Reign A Romance Anthology - Nina Levine Page 0,219

been locked upon him the second she’d marked it as clear. Not the furnishings.

This wall dwelled in shadows as if he wanted to hide the painting.

But it was her.

Her.

In her real form, light blazing from her eyes and fingers as she wielded her burning sword. A warrior. An angel. Bloodied and anguished, lifting her sword one last time as if to ward off a blow—

“What’s wrong?” Soft footsteps stalked her, like a hound on the scent of something. Maybe he could scent the lies twisting off her. “Something catch your eye?”

He knew.

“I just….” It was hard to find her way back to the story. What had she been saying?

“You just?” He stood behind her, and Sera froze. “What do you see?”

“She’s on her knees.” The detail floored her. “She’s backed into a corner, desperate, trying to save herself from some unseen punishment.”

Is this how he saw her?

Is this how he wanted to see her?

“The interesting thing is that you shouldn’t be able to see it,” Azazel whispered, and the second he let his fingertips trail down her spine, she knew the mistake she’d made.

The painting had been warded.

There were only a few beings that could stare right through those wards without being distracted by them.

She tried to spin around, but he held her there, hands harsh on her hips.

“Once upon a time a demon fell in love with an angel.” His voice was like velvet over her skin, but she could sense the threat within the words.

It took all her strength to swallow down the rush of feeling those words conjured. “Love? Can a demon truly love anything other than himself?

Those gloved hands brushed against the curve of her hips. “You know nothing of the world, little one. Loves makes us all fools. But only once.”

“What happened?” she whispered, because a part of her needed to know.

His breath whispered over the back of her neck. “It ended. Badly. She betrayed him and left him for dead.”

That wasn’t how the story went.

Sera closed her eyes. A shiver ran through her.

“He swore vengeance.” Those hands shifted up, caressing the softness of her breasts. “But she had vanished, and when Heaven fell, her body was nowhere to be found.”

“You looked for her?”

“Oh, I looked for her.”

Sera stared at the painting, her stomach churning. Not with dread. Heat melted between her thighs. “Maybe there was a reason she betrayed him.”

“Because she was a filthy, rotten liar.”

His fingers found her nipple and pinched.

Sera gasped, clapping a hand over his. But she didn’t pull away.

She couldn’t have, even if she’d wanted to.

“You remind me of her,” he breathed, his hand skimming up her throat.

Sera took a sharp breath. He couldn’t know. He couldn’t.

But what if some part of him sensed the truth?

“Do I?”

His hand curled around the base of her throat in a silken threat. “Yes.” His lips brushed against her cheek. “You do. You’re so fucking pretty. Just like her. This lying mouth is just like hers—”

“I’m not lying—”

“You’re full of shit,” he growled, his thumb caressing her carotid.

Her heart burst into thunderous applause, but then the pressure was easing. The threat was gone, no more than a silken whisper as his hand stroked lower, palm scraping against the silk that covered her breast.

Sera shivered. She’d volunteered for this mission—if Azazel had managed to get his hands on one of the shattered remnants of Michael’s blade, then he couldn’t be allowed to surrender it to Lucifer’s forces—but maybe some part of her had also wanted to see what became of him.

Or maybe she wanted to know if what she’d felt all those years ago was just a trick of her memory.

“Beg me for mercy,” he breathed.

“Is that what you want? You want to see her beg? Do you want her on her knees? Do you want her dead? Or do you just want her under your thumb?” Sera bit her lip, arching into his touch. Here came the dangerous part…. “What if I could be her, just for one night? What if you could do to me everything that you wanted to do to her?”

His fingers stilled.

He spun her around.

Captured her chin in one hand.

And a daring, reckless thought speared through her. “I could be, you know? I could be anything you want me to be. Would you like that? Would you like me to be her?” Another twinge. Just this once…. “I would.”

And then she pushed forward and kissed him.

It shocked him.

He stilled beneath her mouth. Him. The demon who’d broken a thousand hearts,