“You’re finally free.”
Diel’s stomach rolled. Noa ducked down and kissed along his scar. He leaned his head to the side, allowing her access to his neck. Shivers exploded along his body. When she pulled back, he held her by the legs and walked across the room to the fire.
He dropped to his knees on the cold hard ground, gently placing Noa on her back. He lay above her, unwilling to let her go, and combed his fingers through her hair. She ran her hand down his cheek, his neck, and placed it on his chest, right over his brand. She stared at the angel wings, at the upturned cross now fashioned into the Fallen’s sword.
When her eyes met his again, they were shining. “They took so much from us,” she whispered. “So fucking much.”
Diel’s anger was quick to rise. It was instant. Just the thought of the Brethren fucking Noa as a child—at any age—sent his darkness spiraling, the need to kill clawing to the surface. “Breathe.” It was Noa’s voice that helped him cap his fury. Where once it had been the crackling heat of the collar’s voltage, now it was her.
He breathed deeply, calming. When his pulse had slowed, Noa shifted, making him groan. “You’ll get used to controlling the bursts of rage.”
He tipped his head to the side. “Your voice stops it.”
Noa brushed her fingertips over his lips. His cock was iron again inside her, and he began to rock forward, slowly, softly. Her eyes fluttered, but she managed to say, “You will stop yourself.” She moved her hands around his neck again, and he towered above her, increasing his thrusts. Noa moaned but, ensuring Diel was looking at her, said, “You control the darkness within you, no one else. It doesn’t control you. No one will ever control you again.” Diel thrust faster and faster, needing to feel her pussy tighten around him. Needing her moans to hit his ears and her nails to scrape along his back.
He leaned down and took her mouth, groaning as her tongue clashed with his. But Noa ripped away from his lips, breathless, cheeks flushing. “You curb the darkness. You wait until you need it. It’s both your shield and your sword. The greatest weapon you will ever possess.”
Noa began to thrust her hips too, and their fucking grew harder and harder, faster and faster, until pressure built in Diel’s thighs and his dick swelled even more. Noa’s nails dug into his skin, and her legs tightened around his back, her heels digging into his ass.
Noa groaned loud and free and tipped her head back. Diel pushed and pushed until she clenched around him again, choking his dick. He groaned and came inside her, breath held and muscles tensed as she drained every ounce of pleasure from his body.
They were breathless, panting in front of the fire into the old, cold room. Diel dropped his forehead to hers.
“It lives inside of you,” she said. “Exists within you. Feel its heartbeat pound, feel its energy fueling your body.” Noa’s hands were in his hair; her lips peppered kisses along his cheeks between each word—along his neck, his scar—until she met his eyes once again. “It’s your strength, a huge part of who you truly are. And when the time is right, when we face the Brethren …” Noa smiled wide. “You unleash all hell on them. You blanket them with your evil, and you blot out their sun.”
Diel’s exhilaration rose as he imagined taking on their enemies. “And you? Where will you be with your own darkness?” He leaned down and sucked her nipple into his mouth. Noa gripped his messy black hair and brought his attention from her breast right to her face. And then he saw it. He saw her conjure it to the surface, felt it in the racing of her heart against his chest.
“I’ll be right beside you.” Her eyes flashed with uncontained excitement. “I’ll be unleashing my darkness right alongside yours.” She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes. A smile formed on her lips. “Just imagine that glorious sight.”
Diel groaned. The image she projected almost made him come again. And then he kissed her. Kissed every inch of her. The woman who had set him free.
He wasn’t sure he would ever stop.
Chapter 13
Gabriel clenched his teeth as he pulled the straps of the cilice harder, feeling the metal teeth sinking into his thigh muscle. He fought back a pained cry as blood rolled down his leg. He looked down at the skin; it was completely ruined.
The sun hadn’t even risen, too early in the morning for that, but Gabriel’s blood was already being offered for his sins. Blood-soaked bread lay stagnant in his stomach as he took on the sins of his brothers and Maria, damning his own soul in their stead.