by Sam Cheever
“Good. Just go along with what we say.” She looked at Briathos and he nodded. Esther stepped closer to the guardian and turned to face the approaching devils.
The five devils moved with an arduous, nearly shuffling gait, their heavy, clawed feet seemingly unaccustomed to walking over distance. Their long, arrow-shaped tails trailed behind them, snapping with anger. The devils’ white horns glowed against the charcoal gray bank of clouds that followed, seeming to spark as lightning speared the air. The chief judge was in the center, literally, of the storm. Larger than the others by a head and using his pitchfork as a walking stick, the chief was like the lead goose in a wedge, pointed directly at Esther.
As they grew closer, Esther realized the rumbling noise she’d thought was the storm was coming from the angry judges. It grew louder with every foot of space they closed between them and their prey. The black cloud in the distance erupted in several spots, and a dozen winged creatures shot from the bank.
Esther sucked in a horrified breath as she recognized them.
“Demons.” Luc stepped closer to Esther, grabbing her hand in silent support.
Bringing a Hell-like heat with them, the judges moved to a spot about ten yards from the defiant trio and stopped, their craggy, red countenances lifting to look at Briathos. The chief’s tail snapped and his pitchfork groaned under his clawed grip. “You have no business here, light one. Leave.”
Silvery light flared around Esther but the angel didn’t say anything. She knew that was her cue. “It is up to me whether he has business here or not.”
The chief turned his gaze slowly to her, clearly showing his disdain. His wide mouth twisted. “Shut up, supplicant. You’ve caused enough trouble. You and your disloyal lover will die a million horrible deaths for this.”
The air around them grew hotter by the moment. Esther resisted the urge to rub sweat off her face and breathed shallowly to avoid pulling the super-heated air into her lungs. “Sorry, I don’t think you have control anymore. This is Briathos. He’s my guardian angel. You see, I’ve signed a contract with him to go to Heaven.”
The chief judge threw back his head and roared. His pitchfork shot fire in a thick stream into the sky, and the demons hanging in the air above them gave off a screeching sound that made Esther’s knees weaken. Her legs buckled out from under her but Luc grabbed her arm, holding her up.
Luc lifted an eyebrow at the judge. “Sir, this is your fault. If you hadn’t tortured her, Esther would have never run. She didn’t do anything to deserve the treatment you’ve subjected her to.”
Smoke still billowing from the prongs of his fork, the chief judge took a step forward, pointing a claw at Esther. “She deserved everything she got and more.”
Briathos spread his wings, his silver light pulsing. “You are a stupid creature, Theris. The girl is not responsible for your embarrassment over Easter. Your master failed to draw the first son to your environs with feelings of hate and revenge. No amount of torturing this girl will remedy that. And for your refusal to recognize that, you have now lost a treasured soul.”
The judge snapped a look at Esther; his beady black eyes, like marbles from Hell, flashed with rage. “Your contract with her is null and void, guardian. She signed a contract with me first. The initial contract holds precedence over any subsequent ones.”
Esther gasped, fear sliding through her at his words. She turned to Briathos. “Is that true?”
Though the guardian didn’t respond, his handsome face clearly showed doubt. Bile rose into Esther’s mouth. Her hands shook as she lifted them to cover her face. “Shit.”
Luc stepped forward. “You’re wrong, sir.”
The lesser judges growled, their teeth snapping.
The chief crashed his pitchfork into the earth again to silence them. He spoke to Luc through gritted teeth. “Is that so, PD?”
Luc stood tall, his grip on Esther’s hand gentle despite the tension snapping in the air. “Yes, sir. Your contract is for Esther’s first death. She died again today, on Easter, I might add. She is no longer a Good Friday soul and…” he grinned at Esther, “…her contract with the guardian is tied to this death, not her previous one, so it is solid. She belongs to the light now.”
The chief thought about Luc’s statement for a long moment, his sharp, yellow teeth grinding together, and then roared his displeasure. He whipped around, screaming to the creatures in the sky, “Kill them all!”
The demons screeched again and then speared downward, heading straight for Esther and Luc.
Blinding white light burst outward, bleaching the black sky in light and causing the dark creatures shooting toward them to pull back with a shriek, covering their eyes with their wings before turning and flying away, toward the roiling black clouds in the distance.
The judge roared his rage, pointing his pitchfork at the retreating demons and sending fire into the sky. Several of the demons writhed under his assault and fell to the ground in flames.
“Wait!”
The judge spun around, pointing his pitchfork at Esther. Luc stepped in front of her and flamed out, taking the judge’s fiery assault himself and jerking violently under its power.
Esther screamed and Briathos flung out a hand, knocking the pitchfork from the chief’s hand.
The red-faced judge advanced on Briathos, claws bared. “How dare you!”
Bri seemed unconcerned. “Shut up and listen to the girl. She has a proposition for you.”
Though his form shuddered under a nearly uncontrollable anger, the chief judge of the assembly turned his beady gaze to Esther. She swallowed hard but stepped forward. “I’ll tear up my contract with the guardian and return to Hell with you, telling everyone you subdued me when I attempted to run. But there are some conditions.”
The chief held her gaze for a long moment and then sighed. “Why can’t anybody just succumb to fiery injustice anymore? There are always stupid, damn conditions. Evil just isn’t what it used to be.”
Luc wrapped an arm around Esther. “Yeah, we all long for the good old days, sir.”
Chapter Ten
“Cover your eyes,” Luc told her. “Promise me you won’t peek.”
Esther laughed. “I’m in Hell. Will you really believe me if I promise?”
Luc scooped her up in his arms and she squealed.
“There will be punishments if you lie.”
“Ooh, I can’t wait.” She giggled. As a door slammed back and the sweet scent of flowers touched her senses, Esther was tempted to split her fingers and peek. But she resisted, just barely. “Why won’t you tell me where you’re taking me?”
“Because it’s a surprise.”
Luc threw her into the air and she screamed, laughing as she hit a soft mattress. Her eyes shot open and she looked around at the familiar spot. “The cabin?”
Luc’s smile transformed his handsome face. “I had it recreated here, on Perdigo. You officially have a place to call your own.”
“I can’t believe it.” Esther caressed the fur coverlet beneath her, reveling in its remembered softness. The table beside the bed held a large vase of flowers and a silver ice bucket with a bottle. “It’s perfect, Luc. This is the sweetest thing anybody has ever done for me.” Tears sprang into her eyes, surprising her. Her heart was filled with joy, but his thoughtful gift had her completely undone.
Luc reached for the bottle of champagne on the nightstand. “You deserve your own home, surrounded by people who want to be your friends. Which reminds me -- a woman named Alice lives next door. She said you knew her.”
Esther grinned. “I do. She was nice to me.” She sat up, reaching for the glass of bubbly he’d poured her. Taking a sip, she closed her eyes and moaned at the taste. “Delicious.” When she opened her eyes again, she slanted him a look. “Correction though -- we deserve a place of our own.”
Luc tapped her glass with his own. “I thought you’d never ask. In fact, I’ve already filled up half the closet with my stuff.”
“Half!” Esther shrieked. “We’ll need a bigger closet, then.”
“For what? All you have is a backpack.”
She glared playfully. “I have boxes… somewhere.”
“Don’t count on that. The chief was pretty pissed when you told him he couldn’t punish either of us for running away. He probably had them thrown into the fiery pits.”
Esther shrugged. “He’s an asshole.” She sipped thoughtfully then glanced at him. “How could you possibly have filled up half of the closet when you burn all your clothes away every five minutes.”
Luc laughed. “Only when I’m with you, Esther Egg.”
“Aw, you say the sweetest things.” Esther patted the bed and Luc joined her, stretching his long legs out and resting his shoulders against the heavy, wooden headboard.
Esther did the same, leaning her head against his shoulder with a sigh. “I love this cabin.”
“Me too.”
She lifted her head and kissed him, drawing the kiss out until he opened his lips for her. He tasted of champagne and sandalwood. Esther’s favorite combination.
The gentle kiss quickly turned to a fevered exploration, tightening her nipples and making her sexual core pulse with need. Luc took the glass from her and placed it on the nightstand. He dragged the T-shirt over her head as she fumbled with his jeans.
Suddenly the knowledge that they had all the time in the world didn’t seem to matter. Esther would never have enough time with Luc… never get enough of exploring the physical cravings they shared. Moments later, Esther was naked and lying on her back with a sexy, hot devil kissing his way over her body, a taut sense of urgency riding her hard.
Luc nibbled his way down her throat and across her shoulder, gently nipping it before easing the sting with his tongue. She skimmed her hands down his back and over his firm buttocks, thrusting her hips up to grind against his hard shaft. Her pussy throbbed with pleasure at the feel of him. She wrapped her legs around his hips and deepened the sensation. Luc growled softly in her ear. “If you keep that up, I’m not going to last very long, Esther Egg.”
She nipped his earlobe and then sucked it into her mouth, causing him to shudder with pleasure. “I want you now, Luc.”
He shook his head. “There’s no hurry, honey. We have forever to enjoy each other. I’m not rushing this.”
He slipped down her body, kissing her breasts, licking the tender valley between them, and then working his way down to taste the quivering flesh of her belly. “Oh, yes, that feels wonderf -- ah!”
His firm, soft lips covered Esther’s mons, sending fire crackling through her belly and limbs. She threaded her fingers through his hair and held on, reveling in the soft brush of his tidy beard on her tender skin and the delicious pull of his lips on her hungry clit.
Each heated tug drew her inexorably closer to the bright light of release just beyond her reach. She cried out with delight, writhing under his mouth, and sighed at the pleasure of having her own little piece of heaven, which consisted of only her and Luc, with his talented mouth and thick, rock-hard cock.
Lust spiraled in her core, tightening and heating until the moment when it couldn’t coil any tighter, and then it exploded outward on a soft cry, her limbs twitching under its power. With her release, heat washed over her, stinging her cheeks and infusing her sexual core. Esther reveled in the inferno her sexy devil stoked, letting him guide her through two more raging orgasms before begging him to fill her with his own special kind of fire.
Luc slid up her body, stopping only long enough to suck each rigid, brown nipple into hot, moist heaven, and then moved between her legs.
He captured her lips in a ravenous kiss as his cock drove deep between her thighs. Esther gasped against his lips, savoring her own sweet-salty taste on his mouth, and gave herself up to the inferno he created.
Slanting his lips over hers to deepen the kiss, Luc slipped his tongue through to tangle and play, his fiery sandalwood scent enveloping her. He grasped her hips, pulling her higher so he could seat himself even more deeply within her. Luc pounded her hard as he consumed her lips in a bruising kiss. Esther held him in the kiss, her body climbing higher with every taste, every thrust of his hard flesh into hers.
Luc grasped her hands and held them over her head, imprisoning her with his body. She cried out as his thrusts turned voracious, and screamed his name when she flew over the edge into release. Her body milked his, begging him to follow her over, and Luc was happy to oblige. He thrust one last time into her pussy and his head went back on a long, low groan of delight as he came inside her in violent, prolonged bursts.
He painted her face and throat with tender kisses. “Exquisite,” he murmured against her throat.
Feeling like the proverbial cat with the cream, Esther smiled. “I can’t believe this is real. I’ve wanted it for so long.”
Luc pulled back, smoothing a damp curl off her brow. “Believe it, Esther. You’re home now and so am I.”
She placed a soft, lingering kiss on his lips. “I love you, Luc.”
“I love you too, Esther Egg.”
She shook her head. “If anybody but you ever called me that, I think I’d deck them.”
His grin took her breath away. “I’m proclaiming a brand new way to celebrate the holiday.”
She tugged one of his nipples and matched his grin with one of her own. “Oh, yeah? What exactly did you have in mind?”
“An annual Esther Egg hunt, of course. I discovered I loved chasing you around the countryside. You look really good from the back.”
Despite the horror they’d endured on their little adventure, Luc’s words managed somehow to turn it all to a fun memory. “You sure you can catch me this time?”
“Of course. Just try to get away from me.”
Esther’s competitive streak reared up and roared at his words. “You’re on, buddy.”
He nodded. “Let the games begin, then.”
“Bring it.” Esther smiled, trailing a finger down his sexy, golden torso. “But in the meantime, I was thinking of heating up a big, fat sausage to go with my egg. You interested?”
As she licked her way down his body and captured said sausage in a moist, sucking cave, Luc happily gave in to her demands.
After all, what good is an egg without sausage?
Sam Cheever
Sam writes as Sam Cheever for mainstream romantic suspense and fantasy, all heat levels; and Declan Sands for m/m romantic suspense and fantasy. She lives on a hobby farm in Indiana with eleven dogs, two horses, and one husband. She writes books she’d like to read and reads books she wishes she’d written. Her books are fast paced and fun loving. Not one of them will solve a single world problem, but you definitely won’t be bored while reading them!
Sam’s published work includes 40+ works of romantic suspense, and fantasy/paranormal. Her books have won the Dream Realm Award for fantasy, been nominated for and/or won several CAPAs, were nominated for Best of 2010 with LRC and The Romance Reviews, and won eCataromance’s Reviewer’s Choice award. Sam is published with Changeling Press; Ellora’s Cave, both Romantica and Blush; Musa Publishing; Electric Prose Publications (her own imprint); and Red Rose Publishing.
Visit her websites to find out more about her work and activities: www.SamCheever.com or www.DeclanSands.com.
Visit changelingpress.com/author.php?uid=164 for more titles by Sam.
