Angel in Chains (16 page)
His fingers tightened on hers. “I was afraid I was too late.”
No. Leave it to an angel to know just how to cheat death.
“Are you afraid of me?” Az asked as his eyes searched hers.
She let the sheet drop. It pooled on the floor between them. “No.” Jade moved closer to him.
His head lowered toward hers. “You’re sure . . . ?” Only inches separated their mouths as he asked, “You’re certain you aren’t still hurt?”
She smiled up at him even as her heart raced in her chest. “The demon said I didn’t even have a scratch.”
He still didn’t kiss her. “You scared me.”
The big, tough angel?
“Don’t ever do that again,” he ordered, then,
finally,
his mouth took hers.
finally,
his mouth took hers.
It was as if an inferno ignited inside of her. With the touch of his lips against hers, lust seemed to fuel her blood. She opened her mouth. Her tongue met his.
He tasted even better than she remembered.
Since his chest was bare, her breasts pressed against his skin. His flesh seemed hot, so strong, and rippling with muscles.
His hands were tight around her—tight, but not hurting. Az knew his own power too well.
Her hips pushed against him. The thick length of his arousal was impossible to miss. Her fingers unsnapped the button at the top of his jeans. With a low hiss, his zipper slid down.
His cock sprang forward, heavy, straining, and she stroked the tip.
Az pulled his mouth from hers. “Should go slower . . .” His breath rasped out. “Should take care . . .”
“Yes.” She licked his neck. Bit lightly with her teeth. “You should definitely take care of this need I have.” Only for him. She’d never wanted anyone so quickly, so much. “Show me that I’m still alive, Az.
Show me
.”
Show me
.”
He lifted her up. Held her as if she weighed nothing. To him, she probably did. Two steps, and he had her on the edge of the bed. Her legs wrapped around his hips. His cock pushed between her legs.
No foreplay. No soft words. No fake promises.
Sex. Lust. Need.
Life.
He thrust into her. Filled every inch of her, stretched her so full she ached.
Then his fingers pressed against her clit and that ache changed into a delicious curl of pleasure. Her sex clamped tight around him. She loved the thickness of his flesh in her body.
Az stood between her spread legs. He leaned over her as he thrust into her. When he pulled back, his flesh slid over her sensitive core. Then he thrust balls-deep into her body.
Their eyes held. Her heart thundered in her chest. The bed was soft beneath her. He was hard
in
her.
in
her.
The rush of pleasure was consuming. She arched up again, but his hands clamped around her hips, stilling her. His eyes seemed to burn her. She’d never had anyone stare at her with such raw lust before.
Brandt had acted as if he owned her. Az . . . he acted as if he’d die without her.
His cock filled her completely. Since he held her locked against him, she couldn’t force him to thrust with the arch of her hips. But . . . Jade tightened her flesh around him and squeezed his cock with her inner muscles.
His pupils flared wide.
Then he began to thrust and withdraw again, but, this time, it was different.
The consuming hunger was still there, held barely in check. He moved a little slower. Softer.
Sweat beaded his upper brow. His hands, though lethally strong, were lighter on her flesh.
Gentleness. She’d only expected heat and hunger.
“I won’t break,” Jade told him.
“I’ll never let you.” A vow.
He kept the easier motions. Lighter, but still just where she wanted him. Now she could arch her hips against him, and every drive of his body rubbed against her clit. The sensation was a pure stroke of pleasure that vibrated through her body.
“I won’t lose you,” he said, the words a growl but his hands still gentle on her body.
She wrapped her legs around his hips. Her body was tightening and preparing for the release that was just moments away. She could feel it building inside her. Az leaned close to her, and Jade bit the curve of his shoulder.
He shuddered, but the control he’d grabbed didn’t break. He thrust slow. So slow. Forcing the pleasure on her with each movement of his body.
No, not forcing pleasure. Giving it to her.
She wanted to give to him.
“You make me want more than any other.” His hands rose. Found hers. His fingers threaded through hers and held them locked to the mattress. “How?”
She could only shake her head. “Az . . .” Jade trembled beneath him.
“Harder.”
“Harder.”
But he wasn’t giving her harder. He was controlled. Measured. And she was about to go out of her mind.
“Az!”
He drove into her. Again. Again. He bent and his tongue swirled over her breast. Her sex contracted greedily around him.
“This time, we take it slow.” His jaw clenched as he gritted the words. “I almost . . . lost—”
She spread her legs wider, lifted her hips, and he sank in deeper.
Her head tipped back at the hard stab of pleasure. Good, but . . .
He lifted her arms above her head. Caged her wrists with one hand. Then Az let his right hand stroke between their bodies. His broad fingers pushed down between her legs. Found the center of her need.
“I want to see . . . you . . .” Voice rougher, his touch became more demanding. He thrust—
She came on a long, hot explosion of pleasure.
His control broke.
Yes.
The small bed rammed into the wall with the force of his thrusts. He plunged into her, so deep she cried out. Not in pain. Oh, no, not pain.
Yes.
The small bed rammed into the wall with the force of his thrusts. He plunged into her, so deep she cried out. Not in pain. Oh, no, not pain.
The orgasm continued to rip through her. His thrusts seemed to double the pleasure, making the climax stretch longer on a wave that never seemed to end.
Az stiffened against her and called out her name. Not a gentle whisper. More of a roar as he came inside her.
His shadow wings rose above them. His blue eyes darkened so much they appeared black. And he held her so tightly she wondered if he would ever let go.
In that one instant, she actually thought he never would.
“You’re not dying.” Brandt grabbed Heather’s chin and jerked her face toward him. “The bleeding’s stopped, and you’re all stitched up.”
The witch’s eyelashes fluttered, then her eyes opened, just a crack. Dried blood had hardened on her face and neck. Brandt dropped her chin and crossed his arms as he looked down at her. “I’m not quite as talented with a needle as my brother is, but you won’t be bleeding to death anytime soon.” Well, at least not until he was finished with her.
Her pale hand lifted and, with trembling fingers, she traced the twisting path of stitches that cut across her chest and neck. Heather blanched.
He smiled. “Now, unless you want me to start slicing you back open . . .” Brandt let his claws burst out of one hand. “You’ll answer my questions.”
Heather’s too plump lips trembled. “I-is that why I’m . . . alive?” Her voice was a broken rasp. Probably from all that screaming she’d been doing when he stitched her up. Eventually, she’d passed out.
Eventually.
“I let you live because you
were
the one to bring Jade back to me.”
were
the one to bring Jade back to me.”
Now she tried to smile.
“Her and that
fucking bastard
that you led straight into my camp.” He lunged forward and sliced open the two stitches across her collarbone.
fucking bastard
that you led straight into my camp.” He lunged forward and sliced open the two stitches across her collarbone.
Heather screamed. Good, now her smile was gone. The witch wasn’t gonna play him. In this game, he was the one with the power. Time for her to recognize that fact.
“Don’t fuck with me,” he told her. “I went to a lot of trouble to save you.” He’d never saved anyone before. It had just felt . . . wrong. Heather had screwed him over. She’d attacked Jade. The witch had deserved her punishment.
Yet he’d saved her.
Brandt exhaled and rolled his shoulders. Tension was making his whole body ache. “If you aren’t going to be useful, I’ll just rip open your throat and hunt them down myself.”
Her ragged breathing seemed too loud in the small room. She kept her wide eyes on him.
Brandt lifted a brow. He could almost see the gears rolling in her head as she schemed. “Trying to pull together enough magic to work against me, huh?”
“As soon . . . as I’m . . . stronger . . .”
“Blah the fuck blah.” She was never going to be stronger. He’d seen to that. The witch didn’t even know what he’d done. She would. Soon enough. He sat on the small bed next to her and rather enjoyed the way she flinched away from him. As if she hadn’t begged him to touch her so many times in the past. “Tell me everything you know about Azrael.”
She blinked. “Who?”
Fine. If she wanted more pain . . . He lifted his claws over her neck. “Az-ra-fucking-el.”
A tear leaked from her eye. “Oh, him.”
Right. Him. “I’ve got some demons in New Orleans who tell me that that bastard is supposed to be pretty damn strong.” He paused. “But then, angels are, aren’t they?”
She nodded and his claws scraped over her chin.
Good. She wasn’t going to deny what the guy was. “How’d you find him?” He pulled his claws away from her throat.
A laugh spilled from her lips. Sad. Angry. “I found him naked in a cemetery. He’d just fallen, and I went to help him.”
Brandt didn’t let his expression alter even though his heart was suddenly pounding far too fast. “You’re not exactly the helping sort.” One of the things that had always kept him on edge—Heather could be as brutal and cold as he was.
That was why she’d be dying soon. But first . . . He leaned forward and brushed back the hair that had gotten stuck in the blood on her cheek. Heather watched him with wide eyes. Eyes that had always seen too much.
“Just where had this Azrael fallen from?” He asked, testing her.
She swallowed. “Where the hell do you think?”
Brandt didn’t hurt her. Not this time. “Once upon a time, you told me that you had a vision that an angel would kill you. That he’d destroy the whole world.” Heather and her visions. She’d looked into the dark so many times. At first she’d scryed because he’d wanted to see what the future held. But later, Heather had done it because she’d grown addicted to that wild rush of power.
He knew how tempting darkness was.
When a witch scryed, she looked past life and death. She looked into the very darkness that waited for man and for the
Other.
Other.
The death and darkness looked back at her. Sometimes, they even struck out at her. Heather had the scars on her body to prove that.
She’d first come to him, young and scared, because of that initial death vision. She’d wanted to find someone to keep her safe from the angel who would be her doom.
She’d turned to the wrong man.
She’d gone back to look in her mirrors, over and over, but her death vision had never changed.
An angel would slay her. An angel who walked the earth without wings. An angel who only knew death.
Cocking his head to the side, Brandt asked, “Has your future changed?”
A ragged breath, then, “Some things can’t . . . be changed.”
“No, they can’t be.” Some people couldn’t change. But he was surprised because . . . “If Azrael is the one who is supposed to kill you, then why is he still breathing? Why didn’t you send him to hell on your own?”
“Because you can’t kill Death.”
Maybe the witch had finally gone crazy. Too much darkness could do that to a weak spirit. Brandt shrugged. “He bled easily enough for me.”
She glanced away. Ah . . . hiding something. No matter. He’d get to that truth soon enough. Right now, he wanted to know . . . “Why is he with Jade?”
“Because he’s fucking her.”
Inside, the panther snarled, even as the man shoved his claws into the nearest wall. A wall mere inches from Heather’s head.
“I made sure of it,” she whispered and she stared right into his eyes as she confessed, “I even . . . helped them along.”
With a yank, his claws came free and chunks of drywall littered the bed. “Your damn spells.”
Her smile had once been beautiful. Now it was just cold. “I simply gave Jade the courage to take what she wanted.” She tried to shrug, but the motion stopped when she winced in pain. “It would have happened . . . eventually. I saw the way she looked at him. The way . . . he looked at her.”
Heather wasn’t a stupid woman. Things would have been easier if she had been. “You know that he dies now.” But that was what she wanted.
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