Seducing the Succubus (11 page)

He laid back against the bed with a sigh. “Way to go, Halston. Way to go.”

Jezebeth let the
hot water pound against her bare back and shoulders, her anger at Noah still spinning inside her chest like a growing hurricane. He’d apologized and sounded sincere, but his obvious shock at her methods had shown her his true feelings. Besides the fact that for once she hadn’t even done anything!

Humans could be so puritanical in their views, and judgmental too. She wasn’t sure why Noah’s reaction bothered her so much, but the pain inside her chest showed her that it clearly did.

What the hell had Lilith been thinking when she’d chosen Noah for her protector?

An oppressive presence suddenly filled the small space of the bathroom and Jez whisked aside the thin plastic shower curtain. She instantly recognized the energy of an Archangel and cringed as far back against the cracked tile wall as she could, the spray from the showerhead still pounding against her shoulder.

As the warm smell of a campfire surrounded her, she glanced outside the tub, aiming her gaze toward her visitor’s feet so she wouldn’t accidentally look directly into his eyes. She might be trapped in the small room with a being who could crush her with a thought, but she refused to look into his eyes and let him see inside her soul. That was an invasion she’d let happen only once, and the sensation of that experience still haunted her.

Besides, since succubi weren’t demons and definitely not one of the heavenly realms, Jez had no way of knowing if this particular Archangel was friend or enemy.

“Good evening, little one.” His deep voice reverberated softly throughout the room, and she allowed her gaze to travel up high enough to see the thick shoulder-length hair that shifted colors the longer she looked at it.

Uriel.

“You recognize me.” She thought she detected a hint of amusement in his voice, but his words were a statement and not a question. “Won’t you raise your gaze and look at me?”

“No, my lord. I don’t wish to share a glimpse of my soul.”

His soft laughter twined around her like a soft, warm blanket, relaxing her muscles and loosening her fists. She recognized the reaction as a natural byproduct of the angel’s proximity, but her mind refused to relax along with her body.

“Honesty. Something I very much admire and don’t see often enough.” He shifted, the ends of his multicolored hair changing from red to black to brown as she watched. “Raphael didn’t mean to leave such a lasting impression on you with his glance. We sometimes forget the power within our gazes.” He sighed. “Raise your gaze to mine, little one. You have my word I will not look at more than the lovely color of your eyes.”

Jezebeth released a slow breath. Once an Archangel gave his word, he had to keep it. She wasn’t sure what happened if they didn’t, but suspected they’d end up as a fallen angel like Lucifer and the others. Jez raised her gaze, taking in Uriel’s broad shoulders, the chiseled features of his face, and finally the liquid-silver eyes that reminded her of molten mercury.

His unique eyes unnerved her, but the rest of him was beautiful. Not handsome, not gorgeous, but absolutely beautiful—male perfection standing in front of her.

“Lovely.” He smiled, his entire face lighting with the movement.

Jez’s brow furrowed as she scrambled to figure out what he’d meant.

His laugh bubbled around her, soothing her again but not bringing her any closer to understanding. “Your eyes, Jezebeth. They are lovely.” He shook his head. “After all these millennia of men, women, and beings of all types telling you how beautiful you are in all your forms, you still don’t believe it?”

She raised her chin, amused at the irony of his question. “I’ve never had cause to believe it. First, I can take whichever form they desire most. And second, most of them thought it necessary to tell me so because they mistakenly believed it would influence my decision to have sex with them.”

He snorted, something she hadn’t known Archangels did—purely on principle. “I can see why she likes you.”

“She?”

“Lilith.”

Jez frowned as she turned off the shower and grabbed one of the thin, scratchy towels off the flimsy metal rack. Not that she’d ever thought the queen
dis
liked her, but to hear otherwise was somehow surprising. “Is that why you’re here? Did the queen send you?” She slowly dried off before attempting to wrap the towel around her body and giving up when she realized it was so small and thread-bare, she might as well not bother.

Uriel crossed his arms and leaned his ass back against the tiny excuse for a bathroom counter. Jez expected his gaze to roam over her breasts or down to the curly chestnut hair that sat at the apex of her legs in her true form, but his gaze stayed trained on her face. “Lilith doesn’t even know I’m here, and I’d prefer to keep it that way, if you don’t mind.”

Jez cocked her head to the side as she studied him. “No offense, my lord, but then what could you possibly want with me? There are many others you could ask for sex besides me, and I can’t think of anything else I could offer an Archangel.”

He reached out to cup her chin in one strong hand, his thumb absently feathering over her skin as he studied her. His aura of power buzzed against her, not unpleasant but a throbbing prickle of pure unadulterated energy.

There was no spark of heat or surge of attraction like she’d just experienced with Noah inside the bedroom, so if Uriel was waiting to smell her arousal, he’d be sorely disappointed.

Slowly, a smile curved his lips, and he dropped his hand and leaned back to cross his arms again. “Have you ever wished to do something besides be a succubus?”

It was Jez’s turn to snort. “Like what? Become a flight attendant?”

He grinned, and it turned his dark features almost boyish. “No, I meant other than quotas and temptation and sex with an endless array of beings?”

She shrugged and began to dry her hair, more for something to do with her hands than anything else. “I am what I am, and I can’t change it.”

He pursed his lips. “But what if you could?”

She frowned as she hung the towel over the flimsy, metal towel rack. A life doing something other than what she’d always done? It was oddly intriguing and yet frightening at the same time. “Are you offering?” Jez wasn’t sure if that was even within the Archangel’s power, but it couldn’t hurt to find out.

“Not exactly. Let’s just say I like to stay well informed. And Lilith’s interests are in some ways my interests, as well.”

Jez huffed out a laugh as she reached around him to grab a brush off the counter and run it through her long, wet hair to coax out the tangles. “The only interests of Lilith’s I’m privy to are my individual quotas each month and my current need to get back to her lair and meet my sisters before Semiazas finds us.” She didn’t bother to hide the truth from Uriel; he could sense lies, and besides, maybe he could help.

“My retreat also serves as a portal point.” He fell silent as if waiting for her reaction; when she frowned, he continued. “The earthly location it appears in shifts every week, and only those with my express permission can find it.”

She didn’t pretend ignorance. Uriel’s retreat would be a portal the demons wouldn’t be watching and that she and Noah wouldn’t have to fight their way through. “And how would we find it?”

“It will remain in Yuma, Arizona, for two more days, and will then be in Greece.”

“Yuma? Seriously?” She tossed her brush on the counter and propped her fists on her hips. “As in the armpit of the Southwest? You’ve got to be kidding.”

Uriel smiled. “My property exists on the other side, and merely appears in the earthly plane to those whom I’ve allowed to see it. The location rotates—it’s been just about everywhere by now.”

“And how do you give that permission?” Jez had dealt with Archangels for too long not to think there was more involved than just his word.

“Get dressed and I’ll meet you out in the main room. I’ll extend my permission to both you and your human.” Uriel opened the door and stepped outside, not closing it fully behind him.

Jez concentrated and after a quick round of tingling was dressed in jeans, tennis shoes, and a simple V-necked top, her long hair still damp over her shoulders.

“Who the hell are you?” Noah’s panicked voice was followed by an odd sound like sand hitting a wall.

She rushed out into the main room and stopped short at the scene in front of her.

Noah stood naked, the thread she’d not bothered to snip still streaming down from the freshly stitched wound in his side. He held another kosher salt-filled balloon in his hand, cocked back and ready to throw while he stared at Uriel with curiosity and determination.

“Stop!” Jez rushed to stand between them and grabbed Noah’s hand that still held the balloon and lowered it. “Noah, this is the Archangel Uriel. Uriel, this is Noah, the man sent to bring me back to Lilith’s lair.”

Uriel brushed kosher salt from his hair and clothes, the white crystals falling around him like solid snow. “I suppose I should’ve announced myself, but I’m not used to humans attacking when Archangels come calling.”

“I’m not used to men jumping out of a bathroom that only held one woman.” Noah shrugged. “Although if you’d looked like Kate Beckinsale, I wouldn’t have panicked.”

Uriel frowned. “The actress?”

Jez huffed out a breath. “Long story.” She turned to look at Noah. “Uriel has a house that will be in Yuma, Arizona, for two more days, and if we can get there, we can use it as a portal.”

“That’s real?” Noah tossed the balloon on the bed before he stepped around Jez. “Your retreat that moves locations every week?”

A flash of annoyance darkened Uriel’s silver eyes until they appeared gunmetal gray. “How do you know about my property?”

“I’m a horror writer. I do a lot of research.”

“What does horror writing and research have to do with a human knowing about my retreat?” Uriel’s voice rose—not the volume, but the intensity—until it shook the walls of the tiny room.

Jez grabbed the front of the Archangel’s white button-down shirt and yanked until he dropped his gaze to hers. “Can you tone down the kick-ass Archangel effects?” She gestured around them and the quaking stopped suddenly. “Thanks.”

Uriel stepped back and ran a hand through his long multicolored hair, mussing it and leaving it in sexy disarray. “I apologize. I had thought that information was better hidden.”

“It’s considered a myth . . . a legend,” Noah supplied. “But there isn’t much known about it beyond that.”

Uriel shook his head. “Then I guess we should all be thankful for small blessings. Hopefully none of the demons chasing you have that same information, Jezebeth.” He caught her gaze and held it until she nodded once, in the manner of the succubi and incubi.

“Do you really have art treasures from the Library of Alexandria and even a few originals from Michelangelo?” Noah’s soft question was filled with curiosity and excitement and after glaring at him with no visible effect, Uriel sighed.

“Yes, I do.”

Noah grinned. “When we make it to the portal, can we see inside the house?”

Uriel’s glare returned, and he finally glanced at Jez in what appeared to be amazement.

“Noah,” Jez warned under her breath.

“What?” He held his hands wide. “I read that information at the same time. I didn’t think it was a big deal, but I’d love to see the place for myself. I could set some amazing stories there—”

Uriel stalked forward to stand toe to toe with Noah, who was still very naked. “What other information did you read about my retreat, human?”

“Noah,” he said simply. “My name is Noah, not human, and other than that there was a mention that Lilith sometimes visits the house.” Noah snapped his fingers. “That’s it. That’s where I read it. I was researching Lilith for one of my novels and a private collector had an open house and allowed people in for two hours to look at his collection. The information was in a small burgundy journal, handwritten in ancient Hebrew. I recognized Lilith’s name. I’m pretty rusty without a translator, but was able to snap a picture of that page with my phone and take it home to translate later.”

Uriel stepped back, but not before Jez had seen a stricken expression flash across his face and then disappear. “Do you still have that picture?”

Noah nodded. “Jez, where are my jeans?”

Jez grabbed his blood-soaked jeans off the chair and handed them over.

Noah reached into the left front pocket and pulled out his phone. After clicking several buttons he showed the phone to Uriel, whose face suddenly drained of all color. “Who is this private collector?”

Noah shrugged. “I don’t know off the top of my head. I have the information at home in my notes though.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Uriel grabbed Noah’s chin and leaned close to lock gazes with him.

Noah stiffened, his fingers falling open so both the phone and his jeans fell to the floor.

Jez had to look away as a chill ran through her. She rubbed her arms as she pointedly stared at her shoes.

She still vividly remembered when Raphael had unwittingly gazed inside her soul. All the darker places inside herself had been ripped open and left raw and aching. It wasn’t physically painful exactly, but was a sensation she had absolutely no desire to repeat.

Finally Uriel cleared his throat. “Thank you . . . Noah. I have the information I require. And here is your permission to enter my property.” Jez glanced up just as Uriel stepped toe to toe with Noah.

Noah tried to step back, but Uriel’s hand on his chin held him in place. A golden mist spilled from between Uriel’s lips, crossed the several inches separating the men and filtered in through Noah’s nose and open lips.

Noah stumbled back and sat down hard on the bed, his expression dazed.