by Larissa Ione
Lilith licked the blade as she hovered over what was left of her sister. Oh, Sabbet would recover in time, but it would be a decade, at least, before her ruined womb could support a child. By then, her heat would have passed and she’d have to wait another couple of centuries for another. In the meantime, Lilith would become a force to be reckoned with, and Sabbet wouldn’t dare challenge her once she arrived in Sheoul.
Oh, yes, Lilith had it all figured out. If all went according to plan, she would become a legend in Sheoul, practically godlike… perhaps she could even take a place next to the dark lord himself.
All she needed was Yenrieth. And tomorrow she would have him.
Yenrieth spent the longest day of his life in the forest hunting hellrats with Verrine. She’d noticed he’d been distracted, and she kept asking what had happened and if there was something she could do to help. How could he tell her that the only thing on his mind was wicked, raw sex with a woman who all but oozed sensuality?
No, Verrine, who hadn’t yet been intimate with a man, would have no understanding of the pleasures of the body. He’d asked her once why she’d never bedded a male, not even during the maddening cycle of maturity when an angel grew his or her wings. Sex could hasten the painful process… or in the very least, take one’s mind off it.
But Verrine had simply shrugged and said she was waiting for the right male. She was an angel of justice in training, so Yenrieth figured that maybe she saw consequences more clearly than others. Possible, he supposed, since, as a battle angel, he was much more prone to hard living, ruthlessness, and rash actions.
And true to his nature, he’d acted rashly and he’d kissed Verrine. Today. In the forest. He was still kicking himself for that. But when she’d touched his cheek with the greatest of care, asking him what was weighing so heavily on his mind, he couldn’t tell her the truth. So he’d kissed her.
It had been the sweetest kiss he’d ever shared with anyone. For a few heartbeats, Verrine had wiped Lilith from his thoughts. The desire that had been coursing through his veins all night and into the morning had shifted into something less frantic but no less heated.
Then Verrine had torn away from him, her eyes wild, her entire being wrought with distress. Before he could apologize, she’d flashed away, leaving him feeling like a brutal clod. She’d been waiting for the right male to take her to bed… what if she’d been waiting for the right male for her first kiss too?
Ashamed, he thought about going after her, but he doubted she’d be receptive to his apology right now. Or ever.
Yenrieth cursed himself for a fool and flashed to the pool, needing a distraction. Lilith would be perfect for that.
Sure enough, the moment he caught sight of her, his rashness with Verrine melted away, leaving his focus narrowed on the naked female swimming with leisurely abandon. He remained at the edge of the clearing, his heart pounding in a nervous, erratic rhythm. He was never nervous, especially with females, but this one left him dangerously off kilter.
Frankly, it pissed him off.
Lilith floated to the shallows and gracefully eased out of the water and onto the shore. As she walked toward a blanket spread in the lush grass farther up the bank, she squeezed her hair, creating a stream of water that trickled down her breasts. Yenrieth wanted to lick her dry.
Then lick her wet.
Droplets on her skin shimmered in the sunlight as she sank down on the blanket and poured a cup of wine from the vessel beside her. She brought the cup to her lips, and as she drank, she looked directly at him.
Caught.
His heart beat faster. Harder. The throbbing pulse went all the way to his sex. In an almost dreamlike state, he moved toward her, his gaze fixed on hers, his mouth practically watering in anticipation.
Smiling, Lilith shifted, letting her thighs fall open to reveal her smooth female flesh, the delicate pink center glistening. His body reacted to the sight, hardening and buzzing with every step.
“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” she said, patting the blanket.
“I wasn’t sure I would.”
Her knowing smile said she knew he was lying. “Sit.”
Her command, softly spoken, brought him to a stop. He didn’t like being ordered around, least of all by a human.
Again, she seemed to have intimate knowledge of his thoughts, and she reached out to him. “Please. I meant no offense. I simply can’t wait to have you next to me.”
He took her hand, marveling at how soft it was, and allowed her to pull him down. Her remarkable eyes darkened, and he swore that for a moment her entire body did the same. She held the cup to his lips.
In a husky voice, she said, “Please. Take what is mine.”
Yes. He already felt like he’d imbibed a barrel of wine as he allowed her to tip the cup up, spilling the sweet nectar into his mouth. A tiny rivulet dribbled down his chin, and she leaned forward to trace the stream with her tongue. He barely held in a moan as she followed the trail of wine to his lips, and then inside his mouth.
Unbidden, his hand came up to one of her breasts. That one touch undid him. In a powerful surge, he swept aside the wine flagon and cup and pushed Lilith onto her back. They both groaned as he covered her, her legs coming up to clench him around the waist. The next moments were a flurry of hands and tearing cloth, their desperation to get him as naked as she was all consuming.
Strange urges wracked him, desires to take her in ways he’d never indulged. Wicked, sinful ways. She knew, encouraged him. Time became a blur as he brought her to dozens of peaks, and somehow, he found the willpower to hold off his own climax. Or maybe he held off because she’d squeeze his sack at precisely the right moment, preventing his seed from spilling with only a touch and an odd trickle of heat from her palm.
“Not yet,” she kept whispering.
This time, when she cupped his balls while he was buried in the heat of her mouth, he rebelled.
“Not again,” he growled, pulling out and flipping her onto her back. Her eyes shot wide, and he resisted smiling at her dismay.
He mounted her, settling over her toned body, and when his shaft rubbed against her mound, she undulated, the raw hunger in her expression replacing her surprise at his defiance. As he dipped his head to suck a berry-red nipple into his mouth, he ground his hips, sliding the tip of his cock through her slit, drawing a cry from her sweet lips. He was so sensitized now that he had to pant through a near climax, because while he was so very ready, he would be inside her tight sheath when he spilled.
Pushing against her opening, he lifted his head to watch her as he slid slowly inside. He hissed as her inner walls clenched around him. Sweat broke out on his skin, and then she was tonguing his neck and tilting her pelvis to take him deep.
“Yes,” she breathed. “Give yourself to me.”
Surrounded by the rush of the waterfall and the rough slap of skin against skin, he pumped into her, the throbbing pressure in his shaft building beyond what he’d ever thought he could endure. White-hot pleasure seared him, and the sight of her full breasts bouncing with every thrust took him over the edge.
Ecstasy took him harder than anything he’d experienced before, penetrating to what felt like his very soul. He roared with the force of it, his seed filling her, flowing in a nonstop rush that made him dizzy. Lilith cried out in what sounded like a combination of pleasure and triumph, and suddenly, the bliss coursing through him morphed, tinged with an edge of darkness. Of shadow.
His head swam as he collapsed on top of her, dazed, a little confused by what had just happened. How could the best orgasm of his life turn into something that left him feeling not only exhausted, but… wrong?
Lilith pushed him aside, easily, as if he didn’t weigh twice as much as she did. Instead of being wrung dry, she seemed to be energized. Glowing.
Her smile was sensual but satisfied as she went to her feet, leaving him sprawled almost helplessly on the blanket.
“Thank you, Yenrieth,” she murmured. “Your ang
elic gift is going to take me far.”
Bewildered and still fuzzy, he watched her saunter away and disappear into the woods. And wait… Yenrieth? Angel? She’d known what he was?
Wobbling, he sat up. His palm came down on the spot where she’d been, and now that he was no longer vibrating with lust, a new vibration traveled up from his hand to his soul, a soul that seemed a little soiled now.
Demon. He was sensing a demon.
No. Oh, sweet Heaven, no.
Fury and anguish welled up from deep inside him. Lilith had seduced him, tricked him, used him. Sickened, he staggered to the pool, desperate to wash her touch from his skin.
He would never be able to wash her from the wreckage that was his soul.
As he scrubbed his body with an urgency that bordered on crazed, all he could think about was Verrine, and how right she’d been to run away. He was filth, and he wondered what the consequences of his actions would be… and who would pay the price.
Verrine spent several minutes vomiting, her heart aching. She knew Yenrieth wasn’t celibate—no battle angel was. Unlike some angels of other Orders who weren’t allowed to—or couldn’t—have sex, sexual need seemed to be part of the battle angel genetic code.
But to see him with a… succubus… especially after the kiss he’d shared with her, had torn Verrine wide open.
Nausea twisted through her again, but she fought the urge to spill what little was left in her stomach. Maybe this was her fault for not telling him how she felt about him. Maybe she should have confessed that she’d wanted to feel a male’s body against hers.
But not any male. She wanted Yenrieth to be the one to show her the wonders of making love.
And maybe she shouldn’t have run away from him like a frightened rabbit. She’d sent him straight into that female’s arms.
She wanted to scream.
When she’d come upon the pair in the final throes of ecstasy, it had been horrifyingly clear that he didn’t know the female he was releasing into was a demon. Damn him!
Verrine had warned him that his undeveloped ability to sense evil would get him into trouble if he didn’t work on honing the talent. Instead, he concentrated on learning to fight and turning holy fire into a powerful weapon—all admirable undertakings, but he’d neglected to develop other important skills.
And because he was a male, his reproductive instincts were blocked by a succubus’s charm, and he’d missed the most crucial fact about the demon: She had been fertile.
Trembling fiercely, Verrine had followed the demon to a Harrowgate, and just before the succubus stepped inside, Verrine had gotten close enough to feel her life force… and the four angelic life forces inside her.
The succubus was pregnant.
Verrine collapsed onto the ground, closing her eyes to the horrible reality. No one could learn about this. Yenrieth’s punishment would be severe, and Verrine loved him too much to let that happen.
She also loved him too much to tell him about the succubus’s pregnancy. Not now, while he was still a novice. She knew him well enough to know he’d scour Sheoul to find the female, and as a novice, he wouldn’t survive down there for an hour.
No, this was something she’d keep to herself. He might wonder what, exactly, the demon had stolen from him—succubi stole lives, souls, energy, and seed, often a combination of any of those—but with any luck, he’d believe energy alone had been her goal. After all, he was still alive, and he’d have changed if she’d stolen his soul. The seed… well, Verrine would just have to pray he was so drained from the sex that he’d believe the succubus had been after nothing more than the power she’d gain from his angelic life force.
Oh, Verrine would tell him the truth, but not yet. When, she didn’t know. What she did know was that she would move Heaven and Earth herself to find his children. She would make sure they were safe.
“Yenrieth,” she whispered. “I swear upon my heart that I will protect your children if I have to go to hell to do it.”
Somewhere nearby, thunder rolled, as if the heavens had heard her oath.
Inside, her stomach rolled, because somehow she understood that both she and Yenrieth had just been set on a course that would change their lives forever.
About Larissa Ione
Air Force veteran Larissa Ione traded in a career as a meteorologist to pursue her passion of writing. She now spends her days in pajamas with her computer, strong coffee, and supernatural worlds. She believes in celebrating everything, and would never be caught without a bottle of Champagne chilling in the fridge… just in case. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her U.S. Coast Guard husband, her teenage son, a rescue cat named Vegas, and her very own hellhound, a King Shepherd named Hexe.
You can learn more about Larissa and her books by visiting her website at www.LarissaIone.com.
You can also find Larissa on various social media sites:
www.Facebook.com/OfficialLarissaIone
www.Twitter.com/LarissaIone
www.Pinterest.com/LarissaIone (Here you can check out Larissa’s Novel Inspiration/Research board, which contains pictures of various demons, sketches of items found in her Demonica world, and photos of settings used in her books, including the crystal cave described in Immortal Rider!)
ALSO BY LARISSA IONE
THE DEMONICA SERIES
Pleasure Unbound
Desire Unchained
Passion Unleashed
Ecstasy Unveiled
Sin Undone
THE LORDS OF DELIVERANCE SERIES
Eternal Rider
Immortal Rider
Lethal Rider
Glossary
The Aegis —Society of human warriors dedicated to protecting the world from evil. See: Guardians, Regent, Sigil.
Agimortus —A trigger for the breaking of a Horseman’s Seal. An agimortus can be identified as a symbol engraved or branded upon the host person or object. Three kinds of agimorti have been identified and may take the form of a person, an object, or an event.
Camborian —The human offspring of a parent under the possession of a demon at the time of conception. Camborians may or may not possess supernatural powers that vary in type and strength, depending on the species of demon inhabiting the body of the parent at the time of conception.
Daemonica —The demon bible and basis for dozens of demon religions. Its prophesies regarding the Apocalypse, should they come to pass, will ensure that the Four Horsemen fight on the side of evil.
Fallen Angel —Believed to be evil by most humans, fallen angels can be grouped into two categories: True Fallen and Unfallen. Unfallen angels have been cast from Heaven and are earthbound, living a life in which they are neither truly good nor truly evil. In this state, they can, rarely, earn their way back into Heaven. Or they can choose to enter Sheoul, the demon realm, in order to complete their fall and become True Fallens, taking their places as demons at Satan’s side.
Guardians —Warriors for The Aegis, trained in combat techniques, weapons, and magic. Upon induction into The Aegis, all Guardians are presented with an enchanted piece of jewelry bearing the Aegis shield, which, among other things, allows for night vision and the ability to see through demon invisibility enchantments.
Harrowgate —Vertical portals, invisible to humans, which demons use to travel between locations on Earth and Sheoul. A very few beings can summon their own personal Harrowgates.
Khote —An invisibility spell that allows the caster to move among humans without being seen or, usually, heard.
Marked Sentinel —A human charmed by angels and tasked with protecting a vital artifact. Sentinels are immortal and immune to harm. Only angels (fallen included) can injure or kill a Sentinel. Their existence is a closely guarded secret.
Quantamun —A state of superaccelerated existence on a plane that allows some supernatural beings to travel among humans. Humans, unaware of what moves within their world, appear frozen in time to those inside the quantamun. This differs from the khote in t
hat the khote operates in real time and is a spell rather than a plane of existence.
Regent —Head(s) of local Aegis cells.
Sheoul —Demon realm. Located deep in the bowels of the Earth, accessible only by Harrowgates and hellmouths.
Sheoul-gra —A holding tank for demon souls. The place where demon souls go until they can be reborn or kept in torturous limbo.
Sheoulic —Universal demon language spoken by all, although many species also speak their own language.
Sigil —Board of twelve humans known as Elders, who serve as the supreme leaders of The Aegis. Based in Berlin, they oversee all Aegis cells worldwide.
Ter’taceo —Demons who can pass as human, either because their species is naturally human in appearance or because they can shape-shift into human form.
Watchers —Individuals assigned to keep an eye on the Four Horsemen. As part of the agreement forged during the original negotiations between angels and demons that led to Ares, Reseph, Limos, and Thanatos being cursed to spearhead the Apocalypse, one Watcher is an angel, the other is a fallen angel. Neither Watcher may directly assist any Horseman’s efforts to either start or stop Armageddon, but they can lend a hand behind the scenes. Doing so, however, may have them walking a fine line that, to cross, could prove worse than fatal.
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