Page 27 of An Unexpected Ascension
“No,” I breathe.
“I think you’re lying again. Close your eyes.”
“Why?” A sudden panic blooms.
But then he smiles. A slick, charming, devilish smile that melts that ball of nerves and births a cluster of butterflies flitting about. A warmth sinks into me dripping down my spine and flooding my core.
“Humor me, Angel. Unless you’re afraid.”
Afraid? Not a chance in this universe am I afraid.
Okay, maybe that’s a lie, but he doesn’t need to know that. So, I don’t let him miss the way I roll my eyes before allowing them to close.
With hands gentle and firm, he places one at the back of my head, then one to the center of my chest and lays me on the ground. Alarmed at my new position, I peak, sneaking a look at the demon’s face.
“Naughty girl,” he teases, cutting my sight with his palm.
“Wait!” I cry out, wrapping my hands around his. He lets me move him easily, quirking a brow. “You won’t trick me and damn me to Hell, will you?”
A soft, amused chuckle rumbles his chest. “If I tell you I won’t, would you believe me?”
I take a long heartbeat to consider his words and realize no, I wouldn’t believe him, but a small part of me is still curious about what will happen next. Finally, I offer a slight nod, and he places his hand back over my eyes.
When he speaks, his breath tickles the shell of my ear.
“Now, be honest with me, Angel. I have ways of finding the truth,” he warns, pausing briefly to let his words register before continuing. “Are you familiar with a certain type of ache? It's one that hurts so fiercely without any end, but it's not pain itself. There’s not a bit of sadness in this ache. No, it can only be described as a longing. A delirious yearning for something to fill you, light you on fire, and become you. It forms right here.” His hand drifts from my face, hovering over my chest and down my stomach, landing with a gentle pressure on my lower belly. “Over time it tightens, clenches, and twists begging to be fed, but that hunger only grows.”
There’s an odd sensation that forms in my stomach right below his palm. It almost feels as if he’s speaking this ache into existence. My breath catches in my throat, and my lungs begin to work overtime.
“You beg for relief, pray for it even, but no God will listen because you owe your suffering and suffering you are. That ache, it screamsinside of you. It pleads for something, anything, to wash it away and let it rest. Tell me, Angel, do you ache?”
I don’t need to even think about his question. With the way my skin begins to burn and the emptiness in my belly growling like an animal waiting to be fed, I can’t deny it. Somehow, he knows and presses down against my stomach again. It triggers a rush of heat to flourish between my thighs.
Biting my lip, I nod. Barely, but I do.
“Yes, yes you do.” His whisper caresses the nerves in my body, igniting a spark that trails from my ear to my toes. “I can be that reprieve your body needs.”
The pressure along my belly moves south. He inches, pushing my boundaries, silently asking permission. The second his thumb brushes the apex of my thighs, I yelp. As my eyes fly open, my grip digs into his wrist, and I shove him away.
I pant, a near hyperventilation, my mind whirling with terrible, sinful thoughts all because of this demon.
This is Heaven! It shouldn’t matter that this cave is technically a blind spot for the Gods, I shouldn't be letting him touch me like this.
But that ache he created inside of me isn’t going away. If anything, it grows worse. Like kindling to a fire that can’t be extinguished. All because of that one little brush of his thumb between my legs. It ignited a pulse, a beating, a restless desire for more.
A smug little smile crawls across the Demon’s face.
“How dare you touch me like that?”
My words may be a warning, yet my delivery is anything but. Breathy and flustered and so terribly hot, I undermine myself.
“Just having a little fun with you, Angel.”
“Stop calling me that! I have a name!”
“Yeah? Remind me then?”
The bastard has the nerve to lean forward and brush his thumb along my chin. It infuriates me the way he’s so calm about this.
