Fate's Kiss

by Elysabeth Grace

  I cannot interfere in your mating, Tamahaq. Fate has bound our hands until Lucifer’s Consort is born. Our mandate is to guard your existence until you are mated. After the bond is made, we can only protect against Satan’s direct attempt to control Lilith’s descendants.

  She huffed. I don’t have the power to do as Gabriel demands as much as I wish to for my own sanity.

  A faint caress whispered across her awareness. It was the comforting embrace of the archangel who had trained her, guided her through the most painful time in her life, and protected her from Satan.

  Gabriel is as unique among supernaturals as you are. Fate has a purpose for your joining. He will not be a gentle life mate but when the time comes you will trust as you’ve trusted no other, Tamahaq. It is the way of life mates.

  Raphael’s deep chuckle rumbled across her mind. Your ancestress Amina brought a dragon to his knees. How difficult can it be to subdue a demon’s offspring?

  As the archangel withdrew from her mind, Anne fired one last thought. I suspect taming a dragon is a far easier task. At least Amina’s life mate wasn’t an undead whose sire is my family’s greatest enemy.

  She opened her eyes to find Gabriel studying her intently. She had felt his efforts to breach her thoughts. When he found himself blocked, he ceased and waited. Despite their bloodlust, the undead were known for nearly infinite patience.

  “Wine?”

  When he nodded, she filled a glass and handed it to him. Sucking air into her lungs, she held it for a second or two and then released. “When will you accept I do not have the power to end our bond? When I spoke the words of binding, you are my life as I am yours, it was compulsion not free will.”

  “So you say. All I know is that you touched me, said a few ritual words, and I’m stuck with you,” Gabriel stated. He held up his hand when she started to speak. “Don’t bother to argue. You and the archangels decided my destiny, ignored my will, and chained me to an unwanted burden I’m told I can never toss aside. Why? Why did you do this, Anne?”

  She swallowed the hurt at being called an unwanted burden. Gabriel’s anger was justified. He had been taken unawares by the bond. His hurtful words, the seething anger, the attempt to be her master — she would have reacted the same way had she not known what it meant to be life mates. She shielded her mind before she lashed out.

  “You are behaving like a child denied its favorite toy. Fate decided that you and I are life mates, not me, not the archangels. Our lives are tied to one outcome — to prevent Satan from destroying life. All life. While you can’t undo what has been done, you can choose to accept the responsibility that comes with this mating.”

  Anne rose and crossed over to one of the small grilled windows. It overlooked a courtyard adjacent to Holland’s League. “Do you believe you are the only one affected by this binding?” Her voice quavered and she paused to calm it.

  “Forgive my blunt speech, my lord, but you are not exactly the man I’d seek as my ideal mate. Despite your handsome face, you are hedonistic, arrogant, and insulting. Let’s not forget you are an undead.”

  She turned to face him. “I am as trapped as you are, Gabriel. If I could cut this bond, I would do so at the drop of a feather. Sadly, Fate has bound my will as surely as she has tied yours. While you may not, I hold loyalty very dear and accept the role I am to play in bringing Satan’s war to an end. I accept you as my life mate but I will never embrace you as my master.”

  Before Gabriel could blink, she disappeared. When she reappeared seconds later, she straddled him, her dagger at his throat. “Need I remind you an undead dies when his head is severed from his body and his heart is pierced. The blade at your throat is silver. Never threaten me again, Demon Gabriel.”

  She climbed off him and moved beyond his reach as he rose to his feet. Gabriel’s laughter, sweet and pure as the air in Ahaggar Mountains, astonished her. She expected a curse or anger. When the sound faded, she looked into his eyes and found them curiously open.

  “I do not threaten, sweet Anne,” he said. “Although, if it incites this much passion in you I’m tempted to make threats several times a day. What did you become?”

  “A mosquito.”

  “And you didn’t bite?” He gazed at her mouth and dragged his tongue across his teeth. “What a disappointment you are, life mate.”

  “For the moment, I’ll leave the biting to you, my lord.”

  He pulled her into his arms and his mouth descended. There was nothing gentle about his kiss. His tongue rough and intoxicating, he licked and stroked deep inside her mouth. Desire flickered before it burst into flames. The intensity of the burn frightened her and she tried to pull herself from his arms. Muscular forearms locked her in place, keeping her body pressed against his. He deepened his strokes, the tip of his tongue gliding across tender flesh.

  Gabriel, please.

  He slowed his assault but did not end the sensuous play between her lips. Instead, he altered the erotic dalliance of his tongue. Gentle thrusts followed by languid drags across her tongue. He licked the wet flesh until her hungry moans filed the air.

  What is it you want, Anne?

  She didn’t answer and heard his silent laughter. You do not need to speak. Your body tells me what you crave.

  He loosened his grip and shifted his hands to her hips. Fingers went to work and Anne found herself stripped of her trousers. Gabriel grinned as he eased her shirt over her head and tossed it aside. A shiver went through her that had nothing to do with coldness and everything to do with the heated look in Gabriel’s eyes as his gaze swept her body.

  “You are lovely as a white woman, Anne,” he said. “But it pales in comparison to your natural beauty. This is the only skin I ever want to see when you are with me. You will always give me Anne Willoughby, never the mistress of a brothel.”

  His kiss had left her speechless so she nodded. Gabriel’s finger caressed her cheek. “Nothing about my anger has changed. This is lust, akin to the bloodlust that drives my nature, a compulsion and nothing else.”

  Anne’s head suddenly felt as if it were about to explode. Her skin was stretched tight over her bones. For a few seconds, the pain was excruciating and her scream died in her throat.

  13

  When the hurt finally diminished, Anne lifted her eyelids. She didn’t recognize the room nor the bed she was in. “Where are we?”

  “Alenesby Manor. Warwickshire,” Gabriel answered indifferently. “Why?”

  She started to push herself off the large bed. “The women of Holland’s League are unprotected. I can’t guard them from here. Take me back.”

  She screeched when he swiftly shed his clothes and his body pinned her to the bed. He stared down at her as his hands gripped her wrists and drew them above her head. A tortuous grind of his hips against hers had Anne pinching her lips together tightly to silence an unwanted moan.

  “The women are safe until we return,” he said, licking the corners of her mouth. “No demon can enter Holland’s League, not even Mephistopheles. Tonight, you are mine.”

  She gasped when he lifted his head. This was the first time she truly saw the vibrant color of his pupils. As his body moved against hers, his dark eyes changed from a midnight blue to a translucent turquoise so pure she felt as if she were looking into the Caribbean sea. What surprised her was the absence of the peculiar striation that marked all of Mephistopheles’ undead.

  “Your eyes,” she said questioningly. “They are unlike any undead I’ve encountered. How is that possible?”

  Gabriel teased her mouth with his tongue before he answered. “I have no idea.”

  “Have you asked the archangel?”

  “No,” he replied, lightly biting her bottom lip. “And at the moment, life mate, I’m much more interested in tasting your luscious mouth than an explanation for my eye color.”

  He invaded her mouth, pushing all thought of eyes, the undead, and angels from her mind. His touch triggered an unexpected firestorm, a burst of he
at so fierce she didn’t think she’d survive. Nerve endings, every cell in her body, even her thoughts were singed with each swipe of his tongue. The sensations, the way Gabriel took possession of her body, terrified her.

  He abruptly slowed his kiss, his tongue languid and teasing as it stroked hers. Her innocence made her vulnerable to him, and there was nothing she could do to halt the inexorable slide into an ocean from which there was no turning back. She would drown or learn to swim.

  Desire gripped her the way a newborn latches onto its mother’s breast, a voracious feeder causing equal amounts of pleasure and pain. Her body trembled beneath the onslaught, no longer hers yet not fully his.

  “Teach me.”

  Her sluggish mind puzzled the words before she realized it was his voice that uttered the request. She instinctively knew what he asked of her. “Are you certain? Once our minds touch in this way it can’t be undone, Gabriel.”

  Silence flooded her awareness and she flicked her eyelashes up. His face hovered over hers. She had never seen a human face so beautiful, and so very deadly.

  “You are mine, Anne,” he murmured. “All of you belongs to me.”

  He kissed her, his touch feathery and inviting. “Show me what pleases you. Open your mind to me.”

  “Only if you will show me what pleases you, life mate.”

  She felt the cautious unfolding of his thoughts and understood his reluctance. Before the bond with Gabriel, her mind was opened to only two living beings, her twin Christopher and the archangel Raphael. Now she would share it with the man Fate had chosen to be her life mate. A man defined as much by his Fallen sire as by his witch mother.

  Anne closed her eyes and released the breath she held. Her fingers caressed Gabriel’s arm as her mind wove a path solely for his use. His faint inhalation as their colors vibrated across the opening brought a smile to her lips.

  These are the colors of our life threads. The silver, blue and green are mine. The dark gray threads are yours. Together they will keep intruders away.

  “Until you, I’ve shared my mind with no one.”

  “Did the archangel Gabriel not share your thoughts?”

  “No.”

  Her fingers reached up to stroke his jaw. “Guardians can enter our thoughts whenever they wish. However, I’ve never known one to do so without permission. Only Satan and his minions are bold enough to make an attempt, and more often than not the demons lose their lives. Our union gives us additional safeguards against demons and undead. I don’t know if it will protect against the intrusive presence of the Fallen.”

  She cupped his head and drew his mouth to hers. Kissing him tenderly, she murmured, ”I will fight at your side and always guard your back, Gabriel.”

  His first touch came tentatively, a light brushing then nothing. Anne waited as he tested the threads’ strength. When he evoked the image of a demon, she had to bite the inside of her mouth to keep from attacking. Instead, she added layers of strength, like bands of steel, across the opening. Gabriel’s satisfaction rippled through her and, without a word, he crossed the mental threshold separating them.

  He explored her thoughts, examining how her mind worked. What he didn’t realize was that, as he explored and studied, he revealed his pattern of thinking to her. She was becoming as aware of him as he was of her.

  “You have such a beautiful and unorthodox mind, Anne. How do you manage to remain sane?”

  “It is as it’s always been, Gabriel. I know no other way to think.”

  He kissed her. “I would grow weary of such chaos. Show me what you like or would like, mistress mine.”

  “I am here for your pleasure this night, my lord.”

  He kissed her again, his cool lips teasing before claiming hers. Anne shivered as his thoughts of what he wanted to do to her body poured into her mind. Electric sparks danced across her skin when Gabriel’s hand cupped a breast. His fingers stroked the nipple into hardness and then pinched. Her body jerked in response to the pain. His mouth left hers and covered the tender bud. He gently licked until pleasure once more captured her. When he finished with one, he performed the same magic on the other. Both nipples were hard knots of exquisite pain by the time his mouth abandoned them to trail faint kisses downward. His tongue caressed her, light concentric circles that had her moaning. He lingered when he reached her navel, teasing the outside before dipping into the small indentation.

  Gabriel, don’t toy with me.

  “Toying with you gives me immense pleasure.” His fingers stroked the inside of her left thigh. Her hips performed their own dance, arching to meet his touch while his mouth continued its meandering path down her belly. He stopped when he reached the curls protecting her clitoris. His tongue slid between her lower lips and caressed the tiny bud.

  Her body jerked and his hand gripped her thighs to hold her in place. The sensations were overwhelming and Anne’s hands went to his head to push it away. Before she could grab his hair, her wrists were pulled above her head and invisible restraints held them pinned to the bed. I can’t allow you to interfere with my pleasure, Anne.

  His head lifted and he peered over her splayed legs. “One of my little gifts. You won’t be able to move, or shift, until I release you. I’m going to devour your cunt as if it were food,” Gabriel said before lowering his mouth to her wetness.

  He jerked back and, his eyes wide, stared at her. “What the fuck?”

  Anne grinned. “As much pleasure as you were giving me, Gabriel, if you use that vile word again—”

  “Teeth? You gave your c…vagina teeth?” He shuddered. “Gives new meaning to being devoured by a woman’s …” He stared at her. “What do you prefer I call what is between your legs that gives me pleasure?”

  “The women of Holland’s League have christened it panini,” she replied, her lips quivering with suppressed laughter.

  He made an incredulous sound, almost but not quite a bark. “Little bread?”

  “Didn’t you just compare it to food? Whenever men speak of using their mouths on our sex, it’s described as eating.”

  “But why bread?” he pushed. “Why not some type of meat, fruit or sweet?”

  “Think about it, Demon,” she said. “Bread nourishes and comes in many forms. And, no matter what delectable dish you serve, bread appears to be the one food men can’t seem to do without.”

  Gabriel couldn’t believe his cock had remained hard in the face of Anne’s sorcery and a discussion about what to call her sex. “The fact that my cock remains like steel despite the danger should tell you how far I’m willing to accommodate you. As you wish,” he finally said. “May I feast on your panini with my own teeth?”

  Anne relaxed and disappeared the vaginal teeth. “Help yourself, my lord. Tonight is about your desires.”

  My desire, Anne, is to take you hard. To punish you for binding us. I will not hurt you, but I will take everything from you. Do you willingly give yourself to me?

  She shivered, as much from fear as from anticipation. Gabriel Elstone frightened her as no other creature had, demonic or otherwise. Yet she could no more halt the inevitable landslide than a villager could stop a swollen river with bales of hay. What do I get in return?

  He raised his head and stared at her. His eyes darkened until she could see herself reflected in the nearly black pupils. “Exquisite pleasure, of course since there is nothing else to give you. There is no love in me, no compassion. I lack a conscience and will use you and your gifts to destroy those I hunt.”

  His long eyelashes dipped then rose. “When I destroy Mephistopheles, I will take you with me into death if you do not sever the threads that bind us. This is what I offer you, Anne Willoughby. Do you consent?”

  She closed her eyes. He was her life mate and their lives were entwined for eternity. What she didn’t know was whether she could bear to ignore the dark, cold emptiness that consumed him. It was not in her to ignore such pain. Could she share her life with someone who was determined to destroy all
traces of his humanity just to claim victory over the demon king? A more troubling question was whether she was strong enough for his rage once Gabriel discovered his life mate took his mother’s life?

  None of this seemed to matter when he kissed the inside of her thighs and licked the split between her legs. Her voice, when it came, was a soft whisper. “I consent.”

  Sheer terror congealed in the pit of Gabriel’s belly. For the first time in his life, he had no control over what was happening to him. The part of him he thought long dead was fluttering back to life. He recognized it as the emergence of feelings, emotions he tossed away as useless chaff. Emotions that kept him tied to humanity. He wanted no part of that beleaguered existence yet he couldn’t stop himself from walking that dangerous path. Seduced by the woman who writhed beneath him. The noises produced by Anne’s throat were a siren’s song to his groin.

  “Gabriel, are you going to waste this night fretting over something you cannot alter or control, or will you fulfill your promise to dine?”

  The words flew straight from her lips to his cock. The tip of his tongue flicked her clitoris before his mouth latched on. She tensed, her thighs trapping his head. His teeth gently scraped the tiny bud. Her moans grew louder as her body quivered and he felt the subtle vibrations on his tongue. He nipped the bundle of nerves that was the seat of her ecstasy and she cried out in pleasure. Despite his fears, Gabriel slid into her mind, wanting to experience the exact moment of her climax.

  The sensations left him absolutely dumbfounded. He knew the wet feel of a woman’s release on his penis. What he wasn’t prepared for was the breath-stealing array of colors cascading through Anne’s mind as she climaxed. With each pulsation, each constriction, a different color exploded across her awareness. His tongue pressed deep inside her as if he could capture and hold the moment forever. The final color, a fragment of extraordinary blue, sent a wave of calm pouring through his veins. He had given Anne that feeling.

  The tightness in his balls cut off everything but the idea of being buried bollocks-deep inside his life mate. He freed her from the mental restraints that kept her immobile while he tasted her. The distance between Anne’s legs widened. Gabriel rubbed himself against her soft curls. The feeling was so pleasurable he almost purred with joy.