River
Confusion tore through me as I stared at the blue light encircling my hands and arms. I hadn’t meant to hit him with my power like that. I was infuriated and deeply cut by what he’d kept from me. I was torn between punching him in the face and crying, but I never would have used my ability against him. I had killed Lilitu with this ability; I wouldn’t take that chance with him.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t given me a choice when he’d taken hold of my shoulder. I couldn’t control the wild sway of emotions rocketing around me right now or the influx of power those emotions brought forth. There was a way for me to spend eternity with him, and he hadn’t told me about it.
I understood his reasons, there would be repercussions, but I had a right to know and make the decision with him instead of being kept in the dark. All I wanted was to be with him; all he wanted was to keep me sheltered. Or worse, all he wanted was to use me. I had believed he loved me, that I was as treasured as he’d often made me feel, but he’d rattled my confidence in him today.
He was the one who had given me the ability to still have trust in others when my mother had betrayed me and thrown me aside. That trust felt as cold now as my mother had always been.
I’d pushed him too far though. This man was obeyed, he was feared, and I’d tossed him like a rag doll. Fury blazed in his amber eyes, and I could see the hounds moving beneath his flesh as he leapt to his feet with a bellow. Did the hounds want to tear into me, or were they seeking to protect me from his wrath?
I took a step to the side to get away from him, but his fist drove into the wall beside my head so forcefully it broke through the rock wall to his wrist. I gawked at the spectacle; my heart kicked against my ribs as rocks and dust rained down from the broken wall. Moving backward, I managed not to jump when his free hand slammed into the wall on the other side of my head.
Unable to avoid it any longer, I met his gaze. The muscles in his arms shook beside my head; all four of his fangs were clearly visible as his lips had skimmed back to reveal them. I’d never seen him this enraged before.
“Don’t touch me,” I said with far more bravado than I felt considering my insides were quivering like Jell-O. He would never physically harm me, but he was all I could see and feel right now as his body encompassed my entire world.
“I’ll be the only one to ever share blood with you, River. If you turn to another, not only will I kill them for aiding you, but it would be worse to me than if you did have sex with them.”
“That’s ridiculous!” I sputtered.
“Is it?” he inquired.
I placed my hands against his chest to hold him back when he stepped closer. The contact with him caused the life to swell around us and the sparks to flare. I believed I had a pretty good grip on my ability right now, but it was still more volatile than I’d ever felt it before.
“Yes!” I cried.
“It would mean a piece of another man was within you, fueling you, feasting on you.” He lowered himself so he was eye level with me. His fists remained anchored in the wall. “I will be the only one inside of you. The only one to know you.”
“You would allow me to die!”
“I would allow you to live as you should!”
He tore his hands from the wall, causing more rocks and dust to fall around me. He seized my hands on his chest, causing the sparks to increase. “This, this right here is the main reason I didn’t tell you. In the beginning, I had plans to change you. I didn’t tell you them because you had enough to deal with, but I would have told you eventually. Then, you told me that you believe the reason why Lucifer and the other fallen angels became the way they are, is because their connection with all life was severed, and you worried it could happen to you too.
“I don’t have to feel your bond to the earth, and all living things to believe you about that. What would turning you into a full-blown demon do to you? Do you think your connection to life would survive it? What if it didn’t? Do you think I could handle being the one who turned you into a monster?”
“You still lied to me!”
“Not a lie, an omission.” I turned my head away from the lips he brushed over my temple. “How do you think I felt knowing I could be selfish, damn the consequences, and keep you forever? How many days and nights do you think I dreamed of it?”
“You lied about Hawk!” I cried. “You kept what you suspected about him, from the both of us!”
“I did, but I did it to keep the both of you protected. I planned to tell Hawk soon.”
“You should have told me! You’re supposed to be my Chosen—”
“I am your Chosen.”
I glowered at him. “Yet, you are once again treating me as if I am lesser than you, and can’t handle these things. I can.”
“I know you can.”
“Then why keep it from me?”
“Because I know I can’t risk doing something that could destroy you! If I had told you about the possibility of transitioning into a demon and you said yes, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from changing you, no matter the consequences. I dream of our children, as beautiful and proud as their mother. I dream of an eternity with you by my side, and I know it cannot be.”
My anger turned to dust at the anguish behind his admission. “I want those things so badly too,” I whispered.
My hands fell away from his chest; the sparks faded away. He threaded his fingers through my hair and jerked me closer to him. Pulling my head back, he claimed possession of my mouth with a desperation that rocked me.
His other hand wrapped around my waist, and he locked me against him. He lifted me up, sliding me over the hard length of his body. The driving, possessive thrusts of his tongue left me breathless and caused my head to spin. My fingers clutched his broad shoulders as I sought some stability in a world consumed by him and the passion he so easily stoked to life within me.
I should be pushing him away so we could talk about this. Instead, I found myself drawing him closer. I had to feel him, to lose myself to him until I wasn’t sure where I ended and he began.
Pressing me against the wall, he braced his thigh between my legs and released my waist. As his hands gripped the bottom of my shirt, I wanted to tell him not to rip it, I couldn’t walk around Hell naked, but he broke the kiss and pulled it over my head so fast I barely registered the movement.
His gaze fell on the swell of my breasts, feasting on them like a starving man at a buffet. A single finger rose to trace over the edge of my simple white bra and the bite mark he’d left on me earlier today. Had that really been today? Or was it yesterday? I didn’t know anymore, and I didn’t care as I breathlessly watched the hunger and sadness playing over his striking features.
“Never doubt my love, River. You started as the possible key to all of this, but you are my Chosen. I would choose you over all else, even my own life.”
My breath hitched, and I bit my lower lip as his finger stilled on my skin. His head bent; his breath warmed my chest. I sighed when his tongue swirled over my flesh, lavishing me. His fangs scraped my skin, but he didn’t bite down. I rode his thigh, moaning at the blissful sensation caused by the friction of my body rubbing against his.
His hands slid around to unclasp my bra and toss it away before he removed his leg from between mine. I bit back a groan at the loss of contact, but he grabbed my waist and spun me around. A shiver raced over my skin when he ran his finger down the length of my spine before trailing it with his tongue.
“Kobal,” I panted when his palm slid between my thighs to cup me and his finger teased over my aching center through my pants.
My hips thrust backward demandingly when he took his hand away from where I wanted it most. The rustling of his clothes falling to the floor caused me to try to turn around. I had to see him, to feel him, but before I could, he stepped against me and stopped me by pushing his chest against my back. He maneuvered me closer to the wall until my palms rested against the jagged rocks.
One of his powerful hands slid up to cup my breasts while the other slipped unbuttoned my pants and pushed them down. He bent to untie my boots and pull them off before I stepped out of my pants and kicked them aside. His roughened palm ran over my stomach as he rose, causing goose bumps to break out across my skin. My legs spread further apart when his fingers slipped between my thighs to cup me again. His chest burned into my back when he molded himself around me. His ragged breath sounded in my ear as he ran his tongue leisurely over it before nipping at my earlobe.
My hands flattened against the rock when his index finger dipped into me, and he stroked me leisurely back and forth, spreading my wetness with his hand. The hot length of his erection pressed against my lower back as he thrust his fingers within me and jerked me more firmly against him.
“Kobal!” I gasped when he dipped another finger into me, stretching me in preparation for him.
His hands were the only things keeping me standing as my entire world became focused on the delicious sensations evoked by his touch. I should still be mad at him, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember why, when right now he was the center of my entire world.
His other hand continued to fondle my breast, his thumb and forefinger rubbing over my nipple as he rolled it between his fingers. His mouth left a trail of kisses across my shoulder and up to my other ear as he nudged my feet wider. His shaft slid between my legs, teasing as it slipped across my wet flesh.
“Do you like that?” he inquired as he pulled his hips back and thrust forward again, but he didn’t enter me, didn’t end the torment. “Answer me, River.”
“Yes!” I cried when he repeated the action.
Wrapping a hand in my hair, he turned my head to the side until his lips were brushing against mine as he spoke. “Do you want me inside of you?”
Right then, I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more as the fiery scent of him engulfed me and his powerful body enfolded mine. “Yes.”
His mouth curved into a smile against my neck. He surged forward again before pulling away from me. “Beg me for it.” This time when he thrust forward, his thumb dipped down to rub against my clit. A firestorm of pleasure rocked me. I arched against him when his hand caressed my breasts. “River,” he growled, and I sensed his unraveling control as he thrust faster between my thighs.
I could deny him this, and he would still give in to me, still give me what I so desperately craved, but I was helpless to deny him what he asked for. “Please, Kobal,” I begged when he stroked my clit again. “I need you inside of me, now.”
His hand slid between my legs again, but this time he didn’t tease me as he took hold of his swollen shaft and guided it into me. I groaned at the sensation of his thick member slipping deep within me. He filled me so completely that I could feel him throbbing inside of me.
He grabbed my waist and withdrew until only his head remained within me before sliding into me again. I pushed back against him hungrily, demanding more with my body as I bent lower to give him better access. His fingers dug into my skin as he pulled out of me before driving in again. There was a savagery about him right now seeking to be calmed, and I could do that for him.
His sweat-slicked body encased me as he moved faster and deeper within me. My head spun as the pleasure only his body could give me, swamped me. Releasing me with one of his hands, he slid it between my thighs to fondle my clit again as he continued to drive fiercely into me.
“Come for me, Mah Kush-la,” he commanded.
Again, I was helpless to do anything but obey him as my body fractured apart beneath his expert fingers and pummeling hips. My legs gave out, but his hold on me he kept me standing. I felt no trepidation when his hand caged my throat, and he pulled my head back. His tongue swirled over my flesh before he sank his fangs into my shoulder.
Another orgasm rocked me as he continued to drive relentlessly between my thighs while leaving his mark on my body. My muscles clenched around his swollen length, gripping him within me. He threw his head back and bellowed in ecstasy before abruptly pulling out of me.
The heated pulse of his semen against my back branded me further when he found his release. His fangs retracted from my body, and his head fell into the hollow of my neck.
I was still trying to catch my breath when he pulled me away from the wall and walked me over to a rock at the edge of the cavern. “Not done with you,” he grated against my shoulder.
Spinning me around, he sat on the rock and stretched his legs out before him as he settled me on his lap. His golden eyes held mine while he slid me slowly onto the hard length of him once more.