The mattress swayed. Now that she’d shared the vivid details, Mariel wanted to cover the marks. She tried to roll to her side, but one of his large hands stopped her.
“I’m not finished,” he said.
She peeked over her shoulder and found his face neutral. He gave her time to decide what she wanted, which caused flutters in her stomach. Again, he kept his word.
She flattened against the bed, her back open to his scrutiny.
Kas changed his position. Now he straddled her, his heavy weight hovering above her butt, her pelvis pressed into the mattress. He bent and kissed her neck, then her lips as she craned her face upward.
When the tip of his warm, wet tongue touched one scarred spot, Mariel’s breathing cut off, leaving her frozen in shock. Kas repeated the act on the other old mark.
“You’re as strong as any soldier, but in many ways braver,” he said. “Bear these with pride, because they represent the deep loyalty you’ve carried for your fallen friends.”
Tears streamed from her eyes as her heart surrendered all its shame and accepted the half angel’s kindness. She wasn’t ugly, or a freak. She was a survivor, and she would carry her friends’ memory not as a cross to bear, but as an honor to hold. Moments ticked by.
“Would you like to touch me again?” Kas’s voice was layered with hints of emotion.
She smiled, suddenly shy, and gave him a nod. He rolled onto his back, the long expanse of his body open to her. She considered him for a moment and then flicked the button on his jeans. “Off.”
He jostled the bed, removing his pants and underwear.
She slid her fingers over his chest, down his abs, and twirled the dark hairs just below his waistline. As she moved lower, his thick erection jumped. The sight of him bare pooled heat and wetness between her legs.
With a confidence that stunned her, she reached for his cock and wrapped her fingers around the base. She slid her hand up the length.
Kas bounced his head on the pillow, and a harsh breath rushed through his clenched teeth. She paused.
His hand closed over hers. “If I beg, will you keep going?”
The words inspired her boldness. With his help, she continued to stroke his length, the hot, silky skin warming under her caress. Glistening liquid welled at the crown. Curious, she leaned over and tasted him.
He swore and thrust up.
Mariel swirled her tongue over the broad head. The groans he emitted, the way he clutched the mattress until his knuckles whitened, gave her unimaginable power. She planned to enjoy all that this tantalizing man had to offer.
He caressed the side of her face. When she glanced up, his gaze sent a shudder down her back.
“My turn,” he said, scooping her into his arms and dragging their bodies together.
Unable to resist, she ran her fingers through his black hair. The ends tickled her skin.
He rolled her onto her stomach and then teased her thighs apart. Her breath caught, and she tried to snap her knees together, but Kas had angled himself between them. The bite to her left buttock made her yelp and scoot up on the mattress.
“That’s a warning,” he said. “Keep your legs spread for me. If you close them, I’ll bite harder.”
Mariel clenched on the rough order. Tempted to disobey, she began to close her thighs again.
The sharp swat on her ass, followed by her inelegant shriek, made her tormentor chuckle. “I’m not surprised you’re willful in bed, but that was your last warning.” He nipped her butt cheek. “Although I could get used to this.”
Kas’s voice made her insides ripple. How could he sound so sexy? Before she pondered long, he breached her with his finger.
Mariel squirmed under him, the forgotten sensations ricocheting through her. It wasn’t long before he had her panting and rubbing her pelvis into the mattress. He increased the friction on her, his fingers slick with her juices.
Her spirit climbed higher, seeking pleasure just out of reach. She mewled into the pillow, desperate to find the remembered place she sought. Then she felt his hair fanned across the back of her legs. He’d shifted on the bed and…
His tongue against her clit punched a cry from her throat. Mariel pushed her hips up, giving him more of her aching cleft. He sucked her flesh between his lips and continued to thrust his fingers deep inside her hot passage.
She balled the sheet into her fists and a low, throaty moan marked the moment when she fell over the edge into bliss. Ignited by her Grace, the orgasm exploded over her. She cried out into the mattress.
Kas moved again, but this time he hooked his arm under her waist, pulling her to her knees. She kept her legs apart, and her blood roared.
The broad tip of his cock nudged past her swollen clit, and he fed more of his length into her throbbing hole. She lifted off the bed and, using her arms to brace herself, shoved back onto Kas. He hissed and grabbed her hips, stilling her.
He flexed his hands against her heated skin. “Don’t. Move.”
“No,” she said, pulling forward enough to push herself onto his cock. Her body ached for more, and waiting only made her need grow.
His grip tightened, and then he thrust. Harder and deeper than before, he set an intense pace, snapping his strong hips.
Mariel cried out, reveling in the delicious friction of their entwined bodies. When he kissed her scars, she teetered on breaking apart. His tongue lingered, treating each side of her back and her shoulders with breath-halting attention.
He reached under her and skimmed his fingers over her swollen clit. That was all she knew before her second orgasm shattered her.
Kas’s thrusts became erratic, his thighs slamming into the back of hers. She curved her butt higher, taking him as deep as she could. Her teeth rattled from the intensity of his lovemaking. When his release came, he curled over her, pinning her to him, his lips locked onto her shoulder, joining her in blessed oblivion.
Chapter Twenty
Kas cradled Mariel’s head against his arm, enjoying the soft sound of her breathing. What she had endured… No, he wouldn’t dwell on that just yet; it pinned him into a hate-filled void. Instead, he replayed her passion in his mind, and then his cock stiffened and rose like an exclamation mark.
A light giggle reverberated against his chest.
“Think that’s funny?” he asked, looking down at her with feigned indignation.
She lifted her head, and two beautiful almond-shaped eyes twinkled with amusement. “Well, I was enjoying the view of my dresser, but now an obstruction is in my way.”
He reached down and stroked his hard length. “I got a problem.”
“Oh?”
Kas slid a wicked grin to his lips. “Yeah. Huge problem. Gigantic problem. A problem as big as a skyscraper and as hard as a—”
Mariel rubbed her fingertip across the crown. He sucked in a gasp as she said, “I want you in me, again.”
Ready to give her exactly what she needed, he removed his hand and grabbed her thigh. She adjusted until she straddled his hips, pushing his dick against his stomach. “Move up, angel.”
Her fingers feathered across his chest in slow, exploratory touches that left scorch marks on his skin. He’d allow her to do anything she wanted.
She brushed her palm against his nipples, and they firmed from the friction. He closed his eyes, absorbing her scent of arousal. Tasting her again was next on his list.
Mariel leaned forward, breasts brushing his abs, and the heat of her wet mouth captured his nipple and suckled. Kas fisted the sheets and bowed his back to keep her connected to him. He groaned, and she switched to the other one. Hell, he couldn’t believe getting his nipples sucked would be so damned erotic.
She moved higher, nipping his collarbone, licking his jawline. When her mouth fastened on the corded muscle on his neck, she bit down. Her blunt teeth didn’t break the skin, but he almost wished she’d turn into a vampire.
“You taste so good,” she murmured against his neck.
; “Keep going, angel,” he panted.
“Mmm.” Mariel rubbed her nose under his ear. “I am enjoying this.”
So the fuck was he, but Kas felt his control cracking like a dry riverbed.
She ran her fingers through his hair and then down his neck, chest, abs, and…
Mariel stroked his engorged cock with one hand and nuzzled his left nipple. He eased his weight off his swollen sack.
“Ride me.” His lust-deep voice filled the room.
“In a moment.”
No way he’d last through the torment. Kas placed his hands on her hips and prepared to flip his vixen onto her back, but she slid lower before he had a good hold.
Mariel’s mouth encased the head of his dick. He instinctually thrust up, eager to surround himself in the glorious heat. She fisted the base of his shaft and took control.
“Goddamn,” he blurted out.
Her small hands stroked in rhythm with her mouth, drawing more of his length inside, bracing her tongue against the skin. Sensations flooded through Kas until he moaned and spoke nonsense. Mariel worked his dick like a favored treat.
He grabbed her under the arms and hoisted her up in one tug. With a twist of his hips, he angled her just right and eased his cock into her soaked entrance. She threw her head back, mouth opened in a silent cry, and he thrust in again, harder.
He sat up, Mariel’s gorgeous legs wrapped around his waist, and he pounded into her. Each thrust shook the bed frame and rammed the headboard into the wall.
Kas locked his arm around her and flipped her onto her stomach. He stood next to the bed and tugged her legs until her ass bent over the side of the thick mattress.
“I’m gonna fill this ass one day, angel.” He stroked his thumb over the puckered opening. “Right now, your sweet pussy gets my full attention.”
He dropped to his knees and stared at the glistening center of her. “Every part of you is beautiful.”
With his fingers opening her, Kas sucked on her clit. Mariel cried out and tried to scramble away. “Nuh-uh. You were made to be tasted.”
“Kas, please.”
“Beg again, sweets. Turns me on.”
He sucked and licked, burying himself in the decadent scent of her. A woman who had survived at all cost. A scarred angel who’d been haunted by her past.
She pushed back, giving him more access to every inch of her. She clenched around his tongue, and he knew she was close. He used his free hand to fist his shaft at the base. He wouldn’t blow until she found her pleasure. She deserved only pleasure for the rest of her life.
“Kas!” she screamed as she came apart.
He held her as her body convulsed, then he slowly rose behind her and rubbed his tip in her folds. “I need you, angel.”
Mariel peeked over her perspiration-covered shoulder. “Yes.”
The desire burning in her eyes held his attention as he sank his cock deep inside. She lowered her head and released a long moan. The noises she made nearly knocked him over the edge.
Kas moved in and out of her, dragging his hard length against her inner walls. The intense friction was too good. Too right. Too perfect. His pace increased until he was slamming into her with everything he had left. He would come. He would come so hard and so long.
White blasted behind his eyes, and his whole body tensed a second before ecstasy struck. He clenched his mouth shut to keep in the howl of pleasure that would have blown out the windows of the cottage. His Grace surged outward, pushing the limits of his body, as he came harder than he’d ever known.
Mariel. God of All, Mariel.
…
While she dozed, Kas couldn’t keep his thoughts on anything but her. This was where he wanted to be. The rest of the world could go to Hell.
Me and her.
What if she didn’t feel the same? What had he done to deserve her affection or care? Not a damned thing. Yet.
He touched her damp hair and skin. Didn’t they make an unlikely pair. A half-breed and a wingless angel. Maybe not. He didn’t have wings, and she was as much an outcast as him.
Kas snuggled close and tried to picture her reception at the Stronghold. After he managed to earn the team’s forgiveness, the Bound Ones would accept her as they had Jarrid and Cain’s women.
Trouble would come from Heaven. The Directorate had shown indifference to his brothers’ lovers, which had more to do with their belief that humans were inferior, just like Nephilim. But Mariel was an angel under their command. Feathers or not, her superiors wouldn’t want one of their purebloods shacking up with an abomination.
She stirred next to him. Kas tried to relax back into his post–hot sex haze.
“Your heart is pounding,” she said, angling to see his face. “What troubles you, mind reader?”
He thumbed her kiss-swollen lower lip. “The next part of my mission.”
She frowned and propped herself up. “Mastema’s request.”
“Yep.” He covered his eyes with his other arm. “Can’t fake an angel hit. Dead dark elf or vampire, not a problem. Plenty of lowlifes to choose. Hell, a shifter with a police record could’ve worked, but an angel? Jesus.”
She kissed his arm. “So, zero options?”
“Not exactly.” He hated what he had to say next. “You need to bring your bosses in on this.”
“What? No.” Mariel sat up and glared at him. “If I tell them, they’ll order your death.”
“The Directorate and Renegades have been fighting for centuries. It’s like a fucked-up dance. One step forward, two steps back. Over and over, no winners.”
“Then you know they will see this as two steps back for them.”
Kas shook his head. “One step forward.” He propped himself against the headboard. “Think about it. I’m a Heaven-sanctioned assassin in the heart of enemy territory. I’m closer to Mastema than they’ve ever been, and with your powers disrupting his, how could I miss taking him out? I wouldn’t. He’d be dead. Win-win.”
He was a live grenade, and Heaven only had to toss him in Mastema’s lap.
Boom.
“I am not sure.” She hugged her midsection. “I do not doubt you any longer, but you are forgetting one vital point.”
“The sacrificial angel.” Kas hadn’t forgotten. “Believe me, I don’t like the idea of killing an angel. Even if I’m not overly fond of any with the exception of Tanis…and now, you.”
“I might like you, a little.” Her expression softened. “Even with your horribly dated fashion sense.”
Kas laughed, and it felt good. “Hey, the whole bra-burning phase was hot.”
She giggled, a carefree sound, a balm on his mood. He liked her—a lot. Maybe more than like, but that was more complicated. Before he’d met her, he’d worried he wasn’t worth much. Now, he actually believed he could do anything, including killing the mastermind behind the Renegades.
“If my proximity to Mastema will gain your bosses a victory, they’ll sacrifice an angel. If they don’t agree, they’ll kill me.”
“And you are okay with that? Either they will give you what you ask, or you will accept a KOS and never see your team again?”
Kas understood the risk. He did this because he loved Jarrid, Cain, Nesty, and Tanis. They’d earned this chance at freedom, and he’d happily pay whatever price with every drop of his blood. The moment he had the formula to release his brothers, the Bound Ones could take out the Renegades’ Detroit cell.
“I see I cannot change your mind,” Mariel said, deep lines etched in her brow. “I will make the call.”
She rose from the bed, naked and more gorgeous for the scars across her shoulder blades. She pulled on his T-shirt, which looked a hundred times sexier on her, and padded to the closet. Curious, he followed.
Inside the small space, Mariel balanced on a stool, removed a panel above her, and withdrew a box similar to one at the Stronghold. She flipped the lid and he stared at the communication orb.
“Nice. Better than a smartphone.�
� Kas backed up so she could return to the bed.
“I dislike having it here, but my superiors refused to allow me undercover without it.”
He suspected the Directorate was less concerned about protecting their spy. They wanted information, and that meant risking her to have an info lifeline. Bastards.
“Remember, not a word,” she said, raising one eyebrow.
Kas returned the reproachful look. He wasn’t a rookie.
Mariel closed her eyes and touched the orb. It hummed to life, dialing through the cosmos.
“You missed your last report.”
The grating voice could only belong to Kaonos. The angel board’s lapdog had a legendary dislike of the Bound Ones, which was absolutely mutual. When Tanis had argued to spare the lives of all Nephilim children, it was Kaonos’s gargoyle heart that supported the argument to kill every half-angel child.
“There has been a lot of activity,” Mariel said calmly. “Kasdeja has infiltrated the organization. He is undercover.”
“On whose authority?”
“He was approached by Rahab on Mastema’s command,” she said peeking up at him. “As a servant of Heaven, I advanced, as you ordered. He is pretending to have left his team.”
“He has gone rogue,” Kaonos said in a chilling tone.
“No, he made them believe he has quit the Bound. It was the only way we could be certain the Nephilim team would not interfere.”
“We?”
Kas heard the edge in the angel’s voice and Mariel tensed.
“I believe Heaven’s assassin is in a position to eliminate the Renegade leader,” she said.
He gave her credit for reminding Kaonos of Kas’s loyalty. The angel board might not like half-breeds, but he and his brothers were among the deadliest fighters they had.
“This is…an intriguing development,” her superior said. “And you say the half-breed has wormed his way into the organization. They have accepted him?”
Now Mariel hesitated, casting him a questioning eye. Quickly, he understood what she wanted to say. He nodded his agreement.
“Rahab is Kasdeja’s sire.”
Angel Lover Page 14
