Shecould suck it.
Groaning at the inappropriately erotic thought, he flippedonto his stomach, and oh, look at that, he was naked.She’d stripped himbareand he hadn’t awakened?That had happened only oncebefore, whenZhubaalhad carried him fromAzagoth’soffice after a particularly brutal flogging andlaid him out on his bed inSheoul-gra.He’d awakenedconfused and sore, but at least he’d been in his own bed.
“So.”The mattress dipped as she sat next to him, her warmthigh pressing against his hip through the purple satin sheet.She liked herjewel tones, didn’t she?Everything in the room, from the bright citrinelampshade to the jade rug and ruby wall accents screamed,I hate subtlecolor and earth tones.“What’s the deal with this punishment thing?”
His cheeks heated with humiliation.“I did something stupid,and I got in trouble for it.”
“Yeah, I guessed that much.Musthave beenpretty badto get you kicked out of Heavenand to be cursed with eternalpunishment.”
“I also spent a few decades in prison,” he muttered into thepillow.
His two team members, Ebel and Darlah, had rotted in jailwith him while all their fates were decided.Ebel had been released first, withno restrictions on his power and without anAzdaiglyph.It had taken him only two years to track down his gemstone anddestroy one of the thieves who’d stolen it from him, but the amethyst had beentainted by the evil of the one who had possessed it, an evil that darkened hissoul and turned him against his own kind.
He’d been hunted down and slaughtered.His gem and hispendant now sat uselessly in some Archangel’s office until the other two Gemsof Enoch couldbe recoveredand a new team could beformed.
Next, they’d released Darlah to find her gem, but this time,she’d been hobbled like Razr, her wings—and consequently, her power—bound, andshe’d been branded with anAzdaiglyph.
She’d disappeared three years later and was presumed dead.
Now it was Razr’s turn.Returning to Heaven with his gemwould redeem him.Returning with both his diamond and Darlah’s garnet wouldmake him a hero.Heaven would once again have the three Enoch stones, and hecould put together another team to combat demons.
Heneededthose stones, and one was within hisgrasp.He just had to exercise a little patience and be smart.
Jedda’s finger smoothed over the bandages, and he nearlypurred.No one had touched him like that since Darlah.And even then, theirrelationship had been sexual, frantic, and intense, with zero intimate moments.At least, not by his definition of intimate.
“Can I ask what you did?”
He inhaled sharply, wondering how to play this.He couldlie, tell the truth, employ avoidance...He had a few options.In the end, hesettled on a generic version of the truth, figuring that offering a littleinformation might help him draw info out of her, as well.
“I was part of an elite demon-slaying team.We got carelessone day, and our carelessness cost lives and property.”
Anger and regret burned through his veins at the memory.They’d been battling hordes of demons advancing on a shithole village in whatwas now Somalia, and Razr had ordered Ebel to station the stones and theirhuman guardians on the edge of town near Razr and his team.But Ebel hadmisunderstood, placing the trio of humans and gems in the center of town,leaving them out of the team’s sight and vulnerable to demons who somehowslipped through the barrier generated by Razr’s Ice Diamond.It had been a clusterfuckof epic proportions, and one Razr would never forget.Not even his dreams gavehim respite from the sight of the death and destruction.
“I’m sorry,” Jedda said softly.“I know exactly what that’slike.I lost my entire family because I was careless too.”
“They’re dead?”
She peeled a bandage away with surprising tenderness.He’dhave ripped the sucker off.“My parents and one sister are.My other sister andI might as well be strangers.”
Okay, so now hehadto know.“What kind of demonare you?”
She shifted, planting one warm palm on his waist, and hisbody stirred to sudden, hot life.Beneath his hips, his shaft swelled, and thesatiny sheet rubbing it like a caress made it even worse.
“I’m not a demon.”
He laughed.“Bullshit.”
“I’m not.”She pulled off another strip of bandage, and hewelcomed the slight burn of the adhesive tugging on his skin.He needed thedistraction.Badly.“I’m a gem elf.”
“A what?”Talk about a distraction.
“A gem elf,” she said slowly, as if he was hard of hearing.Or a toddler.
“I heard you.I just don’t know what a gem elf is.”
“Aren’t angels supposed to know everything?”
How cute.Angels seemed to be kept in the dark abouteverything.
