Christine Warren - Huntress

“I know, but I’m the only reason Samael is paying any attention to you. If I’d done the job right or left as soon as I heard you come down those stairs tonight, he never would have known you were alive.”

“Um, hello, but aren’t you the person who told me that he’s been trying to get back a book that basically warns him about me in four different ways?”

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about it, and I think it’s just as likely that the prophecy was talking about your uncle as about you,” she said, which was at least half true. She did think there was an equal chance for Alistair and Aaron to be the knights; she just thought there might be another knight in there entirely whom they hadn’t talked about yet. “Especially since he’s dead. Fallen, as it were.”

“Then what we’re about to do now is make the prince flee, huh?”

“That’s the plan.”

“And tell me again how you’re planning to manage that.”

Lilli made a face. “I’m going to offer to give him exactly what he wants. If he’ll agree not to start the rebellion, we’ll give him back the book. I think the four small prince verses are the real reason he wanted it in the first place. If he had those, he’d be in a much stronger position to know where his enemies were likely to attack.”

“He didn’t see us coming.”

“No, because your uncle had the book. Samael had no way of referring to the prophecy ahead of time. I think that may be why your uncle was killed. Samael was responsible, and he did it to get the book back. But since your uncle wasn’t a stupid man, he made arrangements to keep Samael from finding it—namely concealing it on the wrong shelf and ensuring that you were put in place to take charge of his effects after his death.”

“You really don’t believe in coincidence, do you?”

“Not when Samael is involved, I don’t.”

“Then I’m glad I get the chance to face him again,” Aaron said, and his hazel eyes hardened behind his scholarly glasses. “Are you sure we can’t make this a more traditional sort of battle?”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

The thought of it made Lilli’s stomach clench. Even she had no intention of trying to best Samael in a physical contest. She’d been telling the truth that he would be less powerful here in his physical form than if they had confronted him on his own plane, but he could still squash either one of them like a bug with the same effort it would take to blow his nose.

“Let’s just stick to the original plan. We’ll summon him, we’ll offer him a deal, we’ll send him back where he belongs. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

“Good.” Lilli let herself relax and rose to her knees to inch forward until she could slide into his lap and wrap her legs around him. “That means it’s time for the fun part.”

His hands rose instinctively to steady her and secure her close to him. “You didn’t tell me there was going to be a fun part,” he said, his voice low and a little hoarse when she dipped her head and dragged her lips along the side of his neck.

“Oh, absolutely. Don’t you think we deserve a fun part?” She rocked slowly against him and felt his instant, gratifying response.

“Sure I do.” Her teeth closed lightly on his ear and made him shudder. “I just, ah, thought we might save it until after we finished here. You know, give ourselves a sort of reward.”

“Why wait?” Lilli felt his fingers tighten on her hips and pressed closer, dragging her breasts across the warm plane of his chest. “Did you know that aside from a blood sacrifice, the most effective way to raise energy for a magical purpose is through sex?”

She slid her hands under the open edges of his flannel shirt and pushed it off, dragging it down his arms and dropping it to the floor. When those curious fingers brushed against his belly as they sought the hem of his t-shirt, he groaned softly.

“I’d … heard about that.” Aaron lifted his arms to allow her to pull off his tee and leave him bare-chested on the claret-colored blanket. She could hear his voice deepening, see the gooseflesh on his skin, which she knew had nothing to do with the ambient temperature.

“But like I said,” he continued, “I’m not a summoner. Magi tend to, ah, work alone.”

Lilli let her mouth curve into a grin. Crossing her arms over her chest, she drew her own shirt up and over her head, revealing nothing but bare skin underneath. When Samael had interrupted them earlier, she’d been in too much of a hurry to cover herself up to wrestle with her bra. Now she relished the convenience of one less layer.

Almost as much as she relished the way her breasts seemed to draw his gaze like magnets. His gaze and his elegant, long-fingered hands.

Lilli leaned into his touch and lowered her head until her breath brushed across his mouth like a caress. “Oh, but it’s so much more fun with a partner,” she whispered. “Don’t you think?”

Think? At the moment, Aaron considered himself lucky that he could still breathe, and if Lilli shifted a little further to the right, all bets were off on that, too.

Groaning, he angled his head and took her mouth in a kiss he could feel all the way down to his toes. Or maybe she took his mouth. It didn’t really matter. What mattered was that they sank into each other as easily as the ocean, riding a wave of mutual desire that threatened to swamp him at any moment. He didn’t think he could ever get enough of her taste, of the sweet, smoky tang that was Lillith Corbin. He drank it in like water and never seemed to quench his thirst.

She returned the kiss just as avidly, whimpering as she struggled to get closer. Her arms twined about his neck, tangling him in an embrace he could cheerfully have called home for the rest of eternity. She had no need to hold him to her, since the last thing he wanted was to get away, but maybe, like him, her head was swimming and she had to hold on to him to keep from losing her balance.

Come to think of it, he realized, they would both be a lot safer if they were a little closer to the floor.

Easing himself back, Aaron carefully lowered himself to the soft fleece blanket beneath them, reluctantly removing one hand from her breast so that he could help her stretch across him like the sky. He felt her purr of pleasure against his lips and sent both hands back to wandering, briefly cupping and cuddling her breasts before sliding along her smooth, curving sides to knead the mounds of her amazing ass.

The feel of fabric beneath his hands irritated him and he suddenly, violently, wanted them both to be naked. He supposed he could have done things the old-fashioned way and fumbled with buttons and zippers, tugging and rearranging cloth to reveal the hidden prize beneath. There were times when he loved that process, relished its slowness, but this was not one of them.

With a wave and a thought, their clothes melted away and his mouth caught her gasp of shock when she felt the hot press of his erection between her legs. Aaron echoed the sentiment and froze for a moment, battling against the primitive urge to grip her hips, position her opening, and plunge deep inside her tight little channel. A minute ago being cradled between her legs had felt so sweet and almost innocent, like they were a couple of teenagers necking in the back of a car. But now he could feel the slick heat of her wetness coating his shaft, and innocence was the last thing on his mind.

He felt Lilli stiffen and pull back from him, bracing her hands on the floor and levering her upper body off of his so that she could look down at his flushed and desire-hardened face. He couldn’t stop his fingers from clamping down on her like vises to keep her from escaping him, but he tried to school his features into something that would at least not scare her away.