Genesis Queen (The Road to Hell Series)

by Miller, Gracen

  “Yes.” Details weren’t necessary when they both knew he’d instituted a brutal torture regimen for all of them. “Dance with me?”

  “To this music?”

  “You didn’t appear to be having any problem.” He held his hand out toward her.

  She stared at his palm. Her expression was reminiscent of an individual confident selling their soul was a reckless choice but entering the deal anyway.

  “I don’t bite.”

  Her gaze felt like an impact against his. “You did in Hell.”

  He wrangled the grin under control. “Then I won’t bite.”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Micah.”

  “Why?”

  A casual shrug when nothing about her body language suggested she felt relaxed. She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “Nix says my idea of dancing is sex with clothes on. He couldn’t tolerate it and if he couldn’t….” She trailed off and gaped at him as if she’d just realized she’d been about to insult him.

  Micah grinned. “I haven’t lived as long as I have without executing restraint.” He stepped closer to her. “I’ve controlled myself with you more than any other.” Because she is my woman and deserves my respect.

  Madison allowed him to pull her arms free of their defensive fold. Holding her gaze, Micah coaxed her into his embrace…left hip to left hip, his leg thrusting between her knees, gliding upward and parting her thighs.

  She bit her bottom lip. Her breathing grew shallow. The heavy beat of the music thumped around them. His pulse throbbed faster.

  Hell’s delights, she felt fantastic against him.

  “Relax,” he said when she remained inflexible. A soft wind would break one of her bones. “I only want to dance with you.” Like when they’d been married, just a different manner of movement. This one more intimate than what they normally partook.

  Her focus locked on his jaw and she sharply inhaled when he slid his palm down her back and settled on her hips. He executed the first moves and she followed. As if magnetized, they gyrated in perfect synchronicity.

  Bodies swiveling against one another, her eyes glided shut. Chest and belly brushing, pelvises connecting…grinding. They worked in tandem together, like yin and yang. He’d never felt so in tune to her as he did in this moment. Never been so aroused by her…or any other creature, either.

  He knew the exact moment she stopped thinking. Not only did she relax into the gyrations, but also, her arms lifted. One draped across his shoulder, the other over her head to do a little ass shake that nearly undid his libido.

  He inhaled sharply.

  Her fingers scuffed through his hair, before she spun. Backside against his chest, her arms rose over her head to grab the back of his neck. Before he could drop his hands to her thighs, she wiggled her pelvis, driving her bottom into his cock.

  Nix was right. This counted as sex with clothes on. Micah was done for.

  His palms flattened on the front of her thighs and she flung her head back against his shoulder, moving with him. What a fucking sensual dancer she’d become!

  He turned her in his arms and aligned them right hip to right hip, his leg between her thighs. Their gazes locked. Step together, step together…grind, grind, grind. A hand to the back of her leg and he dipped her over his other arm. Breasts heaved beneath the thin fabric of her blue cotton shirt. He resisted putting his mouth on them.

  Restraint. It is the only way to proceed with her. Let her think she was making the choice.

  In languid increments, his hand slid up her spine, elevating her back into his embrace. Hip to hip once again, her hands on his shoulders, his on her lower back—if they lowered, he’d have a handful of ass and he predicted she’d balk at that—they stared at one another as they stepped and ground together.

  Micah no longer pretended to breathe. Neither could he hide his arousal. His erection didn’t send her into a pretentious fit, at least. He’d take the small successes wherever he could.

  Her fingers slid through his hair as she measured his face, focused on his lips, and licked her own. What was she thinking? Contemplating kissing him? His sad idea of a wet-dream.

  Madison’s fingers reached the end of his strands and his hair fell back into place. She wiggled a little closer, curling one arm tight around his shoulders. He might require Zennyo Ryuo to save him from her machinations instead of the other way around, because keeping himself in check grew harder by the second.

  She startled him when she placed the pad of her thumb against the center of his bottom lip. A glance at his eyes indicated she’d caught his slight jerk. “I always liked your lips, Micah. Sexy.”

  He groaned. “I’m no saint, Madison. Proceed with this conversation at your own risk.”

  A slight twitch to the corner of her mouth, as if she toyed with him…or enjoyed the control she held over him. Either could be the case. Both would sever his thin grasp on restraint.

  Madison kissed him.

  Stunned by her sudden advance, he froze for a dozen seconds. The scrape of her tongue across his bottom lip yanked him from his stupor. Using the arm wrapped around her lower back, he dragged her up against his chest, her feet leaving the floor. A stutter to her breath was the only weak protest she offered.

  His other hand dove into her hair, cupped the back of her head, and angled it so he could forage the way he wanted. He shoved his tongue between her lips and tangoed with hers. A whimper slipped into his mouth a moment before she tore her mouth free.

  She panted, but didn’t flinch away. “Slow down.”

  Slow down? Was she kidding? He had two speeds where she was concerned. Off and holy-fuck-I-can’t-slow-down.

  But…she wasn’t saying ‘stop’ either. Or requesting to be released.

  Go slow, he reminded himself as he placed his mouth back on hers. Nibbles on the bottom of her lip, licks to the top, and she pushed her tongue into his mouth. Languid strokes at first that navigated into a more aggressive rub. Soon he couldn’t tell who led the kiss.

  Madison trembled in his arms. He attempted to soothe her by sliding his hand down to her nape and massaging. She melted against him, but broke off the kiss and pressed her face against the curve where shoulder and neck met.

  “I cannot.” She shook her head against him. “I shouldn’t have encouraged you.”

  Baby steps would get him what he wanted.

  Micah swung her into his arms and carried her to the loveseat. Sitting, he cradled her in his lap and held her until she stopped shivering.

  He cuddled her for a long while. Madison snuggled against him was his idea of Heaven.

  She pushed up into a sitting position and he wanted to complain. A little squirm would’ve succeeded in her getting off his lap, but he grasped her hips and anchored her on his thighs. “Don’t go.”

  “I—I made you…uncomfortable.” She said that to his chin.

  He grinned. “I have a hard-on, kitten.”

  A small hitch to her breath. He’d heard Phoenix be frank with her, so why’d it surprise her coming from him? He would’ve thought she expected abrasiveness from him.

  “That’s a little different than uncomfortable.” He put his fingers through her hair, the cool silky texture like a caress against his acute senses. “You’re aroused. What’s the difference?”

  She shook her head with hesitation crinkling the corners of her eyes. Denial. It never looked pretty on her.

  A quick twist and he planted her on her back on the sofa. Using her elbows, she pushed upward with a soft “Micah” protest. Magic tingled on his fingers and against the fabric of her jeans, making them not only see-through, but touch-through, also.

  No warning, he pressed two fingers into her pussy.

  “Micah!” Madison gasped, clutched at a shoulder with one hand. The other hand wrapped around his tie and she yanked him close, almost nose-to-nose. She opened her mouth to say something—he guessed a demand to cease—but he talked before she could.

  “Fah.” Wet. �
�Just like I knew you would be.”

  Holding her eyes, he thrust his fingers in and out, slow and to the knuckle.

  “Li, li, li,” she whimpered the Xapil word for ‘no’ as if to convince herself this wasn’t what she wanted, but she gave no physical or hard verbal command for him to cease.

  “Caj.” Yes. He brushed his lips against hers. “If it feels so dreadful, force my hand aside.”

  Goosebumps erupted across her body and Madison vibrated. Her breathing stuttered, died out for a couple of heartbeats, then went erratic. Blue eyes wide, they stared at one another.

  Fuck me, she is going to come with just my fingers inside her. No need to stroke her clit.

  “E yul’h.” I can’t. He understood Xapil, didn’t need the English translation on the backside of it. “Gotta be faithful—”

  Madison jerked and dug her nails in his shoulder when he swiped his thumb across her clitoris. He didn’t receive a second chance for another glide of his digit. She pushed his hand away and shoved him backward while scuttling to the other side of the loveseat. On the verge of release—he could sense it strongly in her—she trembled. It was unheard of for a succubus to deny itself. He could only imagine how much she suffered.

  Madison pulled her legs toward her body and dropped her face against her knees, hiding from him and scrunching deep into the corner of the furniture.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “When this is over, you’ll have to decide which of us you’re staying with.” Micah paused, his gaze so intense it felt like a homing beacon. “Me or Phoenix.”

  Was he kidding her? She was with Nix. Micah wasn’t an option.

  Pfft…you aren’t fooling either of us. We want him.

  He is not good for us, Madison shot back to her Lynx.

  Doesn’t matter. We want him. Usha reminded her of a militant child, so Madison ignored her.

  Catching a glimpse of Zen across the room, head thrown back, eyes closed, she dragged in a slow breath. Shit. She’d forgotten about her friend’s presence. Thank God she’d put a halt to her husband’s foreplay.

  “I expect faithfulness in my relationship. You’re hardly the faithful type.”

  “I have been committed to you since you were fifteen.” He had the audacity not to squirm even a little over that lie. “Not that sex appealed to me much before then. It can grow boring over the eons. You were the first to arouse me in too many centuries.”

  Madison shivered at the possibility. Awakening a fallen angel’s sleeping libido. Could she have possessed that much sex appeal? “You slept with Nix.” She reminded him. Proof he spoke mistruths. “Had orgies with him in Hell.”

  “I thought you were dead.”

  Madison blinked, indulging in a moment to ruminate. What a fool she was for considering the validity of his statement. The King of lies could never be trusted. About anything. Ever. He’d lie, steal, and cheat to get what he wanted. “Right.”

  “I’ve shared my seraph with you, which means I cannot prevaricate to you.”

  “So you say.”

  “You cannot lie to me, either. Not that you were ever good at it before.” He winked at her. She didn’t want to remember their courtship and marriage, the good or the bad times that went with them. Or that he found her amusing when she attempted falsehoods. “You love Phoenix?”

  Stupid question and her expression said as much.

  “Humor me, kitten.”

  She rolled her eyes, letting him know what she thought about this line of conversation. “Yes. I love Nix.”

  “And you love me?”

  “No.” Like someone struck a match to a gasoline soaked bonfire in her mouth, she choked on the sudden burn tormenting her tongue. The taste was as pungent as brimstone, forcing bile to the back of her throat and making her eyes water.

  “Liar, liar, tongue on fire,” Micah’s silky smooth voice expressed his satisfaction.

  Madison shot him a killing look. “Doesn’t mean I…want”—she gagged and clamped her hand around her neck. Throat and tongue scorched, eyes blurring, she rasped out—“you.”

  A pleased grin engulfed his face. “The more you lie, the worse it’ll become.”

  She glared at him.

  “Not the way I would’ve preferred to discover you still love me.” He paused. “Or that you want me. But I’m delighted nonetheless.”

  “Doesn’t alter my intention to remain faithful to Nix.” The truth! And the burning faded. Thank God!

  Micah grimaced. “You need me and my seraph to survive.”

  “I’ll find another way.” She half-believed that, so the burning was tolerable enough to bear without a body revolt.

  “Pretend that and you’ll end up in Hell begging for me with the majority of the world in cinders.”

  She would bet he’d love that. “You said it was my choice. Was that a…lie?” Crap! She hadn’t thought of that. If he couldn’t fib then he’d been very honest about releasing her from his claim.

  “Ah…I see you know I spoke the truth on that score.”

  “I can’t be the Queen you want, Micah. Killing people, torturing souls—”

  “I don’t kill anyone. I receive those souls after Father rejects them.”

  “Your demons possess people. They kill people, sometimes even their host. That makes you culpable. You could’ve gotten a conviction on less when you pretended to be a lawyer.”

  He placed his arm on the back of the sofa and crossed his ankle over his knee. “Very well. I’m a sadistic murderer.” He arched an eyebrow. “Satisfied?”

  Not nearly as much satisfaction as she would’ve thought the confession would’ve given her. She’d been pondering this theory since the attack by the angels. “You don’t believe that. You flinched when you said it.”

  “You believe it enough for us both.” He shrugged. “I see myself as the damned’s psychologist. I strip away the layers until they accept their sins and embrace their weaknesses. Then I rebuild them into a new, improved 2.0 model.”

  “Nothing deranged about that.”

  “Varying degrees of perception, Madison. Your comfort zone is to see me as the ultimate evil. I serve a purpose that even my sanctimonious father tolerates. Maybe that makes Him just a smidge evil, too.”

  “I’ve been thinking.” She cleared her throat and studied her nails. The issues Micah had with his father rivaled her own relationship with her parents. Debating God’s state of mind would be futile. “Those angels might want me dead because of the earthquake I caused when I defeated Pandora in Hell. I killed thousands of innocent people.”

  “Possibly.” His fingers scrubbed across his smooth jaw. “Not all of them were innocent. We received a shitload of them. But”—he held up his finger to halt her irritated retort—“if that were the case, they would want Phoenix dead. He caused cataclysmic events. The birds, the cats, and the fish bellying up.” They’d investigated those incidents. All of them had left the experts baffled. Amos’s psychic readings had gone silent, and Zen had insisted it was divine, but not. She’d never been so confused. “None of that equates to the sinkhole he created in Birmingham, Alabama that killed thousands. Men, women, and children. All very mortal and Father’s loving little pets. FYI, even in the Bible Belt I got a shitload of them, too.”

  Madison ignored his sneer. She still had a hard time wrapping her brain around Nix’s deeds. Those criminal actions were so unlike the man she knew him to be. That he’d committed the crime in the city of his last name and in her home state, it’d sufficed to expose her survival when they’d believed her dead by Zen’s hand. A coup for them as far as strategy went.

  “He came up with that concept all on his own. Just to lure you out of hiding.”

  “He wasn’t himself.”

  “He was better. Best demon I ever created.”

  “Please stop painting Nix as a monster.”

  “All humans are monsters at their basic core.”

  “I’m human!”

  “Not anymore,
” he said cool as ice. “You’re welcome.”

  “Don’t act like you gave me a gift, you bastard. I chose humanity, not your demon world.”

  “Reality check, Ms. Pious. You are a succubus demon. It is in your DNA. Grow up and get over it. No one likes a whiner.”

  Madison looked away and ground her teeth together. It’d be a sunny day in Hell before she thanked him for turning her demon. The reminder that she’d turned immortal, a true freaking demon through-and-through, needled her pride. She’d avoided accepting her succubus and failed anyway. Not that she’d been succeeding much at denying it before she’d entered Hell.

  Would she fail at resisting the throne to Hell, too? She very much feared she would.

  Clearing her throat, she avoided the conversation by changing the topic. “What are your plans for us, Micah?”

  “I imagine my intentions are the same as any husband or father. I want to be with my family.” He loosened his red silk tie and left it askew as he undid the top two buttons on his shirt. She’d read somewhere the crimson color represented power. It was why most presidential candidates wore that particular shade so often. Psychological drivel, if anyone asked her.

  Dragging in a harsh breath to keep her calm, she wanted something more than a vague answer. “You know that’s not what I mean.”

  He pulled off his boots. “Elucidate, Madison.”

  There’s nothing sexy about him. Nothing sexy about him! That could become her new mantra, and it’d still be wide of the mark.

  “If I chose you over Nix, what would you expect from me? From Amos?” She swallowed when he tugged his socks off and wiggled his toes. Sometimes his humanness stunned her.

  And we want to finish undressing him. Slowly, using my tongue in the hollow of his throat, dragging it over his chest, downward to—

  Madison shut down her Lynx before she got any more out of control.

  “What are you thinking, kitten?” He slouched into his seat and extended his long legs. Staring at her with a speculative gleam, he slowly rolled up his sleeves to the elbow. “Your eyes are showing your Lynx.”