The Sacrifice

"I love having you inside me," she admitted, voice a small whisper.

"You're going to love it even more in a minute," I told her as she kept getting tighter and tighter, close to the edge. "Come," I demanded, tapping her clit for a second before pressing hard, feeling her whole body jolt as her orgasm slammed through her system, leaving her screaming out my name.

Her walls kept clenching around me, milking my orgasm from me. And nothing in my long, everlasting life had ever felt as good as coming with her, knowing she would have me inside her, even after my cock slid out.

"Can you think better now?" I asked later, my cock still inside her because she refused to let me move. She'd folded forward into my chest, my wings going around her, holding her close.

"Mmm. Okay."

"Okay?" I repeated.

"Yes. I will do it. I need a lifetime of this. Many lifetimes of this," she added, sighing into me.

I felt hope swell up inside.

But I didn't take her at her post-orgasm word right then.

But when her mind was the same the next day after sleep and food, then I went to Ace with her answer.

And we set the plan in motion.Chapter SeventeenLenoreI wasn't sure what was the appropriate weather for a day that would change your life forever, but mostly cloudy with the occasional burst of hopeful sun seemed rather appropriate. And that was what we got.

We'd all gotten up before dawn, dressing, having breakfast, then meeting in the study where Ace—in an act of good faith—handed me the written ritual along with the items I would need, including a small vial of Ly's blood.

My eyes roamed over it, committing the words to memory the way I had been trained to, even though I would never need this one again.

There was no way to reverse the ritual, either.

For better or for worse, if I did it, I would be immortal. A small part of me would be evil. It could change me.

Then again, so much of me had changed already.

It had been just over a week since Ly and I first became intimate. As he had promised, it had only gotten better each time, the pain slipping away, replaced with only pleasure.

And with the Claiming, we had grown closer in every possible way, staying up late to talk, sharing stories, secrets, hopes for our very long future together.

I was a softer, yet harder, woman at the same time.

Loving a man like Lycus could do that to you.

Yes, love.

I had known it since the string sensation realization. It had only grown since then. With each shared kiss, touch, every whispered admission, every shared fear, every motion and sigh as we moved together.

It wasn't anything like I would have thought, being in love.

It was better.

Good enough that I was willing to lose my powers, to commit to evil, to promise him an unending forever.

There were sacrifices, ones my former self would never have seen myself agreeing to. But this newer version of me didn't even see them as sacrifices.

Had it not been for Ly, for his Claiming me, I would have been forced into giving up my powers. At least, this way, I had a choice. I got something in return.

"Thank you," I said, nodding.

"Let's find the hell mouth," he said in response, still not happy about the situation. Because, as Ly had told me, he had a lot of hope about the strength of my powers. And he didn't like the idea of working so long and so hard at this to lose one of his men forever.

Two, technically.

Poor Minos.

But Ace would get to go home, where he had been trying to go for generations. That kind of homesick was unimaginable. I missed my home. I missed my mother, especially. But as the time stretched on, for me, the homesickness became duller, not stronger as it seemed to for them.

With that, we all made a line out the back of the house, Ly moving in beside me, his wing curling around me, locking in his body heat when I shivered.

I was sure I would never get sick of the way he responded to me without any thought at all. If I was cold or scared or even just wanted affection, his wings were around me, protecting me, blanketing me in his love, locking the rest of the world out.

"I picked the wrong shoes for this," Red declared, grumbling, as the walk stretched on for hours.

Demons might not die, but they felt pain. And I didn't envy Red the blisters likely forming on her feet. But she'd claimed she wanted to look her best for her homecoming. Ly told me because she'd left a demon she cared about behind.

"Not too much longer," Ace assured everyone and their falling spirits. "It's just past that rock formation," he said, pointing.