TWENTY-SEVEN
Sucker!” The trickster had fallen for such an old trick?
Somehow sensing exactly where to place her feet, Lila continued on. The flowers and ferns gave way to spindly trees, and she neared a dark wall of some kind.
No, not a wall. Moonrakers: enormous trees often found in demon dimensions.
She raced into the murky forest, gaping at the size of the trunks. They made redwoods look like twigs. Face raised, she spun as she ran. The leaves were silver, the bark as black as Abyssian’s eyes.
Reminded of his pursuit, she increased her pace. Light cascaded from a clearing ahead. What would hell show her next? She burst into the clearing and stopped short.
In a silver-grass glen, a cascade of . . . gold flowed. An illuminated goldfall.
Molten ore—the same shade as her dress—poured from a cliff into a large steaming pool. “My gods.” She wanted to stare at such a scene forever. But he closed in on her; she could hear his breaths.
Abyssian appeared mere feet behind her. He lunged for her, snaring her bag. She twisted, shimmying from the strap, then took off.
He tossed away the bag, yelling, “Enough, female!”
She hurried past the pool—then skidded to a stop. Dead end. The tree trunks were all grown together. The demon had cornered her.
She ran behind the fall of gold, slowing along the pool’s edge.
He scowled at her from the opposite side. When he went to her right, she fled left. He adjusted his course; so did she. They both slowed, gauging what the other would do.
“How did you get the ring off?” he demanded.
“Like it was hard?”
“You could have been killed a dozen times over out here. Is your captivity so unbearable that you’d risk your life? Or are you bent on getting to Sylvan?”
She raised her chin.
“Do you really believe warning your kingdom will save them from me?”
“Instead I should sit in that tower and do nothing? You might not give a shit about the inhabitants of Pandemonia—other than devising ways to punish them—but I care about my fellow fey.”
“You’ve already sliced your cheek open . . .” He trailed off. “Calliope . . . it’s healing. The wound is mending without the ring.”
She reached for her face; the tingle of regeneration was unfamiliar, but pleasant.
He exhaled a gust of breath. “You’re an immortal now.”
It’d finally happened! No wonder she felt so supercharged.
I am supercharged.
“But even an immortal can die out here. Calliope, do you want this to be the last night of your life?” he asked, his gaze stricken.
Oh, yes, his interest in her was about so much more than revenge. Some part of her had hoped Nïx was wrong, that no tie between Lila and Abyssian existed. His expression left no doubt in Lila’s mind.
I’m his mate.
He offered his hand. “I will take you home, and we will discuss this. Can we not be reasonable?”
She straightened. “I’m not going back to that tower.”
Seeming to reach the end of his patience, he clenched his big fists. “I’m king of this realm—you’ll go wherever I bloody tell you to.”
Ha! “You’ll have to catch me first.” As if he could. “And you’re looking worn out there, relic. The old-timer didn’t have his nap today?”
The sculpted muscles of his bare torso tensed. “You’re going to pay for that one, female.”
“Threats, Abyssian? What’re you going to do? Lock me up?”
Voice gone husky, he said, “Maybe I’ll toss you into my bed, and we won’t leave it for years.”
She hated how smug and arrogant and sexy he made those words sound. Her attention shifted down. Whoa. “You’ve got a hard-on. Shocking. You get off on the chase?” She sidled to her left.
He eased that way also, so she edged back to compensate. “If so, I’m not the only one. I can scent how much you enjoyed my pursuit.”
She followed his gaze as it dipped to her bodice. The gold material clung to her breasts, outlining her hard nipples. “Overstimulation.” She was in heat. Couldn’t be helped.
“How long will you use that excuse?”
“As long as I’m still suffering from it.” Even now, she was torn between the impulse to throat-punch Abyssian and the urge to explore his glyphs. With her tongue.
His eyes flickered from green to black and back. “Want to hear a secret that most young Loreans don’t know? Overstimulation never lets up. You simply learn to deal with it better over the years.”
“You’re lying.” In this state, she could barely think! She’d assumed there was a set time limit. If this lust went on indefinitely . . .
“Not at all. The years will bear that out, and I look forward to them. But first I need to get you out of danger. I’m about to trace, little fey. I’ve got a fifty-fifty shot of predicting which way you’ll go.”
“Whatever you’re going to do, you better be quick about it. Because I’m faster than I’ve ever been.”
He lunged to her left; she skirted right—
Arms snagged her waist. The demon had faked her out and tackled her!
The force sent them hurtling across the glen. His wings closed around her, and he twisted to take the impact as they landed.
She was . . . unharmed? He’d handled her like a crystal vase someone had beaned at him.
He released her from his wings, but only to flip her onto her back in the silvery grass. Levering himself above her, he pinned her wrists above her head.
Neither of them moved. Their breaths sounded loud, even over the bubbling pool. As his body loomed over her, his massive size registered in a way it never had before. He’s a lethal warrior.
His scent—clean sweat and fire—hit her. Overstimulation left her dazed. The molten gold lovingly highlighted his features, the color matching his glyphs.
Light played over his straightened horns. His sweat-slicked skin. His brutal but mesmerizing face.
When had he grown as captivating as the rest of this world? Rugged terrain; rugged demon.
He looked like hell’s version of a sex divinity.
Inner shake. This was a Møriør holding her. She thrashed against him, didn’t gain an inch.
“I scent your arousal, female. If it’s anything like mine, you’re frantic for release.” He wedged his hips between her thighs, propping himself over her. Only their clothes and a slight space separated their bodies.
She was high from her immortality, from exploring Pandemonia. If overstimulation lasted forever, her chances of resisting him grew dim.
What was he about to do? Better question: what was she about to do? Urges racked her.
She wanted to lick his lips, to clutch his generous pecs. Her fingers opened and closed as she imagined sinking her nails into his narrow hips and yanking him against her.
His smoldering gaze raked over her body. “You’re so fucking sexy.” He rubbed his pointed tongue over one of his fangs.
The sight made her shiver. Helpless to resist, she rocked her hips. She sucked in a breath when her pussy briefly pressed against his hard dick. The unreal heat of it reached her through their clothes.
“Lila, yes!” He shuddered, but he didn’t grind against her, just held himself there. “Again . . .”
Staring into his onyx eyes, she wantonly undulated for more of his addictive heat. Her skirt hiked up, almost exposing her, but she didn’t care.
Not now. Not on the first night of her immortality.
Sian wanted to roar with triumph. He’d gone from believing his mate would die tonight—to discovering she was a true immortal.
If she would let him protect her further, history would not repeat itself.
And now she lay beneath him, looking like an offering. Her loose hair streamed out across the grass, those locks shining in the goldlight. Her cheeks were flushed, her tapered ears pinkened. Her heavy-lidded eyes were blazing teal.
She bit her bottom lip, clearly debating whether to undulate again.
“Do it, female,” he rasped. “You want to do it.” He could scent her lush wetness. “Didn’t it feel good?”
She rubbed up against him, making him dizzy with pleasure. “I saw the way you looked at me earlier, demon. See the way you’re looking at me now.” She repeated the sensuous movement, beginning to pant. “This is more than revenge. You were either in love with Karinna or she was your mate.”
Between breaths, he said, “I’ve hated Kari—you—for ten millennia.”
“Deny it, then.” She rocked upward again, but he needed more contact between them.
He wanted more of his mate. He thrust against her, drawing a moan from her throat. Not enough.
When he reached for her skirt, her eyes went wide. “No! I don’t want you to fuck me.”
“I’m not. Yet.” He grasped her skirt, searching her expression.
She hesitated, then nodded.
He raised the material to reveal her mouthwatering sex. Atop her mons, she had a small patch of sandy-brown curls. Her little clitoris pouted for his touch—for his tongue—and the trimmed curls around her lips were soaked.
His horns shot straighter, his body in a lather for that wetness. “Gods almighty.”
He tore open his pants, wincing when his cock sprang free. His pierced shaft thickened even more when he laid it over her clit. At the contact, he hissed in a breath between his teeth.
Moisture beaded the crown, a maddening hint of the ejaculation his mate would give him. Catching her sultry gaze, he commanded her, “Use it.”
Lila whimpered when his ridiculously big dick pressed down on her.
Her bunched-up skirts kept her from getting a look at it—and maybe that was a good thing.
When she felt his searing flesh throb against her, she moaned, “It’s so hot.” She writhed, rubbing her slick pussy along his shaft.
Wait . . . was he pierced? She undulated again, perceiving uniform ridges along the underside, like metal barbells. They felt unbelievable. “Oh, my gods!” Her release grew closer, her moisture spreading over him.
His eyes were fully black. “More.” His wings extended, his magnificent body gone rigid with tension.
She gave him more—rocking faster and faster with short snaps of her hips.
His jaw slackened as he watched her. “Can’t even see your movements . . . just a blur! What the fuck . . . are you doing . . . to me?” He sounded dazed. “Ahh! Use it, Lila. Use it to come.”
She did, uncaring of anything but her approaching orgasm. At this point, she would’ve let him shove that pierced dick inside her.
Between ragged breaths, he said, “About to come! It’s so good . . . so fucking good. Do not stop.” His length pulsated over her.
With a moan, she increased the tempo.
In Demonish, he rasped, “You make me insane. Madden me! Never get enough of you. Never.”
The ground rumbled; pillars of stone erupted behind him! His horns and wings cast wicked shadows against that backdrop.
He was godlike. A primordial in the throes.
She felt like she was witnessing something forbidden, something no mere Lorean like her should see.
Just as the thought occurred, he grated, “You are my mate. Mine.” His eyes held a proprietary gleam. “For all time. Mine to pleasure and possess.”
“Oh, gods, oh, gods.” His words pushed her past the brink. “I’m going to—”
Bliss engulfed her body.
Wet.
Scorching.
Boundless.
Her head thrashed as she dug her fingers into the grass. His beastlike growls ratcheted up her orgasm till she couldn’t contain her screams. . . .
“Yes, Lila, yes!” He could barely believe what he was seeing—his female mindless from lust.
Her screams rang in his ears, the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. She bucked and writhed, using his cock to draw out her ecstasy.
First time to come with my mate. He was going to release so hard he feared for his sanity. “Fuck, female!” Too hard. Too crazed—
The scent of her orgasm wrenched his culmination from him.
A godsdamned detonation.
“AHHHH!” His muscles seized. His back bowed. The ravaging pleasure forced a roar from his lungs. Waves of it made his body quake like his lands. “Lila!”
The dimension shook. Over and over and over . . .
A final groan. A last shudder. Nigh comatose, he collapsed to his side.
“Abyssian?” she murmured.
Head lowered against her chest, he raised a finger. “Moment.” He tried to keep his weight off her. To catch his breath. To right his mind.
He’d known that pleasure with a mate was far different from a meaningless round with any other female. He’d heard males boasting about the sexual fortune a fated one had brought them. He’d predicted that coming with Calliope would be an experience like no other.
But this . . . this was like every release over his lifetime had combined into one—then been multiplied exponentially.
He reached down and swiped his thumb over the head of his cock, shocked at the amount of pre-cum he’d produced for her.
Soon she would free his seed; if he didn’t go crazed in the process, all would be well.
After this encounter, nothing could keep him from enjoying more of her sizzling passion. He would go to any lengths to have her in his bed. And he needed her not to escape again.
As he fastened his pants, an idea arose. She’d asked him if there was anything she could do to prevent him from attacking Sylvan. As a matter of fact, firebrand . . .
His allies would be furious, but in time, they would understand—
Sudden pain flared in his head. “Damn it, woman!” She’d bashed him in the skull with a rock.