Sleeping Redemption (Feathers of Darkness Duet #1)

Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-Four

T he look on Rook’s face when I transferred some of my cum from Kinley’s mouth to his had been priceless. If Kin had behaved like him, she would have gotten the same treatment. But that was the difference between her and Rook; it seemed she behaved when given the proper motivation. Rook was not a good little demon.

Our ravishing of Kinley made the number two spot on my list of things I’d like to experience on repeat for eternity. The number one event was the days of creation.

It hadn’t been an easy decision to use Rook’s illusions to deceive and draw our fallen angel from her madness inside her own home, but it was the most civilized way of doing it. The longer she was surrounded by the reminder of all of her traumas, the worse it was going to become. That was the theory, anyway.

As for what transpired after we had lured her to Rook’s spare apartment? While not entirely planned out, we all knew that she responded to physical touch from each of us, and we went triple-down on that.

The gamble paid off. It’d been almost a week since, and she’d seemingly stabilized. Kinley was back to the quirky, free-spirited, and headstrong woman I knew. Don’t get me wrong, she still drove me fucking batshit crazy with her idiosyncrasies, but I had hope that she wouldn’t end up in a home for mentally deranged angels anytime soon.

God knew how much the powers that be would put up with her indiscretions if she became enough of a threat to humanity or the balance of light versus dark. Seriously though, God was the only one who knew.

It was a love-hate relationship with staying in Rook’s Loft of Love, as he so adoringly labeled it. The open floor plan of the apartment at least allowed the four of us to have space, but the square footage was sorely lacking.

I wasn’t totally head over heels with the idea of staying here, but for Kin’s sanity, it was the right thing to do. Keeping her in the home that had been ground zero for a series of personal attacks was not only less than desirable, but it was downright unacceptable.

As Rook had informed us, Nicodemus was still kicking, and our girl was at the top of his most wanted list. Other than him just being a sick fuck, we weren’t sure what his long game was, if he had one. At this point, I didn’t put it past him to be a long-lost relative of a chaos spirit, thriving on pandemonium and instilling delirium in his victims.

Given our last-minute decision to take up residence in the modest apartment several days ago, we were all left scrambling to stock it up with more than some jars of peanut butter and bottles of black nail polish.

Earlier this week, Atlas had retrieved Kinley’s laptop so she could continue digging into the trends she was seeing across the various Hell portals. Rook had taken that opportunity to accompany him in order to gather her clothes, bringing them back here.

My contribution? Providing back and wing massages. Each touch of her feathers seemed to directly result in reminding her she was safe here with us.

Kin would never admit it, but I believed that she had to know she needed us. Not just to keep her satisfied and filled with all the happiness, but she needed us here to be the triple threat to her mental state whenever it was on the fringe.

Sharing her with Atlas and Rook hadn’t been on my radar a few months ago, but the decision had come easily, knowing how each of us had something unique to offer her.

Atlas had a sole focus, and that was to do his divine duty by keeping her safe. The objective of his mission almost seemed laughable, given how cunning Kin could be. However, as needed, he was able to provide a sense of stability and community that came with his ability to appeal to a part of her humanity.

Rook, on the other hand, had a way of alluring the fun-loving and slightly off-color parts of her. I suppose after all her years of working for Lucifer and overseeing his demon army here on Earth, I could see the draw.

My responsibility was being the voice of reason with a bit of brute force. Technically, I had no obligation to watch over her as an archangel; that was below my station. But a piece of me knew I was always supposed to keep an eye out for her. I just wished that I could do more than hide out in this shitty apartment with everybody.

So, I did what I could. That meant digging for information while also putting my metallurgy skills to use. I created a safety net to help us catch her the next time she falls.

I forged a small ring. Since this was Kinley I was making it for, I had to give it a little more than just some polish—it needed sparkle. Thus, I turned it into a half-eternity band by adding a single row of red jewels that shone brighter than diamonds.

It was more than just a pretty accessory to add to her collection; it was a failsafe.

The ring was one of two that I had created for this specific purpose. I made myself one as well, without all the flashy stones. If Kin managed to get her hands bloodied, upon contact with even the smallest trace of blood, her ring would activate a link with mine, alerting me of the situation. It wasn’t a perfect stopgap, but something was better than nothing until we could find a more effective alternative.

Sure, it sounded a little fucked that we were trying to ground her with three cocks and a piece of jewelry. But sometimes, to handle crazy, you need to go a little insane yourself.

Presently lying on the overly firm leather sofa, I found myself wondering just how much eighties memorabilia one trickster demon could fill this tiny space with. On the ceiling above me was a poster of the Goblin King from the movie Labyrinth, lounging on his circular throne. Knowing what I did about Rook, I would bet half my feathers on him knowing every dance move and having every song lyric memorized.

Disrupting my thoughts and the beginnings of annoyingly catchy songs in my head, the bathroom door swung open. It prompted me to sit up, swinging my legs to the side as I put my feet on the floor.

Kinley stepped out of the bathroom looking more pulled together than we had seen her in days. A lopsided grin pulled at the corner of one side of my mouth.

Without hesitation, I stood and walked over to her with a profound need to touch her in any way she’d allow. Opting to behave myself, I dragged my hands down the side of her ribs until both hands rested on the swell of her hips.

“You look ready to take on the world, Kin.” I smirked at the irony of my playful comment.

There was never a day that she could resist a good compliment, and no exception was made today.

She flashed a large smile, scrunching her shoulders up with glee.

“Perhaps I am. I feel like I’m teetering on the edge of figuring out how all the TPS reports come together and how it’s benefiting whoever is responsible,” she said, beaming with confidence.

Her tainted black strands of hair were woven into the light blonde in a dragon braid down the center of her head, the tail of the braid swinging slightly with her movements.

“That close, huh?” I grinned with amazement as my fingers brushed a loose strand of her hair back behind her ear.

Nodding, she rubbed her hands over my arms idly.

Unable to help myself as my eyes studied her mouth. I leaned over and captured her lips in a slow and tender kiss, relishing the softness of her pink tiers against mine.

Her playful giggle vibrated into the kiss, indicating she was caught slightly off guard but pleasantly surprised.

I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her in close so that there was no space between our bodies and all the security I could offer wrapped around her body.

We stood there for several minutes, our tongues exploring one another’s mouths, almost like it was the first time all over again. When I finally broke free, I gave a satisfied hum.

“I will never grow tired of how you taste.” I leaned forward to nibble on her ear and took a deep breath, filling my lungs with her intoxicating scent.

“Or how you smell,” I growled into her ear before I continued my flattery by dropping my hands down to grab possessively at the firmness of her ass. “Or how you feel.”

Kin groaned appreciatively. “Someone is in a good mood today,” she commented with a shred of amusement in her voice.

“What can I say? You bring out a different side of me, Kin,” I openly admitted to her.

Pulling my head back to stare into her stunning cerulean eyes, I flashed her a smirk filled with mischief.

Her eyes narrowed at me suspiciously.

“Okay, what is going on with you? Is something wrong? Did Rook use your toothbrush as his piercing cleaner again?”

One of my brows immediately popped up in shock that she thought something was amiss, given my current mood. I knew I was a cranky son of a bitch, but hell, couldn’t a guy offer a well-intentioned surprise every once in a while?

“No, nothing’s wrong, I just—wait, what?” My brain did a quick halt and rewind to what she had just said about Rook.

“He what ?!” I bellowed out.

Kinley grimaced, indicating she didn’t realize I hadn’t known about the adventures of my toothbrush.

While her hands squeezed my shoulders in an effort to soothe me, I immediately thought back to the night after our arrival here. I had walked into the bathroom that I had presumed was empty, given the lights were off—a valid assumption for normal people.

When I flipped on the lights, Rook had been standing there in the buff, one hand holding the end of his cock while the other played it like a fiddle with a toothbrush as he rub-a-dub-scrubbed his ladder.

I had been too tired and thrown off guard to take the time and analyze which toothbrush he had been using. Instead, I had opted to grumble and flip the lights back off and leave.

Days later, Kinley was telling me that it was my goddamn toothbrush he used, and I wanted to drink bleach. The next time I saw that fucker, I was going to strangle him. With what? I wasn’t sure yet.

“Sy,” Kinley said as she raised a hand to cup the side of my face. The smoothness of her palm drifted over the light layer of scruff I hadn’t yet shaved off this morning.

She attempted to coax me back to my original train of thought. “If this isn’t about the toothbrush…” Her voice trailed off, leading me to pick up where she left off.

Shaking my head in disgust over what demon particles I had put in my mouth, I tried to force my head to return to my original intentions.

“Right. I, uh,” I shifted a bit nervously, wondering how she was going to take my gift. I rubbed the back of my neck a few times before ultimately reaching into my pocket.

“I got you something. Well, made it, actually.”

I pulled my hand out of my pocket and showed her the gold square box.

“Is it a new Divinity Sword?” Her voice lifted with hopefulness.

Shaking my head, I gave a quiet chuckle at the absurdity of her question.

“No, Kin.” I opened the box to reveal the sleek silver ring with the jewels set in their prongs on glorious display. “I know I’m not always easy to deal with, and I don’t show it like I should, but I won’t ever fail you. I’m devoted to being at your side, even if circumstances aren’t ideal.”

She gasped, her hands coming to her cheeks in the process.

“You made this? For me?” Her eyes never left the ring nestled in the box I held.

Hearing how pleased she was by the way she spoke, I finally felt at ease and gave a singular nod. “I don’t want you to ever lose your way, and with these bad boys,” I pointed at the shimmering stones, “you always have something to navigate through the dark.”

“I love it so much!” She threw her arms around my neck as she showered me with several kisses all over my face and murmured her expressions of gratitude between each peck.

I laughed when she nearly knocked me over in the process; I had to adjust my footing to steady us both. “Alright, alright. I’m glad you like it. Let’s see how it looks on you.”

Kin giggled to herself, giddy with the idea of trying on the pretty new accessory. She pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto her ring finger on her right hand with ease.

Holding her hand out in front of her, she admired the gift. I could see the sparkle of the gems reflecting in her eyes. As much as I worked at keeping my heart behind a wall of stone, the look on her face may as well have been the sledgehammer that broke through it all.

Dropping her hand down to her side, she had nothing but a pure sense of love and adoration in the way she looked at me. That right there was the moment when I realized I would do anything she ever asked of me, no matter the cost.