Infernal Games by Jenna Wolfhart

26

Ten hours of sleep did my body a lot of good, but my mind was still frazzled. It felt like I’d stuck my finger into a light socket. Repeatedly.

I’d done it. Shocking, really. Getting out of New York had happened in a whirlwind of panic and fear, and I hadn’t fully thought things through. But I’d done it. Now, I had to figure out my next steps.

After showering and tugging one of Az’s shirts over my head, I tried to ignore the overwhelming scent of him and get on with things. I’d paid for two nights at the B&B, but I needed to plot out my next move now.

A knock sounded on my door. Ah, there it was. The intrusion I’d been expecting. They’d left me to sleep all morning, but their curiosity would have gotten the better of them by now. Who was their new guest? Where had she come from? And why was she wearing a shirt that was three sizes too big?

I’d had all night and morning to plot my story. I’d lean in to my southern roots and distract them with stories about my childhood when they got too inquisitive about my current situation. There’d be no mention of New York. And definitely no talk of demons.

When I pulled open the door, my eyes were met with a dark, fitted t-shirt over sculpted muscles. My eyes followed that shirt up to a familiar throat and jaw. Despair rushed over me when I met Asmodeus’s gaze. I shook my head, stepping back. How the hell had he found me?

“Mia,” he said roughly, hands fisted by his sides. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I was actually going to ask you that exact same question,” I whispered.

A part of me was relieved to see him. My body yearned to rush toward him and leap into his arms. It had only been a day, and I’d missed him so much my soul hurt. But I couldn’t. I’d left New York for a reason.

“Why do you think I’m here?” he asked, turmoil rolling through his eyes. “To track you down. You vanished, Mia. I’ve been losing my fucking mind.”

I winced and craned my head around the doorframe to check the corridor. This probably wasn’t the best conversation to have anywhere there might be curious ears. “We should probably talk inside my room.”

“Fine,” he growled, storming inside and slamming the door behind him. I winced. “Mia, how could you have left like that? I thought Lucifer had gotten to you. I thought you might be dead.”

“I figured it would be obvious,” I whispered harshly as my own hands began to shake. “I overheard you talking to Caim. You were never going to try to save the Legion by fighting. You were going to sacrifice yourself and spend an eternity in Hell. And every single one of your demons would have followed you. Caim, Phenex, Bael, Valac, Stolas. You’d be trapped there. For a long, long time. Did you really think I would be okay with you doing that when there was another solution right in front of us all this time?”

All the words tumbled out of my mouth in one breathless rush. All my thoughts and feelings were twisted up together, tearing me apart from the inside out. He shouldn’t have come here. We’d been so close to fixing everything. How had he even tracked me down?

“This isn’t a solution.” He gestured at his shirt, at the room, at the fact he was here. “Those are the only clothes with you. Aren’t they? What about cash? Do you have any?”

I swallowed hard. “I had a little. I used it to book this room.”

“How much is left?”

“Um, five or six dollars?”

“Right.” He folded his arms, shadows whipping across his skin. “And what are you going to do when that runs out? Where are you going to stay? How are you going to eat?”

“Well.” I folded my arms right back at him. “I was in the middle of figuring all that out when you barged into my room.”

“You have no money. No clothes. No job. What about an ID?”

I didn’t have any of that. There’d been no time.

“Look, I know my situation isn’t exactly ideal,” I finally said with a sigh. “But you know what’s worse than this? You and your Legion stuck in Hell for the rest of your lives...which is pretty much forever, based on what you’ve told me.”

He closed his eyes, his body practically humming from the intensity of his emotions. “Mia, this isn’t your burden to bear.”

“I love the Legion, too, Az.” My words came out a choked whisper.

He flipped open his eyes, and his gaze pierced me, hot and electric. “You heard what Caim said. The Legion won’t let me sacrifice myself for them. The same goes for you.”

“Except Hell and a B&B are two entirely different things.”

“You won’t be in this B&B for long,” he argued. “Not unless you have a secret stash of unmarked bills that you’ve kept on the down low all this time.”

Unfortunately, there was no secret stash. Would have been pretty helpful though, right?

“How did you even find me?”

“Mia.” He grabbed my hand and pressed it onto his heart. The rhythm of it pumped against my fingers, threaded through with that zing that always got me at the strangest times. “I can feel you, deep within my bones. I closed my eyes and called for you, and that feeling brought me here. I know it sounds crazy, like I’m out of my goddamn mind, but it’s true.” He closed his eyes. “Until I reached out and called for you, I thought you were dead. Do you know what that did to me? I swear to god, I—”

I clutched his chin and kissed him fiercely. A cry choked out of his throat, and his hands found my hips. I stumbled back as his body collided with mine. Both of us were frantic. Frenzied. Like the world was crashing down upon us, and our only hope was to cling on to each other for dear life.

“Never run away from me again.” He lifted me from the floor and tossed me onto the bed. The headboard hit the wall, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t trying to hide any longer.

He climbed on top of me. Gazing up at him, I wound my arms around his neck and pulled him to my lips. Our kiss deepened, softening. My soul lit with fire as our past and present memories tangled together. I’d loved him once, and he’d loved me. Together, we had been a force to be reckoned with, and we would have battled beside each other for centuries if Lucifer hadn’t torn us apart.

And somehow, I had found him again, even if I no longer truly felt like that girl.

Az pulled back and gazed into my eyes. “I thought I’d lost you again.”

“I’m sorry.” I palmed his cheek. “But you can’t blame this all on me. You were the one who wanted to leave, Az. You were going to give yourself up to Lucifer and let him take you to Hell.”

He dropped his forehead to mine. “I know. And I was wrong to think that was the right choice. I see that now.”

A small smile tickled my lips. “Did I just hear Asmodeus, the First Prince, admit to being wrong about something? Maybe none of this will end up being a problem because Hell’s going to freeze over.”

His lips quirked. “Don’t be so cocky.”

“Why not?” I slid my hands along the strong curves of his shoulders. “I have the sexiest being in the entire world on top of me right now. If that’s not a reason to be cocky, then I don’t know what is.”

“Oh, I’ll show you cocky,” he said with a low growl.

He stood from the bed and slowly undressed both me and him with a patience he’d never displayed until now. His body rippled as it moved, like a perfect painting come to life. When he climbed back on top of me, I was ready for him. This felt different than before. Our walls were no longer between us, and the ribbon of our connection wound from the past and into the future, tying us together now.

A golden string.

Pushing the hair back from my face, he gazed down at me with adoration in his eyes. Our limbs tangled together, our bodies becoming one. Az kissed my neck, and then travelled to my collarbone. Arching toward him, I hooked my leg around his thigh.

His lips trailed down my skin until they brushed my core. Shuddering, I widened my legs and gripped the sheets. He dragged his tongue across my folds, and the building heat inside of me threatened to explode. I was overwhelmed by desire and the strange connection between us.

I didn’t know what I would do if I ever lost him again. Now that we were together again, I would fight to remain by his side.

His fingers dug into my hips as his tongue took me over the edge. I crashed against him, pleasure ripping through me like a white hot comet. As I pulsed around his tongue, he grabbed my knees and pinned them on the bed.

Gazing down at my wetness, he licked my pleasure from his lips and plunged inside of me. His cock hit the back of me, and I quaked around him. With an animalistic growl, he flipped me over, lifted my ass, and then slammed into me once more.

Heart pounding, I gripped the sheets and clung on tight when he thrusted deep inside me with an intensity that left me reeling. His hunger for me lit that fire inside me again, and another ache of need pulsed between my legs.

He wound his fingers around my hair and yanked back my head. Stars dotted my eyes. I’d never been more turned on in my life. Before, we’d just had sex. This was something else entirely. He was claiming me, putting his mark on me. This was fucking and making love all mixed up as one.

“Tell me you’re mine,” he panted, tightening his grip on my hair.

“I’m yours, Az,” I whispered back.

His thrusts deepened, his cock sliding against my slick walls. I moaned as he slammed against the back of me. I wanted more. I was so close. I could barely stand another second without more of him inside of me. Tightening around him, I rocked back my hips.

Az let out a roar that shook the entire room. He came inside of me, and the tremors of his release tipped me over the edge. My climax shuddered through me, harder than the last. Ears roaring, I gripped the sheets and held on until it passed.

We both slumped against the bed, tangled together. His heartbeat pounded against my ear when I rested my cheek on his chest.

“So,” I whispered after a moment had passed. “I guess I’m going back to New York with you.”

He chuckled. “You better. Or I might have to spank you.”

My cheeks burned. “I wouldn’t mind a little spanking.”

“Mia.”

I shifted my head to meet his gaze. “Yes?”

“I meant what I said. Never do something like this again.”

“Alright,” I whispered. “I won’t. I just have to ask one question.”

His fingers traced soft circles along my back. “Of course you do. Go ahead.”

I slid my hand up his chest and felt his heartbeat. It was steady and sure, unlike my own. Now that my focus was back on New York, the overwhelming nerves had come back to me. If only everything else could be as easy as this.

“What are we going to do about Lucifer?”

“Well.” He sighed. “First, no one is going to Hell.”

“And second?”

“I don’t know what the second part is yet,” he admitted.

“That is not very reassuring, you know.”

“I know.” He dropped a kiss on my forehead. “We’ll return to New York. We’ll make a plan. And then we’ll go from there.”

I nodded, understanding at once what he meant. “One day at a time.”

“One fight at a time.”