by Lara Adrian
His fingers deliberately stroked down her throat, his skin warm as he prepared to release his powers.
Muriel shivered beneath his touch, then grimaced as more blood oozed from her open wounds.
Her pain was obviously intensifying.
“Look at me, Muriel,” he commanded in low but firm tones, waiting for her to gaze deep into his eyes. “I’m an Incubus.”
Her brows pulled together in confusion. “Yeah, I’d figured that out.”
“So you understand how my powers work.”
“Ah,” she breathed. “Sex.”
“Yes.” He wasn’t sure why, but he had to be crystal clear. He usually used his powers without hesitation. To seduce, to feed, to manipulate. But not with Muriel. Never with her. “I won’t force you to accept my healing. You must agree.”
The indigo eyes darkened with an emotion that was far more complex than mere desire.
Pain, wariness, and a vulnerable longing for affection that he sensed she hadn’t meant to share.
To him the glimpse of her heart it was like an unexpected gift.
One he intended to treat like a rare treasure.
“I accept,” she at last murmured.
“Good girl,” he whispered, his hand drifting down her throat until it hovered over the highest bullet wound.
Releasing his powers, he searched the torn flesh. No bullet. He moved his hand to hover over the second wound, flinching as he found the silver projectile that had lodged itself in her shoulder blade.
Shit. She had to be in agony.
Not that she was complaining. No, she remained silent as she watched him with pain-dazed eyes, so still. Unmoving. A vision of delicate, female temptation.
Fear ripped through him, twisting his gut as he gently lifted his hand to brush a silken curl from her too-pale cheek, his gaze remaining locked on the ragged holes that marred her upper chest. The sight threatened to destroy the thin leash he held on his fury.
With a fierce effort he forced himself to concentrate on the spark of hunger that smoldered deep inside her, releasing his powers to flow through her.
“Oh,” she hissed.
“Are you okay?”
“Don’t stop,” she muttered, her glorious eyes wide as the rush of pleasure threatened to overwhelm her.
“Shh…it’s okay,” he assured her. “I’ve got you.”
“It feels wonderful,” she breathed, her muscles beginning to loosen as he concentrated his energy on numbing her brutal pain. “Like sunshine pouring through my blood.”
When he’d done all he could to deaden the nerves, he returned his hand to lightly cover her most grievous wound.
“Muriel.”
“Mmm?” she murmured, clearly struggling to focus.
A side effect of his healing was not only a sexual high, but it tended to make his partner feel intoxicated.
“Look me in the eyes.” He threaded his voice with enough compulsion to force her to meet his steady gaze.
She obediently peered deep into his eyes, her lips parting as his demon magic swirled between them.
“So pretty,” she said in husky tones.
“I think that should be my line,” he countered, trying to keep her distracted as he released a sharp burst of energy.
She gasped as he focused his power on the silver bullet, wrapping his magic around so he could rip it out of her flesh.
“Jian.” Her body bowed off the mattress in shocked agony, the golden haze he’d used to sedate her shattering as she watched him crush the bullet in his hand before he tossed it across the cavern in disgust.
“Forgive me,” he husked, pressing his lips to her temple as he stroked his hand over her chest. “There was no easy way to get it out.”
His powers relaxed to a gentle pulse that offered a soothing heat.
She released a shaky sigh, her body melting back into the softness of the bed as her own powers began to return.
“Dear…heavens,” she rasped.
“Is it better?”
“Yes.” She gave a slow nod, her gaze still focused on his face. “I can heal myself now that the silver is removed,” she said in a husky voice.
As if to prove her point her ravaged flesh began to knit back together, the wounds rapidly fading to tender pink scars that would disappear in a few hours. At the same time the blood began to dry and fleck off, revealing the ivory perfection of her breasts that were tipped with rosy crests.
Unable to resist, Jian lowered his hand to cup one lush mound, his thumb teasing the nipple to a hard peak.
“Do you want me to stop?” he demanded.
“I…” She shivered, but not from pain. Instead the scent of heated orchids suddenly filled the air. “No.”
A wicked smile curved his lips. “That, sweet angel, is the right answer.”
“So arrogant,” she muttered, but she couldn’t hide the flush of arousal that returned the color to her pale cheeks.
His fingers lightly plucked the tip of her nipple as he bent his head to place a tender kiss on her lips. She gave a small moan. A sound somewhere between pleasure and intense, desperate yearning.
Slowly he brushed his lips side to side, teasing a response rather than demanding it.
Not easy, considering that he was painfully erect.
Oh…hell.
For the first time in his very long existence the magic thundering through him wasn’t about manipulation, or healing, or punishment.
It was a raw, aching male need for the woman who touched him on a primeval level.
She shifted with restless need, her body arching in a silent plea even as she tried to disguise her intense reaction.
“This doesn’t mean I intend to release you,” she warned.
“You think I’m your prisoner?” He nibbled at her full bottom lip, his fingers continuing to tease her breast.
His cock twitched, his balls tight. Her skin was so soft, and the feathers beneath him…
They pressed against him like the finest silk.
“You are.”
He chuckled. “Before this night’s over, sweet Muriel, you’re going to be the one enslaved.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Muriel could barely think.
His lips were scalding hot as they tormented her with swift, too fleeting kisses, while his fingers were creating jolts of excitement as he toyed with her breasts.
“I can’t be enthralled,” she muttered, wanting to dismiss the delicious, addictive pleasure tingling through her as nothing more than a result of Jian’s powers.
She was in bed with an Incubus. How could she not be drowning in desire?
The gorgeous male nipped her bottom lip, the tiny pain creating a startling flare of pleasure that made her shiver in response.
“Not by magic,” he said, his tone smug. “But I have other methods of bewitching a female.”
He did.
Her hands lifted, smoothing over the hard ridges of his chest, testing the smooth silk of his skin before she allowed her nails to dig into his flesh. She smiled at his rough groan of pleasure. Lifting her head, she allowed her lips to trace the small wounds she’d made.
He tasted of sandalwood and dark male power.
He was exotic. Mysterious. A cunning warrior who destroyed the illusions wrapped around her and left her exposed.
But she wasn’t the only one feeling vulnerable, she abruptly realized. Jian was as overcome as she was by the desire that sizzled between them. She could feel it in the compulsive stroke of his hand and the rough kisses he spread over her cheek before he was burying his face in the curve of her neck with a harsh growl.
Was it possible?
An Incubus who was unable to control his sexual hunger?
The thought was oddly intoxicating. Jian was obviously a demon who was accustomed to being the master of seduction. He would demand complete obedience from his lover. But in this moment he was clearly at the mercy of his emotions.
While she…
Heaven
help her, but she ached for him. With a furious need that was rapidly building to a sheer torment.
For too long she’d been a bringer of pain. Of punishment. A shadow of torment that lived in the pits of Hell.
Tonight she wanted to be a woman.
A soft, giving female who brought only pleasure.
Why not?
It was obvious she’d been betrayed by the Conclave.
Surely she deserved some measure of happiness before she was forced to confront those who were willing to sacrifice her for their own nefarious purpose?
Craving his touch, she turned on her side and arched against his lean, glorious body. She was done fighting. She wanted to indulge in the wild excitement that coursed through her.
After years of emptiness she wanted to be saturated with sensations. She wanted to drown beneath the torrent of heat, and excitement, and sweet golden arousal.
Jian whispered her name, his head slowly lowering. His lips captured hers, parting them with a fierce hunger. Muriel moaned, feeling a dangerous fracture in the thick ice that surrounded her heart.
No. Not her heart.
This was all about lust, she grimly assured herself. An exchange of pleasure with a sex demon who could fulfill her deepest fantasies.
Something to be enjoyed and forgotten.
Nothing more.
Her heart was a barren wasteland. It had to be. She was, after all, the Mistress of the Oubliette.
Thankfully unaware of her dark thoughts, Jian lifted his head to stare down at her pale face. Then, with a fierce expression he threaded his fingers in her hair and tilted her head back.
His teeth scraped her skin as he nuzzled a hungry path down the line of her collarbone, the scorching heat of his lips making her shudder with need.
Her fingers gripped his shoulders, the breath wrenched from her lungs as he continued to press tiny kisses over the curve of her breast until he at last captured the tip of her nipple between his teeth.
Oh…yes.
Yes, yes, yes.
Her eyes squeezed shut in bliss, her hands sliding down his back as she arched forward to feel the press of his thick erection against her lower stomach.
He planted a line of kisses between her breasts. “Can I touch?” he asked in thick tones.
She felt a momentary confusion.
Wasn’t he already touching?
“What do you mean?”
“Your wings,” he clarified, waiting for her to force open her eyes and meet his gaze that smoldered with a golden fire.
She hesitated a second before answering. There was nothing more intimate to an angel than allowing someone to caress their wings.
“Yes,” she breathed, bracing herself as he ran a hesitant hand over her feathers.
An explosion of sensations burst through her, wrenching a low moan from her lips as she dug her nails into the hard muscles of his ass.
He closely monitored the heat that stained her cheeks, his fingers moving to trace the joint where her wings met her shoulder blades.
“Are they sensitive?”
“Very,” she choked out.
His sinfully gorgeous smile widened. “Good.”
“You’re a bad, bad man,” she softly chastised, her pussy wet and aching to be filled.
“Hang on, angel,” he warned, abruptly rolling her flat on her back as he perched on top of her. “I intend to prove just how bad I can be.”
“Really? I—”
She forgot how to speak as he lowered his head and sketched a path of searing kisses over her recently healed wounds.
Oh, that felt…
Indescribable.
She trembled, barely breathing as those destructive lips continued downward, briefly teasing her hardened nipples before skimming over the flat plane of her stomach.
A soft sigh was wrenched from her throat as his hands slid beneath her thighs, tugging her legs apart so he could settle between them.
She glanced down to watch the golden eyes glowing with wicked delight as he licked a slow, thorough path through her aching pussy.
A strangled shout was caught in her throat at the acute spikes of pleasure that darted through her, her back arching and her wings quivering against the bed.
“Mmm…so sweet,” he said in thick tones, his tongue dipping into her wet channel. “I could spend all night tasting your sweet ambrosia.”
He gave another tug on her legs, spreading her even wider as he nibbled and tormented her with a skill that would make any sex demon proud.
Pleasure pounded through her, her fingers reaching down to slide through the short strands of his satin hair.
After so long being denied even the most casual touch, she was starved for the feel of him.
“Wait, Jian.” She bit her bottom lip, the exquisite sensation of his tongue stroking over her sensitive clit sending her toward a swift climax. “I want to feel you inside me.”
She hissed in pleasure as she felt the tip of his cock at her entrance, the golden gaze holding her own as he slowly pressed into her slick heat.
They groaned in unison.
She’d never been so ready, but still he filled and stretched her to her limit.
It was perfect.
She cupped his face in her hands as he lowered his head to claim her lips in a searing kiss, a dark, heady desire flowing through her.
Slowly, steadily he began to stroke in and out of her, his erection pulling out to the very tip before burying deep inside her again and again.
At the same time, he allowed his golden magic to swirl around her, intensifying each sensation until the sexual arousal threatened to burn her alive.
Her fingers slid into his hair, her hips rising to meet his thrusts.
She’d never felt like this before. Not this pure, ruthless need. It was more than just lust. More than typical physical desire.
It was communication at its most basic level.
“Are you completely healed?” he rasped against her lips, his fingers trailing down her throat.
Muriel allowed her tongue to trace the sculpted lines of his mouth, refusing to dwell on her injuries. Later she would deal with the Sovereign and his implication she’d become expendable to the Conclave.
Tonight was all about pleasure.
“Yes.”
“Thank God.”
His strokes increased in tempo, his hands skimming her shoulders before seeking the sensitive arch of her wings.
He captured her moan of pleasure with a kiss that was edged with a savage need.
For her.
Just her.
Pressed into the mattress, Muriel gripped his shoulders as he thrust into her with a surging intensity, his head dipping down to capture the tip of her nipple between his lips. At the same time his electric energy tingled over her skin.
His teeth grazed her tender breasts, his hands lowering to grasp her hips, angling them higher so he could plunge even deeper into her welcoming body.
Muriel cried out, the pleasure threatening to overwhelm her as she hovered on the edge of a cataclysmic orgasm.
She was close.
So close.
And yet the bliss hovered just out of reach.
As if sensing her desperation, Jian lowered his hand between them, using the tip of his finger to rub against her clit.
“I’ve got you, angel,” he assured her softly.
“Yes,” she groaned, bolts of white-hot pleasure shooting through her as he surged in and out of her at a ruthless pace.
The small cavern she’d claimed as her own had been a cold, barren place that had always been more a cell than a home. But tonight it was filled with breathless moans and the rich, exotic scent of cinnamon.
Silently memorizing each sensation, Muriel tucked them in the back of her mind.
Soon Jian would be gone, and she would once again be alone.
She had to have something to ease the bleak hours.
Kissing a path back to her neck, Jian dug his fingers into her
hips as their bodies moved together with perfect harmony. He gave a strangled groan, his thick cock slamming deep inside her as his finger pressed against her clit.
Her body clenched with an unbearable tension, then for a breathtaking second she hovered at the pinnacle before bliss shattered through her with enough force to make her entire body shake.
At the same time, Jian’s magic exploded around them in a dazzling display of golden light and savage sensual pleasure.
Astonishing, she acknowledged, heaving a deep sigh as Jian pressed a tender kiss to her lips.
It was no wonder females became addicted to sex demons…
CHAPTER SIX
Jian reluctantly pulled out of Muriel’s warm body and rolled to stretch out beside her.
Holy hell.
After centuries of indulging his desires with the most beautiful, talented, and experienced women in the world, he would have sworn nothing could surprise him.
But he’d been completely unprepared for his reaction to this delicate angel.
Granted, he wasn’t going to complain at the stunning pleasure that continued to shudder through him. Or the compelling fascination that assured him this was far more than just another night of sex.
But she’d completely destroyed his rigid discipline, clouding his mind so he’d forgotten that she’d so recently been injured.
He grimaced, his fingers lightly pushing her silken curls off her damp forehead.
He was an Incubus, for God’s sakes.
The fact that he’d been so completely at the mercy of his sexual need proved just how deeply ensnared he’d become in her feminine temptation.
“Are you okay?” he was forced to ask for the first time in his very long existence.
She smiled, although he didn’t miss the wariness that darkened the beauty of her indigo eyes.
“Trolling for compliments, Incubus?”
“No.” His fingers skimmed down her cheek, lingering on the pulse that hammered just below the stubborn line of her jaw. “I can tell when a female has been thoroughly satisfied,” he assured her, his smug satisfaction at her flushed cheeks and racing heart faltering as his gaze caught sight of the fading wounds that still marred the ivory skin. “I am, however, concerned that I was too rough.”
