Bale
I trailedmy fingers down the center of his hairless chest as I explored him in a way I’d never explored any of my past lovers. I had no idea how many men I was with before him, but I hadn’t been with anyone since he kissed me.
And I never would be again. I’d considered easing the desperate, insatiable need he awakened in me with other demons, but the idea of screwing one of them made my stomach turn. I’d never be able to go through with it, which only made me hate him more. Yet, I still didn’t push him away.
Over the past month, he’d materialized in my dreams a dozen times since we fought each other, but things had never gone this far before. I’d resisted him every other time.
No, that wasn’t true. With every dream, we got closer and closer. Sometimes, during the day, I found myself looking forward to going to sleep. I despised that I craved this man’s touch, but whether this was real or not, I yearned for it.
When I tilted my head back and met those eyes again, the ice in them was colder than before. He liked playing with me, enjoyed this game of tormenting me, but he disliked the irresistible connection between us as much as I did.
He slid his hand inside my pants and between my thighs. “I think you’re going to hunt me, but I’ll be the one who catches you, and when I do, I’m going to make you come.”
I laughed and shook back my fiery red hair. “That will never happen.”
“Won’t it?”
“No.”
As I said the word, my breath quickened as his finger found and teased my clit.
Stop this.
But I could no more stop him than I could stop the humans from tearing open the gateway that unleashed Hell on Earth fifteen years ago. Gritting my teeth, I dredged up the last of my resistance and seized his wrist. I stopped his tantalizing touch as my eyes narrowed on him.
Red and orange fire flashed through his eyes before he smiled at me. “I can smell your arousal. You’ll come to me, Bale.”
“And I’ll kill you when I do.”
Placing his hand against the wall behind me, he leaned forward and rested his lips against my ear as he whispered. “The way I intend to fuck you might kill us both, but what an exquisite death it will be.”
Those words made me impossibly wetter as my head spun with the promise of them. I tried to pretend this was only a dream, that it would all end when I woke, but I suspected it was so much more.
His lips brushed my forehead before moving lower toward my mouth. I recalled the intensity of his kiss, the way it made me feel more alive than his hands on me now. The way it awoke me to something I never knew I was missing.
If he kissed me again, it would be my undoing, and I wouldn’t be able to resist him.
Wake up!
Before his mouth found mine, I jolted awake.
I sat upright, and my head twisted from side to side as I searched the night for any hint of Wrath. My heart beat so loudly I was sure they heard it in Hell; I expected to see him standing in the woods, staring at me, coming forme, but he wasn’t there.
The little bit of light piercing through the thick canopy of evergreens surrounding us made the night almost as unfathomable as the darkness in my dream, but I picked out the slumbering forms of our small army amid the trees. The fire we lit earlier was little more than burning embers and provided no warmth.
Shoving myself to my feet, I ignored the lingering ache in my body after being denied its Chosen again and strode away from the tree I’d slept against. I ignored the chill of the forest as I stopped to place more wood on the fire before walking into the woods.
Even with my many layers of clothes and a heavy coat on, the cold had seeped permanently into my bones. I’d adjusted to countless things since arriving on the mortal realm, but the cold wasnotone of them.
It was December on Earth, and in the mountains, December was a brutal time of the year. However, we hadn’t located the shelter of a cave before nightfall, so we settled in a grove of pines that protected us from the worst of the wind.
I thought we’d traversed most of the Wilds, but this section in this range of mountains was new to Wren and us. After destroying the minotaur, we waited for Magnus and the others to join us before striking out after Wrath. At first, we planned to go after him without them, but when we tried to track his trail, we discovered he hadn’t left one.
So, with no trail to rush after, we decided it was better to wait for backup before trying to hunt down Wrath and his remaining horsemen. Once Magnus, Shax, and the others arrived, we blindly struck out in the direction Wrath was last seen heading.
Actually, it wasn’t blindly anymore. In the beginning, I hadn’t felt much of anything, but lately, something was drawing me in a certain direction. I hated the idea of being connected to him in this way, but if it helped me hunt him down and kill him, then I would use it to my advantage.
I had a feeling we were getting closer. I’d told the others this, and because they trusted me, they believed me. I hoped I wasn’t wrong; I wanted this over. However, I wasn’t so sure they should trust me anymore.
