Page 74 of All's Hell That Ends Well

He raised a brow. “That’swhy I’m your favorite? And here I thought it was a question of size.”

“Well, you’re not wrong,” I said with a considering look.

He smirked.

“I mean, your wings sure are impressive.”

He growled and pretended to snap at me.

I evaded him with a giggle. “Did you get my phone?”

In answer, he simply summoned it with a flick of his hand.

“Neat little archdemon trick,” I murmured as I took it from him, seeing that it was fully charged. “Thank you.”

“You want to look at pictures of your mom?” he asked quietly, his empathy flowing down the bond between us.

“Yeah.” I stroked my thumb over the display, a wave of sadness washing over me at the thought of never seeing my mother again. “Among other things.”

He regarded me for a few seconds, then he simply scooped me up and sat down on the chair, settling me sideways on his lap.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get to see her one last time,” he murmured, running his fingers through my hair. “You should have had that moment with her.”

I nodded wordlessly, because I had no new words to put to the ache in my heart.

He petted me in soothing caresses, the warmth of his hand on my head and the flow of his energy over my skin like a kiss ofcomfort. I relaxed as I only ever did with him, all tension fleeing my body, my mind and soul sighing with the knowledge that, in his arms, I was in the safest place in all the realms.

“I cannot tell you,” he quietly said into the affectionate silence, “how much it means to me to have you back again.” The surge of deep, overwhelming emotions echoing over from him underscored his words. “I have missed everything about you. Your smile, your humor, the way your eyes sparkle when you joke, how you speak before you think?—”

“Oy,” I protested, but the word held no heat. I didn’t even bother to raise my head from where it lay tucked into the curve of his neck and shoulder.

“It’s most entertaining.” I could hear the grin in his voice. “I never know what will come out of your mouth next.” He angled his head so his nose pressed into my hair, and he inhaled deeply. “And I never knew how much I needed your quick wit and dorky humor until you were gone, and from one day to the next, my life lost all color.”

“Azazel,” I whispered, lances of pain stinging my heart.

“I had you for a year,” he continued, the bass of his voice sending delicious vibrations through me, “and back then, I’d thought I knew how lucky I’d gotten.” He shook his head slightly, his stubble catching on my hair. “I only realized the full extent of it when I lost you. To go from living a life without purpose, without love, to having it all, only for it to be snatched away again…” His arms tightened around me. “I don’t want a life without you in it.”

I raised my head then, looking at him through the blur of tears, and laid my hand on his cheek. “You have me now. And you’ll have me forever. No matter what happens, we’ll be together. And should something pull us apart, I’ll always come back to you. I’ll fight my way back if I have to.” My smile waswobbly. “I have the power and know-how to kick some serious ass now.”

One corner of his mouth tilted up, his eyes glowing. “I remember the days when you used to be a worrier, not a warrior.”

I huffed a laugh. “To be fair, the former still applies. But in addition to battling my anxiety, I have acquired a taste for some well-targeted violence.”

His expression turned appreciative. “That fierce side of you is incredibly sexy, you know.”

I uttered a soft snort.

“I mean it,” he said. “That moment in Heaven, when you killed that demon in a surge of rage-filled bloodlust and thirst for vengeance…” He hummed back in his throat, and I recognized the sound as one he often made just before he devoured me.

I squirmed on his lap, a pulse of arousal throbbing between my thighs. “You can’t be serious.”

“Deathly so.” His hand stroked up the inside of my thigh, the touch sending out tantalizing waves of sensation even through the material of my pants. “You know I never joke when it comes to blood and violence.”

His hand inched higher, and I gasped as his fingers grazed my crotch. Heat flamed out from where he cupped me, and it took me a moment to realize it wasn’t just his energy and the flare of arousal I felt—he’d burned away part of my pants. Exactly enough for his fingers to slide over my already slick flesh.

I jolted, my hands grabbing his shoulders. My body caught on before my mind did, my hips rolling, pressing me into his touch. It felt so deliciously indecent with me still wearing my pants, the material covering everything except my crotch. With a growl of approval, he grasped the nape of my neck andconquered my mouth in a bruising kiss, all while his fingers deftly worked me up into a frenzy.

Sharply building arousal pinged back and forth between us, and soon I didn’t even know how much of the need wrecking my body came from me as opposed to from him. All I knew was that I neared the peak, and I wanted to reach it with him inside me.

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