by Ella Summers
The gods do excel at putting on a show, Nero replied.
We pressed our hands and foreheads together to declare our vows for all to hear: to serve the gods and their will, to grow the Legion and make it stronger.
They are putting on a united front because everyone is watching, Nero told me. After Meda’s outburst, they cannot afford to do anything else. They need to show the Earth—all their worlds really—that they are united and strong, that they aren’t splintering from the inside.
That made sense. The gods drew some of their power from people’s faith. That usually meant solemn prayer, but it was also expressed in acts performed in the gods’ honor: courage in battles fought for the gods. And weddings like this one.
That’s what the gods are all doing here, I told Nero. They’re drinking in the magic of people’s faith, of this ceremony. It’s a vessel of great power—all the people of Earth praying at once right now, boosting the gods’ magic. Hijacking my wedding was a very smart move on their part.
Faith, Leda. That’s why the gods made you a symbol for humanity. A human angel is relatable. It’s a powerful image, one that will encourage people to join the Legion, of course. But it also has another purpose. The gods needed a symbol to renew the people’s faith, and that symbol is you.
What about Meda? Do you think she’s told them what she knows? I asked.
I do not know.
As we spoke privately, publicly we declared our vows, pledging ourselves to each other, to the Legion, to the gods. A twinge of guilt hit me when I spoke the pledge of procreation; I’d already broken that vow by taking Nerissa’s potion. I’d have felt guiltier, however, about bringing a child into this shattered world, at least as it was now. My first duty was to that child, our future daughter from Nero’s dream. We first had to create a world safe for her before bringing her into it.
Nero’s hand squeezed mine, bringing me out of my mind. I am going to kiss you now, Leda.
I beamed at him. Then do it. What, are you waiting for permission?
You should know by now. His eyes ensnared mine. An angel never asks for permission.
Or forgiveness?
Of course not. That would be an admission that we’d erred.
One of his hands closed around my waist. The other curled around the back of my neck. He dipped me back slowly, as his mouth came down on mine. His kiss was not gentle or teasing; it was full-throttle. There, in front of the Legion of Angels, the gods, and the whole world, he gave me a deep, devouring kiss that made my head swim and my body buzz.
He kissed me like I was the only woman in the world—and yet there were millions of people watching us. Heat flashed through my body in raging, roaring cascades, a feverish explosion of raw lust and a rebellious desire to hightail out of here and skip the rest of the party.
I grabbed Nero’s jacket, pulling him against me. Chuckles echoed from the audience, then hands pulled me and Nero apart, dragging us to opposite sides of the ballroom. Party music displaced the dignified orchestral tune.
Tessa was right beside me. She was one of the hands that had pulled me away from Nero. The others belonged to Calli, Bella, Gin, Ivy and Nerissa. Even Basanti and Leila were here.
Across the room, Nero was surrounded by Harker and a whole lot of other guys.
A new song pumped over the speaker system, and the crowd cheered.
“And now?” I asked.
“And now you go to your honeymoon suite,” Leila told me.
Her smile looked genuine, but I remained suspicious. It sounded too good to be true.
“This is a trick.”
“No, it’s not,” Tessa laughed. “But you should have seen the look on your face earlier when I spoke of hours of planned activities.”
I planted my hands on my hips and scowled at her. “That wasn’t nice.”
“Don’t frown, or your wedding pictures will be crap.” Her eyes twinkling with delight, Tessa pulled out a chair. “But before we send you off to the honeymoon suite, there’s just one short order of business.”
“Oh?” I asked, my suspicion reignited.
She pointed at the chair. “Sit.”
I sat. “And now?”
“Now Nero is going to throw your garter belt to all the single ladies.”
“I thought that the groom was supposed to throw the garter belt to the guys.”
“You’re Pandora, the Angel of Chaos,” Tessa said. “It’s time to turn these traditions upside down.”
A chorus of catcalls broke through the music’s heavy beat. Nero was striding toward me, his walk smooth, his face determined—like the ground he was going to conquer and claim lay right before him. He knelt to the floor in front of me. His hands slid under my skirt.
Thankfully, the cameras were gone. The party wasn’t being broadcast across the world. The only people watching us were those right here in this room. Another round of catcalls trilled from our live audience. I noted that the gods were gone. They’d just popped in and out again, twice as fast.
Nero’s hands slid slowly up my leg. I tensed.
“Don’t fidget, Pandora,” he chided me, his lips twisting with satisfaction.
“Easy for you to say,” I hissed.
He chuckled. Then, fire in his eyes, his fingers closed around the flower band fastened around my thigh by a single frail ribbon. He began to untie it—very, very slowly. As the ribbon released, the tip of his fingers brushed between my legs, a kiss of fire against my naked lips. I bit back a moan. Through it all, his eyes never left mine. Scorching and seductive, they never stopped drilling into me.
Then, just as slowly as his hand had slipped up my leg, it slid back down and emerged from my skirt. He rose to his feet and lifted my garter garland of flowers victoriously over his head.
Nero tossed it at the women. Tessa dove and Gin jumped, but they both missed. The rest of the crowd ran frantically in every direction.
“Amusing, isn’t it?”
I glanced back and found Damiel.
“A Legion of highly-trained soldiers, reduced to this.” His eyes tracked two women colliding.
I rose from my chair. “There’s no way that tiny piece of fabric can possibly stay up in the air for that long,” I said, pointing at the garter belt that still hovered somewhere close to the ceiling.
“Why not?” Damiel looked positively amused.
“It defies the laws of gravity.”
“So do angels.” He winked at me.
The garter belt had dipped lower now, which only made the women more frantic. Bella calmly reached out and caught it out of the air. Her action must have been pure instinct because she was now staring down at the lacy piece in surprise. Everyone cheered. Grinning, Tessa and Gin patted her on the back.
“Now the bouquet!” Tessa waved at me. “Throw it to the guys!”
I rose from the chair. “Don’t you want to participate?” I asked Damiel when he didn’t join the other male soldiers.
“I already have everything I need.” His tone was serious, not joking, this time.
I watched him walk off toward Cadence. The guys were yelling at me to hurry up, so I tossed my bouquet at them—well, at Harker actually. When he caught it, I winked at him. Then Tessa and Gin swooped in to drag him and Bella together for a dance.
I felt the pull of Nero’s magic. He was close. When I turned around, he was right in front of me, extending his hand out to me. I took it, then we spread our wings and flew up through the open skylight in the ceiling.
We rose higher and higher over Purgatory. I didn’t know where we were going, but Nero seemed to. He led me to the highest balcony of a tall, white-and-gold building across town. I followed him inside, my wings fading away as I walked.
We passed from room to room. They seemed unending. I looked around at the house—no, castle. It was more extravagant than mine. A former district lord’s home, it had clearly very recently undergone cosmetic surgery. The paintings on the ceilings featured angels and gods. The floors feature
d black marble and the walls white marble. Accents of color punctuated the black-and-white palette. Cherrywood furniture, warm and rich. Crimson silk curtains. Gold and green tapestries.
“Why are we here?” I asked Nero.
“You have a suite in the Legion of Angels building. And I have a house in this town.”
“This is all yours?”
“Yes. All mine and everything in it.” His eyes pulsed with dark intentions; his voice was a dangerous caress.
I flashed a smile at him. “This house might be yours, but this is my territory. And, therefore, it and everything in it is mine as well.”
“Good.”
I stared at him. He watched me. Neither of us spoke.
We crashed together in an explosion of passion. His hands tugged the wedding dress off my body. I yanked at the bindings of his armor. Silk and leather hit the floor.
Both of us now completely naked, he grabbed my hips and lifted me up. My back bumped the cold marble wall, as cold as his body was hot. His skin burned against mine. Fire and ice collided.
His mouth lowered to my neck, and he inhaled slowly, deeply. “You smell like chocolate and cherry blossoms, with a hint of vanilla.”
Nero smelled like angel and sex. Delicious and masculine, his hot, spicy scent flooded my nose and seared my senses. His fangs teased my throat, tracing my throbbing, pulsing vein. Blood blossomed beneath my skin. He paused to exhale. My body jerked as his breath melted against my skin.
His mouth lifted from my neck, and he looked up at me. “Do you know how much I love you?” His hand stroked my cheek.
“Yes.” My heart thumped. It seemed to expand to fill my whole chest. I could feel his love inside of me, burning hot, flooding my mind and body. “Can you feel my love for you?” I asked him.
Nero kissed my fingers. “Yes.” He set my hand over his forehead. “Here.” He moved my hand to his chest, right over his heart. “And here.”
I plunged my hand lower. “And here?” My brows arched, my mouth twisted.
He surged forward. He moved so fast that the next time I knew it, my back was flat on the mattress of the enormous bed. Nero knelt over me, big and unbreakable.
“You’re mine, Leda.” A savage, deeply possessive smile stretched his lips. His hands clamped down on my wrists, pinning me to the bed.
“I think my Fever has gone to your head.” I struggled against his hold.
He gripped so tight that it hurt—in the very best way. “Yes.” Slowly, he lowered onto me, his muscles tensing.
I gasped as the hard wall of his chest kissed the peaks of my breasts. He was so close now; I was drowning in his scent. His mouth closed over the thumping vein in my neck, teasing it between his teeth as his hands plunged lower. He traced my inner thigh, parting my legs. An ache throbbed inside of me, empty and hollow—coupled with a deep, intense longing for him to fill that emptiness.
Pain and pleasure shot through my body as he penetrated me in two places at once: his fangs pierced me; he thrust fully inside of me in one hard, forceful stroke.
My whole body pulsed with the heavy beat of my speeding heart. A river of fire flashed through my body. Savage longing consumed me from the inside out, leaving me gasping for breath.
He began to move inside of me, each thrust measured.
A slow, steady pressure was building up in me. My body shook with desperate anticipation. Forget slow and steady. I wanted fast and hard. I wanted Nero with an intensity that crossed the line into sheer madness. Gripping him tightly, I ground myself against him. My fangs sank into his neck.
A low, feral groan broke his lips. He gripped me harder, his thrusts growing rougher, deeper.
I drank from him, drawing his blood into me, claiming his body as he claimed mine. The taste of him surprised me, almost as much as it excited my hunger. He didn’t just taste amazing; he tasted…no, there were no words to describe the incredible, unbelievably divine flavor of his blood. It eclipsed anything on Earth, anything in heaven or hell either. It was so complex, so complete. So sweet. The taste of him shot a sudden, merciless wave of desperate longing through me.
We moved together—fast and hard, relentless and insatiable. Every taste, every stroke, every jolt of our colliding bodies, was an explosion of magic and pleasure. I could feel myself inside of him, making him mine. Just as I could feel him inside of me, making me his.
“Leda,” he growled.
“Nero.” A shock wave rippled through my body.
“I love you.” His whole body shuddered, his eyes rolling back, his face twisting in rapture.
“I love you too.”
The pressure inside of me burst like a flash of lightning. Ecstasy spilled over me, wave after wave, again and again, each one building from the last. Dizzy, feverish, I thrashed beneath him. My body was convulsing. My mind was long gone. But through it all, I felt his mind inside of mine, his blood inside my veins, his body inside of me—sharing every moment together.
When the waves finally subsided, Nero lowered to the bed. He folded his arms around me, embracing me from behind. His hand crested my hip and trickled slowly, seductively, up my ribcage.
I chuckled. “General Windstriker, I don’t believe your intentions are entirely honorable.”
“No,” he agreed. “They most certainly are not.”
His fingers pinched my hard nipple, shooting a fresh surge of unchecked lust through me.
“So,” I gasped, drawing in a sharp breath that seared my lungs. “You’re not satiated?” I threw a coy wink over my shoulder at him.
“When it comes to you, Leda, I can never get enough.”
His mouth came down hard on mine, and we gave ourselves up completely to the feverish magic pulsing through us, bonding us together.
34
Daddy Dearest
I glanced at the clock on the nightstand. The date printed on the display was quite a shock.
“It’s been five days,” I told Nero groggily. “Do you think we should get out of bed?” I nestled my head against his chest.
“No.” He folded his arms around me, holding me to him. “The moment we get out of bed, something truly terrible will happen.”
“Like yet another maniac will try to destroy the world?”
“Exactly.” He kissed my forehead softly. “And we’re currently on vacation from world-saving duty.”
“You’re right. Let’s stay in bed. I’m not sure I could get up if I tried.”
“Wear you out, did I, Pandora?” he said with a self-satisfied chuckle.
“No,” I lied.
I couldn’t very well admit that five days and nights of passionate sex had done me in. I was an angel. I had an image to maintain.
“I’m not worn out.” I grinned at him. “I’m satisfied: body, magic, and soul.”
“How romantic,” said a dry, sardonic voice.
I twitched at the nearness of that voice—and the person it belonged to. Faris.
“Do you mind?” I snapped at him, pulling the blanket up to cover up all of me and Nero. “You can’t just barge in here, unannounced and unwanted.”
Faris folded his arms over his chest. “I grew impatient of waiting.”
“You should work on that,” I replied with a smile. “I hear patience is an immortal virtue.”
“Don’t be sassy with me.” Faris leveled a hard, commanding stare on me. “I allowed you to have many days alone with your new husband.” He said it like he was being enormously generous. “You’ve had your fun, and now you will listen to me. The fate of the known universe hangs in the balance.”
I glanced at Nero. “The fate of the universe is always in the balance. We keep saving it, and it never does anything for us.”
Nero snorted softly.
“Take this seriously,” Faris chided us. “I will be in the lounge downstairs. I will not tolerate being kept waiting for long.”
He disappeared. A normal person would have walked over to the bedroom door, opened it, and taken the stairs
down, but doors and stairs were apparently beneath the God of Heaven’s Army. Just like manners were.
“I really hate it when they just pop up like that uninvited,” I told Nero as we rose from the bed.
“Perhaps it’s time you turned the tables on the gods.” He collected the pieces of his leather armor and began putting them on.
I wished I’d had some armor of my own to put on before we went down to face Faris, but I’d come here in a wedding dress.
“Turn the tables?” I asked. “You mean drop in on them?”
He nodded. “Given your origin, the ability must lie somewhere within you.”
“I’d love to see the looks on the gods’ faces when I popped up in the middle of the council meeting chamber.” Giddy with glee, I tapped my fingers together like a maniacal cartoon villain. “I’d most likely need Nectar and Venom to unbury that power, but maybe you can already teleport, now that Cadence gave you the Life potion to activate the magic in your Immortal blood. Hey, we could do it together.”
He arched his brows at me.
“Not do that, you dirty-minded angel,” I chuckled. “We could pop in on the gods. You know, for fun.”
“For fun.” Nero didn’t sound convinced.
“Yeah, fun. Spreading chaos is fun.” I picked up my wedding dress, but there was nothing on the floor beneath it. “Hey, you don’t recall what happened to my underwear, do you?”
“I recall you weren’t wearing any.” His eyes captured mine. “Distinctly.”
I almost got lost in the silver and gold swirls of magic gleaming in his eyes. But duty called, and his name was Faris.
“What do you think Faris wants?” I asked Nero.
“Nothing good.” Nero tossed me a pair of tight shorts and a tank top. “Here.”
I slipped them on, then glanced at myself in the mirror. “Angel of Chaos.” I grinned when I read the glittery text on the tank top. “How did my fabulous new shirts make it here?”
Nero snapped his fingers. “Magic.”
I laughed. “I love my shirts so much that I want to spread the love. I’m thinking of getting you one. Or maybe a pair of shorts with ‘General Hard Ass’ printed on the back.”
