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The sun was starting to dip beyond the horizon as the car pulled into the camp, and the day’s heat was beginning to recede, giving some welcome relief. Frustratingly, the sun’s heat was not the only thing providing my body with discomfort. The air conditioning dealt with the weather, but on the way back, Lily had insisted on sitting in the front seat of the car. I’d caught her sending heated glances at Ash, and realised that as a succubus, she was going to need to feed at some point on this trip, just like Cole. I’d reluctantly given up my seat so she could chat to him, but that had put me right next to Sariel for the journey back.
With my size, I'd taken up more than one seat, and her body had been mere inches from mine. My hound had been going mad at the close proximity, and my dick hadn’t been much better. I’d been aware of every breath, every movement. She’d spent most of the journey looking out of the window, and I’d been unable to tear my eyes away, watching the movement of the sun across her perfect skin, the curve of her cheek, the highlights in her hair that seemed almost blue. The temptation to reach over and touch her was overwhelming. Just to run my finger down the side of her face or see if her hair felt as silken as it seemed. I thought back to applying the suncream on her face earlier, and my cock hardened like a fucking rock at the memory of her soft skin under my fingers.
I knew I was torturing myself, but I couldn’t help imagining trailing my fingers up her bare arm, sliding them into her hair, still pulled back tight and neat, gripping hard and forcing her round to press my mouth against hers. I’d kiss her hard and fast and not let her think, convince her body to do the thinking as I dragged her astride me. She’d moan, feeling how fucking hard I was as I pushed my cock up to press against her pussy…
“Alastor?”
I blinked. The car had stopped, and Lily was looking around from the front seat with a quizzical expression and just the faintest flicker of humour. Sariel was also now looking at me with a slightly defensive expression, and I realised she must have caught me staring at her. Fuck.
“Sorry, I was going over plans for tomorrow,” I muttered. “Let’s head back and freshen up. The archaeology team have their own mess tent, but I think Theo’s guys have set one up where their tents are, so we’ll go eat with them shortly.”
“Great, food. I’m starving,” said Lily. I didn't miss the glance in Ash's direction. He didn’t seem to react, instead checking his phone again, face inscrutable beneath the shades. Interesting.Even I could feel the power rolling off Lily as she concentrated on him, and yet he seemed immune. I’d have to ask Cole about him. He was a relatively recent addition to Cole’s security forces, and I didn’t know much about him. I liked to know about people. It made them more predictable, and I hated being surprised.
Sariel nodded and got out of the car, rewarding me with a very nice view of that delicious ass before I followed suit, subtly adjusting my trousers. This hard on was not going away and I needed some private time as soon as possible. I nodded to Lily and strode away towards my tent, everything inside me wanting to turn and drag Sariel along with me. Her presence was a gravitational force, drawing me inexorably toward her, even as my mind waged war against the inexorable pull. I couldn’t resist looking back as I went to round one of the bigger tents and caught sight of her disappearing into her own with Lily close behind.
I sighed with relief as even that thin canvas barrier provided me with a moment’s respite. Relief because every moment spent in Sariel's presence was a battle against my own primal instincts. My hound bayed for completion, for the claiming that would entwine our souls beyond the mere physical. But reason held the beast at bay—knowing full well that to yield to such desire was impossible. As much as the idea of forcing her to her knees, of watching her submit completely to me had my skin aflame with need, I would never want her to do anything she wasn’t entirely comfortable with, and I knew she would never come to me. She was a devoted servant of Gabriel and even if the connection between us became painful, I could already feel the strength of her will. She would never yield to desire.
Speaking of yielding to desire… I paused by the entrance to my tent as my eyes fell on Cole’s trailer. An idea occurred to me, but I tried to push it away. Cole would most certainly provide the relief and the release I needed, but it wasn’t fair to usehim to slake my desire for Sariel. Although, in fairness, I’d been intending to call in on him tonight anyway. He might have a nice bottle of something in there, and I did need to fill him in on the plan for tomorrow. Ignoring the small voice of my conscience, I made my way over to Cole’s trailer. I headed up the ramp, my boots thudding on the metal, so I wasn't surprised when I raised my hand to knock, only for Cole to call “Come in,” from inside the trailer.
I pushed open the door and headed inside. It was warm in the trailer, and slightly stuffy. A portable air conditioning unit whirred in the corner, but it didn’t seem to be having much luck at combating the intensity of the Jordanian sun on the metal roof. All the windows were closed to keep the cooler air inside, and there was a fan on the desk, but it was switched off. The desk was covered in papers and maps, probably why the fan was off, and Cole sat behind it, poring over some kind of technical diagram. His laptop stood open, and I could just about glimpse four live streams of the surrounding area from the security cameras he'd set up. I leaned against the doorway, watching him for a moment.
His dark hair, normally perfectly styled, had fallen loose and a longer lock of hair fell forward over his eyes, giving him a rakish look. His pale blue shirt was unbuttoned further, and I caught a glimpse of his smooth muscles underneath as he shifted in his wheelchair. A fine sheen of sweat lay on his brown skin, and there was colour in his cheeks. He looked completely fuckable, and I felt the desire in my belly intensify at the sight of him. I closed the trailer door behind me quietly and Cole looked up at the sound.
"Alastor. How did the recon go?"
"Good and bad. Definitely no entrance to the cave system on the tell, not without some major tunnelling, anyway, but I did locate the energy signatures of a couple of other tunnels leadingsouth. We followed the trail and found the location of where they came out."
"Well, that's good. So, we can check them out tomorrow?" Cole manoeuvred himself out from behind the desk, and moved over to the small kitchen area. He pulled open a door to reveal a small fridge and passed me a cold bottle. I pressed the glass of the beer to my forehead briefly, before twisting the lid and taking a long drink.
"Hell's bells, that's good," I said, wiping the beer from my lips.
Cole's eyes were fixated on my mouth as he took a drink of his own, and I watched his throat constrict with the liquid as he swallowed. The sight put all sorts of wicked thoughts in my head, but business first.
"Good, yes, kind of. The tunnel leads into the Dead Sea. If there's an entrance it'll be underwater."
Cole nodded. "So, dive equipment then. I made sure to bring the basics... we'll need extra weights though, and they'll be full face masks. You don't want to be getting any water in your eyes down there. Visibility will be poor too, I think the earlier we can make a start, the better for visibility in the water."
"That's what I thought too."
"Does the new girl dive?"
My stomach twisted at the thought of Sariel in a wetsuit, the dark rubber clinging to every curve of her body. "I don't know. I'll ask her later when we grab some food. I wouldn't have thought so. She's only been on earth a year, and I doubt scuba diving was big on the list of qualifications in London."
"She can stick with me while you guys are underwater then," said Cole. "I was going to ask Theo to come with us anyway as I could use someone who knows how to power an underwater camera drone and I think he used one last year on the Bermuda Triangle mission."
"Uh huh," I said, my mind still dawdling over Sariel.
"So, what did you think of her?" Cole asked casually.
"Who?" I played dumb.
"The new girl. Did you get a chance to chat this afternoon?"
I shrugged and took another drink. "She's not particularly chatty."
Cole sighed. "Angels never are. I was hoping she'd be different. Shame, really. She's gorgeous too."
Jealousy sparked in me at his comment. Ridiculous really. We weren't a thing, me and Cole. Good friends, yes. For centuries. Beyond that, he was an uncomplicated way to satisfy the voracious sexual appetite us hellhound shifters were cursed with, and to him, I was a satisfying meal. It was a good arrangement and had worked for over two hundred years. As an incubus with a high sex drive and the need to feed on desire and lust, Cole wasn't exactly the monogamous type either. We didn't do commitment. We did fucking. Hard, glorious fucking. So the jealousy thing must be about Sariel and my hound's primal claim on her as his mate. And I sure as hell didn't want Cole knowing about that. I pushed it aside. Emotions got messy, and I had no time for that.
