Destiny's Wrath (Destiny Series - Book 3) by Straight, Nancy (read full novel .txt) 📗

never want to blink. As he held my gaze, he whispered, “We should have found another way.”

“The Council would have killed you.” I took his hand, “I love you, Max. I can’t lose you.”

Somberly he answered, “I’m not sure my life is worth more than nine others. If we had let the Council do what they came here to do, Samael would be gone and none of this would have happened.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, “You can’t know that.”

I leaned into Max’s chest, felt his heartbeat – it was the rhythm of my world. Without his heartbeat grounding me, I don’t know what would happen. When Samael took up refuge in Max, I had taken Samael’s physical strength and his “power-of-sight” from him. My physique hadn’t changed, but I could bench press a Volkswagen and had on numerous occasions just for the fun of it. Hearing Max question our decision to move Samael to a willing host must have created a surge in adrenaline for both of us. I could feel our heartbeats picking up speed, beating in unison.

I knew we couldn’t go through the rest of our lives with Max carrying this guilt, “So, we go find Samael - we fix this.”

Max eased away from me, far enough to look in my eyes, still holding me in his arms, “What do you have in mind?”

“We find Samael. We destroy him.”

Chuckling at the absurdity of my idea, “Just like that? We destroy him?”

Projecting more confidence than I felt, “Samael doesn’t scare me.”

Max wrapped his palm around my cheek, cradling my jaw, “He didn’t take up residence in you, Lauren. He scares the hell outta’ me.”

Surprised at his confession, I didn’t want to share with him my own fears. I reached over and squeezed Max’s bicep, “He scares you? Seriously?”

Max nodded his head, and answered in a voice barely audible. “He’s a demon, Lauren. He has a fixation on you.”

“That’s only because you had a fixation on me. He’s been out of you for months. He probably hasn’t given me a thought since he left.”

“You don’t understand. It was a constant barrage of what he wanted to do to you. The images he put in my head . . . I just don’t want you anywhere near him.” His mouth came to my ear, a heavy whisper, “Eventually, we’re going to make a go of it: a wedding, kids, the whole ‘happily-ever-after.’ I don’t want to risk any of our future.” Max pulled my hand to his lips and gently grazed my knuckles.

“Max, you’ll be with me. Samael doesn’t scare me. Besides, if we don’t do something, who will?”

“I don’t know. The Council, the Cabinet, Priests, Fairies, at this point, I vote for anyone but us.”

“So, our plan is to do nothing? Sit here on the couch and watch the story on the news?”

“I’m all ears if you’ve got a better plan – one that doesn’t put you anywhere near him.”

“I think we go find that kid. Find out what happened. If Samael’s to blame, we figure out how to exorcise him from the kid; then we destroy him, so nothing like this could ever happen again.”

Max shook his head and used his lips to attempt to dissuade me, “Or we could go on a Caribbean cruise.”

“Or, we could destroy Samael, save the kid, then come home and go on a Caribbean Cruise.”

Seething with sarcasm, Max replied, “Or, if we screw up, and Samael somehow leeches back into us, the three of us could go on a cruise.”

I wrapped my arms around Max tightly, and squeezed harder than normal, “Naw, three’s a crowd. We’ll just destroy him and the two of us can go.”

A soft, “Uhmf,” escaped from Max as his eyes went wide for a second from my squeeze. “Okay, Supergirl, stop showing off, or I’ll withhold sexual favors from you.”

“I double-dog-dare you.”

“That sounds like a challenge.”

“Take it for what you will.”

Max gave me a crooked grin, “I’ve always liked a challenge.”

I straddled Max as he sat on the bed; his arms were stiff and he refused to wrap them around me. Knowing he had a sweet spot just behind his ear, I began nibbling his earlobe, kissing his neck down to his collar bone. My fingers lightly caressed his back under his shirt as my mouth found the spot behind his ear. He didn’t have to say a word; I could feel him melting into me. Max let out a low moan as I pressed my weight into him further. His stiff arms began easing as he let his torso sink onto the bed. When I felt like he was going to crumble right in front of me, I asked, “Still withholding sexual favors?”

“Ummmm hmmmm.”

What started out as a playful moment between us was suddenly revving my engine. Sometimes men need things spelled out for them; this was one of those times. I removed my t-shirt and bra, tossing them on the chair across the room. Max smiled but still kept his hands to himself. I looked at the t-shirt he was wearing. It wasn’t one of his favorites, so I put both hands on the collar and ripped it right down the center of his chest. I stifled a giggle; it looked like a button-down shirt minus the buttons. When I leaned onto his bare chest, skin-on-skin, I was sure he would give in any second.

Max flipped me over in the blink of an eye. My shorts decided to join my shirt on the chair across the room, and Max’s steel arms wrapped around me. “Okay, you win.”

I smiled to myself, thinking, “Yes, I did.”

*****

As I lay in Max’s arms, my mind started running through possible scenarios. Jimmy could be really tied to Samael, or he may not want us to help rid him of his demon. Samael may not be with Jimmy; he may have host hopped months ago. Jimmy might be mentally ill, possibly driven that way by Samael. And the one I feared