Wrath of the Fallen by Eve Archer

Chapter Twenty-Four

Ella

The rustling woke me, and I sat up instantly, my gaze going to the French doors, which I’d left open for the breeze. Even though it was summer, it was hotter inside the chateau than it was outside. The sheer curtains fluttered in the soft breeze, but they didn’t make the sound I’d heard.

Then I heard it again. A footstep.

I swung my head toward the door, my eyes piercing through the darkness as I sought out familiar shapes or movement. When Dominick’s broad body came into view, I let out a sigh.

“You scared me half to death,” I said, flopping back onto the bed, my heart racing.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, his sultry voice quickly melting my ire. “I didn’t know you’d be asleep.”

Propping myself up on my elbows, I watched him stride across the room, untying his bowtie as he walked. “I tried to stay up, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open. It’s been a stressful day.”

He made a noise in his throat that told me he agreed, and that I was understating the truth. “Did you talk things out with Sara?”

“I did. Everything’s fine.” Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Sara had accepted things, but she wasn’t thrilled about them. But if she wasn’t one-hundred-percent happy, at least Sara wasn’t mad at me anymore. “She understands, and she isn’t angry at Rami anymore, either.”

“He’ll be glad to hear that.” Dominick’s voice dropped to a rasp as he shrugged off his tuxedo jacket and tossed it over the back of a chair. “He’s going to have a hard enough time working with the demons without worrying about the rest of us.”

I’d been so caught up with Sara’s reaction that I hadn’t given enough thought to Rami and how it must be tormenting him to know that his decision to save the people he cared about was actually causing them pain. “Does that mean you gave him your blessing?”

Dominick sat on the tufted bench at the foot of the bed and untied his shoes, then pulled off his socks. “He has never needed it, but he will always have it. It’s the least I can do.”

This whole thing was as hard on Dominick as it was any of us. I sat up in bed, moving down until I wrapped my arms around him from behind his back. “I’m sorry you’re going to lose him. I know how close you are.”

He grunted, closing his hands over mine. “It’s not for long. I’m sure the year will go by quicker for me than it will for him.”

“So, will Rami live here? I’m assuming this is where Mastema does all his business, right?”

Dominick nodded. “He has an impressive setup. Maybe Rami will return with ideas he can share with the Fallen.”

“I’m guessing this is a first— a fallen angel-demon work exchange.”

He choked out a laugh. “You could say that.”

When he stood, my hands fell away, and I sat back on my heels as he turned to face me, slowly unbuttoning his shirt. His eyes flashed, and even in the dimness of the room, I could have sworn I saw a glint of red.

“It’s too bad you aren’t still wearing the dress from dinner,” he said, tossing the shirt aside. “I liked that dress. I was looking forward to ripping it off your body.”

I started at the roughness of his voice, even as heat pulsed between my legs. “If you rip it off me, I couldn’t wear it again.”

“I prefer you in nothing, anyway.”

The glow of moonlight coming through the window highlighted the hard curves of his chest muscles and the ridges of his stomach. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before, but my breath still caught in my throat. The fallen angel really was breathtaking.

He pulled off his pants with a few brusque moves, kicking them to the side and standing before me at the end of the bed. My pulse fluttered, as I tried not to gape at the huge cock jutting out from his body.

“I’m guessing you aren’t tired,” I said, my voice little more than a squeak.

“Far from it.” He climbed onto the bed on all fours and advanced on me.

I instinctively backed away as he prowled closer, something akin to fear stirring in my chest. My nightshirt slid up as I moved back, exposing the fact that I wasn’t wearing panties. Dominick let out a growl that was almost demonic, twisting his neck as if fighting for control.

“Dominick, are you okay?”

He braced his arms on either side of me as I fell onto my back, his face alight with desire and something else—something darker. “I’m better than okay, now that I’m with you.”

It had been a tumultuous few days for all of us, and now we were staying as guests of the actual prince of demons, so I could understand if the stress had gotten to him. But Dominick didn’t look stressed. He looked like he was possessed.

Despite his dangerous gaze and the eyes that burned into me like molten fire, I arched toward him, my nipples hard and aching for his touch. My heart pounded as tingles blazed across my flesh. Apparently, my body couldn’t care less if Dominick was behaving strangely.

“Maybe we should take it slow,” I said, grateful that at least my brain was still functioning normally.

Dominick shook his head. “I don’t want you slow.” He lowered his head so that his lips hummed against my ear. “I want to fuck you hard and fast.”

I gasped, my body igniting at his words. Now not even my brain wasn’t working, need storming through me and muddling my thoughts. “But…”

He nuzzled his head in the crook of my neck, nibbling at my throat as he slid my sleeping shirt up my body, sitting up and pulling it swiftly over my head. Once I was naked underneath him, he straddled my waist, staring down at me as if he was ravenous.

I’d always found Dominick’s dominance arousing. He was as powerful in bed as he was in life, and I loved him taking control of me. But the way he looked at me now made those nervous butterflies morph into something much bigger.

Before I could utter another word, Dominick clasped my wrists and pulled them over my head. I was too surprised to tug them away as he fumbled with something at the top of the bed. Then he wrapped silky fabric around both of my wrists, tying me firmly to the bed.

I jerked my head back to look at my wrists, which were now bound over my head. “What the…?”

“I think it’s time you experience the other side of me,” he rasped.

I struggled against the restraints. “What other side?”

“The part of me that’s damned.”