Cipher (Demonica Underworld #8) - Larissa Ione Page 0,19

as two of his sons, Journey and Maddox, came into view just up the path. The two Memitim were goofing off with their cell phones, oblivious to the fact that in a moment they were going to be in the middle of something they didn’t want to be anywhere near.

Azagoth hissed, his wings unfurling as he swept her into his arms and lifted her into the air. The breath whooshed from her lungs as the ground fell away, but Azagoth tucked her close, his grip secure but gentle even as he dive-bombed his startled sons. He banked hard, forcing them to the ground before shooting across the courtyard to land on the balcony outside their bedroom.

Lilliana swayed a little as she found her footing, but Azagoth’s arm remained in place, a solid band of support. “Azagoth—”

“Shh.” He covered her mouth with his in a desperate kiss. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered against her lips.

God, she’d missed him too, and with a cry of relief, she melted against him.

* * * *

Azagoth moaned at the taste of Lilliana on his lips. It was as if he’d been starving for months and had finally been given a morsel of gourmet cuisine.

It wasn’t enough, was merely an appetizer, and he cursed as he broke the kiss and stepped back to avoid crushing her belly.

Her pregnant belly.

Holy shit.

She looked up at him with big amber eyes. “So you aren’t angry?”

Fuck, yeah, he was. But no. How could he be? Yes. No. Fuck. There were so many emotions tangled up inside him that he wasn’t sure how to answer. Obviously, she’d been pregnant for months and hadn’t told him. Had she known she was pregnant when she left him? Who else knew while he’d been kept in the dark like a fool?

Yeah, he was a little steamed. But he was also a jackass who’d pushed her away in the first place.

Screw it. It was too complicated and frankly, he didn’t give a shit right now. He had other needs to address, like the fact that Lilliana was home and even his evil side was thrilled.

And it wanted to claim its mate.

“I’ll sort it out later,” he said roughly as he fisted her skirt and yanked it up. “Right now I need you.”

“Yes.” She threw herself against him, wrapping her arms around him as she hooked his thigh with her leg. “Hurry.”

Her nails dug into his shoulders and her swollen belly pressed into his abs and there was no way this was going to work.

As carefully as his desperation would allow, he spun her around and braced her against the railing.

She looked around at him from over her shoulder, her long chestnut hair draped across her back, her mouth quirked in a naughty smile that hit him right in the cock. “Right here?”

Snarling with impatience, he spared a second to look out at his domain. A group of Unfallen and Memitim were wandering around and glancing up at the balcony while trying not to look obvious. Journey and Maddox must have a fucking loudspeaker.

With a thought and a whisper, a thick black fog rolled in from the outer edges of his realm, shrouding the land in darkness and his balcony in privacy.

“Nice,” she murmured.

No, there was nothing nice about it. That fog could have contained acid, poison, or millions of flesh-eating creatures if he’d wished it. As it was, it would leave an ashen residue on everything it touched. He’d have to summon rain later.

Then they could make love in that, too.

She left you. She lied to you.

Yes, she had. But he hadn’t been a pillar of virtue either, so he quashed his inner voice, because right now he needed to connect with her, to re-establish their bond...if not their trust.

She seemed to agree, her hand stretching back to grip his thigh and pull him even closer. The heat of her palm though his slacks was nearly his undoing. It had been so long. Too long.

As he reached beneath her skirt and tore away her panties, he swore they’d never be apart like that again. Never.

His fingers found her wet and swollen, so ready for him it made his knees weak.

Lilliana squirmed with anticipation, her slender shoulders rising and falling with every panting breath. Her nails dug into his leg so hard that it was painful. Deliciously, sinfully painful.

“Hurry,” she whispered again.

Some part of him wanted to deny her request—the part of him that was angry about being lied to. It wanted to drag this out,