fell with their lovers, or not long after. More likely she went with her brethren in support.”
He relaxed then and my lips twitched. Would he be jealous? Was he already so possessive of her?
You could’ve had that if you hadn’t been such a fucking tool, I reminded myself helpfully.
“Does that look weak to you?” Zach asked, pausing and frowning at a spot in the gate.
I went and jiggled the post, shrugging.
“That’s not good. A good storm could take that out, and I still think this smoke is probably meant to be hiding something from us,” he said, crouching down. “We might need to go get some cement to reinforce—”
“Here, let me,” I said, wrapping my hands around the top of the crucifix post, closing my eyes and conjuring up the best of my Holy light. I was lucky to still have it, even if I hadn’t been in Hell very long, and it made me wonder about the way I’d been cast out.
Zach’s arms were crossed as I finished giving the post deeper roots in the ground, strengthening it at its joints and adding a little extra boost to the prayers and holy water cast over its structure.
“Does it wear you out to do that?” he asked, staring at the post consideringly, rather than at me.
“I’m not sure. Not yet,” I said.
Zach brightened, and finally he met my eyes. There was a hard glint in his gaze that left me a little hungry for that sweet mouth of his. He’d been so tender and malleable beneath me during my one opportunity, but I wondered what fun it might be to have him glaring at me like that while we were wrestling, preferably naked.
“How do you feel about a hate fuck?” I asked, at the exact same moment he said, “Looks like you just found yourself a new job around town.”
There was a beat of silence, Zach’s eyes growing wide, cheeks suddenly turning pink.
“What?!”
I jumped and moved over to the next post. “Yes, definitely. Reinforce the gate, I can absolutely do that, of course.”
Zach choked behind me, but I thought I got something almost like a laugh out of him.
20
Well-Fucked & Well-Fed
Stavros
“You don’t have to come,” Zach said, head turning back and forth between Deyva and I.
“I know I don’t have to, but you guys are going, and the smoke hasn’t cleared up at all, so you can’t tell me you know what to expect outside the gate,” Deyva answered back, shrugging her shoulders stiffly, her hands clasped tight around her arms.
Thirty minutes ago she’d been languid on the bed, after happily watching Zach and I kiss and fondle each other for over an hour before breakfast.
“I don’t know why you keep looking at each other like that, I’m the one that took that general down. You know I can handle it,” Deyva snapped.
“It’s just...at the time we didn’t know…” I stalled, looking to Zach for help next, but he was staring anxiously back at me.
Kais cleared his throat at the table, a spoonful of oatmeal raised to his mouth as he watched the three of us in our negotiation. “We didn’t know you had a heavy-hitting demon general trying to drag you back to Hell. One willing to send an angel back out of the depths to get the job done,” Kais said. “Now that we do know, well…”
“We’re just concerned for you,” I said cautiously, not sure what to expect from her in retaliation.
Zach looked like he was bracing himself for a fight too, which is why we were both surprised when Deyva relaxed and brightened.
“Wait, you guys are trying to keep me safe?”
“Of course we are,” Zach said, with all the devotion of a protective lover, his eyes wide. Deyva’s smile went soft, and then so did his, and they stepped closer together. Kais’ eyes widened as Zach’s head ducked to hers, their lips almost kissing. “This isn’t just outside the gate, we’re gonna have to drive about five miles out of town.”
“But it’s so obviously a trap,” Deyva said, grimacing.
“Yeah, but babe, what if it’s a trap set for you?” I asked.
She wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips. “Then all Kimaris has to do is grab one of the three of you and I’m gonna have to make a trip down to Hell to cut his balls off and jam them up his nostrils with hot pokers anyway.”
I blinked at the imagery, Zach looked inordinately flattered, and Kais sat stiffly, staring at an oblivious Deyva. She’d