by Weil, J. L.
I shimmied out of my denim, carelessly sliding them past my legs. Cool air washed over my flushed skin. In just a lacy bra and panties, I couldn’t help but notice the contrast of our skin—my milky white against his bronze. He licked my belly where his fingers had grazed moments ago, driving me mad. Groaning, the guttural purr rumbled against my flesh.
I felt the snap on my bra and shuddered as he pushed the thin white straps down my shoulders, trailing faerie soft kisses along the way. Emotions followed each new touch—each new kiss—each new embrace. Discovery. Open exploration. Who knew that exposure, being stripped raw of all inhibitions could be such a turn on.
Needs rocketed through me, feeling the shape of his lips on mine. No dream. No trashy novel. Nothing came close to anything like this.
I was surrounded by him.
His scent.
His body.
His love.
He lavished me in it all, and the intensity of it hit me straight in the gut. We moved together in the dark, our shadows merging as one. The only light in the black room was the blazing of his eyes on the verge of total possession.
“Do you have, umm—” I mumbled and tripped over my words, flushing in embarrassment.
“Protection?” He opened the top drawer of his bedside table and pulled out a foil package.
Guess that answered my question.
His lips possessed mine again, our tongues tangling, darting, and dancing back and forth. We had moved past teasing and dove straight into desperate needs. The taste of him lingered on my tongue. Sweet sin. Salty and spicy. Dangerous and oh so tempting. I let myself fall into the lazy pleasure he so easily offered, my limbs languid, my bones dissolved. But just as I started to sink into the heavenly bliss of his sultry body, he had me soaring to new heights.
Freely, I opened myself for him, nails digging into the tight muscles of his back. I marveled in the tenderness, barring my heart as well as my body. He ravished my mouth as I curved down into him. I would love to lie and say there was no pain, but that wasn’t true. He was, in essence, popping my cherry. However, the sting was brief, there one moment and gone with the next swirl of his hips. Chase was skilled in ways I dared not question.
Spasms of pleasure shot up my legs to the very center of my being. Little wisps of desire curled inside my body, moving tenderly through me, until my world simply burst apart. Emotions raced inside me. They came in beautiful colors, spinning and swirling. A blue cord shimmered between us, and I felt the tattoos at my hip move, twisting and coiling. The multitude of feelings inside me wrapped me in a blanket, linking the last piece of us together.
Beyond control, beyond reasoning, his head fell back, and there it was—his demon.
Chapter 22
When the faint glow disappeared, I purred and stretched out on top of him. It was like a soft fantasy. One I wouldn’t mind reliving over and over again. A small smile crept on my lips.
There was a beautiful humming, fluttering down my right side, not like the other times. This was accompanied by no pain, just awe-inspiring exquisiteness. It was magical. I watched wide-eyed as the third link of the triforce etched its filigree design onto my skin.
It climbed up my side just under my arm in a mind-boggling display. This was the first time that I really got to see the wonder of being marked. For the others I’d been too preoccupied. When the tattoo was complete, I nestled my head on Chase’s chest, waiting for the defining moment that clarified what new treat we were in store for.
Soul—our souls were intertwined. Without the other we weakened, our souls dependent on the other.
Heart—our hearts and feelings were tied together. We fed off each other’s emotions and could directly affect the other. His happiness was my happiness. My sadness was his sadness.
Body—we were about to find out.
There was this sensation deep inside me, connecting us on a molecular level. Our breathing moved in time. Our hearts beat as one. I wondered if he felt what I did—tranquility. “What does it feel like?” I asked, outlining his new markings with my fingertip. Our symbols mirrored one another down to the tiniest detail. I could not find a single flaw.
His fingers combed through my long hair, detangling the knots. “It’s weird, sort of as if my mark is singing. I’ve never felt like this—complete. There is a quietness inside me—peacefulness.”
My heart faltered. I was so happy I could weep. “I feel it, too.” Actually I felt like a freaking rock star.
He turned, a sheet loosely lying over his waist, and we faced each other side by side. “That pull to the darkness is gone. I don’t feel the raging beast. He is still in there, but we don’t feel separated, tugging each other in opposite directions. It’s as if he is finally part of me. The struggle is gone. I’ve never felt such freedom, and it’s all because of you.”
I couldn’t believe what he was saying. Okay yeah, that part about me being an amazing girlfriend—totally believable. But the other stuff…it sounded very similar to the deal Alastair had tried to bribe me with. And to think I had seriously considered it, trading my life here for one in the underworld. “Alastair said—” I stopped myself, quickly realizing my blunder. We hadn’t gotten to the goods about my one-on-one session with the Lord of Hades.
Silver eyes turned to steel, fixing on me. “What did he say, Angel?”
I needed to sew my mouth shut. Instantly, I wanted to white out those last words, pretend they hadn’t been spoken. I knew he was going to be upset. Upset might be an understatement. The last thing I wanted was to ruin a perfect, undisturbed evening, but the damage was already done. I buried my head in the pillow. “It was really nothing. Not even worth mentioning. I don’t know why I thought about it.”
“Angel!” he barked.
I lifted my head and seared him with a dry look, and then I plucked a hair off his chest. “Don’t growl at me,” I scolded.
His brows slammed together. “Your reluctance is making me angry.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I can feel that. Is it demon angry?”
A flash of gold hit the center of his eyes. “Stop stalling, but to answer your question…no. My control seems to be greater.”
I sighed. At least there was that. “He told me that if I went willingly with him, it would break our bond and you would no longer be chained to the demon inside you. You would be free of the hold it has on you. All I had to do was say yes.”
Silence stretched out between us as he processed the offer I was given by Alastair. “But you said no.”
I shrugged. “It was too painful imaging a life without you. Here or in Hell, I knew that we both would be miserable without the other. I don’t need a bond to tell me how much I love you.”
His lips twitched. “It’s about time you realized that.”
I refrained from pulling a larger clump of chest hairs. “What can I say? I learn everything the hard way.”
He shook his head. “I can’t believe you almost bought into his deception. Demons lie. They will spin a web of false truths so temping it is impossible to resist.”
I was beginning to fully understand how far demons were willing to go to manipulate humans and get what they wanted. Tucking the sheet under my arms, I asked, “Do you think it is possible that your link to Alastair and to Hell has been severed as well?”
He stared at the ceiling. “Do fish get thirsty?”
I punched him in the arm. “So you’re saying not to assume miracles.” I felt his flicker of hope that was swiftly doused. He was afraid to hope. And so was I…understandably.
A devilish grin slapped on his lips. “I need a shower,” he announced.
I scrunched my nose. “I’ll say.”
He arched a brow. “You weren’t complaining a few minutes ago.”
No I wasn’t. How nice of him to remind me.
While I was tumbling down memory lane, he took advantage of my distractedness and promptly tossed aside the covers. Striding buck-naked to the bathroom, he flashed me a grin
of pure wickedness before closing the door. Modesty definitely wasn’t a problem for the notorious Chase Winters. That hadn’t changed. I know I shouldn’t ogle, but I had. All that glory was hard to ignore.
I glanced around his bedroom and giggled. It was an unholy mess. Clothes were strewn everywhere. My bra was on the TV, my jeans were halfway under the bed, and my shirt was missing. Let the scavenger hunt begin. In the end, I was missing a sock, and my poor purple shirt had a hole in it, so I borrowed one of Chase’s.
Slipping the soft, black t-shirt over my head, I took a heaping, drawn-out sniff of the earthy material. It smelled like pine, rain, and sin. A deadly combination that had me missing him even with him just on the other side of the door.
I stretched, wincing slightly at the soreness between my legs. Hopefully my super-healing would cure those aches sooner rather than later. Unlike Chase, I couldn’t dismiss the nagging feeling that Alastair hadn’t been entirely lying through his teeth. Maybe I was gullible, maybe I had my head in the clouds, but I just couldn’t let it go.
Had I made the right choice?
Was it possible that this harmony he was feeling was only short-lived? In an hour, a day, a week from now, would he be fighting the demon inside him again? I loved him to the point of insanity, and I wanted to make him happy. I’d seen the struggle they went through, the highs and the lows. Travis was a prime example of his demon getting the best of him. He had been uncontrollable—unreasonable.
For Chase, losing me would be a thousand times worse—emotional and physically. If our bond was not severed as Alastair claimed, Chase would be in agony. Apart we weakened, I couldn’t imagine what being on different planes would do. I hoped we never found out.
It was a gamble saying no to Alastair, but it was just as much a gamble completing the triforce. Really, this whole thing called life was a gamble—my revelation for the day. I just hoped I had made the right wager, betting on Chase and me.
He stepped out of the shower with damp hair and again no shirt. I think he was slowly trying to kill me with the power of his abs.
I sat belly down on his bed, feet swinging in the air. “What? Have all your shirts suddenly walked off and disappeared?”
He eyed me. “They look better on you.”
I grinned, glancing down at his black t-shirt. “Yeah. They do.”
He belly flopped on the bed beside me, causing me to fling in the air like a seesaw. “Thanks,” I said sarcastically, glancing up. I bit my lip, trying to bank the slow sweltering fire that started when he sauntered out of the steaming bathroom. How can that be? Not more than an hour ago we were burning up the sheets. How could I be ready for round two?
Grabbing my hand, he traced a heart on the inside of my palm. “Whatever harebrained scheme you were thinking, forget it.”
And just like that he could extinguish the burning flames inside me. I snatched my hand away, frowning. “You’re no fun.”
“Oh really,” he replied in an impish tone and a glitter in his eyes. On my next breath, I was under him and he was pressing that fun part of him against me. “’Cuz I am pretty sure I just demonstrated how fun I can be.”
Holy snap, crackle, pop.
My heart kicked in my chest, but I gave him a sweet smile. “Aww. Do you need me to tell you how great you were?”
He gave me a saucy grin. “Nah. I felt just how magnificent I was. And if your feelings weren’t enough, the sound of you moaning my name—”
I covered my hand over his mouth, unable to stop smiling. “Don’t say it.”
His dark brow shot up. “Are you blushing?”
“Do you want to have kids someday?” I asked, squeezing one of my legs between his thighs and pressing not altogether lightly on that sensitive part of his manhood.
He hissed. “Angel Eyes, don’t make me play dirty.”
I eased up, feeling somewhat satisfied, and then I started thinking… “It is possible for us to have kids in the future, isn’t it?” I never really thought about it before, but after tonight… I knew that Divisa could have babies with other Divisa and with humans, but I wondered, since our relationship didn’t really fall into any category of normal, would there be little Chases?
“You want to have little demon babies running around with glowing eyes? I can’t even imagine what their terrible two’s would be like.” He shuddered.
I pictured two little dark-haired boys chasing each other, one with amber eyes and the other with blue. “Not now, doofus, but someday…”
It was obvious that he hadn’t ever considered having children, just like a guy. “I know that I will thoroughly enjoy the act of trying.”
I rolled my eyes. This was such a riveting conversation. “Do you want children?” These were probably questions we should have talked about before we decided to bind ourselves irrevocably to one another for all eternity.
Whatever. Technicalities.
He shrugged lightly. “There are a lot of things I never considered before you. I never thought anyone would be able to love me. I never thought I would let an outsider in. I never thought I would be willing to give up everything for one person.” Ridiculously long lashes framed his lowered eyes, and his voice dropped to a throaty whisper. “I never thought I would fall in love.”
And that is how you swoop a girl off her feet. He made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. “I guess we have plenty of time before we need to think about babies,” I said, feeling slightly lightheaded.
His lips curled into a half grin. “But in the meantime…” Then he did that thing with his hips.
My eyes fluttered closed, and my brain shut off.
Some heavy kissing and wandering fondling ensued before I had a second to catch my breath. It was magnificent.
“So I’ve been thinking,” he said, teasing the hem of my shirt.
“Don’t strain yourself,” I murmured in an auto response.
“Just listen.” He waited a beat to see what I would do or say next. For once I didn’t act on the impulse to chuck something at his head, regardless of how appalling it would be to mar a face as devastating as his. “Don’t leave. I want you to spend the night. I’m not ready to let you go, not after what we shared. Stay the night with me.”
I opened my mouth, but my voice got stuck in my throat, clouded with too many emotions. Instead, I nodded and pressed a sweet kiss to his luscious lips. A girl could get used to this. “What do you plan on doing about Devin and my mom?” I asked, poking holes in his plan for the night.
He kissed me. “I think it is date night,” he murmured and kissed me again. “And they are going to be too busy to notice that you are not bunking with Lexi.”
“Living on the edge.” This was one night I was willing to risk getting busted.
“Always.” His head dipped toward my neck. “Now let’s get some sleep,” he said, sliding a hand under my borrowed t-shirt.
I giggled. There was going to be no sleeping if he kept sipping on my neck like that.
~*~*~*~
I awoke to a pounding that rattled the walls.
“What the he—”
My first thought was busted.
Shoving my hair out of my face, I reluctantly lifted my head off the pillow that still smelled like Chase. He was gone. But the hammering at his door was very much still there. I groaned before getting ready to propel the covers aside and drag my sleepy butt to the door.
“You better be decent because I am coming in,” Lexi said, cracking the door to Chase’s room.
“Why are you making so much racket?” I asked hoarsely, squinting my eyes.
She stepped into the room with an absurdly large grin on her lips. “Saving you from getting grounded,” she replied.
Mom never grounded me, but there was always a first time for everything. I sat up, trying to focus on what Lexi was saying and not be distracted by the memories of last night. “How is breaking the door down helping?” I asked.
She rolled her sea-green eyes. “The parent
als are downstairs making breakfast. I volunteered to get you before things got messy down there. Chase looked ready to tackle your mom when she announced that she was going to wake up her lazy daughter. You should have seen his face.”
I sniffed bacon grease, black coffee, and golden maple syrup now that the bedroom door was wide open. “Ugh,” I grumbled.
She leaned against the bedpost, eyeing my ruffled appearance with a smirk. “So, I assume by the stupid silly grin on my cousin’s face and your general morning grouchiness that the two of you fin-a-lly sealed the deal.”
In more ways than one. I dropped my head into my hands. “Oh my God, does everyone know?”
She ticked off the names on her manicured nails. “Travis—yes. Emma—yes. My dad—yes. Your mom…” She shook her long blonde hair. “Nope. She is too busy falling head over heels for my dad.”
I didn’t know which was worse, my mom in love or that all of Spring Valley knew what I was doing last night. I stand corrected, who I was doing last night. Stupid backwoods small town. “Well, if this isn’t going to be the most awkward breakfast ever.”
“I never knew how much fun having a human friend could be. You never fail to entertain.”
I gave her the stink eye.
Chapter 23
I padded down the stairs, hiding behind Lexi, in my rainbow knee-high socks, after I forced her to make a quick pit stop at her room so I could put on something other than Chase’s borrowed t-shirt. That was sure to draw a few raised brows from Mom, and there was already going to be enough attention on me.
Rounding the corner, my eyes clashed with Chase’s. “Cute, Punky Brewster,” he said when he spotted me.
I narrowed my eyes at him. My socks might be flashy, but they made me still feel like a little girl, just the way I wanted Mom to see me, not as a sex-crazed teenager. “You’ll regret that later,” I forewarned under my breath.
No doubt he read something sexual in my words, seeing as he shot me a dangerous grin over his giant glass of OJ.
