Read Online Demon's Fall by Karalynn Lee - Free Book Online

lashes brush his skin as her eyes closed. He listened to her breaths deepen, wondering at himself for lying peacefully next to an angel with her soul untouched. His fingers felt strangely bare without a coin between them.
    Kenan stroked her hair instead and thought about moving his hands to other parts of her. He’d come so close. It would be so simple to wake her and lure her to that edge again—perhaps even over it. Her soul would be exquisite, he knew.
    But the notion faded against the warmth of her body along the length of his. He slowly relaxed. This was what he wanted forever, he realized before a pleasant lassitude overcame him, not their mindless joining, but the calm of her presence beside him.
    * * *
    He had never woken to such contentment. There was a warmth alongside him, but within himself too, if he were honest with himself. Jahel was lying on her stomach next to him, a few strands of hair fallen over her face. He brushed them away and drew the back of his hand down her cheek. Her lips curved, although her eyes remained closed.
    He rolled onto his side, propping himself up on one elbow to better view her body, and idly caressed her, thinking of how best to waken her. He carefully ran his hands through her wings, then stopped.
    She made a sleepy murmur of protest.
    “Your feathers have grown back,” he said. He’d forgotten how quickly angels healed.
    “I know.” She yawned. “They itched abominably.”
    “Jahel.” That woke her, using her name. “You could have flown away any time.”
    She stretched, a sight that normally would have aroused him, but he was too intent upon her response. “I can’t get the collar removed in Heaven,” she said.
    “Of course,” he said. His voice sounded distant, even to himself.
    She tucked her knees under herself, then pushed up so that she looked down at him. “And I couldn’t just leave you, Kenan.”
    “I know—your debt.”
    Her fingers feathered their way down his face. “There’s more to it than honor.”
    Her eyes held an adoration he had seen before in mortal women. It was the curse of being an incubus, and in the beginning he had sometimes mistaken it for more. He occasionally indulged in a mortal woman for an extended period of time, but lost interest quickly once he had her soul in hand. He didn’t even want Jahel’s soul anymore. Nor did he wish for her to be bound to him by mere physical desire.
    He had to remove that collar. Angels didn’t belong in Hellsgate, and Jahel didn’t belong to him.
    Kenan turned to her, summoning all the skills at his command. He focused on her, ignoring his own needs in favor of overwhelming her with every sensation he could give her. As he’d promised, he kissed her everywhere, exploring the texture and taste of her skin, and then finally, once she was writhing, tonguing her to her peak again and again.
    Afterward he watched her fall back into slumber and knew he would never tire of it.
    He slipped out of the bed and got ready quietly. The city outside seemed different, or perhaps it was the lack of Jahel beside him. Would it be thus every day after she was gone? He was glad he passed no one he knew.
    But there was someone heading directly toward him. He veered toward one side of the street, hoping to avoid the demon, when he recognized the hellhound. It continued loping toward him.
    The hound came to a stop just before him, panting. “Incubus. I was seeking you.”
    “Why?” He should have given the soul to Jahel instead of selfishly keeping it—then there’d be no way for the hellhound to demand it back.
    The hellhound said, “Edom has been bridled.”
    He felt a chill. There were only four who could bridle a demon-horse of such rank. But the Horsemen were supposed to be safely sealed away until the end of the world was to come. “The Four Horsemen ride?”
    “Just the one. But he is herald to more.”
    Conquest, war, famine, death.
    Armageddon. Heaven and Hell would strive in a battle so tremendous it