Page 11 of Consorting With The Enemy

His beauty left me breathless…and speechless. My wings fluttered furiously. Shit, that was fucking embarrassing, especially when I saw the corners of his mouth lift up to form a sexy smile.

“Were you trying to cause some mayhem back there, little demon?” He asked.

I couldn’t answer. My eyes were focused on his lips. Finally, I found my tongue. “I might have been going to have a bit of fun at someone else’s expense. No harm in that. It’s what us demons do.”

“Hmmm…do you know what it is that us angels do?”

“You try to ruin fun?”

He laughed and walked around me, eyeing me up and down with each step. “That isn’t exactly true, young one. I think you were simply trying to indulge in the wrong kind of debauchery. Why under the heavens, would you want to waste your time and energy on a man like Pontifex? Whether the mortal manages to copy the texts properly or doesn’t won’t affect the future of religion. It’s foolish if your Dark Lord believes something so trivial.”

I shrugged, silently agreeing with him but refusing to acknowledge it aloud. Unfortunately the tunic I’d slipped on before joining the mortals in Rome was ripped in the back and the lose fabric in the front was doing absolutely nothing to hide my arousal. I glanced down to see the front tented quite indecently. “Perhaps. Perhaps not.” I acknowledged. “Why bring me here, angel? Don’t tell me you believe you possess the power to destroy me?” My eyes narrowed. “It would be a deadly mistake on your behalf.”

He laughed even louder this time. The gray eyes that had entranced me so earlier, twinkled and danced with a mischievousness one usually didn’t encounter with any heavenly creature. I craved to see more of it. Hell, I craved everything this angel had. Needing to know, I asked, “What do they call you?”

“Azazel.”

“I’m Ariel,” I answered. Azazel. I would call him Az.

“I don’t care what your name is,” he answered, knocking me down a peg. “And I didn’t bring you here to fight either.”

I glanced around, expecting some sort of ambush. If anyone truly knew who I was, an abduction might entice someone to attempt something foolish. We were alone, though. “Why I am here then?” I paused and added, “And again, my name is Ariel. You will care before you leave the pits tonight. You’ll never be able to forget me.”

“Doubtful,” he responded arrogantly. “You are a pretty one, little demon. Remove the remainder of your tunic. I feel the urge to see if all of you is as perfect as the parts I can see.”

Compliment. I liked those. Getting naked in front of strangers. Never bothered me. Being naked in front of this angel…it made me nervous. Not scared nervous, but fluttering butterflies in my stomach nervous. “Why in all things unholy would I do such a thing for you?”

“Because while I don’t intend to fight you, I am going to fuck you.”

I nearly swallowed my tongue. “But…but angels and demons don’t fuck.” There were many other responses that I could have given—like I didn’t let anyone fuck me or how presumptuous it was for him to believe I’d submit to him.

“They do now. Tunic off. Don’t make me tell you again, little demon.”

And, just like that, my tunic hit the ground. My hands and knees quickly followed.

I’d fallen in love with him that night…and he had remembered my name. For so many damn years, though not enough, he’d known the demon called Ariel. I’d finally belonged to someone. I’d never been to heaven, but felt certain it couldn’t be better than how Az had made me feel during those early years.

There’d been many rendezvous between us after that first night. Azazel had never felt for me the way I did him, but if sex was all he was willing to offer, then sex was what we’d have. He’d been playfully rough and wicked before Marchand…before my father had demanded that I capture the hybrid and bring him to the underworld.

One second I was reminiscing about Az and in the next, I felt the presence of a group of demons standing behind me. Tantrum had been much faster dispatching this group—he must know of my injury. I lifted my nose to the air. The others were right. Demons did stink.

“Turn around and face us, traitor.” Andromalius yelled.

Perfect. Andromalius and his pet serpent. I hated snakes…and Andromalius. Slowly, I turned around to face them. Eyeing the number of demons standing behind him, I determined that Tantrum expected this to be his final stand against me. Lucky number thirteen in all.

I plastered a fake smile on my lips, and said, “But you’re ugly. Looking at you hurts me.”

He and his pet snake hissed. “You know what else is hurt, baby demon? I think it’s your wing.” He laughed. “It looks a bit…wobbly.” He stepped closer. “You don’t happen to have a broken wing, do you? That would be…well, that would be too bad. For you.”

Refusing to back down, even in the face of destruction, I goaded, “Sure do. But, then again, you knew that, didn’t you? That’s the only reason you’re here now. You were afraid to face me before. Did you know what my father used to call you, Andromalius? A coward. He told me you were always ‘late’ to a fight, and it looks like he was honest about at least one thing in his miserable existence.” I stepped toward him. “Here you are, ready to fight me when you know I’m injured.” His serpent whipped out and latched onto my neck, sinking sharp fangs in as deep as they could go. Pain swept through me, but I kept a blank face as I reached up and yanked the serpent away. “Even making your pets fight for you. It’s a pity, really. You’re giving the underworld a bad name.”

Andromalius’ eyes turned an even darker shade of black as fury ripped through him. Instead of fighting me, though, he motioned to the demons at his right and left. “Tantrumonious doesn’t want him back in the underworld. You’re free to destroy him in this realm.” He spat at me. “It’s where you’ve always wanted to be anyway—this disgusting realm known as earth. Now you can die here.”

“Very thoughtful of you,” I answered dryly as I moved my body into a position that would offer my right wing the greatest advantage. “Always thinking of someone besides yourself, right?” Looking at Frick and Frack, I said, “And look at you two—ready to sacrifice your eternal existence just to keep Andromalius safe. I assure you, he wouldn’t offer you the same gesture.”

The two demons eyed one another and then looked to Andromalius, but I knew I was wasting my time. If they betrayed him, they’d die anyway. Taking their chances against me was their best shot—and a pretty damn good one. “Unlike you, traitor, we serve the underworld. When we are given theopportunityto destroy an enemy, we consider it an honor.”

That was total bullshit. I knew it, they knew it, and Andromalius knew it. The fools were simply arrogant enough to think that just because one wing was broken, I was helpless in battle. They were mistaken. I spun around and used my right wing to slice the demon closest to me in half and thrust my hand into the chest of the other, ripping his heart out. Barely five seconds had passed, and the two demons were destroyed. I took a casual stance, just to mock Andromalius, and said, “Well, that went incredibly well, don’t you think?”

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