What was she thinking? Was this some sort of sacrifice she thought she had to make, to show me I was still Seraphiel? She couldn’t truly want me.
I tried to look stern. “Little one, what are you doing?”
Obviously impatient, she looked down her nose at me. “I heard rumors that you were some sort of merge expert. But apparently, it was all hype. That’s okay. I can teach you.” She dove for my mouth again, but I held her by her shoulders.
“Feather, my tongue… it’s forked.” I stuck the tip out, so she could see. Her eyes went the tiniest bit hazy. But not with fear. She was lusting after me?
“Oh my…” she said, rubbing herself against my armor unconsciously. “It’s so big and thick. Ummm, you can feel things with it, right?” She ground herself down on me, not at all accidentally this time, and I thought I might choke on my “big, thick” tongue.
“Yes,” I yelped as she circled part of my tail with her hand, testing the circumference. She ran her hand as far up it as she could reach, and I shuddered with intense pleasure.
“You felt that for sure. Hmm, I wonder what else this tail can do.” She sent an extremely graphic image of me fucking her tight pussy, while my tail wrapped around her waist, the tip thrusting forcefully into her ass, and my tongue was lapping at her pink nipples.
My cock went so hard, it felt like it might break off inside the armor. “Little one, you don’t find me abhorrent?”
She shook her head in mock despair. “Did you even see my Kindle history, Rumple? You know exactly what a tail and horns do to a dirty-minded girl like me. You’re literally sixty percent of my most outlandish fantasies come true. If I could figure out how to get this shizz off you”—she pulled at my armor breastplate—“I bet we could work that number higher.”
“But... my smell,” I argued. “And I must taste terrible.”
She blew a stray piece of hair out of her eyes, still looking for a finger hold in the armor at my shoulder. “You remember that chain-smoker boyfriend I had in Chicago? He tasted twice as bad as you do, and I let him stick his?—”
I snarled, my sharp fangs clicking on air. “Don’t talk about other men, Feather.”
She batted her lashes and rubbed herself against my thigh. “Oh, jealous? What about my mates, then? I’ve licked and kissed them, too. Everywhere. When Mikhail was all smutty, sometimes he tasted a little charred as well, but a good girl learns to get over the initial salty—” I stopped her teasing words with a long, passionate kiss, until a quiet voice drew my attention.
“I’ll just take a nap for a bit.”
Shit.I had completely forgotten about Gavriel.Sorry.
He had his back to me, and was using a cloth to wipe his feet clean.Don’t be. If I had her on my lap, I wouldn’t want to chat either.
I bristled slightly. He didn’t deserve her touch any more than I did. A faint wash of understanding and agreement filtered out of his closed mental shields. And pain. I had a feeling he had more wounds under his leather trousers, and I cleared my throat. “Gavriel, if you need?—”
“Oh, wow. That was rude of me.” Blushing, Feather peered over her shoulder. “Sorry, Gavriel. You two were talking about fault and blame and stuff. Carry on.” Gavriel didn’t look up, but he smiled at his feet.
His increasingly bloody feet.
“Take off the trousers, Gav. You may have wounds underneath that… Renaissance fair outfit.” I fought to keep my tone light, but something told me Gavriel’s energy was dangerously low.
“Don’t criticize. I fully approve of the leather ensemble,” Feather chided, her finger straying to my horns. Then she froze. “But I agree with Rumple. You should probably strip down, just to be certain. I could do a thorough inspection.”
For a moment, I thought all three of us were going to burst into laughter. Or start fucking. There was a lot that Gavriel and I could teach a sweet thing like her.
Feather’s eyes got huge, and I realized I had broadcast that.Oops,I lied.
Tease. And anyway, you don’t know what Mikhail already taught me. I’m practically a sexpert. That may be what my job will be in the Celestial Realm. Madam of the Merge. Those Celestials seemed pretty uptight. I can loosen them all up, teach them some better uses for all those macramé knots.
For that moment, my heart was as light as my armor was heavy. My little one was here with me, in a place that was as safeas any could be outside the Celestial Realm, and she was whole and well.
It would all be perfect if I could just get this damned armor off. We could puppy pile.
Puppy pile? Heck to the yes!She started prying at the edges of my armor as if she could find a seam to tear it off.
Across the room, Gavriel blushed and turned to the wall, pulling his trousers down. “Shit,” I hissed. There were gouges in his thighs from right under his buttocks, extending down past his knees. A gush of blood flowed as he took off the trousers. That was a mistake. The leather must have been working to compress the wounds somewhat, and now it was gone. I was still so weak that even standing was difficult, but I tried to rise. And fell right back onto the sofa, my head splitting with pain. The armor had somehow grown heavier. “Feather, help Gav.”
“Oh, son of a blister!” Feather grabbed a small stack of diapers off the table and grasped Gavriel’s arm, maneuvering him back to the sofa. She made him kneel on it facedown, his torso hanging over the back, and pressed the cloth to the wounds on his thighs, singing a basic healing song as she focused on closing the gaping wounds.
He was bleeding far too fast; there was no way she would get it done in time. I joined her on a bass line, letting the rhythm of my voice hold her tired melody in place while she forced the jagged tears to fix themselves.
