Azrael's Light [Demon Runners of Unearth] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Amy J. Hawthorn Page A

away.
    It was exactly what she needed, a wild tempest blowing all the worries, stress, and fear from her mind. Each pounding thrust cranked her pleasure tighter, until he arched, sank in tight against her ass, and released his bite in a harsh groan.
    Her breath stuttered, stopped, and left her body in a rush. Every muscle she possessed tightened and released in a blinding explosion of joy.
    He shattered her body and heart.
    Muscles shaking, chest heaving, he wrapped both arms around her and rolled them to their sides where they waited for their hearts to slow. As the room spun, she held his arms tight against her abdomen, her anchor.
    She could happily lounge in his arms for days and absorb his every touch, but she had more important things to worry about.
    They needed to be on their way and looking for her niece.
     
    * * * *
     
    Relieved to see his hands were no longer shaking, he took her chin in one and turned her to face him. Her eyes shone back at him in the dim firelight. The cloudy haze of pain was gone, and now their true brilliance stunned him. It appeared that her powers had returned and repaired the damage. Her Light called to him and struck him stupid with its vibrancy.
    “I wish I’d known your powers were bound. You left me in the dark, pissing me off. The knowledge might have saved us some time.”
    “The point of living on Earth as a mortal was to escape the elder gods’ notice. When I left Unearth, the only thing I wanted was to be left alone. I couldn’t advertise that I hid there as a mortal.” Shadows flickered behind her eyes. Did she really bear such a great heartache?
    “Will you be at full strength soon? I hate to rush you, but as soon as you can, we need to find Alia. I think you were right. We’ll do better if we work together.” He couldn’t help but hold her tightly for just a few more moments. He’d needed the contact as much as she had needed the warmth.
    She’d scared the shit out of him back at the lake. He was the Runner. He should have been the protector. Yet he’d stood there, worthless, while she’d protected him. For a brief fraction of time, the trees’ dark silhouettes reminded him of the bars of Abaddon’s inner gate. He’d watched Andras reach his hand past that unforgivable barrier from which there was no returning. In a bright flash, his friend was gone. Forever. His own stupidity and the resulting loss had nearly crippled him.
    And a near-mortal woman had been the one to step up. Had he lost his touch? He shook his head.
    What the hell had gotten into him? Here he was cuddling Lilith’s twin sister. Not only was he trying to warm her, he was enjoying it. Her shivering had stopped, and there was no reason to continue holding her, but he couldn’t make himself remove his hands from her hair and let her go.
    Now he understood why she’d looked familiar to him back at the club. Her facial features were similar to Lilith’s. But where Lilith’s pale features were cold and often filled with selfishness, Diane’s were filled with warmth and compassion.
    How could twin sisters be so different?
    For now, he’d just attribute it to stress and his being long overdue for a break. One of her hands had released their tight grasp of his shoulder and had begun to sweep the lightest of touches across his bicep. With each butterfly-soft caress, he thought less about the job he had to do and more about getting back into her body.
    They needed a distraction now.
    “Tell me about Alia. I’ve never heard the story of how she came to be. All of Lilith’s offspring are those cursed Lilitu demons. She pops those little things out like popcorn. How did Lucifer’s one true daughter come to be? She looks like she’s from a god’s bloodline and nothing like one of Lilith’s generic spawn.”
    “As far as we can tell, she was a gift to Lilith and Lucifer for the one unselfish act that they committed together. Lucifer willingly gave me his permission to pass through the gate