15. Evangeline

Ifollowed my GPS to the address that Kase had sent me. My Jeep was loaded down with most of my belongings. I left some things behind because I was still pretending this was temporary. Deep down, I knew that by agreeing to move in with them for the case, I was also choosing them and our bond. I made a right onto a palm tree-lined road. It all felt very posh and expensive, with beach houses littering the street on either side. The ocean was not far to my left, and when I rechecked my GPS, I saw that my destination was ahead on the left. Kase got us a beach house? I hadn’t expected something so luxurious, assuming they’d find an apartment somewhere that didn’t come with cockroaches.

The beach house was absolutely adorable, and I gawked at it as I put the Jeep in park. It was white with pale purple accents and a balcony that looked like it wrapped around the entire house. As I exited my Jeep, Jett came running out of the house.

“There you are!” he said happily, scooping me into his arms and spinning me around in a circle before I could stop him. “Can you believe we’re going to live here?!”

“It is nicer than I expected,” I replied as I attempted to step out of his arms. He kept me glued firmly to his side with an arm around my back with his hand resting on my hip.

“Wait until you see the inside!” His excitement was contagious, and I couldn’t help but smile as he steered me toward the house.

“I have to get my stuff,” I laughed.

“Rylan and Kase will bring your things inside,” he assured me as I stepped through the front door.

“You could help us,” Rylan said, entering the living room. He stopped in front of me and bent down to kiss my cheek. “Hey, baby.”

“Hey,” I replied.

“I could, but I’m giving Evangeline the grand tour, so I can’t,” Jett said flippantly. Kase greeted me briefly with a peck on the cheek, and Jett pulled me deeper into the house. “Living room, kitchen, office space, I guess,” he said, pointing to the various rooms and steering me to the stairs. “There’s another bathroom down here too. This is my room,” he said, pausing next to the opened doorway and wagging his eyebrows suggestively at me. “So when you’re ready for some sweet, sweet loving, this is where you’ll find me.”

“Awfully confident, aren’t you?” I teased.

“Evangeline, I made you come with my words. Just wait until I get my hands on you,” he purred.

I finally detached myself from him and continued walking down the hall, peeking into open doors.

“Kase’s room, Rylan’s room, and this one is your room,” Jett said as he darted ahead of me to open the door with a flourish.

I stepped into my room, and I first noticed the French doors leading to the balcony overlooking the ocean. The view was breathtaking, and already I could feel the calming energy of this place. The second thing I noticed was the gigantic bed. It had to be larger than a king and nearly spanned the entire wall it was against, leaving only enough room for nightstands on either side. The room was painted a soft cream with a plush light gray carpet. Purple and blue accent pieces and art were tastefully placed around the room. An overstuffed armchair sat in the corner of the room beside a small table with a reading lamp. Even with the size of the bed, the room didn’t feel small.

Choosing to ignore the bed for now, I opened one of the doors off the bedroom and found a good-sized closet. The one in my condo was bigger, but I didn’t use all of the space in it, so this would be fine. The other door I found led to a large ensuite bathroom with a heavenly-looking bathtub. I would definitely be climbing into that baby later tonight for a good long soak. Jett was sitting on the bed when I came back into the room.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“I think it’s beautiful. That’s a huge bed, though.”

“It has to be if we’re all going to sleep comfortably,” Rylan said as he entered the room and placed some of my bags down.

“You have your own beds. I assumed you would be sleeping in them,” I replied.

Rylan grinned at me. “For now.”

Goosebumps spread across my skin from the promise in his words. Jett smirked when he felt my response through the mate bond. That damn thing was becoming more and more inconvenient by the minute.

“We’ll see about that,” I replied.

Kase joined us with the rest of my bags and set them down. “Here’s the rest of your stuff. I put your laptop in the office downstairs. I’m going to whip us up some lunch. When you get settled in, come on down, and after we eat, we can get to work.”

I nodded as he shooed Rylan and Jett from the room and closed the door behind them to give me privacy and a moment to collect myself. I eyed the big bed again, grabbed my bags, and hauled them toward the closet to unpack. At least with a bed that big, if the four of us shared it, we wouldn’t be cramped. I unpacked all of my bags and went back downstairs. Kase was just placing grilled cheese sandwiches on plates around the table tucked against the windows overlooking the ocean when I stepped into the kitchen.

“Good timing,” he smiled. “I hope you like bacon. If you don’t, I can make you one without it.”

“Bacon’s good with me,” I assured him. I slid into the seat beside Jett, and he winked at me before taking a big bite from his sandwich. We ate in what would have been comfortable silence if you were observing us from the outside. But the energy at the table felt more nervous as we exchanged furtive glances. We may be mates, but we were still relative strangers who just shacked up together. It might take a bit for things to feel completely comfortable.

When lunch was over, we went into the office area where they had been setting up while I unpacked. A map of L.A. was on the wall, with pins pushed into different locations, and black x’s littered the city. “What are the x’s?” I asked.

“Places we checked for Zabiza, but came up empty,” Jett said. His eyes widened as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Rylan glared at him from across the room.

“You managed to check all of these places since I left?” There were about ten black marks on the map. There was no way they accurately covered all of these places, and why would they when I had his location in my head?

“Umm,” Jett trailed off, looking at Rylan for help.

“We’ve been kind of looking for Zabiza,” Rylan said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

“Kind of?”

“The case we’re working on is to find Zabiza,” Kase said. Rylan shot him a glare, and Kase returned it. “What? She will find out eventually, so we may as well get everything out in the open now.”

“So that’s what you were trying to hide earlier,” I accused Jett. “You would have helped me regardless because you need me to find him.”

“We do,” Rylan admitted. “But I stand by my requirement for us to live together. Working together will be easier if we’re under the same roof.”

“But that isn’t why you didn’t tell me, is it? You didn’t tell me because you didn’t want me to know that you needed me more than I needed you.” I wanted to be mad at them for tricking me, but I wasn’t. Annoyed? Definitely. But I wasn’t angry. The truth of it was it would be easier to be in one place while we hunted down Zabiza. Considering the state of the world and the human race were in jeopardy, this was small in comparison.

“Are you mad?” Kase asked.

“No,” I sighed as I sat down at the table where they had placed my laptop. “What’s done is done. We’re already here, so let’s get to work.”

They sat down and filled me in on their attempts to capture Zabiza. They almost had him, but he’d slipped through their fingers. Knowing what I know about the demon now, I wasn’t surprised they were unsuccessful. Zabiza had far more power than any of us realized. I felt it would take much more than the four of us to stop him. We needed backup—powerful backup.

“We need to talk to Lucifer,” I said finally. “He needs to know that Zabiza is a bigger threat than he realized. It’s going to take more than us to take him down. Can we call him?”

Rylan exchanged uneasy looks with Kase and Jett.

“What?”

“He’s made it clear that if we don’t get this taken care of, he’ll remove us from the case and bring us back to Hell,” Rylan explained.

“Over my dead body,” I growled, surprising not just them but myself.

“You do care,” Jett teased.

I rolled my eyes. “Just get Lucifer on the phone,” I instructed. “Once he understands the magnitude of the situation, I’m sure he will change his tune.”

We huddled around Rylan’s laptop as he video-called Lucifer. The ruler of Hell answered after only a couple of rings, and I got my first look at the original fallen angel. His wings were far larger than mine, and his piercing black eyes seemed to see straight into my soul. His unruly black hair, stylishly sticking out in places, and his five o’clock shadow gave him a more rugged look than I had expected.

“What?” he barked when he answered.

“We have an important update on Zabiza,” Rylan replied.

Lucifer’s eyes traveled past me, then darted back in surprise. “This must be the mate I’ve heard so much about.”

“Evangeline Faithe,” I replied.

“Pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Evangeline Faithe,” Lucifer purred. “You’ve caused quite a distraction for my best pack lately. I hope that your presence here means that it will be coming to an end?”

“I’m sure it will,” I replied. “We have a problem with Zabiza that you need to be made aware of.”

His eyebrows raised, though I wasn’t sure if it was because of my bluntness or that I thought I knew something that he didn’t. Regardless, I continued to fill him in on taking Zabiza’s contract and his intentions. Lucifer listened patiently without reacting as I spoke, and when I finished, he didn’t talk for several minutes.

“I’ve heard of the Femme Fatale Freakshow,” he said. “They’re known to be knowledgeable in all things. I trust their intel.”

“I’m sure you understand how bad this is,” I replied.

“I do. This is more than just a Hell problem. I’ll contact my counterparts and see if they would be willing to meet with me regarding Zabiza. Do you know his current location?” Lucifer asked.

I checked my file on him and grimaced. “Unfortunately, he seems to be moving frequently, so I don’t know how accurate the intel is.”

“He knows we’re after him and isn’t staying in any one place too long,” Kase commented.

“Perhaps,” Lucifer replied. “I’ll get back to you when I know more. In the meantime, try to monitor him. See if there is a pattern in his movements, but be careful. If he’s as powerful as the Guild suggests, it could be more dangerous than one pack can handle.” Lucifer gave a slight wave to the camera and then signed off.

“Well, ok. Lucifer wasn’t mad. That’s a good thing,” Jett said.

“And he will try to talk to Heaven, which is a rather big deal. I can only think of a handful of times where that’s been necessary, and it’s always been about big events,” Rylan said.

“I told you this was bad,” I sighed as I rubbed my eyes. “Ok, let’s see if we can do what Lucifer asked and figure out a pattern to Zabiza’s movements. I have a feeling it isn’t going to be that simple.”

We spent the rest of the day mapping Zabiza’s locations, which weren’t limited to Los Angeles. He frequently traveled to places around the globe, which was unsettling. By the time I sank into the tub in my bathroom, I was nursing a migraine from constantly checking his location updates in my head. Getting a mark’s file uploaded to my brain was handy until times like this. I was more than happy to be able to shut it off and not have to mess with it for the rest of the night.

I woke up to the feeling of fur brushing against my body. For a second, my sleep-addled brain thought it was a dream. It cleared when a wet tongue licked my inner thigh. I jolted awake and looked down to see a hound looming over me.

“Jett!” I hissed.

The hound growled lightly and tipped its head to the side. His eyes started to glow faintly, and I realized by their color that it wasn’t Jett’s hound; it was Kase’s.

“Kase?”

The hound yipped at me to confirm it was him before bending down to nose my thighs apart further.

“Who invited you into my room?” I scolded him.

He snorted at me as he settled between my legs and rested his big head on my thigh. His eyes held a question within them as if he was asking for permission. Fuck. Was I about to let this happen? My pussy seemed to think I was going to, and the hound’s nose twitched as he smelled my arousal. My indecision made him impatient because his teeth closed around my inner thigh gently. He made sure not to break the skin, but the message was clear— hurry the fuck up.

Slowly, I inched my thighs apart wider in invitation. This was my mate, and I desired him in all his forms. I knew I wanted this.

The hound’s approving rumble nearly vibrated the bed as he moved into a better position. I moaned as his long tongue snaked out, burrowed into my folds, and then curled around my clit. He made a feast of my pussy, making me writhe in the bed, and bite my pillow to muffle my moans as I came. He crawled up my body, licking his chops. I felt his cock nestle against my folds as Kase partially shifted back to his human form.

His fur turned to a soft, downy covering over his skin; his face looked less hound-like as he grinned at me, his sharp teeth flashing in the moonlight. “I’ve never tried this partially shifted, but we’ll give it a go. Don’t worry, I made sure to keep the fun parts all hound.” He winked at me before lowering his mouth to mine. I moaned into his mouth as I felt him slide into my channel. His claws trailed up my thigh as he hefted it to his hip to widen me further.

Kase withdrew briefly before plunging deeper into me with a hard thrust. “Fuck, you feel so good wrapped around me, Evangeline,” Kase said breathlessly as he broke the kiss.

“More,” I begged.

“Oh, trust me, angel, you’ll get so much more. I can’t wait to feel my knot locked inside of you,” Kase growled lightly.

“Stop talking about it and just do it,” I demanded. His hybrid cock speared me faster and faster, building my next orgasm without letting me teeter over the edge. His hand slid up my body to play with my nipple with one sharp claw, making me jolt from the sensation. Kase dropped his total weight on me, pressing me into the bed as his hips pumped impossibly fast, causing my moans to grow louder with each pump.

His clawed hand covered my mouth to silence me, which turned me on even more. “We can’t have you waking the house, Evangeline,” he rasped. “Fuck, do you feel that, baby? That’s my knot, and you’ll take it like the good little angel you are.”

I did feel it, and my eyes widened in shock. Obviously, I understood how knots worked, but I hadn’t been prepared for the size. It slammed against my entrance relentlessly, demanding entrance. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

He paused, fully inserted with the knot pressed against me. “Evangeline, tell me I can knot and mark you. I need your permission, baby.” His hand slid from my lips to my neck as his thumb stroked my jaw. “If you don’t want this, tell me and I’ll stop.”

My desire warred with my trepidation, but as I stared into Kase’s burnt amber eyes, I felt a calm come over me. This was my mate. He’d never hurt me. I was made for him, for them, and I could handle anything they could give me.

“Do it, Kase. Mark me. Claim me. Take me.”

His eyes flashed as a slow grin spread across his face, enunciating his razor-sharp teeth that should have been unsettling in his very human mouth. Instead, I found it incredibly sexy, and my desire spiked.

His hand slid over my mouth again to silence me as he tipped my head to the side, exposing my neck where Jett had already left his mark. My mind turned to Jett briefly. I knew he had to know what was happening. He had to be able to feel it through our bond. Was he stroking himself to the pleasure Kase was giving me? My focus on our bond must have caught his attention because I felt him send reassuring, but hungry feelings to me through it. He was definitely keyed into what was happening in my bedroom.

“Eyes on me,” Kase growled, sensing my distraction.

I met his gaze as he started pushing his knot into me. I groaned as my body stretched to accommodate him, and when he suddenly popped through the barrier, I screamed into his hand. I was full, so fucking impossibly full, and I realized in that instance that I would always crave this feeling.

“Good girl,” Kase groaned, “now come for me.” A hand slipped between my body as a single nail dragged along my sensitive bud.

My body stiffened, and my toes curled as an orgasm slammed into me so hard I saw spots.

Kase roared in response as he came with me. His teeth sank into the side of my neck beside Jett’s mark, and my entire body seemed to come alive as our bond was completed, and our pleasure zipped back and forth between us, building higher and higher until we both came again together. Kase’s body trembled against mine as his hips jerked in short bursts while he came.

In the back of my mind, I felt Jett’s pleasure as well as it wrapped around me. Fuck, the angels didn’t know what they were missing by not having mates. Sex with a mate was a million times better and more intense than with any other partner. Wasn’t I a fucking lucky girl?