Reaver

Thirty-Four

Harvester once again entered Raphael’s home high in the Covenant mountains that stretched across the endless outer regions of Heaven. It always surprised newcomers that Heaven wasn’t composed of clouds and golden gates. It resembled Earth. Except cleaner. With no biting insects, venomous reptiles, or allergy-inducing pollen. And even in the snow and the desert, there was no uncomfortable cold or heat.

He was waiting for her in the bedroom.

Stomach churning, she walked inside.

“Look at you,” he said. “How many layers of clothing do you have on?”

About a million. She’d taken her time getting ready for this, which included crying, showering, and crying some more. Getting dressed had been a major ordeal, but she had to admit that she’d smiled when she’d put on the ugly pink underwear and bra Reaver had gotten for her. It would be a silent defiance, but she’d love that Raphael would be forced to remove something that belonged to Reaver.

Leggings and a tank top had followed, then sweats, then a robe. But with the way Raphael was undressing her with his eyes, she wished she’d put on armor, too. And a chastity belt.

The cock-severing chastity belt Limos had been forced to wear when she’d been betrothed to Satan would be perfect.

For his part, Raphael was wearing only a pair of crimson silk lounge pants, and she had a sneaky suspicion he was commando underneath.

“Let’s just do this,” she ground out.

“So eager.” He smiled, but it wasn’t a nice one. “I’d think you’d be worn out from your earlier activities with Reaver.” He moved toward her, his predatory intent clear. “That ends now. If he so much as kisses you, I’ll destroy him.”

She hissed. “I’m coming to you because we had a bargain, and this is for Limos. But if you ever lay finger on Reaver, know that you will have to take me by force for the rest of my life.”

Reaching out, he hooked his arm around her waist and tugged her against him. “Oh, I don’t think so.” He nuzzled her ear, and it took everything she had to not recoil. “Once you’ve had me, you’ll beg to join me in my bed.”

What. A. Douche. “My loins are aquiver with anticipation.”

His tongue traced the shell of her ear as he guided them toward the massive bed in the center of the room. With every step, her heart sank and her gut twisted, and a bleak, wintery feeling washed through her.

Over the thousands of years she’d been a fallen angel, she’d had to bed some extremely unpleasant males, and she’d learned to cope, usually by playing a role that allowed her to separate herself from her actions. But she couldn’t do that with Raphael. She didn’t think she could ever do it again.

Not when Reaver was the one on her mind and in her heart. Just like when she’d lost her wings, she knew this had to happen. But it felt like the worst betrayal she could imagine, and she wondered what would be left of her when it was done.

Raphael’s hand slipped between them to cup her breast, and a sob wedged in her throat. Panic closed around her like shrink-wrap. Blindly, without thinking, she shoved against him with all her strength. He released her and she stumbled backward, her breaths coming in ragged gulps.

Anger twisted Raphael’s beautiful face into something dark and terrible. “How could you have lain with demons and animals, and yet, you find me repulsive?”

Animals? He thought she’d slept with animals? It took her a moment of thinking through her panic attack to realize he meant shapeshifters and weres. Angels had never considered human-animal hybrids to be anything other than abominations.

“I find you repulsive,” she ground out, “because you’re holding lives over my head.”

He snorted. “And no demon has ever done that to you?”

“Of course they have,” she shot back. “But they’re demons. It’s what they do. You?” She looked at him with loathing. “You think you’re superior, but ultimately, you’re worse. I don’t know what happened to you while I was gone, but you’re not the male I remember.” She moved closer to him, not wanting to miss every emotion play out on his handsome face. “I’ve fucked demons who were less disgusting than you.”

Thank you for that one, Yenrieth.

Raphael’s fury rose up, becoming a tangible storm in the room. Electricity sizzled on the surface of his skin, little streaks of lightning that made him glow like someone had plugged him into a wall outlet.

“You are what happened.” His voice warped with the force of his anger, and an icy tremor of fear rippled down her spine. “You should have been mine a long time ago.”

Damn, she’d screwed up by taunting him. This wasn’t about her, and she needed to remember that. This was about keeping a promise and giving Limos back her baby.

Suck it up. Apologize. Give him the best damned night of his life, even if you have to throw up afterward.

“I’m sorry.” Her voice was halting, stale. Apologies had never been something she’d offered easily, and if she’d said those two words more than a dozen times in the last five thousand years, she’d be shocked. “I’m just… nervous.” She fluttered her eyelashes and played contrite and cowed.

His expression softened. “Understandable. It’s your first time with an archangel.”

Oh, gag. How could he walk around with a head that big and not lose his balance? “Yes.” She forced a smile. “That’s it.”

He returned the smile. “Come here.” When she hesitated, only for a heartbeat, he repeated his command, but this time with a sharp edge. “Come. Here.” He snapped his fingers, and suddenly, she was standing in front of him.

Wearing only her bra and underwear.

Closing his eyes, he inhaled. A rumble came up from his chest, and he lifted his lids. The crystal blue of his eyes was stained by angry crimson flecks.

“I can smell him on you.”

“Not on me.” She lifted chin and met his gaze with defiance that flew in the face of the apology she’d just offered. But dammit, she wasn’t going to apologize for being with Reaver. “In me.”

“I will erase him.” The dark, dangerous tone in his voice accompanied a menacing step into her.

His intent was clear, and she felt herself slide into acceptance. This was it. She’d given herself over to Sheoul once, knowing she was condemning herself to an eternity of absolute hell.

Somehow, this was harder.

Raphael wrapped his fist in her hair and yanked her head back. She closed her eyes so he wouldn’t see how much she despised him as he slanted his mouth over hers.

“Raphael.” The impossibly deep voice rattled the entire room and made every organ in Harvester’s body quiver with raw terror. “Release her. Now.”

An invisible, electric force pulled them apart. Raphael flew backward, crashing into a marble table that held what was likely a priceless Chinese vase.

Priceless before it shattered on the floor.

Harvester spun toward the newcomer, her initial terror turning to shock at the sight of the male filling the room with the sheer force of his presence.

“R-Reaver?”

He sauntered over to Raphael, who was sitting, stunned, in the splintered remains of his vase. Power, as potent as the sun, radiated from Reaver. With a flick of one finger, he lifted Raphael off the ground and suspended him in the air.

“I could have handed you over to Satan.” Reaver flared his wings, and Harvester gaped. Gold. They were… gold. Never before had she seen such a thing, but she knew angelic history the same as everyone else.

Only Radiants possessed gold wings.

Dark spots appeared before her eyes, and she swayed. In an instant, Reaver caught her, lifting her into his arms and holding her protectively against him. Still, his gaze was locked on Raphael.

“Obviously,” he told Raphael, “I didn’t betray you.”

Raphael swallowed, and the sound echoed as if they were in a canyon. “I didn’t destroy you. I could have, but I didn’t.”

“Actually,” Reaver drawled, “you couldn’t have. But that’s not important. What’s important is that I can destroy you. It would be wise to keep that in mind.” Very gently, Reaver put Harvester down and eyed her clothing. Or lack thereof. “You’re wearing my lingerie for him?”

She shrugged. “I believe in subtle protests.”

His lips twitched. “You’ve never been subtle in your life.”

“Yes, well—” She broke off with a gasp. “You have your memory back.”

“I do. I’m not sure it’s a good thing, but it gives me a starting point for making amends. To you, especially.”

He waved his hand, and suddenly she was clad in a slinky black dress and knee-high leather boots. A sensual breeze blew up her skirt and between her thighs, and wow, the naughty boy had outfitted her with crotchless underwear as well.

“That’s better,” Reaver said. He turned to Raphael. “As for you, I don’t owe you jack shit. But I’ll be the bigger angel and forgive you for having me tortured. I’ll also give you the courtesy of a warning.” Raphael dropped to the ground in an ungainly heap. “Touch Harvester again, and I’ll castrate you. She’s mine. She can’t break the deal she made with you, but I can.”

Harvester’s heart soared. Reaver had offered to castrate an archangel for her. How sweet was that? As Yenrieth he’d only brought her flowers and honey cakes. Oh, yes, she liked the way Reaver rolled.

Raphael settled himself on his knees and bowed his head. “She’s yours.”

“Yes,” Reaver said roughly, as he hooked her around the waist and tugged her close. “She is.”

Reaver flashed Harvester from Raphael’s obnoxiously opulent mansion to Limos’s place, popping right into the living room. They didn’t have much time to spare, and he wasn’t going to waste a second. Harvester had a million questions, he knew, but they’d have to wait. After they were done here, he’d explain everything.

And then he’d make love to her for a solid month.

Arik padded out of the kitchen, a platter of sandwiches in one hand, a TV remote in the other.

“Jesus Christ!” He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of Reaver and Harvester in the living room. The sandwiches flipped into the air, but with his super-duper mind powers, Reaver caught them and plopped the plate onto the coffee table.

This Radiant thing was so cool.

Apparently, Arik wasn’t as impressed. He rounded on them, one hand clutching his chest. “What the hell? Are you trying to give me a fucking heart attack?”

“I could fix it if you had one,” Reaver said. Yup, so cool.

“I’ve always said angels were assholes,” Arik muttered.

Limos darted into the room, clad in her samurai armor and wielding a katana. When she saw Reaver and Harvester, she grinned and put away her blade.

“I knew it!” she said. “Ares and Than were all, ‘Dad is acting funny. I think he’s going to do something crazy.’ But I knew you wouldn’t leave us again. Reseph did, too.”

Dad. The word melted him on the inside. Oh, he knew she wasn’t telling the story right; Ares and Than would have called him Reaver. But Limos had made the switch, and he knew she wasn’t going back.

That was even cooler than the Radiant thing.

“I never wanted to leave you,” he said, leaving it at that. He gestured to Harvester. “Harvester has something for you.”

Limos loved presents, and behind the lingering sorrow in her eyes, a spark lit. “What is it?”

Harvester held out her hand. “Come here.”

Thousands of years of distrust sat heavily in the space between them, and Limos hesitated. Reaver didn’t blame her for that, and when she shot him a questioning glance, he nodded, hoping this would be the first step toward a fresh start.

Warily, Limos lay her palm in Harvester’s. Reaver took Limos’s other hand and summoned his power.

Worry etched deep lines in Arik’s face as he moved behind Limos and gripped her shoulders protectively. “What’s going on?”

“Shh.” Harvester produced a cloudy marble and very gently pressed it against Limos’s abdomen. “Close your eyes.”

A low-pitched hum filled the room, and Reaver’s energy flowed in a hot stream into Limos, where it twined with Harvester’s into a massive, undulating ribbon of power. The life Harvester had been carrying in the little marble settled inside Limos’s womb, and under Harvester’s hand, Limos’s belly began to swell.

Harvester smiled, her genuine delight in returning Limos and Arik’s child to them radiating in an angelic aura all around her. It was just as he remembered her so long ago, and his heart tripped all over itself.

As if she knew he was watching, she cut him a glance that was nothing like he remembered from Verrine. No, the wicked gleam in Harvester’s eyes promised the exact opposite of angelic, and he flushed hot. He couldn’t wait to get her alone. Couldn’t wait to start making up for five thousand years apart.

Limos gasped as Harvester cut off her power and stepped back. “Do you want to know if it’s a girl or a boy?”

Arik, looking poleaxed, stared at Limos, who was staring at her belly. “What just happened?”

“Your baby didn’t die when Lorelia punished Limos,” Harvester explained. “She stole it as part of a plan to destroy Lucifer. Only a Watcher could replace it, and only with a very powerful angel’s help. So… you have your baby back—oof !”

Harvester broke off as Limos tackled her in a huge hug. “Thank you, thank you… oh my god, thank you!” Limos hit Reaver next, throwing herself into his arms and squeezing the breath out of him. Arik got the final embrace, knocking him off his feet so the two of them tumbled onto the couch in a tangle of limbs, laughter, and kisses.

“I think it’s time for us to go,” Harvester murmured.

“Hell, no!” Limos popped up, but she didn’t release Arik. “We’ll call my brothers and all our friends and have a big fucking party.”

“Maybe,” Reaver suggested, as he turned to Harvester and took her hand, “we could make it a mating ceremony, too.”

Harvester inhaled sharply. “I… ah…”

Ah, damn. Reaver might be a gazillion years old, but he hadn’t learned a thing about females in all that time, had he?

“Wait,” he blurted. “Don’t say anything. Hear me out.” He sucked in a bracing breath and went for it. “I remember me. And you. I remember us.” Closing his eyes, he took himself back in time, to a place where he and Verrine had shared their first kiss. “I wanted you, but I wasn’t ready for you. I was young, impulsive. Full of piss and vinegar and way too much power.” Metatron had been right to seal his abilities. Reaver had been irresponsible and indestructible, and eventually, he’d have become corrupted by his own arrogance.

He opened his eyes and caught Limos and Arik trying to make a silent getaway. “No,” he said. “Stay. You should hear this, too.”

Arik looked like he wanted to get the hell out of there, like he’d walked in on something intimate he shouldn’t see or hear, but Limos perked up.

“I remember being with Lilith and how stupid I felt later when I learned she was a succubus. My pride wouldn’t let me let it go.” He took Harvester’s hand. “I neglected you and our friendship for decades. While you were out scouring the globe for my children, I was too self-absorbed to notice how busy you were.” His heart pounded as the worst time of his life rolled through his head in a wave of fresh images. “Heaven was abuzz about these three men and a woman who were marshaling armies of humans together to destroy demons. It was the biggest thing to happen since Satan’s rebellion. When I learned that those four people were my children and that you knew all along…”

“I know.” Her nails dug into his palms. “You don’t have to say anything more.”

“I do,” he insisted. “I do and you know it.” He blew out a breath, ready to spill the rest, even if it cost him the female he loved. “I hated you. I hated you more than I hated Lilith.”

But even though he’d been out of his mind with rage, the thought of killing her hadn’t occurred to him. On some level, he’d still wanted her, even if he’d also wanted to hurt her the way she’d hurt him.

“So I told you I’d forgiven you, and I seduced you.” Crushing pain compressed his chest, the weight of a lifetime of shame.

Heavenly sunlight shone down into Verrine’s frilly, open-air bedroom, warming Yenrieth’s back as he panted through an orgasm he’d tried to hold back. Verrine had screamed or moaned through at least three, which had been the plan. His climax had not been in the plan, and his anger scorched his throat with every breath.

The instant it was over, he rolled off her, leaving her in a messy sprawl on her bed. He dressed while she watched him with drowsy eyes. When she sat up and discovered the blood on the sheets, she scrambled to hide it, and her embarrassment.

“What’s the matter?” he asked. “Ashamed?”

“No.” She wrapped a blanket around her naked body. “Of course not.”

Ice filled the hole she’d drilled in his heart with her lies. “You should be.”

She blinked, her emerald eyes shifting from drowsy to confused. “W-what?”

“Virginity isn’t something to be given over lightly.”

“You think I did this lightly?” She tugged the blanket more securely around her, as if the cold in his body was radiating outward. Maybe it was. “I’ve wanted you for decades. I saved myself for you.”

“You shouldn’t have.” He leaned in close, taking pleasure in how quickly she paled. “I despise you.” Snarling, he ripped the blanket away and left her exposed and vulnerable, the way she’d left him when she’d admitted to knowing about his children. “You took my sons and daughter away from me, so I took something from you.”

Her mouth worked silently. “I—I… Yenrieth, we’ve been over this. I thought you understood. I did it for you.”

“You did it for me? You kept my children away from me for decades to what? To help me?” His voice was at a low roar now, and all around him, the building trembled. “They grew up without me! Limos was raised in hell, Reseph was raised by a wench who is undeserving of raising a puppy, let alone a child, and Ares was beaten until he lost all compassion. Because of you.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she grabbed for him, but he stepped aside, unable to bear her touch. Just looking at her was hard enough. “Please… you have to understand—”

“Understand?” he bellowed. “Understand this, Verrine. I’ve fucked demons who were less disgusting than you.”

The memory knocked Reaver back a step, made him wobble, and Harvester caught him. She’d always caught him. He’d just been too much of an asshole to realize it.

“I’m sorry, Verrine,” he whispered. He knew it was Harvester in front of him and not the innocent young angel she used to be. But he’d never apologized to that trusting angel. And after what he’d just remembered, he knew no apology would be enough. “I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve that. Yenrieth was a dick. I was a dick. I don’t deserve you, and if you can’t accept my apology, I understand. But I’ll never stop trying to make it up to you.”

“I forgive you.” Harvester’s voice cracked. “And I should have told you about your children.”

“No.” He shook his head. “No, you were right not to. We can play the what-if game for a century, but what it comes down to is that we can’t know what would have happened if you had. But I can almost guarantee that it wouldn’t have been anything good. You did what you thought was right, and that’s all that matters. You were right. I was wrong. So very wrong.”

“So,” she said, in a voice that was as shaky as his emotions, “you’re saying you remember everything, and you’re still sorry, and you still want to have a mating ceremony?”

With all his heart. “If you’ll have me. Someday when you’re ready. If you’re ready. I’ll always be here for you. I’ll wait as long as it takes.” He locked his eyes with hers. “You were always the one.”

For several agonizing moments, Harvester said nothing, and Reaver began to sweat. He might be one of the most powerful beings in existence, but all the power in the universe wouldn’t make Harvester budge if she didn’t want to do something. Like mate him.

Finally, Harvester lifted her chin in that muley way that drove him mad. “I’m not getting mated in any absurd formal angel ceremony.”

He suppressed a smile. “I’m fine with that.”

She sniffed. “And I won’t wear a ridiculous gown.”

“Agreed.” She’d be about as comfortable in a gown as a nun would be in a brothel.

Harvester, who had always loved torturing him, wound her long hair around her finger and made a long production out of studying the seashell paintings on the walls.

“Harvester…” At his growl she smiled, and then she was on him, throwing her arms around his neck and hanging on for dear life.

“I hope you know what you’re getting into,” she murmured in his ear. “I love you, Reaver, but if you piss me off, remember that I can chain you with your own bones.”

Damn, that was sexy. Oh, at the time when she’d actually done that to him, it had hurt like hell. But he loved that her shiny new halo hadn’t crushed her horns.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “But you should keep in mind that with my new powers I can fuck you until you pass out, and I don’t even have to be in the same room.”

To prove his point, he sent a stroke of sensation between her legs. All he had to do was think about what he wanted to do, and she’d feel it as if he were there with his hands, his tongue, his cock. He imagined licking her from her clit to her core before thrusting his tongue deep, and she had to bite into his shoulder to keep from crying out.

“That,” she breathed, “was evil. Do it again.”

He laughed. “Later. I promise.”

They pulled apart, their secret smiles and her passion-glazed eyes sure to give them away, but Limos and Arik were too busy texting—presumably their brothers, sisters, and in-laws.

“Yay!” Limos tossed aside her phone and called for one of her servants to bring Champagne. “You know, Harvester, I kind of hated you before. You were such a bitch.” Limos wasn’t exactly known for her tact. She looked down at her belly, her expression steeped in contemplation. “But I know what it’s like to live in Sheoul. I know what it does to you. And I know that if it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have been able to get out of my betrothal with Satan.” She looked up, her eyes glistening with happy tears. “So even if you hadn’t given me my baby, I’d still welcome you to the family.”

Harvester gave Limos a hug—brief and awkward, but Reaver had a feeling it was the first time she’d initiated an embrace since she’d been a young angel.

“Thank you, Limos.” Stepping back, Harvester cleared her throat of an emotional hitch and glanced down at Limos’s newly restored baby bump. “Do you want to know? Boy or girl?”

Limos and Arik exchanged glances, and then they both shook their heads.

“We’ll wait. You can taunt me for the next few months.”

Harvester snorted. “You really do know me.”

Limos scanned Harvester from head to toe as if deciding how true Harvester’s observation was. “It’s going to be weird having you be our Heavenly Watcher after centuries of being our Sheoulic one.”

“Speaking of your Sheoulic Watcher,” Reaver said, taking Harvester’s hand, “you should probably know that Revenant is my evil twin brother.”

“What?” The question came as a chorus from Arik, Harvester, and Limos.

“Yeah. Long story. I’ll tell you all over margaritas.” Reaver grinned. “Let’s get this party started.”