Page 10

We stumbled back through the portal into the warehouse, the air inside feeling cooler, cleaner, a stark contrast to the stifling darkness of the demon’s cave.

My breath came in shaky bursts, but it was from relief, not fear. For the first time in what felt like forever, my magic thrummed beneath my skin, stable, no longer threatening to tear me apart from the inside.

The others followed, filtering through the portal one by one. I turned to face them, letting the gratitude that had been building inside me spill over. “Thank you. All of you. I don’t think I’d be here without your help.”

Lacey, Abbey, and Aspen circled around me, as if performing an x-ray of my insides with their eyes. I held still, and everyone around us seemed to be just as tense.

Aspen nodded first. “I say it worked.”

“Me too,” Abbie agreed.

Instead of words, Lacey let out a sigh and pulled me into a tight hug, and Abbie patted my back before pulling away with a small smile.

“We’re just glad you’re all right, Ariella,” Lacey said softly. “And that this whole ordeal didn’t end in a disaster.”

Max nodded, his expression serious as ever, though I caught the hint of a smile at the corner of his lips. “Glad it all worked out.”

Everyone looked as relieved and elated as I did. Everyone except Jasmin, who leaned heavily on Rage’s arm.

“Are you okay?” I asked, suddenly worried.

She waved me off. “Just tired. That freak had one strong soul.”

“She needs to rest,” Rage said, sounding protective. “If I can get a portal, I would like to take her back to the underworld.”

“Of course,” Aspen said, opening a new portal for them.

Jasmin gave me a wink, her usual smirk softened by exhaustion. “Try not to get into too much trouble without me, Ariella.”

I laughed, the sound lighter than it had been in weeks. “No promises.”

She and Rage disappeared through the portal, and soon everyone else left too, until it was just Levi and me standing in the middle of the empty space.

The quiet settled over us, broken only by the distant hum of the city outside. Levi turned to me, his eyes gleaming in the dim light.

“Looks like you don’t need to be locked up in here anymore,” he said, his tone teasing but his expression soft. “How does it feel to be free again?”

I exhaled slowly, letting the tension drain from my shoulders. “It feels good. Really good.”

Levi’s lips twitched into a smile, and he reached for my hand. “Come on, sweetheart. I think you’ve had enough of this place.”

He led me to his office, where a magical door led to his apartment in a fancy neighborhood in Houston. We stepped through it and I glanced around, taking in the familiarity of the place.

It was an open space of concrete and metal, not very dissimilar to the warehouse, but it had Levi’s furniture, a very sleek kitchen, and most importantly: his heady scent filled the air.

Levi turned to me, his gaze intense, and something deeper than just relief flickered in his eyes. “Are you hungry, sweetheart?”

“Not really.”

He reached out, brushing a strand of hair away from my face. “Are you too tired?” he asked, his voice low, rough with emotion.

I tilted my head, pretending to think about it. “Too tired for what?”

His lips curved into a smirk, but his eyes burned with a heat that sent shivers racing down my spine. He stepped closer, his hands settling on my waist, his breath warm against my ear. “For this.”

Before I could respond, he pulled me against him, his mouth crashing into mine with a fierce hunger.

I melted into the kiss, my hands tangling in his hair as he backed me toward the bedroom.

Each touch, each press of his lips against mine, sent sparks of electricity through my veins—my magic dancing in time with my heartbeat, but for once, entirely under my control.

His strong arms moved from my face and down my sides before he gripped my waist, electricity coursing through me with each little touch.

I gasped as his hands firmly grasped behind my legs as he lifted me in the air. Instinctively, I wrapped my legs around his waist, letting him carry me toward the bedroom, never breaking our lips apart as his tongue continued to electrify mine.

My heart beat wildly as he set me down on the bed, our bodies still entwined as he hovered over me, his mouth trailing down my jaw and to my neck.

“Sweetheart,” he breathed as his fingers swept between us, his touch hot and burning into my skin even over my shirt. “Do you know just how beautiful you are? Your magic is flowing through you, making you glow so perfectly.”

I swallowed hard, opening my eyes slowly to meet his darkened ones. “Am I really glowing?”

I looked over his shoulder at my hand, expecting it to be shimmering in the soft lamp light. But it looked normal, just like it had before I got my magic back.

He laughed, his chest rumbling against mine. “No, sweetheart. It’s not something I can see, but feel.”

With his words, his hand trailed down my chest until it lay between my breasts, my heart beating wildly against his palm.

His eyes stayed on mine as his digits tiptoed down my stomach and then lay between us on my core, already heated even with my jeans between us.

He smirked, a look I’d known so well, and the only warning before he leaned back on his knees and quickly gripped my leg, tossing it over my body as he slid behind me, my back now pressed against his chest so I could feel the hard contours of him against me.

“Do you want to watch yourself glow, Sweetheart?” he whispered as his hands went back to my stomach, then dipped lower, pressing just against the waistband of my jeans.

I breathed hard, following his darkened gaze to the--by the bed, framing both of our flushed bodies.

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even speak, just let the pleasure flow through me as he slowly dipped his fingers, brushing the lace of my panties.

The magic already flowing in my veins now pulsed through my body, my heart beating wildly as I stared at our reflection.

I watched as he unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans, pulling them free so I sat in nothing but my panties, legs spread before the mirror.

His palm pressed against my center, giving just enough pressure that I let out a small gasp before he pulled away.

I whimpered at the loss of his touch, which elicited a chuckle as he trailed kisses down my shoulder.

“Relax, Sweetheart,” he murmured, his fingers slowly trailing my thighs before hovering just above my center.

My body heated. Frantic. It took everything I had not to push my hips forward and will his expert fingers to exactly where I wanted them.

He laughs again, his breath tickling the sensitive skin where my shoulder meets my neck. But that’s not the only sensation that has me breathing heavier as he pushes aside the lace of my panties, arousal already dripping from my center as he dips a finger inside of me.

My center throbs, begging for more as he moves slowly. Too slowly for my heated body.

I push my hips closer, causing him to stop his movements and laugh as he kisses my shoulder.

“Just enjoy the show, Ariella. Breathe,” he rasps, picking up the movement of his expert fingers, swirling inside of me.

I gasp, my thighs shaking as my eyes drift closed, ready to do nothing but let my orgasm take hold.

“Eyes on the mirror, Sweetheart,” he commands, his voice tight.

His hard length presses against my back, his voice ragged as he continues swirling his digits inside of mine as if he’s trying to hold his pleasure to release mine.

My eyes slowly slide open as I watch my body light up to his, pulsing as my orgasm finally takes over and I moan, calling out his name as my body shudders against his fingers.

“That’s it, Sweetheart,” he growls, rubbing me through my aftershocks.

I tilt my head back to his, taking his lips in mine as I kiss him again, this time even more frantically.

I need him more than I ever have, pulling him back to me as I quickly free him of his shirt, the rest of our clothes disappearing in a flurry between our desperate kisses.

As I lay down, watching as Levi positioned himself between my thighs, something new blossomed in my chest.

Something I had felt for so long, but was too afraid to say.

I knew how, every time he was near me, it was as if my heart beat faster and slower at the same time, and not just because he was inside of me.

It was everything about him—how he surrounded me with comfort and protected me. Treated me like the Goddess I was.

And as our bodies joined together, a burst of pleasure shot through me, stronger than my first orgasm, my body shaking against his.

He held me close, our breathing mixed as one as we moved together, frantic as if we needed more of each other.

I clung to him as if I never wanted the moment to end. I didn’t know where I began and he ended. I’d been so lost until he found me, and now I never wanted to let him go.

With each movement of my hips and breathy kisses, I tried to say what words couldn’t. How he kept the magic alive in me even when I didn’t think it was possible. How everything about him sparked something new in me.

When his eyes met mine, his breathing ragged, and I felt him pick up the pace against me, I knew he was close. That I wanted us to finish together.

He moved his hand between us, rubbing my sensitive area as I gasped, my whole body now on fire as I screamed out his name.

He shuddered soon after, before collapsing onto my chest.

We didn’t say anything, our breathing in sync as we lay with our bodies tangled together.

I wanted nothing more than to remember that moment forever or for as long as he’d have me.