“We fought.” She slid her hand behind his neck and massaged him there, digging deep into muscles so tight they felt like bricks. “It’s what we do. But I don’t want it to be that way with you.”
“He touched you. I can...smell him.” With a growl, he hauled her even closer to him as he dipped his mouth to her ear. “I need to be inside you. I need to mark you. Brand you. Make him disappear forever.”
Oh...oh, damn. “Yes,” she whispered.
And with that, she knew for sure she wasn’t leaving.
Chapter Eighteen
Azagoth was in a state of animalistic need. The desire he felt for Lilli was so basic, so primal that, just like his killing urge, he knew better than to fight it. He swept her up and headed inside his manor on a direct course for his bedroom, and Hades help anyone who was stupid enough to get in his path.
Only one griminion came close to making that mistake, but he leaped out of the way with a squeak and scurried into his living quarters as Azagoth stalked down the hall. Lilliana’s lips were kissing hot paths along his neck and jaw, driving him insane. When he reached the bedroom, he kicked open the door, not caring that it cracked down the middle.
Once inside the bedroom, he set her on the floor, but when he lowered his head to kiss her, he caught another whiff of her former lover. Possessive anger lit him up as he gripped the flirty purple sundress she was wearing and ripped it in half.
“You’ve had a very busy couple of days, haven’t you?” He dropped the shredded dress to the floor and hooked his finger under the delicate lace of her panties. “Meeting with your ex, destroying my viewing stone, punching Zhubaal in the face.”
“I’m not sorry about Zhubaal,” she said. “He’s a jerk. And I certainly didn’t invite Hutriel for a visit.” She laid her hand over his and pushed it deeper inside her underwear, until his fingers brushed her cleft. “But I swear, I’m so sorry about the spy stone.”
He let his fingers play a bit, stroking over the flawless hills of her sex. Countless years of bedding angels had taught him that gentle touches while talking soothed the savage beast—both his and theirs.
“What led you to think I wanted someone besides you?”
“Zhubaal said...it’s not important. And then I saw you looking at females,” she said, going breathless as he slipped a finger between her folds. “Then there’s all of this sex furniture stuff. You used it on other females, and I have to just sit here and look at it.”
He supposed he understood that. If the situation were reversed and he’d been subjected to constant reminders of Hutriel the Silver-haired Douchebag, he’d be on edge, too.
“I’ll toss it. All of it.” He dropped to his knees and used a fang to slash her underwear open. Damn, he’d never get tired of the sight of her like this. Bare. Her flesh parted just enough to invite his tongue. “After,” he growled as he put his mouth to her waiting sex.
She allowed him a single, mouthwatering lick before stepping away from him. “No. You want to erase Hutriel, and I want to do the same with all of your females.” She marched over to the St. Andrew’s Cross, her glorious backside swinging. With a lithe spin, she put her spine to the wood and snapped her wrists into the restraints. “Do it. Let’s banish all of our demons. You know, figuratively.”
He inhaled in an attempt to get a bead on where her emotions were, but all he got was a blast of lust that made his knees wobble as he came to his feet.
Real smooth, buddy. Real fucking smooth...
It was crazy how this female had torn down his defenses, made him feel things he hadn’t felt in a long time. Or ever.
He looked around at the bedroom, at all of the equipment he kept, and suddenly he didn’t want Lilliana’s exquisite skin touching any of it. He’d used it for a purpose he’d never again need it for. It had to go.
Well, maybe the spanking bench could stay.
Summoning all his control, he unbuttoned his shirt. Slowly. Taking his time while Lilliana hung from the St. Andrew’s Cross, her breasts rising and falling faster and faster every time a button popped.
“Do you want to know why I have all of this stuff?” he asked.
Licking her lips, she nodded.
He inhaled deeply, hating that his breath was shaky. He didn’t want to admit this, but she needed to hear it, and he wanted to make sure she never doubted him again.
“Heaven sent me seventy-two females a year.”
“Yes,” she ground out. “I know that. All of Heaven knows that.”
He probably shouldn’t like the note of jealousy in her voice, but hey, he was evil.
Turning away, he stared at the Monet on the wall. “Seventy-two females who didn’t want to be here. Much like you.” Silence churned between them as the truth of what he’d said thickened the air like a rancid stew. “Well, that’s not entirely accurate. Usually two or three of the bunch were eager to experience me. The rest...” Pivoting back to her, he waved his hand dismissively. “The rest closed their eyes and prayed. Literally prayed. Do you have any idea how unpleasant that is?”
“I can’t imagine,” she said softly. “But what does that have to do with all of this...stuff?”
“I told you that I couldn’t feel any emotions of my own, but I discovered that the more they felt, the more I felt. Remember when I told you I took Thanatos’s tattoos just so I could feel something?” At her nod, he continued. “The only other time I could ever feel anything was when I was inside an angel. The more she was worked up, the better for both of us.” He trailed a finger over the wood near where Lilliana’s wrist was circled by the leather cuff. “All of this allowed me to play until even the most timid female begged for my cock.”
She growled. “I did not need to hear that.”
Oh, yeah, he fucking loved that little twinge of jealousy. “And I didn’t need to see Hutfuckriel touching you.” That wasn’t fair and he knew it, but the fact that he was actually experiencing jealousy was awesome. Right now, every emotion was awesome, simply because he could feel them at all. “But that’s over. All of it is over, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Good. Now, let’s try something more deserving of your behavior.” He released the restraints.
“B-behavior?”
Smiling, he took her by the shoulders and swung her around to the spanking bench. He bent her over, locking her wrists into the cuffs. His cock strained behind the fly of his pants, and he unzipped, springing it from its fabric prison.
“Are you ready?” he asked as he took his erection in his hand and gave it a few strokes.
He was dying for this, but he wanted her to be dying for it, too, the way she’d been on the beach and in the shower. But instinctively, he knew this was a cleansing of sorts, a way for them to banish their pasts. He wanted intimacy. He wanted the sex to mean something.
This could be a new start for them both.
He stroked himself as he gave her a swat on her perky ass. She hissed, but as he rubbed the pink handprint on her ivory skin, she pushed into his palm.
“Yes,” she moaned. “Please.”
“Another then,” he murmured, swatting her harder.
This time she whispered a soft, “Oh, yeah. More. We are so keeping this bench.”
He gave her three more slaps in rapid succession, and his cock thickened to the point of exquisite pain as her ass reddened and grew hotter with every blow. Her arousal was like an airborne aphrodisiac, entering his lungs and spreading through his body like wildfire.
“Azagoth,” she pleaded, her breathless voice pushing him to the edge of his control. “I need to come.”