Reaper Unhinged (Deadside Reapers Book 6) Read online

  She shook her head vehemently. “I vow it.”

  “Okay, good. Gather the others and take a holiday, tell them…tell them it’s a boon for doing an excellent job. You’ll be paid, of course…double pay.”

  She nodded. “Yes, Fee.”

  “Good. But before you go, do you know where the guys go to send a phoenix?”

  She stared at me in surprise. “Please don’t tell me the Masters haven’t shown you the aviary.”

  We had an aviary?

  The aviary wasn’t an enclosure, it was a garden on the other side of the quarters set on a ledge below the roof. It was a huge space with a dome over the top to keep out the elements. It was heated with windows here and there to let in the phoenixes, and what wondrous creatures they were.

  Majestic birds that came in shades of red-orange and black, they ranged in size from the size of my forearm to the size of my thigh.

  I stood amidst the blooms and the flora, staring at the creatures whirring up ahead. One moment they were there, the other, they winked out of existence.

  I gripped Uriel’s forearm, my gaze still on the spot where the birds had just been. “What just happened?”

  “They cloaked themselves,” he said. “They can do that. Wait. Watch.”

  A gust of air brushed my cheek, and then a phoenix landed a meter away from me. It stood watching me.

  “Wait,” Uriel said softly. He crouched and made a soft tutting sound.

  The phoenix opened its beak, and a low whistle echoed around us.

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means it’s ready for your message. There should be scrolls and ink here somewhere.”

  I found the items laid on a table to our left, which was almost obscured by plants, and wrote out a simple note asking Conah to come to the pack house if he could spare the time. There was a metal container designed for the scroll, so I rolled it up and pushed the paper inside.

  “Now what?”

  “Now you feed it to the phoenix and tell it who you wish it delivered to. A phoenix is a messenger, with the unique ability to find anyone whose essence it has tasted at least once. Every phoenix here has been fed essential essences.”

  “Even yours?”

  “Even mine,” Uriel said. “I’ve been the contact for the Dominus for a while. Hold out the scrolls to the bird and say the recipient’s name, and the phoenix will find him.”

  Okay. I stepped forward and held out the scroll. “Please take this to Conah, blood of Lilith.”

  The phoenix blinked lazily, and then its head shot forward, and the scroll was gone. It launched itself into the air and vanished.

  I stared at the spot where it’d been a moment ago. “Now what?”

  “Now, we wait.”

  With the phoenix gone, it was time to head back, but we’d only made it to the third floor when I knew for sure that wasn’t what I wanted.

  I wanted more time alone with Uri. I wanted to get to know him. To talk, to connect. Who knew what tomorrow would bring, and this mark on my soul…I had no idea how long I’d be able to avoid its effects or where I’d need to go to remove it.

  The future was always uncertain, and the only thing I had control over was the now.

  We made it down to the second floor before I gently took his hand and brought him to a halt.

  He looked down at me with a small smile. “Are we staying?”

  I nodded. “Yes. We’re staying.”

  I polished off the cheese on toast and licked my fingers. “That was the best!”

  Uri reached out and swiped his thumb across the corner of my mouth. “I have my skills.”

  He certainly did. I was lucky to have guys who could cook…Not that Uri was one of my guys…yet. Almost.

  Shit, I wanted him.

  We’d been camped on the rug in front of the fireplace in the main lounge chatting, eating cheesy toast, and drinking tea for the past hour.

  I’d always loved the sound of Uri’s voice, and it was becoming addictive. He’d seen so much, knew so much, and his stories of the time before filled my mind with wonder.

  He’d walked among the people of the past, and yes, I knew that Az, Mal, and Conah were old too, but they reaped souls and killed monsters. It wasn’t their job to get close to humanity, but Uri had. He’d watched and learned. He’d felt humanity’s pain and rejoiced in its triumph, but despite his knowledge and experience, there was a purity and innocence about him that drew me to him.

  I wanted to corrupt him. Fuck, maybe that was my demon nature. As he spoke, my gaze drifted to his neck and down to the V of his shirt. His golden skin stood out against the navy material, begging to be touched. My attention flicked to his biceps and toned forearms then down to his hands, perfectly formed, beautiful hands that I wanted all over my body.

  Was it weird that I wanted to suck on his fingers?

  I shook my head. Shit, it was his aura again, messing with me and heightening everything.

  “Fee?” He lifted my chin with the crook of his finger and studied me with concern. “Are you okay?”

  I smiled up at him. “A little aura drunk.”

  The concern in his eyes melted to liquid heat. “Too aura drunk to consent to a kiss?”

  The pulse in my throat jumped with excitement. “Not too drunk for that.”

  His mouth brushed mine, once, twice, teasingly, but my body was wound up so tight I couldn’t take the slow path. I gripped his nape and claimed his mouth. He gasped, and that sound shot straight to my core as I reared up and pushed him back, slanting my mouth across his, licking and sucking on the vanilla flavor that his body seemed to exude.

  He groaned and pushed me back so he could sit up.

  I broke the kiss, panting. “Shit. I’m sorry. I—”

  His wings materialized with a whoosh, and he bowed his head, shoulders heaving. Thank God we weren’t sitting too close to the fire. But we were close enough for the light of the flames to turn his silver wings orange and red. He looked like an avenging angel of fire, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. He was fucking gorgeous.

  But he wasn’t looking at me. I’d done something wrong. I’d pushed too hard too fast. Fuck.

  “Uri?”

  “Give me a minute,” he said. “This happens sometimes when a celestial is…aroused.”

  I’d done this. I’d brought out his wings, and they were magnificent. My fingers itched to touch them. I needed to touch them, so I did. I ran my hands over the silken feathers, reveling in the sensation against my sensitized palms and fingertips.

  He shuddered and made a strange guttural sound that made me want to press my thighs together to quell the ache.

  I stroked him again, down to his shoulders, running my fingers along the ridges of muscles that melted into his back.

  “Fee…” He grabbed my hips and hauled me against his groin, up against his arousal, and held me there for a long beat, pulsing against my core, before burying his head in my cleavage. His tongue lapped at my skin, licking the curve of my breast, desperate for purchase.

  I gripped his wings and rolled my hips against him. His hips jerked to meet me, two hard taps that had me crying out, and then he tore my shirt off. His hands found my breasts, his mouth found my nipples, and I lost my train of thought. There was nothing but heat, wetness, and friction, in all the right places.

  But I wanted control. I wanted to taste him. I gripped his head and pushed him away before grabbing the neck of his shirt.

  “Take it off.” My words were a hungry growl.

  His amber eyes, like dark honey, fixed on my mouth. His wings vanished, and he closed his eyes as if in pain before peeling off his shirt to reveal golden, smooth perfection.

  “My turn.” I pushed him onto his back and dropped my head to his neck, sucking and licking my way down to his chest. I pinched his nipples, and he thrust his groin up in reflex.

  “Fee…Fuck.”

  The curse word falling from his lips was an aphrodisiac. I needed more. I wa
nted to make him lose control, to curse and groan and pant. I moved down, tracing the ridges of his abdomen with my tongue until I hit the waistband of his joggers. I looked up at him to find him watching me, his expression tight, his eyes like desperate flames. I pulled the joggers down inch by inch, and he sucked in a sharp breath as they snagged on his arousal for a moment.

  Ah, there he was, trapped in black boxer briefs, the ridged length of him visible through the thin fabric. I freed him with my mouth, peeling the cotton down his thick length, and then licked a trail back up to the tip. I swirled my tongue over the head of his cock, and he cried out, a thick guttural sound that had my clit throbbing.

  I took him into my mouth.

  He was sweet nectar, honed muscle, and taut flesh. He was light with the dangerous edge of darkness I craved. I worked him, reveling in the sounds he made and the way his hands grasped at the rug on either side of him, as if he was desperately trying to hold himself together, as if he was trying not to unravel.

  I wanted him to fracture for me.

  I held him captive, feasting on him until his fingers dove into my hair, and he hauled me up, crushing his mouth to mine. He flipped us so he was on top, his powerful body pinning me to the rug as he explored my mouth with his tongue.

  I was on fire for him, melting against him, needing to get closer, needing him closer.

  He softened the kiss and broke it. “Too many clothes,” he said against my mouth, then proceeded to strip me of my leggings until I was naked except for my knickers.

  He sat back, and I caught the flash of doubt in his eyes.

  A little of the fire in my blood died. “Uri?” I tried to sit up. “We don’t have to do this if you—”

  He kissed me hard on the mouth to silence me. “I want to. I want you so much it scares me.”

  Wait…Did celestials have sex? I mean, was that even a thing? Was this his first time?

  “Uri…have you done this before?”

  He pressed his forehead to mine. “No. Celestials aren’t permitted to…Although some do…I just…I’ve…I’ve seen it done.”

  Oh, God. He was a virgin. A celestial virgin. “I would never have guessed.” I stroked his cheek. “You’re a natural.”

  He chuckled, and our breath mingled. “Thank you, but I don’t think I am.”

  “But you are. You know how to touch me. To kiss me. Uri, you turn me on so fucking much. I want you so bad.” I reached down between us and stroked him. “I want you inside me.”

  His mouth parted, and his sweet aura washed over me, heading straight to the apex of my thighs and making me even wetter.

  “Touch me.” I lifted my hips and pushed down my knickers. “Feel how much I want you.”

  He slipped his fingers between my fold and groaned. “Oh, fuck.”

  “Say that again.”

  “Fuck.”

  I lifted my hips, and he slid his fingers into me.

  “Yes. Oh, yes. Like that, stroke me like that.”

  He was a quick study, and I was panting hard and grinding against his hand, ready to come, but I wanted him inside me when I did. I flipped us again so that I was on top of him.

  He looked up at me, his eyelids heavy with desire. I grasped his arousal, reveling in the eager pulse that ran through it.

  I pushed up on my knees so I was straddling him. He looked down my body with a gaze hooded with desire, and then reached out and touched my panties. The material vanished, leaving me slick and bare.

  Well, well. The celestial had moves. I gave him a wicked smile and then lowered myself onto him inch by inch, watching the play of emotion on his face as he entered me. His chest rose and fell erratically, and his skin began to glow.

  “Oh, fuck. Oh…” He gripped my thighs and rolled his hips, pushing up into me. I bit my bottom lip, forcing myself to remain still and give him a moment to adjust to this sensation of my body closing around him.

  He locked gazes with me and licked his luscious lips.

  “You ready?”

  He nodded.

  I began to move.

  I rode him slow to start, captivated by the wonder in his eyes at the sensations shooting through him, but I couldn’t take it slow for long, my body wanted more. I threw back my head and picked up the tempo. His hands slid up my thighs to grab my hips, and then he was thrusting up into me, and the orgasm that had been hovering hit hard.

  He cried out with me, our bodies meeting over and over as we reached climax. I fell forward onto his chest, and he rolled with me, taking the top spot, thrusting hard and deep even as the orgasm ripped through us. We rocked together, our mouths inches apart, breath mingling as we came down from the high, and then Uri smiled—a beatific sight that made my heart ache.

  “I see now why so many celestials break the rules,” he said. He nuzzled the base of my neck and kissed his way up and across my jaw to my mouth. “How long before we can do it again?”

  He was mine, and with that knowledge, an overwhelming foreboding washed over me, but I squashed it and held him tight. Not tonight.

  Not now.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Cora

  I finish sweeping the broken glass into a corner and head to the kitchen to look for a dustpan and brush. The place is a fucking mess. I glance at the mess in the lounge. The tree is on its side, and there are smashed baubles and decorations everywhere. Well, if this isn’t a fucking prompt to pack away the festive season, I don’t know what is.

  “Cora?”

  I tense at the sound of Dean’s voice and then sigh and turn to face him. “What?”

  “I’m sorry,” he says.

  I don’t want to revisit our Jasper incident, so I wave away his apology. “Forget it. You know where the dustpan and brush are?”

  I’m about to turn away, but he takes my hand. “I was taken by surprise, that was all. I’m sorry.”

  I hate it when people don’t say it how it is. “You were disgusted, Dean. I saw it on your face. Surprised disgust, and I get it. It’s cool. Let’s just move on.”

  He opens his mouth, then closes it with a nod. “Yes. Okay. I was. But I was wrong to be. I know that now. The deal you made was to protect others. He’s abusing you, using you, and we have to stop him.”

  My throat is tight because he doesn’t know the half of it. He doesn’t know how much I crave Jasper’s touch and how much that need disgusts me. He’ll never understand the fucked-up dynamic between me and the spirit attached to my soul. Which highlights just why I can’t do this with him. Yeah, he hasn’t said anything, but I can see it in his eyes. He wants to pick up where we left off. He wants dinner and romance and me. He wants me, but there can never be an us. Not while I’m linked to Jasper. The malevolent spirit won’t allow it.

  “I’ve got it under control.” I tug my fingers from his grip and place both hands on my hips. “Let’s forget it, and let’s just move on as friends.”

  “Friends?” He frowns. “Cora, I’m not going to be scared off by that thing.”

  Irritation flares in my chest, and I’m not entirely sure why. “That thing is a part of me. Probably will be for the foreseeable future.”

  His frown deepens. “Cora…do you…do you care about that thing?”

  “Of course I don’t fucking care for him.”

  He looks like he’s about to say more, but we’re interrupted by Bobby when he places a box on the island.

  “Phew,” he says. “I think I found all the batons. Can’t let them get into the wrong hands. On a human, a blast from one of these could stop a heart.”

  Wait… “What did you say?”

  Bobby blinks at me warily. “I said I’m glad I found all of them.”

  “No, after that.”

  “That we don’t want them getting into the wrong hands?”

  “No, the other thing about the heart.”

  “Oh, the electric charge could stop a human heart.”

  The curse will see its course. If it wants her dead, it won’t stop u
ntil her heart stops beating…

  Elijah’s words fill my mind, and I know what I have to do. “Bobby, what would we need to stop an outlier’s heart and then restart it?”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Fee

  Grayson was on the phone outside the pack house when Uri and I returned. I spotted several unfamiliar faces stationed around the building, and one was even on the roof. Looked like the civilian Loup had arrived. There was also a guard outside the garage where our vamp guests were being kept.

  Grayson ended his call, raking us both over. His nostrils flared as we approached, but he wouldn’t smell Uri on me or me on him. We’d made sure to shower, separately, because the first time had ended in him inside me and my back up against the tile.

  Uri was a fast learner.

  Grayson seemed satisfied with his sniff test, and he inclined his head in Uri’s direction as the celestial passed.

  “I’ll see you inside.” I grazed Uri’s hand as he passed and looked up at Grayson to find him staring at my hand. “Are you okay?”

  “Are you?” he replied.

  “Yes.”

  “Then so am I.”

  I wanted to hug him, to hold him, but Uri was like a barrier between us. Had I made the wrong decision? It hadn’t felt that way when I’d been with Uri. I’d wanted him, and it had felt right, but now, seeing the clouds in Grayson’s eyes made my heart ache. He’d told me he was okay with me and Uri, but he didn’t look okay.

  “Grayson, did I make a mistake?”

  He blinked as if coming out of a daze. “What?”

  “You said you were okay with Uri, but you look upset.”

  “Uri?” He looked at the entrance to the house, then back to me. “I’m not upset. I’m worried.”

  Something had happened. “What is it?”

  He pulled me into a hug and squeezed me tight. “Cora may have found a solution to your curse problem.” He stroked my hair and then pulled back so he could cup my face. “And it scares the fuck out of me.”