42. The Stranger
Chapter Forty-Two
The Stranger
W ith the morning comes the harsh light of Hell slashing through the window. Summer’s nose wrinkles, and she turns her face into my chest more to avoid it, seeking shelter in me.
I meant what I said. I would never have wished this grief on her. Despite my insane need to possess her, to claim her as mine and mine alone, I would not wish this loss for her. Though I doubt she believes the truth of my words. I wouldn’t believe her if our roles were reversed.
Brushing her hair back from her face, I frown at the curved slope of her ear in her demon glamour.
When had I become so obsessed with the pointed tips of her ears in her true form?
Ears certainly were not a focus for me in the past. But hers?
I am enamored with them. Actually, pretty much every part of her has me obsessed.
I rub my thumb against her lips, wondering how it would feel to kiss her as myself? No glamour, no avatar, just me. Her lips part and she moans softly in her sleep. Leaning in, I hover my lips over hers, sucking her breath into me, inhaling her.
It’s as close to a kiss as I can manage. She glides her hand over my chest, and I arch helplessly into her touch, emitting a low, rumbling purr. As if seeking the source of the sound, she digs her nails into my skin and drags them over my pecs. I muffle a groan at the small bite of pain.
“Princess,” I whisper hoarsely. “Wake up.”
It takes a moment for her eyes to open. I miss the beautiful blue that seems to see right into my soul, but even through the dark brown of the glamour, I can see that they are free of the pain that normally haunts her.
There is only that slight glimmer of darkness she claims not to have, that piece of the void that calls so desperately to my abyss.
She doesn’t move, and she doesn’t try to pull away. She just stares up at me, her cheeks lightly flushed with the remnants of sleep. My gaze catches on her soft lips. I could just lean in and press my?—
A loud knock disrupts the early morning quiet, breaking the spell we’d been weaving between us. She pulls away from me and sits up.
“Stay here,” she commands, slipping out of bed.
Another order. How many times will she try that with me before she realizes it doesn’t work? I shift, rolling onto my back and tucking an arm behind my head, the sheet barely draped over me. What is her plan here? And why am I so entertained by the way she thinks?
She’s still wearing my shirt, and she loosens a few of the buttons, draping it so it falls off one shoulder. She rounds the bed, shifting from foot to foot. “Can you do a rune for?.?.?. scratches?”
I nod. I can do a rune, but I’m not going to.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, I yank her onto my lap.
Her skin is like silk as I slide my hands over her thighs and slip them beneath the shirt, raking my nails over her ass and hips.
I dip my head and lap my tongue along her throat, prompting the fangs of my glamour to ache viciously.
Giving in to the instinct, I open my mouth wide and sink them into the delicate curve of her neck where it meets her shoulder.
Claimed. Marked.
She struggles for a moment but stops and muffles a moan when I break skin.
Her body rocks against mine in a primal response, aching for more.
I cup the back of her head in one hand and tilt my own, guiding her mouth to my neck, needing her to complete the claiming.
Her lips brush my throat, her breath hot as she laps delicately at my pulse.
A visceral shudder rips through my body, and my cock pulses between us.
My hold on her tightens, some part of me desperate to have her mark on me, but then she turns her head away, denying me.
“Absolutely not,” she breathes. The edge of desire is clear in her voice, but she shoves me away hard, her nails clawing my chest as she forces my fangs from her throat. “What-what are you doing?” she pants.
My tongue darts out, reverently licking the blood from my lips, the taste of her unlocking something feral inside me. I stare at the bite mark I left on her throat, in a place that will be nearly impossible to hide. Deep satisfaction mixes with the aching hunger.
Should have marked her harder. Need to mark her again. A warning to others of whom she belongs to.
Another knock echoes through the room, and she clears her throat, pushing against my chest. “I-I should get that,” she says, but I don’t miss the way her fingers trace the welts her nails left behind.
Reluctantly, I relax my hold on her, and she slips off my lap. She opens a jar of brimstone and sprinkles it on the small table in the room before padding to the door.
“Who is it ? ” I call, keeping my voice even and relaxed as she opens the door.
“You have our order?” she asks the demon at the door, ignoring me. Even in the guise of being a mated pair, she can’t help but be a brat.
“Need the fee,” he gruffs.
She glances back at me. “Baby?”
Oh, fuck. I like that. Even knowing she’s just throwing the endearment back at me after I used it the day before, I like it a lot.
I roll out of bed and wrap the sheet tighter around my waist, wearing the marks she gave me on my chest with pride. Fishing the soul card from my pants, I offer it to her as I join her at the door. “Right here, princess .”
She snatches the card from my hand, her eyes trailing over my body. Admiring her handiwork?
“Thank you,” she says, practically hurling the card at the demon.
The demon passes it over his tablet and nods. “Ten thousand souls accounted for. Your delivery is complete.”
The moment the last word leaves his lips, another case of brimstone appears in our room. Ten thousand souls . It’s a drop in the bucket of lives I’ve taken over the years.
She accepts the card back and hands it to me, kicking the door closed with her foot.
Neither of us moves, listening intently, waiting for the demon to leave.
After a long moment, the sound of his heavy footfalls echoes, fading as he moves down the hall.
I reach out, brushing her hair over her shoulder, looking at the mark I’ve left again.
“Well done.”
“We should go,” she says, shifting away from my touch.
I grin at her and drop the sheet, giving her a flash of my naked form before I turn away to get dressed.
With my back to her, I pull my leather pants on, but I can feel the heat of her gaze.
I glance at her over my shoulder, catching her watching me.
I raise a brow, purposely taunting her. She blushes.
I chuckle, and she clears her throat before darting into the bathroom to get dressed.
“Asshole,” I hear her mutter before the door slams closed.
My chuckle turns into a full-on laugh, and the sound surprises even me. It doesn’t hold the cruel edge I am used to hearing in my laughter. This sounds almost?.?.?. happy. I knock on the bathroom door. “You have my shirt.”
She cracks the door and throws the shirt at me. I catch it before it falls and lift the shirt to my nose, taking a long inhale of her scent before pulling it back on.
Waving my hand, I send the bottles and the case of brimstone to her house before doing a quick scan of the room, making sure we haven’t left anything behind.
She comes out of the bathroom a couple of minutes later, wearing the leather shorts and bandeau.
I hold my hand out to her, but she just gives it a withering look.
“Just open the portal,” she demands, rolling her eyes.
I don’t.
She crosses her arms over her chest.
So stubborn, and I hate how endearing I find it.
I wave my hand, and she yelps when my power yanks her off her feet and slams her against my body.
Another wave of my hand opens the hellfire portal back to Avalon.
I carry her through it, and as the portal closes behind us, my avatar returns, and her glamour fades. I mourn the loss immediately.
She shoves at my chest until I release her. “Thank you for?.?.?. coming with me,” she says, dusting herself off as if trying to remove my touch.
“Now you know how to source it, just in case.”
She freezes, her eyes snapping up. “In case?” she says, and I can hear the trepidation in her voice.
I nod, tucking her hair behind her pointed ear. “In case.”
In case something happens to me.
Her eyes flash with fear at the possibility of losing me, or maybe just the thought of losing someone else in her life. But just as quickly as that flash appeared, it vanishes .
She steps away. “Nothing’s changed, Stranger. And you?.?.?. You’re going to leave me alone now.”
Her voice is hesitant, unsure, as if she doesn’t believe the words she’s saying either.
“Right. Back to normal.”
She pauses, looking at me for a long, unending moment before she walks away.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, my voice almost lost to the soft breeze. “For that day.”
She stops, her back to me.
“I would never have let such a fate befall you. If I’d had a choice.” I pause. “Either of you.”
I vanish rather than see her continue to walk away from me.