“Indeed, seraph.” Apassionata frowned. “They are still plentiful, but if you will allow me a few hours, I can gather an escort to aid your way.”
Wrath swelled to twice his size. “I don’t need a fucking escort.”
“I misspoke.” Apassionata changed tack smoothly. “I merely propose such an arrangement for expediency. Our demesne is particularly beset by these hordes.”
They had encountered trouble on the way through Shade’s demesne to Ava’s. It would help if they didn’t have to keep stopping and fighting their way to the hell gate, but this was not her decision, so she turned to Wrath. “Wrath?”
“You have an hour,” he snapped.
“How generous,” Apassionata murmured. “Perhaps some refreshments while you wait?”
Wrath remained silent, so Haziel said, “Thank you.”
“It would be my pleasure.” Apassionata threw her a mischievous glance. “In hell, we are always ready to welcome travelers. Regardless of where they come from.”
She couldn’t help but like him, and Haziel laughed. This trip to hell had been the first time she had ever bothered to really speak to a demon. Most of her previous encounters with them had been decidedly bellicose. In Ava’s domain, she had befriended Rapace with his wicked sense of humor and keen, incisive mind. She would always have a soft spot for Covet, and Apassionata made another demon she would like to know better.
Wrath turned when she laughed, a cold expression on his face. “We have to get to the earth realm. We’ve delayed too long as it is.”
And that was because he’d come to fetch her and then she’d injured her wing.
“Indeed.” Apassionata winked at her. “Rumor has it that your brother has been seen there.”
Haziel couldn’t resist his charm. “You seem remarkably well informed for a demon stuck in a palace alone.”
“Ah, seraph.” Apassionata looked wicked and contrite at the same time, and it made him roguishly handsome. “I catch but whispers in the wind.”
“You’ll catch my boot up your ass if you keep flirting with my angel,” Wrath growled.
His angel. A wash of heat brushed Haziel.
“Indeed.” Apassionata looked more amused than intimidated. “If you would follow me? I will show you to chambers in which you can wait, and I will bring you refreshment.” He looked Wrath dead in the eye as he said, “For you and your angel.”
They followed Apassionata up a sweeping marble staircase to an upper level with graceful arches and gleaming floors. He stopped in front of an arched door and opened it.
“Seraph.” He opened the door and nodded her inside. “I think you will find everything you need within.”
Wrath got his shoulder in front of Apassionata. “This will do for both of us.”
“Wha—”
Wrath marched into the chamber, hands on his hips as he scowled at the interior.
Sharing a chamber while the lust seal played havoc on them seemed like an extremely dangerous idea to her. A tempting idea, but a very dangerous one.
“Of course.” Apassionata’s full mouth quirked. “You are, as always, Lord Wrath, an absolute delight.”
Wrath glared at the door until Apassionata shut it behind him. “Shade needs to watch that one. Far too clever for his own good.”
“I like him.” Haziel examined the room. Through a bank of floor to ceiling glass, the jungle had been turned into a pirate’s treasure of colors by the setting sun. The largest bed she’d ever seen graced the center of the room in a proliferation of jewel-colored hangings and pillows. The bed invited you to spend the rest of your days in its depth. And brought Haziel back to the first order of business. “I’m sorry about all these delays.”
Whirling, Wrath closed the distance between then.
Her back hit the wall.
Wrath kept coming until he had her caged by his hard body in the front and his muscular arms on either side of her head. “I was the one who injured your wing.”
“But I delayed you at Ava’s.” She should tell him to stop and step back, but she couldn’t lie. She didn’t want him to do either of those things. Whether it was the seal or her disturbing obsession with him, Haziel delighted in the sheer audacity of his presumption.
“I left you there. It was up to me to bring you safely back.” He pressed closer until she could feel every hard line of him against her.
Her body delighted in the sensations. She drew in his scent of sage and leather. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I can’t help myself.” Wrath lowered his mouth to within a breath of hers. “And I really don’t want to anymore.”
Neither did Haziel. She raised her chin and met his molten stare. “Kiss me.”
On a groan, Wrath closed the distance between their lips.
Prepared for a full-frontal assault, she was surprised by the featherlight caress of his lips. Wrath took his time drawing her lower lip into the hot, wet cavern of his mouth. He released her lip with a moist plop. “You kiss me.”
Pure, unadulterated lust swept through her. It could be the seal, or it could be her feelings for him, but Haziel didn’t care to question. Gripping the back of his head, she took his tempting mouth like a marauder. Her tongue slid past his pillowy lips into the heated cavern beyond.
Wrath tensed and then he kissed her back.
Kiss was such a tame description for the way he took her mouth. He possessed her with lips, tongue, and teeth, taking and demanding, giving and surrendering.
His hair was like silk between her fingers; he tasted like pure temptation. Her body grew warm and pliant, and she pressed into his iron strength. His hard cock pressed into her belly in a blatant reminder of where a kiss like this led.
