“Damn right she’s not yours. She’s ours. We had a deal, you greedy bastard!” Alec howled in my ears, clouding my concentration.
“Tell him to stop his dirty tricks and come out to fight face to face,” Kayden said.
“Keep your end of the deal, Damien. What we already have can work. We’ve learned to share. Why can’t you? Come live with us like you used to. Stop fucking with her head,” Joshua said.
I tuned the rest of their useless attempts to talk the Devil out of his despicable intentions and kept looking for Belle’s light.
Don’t waste your breath, Zavariel. There’s none of that left. My bride is ready for her destiny of glory away from all your condescending rubbish. I’ve worked so goddamn hard for this moment, for having her right where she belonged. Isabella Ferro is mine, and mine alone.
“No. there is still light inside her. I can feel it. Find it with me, Belle. Reach out to me. Your destiny is not with Damien. Do not listen to him. Your destiny is full of light. You only need to choose to follow it.”
“Aaaaah! She won’t listen to you. You’re useless. Just like everything that comes from your goddamn home,” Alec snapped.
“Enough with your blasphemy!” I shouted, my wings jutting from my back.
The three of them took a step back, their mouths finally shut.
“Why don’t you take a rest, Zavariel? Maybe I can help,” the witch spoke.
I glared at her. “She does not need more darkness helping her. Enough what you have done to her already.”
Kayden waved an angry hand at me. “Then what do you suggest? We watch while he takes her under our noses?”
“Most certainly not.” My gaze focused on Belle’s face. “I believe I have a way to awaken her, only you are not going to like it.”
“Whatever it takes. We just want her back.”
I nodded, convincing myself he was right. What I was about to do was a necessity. To save Heaven. To save her. There was no difference between the two.
Kneeling, I held her face between my hands and leaned forward. Hesitation coursed through me, though. It would have been much easier if her mates were not watching me like angry hawks.
I cleared my throat and glanced up at them. “You might prefer to…” I twirled a finger.
“Just fucking do it, Asshole!” Alec yelled, and, instantly, reflexively, impulsively, enjoyably, I pressed my lips to hers.
“What the fuck?” he said slowly.
I ignored him. Now, it was not too hard, not when her mouth had become mine once more, not when the softness of her lips had made me believe in sweet Heaven all over again.
Find me, Belle. Find me in the light. Find me in the taste of my sin. Find me in your power over me. Find me in this moment of sweet agony. Find me, Belle. I believe in you.
A slight twitch in her lips set my heart frantic. I plunged my fingers into her hair and kissed her harder, sucking one lip and then the other. Then I parted her teeth with my tongue. Unlike our first kiss, she yielded, and her tongue danced with mine. Her breath shuddered on my flesh, and her lashes moved.
Yes, Belle. Find me. I am right here.
She gasped for breath and, finally, fully opened her eyes. Our gazes met. For a moment, I was lost in her once hazel eyes, in their odd beauty of the mix of silver and gold shades with the hazel, in the wonder in them, in the soul behind them.
She blinked once,and the next throb, her palm clashed against my cheek.
As the three beasts dashed toward her, I chortled. “I deserved that one, too.” My kiss might have started as a means to free her from Damien’s web, but I was enjoying myself a little too much, especially, when this time, she returned the kiss.
“Too?!” It was the vampire’s turn to snap at me in a jealousy feat. I was too exhilarated, swirling in the bliss the sweetness of her lips was, to care or feel guilt.
Kayden growled at me. “We’ll deal with you later. But now we have to focus on keeping Belle away from the bastard. Why do you keep listening to him, sweetheart?” he asked her in distress.
“Because like you, he truly loves me, but unlike you, he’s not afraid to push the limits to give me what I want.” Her answer shocked them and me. “I know it’s awful of me to say that, but it’s the truth. Damien has no moral compass, and he is ready to literally unleash Hell on earth for me, and I find that very…beautiful.”
“Belle…” Kayden whispered.
