Page 62 of To Crave Madly
His lips slammed into mine and he kissed me like a man starved. It was all teeth and tongue and anger and rage. I could taste the hatred on his tongue as he thrust it past my lips, forcing me to open my mouth wide for his attack. And what an attack it was. It was ruthless. Hot. Dirty.
His hands were savage as they wrapped in my hair, pulling the strands harshly and making me scream deep into his mouth. He swallowed the sound as if he had demanded it from me and enjoyed the taste of my pain on his tongue. The thought had my panties wet with need. My core ached for him. For Cassian. For the pain in the ass, miserable dragon. It was maddening how much I wanted him, and I was going to go crazy if I didn’t have him now.
My back hit the wall again. There was going to bruises there tomorrow but I didn’t care. Not when Cassian was rolling his hips against mine and making my body writhe beneath him. He dropped his hands to the hem of my dress and started to hike it higher up my thighs. I yanked his shirt out of his pants and fumbled with his belt buckle.
Oh, god. Oh, yes.
He was going to fuck me in this alley. It was going to be dirty and hot and so fucking—
“Well, look what we’ve got here.”
Cassian and I froze. His hands were on my thighs and mine were precariously close to being in his pants. My chest rose heavily and the air leaving my lungs appeared in an icy fog before me. Wow. Cassian had somehow frozen the moisture leaving my lungs and I found that a little bit hot.
“Looks like we stumbled onto a hot little make out session here, Boss.” That was the voice of the second man we’d been watching. I was right. The first man was in charge.
Cassian pulled back and my stomach dropped at the level of disgust that burned in his eyes. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and my heart clenched. Before I could say anything, he turned his back to me and faced the two guys.
“Can I help you?”
The second man looked at me and fondled his dick through his pants. Eww. Gross.
“Can I have a turn next?” He leered at me and the hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention.
“Not that type of girl, pal. Sorry.”
At least Cassian had defended me. I had half expected him to leave me here with them with the way he had looked at me a moment ago.
“Shame. She looks like the type of girl that would look good on her back,” the first man commented while dragging his eyes up and down the length of me. These two men, whoever they were, were utter creeps.
They were well-dressed, tall and bulky, both with slicked-back hair and too much cocky swagger in their walk. They thought they were tougher than they were which meant they had no idea who we were. They must be from out of town if they didn’t know who Cassian was. The Conclave was a small place, and everyone knew Jasper and his team, if not by name at least by sight. Me, they knew from gossip and hearsay. Being so inconspicuous to them meant we had the element of surprise if we needed it, but at the moment they were happy thinking they were the cleverest in the room.
Well, cleverest in the alley.
“Come on, Princess. Let’s go.” Cassian held his hand out for me to take and I slipped my smaller one into it. He practically dragged me out of the alley, much to the enjoyment of the two men we left behind. They obviously thought Cassian was taking me somewhere to pick up where we left off, but they hadn’t seen the way he looked at me. His look of disgust would haunt me forever.
Chapter 20
LUCIFER
I tried to keep my anger in check as I stared down at the crisp white sheet of paper in my hand. The Upper Council had refused me again. I’d been trying for days to get a meeting with them after Lori mentioned the new voice that had sounded in her mind. I was convinced it was a Celestial. There was no other being capable of enticing such worship merely by the sound of their voice. I needed to tell them, to warn them that someone had gone rogue among their ranks and was somehow involved in puppeteering mages to capture witches, but they kept refusing me visitation rights to petition the council to investigate it.
Granted, I wasn’t the best person to have wandering the Divine Realm. Not since my fall, where I’d been unceremoniously banished and sent down here. I’d lost my beautiful white wings that day. He’d taken them from me as punishment for my little indiscretion. The scars on my back prickled as a constant reminder of it and, every time my new, black as sin wings emerged, it was agony. But that was the Divine One for you. Always wanting to make sure you never forgot the wrongs you committed.
Not like me. Yes, I’d judge you and punish you accordingly, but after you’d taken your punishment, you could earn redemption and a chance to move on from Hell. But a punishment from the man upstairs lasted an eternity. Not even I, who was responsible for punishing the wicked, could pass out such penances.
Flames erupted unbidden from my fingertips and burnt the paper until there was nothing left but ash. My anger was starting to get the better of me if my Hell Fire was emerging without me having called it forward. I pitied the fool who pissed me off today.
I leant across my desk and pressed the intercom. Unlike vampires, I had learnt to move with the times. There were a lot of modern conveniences that I had installed down here. Why live in the dark ages when I could enjoy such wonderful things like electricity and television? That was my favourite. I loved watching the many faces they stuck me with; some made me laugh with how unrealistic they were. I did not have horns, nor was my skin bright red, but Hell Fire did burn through me, and I did have one Hell of a temper. But I think that was improving with Lori. She seemed to be able to calm me in a way that had never happened before.
I knew it was something to do with the bond we shared. She was restless at the minute. I could feel how uncomfortable she felt, and it was painful to not be able to help her or comfort her. Since we slept together, everything between us had intensified. I could feel her emotions more clearly and sense her almost as if she were next to me. I missed her and her smart mouth. How she lied to me just because she knew I liked the taste. Hers tasted the best, like a little morsel of pleasure bursting on my tongue.
I bit back a moan as I remembered the taste and my trousers suddenly started to feel a bit tight. I needed to find out what was going on so I could bring Lori back here and ravage her again and again. Now that I’d had her once, I didn’t want anyone else.
The intercom flashed.
“Yes, Your Majesty?” my assistant enquired.
“Fetch me Darius.”
