Broken Vow (2 page)

Her heart was in her throat. She knew of only one being who embodied that description. “He called me mother.”

The angel said nothing.

“Tell me his name.”

Cassiel's sigh amply conveyed his sympathy and reluctance. “His name was Sully.”

Something died inside of Sonya as her eyes squeezed shut and the tears fell in torrents down her cheeks. “It was me. I was the black angel prophesied to kill my son.”

“I'm truly sorry.”

The tears came faster, tasting salty and bitter where they rested at the corners of her lips. “The only reason I became a black angel was to save my son's life and to prevent him from ever being killed by one. And all this time I was the one destined to end his life.”

Cassiel stood behind her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Nimbus was right. In trying to avoid my destiny I actually sealed it in stone.” She sobbed audibly now. “I never knew Sully. What was he like?”

Cassiel didn't offer a reply to her rhetorical question.

Sonya stood and faced him, tone pleading. “Please tell me where Nimbus is.”

“I can't do that.”

She choked on a sob, sniffling in anguish. “I just lost my son. I have to know where his father is. Please, I'm begging you.”

He held her beseeching gaze, seeming astounded and possibly hurt. “Sonya, it's been one hundred and ninety six years since you parted with Nimbus. Do you mean to tell me that you still imagine a life with him?”

She brushed away the tear stains, hoping he didn't report her traitorous thoughts. “No. I just have to know what happened to him after you turned him to stone. Where did he go? Is he okay?”

“I'm not allowed to tell you. I won't damn you.”

“Cassiel, I'm not going to go back to him. My redemption means more to me than he does.”

The archangel raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Does it?”

“Of course it does,” she snapped. “I just need closure. Not knowing haunts me.”

“Perhaps knowing would haunt you more.”

Sonya averted her eyes in frustration.

Cassiel's voice softened. “Even if I was permitted to say, I really don't know where he is now.”

“If you did and you were given permission to tell me, would you?”

He paused, violet eyes glimmering with sorrow. “I don't know. You must decide for yourself which path you will follow, but it would be utterly devastating for me to have to stand by and watch you damn yourself with him.”

Sonya forced a weak smile. Cassiel had been the one to persuade her to stay when the great divide occurred in heaven and Nimbus had urged her to come with him when he was cast out for switching his allegiance over to Lucifer. Deep down she'd always been torn between her love for Nimbus and her loyalty to God.

Nimbus hadn't given up on her, though. He later tricked her into selling her soul and seduced her into his bed and over to the dark side. It wasn't until after they had a child together and she witnessed Sully kill someone, that Sonya realized the height from which she'd fallen. She'd gone to Cassiel and asked him to turn her into a black angel so she might have a chance at redemption by slaying vampires to protect mankind. Nimbus had tried to stop her and Cassiel turned him to stone.

She'd spent the past nearly two hundred years hunting down vampires of every type. Never once had she ran into Nimbus again. While Sonya always feared what might happen if they met up again, deep down she sometimes wished she could see him one last time and touch him. But to do so would damn her.

Besides what would her mate say when he found out that she was responsible for the death of their son? She couldn't ever see him again, or reacquaint herself with the heaven that lay within his touch. She had sworn a holy oath to hunt vampires and protect humans from them. She must never permit a vampire to bite her or sleep with a demon ever again. To do so would mean damnation and no one was worth breaking her vow over.

* * *

Sonya lay awake in bed next to Tansy. The soft, curvaceous Asian woman had been her companion and closest friend since the day Sonya became a crusnik and helped the woman escape from slavery from her sadistic master, Jude. Tansy had been called Less back then because of the word Jude engraved on her forehead. Another one of his slaves had the word
Hope
carved onto hers. When they stood next to one another, they spelled the word that Jude sought to torment them with. Hopeless.

Sonya started calling Less Tansy once they escaped, since it was the woman's birth name. Tansy had learned witchcraft through the years, partly out of interest and partially for the purpose of finding a spell to erase the scars Jude left on her forehead. She'd eventually found a spell that made the scar wear off for about twelve hours, but it always came back. Aside from the temporary fix, a permanent solution had yet to be found.

Sonya had her back to Tansy as she listened to her breathe in the warm darkness. She was glad the witch was safe and grateful that she had someone to come home to after exhausting battles between good and evil. Some were lost and others were won, but the damned war never seemed to end. At times she wished Christ would return and establish his reign on the earth so she could have peace and know that she'd been forgiven by proving faithful in her duties as a crusnik.

But there were other times when Sonya feared his prophesied return for Nimbus' sake. Wherever the incubus was now, he was damned. And hastening the rapture and judgment day would only bring about Nimbus' inevitable descent into the abyss along with the others who were damned. The thought of him suffering killed her. The thought of him wallowing in eternal torment alone made her feel guilty. He was her mate and she should be with him.

No. He should be with her. He made his choice and so did she. Nimbus was the fool hell-bent on damning himself and she was the wise one doing everything in her power to forget. But she would never forget and that in and of itself felt like hell to her. An eternal damnation of the heart she lost irrevocably to him and him alone.

Sonya got up quietly to keep from disturbing Tansy. The linoleum floor in the kitchen felt cool against her bare feet. The flimsy, black lace of her chemise reminded her of the passion she shared earlier with her roommate.

She poured herself a glass of water, enjoying the way the cold liquid flowed steadily over her tongue and soothed her parched throat. If only it had the capacity to ease her soul as well.

Sully had called her mother. He'd looked her in the eye as he breathed his last, knowing that his own mother had killed him. Then he was no more. Cursed to an eternity of torture in the abyss, because his mother tried to save him and failed. In her pursuit of redemption, she'd brought about his damnation. How could she ever forgive herself for that? No more than she would ever be able to forgive herself for the heartache she put in Nimbus' eyes when she left him and said her vows to become a black angel.

Sonya wondered who had raised Sully in her and Nimbus' absence. Probably Sully's other father, Jude. She hadn't run into Jude since before she became a crusnik, nor did she know what sort of person Sully had grown up to be. One thing was for certain, if Jude raised him then Sully had likely become the epitome of evil before his fateful death. His probable wickedness did nothing to alleviate her misery and guilt.

Sonya returned to the bedroom when she heard the rustling of covers. Tansy sat up in bed, her black hair tossed about her shoulders as she blinked several times to get her bearings. The plume-like strap of her purple baby doll slid down her shoulder by accident, though the subtle movement called to Sonya seductively.

“What are you doing up?” Tansy asked with a yawn.

“I was just getting a drink of water.” Sonya climbed back into bed, feeling mildly comforted when the woman rubbed her shoulders, easing away the pent-up tension.

“Were you thinking about your son?”

She nodded. It had been her intention to keep the awful truth of her son's demise a secret, but Tansy dragged it from her. The witch was a good listener and talking about it helped a little.

“I just can't believe that I'm the one who killed him,” Sonya whispered sadly.

“You were only doing your duty. You didn't know he was your son.”

“I know, but it still hurts.”

Tansy planted a light kiss on her left cheek. “I'm sorry. Do you know what would help? Creating an ache somewhere else.”

“Are you going to punch me in the face or something?”

She laughed, moving her palm to cup Sonya's left breast while her other hand smoothed up and down her bare thigh. “That wasn't exactly the type of ache I had in mind.”

Sonya's stomach flip flopped at the naughty suggestion and she felt a stirring in her groin at the other woman's gentle, deliberate touch on her leg. “You're tired. You should sleep, not -”

“Shh.” Tansy's lips lightly pecked hers, teasing them until they tingled in response to her invitation. “I know just what you need. Do you need me to grope your breasts?”

Sonya gasped, thrilling over the way her roommate tugged the delicate straps of her chemise down.

“Yes.” Her whispered reply fanned Tansy's lips before the witch swallowed the whisper and slowly seduced Sonya's mouth with her own while fondling her boobs. The feel of the other woman's palms rolling and kneading her breast tissue was as soothing as it was decadent.

Sonya whimpered when a hand cupped her crotch beneath her chemise. She hadn't bothered to put panties back on after their tryst earlier, since the other woman insisted she go without them tonight. Tansy wouldn't let her mouth retreat from hers as she calmly rubbed her pussy and dipped her slender fingers into Sonya's moist cleft, making her mewl with bliss.

“Do you need my fingers in your pussy?” Tansy murmured against her lips.

“Yes,” Sonya breathed in response, body trembling with anticipation. She broke the kiss when a cool finger pushed into her vagina and massaged the walls therein, stealing a breathless gasp from her.

Tansy smiled, brushing Sonya's clitoris with the pad of her thumb, only enough to make it pulse and tingle with awareness. “You're creaming for a woman, bad girl.”

Sonya moaned and rode the inserted digit. “More.”

“You want another finger?” Tansy lightly tapped her clit before her finger ceased the intimate contact.

“Please. I need it.” Sonya flinched when Tansy wedged another finger inside of her and thrust into her cunt with both fingers, mimicking a very tiny penis.

Tansy nudged Sonya so she lay back against the mattress while she played with her. The witch's busty chest hovered near her just beyond reach of her mouth. Sonya lifted a hand to cup one of her tits, but Tansy pinned her wrist to the bed, eliciting a titillated groan. Sonya loved being held down and coerced into things. A trait Nimbus instilled in her long ago, but she couldn't entertain the memories right now. They would be too painful and hardly fair to the woman kind enough to pleasure her tonight.

Tansy moved so her behemoth breasts dangled in Sonya's face. “Suck my tits, tramp.”

Sonya moaned and took a distended nipple into her mouth, sucking it hard and enjoying the woman's noises of salacity. Tansy crouched lower so her boob squished against Sonya's face and she was forced to devour more of her breast.

The fingers working in and out of her sex kept Sonya on edge and she wailed against the soft, womanly flesh her tongue played with when Tansy traced erotic circles on her swollen clit with her finger.

“Sonya,” Tansy breathed her name into the warm darkness, working her fingers faster to drive Sonya crazy.

Sonya rocked her body against the pleasing digits and sucked Tansy's boob harder, nipping it with her teeth, which she knew would satisfy her. Sonya's orgasm came suddenly and with little warning as she convulsed against the mattress while the waves of thunder rolled hard and furious through her body. She bit down lightly on the tit in her mouth, relishing the way Tansy cried out and seemed delighted with the pleasure-pain.

Sonya panted for air, shivering when Tansy removed her fingers from her cunt with a playful grin and bounded over to the dresser. She padded back over to the bed with the flesh-colored feeldoe. Both women slipped off their lingerie, unveiling themselves completely.

“Shall we pretend I'm a lecherous bastard who kidnapped you and means to take your virginity?” Tansy asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Sonya laughed. She loved that fantasy, though Tansy had never understood it since it was once their reality back in the early nineteenth century. Still, she indulged Sonya's guilty pleasure and she in turn allowed Tansy to behave like a dominatrix with her sometimes.

Tansy slipped the bulb up inside of herself and climbed onto the bed with the shaft pointing toward Sonya. She overcame Sonya's pretend struggles and held her wrists down by her side. She coerced the dildo up inside of her, jarring a myriad of bittersweet memories. While this was definitely a fantasy Sonya enjoyed, tonight in the dark room with her heart heavy and her mind filled with the echoes of the past, playing at a reality from long ago hardly seemed wise. It was too easy to imagine her true mate was taking her instead since they were in the dark and the dildo felt so real.

Sonya shook her head. “I want to be inside you this time.”

Tansy released her wrists, giggling slightly when Sonya pulled the feeldoe out of her and knocked her down. She climbed on top of Tansy and slipped the bulbous end up inside of her own vagina.

“What am I doing? I should get you off first so you're wet,” Sonya realized.

Tansy ran her hands up and down her taut thighs. “Go for it. I'm already wet enough from watching you come a little bit ago.”

Sonya smiled and poised the crown of the dildo at Tansy's entry, giving it a slight push before applying more pressure with a swivel of her hips.

Tansy gasped once it slid inside of her. “Oh god, it feels so real. I'm glad we bought that thing. We still get the best part of the man without having to get the dick that comes with it.”

Sonya laughed. “You're the best.”

The chuckles ceased as she began to move inside of Tansy. While they still used a strap-on dildo sometimes, since purchasing the feeldoe, they'd gone with the latter quite a bit more. Having part of the toy inside of her while thrusting into her partner made the encounters that much sweeter and more intimate. Sonya could feel the magnitude of each thrust and knew the depth and speed she used on her lover this way.