Page 67 of Grave Revelations (Prophecies of Angels and Demons #3)

Chapter 66

Rebecca

Rebecca reached the bottom of her long staircase and spun in a circle. As soon as she found him, she would give him a piece of her mind.

“Az.”

Silence. Even his thoughts had been suspiciously absent. Since the power-share which had awakened her seraph side, she’d heard most of what he was thinking, even if it was a far calmer monologue than her own frazzled mind.

Tonight, though, she heard nothing. Was he blocking her somehow, or was he simply not thinking?

The smell of cheese assaulted her nostrils, and she swung toward it, following her nose into the kitchen. She halted in the doorway, mouth falling slack.

Azazel’s back was to her, a string tied in a bow peeking between a pair of massive ebony wings, and he held a large wooden spoon in one hand.

“Az?”

He turned, holding a bowl filled with mac-n-cheese out to her. “I made you something to eat.”

She accepted the bowl, staring down at small pasta shells drenched in creamy, melted cheese. “You know how to cook?”

“I can read instructions. ”

His brows were dark slashes, daring her to contradict him, and Rebecca swallowed her smile. She was upset. She would not let his show of kindness derail her mission.

Moving to the counter, she opened a drawer and pulled out a spoon, pointing it at him.

“I need to talk to you,” she demanded.

He arched a brow. “Eat first.”

Rebecca huffed, stuffing her spoon into her bowl and setting it down on the tabletop. “No. First, answers.”

“You are not looking for complications in your life. I heard your thoughts,” Azazel said. “There is nothing to discuss. I’ve already said we cannot be together.”

She glowered at him, leaning against the counter. “So you keep saying, but then you do things like this for me.” She waved a hand at the bowl beside her.

“Humans cook food for one another all the time. It does not make them lovers.”

Heat crept up Rebecca’s neck. “I wasn’t talking about being lovers. Necessarily.” She cleared her throat. “I only mean, if we’re supposed to be soulmates, and you’ve vowed never to leave my side, I would appreciate it if you would stop reminding me you don’t want us… to be anything.”

Her cheeks burned. It hadn’t been what she intended to say, but the lovers comment had thrown her.

Azazel’s apron disappeared, leaving him standing in a dark V-necked shirt and jeans. He moved closer, and she leaned forward, unable to stop herself from the pull of their bond. He rested an arm on either side of her, pressing her back against the counter, and their eyes met.

“If you wish it, I will never say another word on the subject.”

She swallowed, leaning back to look up at him. “I… Just don’t say things you don’t mean.”

Light, my love for you is boundless. When I was at my darkest, you brought me the one thing I could never have imagined I’d find in my endless eternity of darkness: hope. I didn’t deserve it then, and I don’t deserve it now, but please, never doubt my feelings for you .

Rebecca sucked in sharply, realizing she’d been holding her breath. She couldn’t look away from his gaze, burning so intently she knew it would be etched into her soul forever. Her heart thrashed wildly in her chest, and that ember inside her was aching to be near him, to close the distance and press every part of her to every part of him until there was no end or beginning to either of them.

The tug between them grew more insistent, and she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his neck as her lips crashed against his.

He met her, tucking powerful arms under her thighs and lifting her onto the counter. He sucked her lower lip into his mouth, biting down until she tasted coppery blood.

She gasped as he drank in the liquid pooling in her mouth and, finding his top lip, bit down hard. His blood tasted sweet, like apples, and she ran her tongue over the indentation, tasting it as energy bled through her.

When his fingers flexed, squeezing her thighs, a pounding need started between her legs. She groaned as images flashed through her mind, and he pressed into her, wedging her into the cupboards behind her.

“Stop,” she breathed around his mouth.

His lips vanished, and the heated skin along her legs chilled at the absence of his touch. Some of her lust-filled mind cleared as the scent and taste of him receded.

Maybe we should move to the bedroom? Rebecca opened her eyes and searched his face.

He backed up another step, running a hand over his face, putting more space between them. That was a bad idea.

“Don’t do that,” she huffed. Don’t retreat after telling me I’m your entire world . She tried to bury the feelings of hurt and rejection simmering just under the surface, knowing this was his trauma, not hers. But they were too close to the ones she’d had all those years ago when her father and sisters had made her feel like she was worthless and unlovable.

Azazel’s face changed, hearing her thoughts, and he leaned forward, scooping her up in his arms.

You are everything to me .

He carried her up the stairs, running a hand through her hair as he brushed curls back from her face, never taking his eyes from hers. At that moment, Rebecca felt as though someone finally saw her.

In the doorway to the bedroom, his mouth found hers again, his tongue stroking hers as if he wanted to devour her, taste every bit of her.

She landed on her bed moments before he came down on top of her, biting and sucking her lips again. Pain zinged through her, followed by a bolt of lightning shooting all the way to her toes.

Azazel’s weight pressed into her, pushing her down into the blankets, and she moaned around his mouth, feeling him harden against her stomach. Everywhere he touched her, the skin beneath burned, and she wanted nothing more than to be rid of the clothing separating them and feel every inch of his bare flesh pressed against hers.

If my light wishes it.

Azazel’s words rumbled through her very core; a moment later, his weight lifted as he pulled away, and a yawning chasm grew between their joined souls as he put space between them.

Rebecca stared into his shocking blue eyes, and the heat in his gaze set her on fire anew.

Stretching a hand toward her, his fingers elongated into sharp claws and sliced down her front, tearing her clothes free in one stroke and ripping the remaining bits aside. His clothes were already gone, vanished with only a thought.

Then his mouth found her neck. Sharp claws raked down her sides, leaving a stinging pinch behind as he gripped her tightly, his lips trailing further south.

Rebecca’s heart was a hummingbird trapped in her chest, ready to burst. “Az, wait.”

His lips lifted, leaving an aching absence in their wake. She tilted her head, looking down at him.

“I just want to be sure…”

He slid back up her body, letting the stubble along his chin scrape across her over-sensitized skin until they were eye to eye.

“I’ll never leave you,” he said. “I am yours for eternity. ”

She nodded, swallowing around a lump forming in her throat, and blinked back tears.

Azazel leaned down, kissing the wetness as it gathered along her lashes, preparing to trail down the side of her face.

The unspeakable kindness in that one gesture mended some inexplicable wound she’d patched dozens of times but had never fully healed.

He slid a hand under her head, lifting her until she was sitting, and wrapped both arms around her, squeezing her to him. His thoughts flooded into her: Rebecca wasn’t some broken creature to him, but something precious; another fissure in her heart sealed closed.

After a moment, or perhaps a lifetime, she turned her head, finding the crook of his neck, and nuzzled her nose against it, pressing a kiss to his swirling skin. Something like a pulse pounded there, beating in time with her heart.

Rebecca pulled back, looking into his eyes again. Is your heart in sync with mine?

He smiled, brushing a curl back from her face. No, Light. It’s our soul singing in unison.

She touched the pad of her finger to his neck. It was magic, thrumming beneath the surface of this ethereal creature. She didn’t care what he thought of himself. He was exquisite.

Azazel’s arms tightened around her waist, and she met his eyes again, leaning forward to press a kiss to his lips. They were red, and some twisted part of her reveled in the wetness pooling between her thighs as she watched him lift a finger to his mouth, wiping the blood and licking it clean.

What was wrong with her?

There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re perfect.

The words were nearly a mirror of her thoughts of him, and it sent another jolt of arousal through her. She closed the distance between them once more, sucking his lip into her mouth, and bit down hard, letting golden liquid slide over her tongue.

The life-giving blood streaming down her throat was a shot of adrenaline, and she lifted, twining her arms around his neck, sliding into his lap .

I need you.

Azazel wrapped one hand in her dark curls, fisting them tightly, and pulled her head back, exposing her throat. His lips found her skin, burning a path down her sensitive, overheated flesh until he settled his mouth between her breasts, pressing his lips to the place where their soul rested inside her.

She groaned as it flared to life, demanding more, demanding everything .

Raising her hips, Rebecca positioned herself over his hard length and slid down slowly, nearly crying out as he filled her.

His hand tightened in her curls as his muscles tensed, and she rose again, painfully slowly, before letting her hips drop quicker this time.

“Light,” he breathed. His grip loosened on her hair as his claws found her hips, digging sharp points into her skin as he took control, moving her faster.

The intoxicating mix of pleasure and pain made Rebecca’s body tremble until she thought she would burst.

She tipped forward, pressing wet lips to his blood-slicked ones. Their blood mingling, a swapping of their very essence, coupled with their bodies joined in the act of lovemaking, was a dangerous combination, threatening to send her over the edge before she’d ever explored the limits of her body in Nephilim form.

Let go, Light.

She did. Every emotion tore through her as she moved, and her body shook, convulsing as she screamed his name. In that moment, she shattered, breaking into a million pieces, and slowly, their joined bodies and souls pieced her back together again.

Azazel released her hips, claws retracting, and he cupped her face in his hands, pressing a soft kiss to her mouth. Dark wings curled around her, cocooning them from the world as he brushed another chaste kiss to her swollen lips.

They stayed like that for a while, breathing each other in, stealing a few precious moments from the world.