Page 41 of Angel Betrayed

He lunged forward, knowing the move would look like a blur to her eyes. A handy Fallen side effect—near super speed. Not that it made up for having his wings burned away as he plummeted, but it was something fun.

Sam caught her arm and pulled her close. Tension held her body taut. More fear. He hated fear in a woman’s eyes. “I didn’t fall yesterday.” No, he’d fallen so many centuries before. He brought his face close to hers. “I’ve learned how to control myself.” His lips were inches from hers.

The Fall had been brutal. He’d woken, naked, broken. and with his mind torn open. It had taken weeks for him to remember who—what—he was.

No control. Not then. At first, he’d been like a wounded animal. More than ready to turn on anyone or anything who came too close.

But he’d learned to focus his powers. Slowly, painfully. “I can bring death with my touch.” His lips brushed over hers. She didn’t flinch. He took that as a sign of progress. “Or I can bring pleasure.” It was all a matter of what he wanted.

With her, he wanted pleasure.

“Still scared of me, Seline?” he asked, even as his fingers sank into her hair. He tipped her head back.

“Yes.” He knew she spoke the stark truth. He could see it reflected in her eyes. “How do I know that you won’t turn on me?” She licked her lips, and he wanted that tongue licking him

But she’d posed an interesting question. “And how do I know that the next time we fuck, you won’t try to kill me?” Because there would be a next time. He’d found something he wanted, and he wasn’t planning to let her get away.

He caught the faint flash of black in her eyes. Yes, he was rubbing his body against hers, letting his fingers play with the sensitive spot he’d found on the back of her neck. A succubus’s strength was her passion, but that passion could be used against her.

If her lover knew what he was doing.

I know, sweetheart. He wasn’t above manipulation.

“You need to trust me,” he said.

She exhaled on a soft breath. “And you’ll trust me?”

Not yet. Maybe one day. “Rogziel will come after you,” Sam stated flatly, and he didn’t let her go. “Do you think you’ll be strong enough to stop him?”

“Will you?” she fired right back.

The calculation in her eyes reached him, and gave Sam a moment’s pause. Well, well. “Is that what you wanted from the beginning?” When she’d been so eager to serve up his brother and abandon her allegiance to Rogziel?

“I want my freedom. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

But in that moment, he held her trapped against him.

“I’ve always known that Rogziel would never just let me walk away.” Her lips twisted into a humorless smile. “He thinks I’m too dangerous to be loose.”

Her curves pressed against him. Her plump lips tempted him. So he said, with certainty, “You are.”

Seline gave a hard shake of her head. “No. When it comes to the power scale, I’m nothing like you.”

His little succubus didn’t understand. There were all kinds of power in this world. Some were subtle, but still damn dangerous.

“When you’re free of Rogziel,” and she’d only be free when that angel was dead, “what are you going to do?”

“Disappear,” she answered with soft longing. “I’ll leave this city. Go somewhere with a white sand beach and crystal blue water. I won’t think about death or monsters…or anything, but life.”

She didn’t get it. When you were an Other, you didn’t get to close your eyes and pretend that the monsters weren’t real. Not when the humans in the world thought you were the monster. But he didn’t shatter her little dream, not yet.

He needed her. If he told her the dream was bullshit, Seline might tell him to fuck off. “Do you still want our deal to work?”

Her gaze held his. Not black now, but that false brown stare of hers that could look so warm and trusting. “Yes.”

“Then you stay with me.” Because he’d been telling her the truth. Rogziel would come for her, sooner or later. “I get Az, then I’ll make sure you get your freedom from Rogziel.”

He could see the hope light her face. Demons had hope? Yes, they did. Sometimes they had more hope than angels.

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