Faith Revisited (17 page)
As if Bale sensed how out of control she had become, he lifted her in his arms and cradled her against his chest as he carried her down the hallway. Her face settled in the crook of his neck, and her tongue peeked out, swiping over his skin quickly. His taste burst over her tongue before she latched on, sucking on his flesh intently.
Bale groaned, his hand trailing up her back to hold her head in place so no one they passed would catch a glimpse of the fangs in her mouth. “Hold on, baby,” he murmured in her ear.
“We're almost there.”
The door to her office opened and closed; then Faith found her back pressed against the desk. Bale pushed her skirt up and settled between her thighs as his lips met hers. The faintest trace of blood filled her mouth as her fangs nicked his tongue, but he wasn't fazed in the least if his moan was any indication.
Faith ripped her lips from his, panting for breath. “Please, Bale. I need you.”
“I'm right here, Faith. What do you need?” He groaned as her fingers went to work on the ties of his leathers.
“Damn it, Bale. I need you to fuck me, and I need to feed.” She gave a frustrated yank on the leather straps keeping her from getting what she wanted.
Bale brushed her hands away. Seconds later, he was ripping her thong away and his hot and heavy cock was poised at her entrance. With a triumphant cry, she felt him sink into her and pierced his skin with her teeth. Mocha flooded her mouth. As Bale hammered his cock into her, she gorged on his blood, humming in ecstasy.
“Oh God, I can't hold back,” he whispered raggedly in her ear. His fingers suddenly rubbing her clit had her retracting her fangs and arching her back. “Come for me, baby. Come now.”
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With a hoarse shout, Bale thrust deep, forcing his thumb to press hard on her clit. As he erupted inside her, Faith gave a shaken cry, the orgasm rushing through her fast and hard.
Bale's weight pushed her deeper onto the desk, his heavy breathing rasping in her ear. Faith nuzzled his neck, then licked the droplets of blood from around the two tiny bite marks while Bale continued to gently thrust his softening penis into her pussy. She ran her tongue over his skin long after the wound had closed and Bale had grown quiet. It seemed she just couldn't get enough of the taste of him.
But finally Bale raised his head and stared down at her with what appeared to be love shining in his eyes. She pushed at him, wanting him off her before she did something incredibly stupid like spout words of affection, only to find she had misinterpreted what she'd seen.
As if a shade had been lowered in his eyes, he covered whatever emotion had been in his gaze and, with a grunt, rose from her. Faith rolled off the edge of the desk, brushing her skirt down so she no longer felt bare and vulnerable. Turning, she braced her hands against the glass window and stared out.
“Thank you,” she whispered, unable to look him in the eye. “But I really shouldn't keep you. There were a lot of women vying for your attention. It wouldn't be fair.”
Unprepared for his reaction, Faith found herself suddenly spinning 180 degrees and facing Bale.
“Not fair?” he asked, his hands framing her face as his eyes bore into hers. “Do you really think I give a fuck about any of those women?”
Faith just stared at him, wide-eyed. Bale seemed almost hurt by her insinuation.
“I told you before, there hasn't been anyone else in centuries. I didn't give up years of celibacy on a lark. And I certainly didn't do it so I could fuck my way through a bar full of women.” Bale pushed himself away from her and ran a hand through his hair. “Jesus, you can set me off faster than anyone I've ever known.”
“Well, I'm sorry I can't be like your perfect little human wife,” she retorted, feeling the need to lash out in a sense of self-preservation. Because it was either that or burst into tears. She ached for Bale down to the marrow in her bones, and that scared the hell out of her.
“How do you know about Thea?” Bale's voice had gone quiet, his face pale. She had shocked him.
Faith folded her arms across her breasts and tensed, preparing herself. The last thing she wanted to do was have a conversation about Bale's wife. Then there was the fact that she still suffered guilt from what she'd done, and knew if he learned she'd been snooping, he'd be pissed.
“Google,” she said, glancing at the computer on her desk.
“And from that you deduced I was married?” he countered with an arched brow.
“And I saw the rings,” she finally admitted as she turned back toward the window, unable to meet his gaze.
“You went through my things.”
Faith flinched at his incredulous tone. “Please, just go, Bale,” she whispered with a tortured plea. “You have already made it obvious there is no future for us, so why continue playing this game. I can't afford it, and I'm sure you have better things to do. You know, demons to kill, a traitor to find.”
The Watchers: Faith Revisited
73
The click of the door signaled Bale had left without a word, and Faith lost her ability to stand. She landed on her knees as tears flooded her eyes and despair pierced her soul. She tried to scrape herself off the floor, but her legs were unwilling to support her weight, so there she remained, emotionally bleeding all over the black carpet.
* * * *
He stopped abruptly, observing the women surrounding Arak and Zeke's table. His fists clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white from the tension. The blonde who had propositioned him earlier was still standing next to the spot he had vacated when Faith had tried to flee. And her presence only served to further piss him off. He blamed her for Faith's sudden emotional withdrawal.
When he had caught her in the hall, Faith had turned to him, demanding what he knew only he could give her. He'd felt such a connection with her, one he was certain she had also responded to. But after they'd made love, he'd known the exact moment Faith had pulled away.
Not physically; that had come later. But emotionally she had withdrawn, and there hadn't been a damn thing Bale could do about it but protect his own heart.
He considered turning around, going back into her office, and letting Faith know just where they stood. She was his, and he'd be damned before he let her get away. Startled by that thought, Bale realized he meant it. If she were taken from him, he would follow her, praying to the Father that their souls would not be parted in death. But she needed time. And so did he—to adjust to the fear the thought of losing her provoked.
Bale stalked to the table, meeting Arak's gaze. Arak, whose smile then faded from his face, extricated himself from the woman in his arms as he whispered in her ear.
Bale ignored the frown the brunette graced him with. “Let's get out of here.”
He didn't realize he had come to a halt right beside the blonde from earlier until she scraped a nail down his bicep, outlining the phoenix tattoo displayed under his T-shirt and cooing in his ear, “You're not leaving, are you?”
The promise in her voice only served to anger Bale more. If Faith were to see this woman touching him, he would have an even-harder time convincing her she belonged with him. He grabbed her finger tightly in his fist and squeezed in warning. “Touch me again and I'll break it.”
The woman's eyes grew wide, and then she smiled. Bale was shocked to realize she wasn't scared but turned on by his actions. He growled and tightened his fist. Arak said his name softly, then pried the blonde's finger free. He rubbed the digit between his palms to remove the sting of Bale's grip, then gently forced the woman's gaze onto himself.
“Excuse my friend, sweetheart. He gets cranky when he and his female have a falling-out.”
The woman glanced back at Bale from under her lashes and purred, “If he ever gets tired of her crap, I'm here almost every night. I could make him very happy.”
Bale snorted in disgust and headed for the door. Zeke immediately rose to his feet. Arak was a little slower at disengaging himself from their admirers.
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“Sorry, ladies, but it's time to go.”
A chorus of female voices spoke up in displeasure, and Bale shook his head, wondering what it was about these modern women. They were too damn forward and had no sense of decorum or self-respect. It never ceased to amaze and repulse him the number of them willing to fuck Arak at the back of a bar.
“What's up?” Arak asked once he and Zeke had caught up.
“Not talking about it.” They reached Zeke's Charger, and Bale waited impatiently as Arak squeezed into the back. “I saw her, confirmed she's okay. Now it's time we do our job.”
“Yeah, right,” Arak mumbled. “And you almost broke a human's finger for sheer entertainment.”
Bale grunted, glancing out the window as the car rumbled to life. “She knows about Thea.”
“Shit. How?”
Bale turned his head to look at Zeke, who sat next to him silently observing the conversation. Then he glanced back at Arak. “Faith went through my things, found the rings I had purchased before Thea died.”
“And?” Arak prompted.
Bale shrugged. “And what?”
“Did you explain that Thea wasn't your heart mate, but that Faith is? Did you explain your reluctance to commit to her?”
Bale shook his head.
“Did you explain anything?”
“I made love to her. What more do I have to explain?”
Arak barked in laughter. “Jesus, Bale, you need to brush up on women. The females today don't view sex the same way they did when Thea was alive. They expect a male to eagerly whip it out for any occasion. They do not understand about crusades and oaths. Faith is not likely to realize your sudden willingness to disavow years of celibacy as anything other than plain old lust.”
Bale sighed and closed his eyes as he rested his head against the leather seat. “So walking away from her in anger was a bad idea.”
“You fucked up. But it's not beyond repair.” Arak placed a comforting hand on Bale's shoulder. “You'll need to explain everything. And then you'll need to do some serious sucking up.”
“I think I liked it better when a female did what she was told.”
“I wouldn't know. I never had a female who was very good at obeying.”
Bale smiled at Arak's response. Saraknyal hadn't been. But then, she'd been a warrior like the rest of them. Above, gender did not necessarily determine strength or ability. Turning his thoughts back to Faith, Bale knew it would be two or three days before she would need to feed again. That meant he had two or three days to get his mind focused and his thoughts in order before he confronted her and made her his for good.
* * * *
The Watchers: Faith Revisited
75
Faith wearily got out of her Bug. It was four a.m., and she was exhausted. While physically she felt better than she had in days, emotionally, she was a raw, bleeding wound. She'd managed to hang on to her sanity by a thread the rest of the evening after her encounter with Bale. It had ended with such a sense of finality that Faith knew things were over. Logically she knew she should be relieved; her feelings for Bale frankly baffled her. But all she felt was despondent.
Usually vigilant, especially after dark, she trudged up to the entrance of her condo, the scenery a blur. Fishing for her keys to unlock the door, Faith didn't see the shadow until it was too late. A low growl was the only thing she heard before it was on her, enveloping her in its embrace.
She struggled against whatever had her pinned, trying to ignore the foul stench of wet dog as the hairy arms wrapped around her chest. A set of sharp teeth scraped against her neck, and though not deep enough to draw blood, it sent a signal to Faith's brain. If she didn't get loose immediately, she was going to die.
A surge of strength unlike anything she'd ever experienced had her breaking free, and quick as lightning, she pulled the knife she never left home without from her boot. With a flick of her wrist, she embedded it to the hilt into the monster. Then she watched in horror as the beast staggered back.
It was as big as an Alu demon—more than seven feet tall. Faith could not tell whether it was male or female because its entire body was covered in long, coarse brown hair, but she wasn't about to get any closer to find out. Not if she could help it. And while she'd never seen such a creature before, she'd had read about them and knew she was staring at a dreaded Rabisu demon. It was said they were so frightening to look at that men expired on the spot from just glancing at them. Though she didn't fear death from viewing the beast, she certainly agreed it was the scariest damn thing she'd ever seen. If it had attacked her from the front instead of the back, she would very likely have been dead, because she was quite certain she would have frozen in her tracks.
It spoke in a language only angels and demons could understand, then dissipated—her knife still protruding from its gut—with a puff of smoke and the nauseating scent of sulfur.
With her hand pinching her nostrils closed, Faith dashed inside her condo just in case it had a friend waiting in the shadows. She leaned back against the door, the events of the evening sinking in, and then slid to the floor, shaking uncontrollably.
First Bale. Then a demon attack in front of her home. She should be dead. There was no way she should have been able to break free from the beast's hold. She recognized that even with vampiric strength it shouldn't have been possible. Rabisu demons were very dangerous, and nothing human—or even part human—could withstand their attack. Only an angel could.