Sanctified

Mychael Black

All rights reserved.

Copyright ©2010 Mychael Black

ISBN: 978-1-59596-556-1

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Publisher:

Changeling Press LLC

PO Box 1046

Martinsburg, WV 25402-1046

www.ChangelingPress.com

Editor: Vicki S. Burklund

Cover Artist: Reneé George

Adult Sexual Content

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Mychael Black

Betrayal of the highest order awaits Jesse and Gabriel in Abaddon.

Jesse Eldridge and Gabriel Walsh have their work cut out for them the moment they
step foot into Gabriel’s home world of Abaddon. With the elemental ice mage
Lazarus and his demon lover Semoriel, they uncover the unthinkable: a plot to
overthrow the throne of Abaddon itself. When they discover what has become of the
archdemon Ba’al, treason and betrayal soon rear their ugly heads. One of the four
isn’t quite who he seems, and it’s going to change everyone’s life when the truth
comes out.

“There is no cure, is there?”

“What?”

Jesse Eldridge fell back onto the ground and stared up at what he knew might be his last star-filled evening. “For whatever Lazarus did to me.”

“Why do you think there isn’t a cure?”

He shrugged. “Gut feeling.” He glanced over at his lover, Gabriel. At one time, he’d have described Gabriel Walsh as “otherworldly,” but now, Jesse fit that description even more so than Gabriel.

Gabriel lay beside him, propped on one arm, and stroked the fingers of his left hand along Jesse’s jaw. “Jesse, I promise you, if there is a way to save you from Lazarus’

magic, I will.”

“I know.” Jesse smiled. “I trust you. Really.”

“Good.”

When Gabriel leaned down for a kiss, Jesse forgot everything. His life hung on an ice-cold thread, and yet all he wanted to do was let Gabriel love him into oblivion.

The notion froze Jesse in an entirely non-magical way.

“What’s wrong?” Gabriel pulled back, brows knitting in concern.

Was this love?

“When this is over… when we confront Lazarus and Semoriel… what happens after?”

One eyebrow lifted and Gabriel cocked his head slightly. “What do you mean?”

“I mean…” Jesse groaned and threw his forearm over his eyes to break contact.

“I don’t know.”

Gabriel chuckled and eased Jesse’s arm away before taking another, slower kiss.

His warm breath puffed across Jesse’s lips, chasing away the ever-increasing chill.

“There is nothing to fear,” he murmured. “Your heart is safe with me.”

Before Jesse could reply, those lips sealed over his own, silencing any words before they could form. Jesse moaned, arms draping around Gabriel’s neck. Future be damned; he needed whatever Gabriel would give him.

Gabriel shifted until he rested between Jesse’s legs. Their bodies pressed together from chest to thighs, and every minute move sent a rush through Jesse. Gabriel rocked just enough to grind them together and Jesse arched to meet him. One hand drifted down Jesse’s side to grip his left hip. Instead of pulling him close, however, Gabriel pinned him down. Jesse squirmed and grunted in frustration.

“Impatient?” Gabriel chuckled softly.

“Shut up and fuck me,” Jesse grumbled. “God, you’re a fucking tease.”

“I’ve been called many things,” Gabriel whispered, kisses drifting along Jesse’s jaw, down his neck. “But never a god.”

A brief flicker of a thought sparked in Jesse’s mind, reminding him that his lover not only worshipped an ancient goddess, but also held the position of being her oldest son.

“Demi-god, then.”

Gabriel stilled and met Jesse’s gaze. “I am simply an acolyte.”

Jesse smirked and wiggled his hips in an effort to remind Gabriel what they’d been doing. “Uh huh. And I’m a fucking virgin.”

“Certainly tight as one.” Gabriel flicked the button on Jesse’s jeans.

“Fuck. Keep talking like that, and there won’t be time to test that theory.”

Long fingers slipped below the waistline, and Jesse sucked in a sharp breath.

Gabriel’s heat seeped into Jesse’s soul, giving him a temporary reprieve from the constant chill. A deep-seated groan burst free when Gabriel gripped Jesse’s cock. The sensations of hot and cold warred across his flesh and robbed him of air. He’d never felt anything quite so erotic. For a brief moment, Jesse wondered how bad life as an ice elemental would really be.

A talented tongue traced a line along the pulse point in Jesse’s neck until it reached his ear. “My hand?” A squeeze accompanied the question. “My mouth?” A lick just below his ear followed. “My cock?” Gabriel bracketed Jesse’s thigh between his, letting Jesse feel, against his leg, just how hard his lover was. “Or…” Gabriel’s deep voice dropped an octave, sending a chill straight through Jesse that had nothing to do with mages. “My ass?”

Oh, God.

Jesse couldn’t begin to bite back the whimper that escaped. He thrust into Gabriel’s fist. “Ass. God. Please.”

“My pleasure.”

“Hell,” Jesse said, managing to roll them both until he stared down at his roguish lover. “If I don’t get inside you soon, it’ll be too damned late.”

“I could always take the edge off…” Gabriel winked and tugged on Jesse’s cock.

His thumb pressed into the slit and Jesse hissed. “Then you could take your time. It’s been a long, long while since I bottomed. I’d need… preparing.”

Just the thought of sinking his fingers, his tongue, his cock deep into Gabriel’s body made Jesse gasp. His hips jerked forward and Gabriel’s grip tightened. Jesse never made it a point to watch a partner’s face, always afraid of the depth of emotions he feared he’d see; but now, he didn’t want to look away. He pumped his hips back and forth, Gabriel’s intense gaze boring into his own, the man’s eyes growing dark.

“Just imagine,” Gabriel breathed, his own body rocking and writhing, “your cock… my ass…”

“Oh, fuck!” Jesse threw his head back and bucked, gritting his teeth as come shot over Gabriel’s fist.

“Now, Jesse. Anything. Now!”

Jesse managed to wiggle enough to jerk Gabriel’s jeans down. Then he flipped Gabriel over and spread his cheeks. Gabriel groaned, ass lifting. With his cock threatening to harden again already, Jesse dove in, lapping at Gabriel’s hole before thrusting his tongue inside. Beneath him, Gabriel’s grunts turned to outright cries, and a split second later, he shuddered in Jesse’s hands, the ring of muscle clenching around Jesse’s tongue.

“I’d kill for lube right about now,” Jesse muttered in between kisses over Gabriel’s ass. Gabriel mumbled something, but Jesse couldn’t pull himself away long enough to pay much attention. “Fuck, you’re hot.”

Something tapped him on the head and he looked up. He smirked and took the tiny tube out of Gabriel’s hand.

“Expectant, aren’t we?”

Gabriel glared over one shoulder, black hair threatening to cover his face. “More like hopeful.” Jesse slicked two fingers and circled the puckered hole. Gabriel moaned, his eyes rolling back a little. “And needy.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

Jesse held his breath and eased his fingers into the unbelievably tight heat. Both of them groaned at the same time, Gabriel sounding a bit more guttural and desperate.

He pushed his ass back for more, driving Jesse’s fingers deeper.

“Goddamn. So fucking tight,” Jesse hissed, pumping his fingers in and out.

“Been… a while…” Gabriel panted. “Jesse. Please…”

As bad as he wanted to shove his cock into Gabriel’s ass, Jesse loved watching his lover writhe, body moving back and forth with Jesse’s fingers gliding in and out.

Need, however, won out, and Jesse pushed his jeans down his thighs and rubbed his cock over Gabriel’s entrance. Then he withdrew his fingers and pressed in, gasping at the slick velvet encasing him.

Gabriel’s words degenerated into unintelligible sounds. Growls, moans, grunts…

every single one punctuated Jesse’s thrusts. Jesse realized with startling clarity that his heart thundered against his ribcage when he’d even forgotten it beat at all. Then came the shocking, intoxicating scent of blood.

“Oh, God. What did you do?”

Gabriel reached back, grabbed Jesse’s hand, and then released it. Blood covered Jesse’s palm and without a second thought, he licked it clean. A shudder stole up his spine and he leaned down. His thrusts slowed, yet grew harder and deeper. Gabriel bared his neck.

“Fuck,” Jesse whispered, his voice grating with the effort of holding back.

“Now.”

With a low growl, Jesse bared his teeth and sank them into Gabriel’s flesh. Sweet, rich blood pulsed over his tongue and beneath him, Gabriel shouted, bucking between Jesse and the ground as his ass tightened in rhythm to Jesse’s orgasm.

“How big is Abaddon? Hell,
where
is it?”

“That’s hard to say.”

“Huh?”

Gabriel rolled over onto the grass and sighed. “Abaddon is nothing like your world. Where Earth has finite space -- the planet itself, I mean -- Abaddon does not. It simply doesn’t exist in the same… reality.”

Turning his head just enough to see Gabriel, Jesse had the distinct feeling there was a lot more to it than Gabriel let on. “Compare it to something then. Is it like Hell --

or at least like the pictures?”

“Consider who you’re talking to,” Gabriel chuckled. “Trust me, Hell is whatever a soul makes it. Abaddon is a world of what humans would call living nightmares.”

“Isn’t there anything good there?”

Gabriel gave him a wry smile. “No.”

“What about you?”

Several seconds passed before Gabriel answered. “The way into Abaddon is deceptively simple.” He stood and held out his hand. “We’d best go.”

Jesse let Gabriel pull him up, but he couldn’t help wondering why the man had avoided the question altogether. Gabriel had never hurt him. Hell, Jesse owed the man his life. Pulling on his clothes, he shoved the thoughts to the back of his mind for the time being and followed Gabriel into the house. “What did you mean about the way into Abaddon? How do we get there?”

“A mirror,” Gabriel said before opening the door leading down into his sanctuary. “Carved from the ice of Erifield Summit.”

“What is that?”

“My keep sits atop a mountain range and overlooks the city of Terrova. Erifield Summit is the highest peak, encased in ice.”

“Wait.” Jesse stopped halfway down the passage. Gabriel turned with a questioning look. “Is there more shit I need to know about you?”

“What do you mean?”

Jesse gestured toward Gabriel with an exasperated sigh. “You’re a vampire, a demon, the son of a goddess which makes you a demi-god, Julian’s sire, ruler of the vampires of Earth… What else is there, Gabriel?”