Page 54 of Knight’s Absolution

“And that felt nice? Like my sweater?” She felt like a damned naive idiot. But touch and the emotions and feelings that came with them were still a mystery she was unraveling, and sometimes she had to ask for help.

He shook his head. “Better than your sweater.”

Better than her sweater? Now she wanted to know what it felt like. And hey, he did say he had no boundaries where she was concerned. Swiping her finger through the cream of another dessert, she held it out. “Show me.”

More shifting in his seat and his jaw tightened. “You want me to—”

“Suck my finger,” she said, lifting the digit to his lips, desperate to know if he was right.

He remained still for several moments, then wrapped his hand around hers and brought her cream-covered finger to his parted lips. He sucked it deep, and Luna knew her eyes were wide, but she couldn’t help it. The flutters in her belly reached new heights, and when he swirled his tongue around her finger and sucked more firmly, something tugged even lower.

Heat washed over her skin, and she suddenly had the urge to squeeze her thighs together. So she did. She also made a whimpering sound, a desperate, greedy sound she’d never made before in her life.

Gunner released her hand, and she pulled her finger free, blinking up at him, not sure exactly what she was feeling.

“Well?” he asked, his voice deeper and grittier than she’d ever heard it. “Better than your sweater?”

“Y-yes,” she said, her voice husky. “Better than my sweater.”

Luna lay beside Gunner in her bed.

After feeding her sweets, they’d come back to her room and he’d offered her his vein the way he did every night. She’d accepted, of course. She couldn’t stop herself. She was drinking from his throat tonight, her favorite spot to drink from for several reasons. She could press the entire front of her body to his, and also, the way he cupped the back of her head, sometimes pressing his mouth to her hair, sometimes breathing in her scent was kind of wonderful.

She enjoyed the hell out of all of it.

“Don’t stop until you’ve had enough,” he said against her ear, his heavy, tattooed arm wrapped around her, taking his payment. It hadn’t taken her long to realize he’d only suggested holding her to make her feel better, to appease her guilt. There was no payment. The male gave and gave and demanded nothing in return. And every sweet thing he did cracked her protective shields a little more each time.

She drew deep from his vein and her belly squirmed, the heat there swirling before dipping lower, the same way it had when he’d sucked her finger, hitting her between the thighs.

She gasped against Gunner’s throat and squeezed her legs tighter together.

That helped. It felt good, actually. So good.

She wanted more of the feeling. But there was no way she could ask Gunner, he’d already given her so much. It didn’t matter that he said he had no boundaries.

Asking him for more would be taking advantage. He’d already told her he didn’t want to have sex with her, and she was pretty sure what she was feeling had something to do with that.

The urge to rub up against him grew.

Control yourself.

Pulling away, she licked the puncture marks she’d made in his skin. She wanted to keep feeding, but right then she didn’t trust herself and worried she’d end up doing something that would embarrass them both and make this sweet, kind male uncomfortable.

When he rolled her to her back on the bed and kissed her forehead a little while later, then stood and headed for the door, she had to bite her lips together.

Somehow, she stopped herself from asking him to stay.

CHAPTER 16

“We need to do something now. The longer this fucker is out there, the more damage he can do,” Chaos said. His gaze slid to Silas. “Is there any way you can get a line on Azel? Do you guys have some kind of angel radar or some shit you can use to track him?”

Silas’s jaw clenched, frustration written all over his face. “I’ve tried. I’m not strong enough, not anymore.”

Gunner crossed his arms in an effort not to fucking punch something. Azel had been thrown out of Heaven as well, some of his powers stripped like Silas. But instead of lying low, the power-hungry angel had found a way to get them back, through Luna and her brother, and maybe others as well. “He’s aligned himself with Diemos. Luna isn’t safe until we find him and put him down.”

“Yeah, they’re definitely BFFs,” Kryos said. “There’s no doubt with all the shit he’s pulled.”

“Either that or he’s got plans to take over himself. Position himself as Diemos’s main man and control the demons already here.”