Eternal Rider (35 page)

His entire body undulated, his muscles bunching and flexing, and when he threw his head back, the corded tendons in his neck strained. They moved together, her
legs wrapped around his waist and locked at the ankles over his butt.

“This,” he breathed, “is so good. You’re… still rippling.”

The sea breeze wrapped around her, mingling with the scent of Ares’s warm skin, the steamy sex, and the sweet flowers that lined the patio walls. Suddenly, he reared back, gripped her thighs, and watched their mating. It was such a turn-on, and she was so freaking into it. She braced herself on her feet and lifted her hips off the cushions so she could meet each of his powerful thrusts with one of her own.

The sight of him watching, the way it affected him so strongly, brought her to the very edge. His broad chest expanded in great, shuddering breaths, his eyes burned, and yet, she sensed he was holding back. He was driving into her with passion she’d never felt from the two lovers she’d had—the high school boyfriend she’d lost her virginity to, and then Jackson—but Ares’s great power was restrained.

She. Was. Not. Weak!

An ancient, primal feminine instinct awakened in her, and she snarled, rose up, and dug her nails into his chest. He made a harsh noise, baring his teeth in surprise and pain. She didn’t spare him. Ruthlessly, she raked her nails over him, dragging them over the rolling eight-pack of his abs. His roar of pleasure accompanied a mighty surge, and suddenly, she found herself lifted and her back pressed against the wall, with one of Ares’s arms behind her as a buffer. Her knees were spread wide on the cushions, and Ares was kneeling between them, his hips pistoning urgently as he drilled her deep and fast.

Rocking his head, he sank his teeth into the juncture
between her throat and shoulder, and dear, sweet Lord, she was done for. His possession was swift and sure and she reveled in the animal mating. He was marking her with his teeth, with his body, and even the bruises she’d have later would be evidence of the savage fever that had taken him.

Her orgasm blazed through her with the intensity of the Greek sun, scorching her from the inside out. Her body clenched, the pleasure going on and on until he shouted a guttural curse, his body convulsing as a hot wash of seed jetted into her, touching off another orgasm for her, and maybe another for him.

Though he collapsed against her, his face buried in her neck, he kept moving inside her long after it was over. “Are you okay?” His voice was a wonderfully husky rasp against her hot skin.

“Never… better,” she breathed.

With jerky movements, he eased her away from the wall and rolled them both onto the cushions so he was on his back and she was on her side, one leg and arm draped over him. His heavy sex lay glistening and spent on his stomach, and his chest rose and fell with gradually slowing breaths.

“We can’t do that again, Cara.” He trailed his fingers absently over her thigh.

“But I liked it.” Loved it.

“You shouldn’t have provoked me,” he snapped. “And I shouldn’t have let you.” His voice tempered, went low and even. “You can’t afford the energy expenditure or injuries, and I can’t afford—”

“Can’t afford what?”

“I can’t afford to get too close to you. Even if you transfer the
agimortus
, you’ll be a target for anyone who
wants to hurt me or get to me by hurting you. My sons paid in blood because I loved them. That will never happen again.”

“It’s just sex, Ares.”

His eyes flashed. “It’s more than that, and you know it.”

“No, I don’t. I don’t want to get attached to you any more than you want to be attached to me. But things are pretty intense all around us, and we could both use a break and a little pleasure. You asked if I’d ever been fucked, and I said no. Well, now I have. And I liked it. So quit being squeamish, and do it again.”

Spelunking
had to be the dumbest word in the English language. Limos supposed that what she and Thanatos were doing in central Oregon’s underground lava tubes couldn’t really be called spelunking, since they weren’t doing much climbing or exploring, but Than seemed to delight in saying the word over and over just to irritate her. He had the oddest sense of humor.

She didn’t know how deep they were inside the mountains of the Cascade range, but they’d been chasing the fallen angel for at least two hours now, and this was getting boring. Besides, she hated caves. Too claustrophobic, too dark, and way too much like the region of Sheoul where she’d grown up.

“Why did Zhreziel pick here to run to?” she muttered, as she picked her way over a pile of unstable rocks.

Than glanced over his shoulder at her. “Is that a rhetorical question? Because I hope you don’t expect me to know the answer.”

She sighed. “I just hope your spirits are holding him.”
Li and Than had found Zhreziel in New Zealand, where they’d battled, and then had chased him to Japan, Turkey, Korea, and now, here. Finally, Than had released a couple of his souls from his armor and sent them after the angel. They couldn’t kill Zhreziel, but their attempts would keep him grounded and unable to flash away.

“We’re close.” Than opened a Harrowgate to get them across a wide fissure. “I can feel them.”

They stepped into the gate and came out on the other side of the bottomless expanse. “Do you really think we can repair Reseph’s Seal?”

Accustomed to her rapid changes of subject, Than didn’t miss a beat. “Yes.” There wasn’t even a question for Than, even though all he had to go on was an Aegis engraving in Deliverance’s hilt, “From death will come life,” which could mean anything.

Limos had always found Than’s life of absolutes to be annoying, but in this case, she was glad to have him be so certain. She hated what Reseph had become, but she loved who he’d been. She just hoped they could repair the Seal before Deliverance was found.

Aegis bastards. She knew they had the dagger, knew because they’d taken it from her. Her brothers might believe that the Templars had lost it, but the truth was that she’d stolen it. It wasn’t something she was proud of, but she’d been… different back then. Truth was, she had been relieved when they’d stolen it back after they’d incapacitated her back during the Great Famine.

“Think we’ll see those two Guardian guys again?”

“Yes.”

“The R-XR dude, Arik, was kind of hot, don’t you think?”

“Never seen anyone hotter,” Than said, his sarcastic delivery so deadpan that anyone who didn’t know better might think he was serious. “He fills my dreams with his hotness.”

“Now we’re getting into TMI. Your wet dreams aren’t something I want to know about.” An agonized moan from deep inside the tunnel urged them on. Sounded like Zhreziel was getting his angelic butt kicked. She’d have had a little sympathy for him if he hadn’t punched her in the face and given her a bloody nose in Korea. Bastard.

“Just don’t be thinking the soldier is too hot. You need to stay away from guys like him.”

Guys like him? She needed to stay away from
all
males. When it came to sex, she and Than both had to be careful, but for very different reasons, and while Than couldn’t have intercourse, he could still enjoy someone else’s body if he chose to. Li could only look.

“Duh.” Than had a tendency to be a little overprotective. It was funny the way all her brothers were so different. Reseph had been her buddy, the one she’d party with. He’d always sit back and laugh when she got herself into trouble, not because he was laughing
at
her, but because he knew she could get herself out of it, and he got a kick out of the way she did it.

Thanatos was the overprotective one, always there to break heads if anyone pissed her off. He never gave her a chance to defend herself, because he wanted to be there to do it.

Ares took a stance somewhere in the middle. He let her handle her own issues, but if she asked for help—which was a rare occurence—he swooped in and struck fast, hard, and decisively.

They were all so cute and cuddly.

She wanted Reseph back, dammit.

They squeezed through an opening so narrow that Than nearly got stuck, and came out in a chamber where they found the fallen angel pinned to the cave floor, his struggles against the spirits failing.

Zhreziel snarled up at Limos—for some reason, he seemed to dislike her more than he disliked Thanatos—and called her a dozen or so unflattering names.

“Tsk-tsk,” she admonished. “You’re going to piss off my big bro—”

She didn’t even have time to finish, because, as predicted, Thanatos went psycho on Z-boy’s ass. It was all a bit unnecessary, but hey, the fallen angel really was a douche. How could any angel with a desire to earn his way back into Heaven not want the honor of bearing Ares’s
agimortus
?

Dude was selfish.

Than bound Zhreziel’s hands and feet, and then threw open a Harrowgate. “Time to go do your duty and save a human’s life.”

The angel glared. He seemed to have two expressions: glare and scowl.

Limos grinned. “Cheer up, dude. You’ll really like Cara. But if you don’t?” She leaned in, put her mouth right up to his ear. “Keep it to yourself, because Ares seems to have a thing for her, and right now, you
really
don’t want to get on his bad side.”

Well.
She’d
told
him
, hadn’t she?

And they’d certainly done it again, and though Ares had
tried to go slow, to keep things leisurely, Cara would have none of it. Like the first time, she’d turned into a tigress who wasn’t going to accept less than what she wanted. He’d been too engaged to retreat, and in that moment when she’d been marking him with her nails and her gaze that dared him to stop her, he’d wanted nothing more than to claim her in the most fundamental way possible. To make sure she felt this warrior on her and inside her for days.

He was pretty sure he’d accomplished that goal, and male pride made him puff up as he lay next to her, listening to her catch her breath after her eighth orgasm. He’d come almost as many times himself, but he could still go another round if she wanted to. The ability to have multiple orgasms was one of the few bennies he’d gotten from having a succubus for a mother.

Cara snuggled against him, twining their legs together and settling her palm on his chest. “Thank you.”

“Sex with you isn’t charity work.”

She laughed, and the beautiful sound went straight to his heart. “I should hope not. But I wasn’t talking about that. I was talking about everything.”

“Everything?”

“Yeah, you know, for bringing me here. Showing me your world.”

He shifted his gaze to the night sky so she wouldn’t see the concern in his face. “Why would you be grateful to be here? You’re in danger. You’re dy—” He cut off with a curse.

“Dying. I know.” She pressed a kiss into his pecs and lay her head on his shoulder. “And at first, as you know, I wasn’t real happy about being in this situation. But then Reaver pointed out that I was stuck here, even if we can
transfer the
agithingy-ma-bob
, and he’s right. I mean, it’s not just because of Hal. It’s because I know too much to really integrate back into the life I had. Which brings me to my point.” Her fingers drew random patterns on his chest as she spoke. Such a minor thing, but the intimacy in the skin doodles put a trickle of sweet warmth in his bloodstream. “I didn’t have a life. There’s nothing to go back to. Even if my time here is short, I’ve found something here that I’d lost.”