Curse of the Fallen by Eve Archer
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Ella
“I’m not sure about this.” I stood in front of the full-length mirror in my bedroom and appraised myself in the silver, chiffon gown. Two wide straps ran straight down from my shoulders to cover my breasts and gather at the waist. Thinner straps looped around my chest to keep the wider straps of gathered chiffon in place, but the effect was still that a lot of my cleavage—and even side boob—was on display. Luckily, the gossamer fabric hung from my waist to the floor and was thick enough that only a faint outline of my legs showed through.
Dominick came up behind me and looped his arms around my waist, bending his head to nuzzle my neck. “I think you look breathtaking.”
I tried to ignore the distraction of his lips on my neck and the distraction of him being dressed in a gorgeous, black tuxedo that had clearly been custom-made for his muscular physique. My pulse fluttered, and my mouth went dry despite my best attempts. “You said Gadriel picked this out?”
Dominick nodded, his mouth buzzing against my flesh. “When he and some of the others returned to the mainland for supplies for the celebration. Do you not like it?”
I thought of the fallen angel with the beautiful, ebony skin and wicked smile. Of course, Gadriel had picked out a dress that was constructed of sheer fabric and string. “You’re sure it isn’t too much?”
Dominick raised his head, so his gaze locked with mine in the mirror. “Nothing is too much for you. It is your birthday party, after all. You’ll be the center of attention.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I muttered. Even though he hadn’t gotten my point, I decided not to press it. The dress was beautiful, even if it felt too glamorous and seductive for me. Although the way Dominick looked at me made it hard for me not to believe I was some sort of goddesses of seduction.
Dominick spun me around and tipped my face up to his. “You’re going to have to get used to the idea that you’re—“
“I know, I know,” I cut him off. “I’m not normal.”
“I was going to say that you were going to have to get used to the idea that you’re the mate of a fallen angel.”
My cheeks warmed. “Oh, sorry. But I’m not normal, am I?” I glanced down at my hands. “Not after what I did.”
We hadn’t talked about what had happened with Sara, or with Lilith, but considering I’d also been able to blast the demon with my hands, I knew the powers weren’t only because of Dominick, although it had felt more powerful and controlled when his hands had been joined with mine.
He shrugged. “I’m a celestial being who was cast from heaven and has lived for thousands of years. I might not be the best arbiter of normal.”
I laughed. “I guess not, but have you ever known a regular human who could do what I can do?”
He hesitated. “No, but humans with angelic marks aren’t common anymore, and even when they were, I didn’t often interact with them. The archangels preferred to mark male children or the old and infirm who’d lived lives of service. Basically no one who could be a good mate for a fallen angel.”
This wasn’t the first time he’d spoken about the archangels with bitterness thick in his voice. “Sounds like you aren’t a big fan of the archangels.”
“They are not big fans of ours.” He touched a hand to my hair, which I’d decided to wear in loose curls down my back, his tone shifting as he changed the subject. “Tell me about your godfather.”
“Sara said you saw him in a picture and were asking questions, but I honestly don’t remember much. I think I only met him a few times when I was young. My mother never mentioned him again, and I pretty much forgot about him. That photo with him in the background is the only one I have, but from what I remember, he was friends with my mother. I don’t ever remember him being around with my dad.”
Dominick nodded, pressing his lips together.
“Is he important?” My breath caught in my throat. “Did he also have an angel’s mark?”
“No,” Dominick answered quickly.
“But is he connected to why I have my mark?”
Dominick opened his mouth to answer, but he was preempted by a sharp knock on the door. He let out an impatient sigh, kissed me on the forehead, and crossed to the door. When he opened it, Rami stood in the hallway, dressed in his own perfectly tailored black tuxedo, his dark hair tamed.
His gaze slid to me then back to Dom. “I’m sorry to interrupt. The remaining Fallen and our selected guests have arrived, and the festivities have begun below.” He cleared his throat. “I was about to escort Sara downstairs.”
“We’ll join you shortly.”
Rami nodded, before Dom shut the door on him and turned back to me.
The butterflies in my stomach had gone from excited to nervous to petrified. “You’re sure you have to present me to all your fallen angels as your mate?”
He crossed to me, his brow furrowed. “You’re having second thoughts?”
I grasped his hands. “Not about being with you, but I’m not sure what it means to be the mate of the Fallen’s leader. Won’t they be expecting someone more fabulous or more immortal?”
Dominick squeezed my hands and grinned. “You still doubt yourself, Ella? After you healed your friend and blasted Lilith over the cliff? There is no one more fabulous than you, mortal or immortal.”
I hadn’t gotten used to the idea that I was any different from the woman who’d stumbled onto the rooftop bar in Istanbul miserable and heartbroken. I’d never shown any trace of powers before meeting Dominick, and I’d yet to wrap my mind around carrying some sort of angelic mark. It was enough to adjust to dating a powerful mob boss. The rest was too much for my brain to compute.
Dominick pulled me into him and wrapped his arms around my back. “If it makes you too nervous, you don’t have to be formally introduced, although everyone will know who you are when you are by my side.”
“That’s fine.” I inhaled his intoxicating, spicy scent, trying not to dwell too much on the party starting downstairs. I couldn’t imagine what a fallen angel celebration would be like, but I had a feeling it wasn’t like the garden parties Christopher’s parents had hosted and insisted we attend. Or the office parties with cheap wine in plastic cups and cheesy decor strung across the tops of cubicles. I suspected I’d never had a birthday party before like this one.
I ran my hands down the polished cotton of his shirt, the muscles hard beneath the crisp fabric. On a normal day, Dominick looked like a fantasy, but in his tuxedo, he looked even more dangerous and delectable. “It’s okay if we’re a little late, right?”
“You aren’t in a rush to get to your own birthday party?”
I peered up at him as I let my hand drift down until it was pressing against the hard swell of his cock. “I want to get a head start right here.”
He moaned my name, his gaze pure fire as it seared into me.
Pushing him back until his legs bumped the bed, I unzipped his pants and forced him to sit, kneeling between his legs.
“Ella,” he gasped as I took hold of his rigid length and released it from the confines of his tuxedo pants.
“I promise I won’t mess you up too much,” I said, power and desire surging through me as I lowered my mouth to take his velvety crown between my lips. I might not be sure of myself out among his Fallen, but I was in control with him now. Dominick was an immortal and powerful fallen angel, but right now he was in my thrall. The thought made sinful heat pulse between my legs as I took his cock in my mouth.
The faint hum of music from below made the floor vibrate beneath my knees as I sucked him, thrilled with the thought of so many celestial beings gathered below us while I pleasured their leader. Dominick let out a deep moan that coiled around my belly and sent desire tingling across my skin. I moaned back, and he tangled his hands in my hair, moving me up and down his rigid length.
“How could you ever think you aren’t special?” he husked, his voice cracking.
I’d never really enjoyed sucking any of my past boyfriends, and Christopher had even commented that I never went down on him with enough enthusiasm, which had made me even less eager to do it. But I loved having Dominick’s velvety hardness in my mouth, and I loved the reactions my mouth provoked from him. He didn’t bother to quiet his loud moans that morphed to growls as I took his cock deep into my throat.
He was so long, I fisted one hand around the base of his cock and squeezed, as I slid my lips up and down. With another guttural sound, Dominick curled his own hand over mine, the tattooed wings seeming to envelop my smaller hand. The sight of his emblazoned wings made desire throb between my own legs, and I swirled the tip of my tongue around his broad crown before taking him fully into my throat again.
Soon his hips were twitching, and his breathing became ragged. I sucked harder, expecting him to come in my mouth, but in a single, swift move he lifted me up, spun me around so that I was facing away from him, tugged my dress up, and impaled me on his slick cock.
“I wasn’t done,” I gasped.
“I need to come inside your perfect pussy,” he gritted out, barely giving me time to adjust to sitting on him before he was moving urgently inside me, grasping my hips hard to pump me up and down. There was nothing slow or tentative about it. He was claiming me with a fierceness that took my breath away—and I loved it. I threw back my head and moaned without caring who heard me. I wanted them to hear me. I wanted his Fallen to know that it was me he was fucking hard while they waited for us below.
Circling one hand around my waist, he slipped his fingers between my legs and found my clit. I sucked in a desperate breath, but opened my legs wider for him, wanting him to touch every part of me, needing him to claim every bit of me. Dominick worked his finger deftly as he continued to move me up and down his cock, and my moans quickly became more needy as my body trembled.
“Come for me, angel,” he said furtively in my ear.
With a scream, I threw my head back as I obeyed his command, clenching around him as fiery sensations tore through me.
With a demonic roar, Dominick thrust up hard, holding himself inside me as he exploded. Then he cupped his hand around my neck and pulled me so that my head was next to his. “Now that you’ve tempted the devil, are you ready to join your party?”
