Azagoth: A Demonica Novella (1001 Dark Nights) by Larissa Ione Page B

heard himself talking, swearing...he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that stinging, molten heat was building in his balls and shaft, and when she squeezed him harder, sweat bloomed on his skin.
    Sweat. He never sweated.
    “Fuck,” he breathed. “Oh, damn...Lilli...”
    She sped up the pumping rhythm, and then her other hand joined the party, cupping his balls and rolling them in her palm.
    “Tell me what to do,” she whispered, but he didn’t have the breath to tell her a damned thing. What she was doing was just fine.
    “Just...ah...yes.”
    His climax was a spiraling, hot coil of bliss that, for a single, glorious moment, shattered the ice that had encased his soul for so long. He convulsed with the intensity of it, the absolute joy of truly feeling a release.
    Watching her as she watched him set him off again, and another searing orgasm blew his mind and body apart.
    As it waned, he folded his hand over hers and helped her ease him down as his hyper-sensitive cock jerked reflexively in her palm.
    “Wow,” she breathed. “I’ve never done that before.”
    His hand shook as he reached for a tissue on his desk. “What, you’ve never made a guy come with your hand?”
    “My ex thought physical sex was repulsive.”
    “Your ex was a dipshit.” Gently, he wiped his seed off her skin and then lifted her off the floor and carried her to the sofa in front of the fire.
    Climbing onto the cushions next to her, he gathered her against him and tugged a blanket down over them both. She stiffened at first, and he understood that. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d lingered with a female after sex. They came here for one purpose, and it wasn’t to be cuddled.
    He’d never longed for any kind of connection after sex either, so this thing with Lilliana...it felt foreign. And yet, it felt right.
    And as she rested her hand on his chest, directly over his heart, he knew it was right. Now he just had to figure out how to stop the emotional blowouts he kept having when they came back from time travel. Of course, if sex was the key to stopping them in their tracks, well, he supposed he could deal.
    He just hoped Lilliana could, too.
     

Chapter Eleven
    Azagoth didn’t know how long they laid on his couch, bodies tangled together as they caught their breath, but eventually, Lilliana, her head on his chest, began to trace lazy circles on his abs. The intimacy of it—of all of this—left him in a state of awe and, truth be told, anxiety. Somehow, she was drawing emotion out of him, and he couldn’t help but wonder how damaging that could be.
    “Azagoth?”
    “Hmm?”
    “Why did you volunteer for this job?” Postcoital drowsiness permeated her voice, and he experienced a flicker of male pride that he was responsible. “To lose your angelic status and live among demons?”
    He shrugged, knocking one of the pillows off the sofa. “Someone had to do it.”
    “Bullshit.” Her fingers skated over his rib cage in an almost playful sweep. “I might be young, but I know that no one sacrifices freedom without a good reason.”
    He tucked one arm behind his head and gazed up at the wood-beamed ceiling. “Didn’t you read everything you could find about me before you decided to become my mate? Surely you had an entire term devoted to me in history class.”
    “Three terms, actually.” She drew the number 3 on his sternum. “You’re quite the historical figure. The first term was devoted to your life as an angel known as Azrael and the events leading up to your expulsion, and the second and third terms were devoted to your life as Azagoth.”
    “I got three terms?” He grinned. “Nice.”
    But damn, the name Azrael brought back memories. And how odd was it that he preferred the memories he’d made as Azagoth over those that went with his Heavenly name?
    “Yes, well,” she said, “the history I learned painted you as an entitled playboy who chose to lose his wings because he’d rather rule an empty kingdom