Ramiel hurt like a motherfucker. Glancing over his shoulder, he winced at the site of his wings. There were holes burned through the flesh, and his feathers were a charred mess. The razor tips were intact, but he could hardly move without agonizing pain searing through his wings to his back.

They were sitting ducks between the Seventh Circle and the Eighth. Ramiel eyed the ripple in the air ahead that indicated the barrier they had to cross.

“It’s gonna hurt, Virgin. You ready for this?” Zakara asked, following his gaze.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” he replied as he got to his feet. Pain stole his breath, and he stumbled, nearly going down again. Kara caught his arm and helped steady him. “What are we going to face on the other side?”

“With luck, we won’t run into Buer, the leader of this domain. He’s an odd beast with five goat legs and the head of a lion. And, before you ask. No, I haven’t slept with him. I doubt anyone has, given that he has no torso or body of any kind. He’s like a spider with a big head and several legs. If we encounter him, he’s easy to imbalance. Not having a torso is a weakness if you ask me. Although, he’s wily and to his feet, before you blink, so any advantage is temporary,” Kara shared as they walked.

“Got it. Go for the legs. I may not be able to fly, but I still have my sword,” Ramiel said calling it to his hand. “So, what souls are trapped here?” he asked.

“The fraudulent inhabit this realm, and they endure torture in unimaginable ways,” Zakara replied “I know you’re happy to see me, Virgin, but it’s time to put your sword away,” she instructed, and Ramiel laughed at her teasing. He loved her sarcasm and quick wit.

Ramiel grabbed her hand as they stepped through the veil between circles. The agony in his wings exacerbated the familiar sensation of being torn asunder and covered in flames. The pain threatened to undo him. He was going to puke and pass out if he made it through at all. Next, to him, Zakara’s entire being radiated distress. He felt her turmoil as they passed into the Eighth Circle.

“I know you’ve been through a lot, and you’re injured, but this is going to be the most challenging circle. There are several higher-level demons we will need to avoid, or this will be for naught. Not only will Izzy be killed, but we will, as well. We can’t let that happen,” Kara stated, surprising him.

He wasn’t entirely sure why she agreed to help him on this mission. Initially, it seemed she was driven by a selfish desire to keep Lucifer from Earth, so she wasn’t tortured and killed, but now as he considered their predicament and the note of concern in her voice, he thought perhaps she genuinely cared what happened to him. And Isobel.

That acknowledgment cast new light on the demon. Kara was sexy as all get out and he wanted her from day one, but now he’d glimpsed something more. This Fallen was more angel than she cared to admit. There was a deep yearning in her to protect the weak which made him want her more than ever.

If what Zakara said was correct, this could be their last moments together. If that were the case, he wanted to feel her body against his, hold her tight, touch her silky skin, and taste her one more time.

Before he changed his mind, Rami tugged her into a small grove of dead trees and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to his chest. Her breathing increased, and her eyes went wide as her pupils dilated with obvious arousal.

Kara immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and caressed the top of his wing. “Want me to kiss it and make it better?” she asked in a sultry voice.

They were in the middle of the Underworld surrounded by demons that made his stomach twist and his skin crawl, yet she made him feel larger than life when she looked at him with lust-filled eyes. His knees buckled at the sight.

A growl rippled from his throat right before he gripped her head, pulling her so close their lips almost touched. Their breaths mingled as he stared intensely into her beautiful blue eyes. The dim lighting made her hair a deeper purple, and he ran a hand across the small horn peeking from the top of her head. She moaned and closed her eyes as he rubbed the sharp point. Apparently, that was another erogenous zone for her.

When his thumbs circled the area where her horns met her scalp, she shuddered in his arms and arched her back. Her large breasts pressed against his chest. He wanted the plush globes free. He craved skin on skin so she could rub against the silk of his heated skin. One of his hands trailed up her back and teased the piercings. Her pants hit his lower lip as her arousal intensified. He relished how responsive she was to him.

“This isn’t the most romantic spot, but I need you right now,” Rami husked, his hand flattening across her back. Kara lifted one leg, wrapping it around his hip, bringing her core in contact with a rock-hard erection his leathers couldn’t hide.

“There’s no bad place for pleasure, Virgin. Make lemonade is my motto. Now, stop teasing,” she whispered as she gazed at him through half-lidded eyes.

A white-hot whip of electricity shot between them. It made Rami forget the reason they were there. Without delay, Kara took his mouth with urgency, and he had no complaints.

Careful of his injured wings, Zakara snaked her hands into his hair. She wasn’t letting him go until they finished what he started. Rami released everything he had. No walls or barriers this time. He allowed all of her inside his head. Every ounce of Darkness because he accepted all that she was. He’d held back their first time, afraid of what he might feel, but not now. He kissed her with every ounce of passion running through his veins.

His wings spread like a dark butterfly emerging from a cocoon. His healing wasn’t complete, and pain threatened to end their moment. Refusing to miss out on the world of pleasure she promised, he ignored the agony and focused on the sexy Fallen in his arms. She slid her tongue against his, deliberately provoking him. This woman was utterly vulnerable to him, and he wanted to show her how precious she was.

“I need to be inside you, Salsa. I want to hear you scream my name one time,” he groaned against her lips as he pressed his straining erection against her core.

“Ramiel, I need you, too,” she panted and moaned when he gripped her ass and hitched her against his body. Calling him by name sent a rush of arousal so intense he thought he would explode before he got inside her body.

“What happened to Virgin?” he whispered in her ear and felt another shudder.

“Just practicing. Wanted to make sure I knew your name before I screamed it,” she teased with a smile.

His desire skyrocketed at the seductive look in her eyes. He wanted her legs wrapped around his waist, but they would hit his wings. There wasn’t enough stability for leverage, so he leaned her against one of the trees.

He unzipped her pants and used one hand to hold her while the other shoved them to her ankles. A ruthless need took over, and he was unable to stop or be gentle. Not even the pain in his wings hampered him. Based on the mewls leaving her throat and the wetness greeting his fingers, she loved his aggression.

Before Zakara, he’d never tangled intimately with anyone this dangerous. And, until experiencing Zakara, Rami never understood why Elsie was attracted to Zander and his brutal façade. Here Rami was, in Hell, his cock harder than a steel pipe and he’d never wanted anyone more than he did this Fallen.

She hissed in a breath, and their kiss turned primal. Kara kicked off her boot and got one leg free of her pants. Ramiel reached between them and opened his pants, allowing the leather to pool around his knees. Her fingers gently probed the base of his injured wing, making his balls draw tight and his spine tingle.

“I can’t remember sex ever being like this,” she panted against his mouth. It seems like I’ve been waiting centuries for you,” she murmured.

“Ditto,” he groaned as she reached between their bodies to stroke his cock.

Nimble as fuck. That’s what Zakara was as she bent her knee and rested it in the crook of his elbow. The position left her core exposed, and like a heat-seeking missile, his cock rubbed through her slick slit. Shoving his hand under her top, he closed his fingers over her breast in blatant possession, pinching and pulling her taut nipple.

Another groan escaped his throat as he luxuriated in the feel of her intimate flesh rubbing over the spongy head of his shaft. “So fucking wet for me, Kara,” he murmured against her lips. He snaked his fingers from the flesh of her ass to the wet opening of her body. His long finger teased her entrance with feather-light touches.

“You will lose that finger if you don’t give me more. There’s no need to prepare me like some virgin,” she warned as she squirmed in his hold, trying to get his cock where she wanted it.

He inserted his finger and paused, meeting her gaze. The brown specks in her eyes glowed bronze while the blue turned to a molten pool of lust. She was captivating.

“So demanding,” he murmured as he pulled his finger free, enjoying her mewls of objection. Bringing the finger to his mouth, he licked it clean, tasting her essence.

“You keep forgetting I’m the center of your universe. I’m going to have to punish you,” she said with hooded, hungry eyes.

His cock jerked at that and sought her dripping core. Thrusting his shaft inside her welcoming body, he robbed himself of any witty retort. She claimed she was the center of his universe, and right now, he’d have to agree as he entered her delectable body inch by inch.

Unable to wait any longer, Rami shoved hard, stretching her tight sheath to seat deep inside her body. He set a fast and furious pace, his rhythm going from zero to sixty in seconds. Zakara met his every thrust. He spread his hand across her back, trying to protect her from the hard bark of the tree as he slammed into her body.

His tongue danced in her mouth, and he claimed her lips again, while his cock shuttled in and out of her core. She gasped in his mouth and took everything he had to give. She panted when he broke the kiss, and based on the vise squeezing his shaft, was close to climax.

“Is this what you want?” he asked, his hips never stopping.

Zakara awakened a primal need, and he took her with a force that should have terrified him. It bordered on violent, but all it did was turn him on, even more, bringing him to the edge with her.

“Fuck me harder,” she demanded.

He answered by wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her tight. She immediately wrapped her legs around his hips, grinding against his body for additional friction. The pain in his wings paled in comparison to the pleasure engulfing him. He pounded her body with punishing intent as he gripped her hips and pulled down with each upward thrust. Within seconds, her muscles clenched around his hard length. He claimed her mouth again and bit her lower lip with force.

“Ahh, Ramiel!” she shouted and detonated in his arms.

His spine tingled, and his head dropped to her shoulders as his orgasm barreled through him, making him see stars. Her cry was the most incredible sound he’d ever heard, followed by the most intense orgasm of his life.

* * *

Zakara walked next to Ramiel, trying to calm her racing heart. He’d just fucked her senseless, and she couldn’t focus on anything but his sexy profile. He, on the other hand, was scanning their surroundings, ready to act on a moment’s notice. She couldn’t swat a fly if her life depended on it.

“We’re close to the Ninth Circle,” Ramiel stated, catching her by surprise.

“Huh? Oh, yeah we are. We have rough terrain ahead of us…” she trailed off as he picked up his pace and raced to the edge of the cliff.

They stood on top of a massive mountain, overlooking the frozen lake. There were no evergreens, only sharp jagged rocks, and twisting, blackened trees.

“I can feel her. Izzy. She’s close,” Ramiel blurted as he paced anxiously at the edge. Rocks tumbled down the mountain with his agitated movements. “I have to get to her. Fucking hellfire had to burn my wings.”

“Calm down, Rami,” she urged. Getting pissed and doing something stupid wouldn’t help their situation or Izzy.

“How can you tell me to calm down? I can feel her terror. She’s in pain and frightened. She’s been calling for her parents and me, and no one has come,” Ramiel shouted.

“Now is not the time to draw attention, dammit. This behavior could get us all killed. You may look like a demon with those red eyes and mangled wings, but your Light shines like the noonday sun,” Zakara warned him.

“Fuck,” he cursed and pulled on his earlobe. Finally, he stopped and turned to Kara. “I’m sorry. It’s killing me to feel her fear. It’s my job to protect her. I’m her Guardian Angel and promised to keep her safe.”

Ramiel’s dedication was one of his best attributes and the one thing that drew her most to him. He would never cheat on his female or remove her wings if she challenged him.

Jared shattered any dreams of wanting a mate. Many angels never got mated. Mating for an angel, like many other species, was for life. After Jared’s abuse, Zakara refused to tie herself to someone for eternity.

Ramiel was giving her the most dangerous gift of all…hope. He stood beside her, unwavering in his mission to save Izzy, regardless of the obstacles before him. The bleak landscape didn’t diminish the effect his loyalty to the child had on Zakara. It was like coming up for air after being submerged for centuries. It burned to take it in and threatened to shred her to pieces, while at the same time, stitched her whole again.

“You aren’t alone in this quest, Rami. We will save Izzy. Now, if you can sense her, can she sense you? Can you share your closeness with her and let her know we will get her out of this nightmare?” Zakara asked, her voice hoarse with emotion.

She couldn’t deny her curiosity about the child. How would Morrigan’s protégé appear? Was she powerful enough to kill Lucifer?

Ramiel grabbed her into a firm embrace, bringing her out of her thoughts. He kissed her quickly before setting her down. “I expected to face many things on this journey, but you are the greatest surprise, Zakara. You’ve got a point. I think I can share my Light with her,” Ramiel said as he stepped to the edge of the cliff. Zakara hoped he felt the same way about her when it was all said and done.

She watched as he closed his eyes. His hair flew about his face as the wind whipped through the Ninth Circle of Hell, making him look like one of the Fallen of long ago. Except with Rami, warmth and hope emanated from every pore. That was something they all lost during the Great War.

Ramiel’s heat intensified as white light glowed from his chest. Zakara immediately panicked as she realized they weren't invisible. Positioning her body in front of him, she tried to shield his angelic nature from the demons of the circle.

“It’s like trying to push through mud,” Rami grunted. “The barrier surrounding her is thick, but I think I can reach her. Shit, it just closed. Tell me Lucifer doesn’t know we’re here,” he growled deep in his throat.

“Doubtful. Lucifer probably thought it came from Izzy and doubled his spells. He sealed the Underworld so no one and nothing can get in. Not even new souls, so he wouldn’t suspect an angel was infiltrating his realm,” Kara reassured him.

“I know I blackmailed you into joining me, but I couldn’t have done this without you. You ready to finish this?” Rami asked as he stepped beside Kara, taking her hand.

“I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t want to, and I’m more than ready. Let’s do this,” Zakara replied as her stomach burned like it was filled with the flesh-devouring fish from the River Styx.

It was ride or die, and Zakara feared the outcome. For the first time since becoming a Fallen, she prayed to God, asking him to save Ramiel and Isobel.