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"That's arousing, too, isn't it?" He whispered it. "As if the nerve endings that would have made the breast swell and lift into my hand, the nipple harden, just as the other one did, are still there. Are you wet for me, Mina? Is it just the ocean's fluid between those serpent legs, or is it your honey?"
She made a noise that he couldn't understand, not phonetically at least. Moving down the front of her body, over scar tissue, the few patches of soft, unblemished skin and the marked curve of her pubic mound, he found the lips of her sex. He slid over their satiny surface, where they were stretched by just the head of his cock. Like all mermaids, she had no body hair. "It's difficult to tell in the water, isn't it? I think I'll just have to feel inside, see if you're ready for me."
She arched against him with a harsh gasp that provoked something equally fierce in him, particularly when the other tentacle curled up his free leg, keeping him cinched in close behind her. He sensed she wasn't binding him to her as much as she was clinging, seeking an anchor. She didn't realize an anchor could drag you down and drown you in bliss. He wanted to show her that.
Ah, Goddess. Wet and warm as honey in truth when he worked his finger with careful tenderness between the wall of her sweet cunt and the insistent reminder of his cock poised at the opening. He wanted to bury his cock in it, feel the tight passage. When he traced the sleek tentacle, so like a woman's thigh, he kept his thumb resting on her clit so that she was shuddering as he began to ease into her from behind. He moved slowly, wanting to savor every single millimeter. The way she was making soft cries in her throat, how her tentacles constricted around him thigh to calf so that he felt the pain-it all made him harder. He tightened his buttocks, pushing deeper, looking for the heart of her.
Cupping her unmarked breast briefly, he kept his other hand moving up toward her throat, in a slow, inexorable movement that she followed with her body, arching up and begging for touch. Quelling the surge of violent lust it created, he kept going until he brushed his fingers along her throat to the tiny movement of her gills, trying to process her air as he did his best to make her gasp for it.
She was so tight below. Very tight. Virginally tight. From her body's inexperienced struggle between tension and desire, he realized suddenly he was the first. The only.
Then he was in, all the way to the hilt, his balls pressed up against the lips of her sex, her body shuddering. All his. He hadn't known what compelled him to say it before, but now he knew, for it was simple truth.
She was his. This complex being, torn between the forces of evil and the confusion of her own soul, was his.
Eight
MINA couldn't have sorted out her own thoughts if she'd tried. Poised in the tunnel entrance, she'd been pulled toward the Dark Ones' energy while David held her fast from behind, his cock deep inside her, filling her. Riding the two points, she'd discovered the closest thing to ecstasy she'd ever felt, both parts of her balanced perfectly, if only for that second. No fight to be had, no fear of too much goodness, too much evil. She was between the overpowering call of one, the irresistible demand of the other.
This act was the balancing act, the one that put them in sync, that took the mind out of the equation. She'd been afraid it would hurt, and it had, a little, but she knew pain could also provide pleasure. Her body wanted something, wanted to move against him to get it.
Beyond the need for balance, for the first time in her life, something empty in her seemed as if it was being given an offering to appease it. Something that wouldn't be a cruel trick or make the craving grow in an uncontrolled direction. This wasn't being out of control. This was giving him all of her wildness, trusting him to control it, channel it.
It was an odd jumble of thoughts as she sat on the fulcrum between the bloodlust of the Dark Ones and possession by an angel. When he put his mouth to her throat again, she let her head fall back against his shoulder, increased her hold on his long, muscular legs, teased the base of his taut buttocks, enjoyed every delectable inch of him against the back of her body. She liked what she felt beneath the delicate sensor system of her tentacles, his buttocks clenching and releasing in a slow, sensual rhythm that made her want to see it, maybe sink her teeth into that delectable haunch. And gods, the ridged head pushing in, the thick length of him dragging out...
"More," she gasped.
His wings cast a shadow forward as he granted her wish, body slowly descending, moving down, stroking her channel, then surging back in, wrenching a guttural sound from her throat.
"Like that, did you?" His voice was a wicked thought in her ear. "And this?"
He did it again. Then again. She started to move in rhythm with him, anticipating, arching, pushing forward, their bodies coming together and then apart, but only enough to increase the driving pressure of coming back in again. His fingers were back on her mound, sweeping against the furled bud of flesh over the wet opening, and she bucked against lightning bolts of sensation as he created magic in her body, holding her tighter.
"I can't..."
"You can. I've got you." His voice was firm, implacable.
"I'll lose myself."
"No. Goddess, no. Here." His hand found her breast, her chest, pressing against the scar tissue, the remnants of fear and pain now aroused by that warm, firm palm through which she could hear her heartbeat. "Right here, Mina. You're right here, in this moment, as real as you've ever been." His voice took on a husky undertone that was thrilling and frightening at once, for she'd never known an angel could bring such a sinful touch of sensation, more powerful than the call of any Dark One's power. "And I'm not giving you a choice."
His fingers took possession of her clit then. Where before he'd employed a teasing stroke, it was an inexorable manipulation now, a firm pinch under his hand as he rolled it, made it spasm as he combined it with the sudden hard, hot surge of his body into her, pounding, moving.
"Oh..." Mina didn't call upon any deity in moments of great emotion or pain. As far as she knew, none had ever claimed her as part of their flesh, one to whom wishes could be pleaded. So now she simply called out the one name that had responded. "David."
"Here. I'm here." His voice broke. His loss of control was another unexpected flood of pleasure that made her intuitively increase the grip of her tentacles, drive herself even deeper on him, relishing the raw, new sensitivity, wishing she could hold him inside forever, and then she wouldn't think at all. As her lips parted and she cried out, long and hard, one continuous flow of sound, the sensation was like that. Flowing light, a spell of never-ending fireworks that shattered around her, flashed through the water, made the Dark Ones' energy recede, made the water churn around them like the beginnings of a whirlpool as his wings spread out wide, holding their balance. His deep groan matched her cry and she jerked upon him wildly, milking every last essence of him. His seed, a part of him, inside of her. Her flesh quivered at that connection as much as at the cock filling her. It steadied her, possessed her in a way she'd never associated with the coupling act. But then, she'd never gotten intimate with an angel before. With anyone.
When she could think again, he was leaning against her, his arm wrapped tightly around her front, breath hard in her ear as his wings came forward, caressed her fingers on the rock. "Let go," he murmured.
Reluctantly, she loosened her grip. The wings moved back then forward, like watching an eagle in slow motion, graceful and powerful, taking them away from the doorway, turning them in a slow swirl. Turning her in his arms. They drifted down to a rock ledge and he lowered her to her back on it, keeping his arm around her so her skin was not scraped or abraded by the lack of smooth surface, even as he used his command of the elements to hold them there. Nevertheless, her hair drifted up in the flow of the water to brush across his chest, tangle with the secondary feathers. He was over her now, his body lightly upon her, such that she wished for the absence of the water, or that she had the courage to ask him to let her feel his full weight upon her. Instead, her hips arched up, seeking him.
It seemed miraculous and natural for him to slide back in, even in his now semi erect state. Biting her lip as his chest brushed her bare skin, she watched him adjust himself more deeply as he held her onto the rock, pinning and penetrating her in a way that should have felt like a trap, but didn't.
Darkness was moving restlessly within her, telling her this wouldn't last much longer. She hadn't expected it to, but she was amazed at the brief moment she had been given. Soon there would be an overpowering need to withdraw, to take time to analyze this closely, and what it meant.
Particularly when it compelled her to do odd things like reach up and touch his face, the clean line of bone, the soft but firm lips that made her hurt just to look at them, even as she was unable to pull her gaze away.
"Why did you do this?" she whispered. "Not for Jonah."
"No." Though his eyes stayed serious, the hint of a smile appeared there. "Definitely not for Jonah. I need you to trust me. You've submitted to me, enough to trust me for this moment. Trust me for the next moment. And maybe just the next one."
She swallowed. David saw her process his words, saw some of the wariness and that shield of thorns returning to her expression. He didn't want them to, but he knew she needed a short retreat. Perhaps he'd moved too soon, but wanting her had been too overwhelming. Seeing her poised in that door, where she might step through and become one of the Dark Ones on his blade, his battle instinct had surged up, telling him he would not tolerate that outcome. He'd grasped at physical arousal as the weapon to fight the battle, but that battle had become something far more than physical. In truth, it had shaken him enough to feel a need for a short respite as well.
"I wasn't really planning to go through," she said. "You just made me angry, ordering me about like that."
That was a lie and truth rolled together, he knew. Defiance may have motivated her, but he was learning the darkness in her could be goaded to take the reins. He also knew he needed to figure out the key to that, because while setting it off was all too easy, reining it back in was not.
If he could be sure this method would work every time, of course he'd gladly employ it as a technique. He suppressed a smile at the thought, knowing his prickly witch would likely not appreciate that observation. Then again, maybe she would. Now her attention was moving down his body, and she pushed at him, getting him to lift up. She constricted her tentacles, however, telling him she didn't want him to withdraw. It amused and aroused him at once when he realized her intent was to study with academic interest the way their bodies looked joined together.
"Mina-" Then the darkness swept through him.
Mina only had time for a startled flutter of water through her gills, the equivalent of a gasp, before he had her up and behind him, backed up to the wall, the water swirling around them at the speed of his movements. The dagger blades flashed as he twirled them dexterously out into the palms which had held her a blink before.
Her scent was on his fingers, she thought, her mind still clouded by their coupling. Even as blood splashed over those lethal blades, it would be there, beneath it all.
"Is there any other exit from this cave you can take?" His voice was sharp, as if he'd repeated himself.
"Yes. Down that tunnel there." She nodded at the wall between the library and storage chamber. "It's spelled to hide a narrow tunnel. It descends about a league and then comes out in the lower level of the Abyss. We'll use it if we need it."
"We're not using it. Go ahead of me. I'll catch up."
She pressed her lips together. "It will be a tight fit for your wings. I wouldn't want you to get your feathers mussed, if we can help it."
"Mina." He shot her a warning glance. "Go down that tunnel, now. I'm ordering you to leave."
Stepping from behind his shoulder, she took a stance beside him and recovered her cloak. As she settled it back over her shoulders, the ends fluttered down to shadow her body once again while she worked the front ties. "This is my home. They have no right to be here." Her gaze turned toward the mouth of the cavern, where both of their unique senses were tuned to detect the threat coming. "And we're out of time to argue."
The Dark Ones had approached the entrance tunnel cautiously, but once they'd come into it, their progress became much swifter. She could feel their proximity, gauge it exactly, as could David.
He gave her one last snarl and then surged forward through the water as if it didn't exist, meeting the Dark Ones at the cavern opening rather than giving them a chance to get through and have a wider area for maneuvering room. There were three of them, but they obviously hadn't expected to find him here.
Mina cursed at his maneuver, which put him squarely between her and the invaders, denying her a clear path for spell work. Fine, then. Noble idiot.
Recovering her pipe and one of the knives she used for cutting work, she floated, watching for an opening. One thing she could do now, however. She sent a blast of energy through the water, creating a violent swell, a crushing wave of surf. While it smacked into the tunnel opening, disorienting their foes, David was unaffected, riding it as if he'd spent his life in the California waves. She knew what that looked like, for she'd drawn close enough to beaches to watch surfers, nothing but the top part of her head visible.
This was not the Dark Ones' favorite element, whereas angels were comfortably in command of all of them. So he took first blood, slicing the blade hard and deep across one opponent's chest cavity, following through with a straight punch into the throat. The Dark One fell back, its shrieks throttled with its own blood.
Those shrieks resonated inside of her, making her flinch, but she shoved it aside, focused on David. Gods, but he was a graceful fighter, purely savage and intent, and she couldn't help but think of how he'd held her against the door the same way. Sliding into her, piercing her as cleanly as that blade.
But she couldn't afford to get distracted. He wasn't used to fighting Dark Ones in water, was used to their blood splashing to earth, not floating out in malevolent clouds. Just like touching their skin, prolonged contact with their blood could drag down the speed of his movements, eat at his flesh. The flash of red flame shimmered through the water, illuminating the combat as she incinerated the insidious fluid before it could reach him.
A clear note, resounding like a bell tone, came from David's throat. Mina saw him draw a new blade. As he threw it after the back-pedalling Dark One, it shot straight through the water as if fired from a mermaid's slingshot, only much faster. While he didn't look to see if it reached its target, Mina did. The knife lodged in the Dark One's throat and-she blinked, not sure if she'd seen what she'd just witnessed-went all the way through, tearing open the flesh and permanently disabling the creature before the weapon came out the other side, flipped, and spiraled through the water back to its owner in a shower of sparks.
David caught the knife as he ducked under the second one's assault, dealing the third a sharp smack with a powerful wing as he jabbed upward with another blade. Piercing the tough muscle of the Dark One's abdomen, he ripped the blade back out before his flesh could be defiled by the poisoned blood or skin. He'd apparently noticed her assistance, for he concentrated on the hand-to-hand work. His attention didn't even flicker as she illuminated the water around him to dispose of the toxic fluid. Reminded of how Marcellus's men didn't trust her at their backs, Mina felt a lurch in her chest at David's implicit trust.
The Dark One dove at him again and he rolled back, the water sending streams of bubbles off his pumping wings like strings of gleaming pearls. David kicked upward, went over the head of his foe and followed through with a cut across the spine that handicapped it for the key moment. Charging the blade, he shoved it back in, incinerating the body and sending it tumbling, a ball of fire despite the water, back out the tunnel the way it came.
At a hiss, David whirled to face his remaining opponent. Or so he'd thought. An additional Dark One came out of the tunnel as well, Hades curse it. Hopefully, it was the last. He knew the injured creature wou
ld be even more deadly and mindless in its bloodlust, but the new one was eager. It shot forward with a shrill scream and then was forced to choke on it as a black tentacle whipped around its throat and yanked it back and down, below David's line of sight.
The injured one leaped forward in his place, but David was already in motion, ramming with his full body. His fear for Mina took away anything but the need to finish this. Jamming his blade in almost to his wrist, he intoned the proper note. Angel fire seared over his skin as the black blood took on life, trying to claw at him and seek entry. Then the Dark One screamed, a banshee shriek into his face, and exploded at close range, so that David ducked his head, closing his eyes as the fire encapsulated him and then fell away.
Spinning, he found Mina and the remaining Dark One circling each other below, the water churning like Charybdis. His witch had blood on her face, but the Dark One was panting, its fangs visible. It was saying something to her, but David didn't catch the malevolent words before Mina struck again.
It was a paralysis spell, and the effort of holding it on the Dark One apparently cost her, because her face went rigid with the strain. However, she floated forward, one foot, two feet, while it tried to get away. Its shrieks intensified the closer she came.
David's first instinct was to drop and finish the creature before she got anywhere near it, but he experienced a peculiar immobility himself, watching her face. She showed no fear. None. Though his own natural revulsion to their evil was great, he preferred his kills clean, quick, with minimal suffering. So in a way it seemed almost pitiable, how the creature screamed and struggled while she moved toward it, steady, no hurry. The inexorable purpose mapped on her face was so clear he could almost hear her saying it.
You are about to die, and it means nothing to me.
Stopping before it, she stared into its eyes. No words, just that stare, as it hissed and made its shrill whimpers. Then she placed her hand on its forehead and spoke two sharp words.
The flash blinded him, but the smell of burning flesh reached his nostrils, one last, horrendous shriek reverberating in his ears. When he could see again, the water was swirling with ash and Mina was sitting on the rock, her hands folded into her cloak, tentacles wrapped around the stone, looking like a disconcerting cross between the statue of Buddha and the many-limbed Kali. Her hair floated down around her shoulders, shifting like graceful sea fronds as she looked up at him.
