Eve of Chaos (17 page)

I’m on my
way,
Alec told Hank.
But you better
make this quick.

As the elevator
doors closed, Izzie sidled up to him.

He arched a brow
in silent inquiry.

“You are
flushed,” she noted.

Yeah, he was
aroused. He felt Eve as if she were in his arms, pinned to a wall and writhing
against him. He felt her breast in his hand, tasted her flavor on his tongue,
smelled the scent of her heated skin. The sensations were so vivid and so
completely focused in his viewpoint that they felt like a wet dream.

A slow smile
curved Izzie’s painted mouth. “You are either very angry, or very horny.”

Alec leaned back
against the handrail and crossed his arms. “Neither of those things concern
you.”

“Once, they
did.” She stepped closer. “In Münster, only a few years ago.”

Arrested by
surprise, he barely registered the delighted, semimaniacal laughter echoing
through him. Sweat dotted his brow and nape. The feel of Eve’s nipple rolling
between his fingertips was so real he was slow to process what Izzie was
saying.

Then the memories
came rushing back, bringing with them an acrid taste in his mouth.

It had been only
hours before dawn. The stinking blood of an Infernal coated his hands and
pictures of hundreds of exploited children filled his mind.
How long had the
Ho ‘ok demon been running the child porn ring? How many kids had suffered? Why
had the seraphim waited so long to end it?
Disgusted, disheartened, and
raging with bloodlust, he wandered the streets of Münster until a blonde whore
with spikes at her throat and wrists stepped out of a shadowy doorway in front
of him.

“Wollen Sie
einen Begleiter?”
she’d asked,
licking her lower lip.
Do you want company?

He’d pushed her
back into the alcove, lifted her miniskirt, and fucked her until the thirst to
kill had faded to a distant ache. Then he’d shoved a handful of euros her way
and left her—and the memory— behind.

Take her

Alec stood
frozen as the darkness surged up within him, curling around the lust inspired
by Eve and hardening the entire length of his body. The elevator doors opened
on Hank’s floor, but he remained rooted in place. The raucous arguments of the
many Infernals in the waiting room intruded into the once quiet space. Then the
doors closed again, leaving him and Izzie alone with his inner demons and an
instrumental rendition of “Copacabana” drifting out of the speakers.

He felt the
phantom sensation of Eve arching against him the same moment Izzie’s hand
cupped his erection.

“Is this for
me?” she purred, stroking him.

Fuck her

The gritting of
his teeth was audible. “No.”

She shrugged and
reached for the fly of his jeans with her other hand. “I will only borrow it,
then.”

As the first
button popped free, the elevator began to ascend.

Forget Eve.
She wants your brother She’s denied you for him.

Alec caught
Izzie’s wrist, staying her hand. Her gaze lifted. For a moment he saw
almond-shaped eyes of soft brown. Then he blinked and stared into eyes of cool
Nordic blue.

“You don’t want
what I’m ready to dish out,” he warned.

“I do. I have
for months.”

Want you,
Eve’s voice whispered. He shifted to his office.

But it was the
beast in him that pinned Izzie to the wall.

Reed tossed Eve
to the bed. She bounced with a soft cry of surprise, then reached for the fly
of her jeans. Her limbs were lithe and perfect, the lines of her body slender
yet generously curved.

Temptress,
he’d once called her. And she was. A trickle of sweat
coursed down his spine.

“Hurry,” she
urged, kicking free of her pants. A sexy-as-hell black lace thong was wriggled
off next.

He remembered
the one time he’d had her. Sent to mark her, he’d expected to merely toy with
the woman his brother had spent a decade pining for. Then he’d passed her in
the Gadara Tower atrium and found himself wanting her regardless of Cain.

Her gaze had
followed him, filled with such hunger he felt it lick across his skin. That
look had made him so eager to fuck her, he’d ripped the clothes from her body.
Hurry,
he had growled. The encounter had been over almost as soon as it began, yet
it haunted him to this day.

Shifting out of
his clothes, he left them puddled on the floor. He loomed over her. Eve paused
in the act of pulling up her shirt, staring at his body with a mixture of awe
and desire that swelled his dick further. She licked her lower lip and he groaned,
fisting himself to buy a little time.

Did she see Cain
in him? He almost probed her thoughts to find out, but resisted the urge. How
she viewed him now wouldn’t be the way she viewed him when he was done with
her.

Eve reclined,
half dressed, her pupils dilated from the Novium. She’d been scorching hot as a
mortal. How much more intense would it be with her mark- enhanced body?

Reed’s lips
twitched, incapable of a true smile with his mouth so dry. She was impatient to
have him, to the point that she couldn’t be bothered to finish undressing.

“I won’t fuck
you until you’re naked,” he warned.

With two hands,
she caught the rounded collar of her pretty pink shirt and ripped it straight
down the middle.

That single act hit
him straight in the gut. His breath hissed out between clenched teeth. He
cupped her knees and widened the spread of her legs, wanting to see what he’d
coveted for the last few months. She trembled under his gaze, her lower lip
caught nervously between her teeth as if fearing he would find fault with her.

He wished he
could.

“Slide back,” he
said roughly, following her retreat with one knee on the mattress, then the
other. He pursued her across the California king until she reached the
headboard and had nowhere left to go.

“Reed.” Her
breathless voice dragged his gaze up to meet hers. “Don’t wait.”

She was panting,
and he hadn’t even begun. Pressing his lips to her thigh, he hummed in
chastisement. “Relax. This is going to take awhile.

“I have people
here!”

He licked at the
back of her knee. She shivered. “I wouldn’t care if all the archangels were
here. I’m going to get my fill.”

Hurry up,
damn you.
She sounded winded in his
thoughts, which told him how hot for it she was. Hot for him.

He pushed his
hands beneath her buttocks.
I’m going to do everything to you. Everything.
As
he lifted her to his mouth, her back bowed.
I’m going to push so deep into
you that you’ll miss me when I’m not there.

Her legs fell
open, offering herself to him. His first lick was slow and soft. Deliberately
teasing. She was slick and burning with need, writhing within his grasp.

She keened
softly as he pierced her hard and fast.
Don’t stop..
.
don’t stop...

A quick flutter
over her, then he stiffened his tongue and worked the tiny bundle of nerves at
the apex, relishing her throaty pleas for more.
Don’t stop...

He groaned and
ground his hips into the mattress, knowing that he had to get her off now,
fearing that he was too far gone to be able to bring her to orgasm later. He
was spurred by the knowledge that this was Eve, the woman he wanted for reasons
unrelated to sex. Now she was right where he wanted her—spread and willing,
mewling with helpless pleasure. They were in the moment together, connected
body and mind. He hadn’t known he was alone—an angel who stood apart—until he
wasn’t alone any longer.

Reed grew more
fervent, fueled by gratitude and an odd..
.
joy. Afraid to be too rough with her, he siphoned the surfeit of lust
through Eve and out to
Cain, where it could be disbursed to the others in the firm. The tactic bought
him some control, allowing him to be gentle with her as he hadn’t been before.

Eve climaxed
with her hands fisted in her comforter, her thighs shaking, the tender pink
flesh beneath his lips spasming with a greed that might equal his own.

He rose to his
knees, grasping her legs when they threatened to fall to the bed. He wiped his
wet mouth against a perfect calf and the feel of her skin stirred the need he’d
denied for months. Denied for her.

“My turn,” he
bit out, shifting both of her legs to one shoulder and taking himself in hand.

Pliant and
drowsy-eyed, she touched his thigh with gentle fingers. He froze, wondering if
she’d changed her mind now that the Novium was appeased, and whether he could
stop if she had.

The look on
Reed’s face made Eve’s eyes sting with unshed tears. The hand gripping her
ankles was flexing convulsively and his throat worked as if he wanted to speak,
but couldn’t.

“I want you,”
she whispered.
Inside me..
.
with me.

Take me,
then.
He lunged forward with a snarl.

Her resultant
cry was both pained and pleasured. She had forgotten how he felt inside her, so
thick and long, nearly too much. Before she could catch her breath, he launched
into a pounding rhythm, surging into her with a force that shoved her into the
headboard. Placing her hands above her head, she pushed back when he pumped,
shoving him so deep it ached in just the way she needed.

Today, she was
as greedy for him as he’d always been for her. He was raw, without artifice,
with none of the steely control Alec usually displayed. Reed climaxed
immediately and unabashedly—his head thrown back, his neck taut, his abdomen
rippling with working muscles. He roared as he came, his wings bursting free in
an explosion of white, his thighs straining as he took his pleasure in her
willing body.

Eventually he
slowed, his chest heaving. He spread her legs, wrapping them around his hips
and settling over her. His mouth moved over her face, kissing her, his gusting
breaths a separate caress over her damp skin. One arm slid beneath her
shoulder, anchoring her. The other hand cupped her breast, kneading. Beneath
her calves, she felt his steely buttocks clench and release as he propelled
himself into her. Slow, steady, and deep.

Reed—the
ferocious one, a man known for his penchant for rough sex—was making love to
her. The relief and.
.
.
joy
of being connected to someone brought tears to her
eyes, but she blinked them back.

“Mmm.
. .“
He purred like a contented panther. A drop of sweat
dripped from his brow to her cheek and he licked it away, then nuzzled against
her. “That was worth waiting for.”

His luxuriant,
leisurely thrusts made her moan and arch upward. “Reed,” she gasped, shivering
into a violent orgasm beneath him.

His smile held a
hint of male triumph. His eyes were dark and intent, his biceps flexing as he
rolled her nipple between talented fingertips. Against the backdrop of white
feathers, Reed’s skin was golden, glistening with a fine sheen of perspiration
that told her just how aroused she’d made him.

He pressed his
lips to hers and whispered, “Now we can get started.”

***

Alec stood
before the wall of windows in his office and ran an agitated hand through his sweat-soaked
hair. The air smelled of sex and fury, as did his skin. His shirt was torn and
wet. He yanked it over his head and tossed it aside, then shoved down the boxer
briefs he’d lowered only enough to free his erection.

His stomach
roiled and he found himself wishing he could vomit. He felt violated, as if
he’d raped his own body.

Want you
inside me.
.
.
with me.
Eve’s breathless voice combined with the dark ones in
his head to goad him into an act he regretted more than the first time he’d
killed his brother.

He could barely
stomach looking at the woman sprawled on the floor behind him, knowing he’d
betrayed Eve with her. Izzie had started out by goading him, spurring his lust
and anger, relishing his single- minded focus on rutting. She might have
thought it similar to the way he’d been with her before.

That changed as
the darkness overtook him. He’d merely been the vessel used to carry out the
act and at some point, she realized that. Surprise had hit her first, then
fear, followed by anger. In the end, the pleasure overwhelmed the rest, but
Alec doubted she would seek him out for sex again. He prayed to God that he
would be able to resist her if she did.

I have to
gain control of whatever the ascension awakened in me.

Naked, he moved
to where Izzie lay sleeping and bent to pick her up. She whimpered and rolled
away from him, exhausted by the demands made on her body. He had the strength
of an archangel and the needs of a multitude of voices in his head. For all
intents and purposes, she’d been fucked by a dozen insatiable appetites. Her
clothes were in tatters, her eye makeup and lipstick smeared.