Page 7 of Consorting With The Enemy

My beaten body roared back to life. My broken wing snapped back into place. One minute my back was against the tree and the next his back had taken my place. This time, my body, just as aroused as his, pushed against him. My lips and tongue plundered his mouth—never asking permission but taking what they thought belonged to them. I held him in place by wrapping my hand around his throat. Squeezed just the right amount…just the way I knew he liked it.

He moaned.

I growled.

Some idiot shouted, “What the fuck is going on here?”

I slowly turned to face the intruders, putting my body between them and Ariel. Nic, Thibeau, Gabriel, Marchand, Julian, and Valen all stood there. Their faces were painted with different emotions. Nic, looked angry. Gabriel seemed shocked. Marchand looked smug. Thibeau, Julian, and Valen looked confused. Hell, evenIwas confused.

Nic stepped forward. “We sent you here to kill him, not kiss him, Azazel,” he growled. “There was a plan and this, for damn sure, wasn’t in it.”

I wondered if Nic and I would always butt heads. Probably. We were each protecting the ones we loved. Julian would undoubtedly be putting in his two cents worth if all his attention was directed toward ensuring there weren’t any of threats to Marchand lurking in the bayou.

“Technically, you fucked up the plan, Gaudet. You and your witches didn’t set a demon trap strong enough to hold him. That failed before I kissed instead of killed.” There was absolutely no reason any of them needed to know about last night.

“Impossible.” Nic countered. He looked back at the shack and then to Ariel. “Well, it should have been impossible. How in the hell did you do that?” he demanded.

From over my shoulder, I saw Ariel shrug real nonchalant-like and say, “I got really mad. Sometimes when I getreallymad, things go to shit. I think it comes with the whole demon territory bullshit.” Placatingly, he added, “It was a really good trap, though.” To add insult to injury, he gave Nic a thumbs up sign.

I tried to hide my smile but failed. When Nic glared at me, I tried to focus his thoughts on something other than his demon trap failure. “What are you all doing here, anyway? The plan was for you all to stay at the hotel, ensuring Marchand’s safety. Yet, here he is, right in the fucking eye of the storm.”

Thibeau entwined his fingers with Nic’s and gave them a tight squeeze. “Calm down, love.” To me and Ariel, he said, “We felt it when the demon trap exploded. We thought you might need assistance…so here we are. All of us, because we refused to leave Marchand unguarded.”

Julian, keeping Marchand sandwiched between his body and Valen, said, “It looks likeyouhave more questions to answer than we do, Az. I’m trying my best not to believe what my eyes told me they just saw, but while you stand there, still protecting the demon with your body, I’m having a real difficult time coming up with another logical explanation why your tongue was down his throat while you dry humped him against a fucking tree. Help me understand.” His eyes glowed red. “Youreallyneed to help me understand. Do I need to remind you that this is the demon tasked with abducting my son and taking him to the Dark Lord?”

“When did all these demons get here?” Marchand asked, looking around at the scattered remains.

“This morning.”

“Who killed them all? You’re strong, uncle, but I question whether you could have defeated…all of them.” His purple gaze locked onto Ariel. “So, who killed them?”

Why had Ariel killed his own people?

Traitor. The demon’s words whispered in my head.

“We both did,” I finally answered.

Marchand laughed gleefully. “It looks like everyone here owes me a big, fat apology.” He peered around me again to look at Ari. “I told them you weren’tallbad.”

“He brought a small army of demons with him, Marchand. He brought them to help him take you away from us…from Gabriel,” Nic argued. “In my book, that’sallbad.”

“Uh…yeah…about that,” Ariel said, his voice just as calm and sexy as always. “They weren’t here to capture Marchand. They were here to take me back.”

I whipped around to look at him. “They…they called you a traitor. Why?” I couldn’t stop the hope from blooming in my chest. I knew he was a demon, but he wasmyfucking demon.

He smiled, but it wasn’t his usual arrogant, cocky smile. This one seemed sad. “I might have done a thing.”

Even with everyone watching, my hand reached up to caress his face. “Did you get into trouble for not bringing Marchand to the Dark Lord?”

He tilted his head back and forth for a few seconds, like his was contemplating how to answer. Finally, he said, “One could say that.”

He was centuries old but at this moment, he looked like a teenager as he nibbled his bottom lip and looked at me with puppy-dog eyes. His eyes, usually black, were a dark gold color.

“What happened, Ari?” I asked.

“Well, when I said I did athing, I guess I should have said that I killed the Dark Lord. There’s that.” He looked at the group behind me and then back at me. “That’s it, though. I’ve been a perfect demon other than that.”

“You killed the devil?” Marchand exclaimed. “Is that even possible? How’s that possible?”

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