River

Kobal set me down before turning to grab the lava rock sitting at the side of the pool. “When was the last time you were in these chambers?” I asked.

“Before the humans tore open the gateway.”

Ever so carefully, Kobal ran the lava rock over my back. I would have scrubbed a layer of skin off in my impatience to get clean, but he wouldn’t leave a mark on my flesh. He set the rock down and dipped his cupped hands into the water. Lifting them, he poured water over my hair and down my back. I closed my eyes as it ran over me in red rivulets while his fingers tenderly massaged my scalp and washed my hair.

When he was done, he reclaimed the lava rock and brought it back to my skin. I gasped when his hand dipped below the water and cupped my ass while his other hand worked to wash my thighs. The hand on my ass squeezed my flesh before sliding between my thighs. I pushed back against him, seeking more of his touch.

Slowly, he slid his fingers back and forth across my aching center, spreading the wetness he had created. He kissed my shoulder as he dipped the tip of one finger inside me before pulling it out to run it over my clit in small circles. I pushed more demandingly against his hand as coiling tension began to build within me. He had only to touch me and my body became his to do whatever he asked of it.

“Always so wet for me,” he murmured.

His fangs grazed my shoulder. Reaching behind me, I wrapped my hand around the rigid length of him. I gave one long stroke before running my thumb over his head and the thick vein running up the side of his shaft. His obvious desire for me fueled my arousal to higher heights.

“Always so hard for me,” I replied.

His hips thrust into my palm before he grasped my hand and drew it away. I mewled my discontent when he brought my hand to my stomach. “Not yet,” he said.

Keeping my hand in his, he slid it over my breasts. My heart hammered in my chest when he used my thumb and forefinger to pinch my nipple before rolling it over. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I felt his rapt gaze on our hands as his breath came faster against my shoulder. He released my hand, and when I went to let it drop again, he reclaimed it and placed it against my breast.

“Keep touching yourself,” he commanded gruffly. “I want to watch you.”

This time, when he released my hand, I kept it on my breast. Helpless to resist anything he asked of me, I melted against his chest as I ran my thumb over my nipple. I delighted in the sound of pleasure he released when I pinched my nipple before shifting my hand to my other breast.

He cupped his hand and dipped it into the water before lifting it to my neck. My eyes became heavy-lidded when he let the water trickle down my back. With his lips and tongue, he followed the water to the small of my back, leaving a trail of heat over my flesh.

Rising again, the supple skin and chiseled muscle of his chest slid over my back. His breath warmed my shoulder as he stood over me to watch me caressing myself once more. He wrapped his arm around my waist to pull me flat against him. My back bowed when his palms ran down my belly again and he slid a hand between my legs.

I groaned when he slid only the tip of his finger into me again. Lifting my free arm, I draped it around his neck when he ran his fangs over my shoulder while he continued teasing me.

“Mark me,” I whispered, needing his bite almost as badly as him.

He thrust his finger into me at the same time his fangs clamped onto my shoulder. Stretching me further, he slipped another finger into me. A familiar tightening started between my thighs and spread into my belly.

***

Kobal

The muscles of River’s sheath clenched my fingers when she came in a heated rush. Her hand grasped her breast harder as she moaned, and her head fell against my shoulder. Her irresistible, fresh rain scent intensified as her hips continued to follow the demanding rhythm of my fingers within her.

I bit deeper and her fingers dug into my nape as she came again. Legs weak, she slumped against me. I kept my arm locked around her waist while I carried her from the water. My fingers eased their stroking, but I kept them deep within her until my cock could replace them.

Her enticing pants as she tried to catch her breath had my dick demanding release. I lowered her onto the furs and reluctantly removed my fingers from her. The whimper of disappointment she uttered almost caused me to grip her hips and drive myself into her from behind.

I restrained myself as I placed my hand on her back and lowered her to the furs. This time, I would see her face when I made her body come apart. With gentle guidance, I rolled her over until she lay sprawled before me. Her wet hair created a cloud of black silk around her shoulders and flushed face. Her violet eyes shone in the light of the fire at the back of the room.

I ran my knuckles over her cheeks, memorizing every detail of her, my Chosen. I wanted to possess her in every possible way, but I wanted to savor her more. If she touched me though, if she stroked me and guided me into her, I would lose control. Reaching over her head, I grabbed another fur and pulled it toward me. I ripped it into pieces before focusing on River again.

“Do you trust me?” I inquired.

The haze of passion slid away from her eyes as she frowned at me. “With everything I am.”

I took one of her wrists and slid a piece of fur around it. She continued to frown at me as I took the other end of the fur and bound her free wrist. When I leaned over her again, I slid the looped piece of fur around a rock. She stiffened but didn’t fight the bond.

“I’ll release you if you ask me to,” I promised. “And you can burn the ties away at any time.”

She didn’t protest or try to break free as a small smile curved her enticing lips. Unable to resist, I bent my head to hers in a claiming kiss. Her mouth parted, her tongue eagerly entwining with mine. The head of my dick pushed against her inviting entrance, but I pulled back before I could enter her. I was determined to relish her for as long as possible.

Breaking the kiss, I dropped my head to the hollow of her throat and ran my tongue over her damp skin, savoring the taste of her salty flesh as I moved lower over her body. I lowered my head to one of her breasts and drew her nipple into my mouth, sucking on it until it stood proudly into the air. Releasing it, I turned my attention to her other breast. When her nipple rose against my tongue, I sank my fangs into her breast, marking her further as mine.

“Kobal!” she cried.

Her body arched off the ground, and her head twisted to the side as she pulled on her bonds. She mewled in frustration, but she didn’t fight against her restraints and she didn’t burn them away. As the scent of her arousal filled my nose, every instinct I had told me to satisfy her. She was my Chosen, she needed release from me, yet I still managed to restrain myself from burying my cock into her inviting body and satisfying us both.

If her hands had been free, if she’d been able to touch me, I never could have held back. Releasing my bite on her breast, I moved lower to run my tongue across her ribcage and flat stomach before tasting her belly button. Her legs fell further open as I maneuvered myself between her thighs.

Sliding my hands under her ass, I lifted her hips to expose her sex to my mouth. The tantalizing sight of her wet curls caused my dick to jump in anticipation as I blew on her clit. River’s head thrashed and her ass tightened in my hands. When I blew on her again, her eyes slid closed and her head fell back.

My gaze latched onto her tantalizing nipples and the clear evidence of my bite on her golden skin as I bent my head to taste her. A bead of semen formed on the head of my cock while I delved my tongue into her hot recesses. The feel of the semen on my skin and the fullness of it building within me were things I’d never experienced before claiming River. Now, I couldn’t remember a time before her and the sensation of the growing pressure within me. I didn’t want to remember it either.

Her hands grasped the furs, and her body moved greedily against my tongue until she was riding it like she did my dick. Throwing her head back, she cried out, and I lapped up her sweet release. Lowering her to the ground, I leveled myself over her. Her muscles were still contracting from her orgasm when I thrust into her.

My body demanded its own release, but I remained unmoving within her, feeling the lingering contractions of her sheath gripping me. She searched my face as I memorized every one of the different flecks of purple within her amazing eyes. The love shining in her gaze was something I’d never considered having in my life before her. Now that I had it, I would never let it go.

Leaning over her, I gripped the furs above her wrists and burned them away. Her arms fell to the ground before her hands lifted to cup my cheeks with her palms. “My heart,” she whispered.

“My everything,” I told her as I slid out of her before surging forward once more.

She wrapped her arms around my neck; her mouth turned into my shoulder, and she bit down hard enough to break my skin. I growled as she marked me. Her legs encircled my waist, and sparks of life flickered across her fingers as she lost complete control.

From past experience, I knew she could use her ability to harness life to fling me across the room. Now it warmed my skin as power flowed between us and she met my increasing demands of her body.

When she released her bite, my hand entangled in her hair and I pulled her head back to expose her throat to me. I sank my fangs into her, marking her again. Her nails raking my back as her muscles clenched around my shaft nearly caused me to spill my semen within her.

I pulled out of her just as I began to come. The hot rush of my release lashed across her belly and chest as I kept my cock trapped against her stomach. I wanted River to bear my children, but that couldn’t happen until Lucifer was dead. I’d spilled myself in her twice now; during our first time, and when I’d been out of my mind with lust in the Forest of Prurience. There was a possibility she carried my child now, but if she didn’t, I couldn’t increase the chances of her becoming pregnant.

I inhaled a ragged breath as I kept myself from collapsing onto her. Kissing her neck, I reluctantly rolled to the side and embraced her in my arms. With ease, I rose and returned to the pool. She cuddled against me, smiling while she nuzzled my chin with her lips. I carried her into the water and settled her on my lap.

“We’re going to survive this. No matter what happens, we’re going to get through it,” she said.

“We are,” I said as I ran my hands over her silken flesh and lifted the lava bar to cleanse her.

When I was done, I carried her from the pool once more. Her exhaustion beat against me as I returned to the fire. She was asleep before I settled her onto the furs again. Lying beside her, I gathered her close to me, but I couldn’t sleep. My mind spun with everything Caim had revealed.

The angels were trying to communicate with River, trying to guide her, but what were they trying to guide her into doing? To them, she was only a pawn, a means to the end of the mistake they’d made when they cast Lucifer from Heaven to live on Earth.

When Lucifer figured out a way to enter Hell, he’d become the demons’ problem, and now he was once again the humans’ problem, even if he wasn’t on Earth yet. River might be able to stop him from taking over Earth, or she may be the key to him somehow returning to Heaven and the angels would do whatever was necessary to ensure Lucifer never saw Heaven again.

Before I’d met her, the progeny had only been a pawn to me too, a thing that could possibly be used to close the gateway or to help defeat Lucifer. When River had been brought to the wall, everything about the progeny had come to matter to me.

I know what I’d been willing to do with the progeny before meeting her, so I also knew what the angels would be willing to do with her. Her survival would not matter to them if she did what they needed her to do.

Running my fingers through her hair, I breathed in her angelic scent as I cradled her against my chest when she murmured something in her sleep. No matter what it took, I would destroy Lucifer and every angel in existence to keep her safe.