill her. It was the smart thing to do. It was what she would have done. But as Jake fought for her, she was impressed. She was filled with an emotion that she was unfamiliar with. Hope. He was willing to risk his life, his afterlife, to save her, and didn’t that fill her up with the warm and fuzzies. Jake was one hell of an angel, and he was hers. There was no mistaking it, no denying it. She hadn’t been able to let him go from the first time she had seen him. And now she knew why. It wasn’t because he belonged in Greed. It was because he was her mate. He was everything a mate should be. He was loving and gentle when the time called for it, but he was vicious and dang
erous when he needed to be. He didn’t put up with her shit and gave it as good as he got. He was her perfect match and she couldn’t stop the smile that split her lips.

  “How do we find Balthazar?” Jake was asking.

  “I can help with that,” Shelly finally offered.

  “Yeah?” Jake turned to her. “How?”

  “I’ll call him.” Shelly stood and brushed off her pants.

  “You can just call him?” Jake asked.

  “I thought he was in lock up,” Ash said.

  “Of course I can,” she said. “He’s my father. And he is right downstairs.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  Shelly led Ash, Jake, and Antonio into the depths of Hell. None of them, save for Shelly, had been given the official tour of this part of Hell. Ash had seen it, of course, through the extensive monitoring systems in his office, but never up close and personal. This was where the worst of the worst were kept locked away, hidden from everyone else. The inhabitants of this prison they were walking into were the cream of the crop where evil was concerned.

  It was also where Lucifer’s son was being held for his eternity.

  Shelly typed a combination into a keypad and two heavy steel doors clicked open for her. The group was silent, except for the click of Shelly’s high heels on the concrete floor.

  They passed row after row of heavy doors, each of them containing a demon who had committed some heinous crime, even among their own kind.

  “This is Stephan’s cell,” she said as they passed one of the doors. Lucifer’s son was just beyond that door.

  “I hear the vampire that put him here unscrambled his demented brain and made him sane. Gave him a conscience, too,” Antonio said. “Now he is cursed to live out eternity with his own regrets about the things he did and no way to escape them.”

  Ash shivered. Jake muttered a curse under his breath.

  “Here we go,” Shelly said with a smile. A roar came from the other side of the door she stopped in front of. “Hi to you too, Dad,” she said to the door. She typed in another code next to the door and the steel contraption slid silently to one side, revealing the demon inside. There were bars across the opening of the cell and the demon was chained to the wall.