Reaver (38 page)

her as he worked his way down, over her clavicle and then lower, to where he flicked his tongue under

the V-neck of her silk tank top.

In the distance, Limos’s servants’ laughter rose above the crash of waves and the calls of the sea

birds flying overhead.

“Not here,” she whispered.

Reaver dragged his tongue between her breasts as she flashed them deep into the jungle, to a crystal

pool off a well-worn path from Limos’s house.

“Perfect.” Reaver stepped back just enough to help relieve her of her top. When she tried to shove

down her matching black leather miniskirt, he circled her wrists and held them against her belly as he

dropped to his knees in front of her. “No.” His voice was commanding. Hungry. So sexy she didn’t

mind that he was taking control. “
I
get to do this.”

Releasing her wrists, he slipped his hands beneath the hem of her skirt. His palms were smooth and

hot, and her thighs quivered as his thumbs stroked her sensitive skin.

Lifting his face, he caught her gaze. His gem-blue eyes smoldered as he slowly slid his hands

upward. Inch by agonizing inch, he caressed her legs, kindling a sensual fire that threatened to set off

an inferno. She started to pant before she felt the first brush of his fingers against her tender flesh.

“No panties,” he said roughly. “Damn, I’m so going to take advantage of that.”

Please,
please
take advantage.

Apparently, Reaver could read minds, because before she could catch her breath, he pushed the skirt

up to her waist and eased her back onto a wet boulder. In an effortless surge, he draped her legs over

his broad shoulders and opened his mouth over her aching sex.

Never before had she felt exposed when she was naked with a male. Copulation had always been

about satisfying a basic urge, but this… this was about emotions and a physical desire so deep she felt

it in her soul. She hadn’t felt like this since Yenrieth took her virginity.

Anxiety stirred, a protective instinct borne of thousands of years of hard living, and she pushed at

him with a soft cry.

“Easy,” Reaver said, his soothing tone bringing her down a notch. “I’ve got you.”

He caught her hands, twining her fingers with his as he looked up at her, his gaze so full of promise

that she had to lower her lids and turn her face away before he saw the vulnerability that was probably

glaringly obvious.

For a long moment, he was still, and then, just as she opened her mouth to tell him to either get on

with it or forget it, he lowered his head and nuzzled her inner thigh. His hot breath fanned her skin as

he nibbled his way up, the erotic pinches of his teeth followed by velvet soft kisses that made her

squirm in anticipation. By the time she felt the first probe of his tongue between her folds, she was so

ready she cried out in sheer bliss.

He teased her out, licking in long, slow strokes before devastating her with quick side-to-side

motions or a deep plunge of his tongue. She whimpered as he hit a spot that sent a jolt of electric

sensation all the way to her womb.

“Reaver.” She lifted her hips, chasing his touch with wanton abandon.

“You drive me crazy.” He dragged the flat of his tongue through her slit and latched on to her clit,

sucking gently. “I need to be inside you.”

“Yes,” she moaned, her body hovering at the edge of orgasm. “Oh…
yes
.” He did something

sinfully wicked with his lips, and she came with a shout, bucking and thrashing so hard he had to grip

her thighs and hold her down.

He rose up in a surge of flexing muscle, but even as he centered himself between her legs, she

flipped him into the shallow water onto his back. Most males would have freaked out at the

manhandling, but Reaver only growled his approval as she took his cock in hand and guided it inside

her. The cool water countered their molten heat as she rocked on top of him.

He was big, thick enough to stretch her almost to the point of discomfort, and she reveled in it,

taking all of him to the root.

Closing his eyes, he gripped her waist and arched to meet her downward strokes. Each thrust lifted

her out of the pool, and on the return, little waves lapped at the juncture where their bodies met. Water

licked at her clit as Reaver’s cock stroked her on the inside to create a storm of erotic wonder. The

musky scent of sex rose up, mingling with the freshness of the ocean breeze and the flowers and

leaves surrounding them. It was as if Harvester and Reaver were one with each other, one with nature,

and for the first time in centuries, Harvester felt alive, like she was exactly where she was meant to be.

“Damn.” Reaver’s husky voice rolled through her like thunder. “This is so… good.” He opened

those amazing eyes, and she lost herself in them and in the moment, letting the sounds of the waterfall

and sex take her so high she felt as if she could bump her head on the moon.

She moved faster, the tension inside her building to a fever pitch. She couldn’t get enough of him,

could never get enough to make up for time lost.

Arching her back, she took him deep, needing to feel him everywhere. He hissed and jerked, his

body going taut as his hot flow spilled inside her.

“Yes,” he gasped. “Fuck…
yeah
.”

His eyes glowed with blue-hot inner fire that sucked her in and triggered an explosion of ecstasy so

powerful she screamed with the force of it. Pleasure crashed through her in unrelenting waves.

Beneath her, Reaver peaked again, and they came together in an overwhelming tempest of rapture

so fierce that when it was over, neither of them could move. She collapsed on top of him in a heap,

hoping no one stumbled upon them, because she didn’t have the energy to even lift a finger to say hi.

They lay half in, half out of the water for a long time, sated, breathing hard. Harvester nuzzled

Reaver’s throat, figuring now would be the best time to break the news. Maybe Reaver was as

exhausted as she was.

“There’s something I have to tell you.”

Reaver stroked her back, his warm fingers stirring her insides again. “This isn’t going to be good, is

it?”

“No.” Dread descended on her like a swarm of ghastbats as she braced herself for what she was

going to say next, but she couldn’t stop her stomach from churning. “I agreed to be Raphael’s

consort.”

Reaver sat up so fast she fell into the water. He fetched her, sputtering and spitting, and pulled her

onto the sandy bank with him. “Consort? As in… mate?” He brushed her wet hair back from her face.

“Harvester? Look at me.”

She didn’t want to. “He wants a ceremony and shit.”

“Why? What the hell—”

Raising her gaze to his, she silenced him with a finger on his lips. “It was a deal to keep you alive.”

“Fuck.” Reaver fell back into the sand and stared up at the canopy of tree branches and clear blue

sky beyond them. “Don’t do it. Please don’t do it.”

“I can’t go back on my word,” she choked out. “He’ll kill you.”

“I don’t care.” He twined his fingers with hers. His hand was shaking. “Don’t chain yourself to him

for eternity.”

He didn’t care? He seriously would give up his life to make sure she was happy? Dear God, she’d

been so wrong about him for so long.

But she wasn’t going to let him die for any reason. She’d put up with far worse than being chained

to Raphael if it meant keeping Reaver safe. “There’s more.”

“More? How can there possibly be more?”

“It’s not entirely bad,” she said.

“About time,” he muttered. “But I don’t like the ‘entirely’ part.”

Neither did she. “I’m the Horsemen’s new Watcher. This time on the good side.” She smiled, letting

herself forget Raphael’s bargain for a moment. “And it gets better. Brace yourself. I have Limos’s

baby.”

He sat straight up. “You… wait… say that again?”

Still smiling, because it was rare to see the usually stoic Reaver flustered, Harvester told him the

rest. “Lorelia took the baby to exchange it with Lucifer in Gethel’s womb. But when—”

“She was going to
what
?” Reaver’s roar sent birds exploding out of the trees. His eyes blazed,

promising murder, and nope, Harvester wouldn’t want to be in Lorelia’s shoes right now.

“Reaver.” Harvester lowered her voice, shooting for a tone she hadn’t used in thousands of years,

the tone that had always soothed Yenrieth. Well, almost always. Nothing had calmed him after he

learned that she’d kept the existence of his children from him. “They didn’t do it. Something went

wrong. The exchange won’t work. But now only a Watcher can return Limos’s baby to the womb, and

there’s not much time left. If I don’t do it within twenty-four hours, the child’s soul returns to Heaven

and she won’t be born.”

“She?” Reaver sucked in a sharp breath. “I’m going to have a granddaughter?”

Feminine appreciation shimmered through her, a primitive, basic response she hadn’t felt in, well…

not since before she’d fallen. She’d thought all her tender instincts had been destroyed by her time in

Sheoul, but they’d merely been shoved into storage and were now emerging, dusty and unused and

utterly foreign.

“You are,” she said. “I promise.”

“Then do it.” Reaver leaped to his feet, his bronzed body gloriously naked, his skin glistening with

water droplets she wanted to lick. “Why are you waiting?”

“Because I’m not powerful enough by myself. I need an archangel.”

“Let me guess.” Reaver’s hands clenched at his sides. “Raphael is holding it over your head.”

“I agreed to be his consort to save your life. But he didn’t specifically say I had to sleep with him.”

She shoved to her feet and snatched up her clothes. “So he’s using the child as leverage. If I screw

him, he’ll help me give Limos her baby back. I also have to help the archangels locate Lucifer. I’d

have done that anyway, but Raphael felt the need to tack it onto our agreement.”

“That
bastard
.”

She wasn’t going to argue that. “I have to do it.” She reached out and took his hand. “I’ll do

anything to keep you alive and give Limos the child she always wanted.”

“I know.” Reaver wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, holding her as if he were afraid

to let go. “But I don’t want you to have to. Somehow I’ll fix this, Harvester.”

He couldn’t fix it. Even he had to know that. Raphael had proven he was willing to stop short of

nothing to get what he wanted, and right now, what he wanted was Harvester.

She couldn’t put Reaver at risk again. He’d already given up his wings to rescue her. She wouldn’t

see him give up his life as well.

So while she hoped there was a way out of this mess, she wasn’t going to count on it.

She used to believe in fate. She’d been sure that she and Yenrieth were soul mates. Now she wasn’t

sure of anything.

Twenty-Nine

Reaver was still reeling with Harvester’s revelations as they dressed, his mind churning with a million

different things.

“Do you have a place to stay?” Harvester asked.

“I got an apartment in New York when I was fallen the first time.” He shrugged. “Kept it when I got

my wings back. You never know when you’re going to need to get away from prying eyes. Besides, do

you know how hard it is to find a decent sized apartment with a view and parking in Manhattan? I’m

never giving that sucker up.”

“Smart,” she mused. “So what now?”

“Now, I’m going to see Ares.”

“You have a lot to catch up on with your sons.”

Yes, but that wasn’t why he was going. “Can you give me a lift?”

Man, he hated asking for shit that, as an angel, was so simple, but in an instant, they were inside

Ares and Cara’s Greek mansion. The two of them were half-clothed and rolling around on the floor.

“Ah…” Reaver cleared his throat.

Cara screamed and grabbed a throw from off the couch to cover up. A young hellhound rushed into

the room, skidded across the floor, and crashed into a marble pedestal. The pedestal toppled, sending

the two books on display tumbling onto the tiles. Ares cursed and stood, blocking his wife from view.