12
The Angel

 

 

 

Jasmine had used my angelblade to cut open my veins and poured more of her venom into me because of her insecurity.

I’d once thought Fiammetta had hexed me to control me, but she’d never put any spell on me, or anyone. One would expect the Wickedest Witch would do all things vile, but I’d been wrong about her.

Everyone, except Kaara, had been wrong about her.

This vampiress, in all her smiling shamelessness, wanted to have power over me more than anything, but I couldn’t strike her down. I was bound by her venom to preserve her.

This was a very bad joke.

I’d once assumed being trapped on Pandemonium and tormented by my lust for Fiammetta was hell. Compared to this, that was pure heaven. 

And I’d been cast out from the heavens.

My angelic blood didn’t bode well mixing with the vampire venom. My Flame had failed to purge it. My fire now no longer coursed in my veins, but crouched somewhere in a hidden corner.

The planet was the ultimate predator.

It drained all the alien ships. It hindered my ability to heal because it sensed I was a threat. I was more powerful than any other being here.

Anywhere else, my wings would have healed.

Were Pandemonium and Akem one and the same?

After I killed or escaped the vampires, Fiammetta and I would have to lead our team past Akem to reach the portal.

The final battle was inevitable.

To defeat the entity, I needed to know his weakness, and the best way to learn of it was through his allies.

I should prey on the vampiress’ lust for me.

The idea repulsed me, but I had to do what must be done.

Then a dark thought crossed my mind: Has the vampiress already sexually molested me while I was unconscious? 

That psychopath hadn’t a shred of morality or honor.

I scanned my surroundings.

The all-white bedchamber was spacious and luxurious. Silky curtains, a diamond chandelier, ivory vanity, and a rug with silver lilies decorated the room. Through the open door to the outer suite, I spotted a grand piano and books on the shelves.

The vampiress’ chamber was on the higher floor. The tower was more of a skyscraper, with marble floors and glass windows.

For a second, I felt I was in another place and another time, disconnected from the harsh reality of Pandemonium. While the City of Nine was evidently a post-apocalyptic metropolis, this place was like a haven in an old world of grandeur.

It still felt wrong.

The tower—its every brick, stone, and swath of fabric—seemed to watch me with sinister intent.

My gaze wheeled back to Jasmine.

She perched at the foot of the bed, smiling at me, heat burning in her blue eyes.

She wore a complicated royal-blue gown, thin and flimsy above the waist, outlining the shape of her small, perky breasts and her taut nipples. The intricacy was in the skirt—it had layers of romantic folds enhanced by ruffles, flowers, beads, pleats, and dramatic color.

I expected my aversion toward her to rise, but instead, I found her enchanting.

She looked every inch a princess.

I blinked. She was one!

Her pale skin was flawless. Her red lips were alluring. They had to be kissable.

Such unmatched beauty!

And she was right in front of me, ripe, delicious, and welcoming.

Hadn’t she been exactly my type before I’d met—?

Met who?

A moment of confusion flooded my mind, and I shrugged it off.

What idiot would have doubts in front of such perfection?

Princess Jasmine had told me their vampire race was the finest in the universe.

Indeed. I saw that represented in their precious, elegantly sexy princess.

And she wanted me badly.

I was the luckiest man in the universe.

I grinned at her. “Hello, gorgeous.” 

The princess sucked in a breath, her blue eyes lighting up.

I knew my masculine smile was killer to females of any race, in every corner of the universe. My smile grew wider. I needed to charm this princess and make her mine.

Mine?

The fog grew thicker in my mind, yet it seemed to have teeth, since someone had just bit and bled me.  

Who could do that? And who dared! I looked around in the mist, ready to eliminate any threat or nuisance.

A flood of memories slammed me in the face.

The Wickedest Witch had once bled me with her teeth, and when I’d showed her my best male smile, she hadn’t sucked in her breath, like Princess Jasmine. The witch had been untouched and unimpressed. Her cold heart hadn’t thawed. Instead, she’d ridiculed me and later on had tried to use her ice magic to freeze me.

The witch was the nastiest woman I’d met. Yet—

How had she even had the chance to bite my tongue? Had I thrust it into her mouth? How had that been? No, that couldn’t be me. I wouldn’t have been attracted to the vile Wickedest Witch.

I had this gentle, incomparable beauty in front of me, and I needed no one else.

“Hello, stranger,” Princess Jasmine said, moving closer, her fingertips tracing my cheek.

It felt good, and I craved more.

“Your Highness is a master of all things sensual,” I offered. “You’re the best!”

The only female who didn’t care for flattery was the Wickedest Witch, but I wasn’t dealing with the stonehearted bitch now.  

“Oh, Gabriel.” Princess Jasmine gazed at me indulgently, her cold, delicate finger outlining my lips.

My teeth caught her finger and my tongue licked it.

She threw her head back and moaned. “Oh, Gabriel, yes.”

My blood rushed in my veins at her erotic sound.

“You’re mine, Angel,” she sighed. “See, I don’t need to rape you as you were so worried about. You were quite obnoxious before.”  

I’ve been obnoxious? When? And rape? That’s unacceptable! Who’s going to rape who?

I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“I don’t like to force anyone if I don’t have to,” she said. “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone. I want you to touch me willingly and hotly. I can see how much you want me already. Do you want me, my Angel?”

I had a feeling that Desdemona was watching, though I couldn’t see him. Every wall in the tower seemed to be his spy, but I didn’t care.

Watch it all he wanted.  

“Yes, princess,” I said, my voice slurring like a drunk. I grinned at her like a puppy. “But how am I going to run my hands all over your hot, sweet body when you have chains on me?”

“I can solve that,” she said. “Where would you like to touch me first?”

“Your breasts, of course,” I said harshly. “They’re meant to be touched by a man like me.”

“Good answer,” she said, pleased. “I haven’t been wrong about you. I know you’ll be mighty in bed.”

I offered her a grin of wicked promise.

She breathed shallowly. “Would you like me to remove the chains?”

“Right now.”

“What if you become naughty?”

“Then you spank me after I lick you.”

She laughed.

“Unchain me,” I said. No matter how much I desired her, being chained was against an Angel’s very nature.

“Still fierce,” she said, curving her arm around my neck and starting to stroke my wings.

“So silky. So sensual. So manly,” she murmured in a husky, dreamy voice.

The stroke and the voice combined was a stark contrast to—

Flashes of images broke through the fog and poured into my mind.

Another hand had traced along the ridge of my wing to the tip of my feathers, bringing pleasure like no other. Tiny electric sparks had flickered all over me at her every caress.

That touch had been different than this. This—suddenly I knew what this was—this felt wrong. This felt like a violation.

I blinked, as if I was wading through deep water, fighting to stay awake while heavily drugged.

A pair of stunning gray eyes peeked at me. They were so icy, yet fire burned beneath the ice.

A woman who had the finest pale skin and raven-black hair was riding me hard. Her curvy hips moved up and down, faster and faster.

I cursed. That doll-like woman fucked me like an animal. I’d never been fucked like that, and I liked it. My hands grabbed her slender waist possessively.

I wanted her to be mine, so, she could always fuck me like that.

Her lovely pussy gloved my cock tightly, swallowing my every inch and gliding down.

I wanted more of her. I wanted this woman more than I’d wanted anyone and anything. 

I had to claim her, so she wouldn’t get away after this unexpected, wild coupling.

I thrust up to meet her rapid rhythms and groaned like a beast as pleasure rendered me wild and mindless.

She swayed on my shaft and rocked before slamming down to my base with the force of ice and fire.

She had both ice and fire. How could that be?

And she was fucking me with the speed only an Angel could muster.

She was the fire song in my veins.

Something snapped and awoke in me—something primal and vital, like my Archangel soul.

My Angel Flame leaped up in me. 

This woman wasn’t just any other woman. She was—she was my fated mate!

I had once accused her of hexing me for making me lust only for her.

A flash of lightning cracked, and I followed it all the way to another tower—the Witch Tower. The woman in my vision tossed in bed, her eyelids closing and her lush lashes fluttering.

A name—my name—escaped her pink lips.

She was dreaming about me, about fucking me.

A painful realization rammed into my chest—we’d been separated, and now I was living only in her dream. Through our mating bond, both frail and strong, I shared her fantasy and desire. And our bond was beyond anything in the universe.

I swallowed hard. When High Prince Seth had told me about the mating bond, I’d dismissed it as mythical. Angels did not have fated mates, until it had happened to me.

Until I’d met my fated mate—Fiammetta.

I dived further through the link, like a thirsty man fighting for a drop of water. I wanted to see her, feel her, touch her, and fuck her, but the connection broke just as her piercing gray eyes flashed open, searching.

Mine! My mate! My Archangel instinct roared.

The fog the vampiress had cast on my mind dissipated.

All was clear now, as the truth returned to me. The Wickedest Witch was my fated mate. I’d fallen into the past on Pandemonium in order to bring her home with me.

We’d battled the vampires and Akem’s creatures. I’d stayed behind so my mate could escape. Then the vampires had overcome me and dragged me here.

I’d almost let this bloodsucker defile me, believing I was smitten with her.

I’d almost lost myself to her vile seduction.

My wings hardened to steel, sweeping the vampiress aside, despite the pain of the curse erupting in me and impaling me.

Jasmine fell off the bed, her ass landing on the floor, and her complicated dress tangled all over her.

She stared hard at me with a stunned expression.

“Yeah, I know, babe,” I snorted, “no one has shrugged off your powerful coercion before.”

I yanked the chains off my bulging muscles and grabbed a handful of them, about to crack open the vampiress’ skull—only to find my hands falling limp at the thought of attacking her.

Jasmine laughed hoarsely.

“Interesting,” she said. “You’re the hardest to tame, Angel, but I’m quite sick and tired of submissive males. So, I’ll let you be. One day, you’ll come to me willingly and completely.”

“You’ll have to wait a long time, Princess.”

She untangled her dress and rose to her feet gracefully. Vampires were a nimble species. She leaned on the vanity, her leg bending on a chair, and lifted her skirt high to expose her thighs.

With that provocative position, one could see her flimsy black panties. 

And this time, I felt nothing.

My mating bond had come to guard my virtue. My witch wouldn’t recognize me when she met me again. She wouldn’t know I was her mate. But once her eyes had fallen upon me, and once she’d bonded with me, she’d allowed no one else to touch me.

The bond was written with her heat signature.

Jasmine cocked her head. “I have time and patience. Resist me all you want now. However, the more you fight it, the worse it gets. Then one day, when I wiggle a finger, you’ll jump into my bed, begging me to take you. If I’m still interested, I might. But don’t count on it.”

The delusional vampiress lived in a vampire ivory tower.

But I wasn’t going to stay with her.

I had work to do to find my ship. I had a mate to return to. 

“You can’t leave the tower,” Jasmine added. “You can never leave.”

I dropped the chains to the floor.

So, this was how it worked for now. I could shake off her compulsion when it threatened who I was and my bond with Fiammetta, but I couldn’t kill her.

I laughed. The Wicked Witch had claimed her ownership without knowing it. It should work both ways. No one could violate my mate, either, even though she would have forgotten about me.

I looked at the sky outside. It was dull and dim, but it was a new day.

The Wickedest Witch must have awoken.

I wondered what was in her mind now. She’d moaned my name, but she wouldn’t remember me. And even if my name was etched on her skin, it was but a name.

I was a character featured in yesterday’s events.

Even though she’d vowed to never leave without me, she wouldn’t remember that promise, because by now, she’d have forgotten my face and how I’d touched her.

I was burning with the need to return to her and make her acquainted with me again. I needed to warm her up.

“How?” Jasmine asked. “No one rejected me before. No one!” She stared at me, half in amazement, half in bitter rage. “How is that possible?”

I ignored her and stared at the half-burned city sprawling beneath through the full window.

I psyched myself up to brush off her compulsion if she commanded me not to take off. 

Nothing could stop me from returning to my mate. 

I shuffled my wings. They were still broken. But no matter; I could jump, and my wings would slow down the fall, just as they had almost every night, from the Witch Tower.

I lunged, and Jasmine dodged aside, fast enough to avoid my sweeping wings, a shocked expression half-frozen on her face. She evidently thought I was going to strike her down and was puzzled how I could completely break her hold.

My wings propelled forward with great force, shattering the window.

I turned to offer Jasmine a mocking smirk. “Bye, sweetheart. I’m gonna miss you.”

I leaped out of the window.

Only I didn’t land on the ground outside the tower.

A force, mightier than an Archangel’s strength, pulled me back toward the room I meant to leave. I roared and fought the force, but the more I struggled, the harder the pull.

I flew backwards and crashed against the marble wall, denting it.

In front of my eyes, the shards of broken glass returned to the window, assembled themselves, and became whole again.

“What the fuck!”

Jasmine laughed like a wind chime, yet sounding more sadistic than anything I’d heard.

I shot up to my feet, smashed the window, and jumped again.

And once again, the force dragged me back, tossed me to the wall, and made the window intact. 

It was as if time rewound itself before my eyes.

“What kind of voodoo is that?” I demanded in outrage.

“Didn’t I tell you that you could never leave?” Jasmine smiled sweetly as she played with her long fingernails. “You’ll be with me forever and ever. And, the more you resist, the more I want you, Archangel Gabriel.”

Angels didn’t believe in nightmares, but I started believing this one