Not with him.
“Fuck me,” I say, meeting his piercing blue gaze. “Take all of me, Auston, because I’ve always been yours.”
He roars, sits up, fingers digging into my thighs, and pounds into me fiercely. With each thrust of his hips, I feel myself coming closer and closer to the edge. I cry wordlessly, fire racing through my veins and setting me aflame.
Auston lowers his hand and begins to thrum my clit in tandem to his rapid thrusts.
“Come for me, Had,” he whispers, holding my eyes. I’m helpless to look away, utterly enraptured by the proud, beautiful man before me.
When he squeezes down on my clit, I feel myself careen over the edge. Fireworks explode behind my eyes as my orgasm reverberates through me. Auston pounds into me faster and faster, a flurry of curses escaping his parted lips, before he falls apart in my arms.
“Fuck!” he screams as his cock twitches before exploding inside of me. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
We fall together, both of us trusting the other to catch them.
Auston collapses beside me, pulling me against his sweaty chest. He kisses first one eyelid and then the other before planting a chaste kiss on my lips.
The aftermath of our love-making leaves me shaking and breathless. Love-making. Not just sex and definitely not fucking.
“Auston?” I whisper drowsily as sleep threatens to pull me under. He continues to press tantalizing kisses across my face, as if now that he has started, he can’t stop.
“Yes?”
“I love you.” The words are murmured, nearly inarticulate, but I know he hears them when he inhales sharply.
Sleep is dragging me under, pulling me beneath the midnight black waves, but I swear I hear him whisper, “I love you too,” before darkness consumes me.
Chapter 23
Braxton
I didn’t want to tell Hadley that I wouldn’t be going to class. Seeing as she’s just returned to us, fragile from her time invaded by that parasitic fuck Caius, I want her to relax. Ease some of the immense stress she’s carrying.
“This way,” I call to my team, leading them to a portal into Hell. Out past Pontem Veritas, back where the dilapidated shed once stood, me and several of my best fighters stand, hovering above the swirling blackness in the hole below us.
I’m wearing a tank top, allowing my wings to stretch free on my back and giving me easy access to the sword tattooed on my arm. Black cargo pants sit low on my hips, and light shoes cover my feet.
“On whose order are we going back in there?” Merik asks. There’s no fear in his voice, only pure curiosity. Merik loves to battle and fight the monsters in Hell almost as much as I do.
“Dominic’s,” I answer. “He told me it’s a direct order from Headmaster Stefan.”
“Really?” Merik remarks surprised. “Stefan’s finally butting in now that we have to battle the fucking Darkness on top of everything else? Where was he at the start of term?”
“Probably playing with himself,” Talyn says with a laugh.
“This is no time for playing around,” I growl, turning back to look at Talyn, fluttering my wings in irritation. “The Darkness is real. The threat down in Hell, it’s real too. Do you want to help me fight these monsters seeking to enter our world, or do you want to crack jokes?”
“Sorry, Brax,” Talyn mumbles.
Grunting, I turn back to face the dark depths, leading us to Hell. “I’ll go first. Follow behind me, fast.” Without another word, I leap. The nauseating feeling has lessened over time, and soon I’m landing on my feet inside Hell.
The blistering heat feels good on my skin, sweat already forming across my brow. I hear the thumping behind me as my team of Demons exits the portal.
The large cavern is mostly empty. Bloodstains and gnarled pieces of white bone litter the floor from our last battle inside. The Verniquin were out in full force, and though we fought bravely, we still lost a Demon.
Anger surges inside me at the loss. I feel like it’s my fault. If Dani hadn’t been guarding my back, it might have been me dead on the ground. Instead, I say a quiet prayer as I pass her bones, heading deeper into Hell. I don’t look behind me, knowing innately that my team is following me.
Fires burn hot when we enter the next cavern, keeping ourselves on high alert. Flames lick along the stone walls, causing the outer layers to glow orange. A great fissure separates us from the other side, one we are quite familiar with.
Spreading my wings, I launch myself across the twenty-foot gap, landing softly on the other side. Tucking my wings back in, I turn to check the progress of the others. Without hesitation, all nine leap across, dark wings stretched wide.
I can feel their nervousness as we take in the great wall before us. The same trepidation rolls through me, icy tendrils of fear skating up my spine. Darren in particular looks anxious, because last time we fought here, a monster almost took his leg.
Holding out my right arm, I call upon my sword and immediately feel its handle heating in my palm. I give the blade a few quick slashes, feeling the power of its weight, then glance up the wall. Since our first encounter here, various teams of Demons have been attempting to infiltrate each hole to see what lies on the other side.
After a hole has been successfully excavated, for lack of a better word, we put a large, white X across it, signifying to the other teams that the hole is clear.
Today, our focus is to clear another. Setting my sights on a tunnel about halfway up the wall, I extend my wings and fly up to the entrance, landing just inside the hole. Twenty feet down below, my team waits for the all-clear before proceeding.
Calling upon my fire, allowing it to ignite my blade, I stretch my arm inside the tunnel, looking for anything that might be staring back. When I don’t see the reflection of another monster’s eyes, I motion for the rest of them to join me.
Slowly and steadily, I walk down the tunnel, my flames bouncing off the walls, casting eerie shadows. My nostrils flare, scenting the air, looking for anything abnormal. The tips of my wings scratch the low roof, and I hunch lower to avoid making any noise, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention.
My steps are quiet, not wanting to disturb anything and knowing any sound I hear could be the prelude to some awful attack. Any noise, the disturbance of the tiniest pebble, the intake of breath inhaled too loud, could set off a series of events from which we might not recover.
So, I pace myself.
Unlike the previous tunnels we’ve explored, this one doesn’t stay straight. Instead, it veers to the right. I keep my fire blazing, my sword poised for attack as the walls grow increasingly narrow, the ceiling dropping rapidly. The whole atmosphere seems to change, like static electricity is bouncing between all of us, shocking us, and keeping us all on edge.
Soon I’m crawling on my hands and knees. I’m about to whisper for the others to turn back before we find ourselves stuck in this stone prison, when the tunnel ends abruptly. A layer of putrid-smelling moss covers the exit, and though I don’t want to, I make a small slice through the vegetative veil and pull it apart to look inside.
I’m not prepared for what I see.
At least fifty feet below me is some kind of fucked up factory, the likes of which I’ve never seen in Hell. But what they are creating makes my heart turn cold.