He bit down slowly to savor the moment and the sensation ofhis fangs as they broke through her tender skin. Deep pleasure coursed throughhim. As his venom pumped into her and her warm, thick blood filled his mouth,pleasure of a different kind rushed through him.
His mouth was hot as it closed over Gabriel’s throat. Hecradled her head gently in one big hand while the other closed around her waistto pull her even more tightly against him. Warmth moved through her, a sense ofbeing held safe.
As his venom pumped into her, her blood seemed to catch fireas he began to feed in earnest—his mouth closing over her throat tightly todraw on her, suckle at her, as he took that first deep mouthful.
Ecstasy rushed through her in an immense wave, obliteratingthought.
More.
She slid one hand up into his silky hair to draw his mouthmore tightly against her, while the other caressed the strong muscles of hisback, mindful of his wings and of the wounds there as she drew him closer. Hesettled in to feed, drank her slowly. Her pussy tightened with each motion ofhis mouth on her. Sheer delight swallowed her up, engulfed her.
Asmodeus sensed her heart lightening as her hand skimmeddown his back and she felt the wounds there knit while he fed, his pain easingas the pleasure of his feeding claimed her. Her hands loosened, went lax. Hisheart was lost to her as they fell away, as she went limp and surrendered tohim. She sighed, blissfully, as he fed.
Asmodeus hid his deep and intense contentment as the tasteof her filled him.
If what she said was true and Templeton watched, Asmodeushad to have a care here. He curled a wing over them in lieu of a blanket. Therewas no smoke to conceal them now. He could not, dared not, show what she meantto him in a way that Templeton or his minions might understand or her lifewould be forfeited to them and his freedom with it. Still, he cradled her closeas he withdrew his fangs but kept his mouth pressed to her slender whitethroat, to the reassuring beat of her pulse. Let them think he still fed, aslong as that pulse continued to throb steadily beneath his lips.
Gabriel sighed. A kind of languorous lassitude filled her, adeep contentment.
There was no pain, no headache. She was weak and a littleshaky. No surprise there. She was always a little dizzy for a few moments afterdonating blood. It had taken Asmodeus two feedings to make her head spin…butonly one glance. She smiled and looked up into his eyes, the little gold sparkswithin them spinning slowly, reflecting his mood.
Lightly, she ran her fingers over his strong shoulder,seeing a scar where there had been the mark of the lash. There was anincredible amount of satisfaction at seeing him healed and knowing he was nolonger suffering.
And seeing the evidence of magic.
It stunned her. She had done that.
In wonder, she stroked her fingers over the mark, concealedsomewhat by his wing, mindful of the cameras that might be watching.
“Magic,” she said softly, awestruck, her voice little morethan a whisper.
Asmodeus watched her face, wishing he could touch it. Hisheart ached for the lack, but he had to hold back. He contented himself withrunning his hand down her arm beneath his wing, stroking and playing with onefull breast, fascinated with the satiny texture of her skin.
Smiling just a little, Asmodeus said, “It is a simple magicand not just mine, but ours.”
Her gaze shot to meet his.
With an effort, Asmodeus kept his smile from broadening ather surprise. “There is still magic in your world and you have probably knownand seen it, just not so strong as it once was. Do you not feel it, mishea,here?” He tapped her chest lightly, the dark ebony of his claw stark againsther white skin, and then his own chest.
“It is there in that bond between those who love, in themoment when it seems your heart swells in tune with that other, and you know,just know, they feel the same. A simple magic but it is magic all the same.Nothing else heals so completely as that.”
“So,” Gabriel said, “you feel it too?”
There was a flash of something, a deep sorrow and a yearningin her eyes, that made his heart twist a little.
“I feel it too, my angel,” Asmodeus said, and nodded as hetraced the curve of her breast with one finger, his eyes on hers.
Gabriel saw the truth of it there. Something within hereased.
She looked around them at the firepots that still ringedthem and then at Asmodeus himself. Taking a breath, she nodded. “Magic allright.”
Gabriel was intensely aware of their legs entwined,conscious of the feel of his tail as it stroked from her calf up her thigh tocaress her hip and then slid back down again, his fingers as they traced thecurve of her breast. Her body warmed.
“I don’t understand. If you can do that, why can’t you getout of here? How does all this work?”
The memory of passing between those outer rings suddenlycame back to her with unanticipated force, a wrenching of her stomach and anatavistic horror so intense she shivered.
Asmodeus drew her closer and nodded, keeping his voice lowas he brushed a soothing hand down her arm, the gesture hidden by his wing.
“The explanation is at once simple and complex,” he said.“Magic is all about intention and will, my angel. Some magic remains in yourworld, in greater or lesser quantity. It is only whether some of those whopossess it know how to wield it. You no doubt see some of these lesser magics,for example the man or woman who draws other people to them, consciously orunconsciously, for good or ill. In our day we called such magics enchantments,glamours or charismas.”
Nodding, Gabriel said, “We still do.”
She thought of the charismatic preacher she had investigatedwho had conned thousands out of their life savings with promises of a betterworld in the next life. Conversely, she also thought of the old woman in one ofthe apartments below hers in D.C. who
