Awakening (27 page)

How were an Angel and a Demon even
in the same apartment without tearing each other's eyes out? While there was a fragile alliance between
Apocritae
and angels and
Apocritae
and demons there was no such thing between demons and angels.

Sliding out of the bed, he padded quietly to the door and into the living room
, rubbing the unruly organ that was beating in his chest. He didn't love Celeste; of course he didn't love her. He didn't know what he had been thinking after he tasted her but it wasn't love. He didn't do love, especially not with a girl that fancied herself in love with his brother.

His ruminations were interrupted by a
blond beauty who was standing in the kitchen stirring something in a coffee mug. She was clad in a brief camisole and barely there panties, the silk material practically non-existent as they emphasized her gorgeous body. He adored beautiful women and this blond was exquisite. His lips curled in appreciation as his gaze travelled over her feminine form. She abruptly stilled, her shoulders tensing a heartbeat before she turned her head and she saw him. Her blue eyes flashed with interest as they moved over his naked chest but then her expression unexpectedly twisted into hatred. Venom oozed from her every poor and her eyes narrowed as she hissed, "
Apocritum
."

The corners of his mouth cur
ved upwards in a dark smile until he realized the girl wasn't the angel but the demon. And she wasn't a Guardian. Narrowing his eyes, he inhaled her scent, the lust hitting him low in the gut. "Succubus."

"
What are you doing here?" they asked at the same time.

Her eyes flamed brighter as she pressed her lips into a straight line and let the spoon fall to the counter top with a clink. "I asked first
,
Apocritum
."

"I'm here to protect Celeste," Auberon offered the partial truth. Crossing his arms over his naked chest, he grinned as her eyes dipped to his pectorals. He walked towards her, unashamed of using his superior size, strength and age to intimidate her. "And you, little demon?"

"I came to help Celeste and Kim pack," she said warily, watching every move he made, her body poised to attack if necessary. She was a loyal little creature. "Back off,
Apocritum
."

He chuckled low in his throat, leaning against the counter next to her and blatantly perusing her nearly naked body. She had a very nice body, with breasts that made a man grateful for the organ between
his legs that made him a man. Yet he was unaffected by her beauty and her form; the only lust riding him was the succubus pheromones that came off of her in waves and the lingering taste of Celeste. Reaching up, he lightly grazed the hem of her shirt before meeting her blue flame eyes, "What will you do about it, demon?"

She smiled sweetly even as her eyes burned and he almost didn't see the steaming cup of water she grabbed. With a mocking smile, he wrapped his fingers around her delicate wrist and held her hand in place, "You're not even a full
succubus, demon; you're only a half-breed."

If looks could kill he would be a writhing mass of blistering skin. The hellcat sneered, "It's better than being a vile
Apocritum
."

Obviously, it was a very uneasy alliance between the
Apocritae
and demons. Releasing her wrist and grabbing the mug before she could, he brought the hot coffee up to his lips and took a sip. Holding her eyes over the rim of the mug, he quirked an eyebrow, "And what is wrong with being an
Apocritum
?"

"You're all the same," she spat, her eyes looking over him in disdain now. "E
vil, vile creatures hell-bent on seduction and blood consumption, not caring about the destruction they leave in their wake. You would devour the world if there weren’t repercussions, if it wouldn’t cause you any… inconvenience."

“Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle vicious?” Auberon asked wryly,
taking another indifferent sip of the coffee. He was rewarded with the low growl that came from the back of her throat.

“Not at all.”
she glared at the man, narrowing her eyes at him and he could see the gears working in her intelligent eyes as her mind raced through various scenarios. Suddenly, her expression changed and her body softened. Her eyes smoldered and her full lips became even fuller, riper; she sent him a come-hither glance as lust swirled in the air around them, wrapping its tendrils around his arms, his torso, his cock.

As soon as he realized what she was attempting to do he threw his head back in laughter, "Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea who you're fucking with."

Slamming the mug down, he brought his head forward and stared deeply into her eyes. Closing the short distance between them, he crowded her with his body, blocking her in with his sheer aura. Bending his head closer, his cock twitched in eagerness at her shaky intake of breath but he ignored it. Her delicate hands came up and pressed against the hard muscles of his chest and her blue eyes darkened until they were almost as black as his. Her nipples pebbled against his chest and her pulse raced in her delicate throat. She was practically panting as he brought his fingers up and trailed them along her collar bone, just to screw with her and give her a taste of her own medicine.

He insinuated his thigh between her legs, pressing against the damp heat of her femininity and realizing how small she was. She was just a child, barely twenty-two in human years, but with a wealth of power that he doubted she even knew she had. All of it simmered just beneath the surface, a golden light that was pure and untainted. Closing his eyes, he breathed in her scent, letting it wash over him and feeling nothing in its wake. But the little demon deserved to be taught a lesson.

Bending his head, he breathed, "Don't fuck with someone who mastered the art of seduction thousands of years before you were even born."

He felt her swallow, felt her body tremble against his, and he smiled,
easing his hold over her slowly so she wouldn't fall. That is, until an avenging imp attached itself to his back, raining down blows on his head and shoulders. "Get away from my mistress, you foul beast!

Auberon brought his hands up to shield his head from the puny hits, unwilling to hurt one of Celeste's foolish friends.
"Back off, demon; I have no intention of harming the girl."

He looked at the succubus, who stare
d at him with wide blue eyes, a slight smile on her lush lips. Resting her ass against the counter, she crossed her arms beneath her breasts and sat back to enjoy the show. Her eyes widened in horror a moment before he felt the sharp edge of a blade press against his throat. She held her hands up in the air, "Rachel! Put the dagger away; he was just teaching me a lesson."

"What the hell is going on out here?" an angry voice came from the bedroom opposite Celeste's. Spinning with the demon on his back, Auberon finally saw the Guardian Angel, her blond hair a halo of curls around her beautiful face. Latent energy crackled around her and his breath caught in his throat; she was going to be powerful once she remembered who she was
, what she was. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she looked at him, "Adam? What are you doing here?"

In the heartbeat between the angel's appearance and her question indicating she knew him, the demon slid the knife across his throat, spilling his blood.
He threw the demon down, glaring at the idiot demon with burning hair and putting his hand against the wound. The foolish demon had to know that having his neck sliced open wouldn't kill him. Unfortunately, it still stung.

A loud gasp from Celeste had him spinning around and catching the horror in her pretty hazel eyes. She closed the distance between them and wrapped a hand around his
neck, bring his injury down to her level. "Auberon, tell me what to do."

"It's okay," he tried to tell her,
but the feel of her finger moving through his blood, over his skin, had his cock thickening and tenting his flannel pants. "Celeste."

Before he could tell her that he would heal in a few minutes, her lips were against his throat and she was licking the blood away. All brain activity immediately stopped and the blood that wasn't spilling from his wound fled to his cock. He grabbed her by the elbows to hold himself steady as he experienced the most erotic thing he had ever felt in his long, long life. Pleasure raged through his body as her tongue moved over his skin and he would have given everything to make her his.

His legs weakened and he fell to his knees before her, taking twisted pleasure in her gasp of despair. Her fingers curled into his hair as she frantically mouthed the blood away from his skin. Wrapping his hands around her slender hips, he held onto her as she destroyed him. He was almost as tall as her as he rested on his knees; why had she seemed so much taller? Grander? She was just a tiny little thing. "Celeste, I'm okay. Celeste."

Dazedly, she pulled her head back and looked at him, tears in her eyes. He offered her a cocky smile, knowing that it trembled slightly on his lips. Hopefully she would think the betraying action had more to do with the wound than how he felt about her. Tilting his head back, he showed her the unmarred skin, "See? I'm okay."

"You scared me," she breathed.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, truly sorry for frightening her. With his thumb, he brushed a droplet of blood from her lips, letting his finger linger for a moment longer on the supple skin.
She might not love him as she loved his brother but she did care for him and he was so pathetic he would take the scrap and cherish it. "I was teasing your friend and her protector misunderstood."

Celeste moved to his side, protectively wrapping her arm around his shoulders as if she could defend him from
any threat. He would have laughed at the absurdity but he was too busy basking in the warmth of Celeste. Sorrowfully, she looked at the demon and the half-breed. "This is my fault; I should have warned you guys that Auberon would be coming over."

How could she have warned them when she hadn't known? He gaped at her, at her desire to shelter him, and another strange and new feeling whipped through him, one he had never experienced before and wasn't quite sure how to describe.
He pressed his fist against his heart again, wishing the ache that had settled there would go away; she wasn't his. She would never be his.

"S
o what’s going on?" the angel asked, her brow creased in an adorable little frown. "Are you having sex with Adam’s brother, too? That’s just kinky; I didn’t think you had it in you to fuck two of them.”

“No!” Celeste
quickly denied, hugging his head to her belly and killing him with her adamant denial. Her soft words, her warm scent filled him as he put his arms around her waist and returned the painful hug, his eyes closing as he held her knowing she would never be his.

Shaking her head, she said, “No, I’m not having sex with Auberon. He's just here to help move our stuff.
"

"Why isn't Adam here?"
Kim asked suspiciously.

Celeste shrugged her shoulders, "
He had an important meeting with the Council so he sent Auberon in his place."

The demon and the half-breed exchanged a look, their eyes widening in their faces as they looked at him.
Rachel dropped to one knee, the dagger clattering to the ground next to her. Bowing her head, she stated with some embarrassment, "You're one of the Vespari twins."

"Auberon Vespari," he murmured, forcing his lips into the cocky smile that normally graced his face.

"Genevieve," the succubus murmured, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Rachel," the demon said humbly, a dull flush of color on her high cheekbones.
Humiliation came and went in a heartbeat. She was a demon; regrets were for humans and she didn’t really dwell on them. Instead, she turned her head to the man in leather and smiled her obvious appreciation.

Auberon nodded his head in acknowledgement, trying to find his equilibrium once more
while keeping a wary eye on the two demons. They were unpredictable and he was glad they were on Celeste's side.

“I should have realized it was one of
the Vespari twins; it just never occurred to me that one of my friends would meet someone so… famous, I'm almost jealous," Rachel said, a delighted smile on her lips as she gazed down at Auberon, winking incorrigibly at him. Turning her head to face Celeste, she caught her lower lip between her teeth and grinned, “Adam Vespari; I am so impressed. I bet he was magnificent; was he magnificent?”

The corners of Celeste’s lips curved upwards in a faint smile
and Auberon wanted to rip his ears off his head so he wouldn't be able to hear her answer. She practically purred, “Very.”

“Wow,”
Rachel sighed, though it was more of an exhalation of breath then a sound. She turned her head and looked back at Auberon, a hint of sympathy in her brown eyes. The sympathy quickly disappeared and her cheeks dimpled in a smile, “I take it back, Cel, I am very jealous.”

Celeste laughed at
Rachel’s comment, her fingers idly toying with the strands of Auberon's hair; he doubted she was even aware of what her fingers were doing.