Chapter 21 — How to explain this now?

Zoe:

I close my eyes half-mast as my body shudders with wave after wave of pleasure. I dig my knees hard into Azazel’s back and arch my hips to ride him harder. The shower’s water rains down over us, gliding down my neck and the mounds of my breasts sensually. It feels so good, like being caressed by butterflies. Azazel gasps ecstatically as he pounds harder into my body. His shoulders stiffen, and his thighs strain with every pump of his hips. I can see the tendons of his neck straining and his chest heaving with every penetration. Looking through the fog of the water, I gaze at his wet lashes and swollen lips. I want to devour him. No one had ever made me feel this right. Placing a soft kiss on his lips, I nip lightly at his bottom lip and brush my tongue with his.

I woke up earlier this morning with the intent of getting ready to go home. But the lure of Azazel’s enticing body was too much to resist. I was putty in his hands when he opened his amber eyes and whispered, “How about a shower before I take you home, luv?” And that’s how we ended up having crazy monkey sex in the shower. Azazel leans his hand on the shower wall and tightens his hand on my thigh as he picks up his pace. I cling to his neck, writhing and rubbing my naked breasts against his. Zings of pulsating sensations course through my nipples tightening my womb. The sensations are nearly overwhelming.

My sheathe contracts around his firm shaft. Even though I’ve just come, my body prepares itself to go over the edge again. Sparks of heat course through my body as pleasurable sensations consume my senses. Azazel’s hard shaft plunges one last time and swells when he reaches his own nirvana. We both sigh and cry out as the heady sensations of our release overwhelms us.

We remain standing there for a few minutes, basking in our pleasure as the water drifts down our bodies and rinse the sweat off them. Azazel lays a few soft kisses on my lips before he backs away, lowers me carefully, and lets out a relieved sigh. I gaze into his molten eyes as I caress my fingers over his jaw and mouth.

“I have to go, Azazel. Bree is going to kill me if I don’t.” I utter softly as my body comes down from its pleasurable high. Azazel rubs his nose gently over mine and kisses the tip with an amused chuckle. “You should have told her that you weren’t coming home because you were shagging your mate?

I roll my eyes at his humorous reply as I step out of the shower stall and reach for a fluffy white tower. “Yeah, that’s what I should have told her. Sorry, Bree, I can’t come home now because I’m too busy banging my boyfriend.” Azazel steps behind me and wraps his own towel around his hips with an arrogant smirk. “I don’t see why not. However, I wouldn’t tell her that I’m your boyfriend.”

Raising a questioning brow, I wrap the towel around my chest and rest a hand on my hip. “Really? And what do I tell her.” He purses his lips and raises a thoughtful brow. “Well, mate is the first option. However, since Muggles like you don’t understand the term, perhaps I can be your lover. Or how do you Yanks say it? Your man. I can be your man.”

A choked laugh escapes my mouth at his use of the word muggles. “Wait a minute?” I say, stepping closer as I run a towel down my wet hair. “Are you quoting Harry Potter?” He shrugs his shoulders with a roguish grin. “Nevaeh made me watch all seven movies. They were quite brilliant.” I arch my brows with astonishment. The idea that Azazel has sat down for hours to watch the story of a young boy’s adventures in a wizarding school is almost ludicrous. Seeing my incredulous look, Azazel places his hands on my waist and waggles his eyebrows with a wicked leer. “You seem surprised, luv.”

A snort escapes my lips at his taunting response. “I just…I guess I find it weird that my big, strong, demon lover likes to watch fantasy movies.” Azazel quirks his lips and flushes coyly. “It was Nevaeh’s fault. She made us watch them, and I became hooked.”

I can’t help but throw my head back and laugh at his sulky little boy tone. It’s so cute to see such a gorgeous man explain why he was forced to watch a child’s movie. His sulk turns into a chagrined pout as he waits for my laughter to die down. Holding a hand to my chest, I take a few deep breaths and shake my head. “Well, at least you enjoyed them.”

His pout lightens into an agreeable smile. “I did.” I puff out a breath and move back towards the bedroom to change into my clothes. Azazel follows behind me, and unabashedly drops his towel on the floor as he reaches for some blue jeans. I lick my lips, trying to stifle a desperate moan. My body heats as my eyes roam down his muscled arms and chest to settle onto the contours of his rigid abdomen. The man is a feast for the eyes. It doesn’t matter that we’ve just finished making love. My body still craves his desperately.

Unaware of my appraisal, Azazel slips on his jeans over his muscled thighs and zips them up. I bite my lip, trying to stifle a moan but fail. Azazel looks up and gives me a cocky smile when he notices my complete interest in his assets. Giving me his most seductive smolder, he stands up straight and puffs out his chest. “Do you like what you see?” He asks with an arrogant smirk.

Even though my mouth waters and my heart is pounding a mile a minute, I simply roll my eyes and shrug nonchalantly. “It’s not bad,” I utter casually as I slip my tank top and jeans on. Thankfully, Fallon retrieved my bag from the club this morning.

Azazel snickers as he crosses his arms over his chest and leans back onto his dresser. “Not bad? Bloody hell woman, Way to kick a man on the bollocks!” He replies with horror, coloring his tone. I shake my head incredulously and give him a resigned sigh. “Fine. I guess you’re hot.” He quirks a brow at my flippant tone, then approaches me with a predatory gate. “No need to worry, Zoe…” He runs his hands down his bare chest as he purrs out. “…all of this is yours.” My body quakes with pleasure at his words, but I don’t let him see it. He’s conceited enough without me having to validate him.

Looking down at my phone, I can see that it’s eight in the morning. I’m late! Shit! “I have to go! Bree is going to kill me!” As quickly as I can, I slip on my shoes and grab my handbag. Azazel follows behind me as he slips into a gray t-shirt and boots. Rushing down the stairs, I nearly make it to the door when Azazel grips me by the elbow and turns me towards him. “Hold off a moment, luv. I’ll walk you home.” I’m about to argue his point but soften when he takes my hand and lays a kiss on it. Not waiting for him to see me cave, I tighten my fingers and pull him behind me. “Let’s go then.”

He chuckles and pulls me back before he opens the door and waves his hand for me to proceed. However, before I can step through the door, his eyes home in on something or someone in front of the doorway, and he curses harshly, “Bloody hell, Nevaeh, I’m going to ask Mikhail to put a buggering leash around your neck! Didn’t I tell you to stay out of this?” I gaze past his broad shoulders to look at the figure standing before him. It’s the same female from the other day at the pool. She’s even more beautiful up close, with her long brown hair and honey-colored eyes.

A familiar voice breaks through the awkward reprimand. “Actually, she’s with me, Azazel. We came as soon as we could.” Mikhail steps behind Nevaeh and focuses his gaze on mine. He looks concerned as he wraps his arm around his mate’s stomach and waits.

Azazel’s eyes narrow with suspicion. “And why would you come back here, mate?”

Mikhail doesn’t answer at first. He simply releases an impatient sigh, pushes past us, and drags Nevaeh behind him. Azazel remains where he is for a moment; nostrils flaring and jaw clenched, then turns around. “I don’t have time to chat now. Let me drop off Zoe, and we can talk afterward.”

Mikhail shakes his head with a serious frown. “Sorry, bro, but Zoe needs to hear this because it involves her and the little show she put on last night.” Azazel’s mouth tightens further as he kicks the door closed behind him and stands next to me. “Tell me.” He says with a grim scowl.

Mikhail exhales again and sifts his fingers through his hair in frustration. “The Council is coming for her.” He mutters with an urgent warning. A cold heat rushes through my body at the seriousness of his tone. Crap!

Azazel’s shoulders stiffen, and his eyes begin to glow red with rage. Reaching out, I take his hand in mine and give it a comforting squeeze. As if my touch is all he needs, Azazel’s shoulders lose some of their stiffness. Nevaeh’s eyes widen with admiration at Azazel’s reaction to my touch. To my surprise, she gives me a grateful smile and a thumbs up. Nevaeh seems genuinely happy that Azazel and I are together, which makes the tight ball of doubt that was constricting my chest loosen at the realization that Nevaeh does not hold any romantic feelings for Azazel. I guess somewhere in the back of my mind, I worried that she might.

Mikhail clasps his hands in front of him and shakes his head with a grimace. “Look, Azazel, Mathias sent us both here to warn you. A few Council members are not happy with what your mate mistakenly did to those humans last night. If you had stuck around the club yesterday, you would know that a few humans were hurt badly by your lady’s song. There was a stampede where some of them were trampled, and there were a few fights that resulted in serious injuries, all because she sang a dangerous siren song that made the crowd go crazy. Thankfully, Supernaturals are not as easily affected as humans. However, unfortunately for Zoe…” He directs his serious gaze towards me with commiseration. “…there were a few Council members at the club, and they were not amused by the near deaths. The Council frowns upon Supernaturals exposing themselves to humans. It puts us all in danger, and they don’t like that. That’s why Mathias suggests that you go see him before the Council shows up at your door.”

Azazel turns to me with an expectant look. I can tell from the worried frown on his face that he wants to drag me out of there, but he won’t do it without my permission. I think about Mikhail’s words and how this might affect my friends. After what Azazel told me about Bree, there’s no way that I’d lead the Council to her. It would be too dangerous. Exhaling deeply, I bite my lip and respond. “Then we’d better go see him.”

Azazel releases a relieved sigh and looks back at his friend. “Will you be coming with us?”

Mikhail nods his head and gives us a wicked grin. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world. We’ll take the Hellcat.”

Azazel nods his head and waves his hand toward the front door. “Good because my Roadrunner is temporarily incapacitated. We’d best be off, mate.”

I follow behind him, nervous as he leads us out the door. Nevaeh and I slip into the back seat, and the boys sit in the front. Running my hands across the soft leather upholstery, I look around in wonder. It’s a beautiful car. It looks like Mikhail has the same taste in cars as Azazel. Or maybe it’s a demon thing to own a muscle car.

I startle from my thoughts when Nevaeh clears her throat. “We’ve seen each other before, but we’ve never been formally introduced. I’m Nevaeh.” She gives me a warm smile and extends her hand out to me, waiting for a response.

Taking her hand in mine, I give her a sincere smile and shake it. “I guess the boys have been a little remiss about that. I'm Zoe. It’s nice to finally meet you, Nevaeh. Azazel has spoken so much about you and Mikhail, so I feel like I know you the way he does.”

Nevaeh giggles and looks towards Mikhail with a mischievous smile. “Looks like we’re in trouble, babe. Azazel told her all of our secrets.”

Mikhail rolls his eyes and slaps Azazel in the chest with a playful snort. “Damn, man, I hope you didn’t tell her everything.”

Azazel turns his head and gives me a mischievous wink before he turns back to Mikhail. “Don’t worry, mate; she didn’t run away screaming after all of the horrifying things I told her. I call that a win.”

Nevaeh chuckles with enjoyment at his humor and turns back to me with a raised brow and whispers. “I’m so glad that Azazel has finally found you. I thought that Mikhail and I were going to have to listen to his whining forever.”

Azazel turns in his seat and gives her his best glare. “Are we going to start that then? Well, aren’t you the self-righteous little bird? How quickly the lady forgets that a couple of years ago, she was sniveling in my arms because she thought Mikhail didn’t love her. I say that turnabout is fair play, luv.”

Mikhail sighs in exasperation as he steers into the morning traffic, but he doesn’t respond. I can tell that he’s used to Azazel and Nevaeh’s bickering because he simply shakes his head and snickers. Just then, my phone dings with a text. It’s Bree.

Hey, girl, what’s up? Why haven’t you been home?

I think for a moment about what to tell her. There is still so much I need to say. And so much that I don’t know. How do I tell my best friend that she’s in great danger? This morning Azazel told me that Fallon has been protecting Bree for months and that he trusts him. I just don’t know if I can keep this secret from her. It’s been easy to put her off since I’ve been preoccupied with Azazel. She doesn’t even know that Azazel and I have been sleeping together. When she asked, I told her that I was working late and crashing in the Club’s office. Since she knows what a bitch Sahara can be about work, she doesn’t question my excuse. And now that I’m meeting up with the leader of the Supernatural Council, which means that things have gone from bad to worse.

Taking a deep breath, I text back. Sorry girl. I met up with Azazel, and we hooked up. I’ll tell you about it tonight. I promise.

Bree’s response is immediate. WTF! You’ve been hooking up with that hot Gladiator? I want deets as soon as you get home. #lucky girl I roll my eyes at her response. Of course, she’d be thrilled to know that I got laid. The girl is obsessed with happy endings. She really needs a boyfriend. But first, I need to make sure she’s safe. Right now, I just need to make sure the Council doesn’t decide to eliminate me for what I’ve done.

My thoughts are interrupted when a small hand covers mine comfortingly. “Don’t worry, Zoe, Mathias is a good guy. He won’t let the Council take you.” I raise a brow at her reassuring tone. “What makes you so sure?” She rolls her eyes in amusement and snickers. “Because he’s my father, and he would never hurt an innocent. I think you’ll like him and his mate.” I give her a grateful smile and turn my head towards the window thoughtfully as I consider her words. I just hope that she’s right.