Iniquity (The Ascent Book 1)

by Melody Winter

  Erebus lifted a questioning brow before nodding toward the floor.

  Taking an unnecessary deep breath, I dropped my arms to my side and let the dress fall.

  I was naked, apart from my long socks.

  He didn’t move or show any expression other than his transfixed gaze, which greedily devoured each and every part of me.

  Did I disappoint him? Had his initial statement, when I awoke after our marriage ceremony, about me not impressing him been true? I lifted my chin and met his eyes as they eventually focused on mine. Finding my voice, I uttered words that I feared the answer to. “Will I do?”

  “Will you do?” Erebus strode toward me, covering the distance in a few quick strides. He loomed over me, but didn’t touch me. “You’ll more than do, Athena.”

  He spun me around with his hands and gripped the top of my arms. My skin tingled, and small blue sparks fizzed where he touched me. I welcomed the reminder of his power, of how strong he was.

  “You’re perfect,” he whispered against my ear before kissing the base of my neck. I groaned when the softness of his lips met my skin. “Perfect for me.” He ran his hands down my arms, and I leaned back onto him, relishing the solid muscles of his body. I arched my back and lifted my arms behind, reaching around the back of his neck and pulling his head next to mine. I twisted my face toward his, wanting his lips on mine, craving the kisses we’d shared downstairs. His stubble scratched my skin as he gently sucked my neck.

  “Slow down, Athena. We have all night.”

  “Not long enough,” I said before grasping him even tighter and trying to turn to face him.

  He chuckled against my skin before planting further gentle kisses along my shoulder.

  “Lie on the bed. On your back,” he said. The words were spoken quietly but were an order.

  I reclined on the bed, my head on the pillows, with no embarrassment about being completely exposed to him. I ached delightfully from our union downstairs, and the fluttering fire within my belly yearned for more of the same.

  I bent one of my knees, raising it a couple of inches into the air, and lifted my arms above my head. Erebus drew in a sharp intake of breath before stepping toward the foot of the bed.

  “Your skin glows in the light from the candles. I always thought a fire burnt within you, Athena, but it has grown into a glorious monster—it rages within you now.”

  I smiled at his assessment of my character and the burning beast within me. Had it always been there, or had he unlocked it?

  Erebus finally began undressing. His fingers worked deftly on his shirt, slipping the top buttons open with ease.

  “Can I help?” I propped myself up on my elbows.

  He shook his head. “If I want you to move, I’ll tell you. Stay where you are.”

  He lifted his shirt above his head before throwing it to the floor.

  Standing before me in just his trousers and boots, I realised that it was the fire within him that had attracted me. He knew what he wanted and took control. I was surprised he had been prepared to wait for me when it meant missing out on this burning crescendo of our feelings. And why had I made him wait? What would it be like if I had my time with him again? I’d certainly be awake during the marriage ceremony, not compelled and half-asleep. I’d insist he complete the full ceremony, enjoy the moment we came together whilst surrounded by flames and his demon chanting. My breath caught in my throat as the images flashed before me.

  Erebus cocked his head to the side. “Now what are you thinking? It’s something strong.”

  “I’m just wondering why I didn’t jump on you the moment we met.”

  “Because you’re stubborn.” Erebus’s mouth curled at the side. “And you have principles and rules that you live by. I don’t want you to ever forget who you are or where you come from, but now we are truly a couple, married and joined together in every sense of the word. I demand that you remain true to me and only me.”

  “There’ll never be anyone else,” I said, my voice strong. I didn’t want anyone else.

  He nodded, his eyes narrowing as he stared at me. His scrutiny was becoming easy to take, not like it was when we first met, when I shied away from his penetrating, all-knowing eyes.

  Candles lit his torso, giving flickering teases of the designs inked on his body. I’d seen them before, but I had never let myself stare. I’d never wanted him to catch me watching his naked torso, but now I didn’t care, and tipped my head as I tried to study the designs in the limited light.

  “What do they all mean?” I dipped my head at his bare chest, ignoring the urge to crawl to the end of the bed to take a closer look.

  “Various things.”

  “Tell me.”

  He grinned. “Which part do you want me to translate?”

  I tilted my head to the side, catching a block of text written between two curved symbols. “That one,” I said, pointing to his left side over his rib cage.

  He glanced at the text before returning his intense gaze back to me. “May my life be a wondrous opportunity to seize the powers bestowed upon me.”

  “Your surge of power?”

  “It’s very rare,” he said before diverting his attention away from me and pulling his feet free from his boots. With the translation forgotten, he stepped to the edge of the bed. “Athena, how many lovers have you had?”

  His words snapped me back to the moment, to what was happening and to my nakedness. “One,” I said. I wasn’t the village whore. “Only one before you.”

  “Thomas?” The name was spat as he placed one knee on the bed and proceeded to crawl toward me.

  I nodded, my breathing already increasing in pace.

  “So you’ve never been loved by a demon.” It wasn’t a question—it was a statement.

  “O . . . only downstairs, with you.”

  He shook his head. “That wasn’t what I meant. What we shared downstairs was perfunctory, necessary. We both needed the release. But now . . . now I will make love to you properly.”

  He wrapped his hand around my ankle and lifted my foot onto his shoulder. With steady hands, he rolled my thigh length sock down my leg. Soft kisses were immediately placed along the inner edge of my foot, trailing to my calf, before he paid attention to my other covered leg. Once I was free of the woollen coverings he edged further up the bed, teasing me with his languid movement. His hands parted my thighs as he kissed higher. The touch of his fingers was as electric as his mouth, and I moaned, wanting more of the same and yet eager for what was to come.

  He inched higher, slipping his mouth to the front of my legs. “Has any man ever kissed you here?” he said, lightly pressing his hand between my thighs.

  “No,” I whispered, a word that sounded far louder in the silence of his room.

  “Thomas was a selfish lover. Every woman should be worshipped here.” Once again, his hand pressed against me, but this time his fingers slipped further. I instinctively lifted my hips from the bed, wanting more contact, more pressure.

  “Would you like me to kiss you here?”

  I nodded frantically, imagining the warmth, the wetness, and the soft contours of his mouth.

  “You are so eager, Athena. And to think that you have denied me your body since the day you met me.”

  “I wouldn’t have if I’d known,” I uttered as his stubble scratched my inner thighs.

  “Known what?” Erebus’s warm breath blew across me.

  I moaned as I waited for his promised kiss. I would surely explode, come undone as easily as I had downstairs.

  His lips covered me.

  “That you . . . could make . . . me . . . feel . . .” I shattered as the tightness in my stomach unfurled.

  My words were lost to a scream of pleasure, and I reached for him, grabbing his hair, urging him on. I continued to climb the dizzy heights of saturated bliss that Erebus teased from me, losing myself in his lascivious worship of my body.

  Time after time, he pushed me over the edge. And each t
ime, I begged for more. My mind cleared of all that had happened over the past few months, and my thoughts centred on Erebus and only Erebus.

  And as the darkness of the evening raged into a loud storm outside, Erebus and I continued to explore each other’s bodies. Many times we came together, and each time he ensured I reached my peak before he followed.

  Selfless, demanding—he was all I required from a lover.

  Insatiable, possessive—my husband loved me and proved it repeatedly.

  “TIME TO GET UP,” EREBUS said as he moved across the bed.

  “I want to stay here.” I rolled over and reached my hand in his direction. “Come back to bed.”

  He was already pulling his trousers on. The crumpled material stretched out over his muscular thighs. He smiled at me before crouching, about to pick his shirt from the floor.

  “I’ve got something I want to show you,” he said seriously, although he chuckled when I raised my brow.

  “Well, come back to bed. I’ve got something I want to show you.”

  Leaving his shirt where it was, he sidled to the bed before leaning over me. His lips were instantly upon mine, urgent, searching and demanding a response. He growled before straightening up and heading back to his shirt.

  “Seriously,” he said. “Get dressed. We’re going out.”

  “Why?” I wanted to spend the rest of the day in bed. I’d only just discovered the intensity of shared love-making, of a man worshipping my body and ensuring my pleasure before his own. I didn’t want to go anywhere.

  “Like I said, I want to show you something. It’s already midday. We’ll miss it if we don’t get a move on.” He pulled his shirt over his head, ending my lust infused haze.

  I sighed in defeat as I sat up. “Is it far? Are we walking?”

  “Far enough.” He pulled one of his boots on, and then the other. “That’s why we’re going on Samael. It’ll take us most of the afternoon to get there.”

  “Samael is back?”

  “He came back last night. I told you he would.”

  “Where’s Odin?” I needed to thank him for helping last night. The bird was more intelligent than I gave him credit for.

  “I let him in last night whilst you were sleeping. He slept in your room on the screen.”

  “Can he come with us today?”

  Erebus smiled. “Of course. But even if I didn’t want him to come, I suspect he still would.”

  “And you’re not going to tell me where we’re going?”

  “No. It’s a surprise.”

  “I think I had plenty of those last night.” I pulled the furs up over my head and flung myself backward on the bed, hiding my flushed, heated face.

  Erebus chuckled. “Well, prepare yourself for another. Get dressed, something warm, and I’ll meet you downstairs. You’d best hurry, I’m going to try and cook you some porridge.” He fled the room, whistling as he wandered along the corridor.

  He had to be joking. He’d never cooked for me. And now he was going to attempt to make porridge? It wasn’t difficult, but the oats needed to be soaked overnight, and I was sure he’d not have done that.

  He was happy, though, a smiling demon, a man who was as content as the woman with him. My heart threatened to burst from the confines of my chest whenever he held me close. I loved the tingling touch of his fingers, the ticking jolts of his power tracing my flesh. And when he loved me . . . there was no other male in the world who could love me the way he did.

  I rushed to my room to select the warmest dress I had, but rummaged in my bedside drawer before dressing. I’d built up quite a supply of lace since I’d been here. Bessie regularly brought some with the food, and I’d never informed her the seeds weren’t needed. I grinned as I popped a handful of the seeds in my mouth and chewed them. I’d be needing them every day now.

  Odin wasn’t in my room, and I missed his early morning chatter waking me up. I grinned. Someone else had woken me this morning and he hadn’t stirred me from my sleep by talking to me.

  I searched through my dresses for the thickest one I had, but stopped moving as I spotted several small finger sized marks developing into deep purple bruises on my arms. I twisted each arm in turn, systematically inspecting them. Erebus had marked me. I inhaled a deep breath and closed my eyes. I’d never felt him hurting me last night. His hold was comforting, commanding and possessive, and I would have told him if his grip had caused any pain. I frowned, once again inspecting the bruises. Paymon’s words about demons been strong, sometimes too strong, rushed through my head. Erebus needed to be careful.

  When I ventured downstairs, Odin’s loud squawks sounded out from the kitchen. I followed their noise and the distinctly unpleasant smell of something burning. Erebus was stirring a small black pot over the stove, his back to the room, and Odin was hopping from the back of one chair to another. I silently walked around the table and wrapped my arms around Erebus.

  “Let me sort this,” I said.

  He turned in my arms to face me. “I don’t think I’m doing a good job of it. I did try.” He grimaced at the creamy liquid spotted with dark brown burnt pieces.

  “I’ll just have toast,” I said, squeezing him. “And a few eggs.”

  It seemed strange to be eating breakfast at midday, but there was no way I’d have willingly left the comfort of a warm bed, and an equally warm man, just for food.

  I made my way to the pantry and picked two eggs from the straw filled basket. When I returned to the kitchen, Odin had settled on back of the chair next to Erebus who had his legs crossed and resting on the seat next to him. Erebus was scratching Odin under his beak. “He’s quite a sweet little chap when you get to know him.”

  I smiled. Seeing Erebus and Odin together wasn’t something I’d ever thought would happen. They only just managed to put up with each other, and I hadn’t forgotten the times Odin had pecked Erebus.

  “How are you feeling this morning?” Erebus asked. “Tired?”

  “Bruised,” I said, honest with my response.

  He narrowed his eyes. “I was too rough. I shall try to be more considerate in the future, but I can’t promise.”

  “Did you hear me complaining last night?”

  He looked away. “No, but I need to be careful. Women have been known to die whilst demons have sex with them. Sometimes we forget our own strength. And you would make any man forget his mind when he is consumed with passion and buried deep within you.”

  My cheeks burnt, the usual redness sure to follow.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” I asked, skewering the bread on the fork ready to hold it in the fire pit.

  “To help?” He shook his head. “No. It needs to be me who controls myself. Although my pleasure may be diminished if I try to control exactly what I’m doing.”

  “Have you ever made love to a human before me?” I had to ask even though I didn’t want to know the answer.

  His gaze lifted and his eyes hit me with their full black force. “I’m not prepared to hide my past from you, Athena. I’ve had a few female demons share their bodies with me . . . and one vampire.” He shook his head as if trying to rid himself of the memory. “But they are nothing compared to you. And to answer your question, no, I have never made love to anyone apart from you.”

  His words made my heart leap, stutter and race, seemingly all at once.

  “You mean I . . . I’m the first?”

  Nodding, he offered me a lazy grin.

  I froze, unable to speak. Had he just told me he loved me?

  The toasting fork dropped from my hand as I repeated his words in my head.

  Erebus sprang to his feet and was upon me instantly, pushing me back against the old sink. I squealed with surprise at his passionate attack. His lips covered mine with his usual urgency—hard demanding kisses that scorched. I matched his vigour with that of my own, but when his hand grasped at the skirt of my dress and his hips pressed against mine, I reached for his hand, entwined my fingers between his
and held him still. His fevered kissing stopped and he sighed before pressing a single chaste kiss on my mouth. We both breathed heavily, our foreheads touching. His hand slipped from mine, and he stroked my cheek with his fingers. “Later,” he promised before pressing another soft kiss on my lips.

  He stepped backward and smiled. “Get some food into you, Athena, we need to leave as soon as possible.”

  Erebus never told me where we were going. He was calm today, relaxed, but moments of bristling excitement kept creeping through his serious façade. When we left the house and rode through the forest, Odin followed us. He occasionally cawed, alerting us of his presence as he swooped low in front of Samael. Erebus laughed every time Odin made an appearance, enjoying his company as much as I did. There was no rain today, but there was a bitter wind, one that nipped at my exposed face and threatened to tear the hood of my cloak off my head. We travelled most of the afternoon, stopping only twice at the side of streams to let Samael have a drink. Erebus showed no fear of the thick forest around us or for travelling on the deserted clover covered roads. But I was on edge, fears of what the darkness hid were never far from my mind. The times I heard a distant howl or caught the movement of the hedgerow as we raced passed on Samael, I tightened my hold around Erebus’s waist and buried my face in the back of his cloak. If anything jumped out at us, I was sure he would kill it. His gloves were tucked in his coat pocket, and the deadly power he could unleash from his bare hands was unquestionable.

  “How much further?” I asked, my voice raised to a volume he would hear above the constant beat of Samael’s hooves.

  “Nearly there,” he shouted, nodding forward.

  I peered into the darkness ahead of us, and for the first time in my life I noticed a brightness in the sky over the horizon. I stared in awe at the sight as we travelled toward it.

  “What is it?”

  Erebus slowed Samael to a steady trot. “I’ve brought you to see the true beauty of the light.”