The angle was different than if I’d just been on my hands and knees, allowing him to plunge into depths that had not been reached before, waves of pleasure rippling outward with increasing intensity.
My approaching orgasm mingled with his sensations, tangling together until we were both poised on the brink.
It was too much for me, far too much. The orgasm, the sense of profound satisfaction he felt when drinking from me, and the knowledge that his love would burn eternally was all just too much. My body and soul seemed to explode simultaneously in rapture, a bright supernova of love and ecstasy that shone so brightly, I was surprised it didn’t consume us both.
When I stopped being a brilliant, glittering ball of orgasmic wonder, I found myself lying panting on Alec’s still-heaving chest, his arms holding tight to me.
I lifted my head. He opened one eye and rolled it down to meet my gaze. “Still think I haven’t healed?”
“Oh, you’ve healed,” I said, gasping for breath. “You’re definitely cleared for duty. Jesus wept, Alec! That was . . . hoo! I’m totally a go on bondage from here on out. Do you think Sally will notice if we run out with the rope and scarf? Because frankly, I would give her just about anything to keep them.”
He laughed and hugged me despite the fact that he was also struggling to catch his breath.
“Luckily, my studmuffin extraordinaire—really, where did you learn to do that thing with the scarf?—you won’t have to find out. Although I suppose we should get moving soon. Sally never did say where she sent the vampires, and Eleanor, not to mention Brother Ailwin, although I doubt if he cares about us anymore now that Bael is gone. But still, we should be moving on just in case people show up to nab you.”
Alec closed his eye again. “Women. I’ll never understand how they can talk after sex. I need sleep.”
“Don’t be silly, you’re immortal,” I said, pulling up the sheet and snuggling into him nonetheless.
“Immortal doesn’t mean we don’t need sleep. And stop worrying, Cora; I won’t allow anyone to interfere with us any longer.”
“Oh really? What do you plan on doing?” I looked up when he didn’t answer, but he was telling the truth—he really did need sleep. His face was relaxed as I felt him drift off on a cloud of sated male satisfaction. I spent a long, long time holding him, wondering how we were going to untangle all the threads that seemed to weave around us into a knot. Uppermost in my mind were the vampires and their council who were still obviously intent on punishing Alec, but also niggling at the back of my mind was a concern that we weren’t through seeing Eleanor. And then there was the lichmaster de Marco; he seemed to be overly interested in vampires. I made a mental note to ask Alec about it later. Last on my list was Brother Ailwin—would he decide to get revenge against us, or would he give up now that I couldn’t be used?
I fell asleep worrying about it all, secure, at least, in the knowledge that Alec returned my love. If nothing else, that made the world seem infinitely more wonderful.
It was night again when I woke up to find the bed empty, and Alec gone.
“What do you mean, he left?” I asked ten minutes later, catching myself wanting to yell at Sally. She might not be God, but she was awfully close to that. More importantly, I had a feeling if I gave in to my frustration and vented my spleen upon her, she’d just get “naughty” again with me. “Left for where?”
She started to give me one of her smiles that I knew prefaced some outrageous comment or other, but with a glance at Terrin, who was glaring at a laptop as he punched angrily at the keys, she sighed and shook her head. “You make it too easy, you really do, sugar. You take all the fun out of it. And much though I should like tormenting you just a bit, just a tiny little smidgen, you know, to keep my hand in should I ever get the chance to be a demon lord again, even though I’d like to indulge in a bit of teasing, I won’t.”
I eyed her. “Asmodeus finally kicked you out of Abaddon, did he?”
Terrin said something rude under his breath. Sally sighed again. “Yes. Asmo really is very single-minded. He simply did not see the benefit in having one-half of the Sovereign being a prince of Abaddon. Such narrowminded thinking has never been to my taste, but it takes all kinds, doesn’t it? Alec went to see the vampires.”
“The council?” My blood froze in my veins.
There was no answer. I couldn’t tell if he just couldn’t hear me, or if he didn’t want to. Damn him. “He went to see them without me? Mother of God! He’s gone to sacrifice himself so they don’t put me in the Akasha with him! You have to do something, Sally!”
“I do?”
“Yes, you do! You can’t just sit there doing nothing!” My hands waved in the air as my inner devil prompted me to snatch the glossy magazine from her hands and beat her over the head with it.
“I’m doing something, sweetness. I’m reading a very informative article about cuticle health.” She glanced at my hands. “One that is sorely needed in some people’s lives.”
I took a deep breath. “Alec is a good guy. You are the head honcho of good guys. That means you have to do something when he needs help.”
She looked puzzled as she consulted Terrin, who was now swearing under his breath as he plugged in an iPod. “Do I have to do something, punkin?”
“I swear, I know what projects that Guardian who was proscribed used her minions on.... Hmm? Do you have to do what?”
“Do I have to help Cora?”
Terrin looked from Sally to me. “I thought you already did? Surely you offered them sanctuary so the Dark One could heal his wounds in safety?”
“Well, I thought that’s what I’d done, but evidently Cora here is feeling slighted.” Sally plucked a sugar cube from a bowl sitting on the table next to her, and sucked it thoughtfully. “And then there was the matter of the rope and scarf. They were my favorites, but I gave them to her willingly, because I could see that she wanted to indulge herself in a little nooky but was afraid he’d hurt himself. I thought that was quite generous and beneficent on my part, but evidently it wasn’t enough.”
I slumped against the wall, running my hand through my hair.
Silence was the only thing that filled my head. I slumped even more. He might not want to discuss the fact that he ran off without me, but he wouldn’t let me worry unduly. That meant that either he was physically unable to talk to me, or something else was prohibiting communication. Either boded ill.
“I’m sorry, Sally, it was generous and beneficent, as was giving us a room overnight so Alec could rest and heal. Although . . . if you’re no longer a demon lord, why do you still have this house?”
She crunched the remainder of the sugar cube with very white teeth. “Oh, the palace part that was in Abaddon is gone. All that’s left is the original house, here in the mortal plane.”
“Gotcha. Where exactly did Alec go to meet the vampires, do you know?” I straightened up, wondering where my wallet had gotten to. So much had happened since we arrived in France, I had lost track of my belongings.
“Vienna, I believe. Why? Oh, you wish to go and rescue him, do you?” Sally tipped her head to the side and gave me a once-over, a definite twinkle in her eyes. “Yes, I can see that’s exactly what you intend to do. Good luck.”
“Thanks,” I said grimly, disappointed that she hadn’t offered to fix everything with a wave of her omnipotent hand. Tempted though I was to beg them both to do just that, it was quite clear that Sally felt no further obligation to do anything for us, and really, I couldn’t blame her. She had done what we asked—toppled Bael from power, ending my Tooldom. She had given us a place for Alec to rest after removing from the immediate location everyone who threatened us. She had even given us that lovely silk rope and scarf. “I’ll just gather up what things I have here and be on my way.”
“Ta-ta,” she said, returning to her magazine.
I returned to the bedroom we’d occupied, but found no luggage, no purse, and certainly no wallet or
