Holding up my hand, I stop her. “Wait.” I take a step forward and close the slight distance between us. Wrapping my hand around her head, I twist it into her hair and pull her to me. When I lean in, I pause only for a moment, and I see nothing but desire and trust reflected in her eyes. Without any more hesitation, I press my lips to hers.
There isn’t even a moment of uncertainty when our lips touch. I feel her body relax into mine and her sweet mouth parts, welcoming me. My tongue darts out to meet hers, and I let any inhibitions I have fade away in her kiss.
Feeling my gums tingle, I don’t even hesitate to let my fangs extend. When Maitlin’s tongue brushes against one, and she lets out a soft moan, I can feel it straight to my cock. Her hands caress down my chest until her fingers toy with my waistband. She is trying every last shred of humanity I have left.
Holding her tighter, I unfurl my obsidian wings. I need her to see all of me. There will never be a secret between us again.
Before I pull away, I kiss her one last time. Taking a few steps back, I wait for her reaction to seeing a full Blood Angel in all its glory. I look past her at my reflection in the mirror. My fangs are bared, my eyes glow crimson, and I hold my black wings outstretched. I’m as vulnerable as I get, standing to wait for her judgment.
She mutters one word, and my heart sinks. “Fuck.”
I can feel my shoulders slump until I hear her sultry voice continue, “I thought you were sexy before, but this look is really fucking working for me.”
She closes the distance between us, shedding my t-shirt, pulling it over her head and tossing it to the floor. The sight of her naked, save for the little boy shorts has my pants growing tight. “You’ve been holding back on me, Jaxon.”
Maitlin stands a hair’s breadth away from me as I bare my soul. “You aren’t afraid of me?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady and firm, but I can feel the doubt creeping in.
Waiting, I can barely breathe. She’ll pass judgment on me.
I know she will, everyone does.
She’ll never accept me. How can she?
I’m the monster of her nightmares.
I know every thought passing through my mind is self-deprecating. I never willingly show a human my true self, not once, but no one means as much as she does. Standing here in front of her, my body and soul bared, I realize this… this is love. I’ve put all of myself—the good and the unthinkably dark—out there for her to accept.
An eternity passes in a blink of an eye before I see her smile and feel her soft hand against my cheek. “You’re so beautiful.”
I can’t help myself, I lean into her touch. I didn’t dare hope for love again after Marra, and I never thought it would be Maitlin. But the moment I saw her lying in Mason's arms dying, I knew I loved her.
If saving her meant she would live her life with Mason, I was at peace with that. She would live.
After, I gave her my blood daily while she healed, but I have yet to taste her. I will not until she willingly gives herself to me.
I lean in, and trail kisses down her neck. She tilts her head to the side, and I know what she thinks when I feel her body stiffen beneath my fingers, and my name escapes her lips.
“Jaxon, please,” she coos under my lips. But I have every intention of savoring her body… every inch.
Working my way down, I worship every curve, I take one pert nipple between my lips and give it a gentle tug, sucking and teasing it with flicks of my tongue. Maitlin’s back arches, and I pull her into me, my sharp fangs scratching against her silky skin.
Savoring every inch of her body, I work my way down until I am kneeling in front of her. I glide my hands up her lean legs until they rest at the flare of her hips, my fingertips toying with the waist of her boy shorts.
When I look up at her, our eyes lock. Her ice-blue gaze is lust-filled and hooded.
“You look as if you’ve never had an angel worshiping at your feet before.”
“You’re no angel, and I want you so much, Jaxon,”
Well, she’s right about that. I am no angel.
Hooking my hand behind her leg, I lift it and place it over my shoulder. I don’t even hesitate as I rip her shorts from her body, leaving her naked and completely open to me. Her pink flesh is glistening and wet. My mouth waters and my fangs throb at the sight. I never thought that my cock could be so impossibly hard behind my zipper, but taking in the sight of her has me as hard as steel.
I smile up at her, giving her a flash of fangs before I pull her into me and swipe my tongue up her center, tasting her desire. Maitlin lets out a moan as I circle her clit, and when I suck it between my lips, her body jerks forward and she grabs onto my hair for balance. The sound of her pleasure is music to my ears, a sweet melody I never thought I would hear again.
I lap and tease her with my tongue until I hear her breath catch and feel her body shake. When I pierce her opening and fuck her with my mouth, she loses any control she had left. Her grip on my hair tightens until it’s almost painful. She’s grinding and chasing her pleasure.
“Jaxon!” she screams out my name as her inner walls pulse around my tongue. When she nearly collapses, I steady her and put her other foot back on solid ground.
She’s panting and spent as I rise, kissing her trembling body inch by inch as I stand. I make to adjust my cock, which has become painfully hard, when she swats my hand away. She works my jeans down my legs at a frantic pace, dropping to her knees before me.
When she looks up at me from her knees and licks her lips before sliding her hand down my length, I nearly come standing here.
Reaching down, I lift her chin until she’s looking at me. “If you suck me, I’m going to come, and I want to be buried in your tight pussy when I do.”
When she stands, she continues to stroke my length from root to tip. I close my eyes and let out a low, primal growl. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”
I feel her hand rub along my jawline. I open my mouth slightly, and I feel her thumb graze one sharply pointed fang. “Good, I don’t want you to hold back. I want all of you, Jaxon.”
She snakes her hands behind my neck and pulls me in, her naked body pressed against mine, and when I feel her lips press against my neck, my control snaps.
I grab onto her wrists and push her back—one step, two steps—until her back hits the cold marble of the vanity. I see my reflection in the mirror, and it is nothing short of terrifying. My eyes glow a bright crimson, and my fangs are extended, long and dangerous. But the scent in the air isn’t fear coming from Maitlin, it’s desire.
“Don’t hold back,” she whispers. So I don’t.
Spinning her around, our eyes meet in the mirror and press my cock between her legs, coating myself in her wet heat. I cup her full breasts in my hands, pinching her hard nipples between my fingers. In return, she rocks against my length, teasing me into a frenzy.
My lips press against her neck, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to hold back. Gripping my cock, I line myself up with her entrance. She’s so slick and wet, I bury myself to the hilt in one thrust.
The invasion takes her breath, but she asked me not to hold back so I don’t give her body time to adjust before I’m pulling nearly entirely out of her and thrust back in.
She meets my rhythm, pushing back into me, our bodies coming together at a fevered pace. Reaching around, I strum her clit. I can feel her body coiling back, ready to explode in pleasure. This time when our eyes meet in our reflection, neither of us looks away, and when she bends her head to the side, exposing her neck to me, I search her gaze for any sign of hesitation.
At the slight nod of her head, I sink my fangs into her neck, never breaking eye contact with her. The moment my fangs pierce her flesh, I feel her pussy pulsates around my cock, and I spill my release deep into her. I suck on her neck, letting her blood flow down my throat. With every pull of my lips, I feel her milking my cock, begging for more.
With my cock still buried in her, I retract m
y fangs and lick the small puncture marks along her neck. We are both covered in a sheen of sweat and struggle to catch out breaths.
“You really have been holding back on me,” she teases.
I pulse my cock inside her and smile. “You have no idea. Shower?” She gives me a sated nod, and reluctantly I pull out of her tight heat, but I know this time, it isn’t for long.
My shower is big enough for a party, and when the multiple showerheads cascade hot water down on us, it washes away the last bit of doubt I have about this amazing woman accepting me for what I am.
JAXON
Six months later
As I lay in bed, looking over at Maitlin, who is sound asleep, I do something quite unusual. I reflect. The past six months were nothing short of fantastic for so many reasons. The nightmares that plagued me for nearly a millennia have all but disappeared. In their place are dreams of a future with Mailtlin.
After a very long discussion and potentially some groveling on my part, she reluctantly moved into The Tower full-time. My apartment became ours. Neil and his father were dead, due to an unfortunate accident at a construction site, or at least that’s what the papers reported. Neither Shellie nor Maitlin wanted to return to the brownstone apartment, so I spun it as a convenience, but I wanted her close.
It wasn’t at all easy when we went with Mason to deliver Ridge’s ashes. Her mother and step-father went with us. Neither were welcomed back into the Pride, and the reunion with her birth father didn’t go as planned. But Mason came back to the city with us and, despite our rocky start, has become a close friend.
The faint sound of footsteps in the other room brings me back to the present and has me leaving the comfort of my bed and Maitlin’s arms. She barely stirs as I get up. I make sure she’s thoroughly exhausted every night.
When I walk into the living room, I’m shocked by who greets me.
“Hello, Jegudiel.” Themis stands with her back to me, looking out over the city. The last time I saw her was the day she sentenced me to fall, damning me as a Blood Angel. I used to think damning me to this life, but now, it’s as it should be.
“It’s Jaxon now. I haven’t been Jegudiel in a very long time,” I deadpan, still not able to move forward.
“You’ve done well for yourself. It seems you all have.” When she turns to look at me, it’s as if not a day has passed. She is ageless in her beauty, though something weighs heavy in her eyes.
“Scotch?” I ask, walking to the bar, wishing for the first time in a very long time it will deaden the feeling of dread growing inside me. I pour a full tumbler and drink half before I look back at her. “So what brings you here? Just in the neighborhood?”
I don’t hold any animosity towards her. It’s her burden to hold judgment against those who disregard the archaic laws put in place by gods that no longer matter. Still, I wonder if she knew what the ramifications of her actions were when she sentenced us to fall. Was she aware she was creating an entirely new species, one that would feed on the human population?
“The answer to your question is yes, I knew. But that’s not why I’m here.”
Rage courses through my body, and I try to tamp it down. I look toward the hall where just a few rooms away, Maitlin lays sleeping. She’s the only reason I don’t yell for Themis to leave.
“She can’t hear us,” Themis continues.
“What did you do to her?” I lash out. I wouldn’t put it past Themis to judge me once again. I am longer be an Arch, but somehow I doubt that matters to Themis should she want to ruin this life. “Why the fuck are you here?”
“I’ve come to give you everything you’ve ever wanted.”
“I have everything I could ever desire.” I watch as she raises an eyebrow at my statement.
“You can lead the Archangels, stand at the right hand of Ares. Lead them into the new dawning of power.”
I let out a laugh. “Number one, you can’t pay me enough to go back and number two, are you fucking crazy? Get out of my home and never come back.”
“I can give you Marra back.”
My heart sinks at hearing Themis say her name. “Marra is dead, and she’s been dead for a very long time.” I grab my drink and take another sip. “Her heart was pierced by an angelic blade… my blade. Perhaps you forgot.”
I’ve been in business for a long time, and over the years, I’ve learned to tell when someone is holding back details of a deal. Most might miss the slight downward glance of Themis’ eyes, but I don’t.
“What did you do?” I stride toward her, not caring one bit that she is a goddess, one that can very quickly end me. When I stand toe to toe with her, I demand an answer. “What the fuck did you do, Themis?”
“It wasn’t your blade.”
“What?”
“The blade that killed her, it wasn’t yours. It just looked like yours. You have to understand, Jegudiel. I needed you to fall,” she says this, and I stagger backward as her words physically punch me. The blade that killed Marra wasn’t angelic, and I could have saved her.
“Gabriel was…”
“Shut the fuck up!” I yell out. “You let me believe.”
“Jegudiel.” She says my name, and it’s like nails across a chalkboard. I want to lunge forward and take away everything she took from me.
“It’s Jaxon!” I scream out and throw my now empty tumbler across the room where I watch it shatter against the wall. “Where is she?” Some dark and twisted place inside of me needs to know where Marra is.
“Alive, happy… immortal.” She says these things as if it was always part of her master plan to have me come back, should she ever need me. “I told Marra I was coming back for you, and she’s very excited to have you return. I’m offering you everything you once were. To take your rightful place as the leader of the Arches. She still loves you.” Themis rests her hand tentatively on my shoulder.
I feel the long-forgotten weight of my golden wings against my back. But, when I look to see my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling windows, it’s that of a man I no longer know.
I look over to the hallway again. “Maitlin is my future. I love her. Marra’s in love with a man who no longer exists. You’re too late, Themis. I used to wish to walk in the heavens again and bask in its light. But then I met Maitlin she became the light. She became my everything.”
When I turn to go back to my bedroom, she tries one last time. “You could have a family with her.”
“I have a family, and I hope Marra finds the same happiness I have with Maitlin.” I gesture toward the windows. “And you can leave the same way you came.”
When I get back into bed, I wrap my arms around Maitlin, and she cuddles in next to me. “Who were you talking to?”
I hold her to me a bit tighter, resting my hand on the tiny swell of her belly, and our little miracle growing inside. “No one, I love you, Maitlin.”
“I love you too.”
~ The End ~
Please Review
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Wow, what a long strange trip this book has been.
I am eternally thankful to everyone in the book community who has shared, blogged, tweeted, Insta’d ( is that a thing?) about Jaxon. It’s becoming harder and harder to be seen on social media, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.
To Jacquie Morneau ( AKA, my mom ) –Without all the love and encouragement you have always given me, there would be no books at all.
To John ( AKA, Mr. Field ) –Thanks for putting up with my crazy for 20+ years.
To Tricia ( AKA, my partner in crime ) –Thanks for being my right hand at all the signings and for letting me bounce every crazy idea off you.
To Carolyn Depew at Write Right Edits –So happy to be working with you. You made the ever daunting task of editing nearly painless. If I can only learn
to keep the spelling of my own characters' names correct, that would be great.
To J.M Walker ( AKA, formatting extraordinaire ) –Always such a pleasure working with you, and thank you for the great idea of black chapter pages on the print version.
To Carol Eastman at Blurb Bitch –Thank god for you. Summarizing is definitely not in my skill set. But it sure is in yours.
To Golden Czermak –Thank you for embodying who Jaxon is with the perfect cover. I can’t wait to work with you on future projects.
To Stuart Reardon –I’m going to fangirl here for a moment. Five years ago, when I started writing, I had several goals, and one was to have you on one of my covers. You have made the perfect Jaxon, thank you.
To the best Beta Team, Tricia, Barb, Lizz, Melissa, Lenore & Deborah –You guys have been so patient through this long process. These poor ladies had to wait SIX MONTHS to read the ending. I hope it was worth the wait.
This has been a crazy year for the world. So thank you for letting me bring my world to yours and hopefully put a few smiles on your faces.
Continue reading for a sneak peek at our favorite rock star Zachriel.
Much love,
Jennifer
PROLOGUE
EMOGINE
Six years ago
“Shaping up to be another great night, don’t you think?” I ask Henry as I refill the straws in the 1950s style straw holder sitting on the Formica counter. It would almost be considered cool and retro if it weren’t for the fact that the Cypress Creek Diner was a staple in Wimberly since the actual ‘50s.
Everything in the diner was purchased new.
The Cypress Creek Diner is an original Silver Stream Diner, purchased by my grandfather as a do-it-yourself diner kit. Yup, a kit. The Kullman Dining Car company assembled your diner in New Jersey and delivered it anywhere in the U.S. The popular TV show with the guy with the bleached hair who travels all overlooking for unique dining experiences once called it retro at its finest. Sadly, in our case, it is not on purpose.
Jaxon (Blood Angel Chronicles Book 1) Page 25
