Lifting his hand, he kept it fisted in the air before opening it. A shell necklace fell to dangle from between his thumb and forefinger. My hand instinctively flew to where my shell necklace had once hung. It had been torn away from me before we’d entered Hell.
“How?” I breathed.
“Before we left, I gathered shells from the beach,” he said.
I recalled strolling the beach with him. I’d been unable to leave home without going to the ocean to say goodbye. I’d absently watched Kobal as he picked up and either pocketed shells or tossed them aside like millions of others had done with them while walking the coastline. Maybe one day I’d be able to return to the sea, but it wouldn’t be anytime soon. For now, we would remain at the wall, making sure it stayed secure until the threat of the remaining angels and the worst of the seal creatures were eradicated.
“I’ve been working on drilling holes in them and threading them into a necklace for you. Erin made the clasp,” he said.
Tears filled my eyes as I lifted a hand to run my fingers over the polished pink and white shells. Each shell handpicked by him. “It’s beautiful!”
“Turn around.”
I did as he said and lifted my hair to let him slip it around my neck and clasp it there. He bent to kiss my nape. My nipples puckered in anticipation as a wetness spread between my thighs.
“I love it,” I breathed.
“I must admit, I have a selfish reason for it too,” he said as he cupped my ass before sliding his hand between my legs from behind.
My head fell against his shoulder as he leisurely stroked me. “And what is that?”
“I missed seeing you wearing only shells.”
“Then I will do it as often as I can.”
He turned me in his arms and claimed my mouth. Lifting me against him, he carried me across the room to the dais. His feet thudded as he climbed the steps to the wood stage. Walking over, he set me down in front of his throne. He made quick work of stripping my clothes from me before stepping back. His gaze raked me from head to toe while I stood before him in only the shell necklace.
A smile curved his mouth as he removed his clothes and tossed them aside. Drawing me against him again, he turned to sit on his throne and pulled me in between his legs. The heavy length of his shaft pressed against my inner thigh when he drew me into his lap.
The flow of power running through the chair came to life as he took hold of his erection and teasingly rubbed the head of it over my already wet opening. My hands rested on his shoulders, and I brushed a kiss against his lips as he slid into me.
My body jerked when we were joined together. Energy flooded me and my golden-white light rose around us. He clasped the back of my head and sank his tongue into my mouth while he thrust deeper into me. The power we generated seeped out to make the symbols shift on the walls as the orange glow flowing from him mixed with my light.
Breaking the kiss, I leaned back to meet his eyes. They were alive with golden fire as they held mine. His finger slid over my necklace before dipping down to trace my hardened nipple. The coiling tension building in my belly and the tightening of his muscles beneath my hands told me we were both nearing climax.
“Don’t pull out,” I whispered as I clasped his cheeks in my hands and kissed him again. “Stay with me. I need to feel you claiming me ineveryway again.”
His claws lengthened against my flesh but didn’t pierce it as he drove relentlessly into me. When his fangs pierced my shoulder, I came apart in a frenzy that had me scratching at his back. I felt the pulsations of his release and the warmth of his seed filling me as I sank my teeth into his shoulder, claiming him as mine.
EPILOGUE
Kobal
One year later
River’s laughter drifted to me before I arrived at the hall. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling as the radiant sound of it filled the day and caused those walking nearby to also smile. Over the year, not only had the demons come to love and respect their queen, but so had the humans, other Hell creatures, and ghosts who resided along the wall.
After we had been back on the wall for a month, I’d made the decision to travel through Hell to the other side of the world to see how things fared there. It was not a journey I wanted to make. I hated leaving River alone, but she couldn’t travel with me through the minefield Hell had become, and Lucifer had destroyed the airport in Canada. I’d only felt secure in leaving her because I knew she would be safe here; she had more defenders than I did.
With Corson, Shax, Calah, Lopan, and half the hounds by my side, we successfully navigated Hell to reach the other side of Earth. I’d met with the human and demon leaders I’d established there years ago.
Some of those leaders had perished and needed to be replaced, but the rest were still carrying out their duties and doing it well. What remained of most of the human governments throughout the land had crumpled completely after the seals fell. Only England, Australia, and Russia retained any semblance of their old government, but those governments all answered to me and River now too. I’d spent nearly two weeks traveling over there before I’d been able to return to her.
It hadn’t been an easy journey to make. When things were settled on Earth, I would work on trying to right Hell again, but there may be no need for it by then. If the remaining residents of Hell had their way, they would all slaughter each other before I could return to fix it.
After my return and once we’d been back at the wall for two months, River and I decided it was time to travel the wall with her brothers and Mac. It was necessary for me to see how the wall fared, meet with other human leaders, touch base with the demons I’d put in charge of certain sections, and firmly establish our leadership over them, as well as Mac’s role as the ambassador of the humans.
Some sections of the wall had been lost completely, and whole encampments wiped out, but others held firm. Most of the sections that had crumbled had been rebuilt and a leadership reestablished by now. The wall was still occasionally attacked, but most of the escapees from Hell steered clear of it, unless they could fly.
