Page 42 of Bellamy

I recalled the warmth of Bellamy’s skin and the soft rasp of his voice as he moaned in my ear. Mostly, I recalled how, for that stretch of time with him in bed, I had felt whole for the first time in my life.

And now, I had possibly just set his death into motion.

***

Echo Bay was an unremarkable little seaside town. Dull and smelling too much of fish. The only excitement came when shades caused mischief at night. Why the Nephilim brothers protected the town so fiercely, I’d never know.

But protect it, they did.

I sat on the edge of a small cliff, looking at the harbor in the distance as the sea gently crashed against the rock below me. Thunder rumbled in the overcast sky, and there was an occasional flash of cloud-to-cloud lightning. No rain yet, but the smell of it hung thickly in the air.

“Why am I here?” I mumbled, tossing a pebble into the water.

Deep down, I knew the reason. Because I missed him. Well, technically, mysoulmissed him.

Two days had passed since I’d left Bellamy on the dock. Nights of me tossing and turning in bed thinking about him. Wondering if he’d visited Krave since his return and getting pissed at the thought of him fucking someone else.

He was mine.

But I couldn’t have him.

Irritated, I threw another pebble over the cliff. Something else troubled me too. Asa’s vision. With Lucifer’s sword, we would win the war. No matter how hard the brothers and their allies fought against us, they would lose in the end.

Bellamy would die.

Another streak of lightning flashed overhead. A drop of rain hit the rock beside me, darkening the spot. More dark spots followed as the patter of rain increased. I teleported from the cliff and reappeared under the canopy of trees in the forest behind it, shaking the water from my hair.

I felt it then, a fluttering in my stomach that rose to my chest, as if hundreds of tiny bats had all been released at once. The back of my neck tingled as a presence appeared behind me.

“Phoenix?”

His voice. Gods,his voice. It made me weak in the knees.

I turned to him. Bellamy’s wavy golden hair was damp, and his chest and abs were slick from the rain. He had a few scars, given to him by celestial blades, but it didn’t take away from his beauty. He was a warrior and definitely looked the part. Black wings with hints of royal blue feathers curved from his muscled back, jutting from those slits he loved for me to touch.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” I said, impressed by the steadiness of my voice. Every part of me screamed to be closer to him, to pull him against me and bury my face in the crease of his warm neck.

Bellamy drifted forward, eyes cautious. “Why are you here?”

“Funny enough, I just asked myself that same question.”

He stopped about two feet in front of me. Close enough for me to get a whiff of that bourbon-and-bergamot scent that had my heart skipping a beat and my cock twitching. Mainly the latter.

I needed to feel him again. Every delicious inch of him.

“Stop that,” Bellamy said.

“Stop what?”

“Your lustful thoughts. I can feel your desire. I can taste it.” His eyes remained hard—wary. But there was a quick swallow in his throat.

“You can taste it, huh?” My body heated. “And what do I taste like, Bellamy?”

“Regret mostly.”

I smirked. “Are you saying if you could do it over again, youwouldn’tpin me down in that bed and fuck me?”

“It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done.” His gaze trailed down my body before lifting again. “I thought you’d be hiding somewhere. Or dead.”