Fallen Embers (Fallen Guardians #9)

Chapter 16

Chapter

Sixteen

In the dark, crowded street, Nia instinctively banked left into an alley. Snarls erupted from the shadows farther down, and she skidded to a halt, chest heaving.

Beneath the faint moonlight, Riley sliced Kas’ throat, and the demon slid to the ground.

“That should take care of this asshole,” he muttered.

Both he and Lore stared at the slain demon as his pale coloring gave way to a bronze tone. The body shuddered and disintegrated, sinking into the asphalt and disappearing.

“Fuck,” Riley growled.

“Dammit, Nia!” Zayn came up beside her and flung an arm around her waist to keep her from bolting. But she couldn’t move as the realization dawned: this demon wasn’t Kas, either, but another glamoured minion.

God, would this never end?

Her skin clammy, she pressed a hand to her roiling stomach. Her gaze lifted to Lore as he strode to her.

“We’re leaving.” He grasped her hand and flashed them. A second later, they reappeared in her backyard.

The door opened. Nia shuffled into the living room, feeling as if every part of her was unraveling. She turned to him as Lore shut the door.

He seemed okay physically, and his rage no longer hurt her psyche, so her overpowering need to get to him ASAP eased a bit… Yet, it seemed as if he’d shut himself off from her. Not that she could ever read him or anything, just that gut-deep feeling when it came to him.

Nia scrubbed her face with both hands as her dire situation took hold of her thoughts. Kas was growing desperate with these frequent attacks.

“He used a minion again,” she whispered. “He’s mocking us.”

Lore didn’t answer. He remained near the window, his attention fixed outside, then his eyes narrowed.

Her heart pounded, goosebumps flooding her skin. “Is he here? Oh, God, he is, isn’t he?”

A thud hit the window, and she froze as something small and tawny slid down the glass?—

“Noooo!” she cried, sprinting for the door. “Ginger!”

“Don’t!” Lore flung out his arm to stop her. But Nia ducked under it and yanked open the door. She fell to her knees, picking up the still little body.

Lore disappeared in a flash as she examined the kitten. It appeared dazed, one little leg twisted?—

Bastard! She wanted to break all of Kas’ fucking limbs repeatedly until he begged for mercy, and maybe not even then.

The sudden stench of rotten eggs had bile surging up her throat.

“Touch another male, and I will start killing them and anyone else that comes near you.”

Her head snapped up.

Kas crouched on the backyard wall, glaring down at her. His attractive, boyish face and messy hair were scarily misleading, concealing the sheer evil within.

Nia snatched the iron blade from her boot and flung it at him. He batted the dagger away like it was a twig and laughed. “You can’t touch me. Not even your guardian angel can.”

She cradled the yowling kitten to her chest. Where was Lore?

“Nor can you escape me. Come willingly and be at my side through our joining. All I want is access to your blood. There, I said it. It will make me so much stronger, and I will claim my place as Lord of Eurymos’ Run?—”

“You’re out of your fucking mind!”

“Female, do you think after all the time I spent studying you, and after our accidental meeting at the coffee place, I’d allow all my efforts to be in vain?” His tone took on a dangerous edge. “I saw you days prior to our meeting and claimed you as mine. Don’t expect a rescue from the angel. He’s busy. Now let’s go.”

He’d been already stalking her, setting her up, and she had no idea.

Christ!

He leaped down?—

A burst of searing gold flames flew into him. Kas crashed onto the paved yard with a loud thud.

Lore?

Shit! Kitten cuddled to her chest, Nia stumbled back as Lore’s flames burned hotter.

With a shriek, Kas vaporized then reappeared.

“Why the hell can’t you just stay dead?” he snarled, hair charred, skin melting from Lore’s fire. “I will kill you myself, then. Do you know what I am?” he roared.

Lore didn’t respond, his form a silhouette of fire.

“That flame you are will soon die!” Kas’ hands became a blaze of red fire.

Her heart jammed in her throat, Nia stumbled and tripped, falling on her ass, the kitten still cradled in her arms.

Nia, get inside the house, now! Lore’s voice swept through her mind, the sensation echoing with a vibration so otherworldly that she scrambled to her feet and obeyed.

The kitten yowled louder. “It’ll be all right, Ginger.”

The flames morphed into a deadly angel with his sunset wings spread wide. He faced the hellspawn.

A swarm of demons appeared in the yard, all in their hellish forms. The clay pots rose, smashing against the wall, plants and soil raining down. Kas dove for Lore and faltered a step. He blinked, then glanced at a seeping wound in his belly as if surprised.

Lore had scored a direct hit with his dagger.

Jesus, why couldn’t the demented demon die already?

Snarling, Kas hurled sizzling bolts at Lore from his still sparking hands. The horde charged for her open door, and she reared back. Lore flung out a hand, freezing them.

No longer in his humanoid form, Kas launched himself at Lore. Leathery black skin covered him from head to cloven feet. Twisted horns protruded from his brow. His mouth unhinged into a terrifying maw, revealing double rows of pointed, stained teeth and fangs.

His fangs extended past his lips, dripping venom—saliva, she didn’t know.

Dear God, that’s what I dated?

Lore dove into Kas, both crashing onto the debris from the ruined pots. They moved too fast for Nia to follow.

A series of sharp cracks reverberated in the air, like dry branches snapping. Kas fell in a tangled heap of broken bones?—

Lore straddled the hellspawn before he could vanish.

Kas snarled, his eyes a searing red. He bared his sharp teeth, muttering something in a strange, guttural language.

“This is your end, Bakasura,” Lore said, his tone cold, merciless.

A dagger shimmered in his hand, hissing and crackling with white flames. The demon emitted a guttural screech, but none of his minions moved as Lore plunged the blazing steel into the demon’s heart.

With a movement too fast for Nia to track, he severed the carotid. Kas gurgled, the sound cut short. He disintegrated, leaving behind only a pile of ash. Then that, too, seeped into the ground and disappeared.

Nia blinked, staring at the empty spot.

It’s over?

Kas was dead?

A wave of relief had her stumbling a step.

Oh, thank God!

Lore rose, in all his unnerving angelic grace, wings spread wide. Inhumanly beautiful. A searing glow surrounded him, and Nia had to shield her eyes. With a wave of his hand, the immobilized horde on the patio imploded and crumbled into ash, then dissipated.

Nia gawked, finally seeing Lore’s true, heavenly form.

Her heart constricted with despair. She had to let go of her longing for him. He was way, way out of her league.

Lore crossed to her, his divine light fading, his wings disappearing with a whoosh. He touched Ginger’s broken hindquarters, healing the kitten. With a little purr, Ginger butted his hand, then leaped down and crept out through the open door to investigate the ruined backyard.

“Thank you,” she whispered as Lore followed the kitten and shut the door. Though his expression remained even, she was starting to know…to understand him.

He wasn’t as calm as he portrayed.

But the distance between them knotted her belly. Did she do something?

“Are you angry with me?” she finally asked, her mind shifting back to the bar and his cold fury when she was dancing with Zayn.

“No.”

“Then what’s wrong? You’re treating me like a stranger.”

“Nothing.”

Not knowing what else to say, she asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” His attention remained on the yard, where Ginger pawed through the debris. Then, the kitten darted through the gate and disappeared. In a blink, the garden was set right as if nothing horrifying had taken place.

She glanced back at Lore, still feeling on edge. He wasn’t talking to her, just responding with clipped one-word answers, like when she first met him.

Fine. Nia squeezed between the window and his big body, her gaze flying over him and settling on the burnt hole in his shirt. She touched the crisp edges, through which she could see his chest and smooth skin. He’d healed completely. No blood smears remained, either.

She blew out a shaky breath and said, “He…Kas said he wanted me for a lifetime supply of my blood, to be stronger, and to claim his place as Lord of Eurymos’ Run, whatever that is. You called him Bakasura?”

“That’s his true name. He’s a vicious species of demon. They thrive on blood and some on flesh.” He slid his hands into his pants pockets. “He probably wanted to take over the blood demon’s territory in the Dark Realm. But he needed to be sane to rule. He believed the light in your soul would be in your blood and give him the power to hold onto his sanity. It’s a curse most blood demons face.”

“Dear God.” She rubbed her face, helpless laughter escaping her. “Only me. Maybe Nan was right. I’m not good. That’s why that evil spawn was drawn to me.”

His remote gaze lowered to hers. “You aren’t evil—” He grasped her arm. “We have to go.”

Before she could ask why, he flashed them.

They reappeared in darkness, on the snow-covered courtyard of the Romanian abbey. Snowflakes drifted like confetti.

Morbid laughter caught in her throat. The only thing celebratory was Kas being dead. But staying here with Lore?—

A slash of heat cut through, and she bit back a moan as the needy ache within her rose. Lore stood there as distant as these mountains, and she didn’t even care. She wanted to yank off her clothes, wrap herself around him, wanted him to touch her…

Instead, she pivoted and glared up at the looming abbey because, deep down, she knew none of that could happen.

God, she couldn’t stay there alone with him.

Without anyone around to be a buffer, it would be disastrous. For her.

“I have to go back.”

“No. Not with the threat still out there.”

Frowning, she pulled her attention away from the abbey and found him watching her, jaw tight. “But Kas is dead…” Her eyes narrowed. “Who else is after me, Lore? I know it wasn’t only Kas. I don’t think he even blipped on your angelic radar until now.”

“Just know you are safe while with me.”

“Stop it, stop it! I hate this.” She thrust her fingers into her hair and encountered her bun. God! She stomped away from him to the balustrade and glowered at the swirling mist. It submerged her in its chilly embrace but did little to cool the spiking heat of arousal. The sheer isolation of the place just made her feel so very alone.

“I didn’t ask for any of this,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around her waist. “I didn’t ask to be the target of other beings. All I ever wanted was to find a little happiness and live my life on my own terms until I left this world, and even that is denied to me.”

“Is that why you seek your male friend as a mate?” His voice was so low that it took a moment for her chaotic mind to register what he said.

“What?” Nia wheeled around to find him where she left him, in front of the weathered, domed door. Another person she yearned for and had to let go.

“I saw you through the bar window with the human, Zayn,” he said.

“Zayn,” she murmured, remembering his teasing comment about happy kisses. Except, there would be none for her.

Maybe she should just say yes, that Zayn was her boyfriend, and put them both out of this misery.

“Don’t.” He was in front of her, cupping her face with both hands. “Don’t say it.”

“What?” She blinked up at him.

His beautiful hair slid forward since he’d lost his tie during the demon fight, and it framed his tense features. His otherworldly eyes were no longer cool and distant but dark with something she was too afraid to name.

“Zayn is a good man?—”

“Do not finish that sentence.”

“Why?” She grasped his wrists, pulling his palms away from her face. “Your job will be done here soon. My life will go on.”

He clasped her hands and pressed them to his chest before ushering her into the abbey and shutting them inside.

Nia stared wide-eyed as he propped himself against the shut door in the shadowed hallway and exhaled deeply.

“Lore, what is it?” Whatever was going on with him hauled her to a precipice.

“I can’t seem to fight this,” he whispered, gently brushing her jaw with the back of his knuckles. “No matter what I do, I cannot get you out of my head…”

He dragged her close, and his mouth settled on hers in a kiss so tender that her heart stuttered. Then it pounded so fast Nia clutched his shirt before her knees caved. Questions blazed through her mind.

She broke the kiss. “Lore, wait-wait?—”

“No.” His mouth came back on hers, stealing her thoughts.

The chaos in his head and the torment in his chest quieted as Nia kissed him back.

Heavens! He wanted no part of an emotion that twisted his gut and clawed at his chest, remembering the male, Zayn, touching her, his mouth on hers.

This…this feeling, whatever it was, would kill him.

With a low groan born of pure need, he slid his tongue into her mouth, desperately seeking hers.

She moaned, the sound heating his blood as she slipped her arms around his neck, her fingers tangling in his hair. He picked her up and braced her against the wooden door. Her legs hooked around his hips, her warm, feminine center rubbing against his rigid sex. Another jolt of arousal shot through him, and he grunted.

“Touch me,” she panted against his mouth.

I am holding you, was his first thought, then she grasped his hand and placed it on her breast.

He stopped breathing, his gaze pinned on the tempting fullness under his palm. The beaded tip pressed into his skin through her thin sweater. Drawn to her body like a compulsion, he carefully rolled the tantalizing nub with his thumb and index finger, and it hardened further.

With a soft whimper, she pulled off her black sweater and tossed it aside, revealing the bare expanse of her upper body and her lush honey-hued mounds covered by twin black scraps of silky fabric.

“I’m not the only one getting undressed.” She looked up at him from under her lashes.

And that smile of hers, morphing her eyes to gold, undid him. All Lore could do was stare as she unbuttoned his shirt. Then her warm palms slid over his chest, stirring him to beyond desperation for her.

Like a starving creature of the wilds led only by instinct, he pulled down the shiny fabric covering her chest and stared at her sensual form with the tan nubs. Her flesh was firm with silken smoothness, a temptation he couldn’t resist. He put his mouth on her and suckled on the stiff bud. His other hand grasped at her plump flesh, and he squeezed gently, plucking the tip.

“Lore…” a moan tore free, and she grabbed his hair, her eyes wide and feverish. Her cheeks flushed.

“I can’t believe how close I am,” she breathed. “And if you keep doing that with my nipples, this will end way too fast.” Her fingers tangled in his hair, and with a little pull of his hair, she brought his face up to hers again. Her mouth settled on his, and she sucked his tongue into her mouth.

A low rumble escaped at the pleasure surging through him.

She moved her hips, rubbing her feminine center against him, and his groin swelled. He tensed as he grew painfully hard. The need for something more, something to ease the pressure, took hold.

She tilted her head. “What is it?”

It still surprised him how in tune with him she could be at times.

He shook his head, not knowing how to explain this.

“It’s okay.” That smile he was starting to crave, edged with understanding, reflected in her pretty eyes. “Let me down.” She pushed at his chest.

She wanted it to end?

With a regret he’d never experienced before, he lowered her to her feet.

She stood in front of him, her breasts sporting reddened imprints of his fingers, her distended nipples still wet from his mouth. The urge to suck them again took hold, but she didn’t want?—

“May I?” she asked.

He had no idea what she was asking for, but he nodded, hoping it meant she would touch him again.

She moved around him, causing him to turn, and she pushed him against the door.

“Don’t look so tense.” A teasing smile touched her lips, swollen from his desperate kiss. “I’m not going to do anything you won’t like.” She trailed a fingertip down his abs, and his muscles tautened, his sex hard as a rock.

For the first time in his existence, he was close to begging. “Nia?—”

She undid his belt buckle, and he stilled. The sound of the sliding zipper echoed in the quiet, and her soft breaths crowded his ears, keeping him on edge. She slid her hand inside and wrapped her fingers around his throbbing shaft?—

By the dark stars! His eyes shut, unable to move, not even if demons attacked them. The sensation of touch on this part of his body was so foreign to him and so, so good. He craved more.

“Lore?” Her caressing slowed. “You okay?”

He opened his eyes, and they settled on the woman who was slowly eroding his thoughts, his sanity, and his body, atom by atom. The scraps of cloth that covered her breasts still framed them, revealing her rosy nipples. A vision of temptation.

“I can stop if you want?”

“No. Don’t…” he rasped, and she caressed his rigid length, watching him.

His gaze locked on her fingers wrapped around his heavy shaft, the head exuding wetness. Immersed in sensations so unfamiliar, impossibly pleasurable, he grunted, dead sure all the blood had settled in his groin.

She lowered to her knees before him, her thumb stroking the head and spreading precum over his sex. Her eyes on him, she slowly worked his erection with a firmer grip and easier slide.

A bolt of heat funneled down his shaft. She was driving him out of his mind.

Then, stunning him speechless, she gave the broad head a lick. He froze, the sensation of her warm tongue so alien and so utterly incredible, he didn’t dare breathe.

She ran her tongue along his sex from root to tip. Her lips closed over the head, warm and wet, and she took more of him into her mouth. Just watching her lips stretch around his throbbing shaft, the pressure built in his balls. His entire being tensed.

She grasped his thighs, taking him deeper with each swallow, and he swore he hit the back of her throat as she worked him. Then her hand wrapped around the root of his sex, the inches she couldn’t quite manage to get into her mouth. She sucked him harder and faster, following a rhythm that had his groin tensing.

With a growl, he grasped her hair, loosening some of the pins securing her bun, causing a few strands to fall free. He moved his hips, working his aching cock in and out of her mouth, careful not to choke her. A tightness built along his spine, and that conditioning that chained his control shuddered, cracks forming?—

She cupped his balls and squeezed gently.

Lore grunted. He couldn’t get oxygen into his lungs fast enough, not that he needed it?—

She moaned, the sound rumbling over his cock, the vibration fisting him like a vise.

A sensation so foreign barreled down his spine. His fingers gripped her hair as he shuttled in and out of her mouth, desperate for what awaited, that promise of pleasure unlike any other.

She tightened her lips, sucked him harder, a scrape of teeth?—

His world exploded.

Lore shut his eyes, his entire being spinning, propelling him out of his body, lost in unbelievable pleasure…

He slingshotted back to himself and to the woman who watched him with wide gold eyes, a woman who brought him to his knees…

Which was where he was.

On his knees. In front of her.

Breathing hard, he stared at her, her lips red, damp, and swollen.

A primal growl wrenched free from its trap in the deepest part of his soul. He kissed her tenderly, tasting himself. His arms banded around her, and he held her tight against him, his face buried in her neck.

My life will never be the same.