Ablaze

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  Ablaze

  By Dahlia Rose

  Copyright © April 2012, Dahlia Rose

  Cover art by Mina Carter © April 2012

  ISBN 978-1-936668-56-4

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious or used fictitiously. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

  Sugar and Spice Press

  North Carolina, USA

  www.sugarnspicepress.com

  /body>

  Chapter One

  “So you come to me willingly?” Pennemuel asked the ethereal woman standing in front of him.

  “I am here to save my charge.” Her soft voice was like a whisper of wind caressing his entire being. He felt his cock harden with anticipation because soon she would be his.

  “Let’s not play semantics here, angel; you know how this game works. I need to hear you do this of your own volition,” Pennemuel snapped. He had no time to play, and his prize could be taken away with just a simple twist of words.

  She raised her head defiantly, the wind whipping the long black curls away from her face. “I am here…willingly.”

  He could hear the cries of distress swirl around him from the invisible beings that watched their exchange. He absorbed them and relished it as they fed the darkness inside him. In the shadows the screams and howls of delight from his kind urged him on. On the top of the twenty-story, old, stone Gothic building in the heart of Gotham, he faced off with an angel, a being some demons would kill their maker to possess her. An angel and a guardian no less, stubbornly refusing to listen to her orders and give up her charge to fate. Instead she made a choice that would strip her of her grace in heaven and give him his ultimate prize: The purest of things ever created.

  No matter how they begged her to rethink her actions, she was adamant; she chose the life of her young human being instead of her own because she loved him with all within her. Her undying love for the boy made it so easy for him. He reveled in knowing that she offered herself like a ripe plum for his insatiable hunger. He smiled, thinking of how he gave her the option to give herself to him. Pennemuel was amazed she agreed so willingly to accept. No matter. His thoughts were pure evil. Taking her would buy him numerous centuries of pleasure and all he could possibly dream of in hell. He would relish her downfall from heaven with the simple act of fucking her. Humans had no idea of the power sex held, especially to someone like him. The pleasure he took from her body would destroy her very being, her grace in heaven. And he had no remorse in doing it.

  “You stand there like a statue, angel. Come to me; you need to make the first step.” He coaxed her forward with the crook of his finger.

  “My name is Hailey.”

  “What?” he snapped.

  Around them the rain started in a sudden downpour. Pennemuel watched in fascination when she raised her head, and the water cascaded over her creamy mocha skin. Each drop was like an electric charge hit the surface of her face, and a glow was left in its wake. The water soaked the wispy white material of her gown, and it clung to her body, molding to her curves and her breasts. He held back a groan as he stared at her form. There was only one way to describe her: perfection.

  “The tears of angels; they weep for me,” she murmured.

  “Let them weep. Like I gave a damn.” He laughed feeling the excitement inside him build.

  She gazed at his face again. “My name is Hailey, demon, and it will be branded into you forever.”

  “Really, and why is that, little dove? Is it because I am about to break your wings?”

  “You will see,” she replied calmly. “There is a price for even you when it comes to matters like this.”

  Pennemuel made an unbelieving sound in his throat. “I live in hell fire, and sulfur burns my nose; there is no price I cannot pay.”

  “So be it,” Hailey agreed with a soft smile curving her lips.

  “What should I call you?” she asked. “It seems unfitting to call you demon at a time like this.”

  He inclined his head, willing to give her that one small courtesy. “I am called Pennemuel.”

  Hailey nodded with a look of knowing on her face. “The demon who can twist the fate of a man with his words. I see now why they sent you after him.”

  Pennemuel laughed. “I am glad to see my notoriety precedes me even up there.”

  Hailey shook her head. “Only because we see such a waste of potential, but I’ll call you Penn. Your name is too long and pretentious.”

  Pennemuel couldn’t help the bark of laughter that came to his lips. This little angel had fire inside her.

  “You can call me what you wish; after this night I have no plans to see you for the rest of eternity.”

  She raised her eyebrow at him without speaking. The look on her face made him uneasy, like she knew something that eluded him.

  “Why are you staring at me like that?”

  Still she said nothing. Instead she took slow steps toward him, and with each footfall, she undressed until she was completely exposed. She put her hands on his shoulders and commanded, “Kiss me, demon, and let us begin this dance of fate.”

  She was magnificent in her nudity. Desire flared inside him as his gaze traveled to every dip and sensuous curve of her body. Her chocolate-colored skin and full lips beckoned him to taste. She should be scared of me. Pennemuel didn’t want her to be so willing. He wanted to see fear when she looked up at him. Instead he saw something more like trust in her light brown eyes, and that in itself was unbelievable. He was a demon, and she was an angel; their kind had been in a battle for the destiny of mankind since the beginning of time. She wants to be kissed. He could see it in her eyes and wondered why. He pushed that thought away. He would do that and much more before the night was over.

  He took her lips, no premise or prelude, just a hot, penetrating kiss. He delved his tongue deep into her mouth, tasting her pure essence and driving himself wild. She tasted like honey and the forbidden fruit of the garden of Eden. She opened under his onslaught willingly; she moaned when he caressed her, and he felt something spark in his chest, but he pushed away the foreign feeling. This was not about emotion; it was about a coveted prize, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy the ride. He forgot they were on a roof with the rain falling in torrents around them. Not rain, the tears of heavenly hosts, he thought with humor.

  He tore his lips away from hers, still wanting to taste her but also wanting to do so much more. “Spread your legs, little dove.”

  “Why?” Her voice was almost a whisper and breathless.

  It excited him all the more because she was so innocent.

  “You’ll see. Do as you’re told, little one. Remember, this is my show.”

  She moved her legs slowly apart; her eyes held a question when she stared into his face. He never took his gaze away from hers. He moved his hands slowly down her neck. Her body was still, and he could sense the anticipation of his touch. Around them was silence; even the rain had stopped. It’s like the entire universe is holding its breath for what’s to come. He found the slit of her pussy, and he slipped his finger between the thick folds and rubbed the bud he found there. Her body gave up its bounty while he touched her, becoming slick and wet under his touch. Watching her eyes he saw them widen in surprise before they went smoky with desire.

  Her half-closed eyelids gave her a sultry look, and Hailey undulated her hips against his hand, seeking the pleasure he was offering. Pennemuel delighted in the fact that she fell into her sexuality so quickly. He had heard to take an angel was a task that took too long with no great rewards except your cock got wet and you had your prize. She was already hot under his touch and ready to have his cock inside her. Not yet. This wa
s too rare a find to rush. His finger penetrated her pussy, and when she cried out, he chuckled softly.

  “Oh yes, little dove, this is some of the pleasure that your creator kept from you,” he murmured.

  Pennemuel pushed his digit deep inside her, feeling her muscles clench around him. With his thumb, he rubbed that secret spot until she cried out, and her nectar flowed around his hand. She came with a shuddering breath, and it drove him mad. He didn’t care about the eyes watching as he stripped. Her scent was like an aphrodisiac as he grabbed her into his arms. Usually he put more finesse into his lovemaking endeavors. Right now he just wanted to be inside her and feel her take him in. He pushed out with his feet and shot into the sky as he fused them together with a searing kiss.

  They soared, and he thrust his cock inside her as soon as her legs were wrapped around his waist. He moaned in ecstasy as her body accepted him like a soft glove. It was like being encased in liquid velvet, and somehow he knew he would never be the same after this coupling. Each thrust shot pleasure through him like lava through his veins. In his ear Hailey whispered his name, and her voice caressed his entire being. This had to be pleasure in its purest form.

  Unable to help himself, Pennemuel threw his head back and cried out. Their pace quickened, and instead of claws or nails raking flesh off his back, her hands seemed to hold him tighter to her and massaged his bunched muscles. Along with the need and the passion, she was comforting him. He felt her pussy clench with her release and followed suit. He spilled his hot seed inside her, and she pressed soft kisses against his neck. The aftermath of their lovemaking left them spent. The force that held them in flight as their bodies coupled left them. In each other’s embrace they plummeted from the sky not making a sound. Pennemuel turned quickly so his body took the major impact when they hit the roof. The cement shattered around him, and his body made an indent where he landed. From that he heard the cracking as fault lines radiated outward from where they’d landed.

  She snuggled against him, and he wrapped his arms around her protectively. It was then his eyes widened in surprise and he knew. He felt what her cryptic words had meant before. There’s a price to pay…and so there was. In the taking of Hailey’s body, she had taken his soul. Pennemuel knew instantly that to leave her would be like a self-inflicted wound. He couldn’t let her fate designated by heaven or let the demons who he knew would debase her in hell.

  “You feel it now,” she whispered.

  “Yes!” His voice was harsh and broke on that one simple word.

  Hailey rose and looked into his eyes, and he felt himself lost in her gaze. “What do you feel, Penn? Tell me.”

  “I will never say it, never submit to it!” he cried out.

  “Then what shall we do?”

  He tunneled his hands into her hair and kissed her fiercely. “You’re mine; they can’t have you. Either side.”

  She repeated the question quietly, “What shall we do, Penn?”

  “I don’t know. We fight, and I’ll help you protect him,” he responded. The words were torn from his throat.

  Hailey laid her head back against his chest. “Imagine an angel and demon on the same side for the same cause.”

  He could hear the smile in her voice, and he gritted his teeth. The one word that explained it all came from his lips. “Fuck!”

  Chapter Two

  The sounds of the city surrounded him like a blanket. Even though the noise usually soothed him, now it just seemed to fuel his anger. A week in and he’d not been back to the underworld. He was branded as a traitor, and there was a bounty on his head in hell. One million credits, dead or alive, and he’d dispatched with vicious ease the few that came trying to claim it. It was a kind of message, really, to let them know he was not going down without a fight. It didn’t help that he was stuck between two very big rocks. He had the angel and her charge that he now protected on one side and hell on the other. Fate had dealt him a cruel hand indeed. Now he was walking alone topside searching for a new safe house for the three of them. The last one had been breeched, and they’d had to fight their way out. Who knew his little angel was such a hellion fighter when it came to protecting her charge, and him it seemed? One of the lesser demons had gotten the jump on him, and she cut him down with precision. There was hardness to her since he’d taken her that night, and they hadn’t touched each other since then. He felt the loss of that connection so deeply sometimes it made him ache. To have her, to smell her scent around him, to see the love that was in her eyes for the boy was never there for him. He wanted her to love him, damn it, to look at him that way.

  He had found what he was looking for close to Hell’s Kitchen, right above a Chinese joint, a sparse two bedroom with a dingy little bathroom. The whole apartment wasn’t even as big as a luxury room in a hotel. He missed his luxuries, but right now they needed to stay under the radar. One of these days he would get them a suite in a fancy hotel, and he would show his angel fabulous living. He grimaced. His angel. He’d been calling her that in his head of late. It never left his mouth because he didn’t know where they stood exactly. Hell, he didn’t even know what the boy thought of him.

  As he paid the landlord a year’s rent in cash to keep his mouth shut and signed some stupid papers, he thought back to when she took him to where the boy was hidden. Sam was fifteen and belligerent as hell with that adolescent testosterone thing going on.

  “Who’s this?” Sam asked eyeing Penn up and down.

  “He’s going to help us.” Hailey’s voice was like a bubbling stream. “His name in Penn.”

  “Why, I can take care of us just fine,” Sam snapped.

  “This is supposed to be the redemption of man, this gangly kid?” Penn asked with amusement.

  “I’m tougher than I look, you dillweed.” The boy bunched his fist at his side and took a fighting stance. “You want to try me; I can take you down.”

  Penn grinned. He knew how he must look to the boy. He was six foot five easy, and he could spit in the top of the human’s head, yet he was willing to fight.

  “What’s he supposed to do for this accursed earth?” Penn asked.

  Hailey beamed up at him, and at the point he felt his breath catch. “His words are magic; he can uplift many and change the views of the powerful. Even now when he writes, it speaks volumes.”

  He watched the blush work up Sam’s face to the roots of his dirty-blond hair. “It’s nothing like she says; I don’t even know why she puts up with me. I’m just a street rat.”

  Penn saw a serious case of teenage crush going on, and for some strange reason, jealously reared up in his chest. Fuck. He was jealous of some crushing fifteen-year-old. Penn had to remind himself that he was a damn high-level demon of hell, and he did not feel emotions, especially toward some angel that he took. Yet he was there, and as she took his hand and led him farther in the room, he felt…wanted.

  “He is not a street rat; his homelessness is not of his own doing, and I have infinite joy in being his protector and taking care of him,” Hailey said. “I shall be right back. I need to change into human clothing.”

  Both their eyes watched her leave until Sam’s zeroed back in on him. “So you trying to pick up an angel; you know she is an actual to goodness higher being, right?”

  Penn snapped his fingers and fire danced at the tip. He saw Sam’s eyes widen in astonishment. “I know that, kid, and I’m a goddamn demon.”

  “You mean from hell?” Sam asked.

  “No from Disney,” Penn snapped. “Of course I’m from hell.”

  “You forgot to mention that not only you’re a demon but a prick too,” Sam retorted. The boy showed no fear at all.

  Penn busted out laughing. “I like you, kid.”

  “I’m thrilled. Can’t you tell?” Sam rolled his eyes and walked away. “Why are you hanging with Hailey? Aren’t you two supposed to be enemies?”

  “If you think I want to be here, kid, you’re wrong,” he’d practically snarled.

&nbs
p; He watched the boy try to make himself bigger by standing straight and puffing out his chest. “Then why are you here? You should put those feet to the bricks.”

  It was then he spoke the truth, and it hit him in waves. “If I could I would, but I…I can’t leave her. Listen, kid, there’s too much you don’t understand. Just get used to seeing me around.”

  Hailey came back out, and she smiled at both of them, and he felt himself melt under the absolute perfection of her. She was wearing jeans and a baby blue sweater, and nothing looked more perfect on a woman. Yeah he couldn’t leave her, not even if he wanted to. He let the memory fade as the landlord chattered merrily.

  He took the keys from the beaming landlord who was practically dancing at his payday. Getting cash upfront was not a usual thing on this side of town. Coming down the back stairs in the alley behind the Chinese restaurant, he could smell the two-day old garbage and piss. He hated the fact that now he had to live like the gutter was his home. But to be with Hailey he would probably have rented a refrigerator box on the corner. This is so fucked up. He dematerialized easily and homed in on her. The movement between time and space was easy for him. When he phased into the park where they were sitting on a bench eating a pretzel, Sam literally jumped from the bench.

  “Dude, seriously when you do that it freaks me out. Can’t you announce yourself or something?” Sam demanded to know.”

  “No,” Penn replied and raised an eyebrow in Hailey’s direction as she bit into the pretzel and practically glowed. “Are you enjoying that?”

  She smiled up at him. “Yes, I am. Thank you for asking. I think I’ve found a fondness for these pretzel things, and ice cream and donuts, oh, and chocolate. They are all so delicious.”

  Sam shook his head. “I keep telling her if she keeps eating junk food she is going to get a sick stomach.”

  Penn smiled ruefully. “She’s an angel; I doubt that will happen. Let her enjoy her food.”

  He had to admit it was one of the rare times lately he saw her true innocence. Most of the time when he was around she shut down cold, and there was nothing colder than when an angel would not give you the time of day. And why would she? He was a demon, a lower being not good enough to even stand in her presence. Plus he literally took her innocence on that roof weeks ago. She probably felt dirty just being around him knowing what she had to do to keep the boy safe.