Tormented Ch. 08

Sorry it has taken so long to get you this instalment, Uni has preoccupied my life but now I can give Lily and Ryan my full attention again. Thank you for your patience and for sticking with them! Fallen.

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They buried Ryan the next day. He was buried in a white coffin in the clearing he had taken her too. She knelt and leant over the open coffin and stared into the lifeless face of her mate, stroking his soft hair she kissed his cold lips, taking a small knife from the strap of her bra she cut off a curl of her hair and placed it under his crossed hands, then running the blade across a pad of her thumb she dabbed her red blood on his lower lip before kissing him again.

"Goodbye Raim. I love you." Standing she shut the lid of the coffin and nodded to Aaron who with Lucy's help lifted the white box and gently lowered it into the hole in the ground. She stood and watched as Aaron piled the dirt back into the hole covering her mate forever. "I'm going to stay here for a while, you guys can go back. I'll meet you later."

"We'll wait by the car, I don't want you walking back by yourself." Lucy's voice was filled grief and Lily took hold of her hand nodded, kissing the elf's cheek she watched the two figures retreating before kneeling at the newly dug grave, resting her hand on the dirt she wiped a tear from her cheek.

"What am I going to do without you Ry?"

"Come on poppet, don't cry." She jumped and whipped around, Ryan stood behind her with a small lopsided grin on his face. Standing slowly she took a tentative step towards him.

"Ryan? Is that you?"

"Anyone else you know look this good in a suit?" She looked his up and down, he wore the grey suit he had been buried in and a crisp white shirt, she took another step towards him holding out her hand, he linked his fingers with hers and pulled her against him body, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair. "How are you doing baby?"

"I'm fine, are...are you real?"

"For now."

She slid her arms around his waist and breathed in his familiar comforting scent. "I thought you were dead."

He sighed and rested his chin on top of her head. "Don't worry about me baby, just keep yourself safe. Keep yourself happy."

"How can I be happy? I need you back."

He held her at arm's length and smiled down at her. "I haven't gone anywhere poppet." He leant and kissed her lips. "I'm right here."

When her eyes opened she was alone in the clearing, taking a steadying breath she went back to the car, Aaron and Lucy waited patiently, his arm around the elf's shoulder his chin rested atop her head. As Lily emerged from the trees the two turned their heads and smiled weakly at her.

"You ready?" A tear rolled down Lucy's cheek as she spoke and nodding Lily pulled her into a hug.

"Let's go, we can stay at my house. There is plenty of room for us all there."

"You're sure?" Aaron spoke from beside them.

"Of course, come on we'll stop and pack you guys a bag." She climbed into the back seat of the car. Aaron watched her for a moment before he a Lucy joined her into the car.

By the time they arrived back at her apartment building the sun was setting casting a pink glow across the sky, she smiled hello to Luca and they all piled into the lift.

In her apartment she turned and smiled at the pair. "My room's upstairs but there's two more through there," she pointed along the hall. "And another upstairs, pick whichever you want. I'll make dinner, it's been a long day."

They watched as she moved to the spacious kitchen and began pulling pots and pans from the cupboards, they took the bedrooms downstairs. Both were huge with large windows overlooking the sea, a bathroom separated the two rooms and was stocked with fluffy white towels and two bath robes.

"Wow, how the fuck do they afford these houses?" Lucy stared around her room in awe, Aaron came up behind her and draped an arm across her shoulders.

"Ryan's money was the Johanson's and she's an incredible dancer, she's been working for decades under different names with different looks and saving the money. She's practically a billionaire."

"You know a lot about her," the elf turned her head to look up at him.

"I share Ryan's life, that includes his love for her and his memories, I know everything about her."

"Then how is she? Really?"

"She's broken but she's a strong girl. She'll keep it together as long as she feels she needs to look out for us."

"Is that why she wants us here?"

"That and she's lonely. She'd just come round to the idea of spending her life with him. We just need to be here for her for now." She rested her head on his shoulder and wiped a tear from her eye.

"I miss him." Her voice broke and he pulled her into a tight hug.

"Me too," kissing her forehead he pulled back. "Come on, I hear she's an incredible cook."

They sat around a wooden table on the balcony, the air was still warm and the last rays of the sun shone on the water, the table was filled with plates of fried fish, sweet potatoes, spicy green vegetables, sweet, barbeque chicken and warm oven baked rolls. Lily opened a bottle of white wine and poured them each a glass.

"This looks amazing little lady."

She smiled. "Thank you, when you've lived alone for almost four hundred years you pick up a thing or two," she sipped her wine. "I was thinking, you guys know a lot more about whatever businesses he owned, if you want them they're yours."

"Are you sure? You would get all the profits obviously." Lucy stared at her from across the table.

"Does it look like I need the money?" Lily laughed sadly. "They were his and now they're yours." They ate in a companionable silence for a while before Lucy spoke again.

"Can I ask you something?"

With another smile Lily swallowed the food in her mouth and stared at the elf with her head cocked to the side. "You want to know about the hair and blood?"

"If it's personal you don't have to say."

"It's a tradition at the death of one's mate, it began with Lucifer. When he lost Lilith every Demon grieved, at her burial he put a lock of hair in her hands so she would remember him in her next life, the drop of blood on the lips is so when they awaken you are the first thing they taste. It means when you join them in death you will always be able to find each other. It's kind of a screw you to the Angels." She finished her wine and opened another bottle.

"That's beautiful, and they call him Devil," Lucy took the full glass from her and leant back in her seat. "He really did love Lilith didn't he?"

"More than life." She blinked trying to stop the tears from escaping. "Now if you want to join me, I plan on getting so drunk I don't remember my own name. I think we deserve to."

They touched their glasses together and until the early hours of the morning they sat in her living room, her and Lucy on the soft cream sofa and Aaron on the floor his back against the cushions while Lily stroked the soft skin at the back of his neck. They spoke of Ryan and Lily laughed as she remembered all the times they had spent together.

"He broke every bone in his body once when he fell off the Eiffel Tower." They had gone through nearly three bottles of wine each and now drank a smooth creamy liquid that made them even more light headed. "The deal was if he could balance on one leg on the very point for five minutes, I would spend a year with him, he fell after a minute." She laughed and shook her head. "The things he did to try and convince me to stay, another one was if he could last an hour in a cage with four tigers I would have dinner with him."

Lucy and Aaron burst out laughing. "Was he allowed to fight back?" Aaron's eyes sparkled as he laughed and turned to look into her dark eyes.

"Nope, he could try and keep out of their way but when there's four of them you're either backed into a corner or surrounded." She shook her head and lifted her glass. "To Ryan, the only man who can make me this happy even when he's not here. To my mate, best friend and worst enemy."

Aaron lifted his glass. "To my Master and the best man I have ever known, he gave me everything and I never got to say thank you." His eyes shone with tears and Lily leant down to kiss his cheek.

Lucy raised her glass. "To Ryan, he saved my life, gave me a home, a job, a family and made me who I am today. And I never got to thank him properly."

"To Ryan." Lily's voice was husky as she tried to keep her tears at bay.

"To Ryan." They touched glasses and drank, they stayed in the living room until the sun shone through the windows, when the light hit them they finally went to bed.

Lucy woke late and groaned at the pain in her head, turning over she buried her face in the pillow trying to shield her eyes from the bright sunlight. The mouth-watering smell of coffee and bacon reached her nose and she licked her lips, turning onto her side she jumped at the figure in bed next to her.

Aaron turned onto his side and his eyes opened slowly and groaned at the pain in his head. His eyes widened when he saw her before a slow grin spread across his handsome face.

"Morning." His voice was laden with amusement and she blushed.

"We didn't did we?"

"I don't think so," he lifted the covers and looked down, he still wore his dark jeans while she wore white panties and nothing else. "No see, panties still on." His eyes lingered on her on her small breasts, her pink nipples erect.

"Thank god." Jerking his eyes back to her face he smirked.

"Would it really be so bad if we had?"

Her cheeks blushed a deeper pink and she looked down, he tangled his fingers in her soft red hair and gently brushed his lips against hers, her bright eyes widened and he stroked her cheek. "I think if you gave it a chance you might enjoy it." She shook her head and giggled.

"You're just like Ryan, too cocky for your own good."

Aaron winked, sliding an arm around her waist he pulled her body against his feeling her warm skin on his chest, their lips were less than an inch apart and her eyes flashed at him. His hand slid down the soft skin of her back to rest on her rounded ass pulling her intimately against him. He kissed her again and her soft lips parted under his, his tongue slipped into her mouth and he felt her groan against his lips. Her hands smoothed over his dark skin before she wrapped her arms around his neck, he pulled her closer and she gasped at the feel of his long erection against her, she thrust her hips forward without thinking and she began to grind against him.

He rolled them until he lay between her legs holding his weight on his muscled arms, he thrust his hips against her and she moaned bringing her knees up to hug his hips, he kissed her again and smiled down at her.

"Not as bad as you thought huh?"

Her blue eyes flashed in amusement and she rolled her eyes. "You're just like him," she pushed herself onto her elbows and flicked her tongue out to lick the corner of his mouth. "We should go though I think Lily's made breakfast."

He kissed her one last time and rolled his hips against her again. "Fine, but we'll finish this later."

He stood from the bed and pulled her to her feet, his eyes lingered on her small pert breasts and he licked his lips. "Beautiful." He disappeared into his own room and she let out a shaky breath, running her hands through her tangled hair she pulled on a pair of grey sweatpants and a white vest. In the kitchen Lily and Aaron sat at the table, a cup of coffee in front of them. Lily smiled at the elf as she entered and winked.

"Feeling a bit precious are we?"

Lucy poured herself a cup of coffee and leant against the counter. "How are you not hungover?"

"One of the perks of being a Demon, we don't feel the effects of alcohol like you guys will." She pulled her long hair into a messy ponytail and nodded to the oven. "There's pancakes, bacon and sausage keeping warm and there's fruit over there." Lucy loaded a plate with pancakes and bacon and slid into the seat next to Aaron, Lily frowned at the plate and took a sip of her coffee. "I've never understood the whole pancakes and bacon thing, they're two completely different breakfasts. Must be an American thing."

"Where exactly are you from?"

"I spent my first sixteen years in England, hence the accent. Ryan's always been here so I moved here when I first met him. I started making this for him when we first moved in together, it was always his favourite."

"You lived together?" Aaron looked up from his own plate and frowned.

"Yeah for almost a year, we were young enough that the Angel's weren't all that bothered with us. Normally Demon's have ten or fifteen years together before the Angel's track them down but I didn't want to risk it and I left."

"You kept your accent though." Lucy spoke through a mouthful of pancakes and syrup.

"Yeah it's the one thing I kept of my childhood, I always thought it made me sound sexy." She winked and stood from the table, as she took her cup and bowl to the sink Aaron's eyes were drawn to her strong legs and perfect ass in her small shorts, she poured herself another coffee and turned back to the two at the table.

"I have a couple of things to do today, Lucy if you're not planning on doing anything fancy joining me?"

The elf nodded and wiped up the last of the syrup from her plate with her last rasher of bacon, putting her own plate in the sink she stretched.

"How long until you want to leave?"

"An hour?"

Lucy nodded again and watched as Lily walked from the kitchen, she felt as Aaron moved to stand close behind her and he leant down so his lips were inches from her ear.

"Think you can go a whole day without me elf?"

"It's not me you need to worry about Follower," she turned and looked up at him a confident gleam in her eyes, running her finger down his bare chest he hooked it into the waist band of his jeans pulling him closer. She was tall, not tall enough to be eye level with him but, unlike with Lily he didn't tower over her, she kissed his lips lingeringly and walked from the kitchen leaving him slack jawed and staring after her.

He stayed in the kitchen drinking coffee and flipping through the paper while the girls got ready, Lily's soft voice called out a goodbye and he let his breath out. He didn't know if he was going to be able to survive living in a house with the two of them, Lucy the gorgeous exotic creature with flame red hair and blue eyes that could burn hot as fire and cold as ice and Lily, the beautiful Demon who he would always love. Shaking himself he walked to the balcony and collapsed onto one of the reclining chairs turning his face up to the sun, trying to clear his head of any thoughts of the two of them he closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the day.

*

The two arrived back late afternoon, Aaron had not moved from his seat outside and when he heard the door open he dragged himself to his feet, when he saw her his eyes widened and he let out a low whistle. Lily's hair had changed, it hung in a long straight wave past her waist, brushing the curve of her ass, a heavy fringe fell over her forehead and almost into her eyes giving them a dark, smoky look. The biggest change was the colour, it now shone blonde in the sun and she ran her fingers through it smiling at him.

"What do you think?" he moved towards her and twisted a soft lock around his finger, staring down at her with a heated looked in his eyes he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck.

"You look beautiful poppet."

Her eyes widened and she took a step back. "What was that?"

"My perfect little Demon." She shivered at the familiar phrase and cleared her throat.

"Glad you like it, I'm going to have a nap before I make dinner, how does eight sound?"

He nodded and stroked her cheek with a thumb. She practically ran up the stairs, she sat on the edge of her double bed and dropped her head into her hands. For a second it was almost as though Ryan were talking to her, kicking off her shoes she curled into a ball on top of the sheets and shut her eyes.

She lay enjoying the warmth of the sun still streaming through her windows and trying to ignore the dull ache in her chest that his absence still caused, her sensitive hearing picked up on Aaron and Lucy's quiet voices from downstairs and she felt soothed by their presence.

"Hello poppet." Her eyes snapped open and she pushed herself into a sitting position on the bed, Ryan stood over her with a smile on his face, his green eyes flashed as his gaze roamed over her.

"Are you a dream?" Her voice shook as she held back tears.

"No."

"You're real?"

"No." He stepped towards the bed and stroked her hair back from her shoulder. "You've changed your hair, it looks good."

"How are you here?"

He sighed and knelt beside the bed. "Because you need me."

"Then you'll stay?"

"I can't do that." His voice was sad and he tangled his hand into the silken hair at her nape, her hand came to grasp his wrist lightly and she leant her forehead against his.

"I can't do this anymore."

"Do what kid?"

"This, any of it, I can't keep waking up every day and have to remember that you're not here."

"You have to poppet. You have to be strong, for me and for them." He nodded towards the door where the elf and his Follower still spoke together in hushed voices. "They need you and if you let them they can help you."

"Please don't go."

"I have to, but when I do promise me you will try to carry on." She swallowed and nodded. "Say it, let me hear you."

"I promise."

He sighed in relief. "Good girl." He kissed her softly and pulled her to him so her legs wrapped around his waist, holding her to him with one arm he crawled onto the bed and lay her in the middle, it was so wide that they could both fit comfortable across it and he settled himself between her legs, his lips moving down the neck and across her shoulder.

She pulled his t-shirt over his head and ran her hands over the warm skin of his neck and shoulders, kissing him she moaned at the familiar feeling of him against her and pushed her hips harder upwards against him. He removed her own t-shirt taking her bra with it, he kissed each of her soft breasts and heard her sigh, kissing down her stomach he dipped his tongue into her navel and she giggled, he ran his hand up her smooth thigh, exposed in her small shorts and undid the buttons, sliding them down her legs he kissed her through the lace of her panties.

She shivered and threaded her fingers through his hair, he looked up the length of her body and licked his lips. "You taste so good poppet," he slipped her thong down her legs and licked up her slit collecting her sweet juices on his tongue, she moaned and arched her back.

"Oh god Ryan."

He shushed her, his breath tickling her sensitive skin. "Just let me enjoy you baby." His tongue circled her clit and she moaned again, her hands left his hair and clutched at the sheets beneath her head, he worked one finger into her tight heat and pressed her clit with his thumb, he threw her legs over his shoulder and held her hips down to the bed with his forearm across her hips. She tried in vain to thrust her hips against his mouth but couldn't move under his strength.

"Just relax baby." He sucked gently on her clit and she let out a soft cry, he added another finger and curled them upwards hitting the sensitive bundle of nerves inside her and her muscles trembled as she came. He looked up at her flushed face and licked his lips. Crawling up the bed he laid between her legs again and kissed her, slipping his tongue into her mouth he let her taste herself.

He stripped his jeans and boxers down his legs and positioned the head of his thick cock at the entrance of her pussy, she wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to pull him closer.

"Please Ryan, I need you inside me." He grinned and slowly slid the first couple of inches of his length into her tight heat and she moaned, she arched her back and her dark eyes glowed up at him. "Please Ryan."