Chapter 5

Ella

I t was like a delicate whisper at first. My lips tingled as something barely grazed them. It was like being kissed by a breeze. My whole body responded as I knelt in front of him. The kiss grew harder and more solid as he took a proper form. A slow, gentle kiss as lips explored mine. His tongue slid across my lips and I opened up for him. He delved gently at first, as though unsure, and when I responded in kind, it grew deeper. Arms wrapped around me and lifted me effortlessly onto his lap. I straddled him as he held me tight against him. Warmth flowed from his body. He smelled of clear air after the rain.

Our kiss tipped over into something less gentle. Something tinged with need and desire. I let out a moan, and he growled in response, nipping at my lip. I bit back, and he laughed. A deep rolling sound that I wanted to hear from him again and again. One of his hands wandered down my thigh and dipped under my dress. His touch was like silk and my skin felt electric under him. He stroked gently as our mouths devoured each other. I'd never been so lost in a kiss like this. I was a creature of sensation and nothing else. The hand on my thigh gripped me tightly until it was almost painful and I gasped. Another laugh.

"My delicate angel. I'm going to enjoy tormenting you."

The words sent a shiver down me. I wanted to be tormented. Wanted whatever eventually lay at the end of his sensual tortures. I pressed myself harder against him. The hand on my thigh crept higher as he captured my lips again. The kiss was hard now. Hard and desperate for both of us. I'd never been so turned on. I'd never needed anyone like I needed him. Perhaps I could torture him a little bit in the future, too. But right now, I wasn't sure that I could do anything but give myself over to him.

"Please."

The word slipped out of me and he moved his hand to the line of my panties and then stopped. I tried grinding against his hand to encourage him. But he held still. His lips pulled away from mine and fell to my neck. I moaned and felt his fingers twitch in response. He wanted this as much as me, I was sure of it. I shuffled forward, placing my entrance directly above his crotch. Layers of fabric separated us, but I could feel hardness. I ground against it, intending to tease him, but ended up only driving myself even wilder. His nibbles on my neck intensified, and I reached out and pulled his head harder against me. He laughed and drew his tongue from shoulder to my ear.

I pulled back, ready to do the same to him, and caught a glimpse of a horrified face behind us.

"Fuck."

I squealed and tried to jump up, falling backwards. Descaris reached out and caught me before I hit the small coffee table to the side of the chair, and stood with ease, holding me in his arms. He righted me and gently placed me on the ground. I brushed myself down and looked up into the disgusted face of Billy..

"Billy, you can't just walk in here without knocking."

I tried my best to sound firm. This was my therapy room and regardless of what we'd been doing, guards shouldn't just be wandering in. His face twisted up into an angry snarl.

"Why? So these monsters can coerce women into doing weird things with them?"

"There has been no coercion, Billy."

"How do you even know? This one wanders around, uncontrolled. We hardly know anything about him or what his powers are. How do you know he hasn't gotten into your mind and done something?"

A spike of anger flared inside me. If there was one thing I knew, it was that I'd been in my right mind and making my own choices. I wouldn't be made out to be a helpless little girl. Without looking, I could tell that Descaris was simmering with rage and barely restraining himself from the accusations.

"I know myself. I'm a therapist, Billy. I know how to assess my own mental wellbeing and stability. You may not like what you've seen here today. But that doesn't make it anything untoward or nefarious. I'm a grown woman. Please treat me like one."

Somehow I said what I had to without my voice shaking. I hated confrontation, I hated being angry. But this was too important to shy away from.

"I'll be talking to Cospire about this."

Billy turned and left, slamming the door closed behind him. I stumbled over to my chair and flopped into it.

"Are you ok?"

Descaris leaned over me and stroked my face. The black swirls of his shadowy face were whipping around like tornados. The only sign that he was angry.

"I'm fine. He shouldn't have barged in here. I'm sorry. Are you ok?"

"Yes."

The word was tight. There was more behind it.

"But?"

"It should be my job to protect you. But every decision I make ends in your death."

I sucked a breath in. He continued before I could speak.

"I'm sorry it hurts you to hear about it. But I have to be honest with you. I don't know why, but it seems important."

"I appreciate that. You're right, honesty is important, no matter what. Thank you for giving it to me."

Something inside me relaxed. Whatever else happened, however this turned out. He'd be open with me.

"I won't let you die."

I latched on to that and I had to believe that he'd been given the visions for a reason. I looked him over. He was a demon. If he couldn't save me, then no one could.