Ruby Shadows (63 page)

A
devilish little grin twisted the corner of his mouth and I thought
I saw just the tiniest spark of red in his eyes. “Well,
almost
all,
mon ange.
Though there might still be a little left.
Let us find out, shall we?”

And then he pulled
me down onto the blanket with him and kissed me until I couldn’t
see straight.

I gave myself to him
willingly—eagerly, loving the feel of his big, warm hands stripping
away my dress…his muscular body pressing against mine…the feel of
his hot mouth caressing my breasts and sucking my nipples. Then he
was finding his way down my trembling belly to the place between my
thighs.

“
May I, Gwendolyn?” he asked softly, hooking his fingers in
the sides of my little white bikini panties.

“
Yes.” I lifted my hips to help him, eager for his touch…for
the feel of his lips and tongue between my legs.

“
Gods,
mon
ange,”
he groaned
softly, settling between my thighs and rubbing his cheek against my
pussy. “Your scent is intoxicating. Never thought I’d get to taste
you again.”

“
You thought wrong,” I whispered breathlessly. “Do it,
Laish—don’t make me wait. I want you to.”

“
And I want you…my angel.” He looked up at me and once more I
thought I saw just a tiny spark of red in those dark blue eyes.
Then he bent his head and pressed a long, sweet kiss to my pussy,
parting me with his
lips and laving my aching clit with his hot tongue until I
moaned. Sparks of electricity ran through every nerve in my body,
making me feel alive for the first time in forever.

“
Laish…oh Goddess,
Laish…”

The sun had finally set as I moaned his
name
, bucking up
to meet him, giving myself shamelessly and with absolutely no
reservation. This was good, this was
right
and I knew it to the bottom of my heart.

Laish wrapped his arms around my thighs, spreading me wide,
pressing deep to fill me with his tongue and then pulling back to
lap my aching little button until I gasped and writhed against him.
It hadn’t been so long since we’d been together—I knew that
cognitively. But emotionally, it felt like forever since I’d given
myself to him. And this time I knew without the shadow of a doubt
that it was right for us to be together
, which made everything so much
better.

It was so
good, in fact, that I was already close to coming. But I didn’t
want to come like this—I wanted more.

“
Laish,” I gasped, tugging at his thick black hair. “Laish,
wait.”

“
What is it,
mon ange?”
He
looked up at me, his mouth wet with my juices. “I want to feel you
coming against my tongue,” he murmured. “Want to lap your sweet
pussy until you come all over my face.”

His hot words made
me shiver with desire but I wanted more than just his tongue inside
me.

“
I
want you.” I tugged at him again. “In me—
now.”

A slight smile
quirked the corner of his mouth.

“
As my lady wishes,” he murmured and then he was on top of me,
his big, warm body pressed against mine, his dark, spicy scent
filling my senses.

“
Laish…” I murmured, reaching between us to grasp his thick,
hard length. Just at that moment I wanted him so much I could
barely breathe. No, not just wanted—
needed.
“I can’t stand it,” I gasped as I fitted the broad
head of his shaft to my entrance. “I need you inside me—need to
feel you filling me up!
Now.
”

“
That would be the soul bond between us yearning to be
renewed,” he murmured, stroking my cheek. “I feel the same—a deep
need to be inside you, to be joined with you once more.”

“
Then what are you waiting for?” I tilted my hips up, trying
to get him inside me, wanting that hot, hard length filling me,
taking me, making me his.

“
Gwendolyn…” He breathed my name like a prayer and then lowered
himself, filling me slowly but completely, penetrating me inch by
thick inch, stretching me open and binding us together once
again.

I wrapped my arms
and legs around him and pulled him down for a kiss, loving the
taste of my own secret flavor on his lips. He moved inside me,
long, smooth strokes that made me gasp and arch my back, finding
his rhythm and matching it with one of my own.

“
Oh Goddess, Laish,” I whispered in his ear when I finally
broke the kiss. “I love you…love you so damn
much.”

“
Darling,” he whispered and pressed even deeper inside me. “I
love you too. I never stopped.”

I felt the pleasure
that had been building inside me start to spill over, bathing my
entire body in a warm, delicious glow. I was coming—coming harder
than I ever had and I could feel my inner walls quiver and tremble
with the force of my orgasm, urging Laish to give in and come with
me—to fill me with himself again.

With a low groan, he
allowed my orgasm to trigger his own. This time when I felt the hot
spurts of his seed inside me I welcomed it, knowing it was tying us
even closer together, forming a bond that could never be
broken.

“
Laish!” I moaned, bucking up to meet him, to take him even
deeper. “Yes, fill me—take me all the way. Make me
yours
.”

“
Always,” he murmured in my ear. “Always and forever you are
mine and I am yours,
mon ange.”

The deep sound of his voice and the feeling of him filling me
brought on another, stronger orgasm that made me throw back my head
and moan. I was helpless in his arms, unable to do anything but
open myself to him and all he had to give and it was perfect.
Utterly
,
completely
perfect
.

As
I cried my
pleasure to the stars above, I knew that I was with the man I had
always been meant for—the man who had always been meant for me.
Somehow Laish and I had been made for each other, even though he’d
had to wait an eternity to find me and I had spent a long, lonely
time doubting before I finally let myself love him.

Though we’d had a
long and difficult road through Hell itself, we had finally emerged
from the shadows together and we would never be apart again.

Epilogue

“
So
you and
Laish are as cozy as two peas in a pod but what about Eryn?” Taylor
asked, settling herself on my couch with a jar of Grams’ homemade
dill pickles.

I say “my couch” but
it was actually a plush leather sectional in one of the many
sitting areas in Laish’s Siesta Key mansion. Taylor had brought the
pickles herself with a message from Grams who still wasn’t talking
to me.

“
Come home,”
read the note attached to the jar. Taylor had given it to me
before opening the pickles and selecting a big green one to crunch
on.

I sighed when I read
it—Grams was still having a hard time understanding how I could
forgive Laish for stealing half my soul and using it to bond me to
him. She thought I was under some kind of spell. I was pretty sure
she’d come around eventually but for now, I was living with Laish
and giving her a little time to adjust to the new status quo.
Still, her note made me sad. I wished she could just be happy for
me and understand that I really did love my man and he loved me
back.

“
Eryn?” Addison said, breaking my train of thought. “You
know—the angel you told us about?”

“
I
don’t know,” I said truthfully. “I did a spell to try and find her
but I came up blank. It was almost like…”

“
Like what?” Taylor asked.

“
Like someone is
hiding
her
somehow,” I said, frowning as I folded and unfolded Gram’s note.
“Like there’s some kind of very strong magic shielding her from
anyone who might be looking for her.”

“
Maybe it was the protection spell you worked on her?” Addison
suggested. “The one that sent her into this world in the first
place?”

I shook my
head. “I don’t think so. This magic had a very distinctive
signature to it. And, well…it was familiar too.”

“
Familiar?” Addison’s eyebrows went up. “Where had you seen it
or felt it or whatever it is you do, before?”

“
Unfortunately it was back when I was working on that spelled
trap that Taylor gave me—you know, the one that was found on
Victor’s land?”

“
The one that nearly bit his poor paw off!” Taylor said
indignantly. “He’s still got a scar from that on his wrist. Are you
telling me that the same magic that made that trap is what’s
shielding Eryn right now?”

“
I’m afraid so.” I shifted uncomfortably on the leather
sectional.

“
So you’re saying that your spell sent a sweet, innocent angel
to
him?
To the man who was
helping that bitch Celeste try to drain all of Taylor’s blood and
powers?” Addison demanded.

“
I
didn’t do it on purpose!” I exclaimed, jumping up and starting to
pace across the expensive Persian rug. Everything in this house was
expensive but Laish seemed to take it as a matter of course.
Apparently though he had given up his status and standing in Hell,
he’d retained quite a bit of wealth to keep us comfortable in the
Mortal Realm.

“
Well it was
your
spell
that sent her,” Addison pointed out.

“
I
know, I know…” I ran a hand through my hair. “You know, I should
have known it was
Shadowlock. The Mirror of the Eye showed me him right after it
showed me Eryn.”

“
You’re sure it was him?” Taylor asked. “I mean, you couldn’t
have gotten a very good look at him that night—everything was such
a mess.”

“
It was him all right,” I said grimly. “I’d know him
anywhere—I couldn’t make out his face.”

“
I
couldn’t either even though I was riding in a car not three feet
from him part of the time after Celeste kidnapped me,” Taylor said.
“How does he do that? Is it some kind of spell?”

I nodded. “An
obstruction spell. It’s usually used to keep someone from being
able to read documents or books that are off limits. But I’ve never
seen anyone use one on their face before.”

“
Why is he doing it?” Addison murmured. “What is he
hiding?”

“
Maybe he’s a criminal who escaped from jail and doesn’t want
to be caught and brought back?” Taylor guessed.

“
Or maybe he’s a well respected businessman and he doesn’t want
anyone to know he’s a warlock on the side,” Addison said
thoughtfully. “Whatever the reason, that poor little
angel!”

“
She wasn’t that little, actually,” I said, remembering Eryn’s
lush, plus-sized figure. “She was shaped kind of like an hourglass,
a very
full
hourglass. Not very
angelic—or not what we
expect
to be
angelic, I mean. I always thought angels were supposed to be these
slender, sexless creatures. But Eryn didn’t look like that at
all.”

“
She doesn’t sound like the typical angel,” Taylor said. “But
then again, who knows what the typical angel looks like? Well, I
mean apart from you, Gwendolyn—since you’re with an ex-fallen
angel.”

“
Eryn might not have been a skinny-minny but she
was
very pretty.” I sighed. “I just hoped
Shadowlock isn’t abusing her in some way.”

“
I
thought you said the spell was to protect the innocent,” Addison
said. “Surely it wouldn’t send her to someone who would hurt or
molest her? Would it?”

“
I
hope not.” I couldn’t help the stirring of unease inside me. “I
just wish it would have sent her to someone else—someone we know is
a good guy.”

“
I
don’t know.” Taylor sounded thoughtful. “How do we know he’s such a
bad guy?”

“
Taylor, how can you say that?” Addison sounded shocked. “I
mean, that jerk tried to
kill
you.”

“
No,
Celeste
tried
to kill me. She just hired Shadowlock to help with the magic part
of it,” Taylor said firmly. “And he
really
didn’t like her—he told her off to her face. I got
the feeling it was just a business transaction to him—so maybe he’s
not such a bad guy after all.”

“
You don’t understand,” I said in a low voice. “Witches and
warlocks are both born with their powers. With witches, they
manifest with puberty. But with warlocks…”

“
With warlocks what?” Addison urged.

I sighed. “With
warlocks, their powers are latent. And they stay that way until
they do something to release them.”

“
And by something you mean…what?” Taylor looked
apprehensive.

I ran a hand through
my hair.

“
They have to do a sacrifice, all right? A
human
sacrifice. Witches call it ‘killing the hornless
goat.’ Without that, their power can never come out.”