Demon Angel

not lost him—they had not lost one another. For that, she would have borne any mark, any burden.
    He set the weight in the cradle—he was not finished, but it was the best opportunity for her attack.
    Lilith straddled him before he could start another set.
    He half-rose, but she pushed him back down. Kissed him until she felt the hard rise of his shaft beneath her. "I don't want you to think."
    "You are in the best place to accomplish that." His hands settled on her hips, his thumbs began a lazy stroke of her inner thighs. And with that easy touch, she was disarmed. His eyes searched hers. "Did it not go as you'd planned?"
    She dipped her head, smiled. Her fingers traced the powerful line of his chest, swooped in to circle the flat bronze nipples. "Bradshaw told them a story about my apartment being used as storage for a theft ring; that somehow the thieves had known it lay empty most of the time."
    He grimaced. "That's awful."
    "Terrible," she agreed, laughing. "He'll become more creative with practice." His abdomen rippled with muscle; she trailed her fingers over the defined ridges.
    "An evil twin is not all that creative."
    She pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes. "You couldn't have come up with better, given what I had to work with." And Moloch's transformation just before she'd killed him had been the most incredible luck—a miracle, if she'd been inclined to believe in them. "And the media started the 'evil twin' nonsense, not me."
    Rising up, she slid her hand beneath his waistband, gripped him firmly. His breathing changed, deepened, and he watched her with a half-lidded stare. "The university called," he said. "They will renew my contract in the fall."
    Her stomach clenched. Would he accept that offer? Or would he hers? Silk and steel and heat against her palm, and she began a long, slow stroke. "I am no longer with the Bureau."
    And now his hands, deliciously rough against her skin. Sliding down, finding her hot and moist. "Tell me, Lily," he said.
    She bit her lip, her head falling back as he pushed inside, his thumb working over her clit. "I don't want you to think," she gasped, laughing.
    He sat up. Lifted her in an easy movement, his arms beneath her thighs, holding her open over his hips. The cool wall against her back. His mouth warm on hers. His cock slid through her wet folds, but he did not enter.
    "Tell me, Lily," he said against her ear. Rocked against her.
    How could she be so open, so vulnerable—so needy—yet still so strong? Safety in this.
    He bent and his mouth closed over her nipple, pulling and biting at the taut peak.
    "There are rogues—hundreds that fled before the Gates closed. And if Belial overthrows Lucifer, he won't be bound by the wager to keep them closed. Vampires. A few nosferatu that didn't join with Lucifer."
    "And evil twins." She heard the smile in his voice as he moved to her other breast. "Shall we become demon slayers, traveling the country?"
    "I want you to teach." And moaned as he nudged inside her.
    Hugh paused, brought his face back up to hers. "That's unfortunate, because I told them I would not be returning." Her back arched as he sank into her; she writhed, trying to push down, take him all the way in, but he held her fast, "I've been offered another position."
    She drew a breath. "Damn him—Michael!" The name came out as a scream as he suddenly thrust deep.
    He shook with laughter.
    "That is not what I expected to hear," he said.
    Her hands gripped his shoulders; if he denied her legs movement, she would use him for leverage. "Don't stop," she panted.
    "Oh, God, Lily." He buried his face in her neck, lifted her higher. Began pistoning into her with long, smooth strokes. "You know I can't."
    "Can't teach them?" No, no—she needed him with her, needed—
    "Stop."
    "Good," she laughed breathlessly. Much better.
    He flattened his palms against the wall, held her weight on his forearms. So strong. "You don't have to convince me," he said, working against her, into her with each thick slide.
    That it was good? Her heartbeat thudded in her ears. "I can't think."
    "Good," he said, and then she lost every thought. Only felt.
    "You cheated." She tried to glare at him over the top of her glass, but only succeeded in grinning. She sat a little deeper into the sofa, watched as Hugh pulled the cork out of the bottle with a slight pop. Sir Pup glanced up from beside the bookcase, then lazily lay his heads down again when he saw there was no food to be had.
    Hugh