Bound by Love (5 page)

"Deal," Beliaz said.

"Deal." Andaras dipped his head in a mocking bow and then said, "I'll send someone with the details of your first job within the week."

Chapter Eight

Shaken by the vivid, painful hallucination, Eden stood, clinging to an end table for support. His dagger still rested in the center of the floor where he'd marked his long ritual of prayer. He wondered what day it was and if what he'd seen had been a vision meant to warn him from continued prayer, or relieve him from it. He shook his head. It didn't matter how long he had to remain motionless, he'd continue the vigil for his lover.

Dropping to his hands and knees, Eden crawled to the dagger and knelt before it. He folded his hands in prayer and bowed his forehead to the floor. With his face averted, he smelled the shadowfire before he saw it. Turning his head to one side, he gasped and then rolled away. He grabbed his dagger as he moved, holding it out between his body and the portal as he swayed onto his feet and fought
the urge to
black out with the sudden change in elevation.
Not
again—

—Beliaz stepped through the portal in full demon form. He would not be surprised if he ended up back at his father's throne room, or worse, at a deeper, more sinister level of Hell. He braced for anything as the shadowfire consumed him and carried him through to his destination.

Exhausted, his body refused to cooperate though his will remained strong with thoughts of his lover. Beliaz stumbled out of the portal and spread his wings to break his fall. Black wings with blacker veins snaking and weaving through their translucent skin wrapped around his body, shielding him as he tumbled.

He heard the warlike scream and kept his wings wound tight until he felt the dagger sink through the joint of his right wing and into his chest. When the dagger disappeared, so did his strength. "Eden…" He barely heard the name falling from his lips as unknown hands peeled his wings back like a layer of an overripe onion.

"
Eden?
"
Bel blinked and reached for the angel.
T
oo skinny
,
sunken and starved,
but still his angel,
Eden
'
s
brave
face hovered over Bel
'
s, full of
fear and hatred, but it
was
him. He
'
d recognize the love of his life after centuries away.
"
My
g
uiding
l
ight,
"
he whispered.

The angel batted away his hand and stood over him. "What did you do with Bel?" he demanded. "I'll torture it out of you if I have to, you son of a bitch."

"My mom wasn't—" Oh, right, Eden had not seen his full demon form since the fateful night Bel yanked him from the sky. Occasionally during fights, or sex, he would partially shift, but he'd always retained some control. Not once had he subjected Eden to the full impact of his father's genes since the night they'd first met. "It's me, Eden. Remember me?" He tried to shift, but he couldn't summon the energy required to force his body into its human form.

Eden raised the blade over his head, hatred burning in his eyes, vicious and alluring like the blue flame of a gas stove. "I will not entertain such nonsense from a demon!"

"Remember, you've seen me like this." Bel pushed with his will and searched his body for any little bit of energy to fuel a change. "Remember the night we met. You saw me when we fought. When you hit me with that light. When…"

His face burned. He hoped it was enough. He hurt too much and he couldn't tell the pain of shifting from the exhaustion and wounds inflicted by Kimi-Ari and his father's grunts.

"Please… Eden…" He raised a clawed hand, still razor sharp, wishing to touch his angel one more time before his pleas failed.

"Oh shit! Bel!" The dagger clattered to the floor and Eden threw his arms around the fallen demon. "I'm so sorry, Bel. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh, Bel, I swore I'd never hurt you." He knelt beside the demon and pressed his cheek to the palm of Bel's dangerous claws.

"What's with your mouth?" Bel groaned. He touched Eden. His angel. His love. So real.

Eden pressed his small, thin fingers to the wound he'd caused. Even as gentle as Eden could be, Bel hissed in pain, his eyes swirling with shadowfire as they rolled back in his head.

"Don't. Just…" Each word pained Bel to speak, but he forced them through. "Let. Me. Heal."

"Shh, my love." Eden flattened his hands over the wound and closed his eyes. He chanted words in the ancient tongue they both knew.

"No. I said don't." Bel licked his lips. His tongue felt like a human one. "Save your strength, Eden. You look like shit."

"Shut up, demon."

Bel blinked and squinted through the haze of pain pulsing through his body. Eden's touch warmed his chest and the heat spread through his torso and snaked into his limbs. Wholly unlike the heat of Hell, comforting and homebound.

"Be careful," Bel whispered. "I need you to be strong until I heal."

"I thought I told you to shut up."

"When did you get such a foul mouth?"

Eden laughed softly. "When my one and only love decided to take an extended vacation in Hell."

Beliaz felt energized by whatever Eden had done to him. He willed the shift to its completion, his horns retreating and his flesh burning with the effort.

"Don't, Bel. Not yet. You'll heal faster if you don't shift."

"I've been a demon long enough." He cried out as the last of the transformation destroyed his horns, his tail, and his claws. "I love you, my guiding light."

Chapter Nine

Bright light seeped behind his eyelids. Bel rolled over and bumped into a warm body. Without opening his eyes, he threw his arm around the familiar shape and buried his face in soft blue hair. "I hope that's your light waking me," he said as he nuzzled Eden's neck. "Because I don't want to get out of bed and close the curtains."

"I'll get it."

Bel hooked a leg around Eden's thighs and shifted his weight over the angel, pinning him to the bed. "You'll not go anywhere," he said. He opened his eyes and stared down into pale blue depths as he caressed the angel's sunken cheek.

"I am glad to see you have your strength back." Eden ran his hands up Bel's torso and over his chest. His fingers lingered over the scar his dagger left, a black slash over Bel's left pec.

"And you, my light, are you feeling better?"

Eden tore his eyes off of the scar to look into Bel's eyes. "Very much, yes."

"Hungry?"

Eden nodded. "But there is something I wish more than food."

Bel smiled and kissed the angel's soft lips. "After I fell asleep on you last night, I owe you anything you want this morning."

"You don't owe me. I didn't sleep while you were gone either."

"Okay, tell me what you want and I'll decide if you deserve it." Bel ran his fingers through the angel's hair, fanning it out on the pillow beneath his head.

"I want you, Bel."

"You have me."

The angel caressed the demon's strong, muscular chest and then squeezed his shoulders. "Bel…"

"Yes, my guiding light?" His lips turned up in a twisted smile.

"I know that smirk!" Eden pushed at Bel's chest and tried to squirm away. When Bel caught Eden's wrists and held them in one hand over the angel's head, Eden stopped struggling and smiled up at his lover. "You know what I'm saying," Eden said.

"I want to hear you say it."

"Bel…"

"I love you, Eden. I want you." He kissed Eden's pink cheeks and then paused to look down at him again. "Tell me."

"I want you, Bel. I want you to…" He sighed and then shoved his hand between them, closing his fingers around Bel's already growing cock. "I want this inside of me." His blush grew several shades brighter when Bel's smile burst wider.

"Damn, that's hot," Bel said in a low tone. He rolled his hips, thrusting into Eden's grip. "I want to fuck you, much more than I want food."

With a coy smile, Eden said, "Then what are you waiting for?"

Bel dropped his mouth to Eden's skin, bathing his neck and then chest with warm, urgent kisses. The angel keened, his soft whimpers urging Bel onward and lower. Bel's lips hit Eden's nipple, drawing him up, back arcing off of the mattress. Suddenly Bel rose up on his knees.

"Roll over."

Eden's eyes widened and his smile blossomed. "Oh…" He flipped over and shoved a pillow under his hips. Bel slapped his ass playfully, and then leaned over the angel and kissed the back of his neck. Their bodies fit together snugly and for a long breath Bel remained pressed to Eden's back, his hands caressing Eden's side ribs while his lips danced over the angel's nape.

"Bel?"

"Hm?"

"Now."

Bel growled and nipped Eden's earlobe. "Damn, that's hot. Oh hell, yeah." He flexed his hips, rubbing his cock against Eden's crease. He pulled back and bumped the soft head of his penis against Eden's entrance. Dripping pre-cum, Bel massaged the natural lubrication against Eden, pushing gently, and then harder.

Eden whimpered, and then pushed back, his tight muscles spreading around Bel's penetration.

"Easy, my angel," Bel whispered against his ear. "I don't want to hurt you."

"It's a welcome pain… and so good. Damn good." Eden twisted his head to look back at Bel over his shoulder. "I want to feel you."

Bel eased in and back out again, slowly loosening Eden's tight ass with gentle strokes. He distracted the angel with light kisses along the base of his hidden wings. When his Hell-warmed tongue circled the joint of Eden's right wing, Eden groaned and arched into the touch, pushing back on Bel's cock and nearly smacking him in the face with the sudden unfurling of his wings.

"You like that?" Bel slid back and thrust, picking up a steady rhythm in Eden's ass while caressing his wings with the lightest of touches. He couldn't tell which excited the angel more— the sexual union or the caressing of any and every spot on his soft, sensitive wings.

Eden answered with soft keening and a glow on his skin that originated from deep within his core. "I do," he gasped. "Oh, Bel, I'm going to…"

"Come for me." Bel picked up his pace, abandoning the wings to grasp the angel's narrow hips. He pounded into Eden's ass, hard and fast, his balls rising and the spark of orgasm racing from them, up his spine and down his cock. As he shot his useless seed deep within the angel, Bel collapsed between Eden's wings. He kissed the joint where the wing met his back, and caressed along the spine of the wing to the next joint. Eden cried out, his body stiffening briefly before he melted beneath the demon, writhing in his own sensual, powerful orgasm.

"Thank you," Eden whispered against his pillow.

Bel kissed the angel
'
s cheek.
"
Thank
you
,
"
he said. He rubbed the angel
'
s back and then climbed from the bed.

"Where are you going?" Eden rolled to his side, and then sat up as Bel pulled on a pair of jeans.

"Breakfast. I'm starved."

"Do you know what day it is?" The angel crossed the room to stand before Bel, smiling up at him. He toyed with the ring hanging around Bel's neck. "It's Valentine's Day, Bel. It's the day for lovers."

Bel covered Eden's hand, holding it and the ring together. "It's not a lover's ring," he said. "You should know—"

Eden pressed his lips to Bel's mouth. "Shh, I do know." He kissed Bel once more and said, "But you meant it as one. You want to protect me. I understand the magic, Bel. I'm well educated in the evil workings of Hell." Eden swallowed hard and licked his lips. "I'm sorry. I speak out of line."

"No, you're right. I made it to protect you and because I want to be bound to you. You know that too, right? That the magic binds both ways? You to me, but also me to you. If anything happens to you I'll know when and where, and I'll come immediately. It'll also ward off demons of any kind."

Eden covered their hands with his free one. "I would accept it willingly. It is the perfect gift for this special day. Bel, I love you and I trust you with my life." He lifted his hand and, with fingers splayed, he said, "My life is yours."

Bel removed the ring from his neck and slid the ring over Eden's finger. When he kissed the band the gems glowed and then flared as Bel repeated the words.

"My life is yours." Bel kissed the angel and folded him into his arms. "Happy Valentine's day, my guiding light."

Eden rested his head against Bel's chest. He held up his palm and they both watched Andaras's marks turn pink and fade away as the skin healed. Eden wrapped his arms around Bel's shoulders and planted a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Best holiday ever," he said.

"I agree." Bel's voice rumbled in his chest and he tightened his embrace, nuzzling Eden's soft, vibrant hair. "Now are you going to cook me breakfast or what?"

Eden laughed and pushed him away. "Oh, no," he said with a grin. "I have to go out and buy heart-shaped balloons and red and pink streamers and a paper cupid decoration and—

Bel silenced him with a kiss.
"
If you
'
ll settle for heart-shaped toast, I
'
ll take you shopping for chocolates in a heart-shaped box
after
we eat
.
"

"No pink streamers?"

"Of course pink streamers." Bel laughed and slipped his hand in Eden's. "How could I deny you when you glow like that just thinking about it?"

Bel led Eden down the stairs, still holding his hand. Bel's thumb brushed over the ring magically binding them together as they descended. He could feel its magic, but stronger than that, he felt the bond they'd had well before he traveled to Hell.