Defiant Destiny Ch. 12

A hearty chuckle bubbled up from within me.

"How about the two of you go on ahead, then Cyrea and I will take Eir and Alexis home, alright?" I asked, casting Cyrea and the rest a questioning look to see if they agreed.

Relieved and tired glances and grunts were all the answers I needed.

Layla and Aurora said their goodbyes and took off rather quickly and eagerly. I chuckled, for it was endearing to see the two of them wanting to be together so badly.

I took a deep breath and felt the dried blood on my chest tickle my scaly skin. I looked down and wasn't really surprised I was drenched with dried blood - it was so omnipresent by now that I didn't even smell it anymore. Another sigh left my chest - I was really looking forward to taking a shower.

Alexis still looked a little pale, but at least he was up and walking again. His customary grin made his eyes sparkle in a way that you could never tell he had just cheated death. Eir's face did carry the lingering remnants of a terrible emotional battle - the bags under her eyes were clearly visible in the moonlight and she trembled with each breath.

"Let's get the two of you home..." Cyrea smiled.

With Eir snugly in Cyrea's arms and Alexis safely in mine, we took off into the night. The soothing sound of our wings flapping slowly merged with the buzzing sounds of the city's nightlife, creating a comfortable background static.

By the time we landed on the balcony of Alexis' and Eir's penthouse, Eir had fallen asleep in Cyrea's arms. While Cyrea carried Eir to her bed, Alexis refused the same treatment from me and indignantly insisted he would walk by himself.

I set him down carefully and suppressed the urge to hover around him like an overprotective parent as he made his wobbly steps into his apartment. I watched his every move though, ready to catch him should he collapse and meanwhile tried my best to avoid hitting the light fixtures with my wings. Alexis slowly stumbled over to his bedroom door, grunting softly as he sagged against the doorpost, watching Cyrea as she carefully laid Eir down on their bed.

I went to stand next to him, smiling fondly as Cyrea went out of her way to take off Eir's shoes and remove most of Eir's dirty clothes without waking her up. Alexis' eyes were glued to his mate who was too exhausted to even wake up from being undressed. He wiped his eyes, took a deep and shaking breath, and cleared his throat.

"Being home... Seeing Eir in our bed... I... I never thought I'd..." he squeaked and swallowed hard. "Thank you... Thank you, Dante. For everything," he said with a squeaky voice that was warped with emotion.

I clasped his shoulder.

"You're very welcome, Alexis," I said and watched his grimace twist strangely as he also tried to suppress a yawn. "Go sleep, my friend. It's been a hell of a night..."

Alexis chuckled weakly mid-yawn, but shook his head.

"No, no... I really want to shower first. I'm covered in..."

He looked down at his body and finished his sentence with a deep sigh. "I'll shower first," he repeated.

"Will you manage by yourself?" Cyrea asked casually enough, though she subtly eyed the way he heavily leaned against the doorpost as if he had merged with it.

Alexis scoffed and dragged his hand through the air in an attempt at a dismissive hand gesture.

"Thank you for your concern Cyrea, but I'm old enough - and alive enough - to shower by myself," he chuckled weakly and flashed that customary grin of his as if to prove a point.

Cyrea smiled politely in return, perfectly masking her concern I felt through our bond.

"Very well, Alexis," my mate smiled with a gorgeous smile. "Are you sure you'll be alright?" she pressed and tried very well to hide her concerned gaze. Alexis already stumbled towards the bathroom and seemed too tired to notice, but I did. My angelic friend just nodded, peeling off his crusted clothes as he went and turned on the shower.

"How about we'll check back in with the two of you tomorrow - to see if you need anything?" I called out, trying to be loud enough so he could hear me over the running water, but not loud enough to wake Eir. I had no idea if my words reached him at all.

I chuckled - it really didn't matter - social pleasantries would not be top of mind for me either in his place.

If Alexis answered, it was too soft for us to hear over the sound of the running water. I took this as a non-verbal hint to leave him to his own devices and retreated to the penthouse balcony.

"They're together. They'll be fine, my love..." I told Cyrea, knowing otherwise she'd fuss over them all night to make sure they were fine.

With a deep sigh I leaned on the railing and let my gaze lazily drift along the tall buildings surrounding us. People were peacefully asleep in their apartments or loitering on the streets below.

Their normal and regular lives suddenly seemed so distant to mine - I had fought the most dangerous and important battle in my life, I had stared death in the eyes and barely escaped its clutches. I not only conquered my enemies, but also my own inner demons. Tonight's events changed my life irrevocably - I felt evolved somehow - stronger, wiser, balanced.

Yet my tremendous and earth shattering night meant...nothing to the rest of the world. The people below me did not know of this life changing event, did not care. They would never know of what transpired tonight in the desert. Their lives would go on, regardless of whatever momentous event occurred in mine. It made me feel small, despite tonight's momentous adventure.

I heard her footsteps. She was tiptoeing. I smiled when I could tell she was also holding her breath. That wonderful soulmate of mine was far too caring and considerate of others for a demon. I lifted my wing so she could duck underneath and pulled her against me.

I closed my eyes and took the deepest and slowest breath possible - savoring every snippet of her scent as it slowly rolled over my tongue and filled my lungs. Her warmth against me, her heartbeat on my skin... I had no need to ever visit Heaven - she was mine.

With a breathless sigh I softly captured her luscious lips in a soft kiss. My fingers leisurely brushed through her hair and grazed her skin - her softness soothed my soul and with equal tenderness I deepened the kiss.

Cyrea half sighed, half moaned as she pressed her body against mine, her soft breasts bulging against my chest. Like my fingers urgently traced her skin, so did her fingers trace mine, though hers kept getting caught on the sticky and dirty patches of dried blood that littered my body.

"Feel free to fuck on my balcony, but wouldn't you prefer something comfortable like - oh, I don't know - your own bed?" Alexis half yawned, half chuckled from inside his penthouse.

Reluctantly I released Cyrea's lips and lifted my wing so I could look through the large glass panels of his penthouse. Alexis was watching us from his bedroom door. He hadn't bothered wrapping a towel around him. Even from here I could see the bags under his eyes and the tired grin on his face.

"Good night, Alexis," I chuckled and raised my hand to give him a short wave.

He replied with a tired grin and a floppy, dismissive hand gesture before shuffling into his bedroom.

Cyrea's fingers were back on my chest. "I would very much like to have you in our bed..." she purred softly and ran her tongue seductively along my lips before smothering them with a needy kiss.

I moaned into her mouth and pulled her against me, trapping my erection between our bodies.

"Then we'd better leave now, or we'll definitely end up fucking on Alexis' balcony," I growled my desire in Cyrea's mind.

My wonderful mate giggled in the kiss and yelped in adorable surprise when I scooped her up and leapt off the balcony with a firm beat from my wings.

It was amazing how desire could make me fly that much faster - we reached the factory roof in no time. I released my gorgeous mate from my arms and couldn't resist holding her beautiful face in my hands and capturing her lips in another kiss.

"I would really like to shower first though, I'm covered in blood and dirt..." I mumbled in her mind as I let my demonic traits recede.

It somehow felt strange to not have my wings and tail out - I had never been in demonic form for such a long time, and even now it felt as if I could still feel my wings bob to the rhythm of my breath, still feel my tail protectively curled around the two of us.

"How about I join you in the shower?" Cyrea purred seductively in reply and softly dragged her nails along my chest.

The image of her naked, wet body slithering against mine in the shower made my cock twitch hard and a hungry growl roll over my tongue. If I weren't so adamant about wanting to shower first, I'd fuck her right here, right now.

I made sure to make her feel my desire for her through our bond - the needy growl coming from her mouth made my cock twitch again.

With labored breath I broke the kiss and leant down to once again scoop up my mate, when her loud gasp stopped me.

"Your wings!" she gasped and her wide eyes darted over something behind me. Her gaze dropped down and she squealed "Your tail too!"

Not understanding what she meant, I frowned in confusion and followed her gaze.

"What the..." I blurted out and took half a step back in surprise.

Snugly curled around us on the floor I could see my tail - my transparent, etheric tail. I whipped my head back and saw my etheric wings protrude from my back. While they clearly resembled my physical extremities, their coloring was vastly different from the regular demonic aura's I had grown used to seeing around me. Instead of the shadowy grayish coloring I usually saw, my aura was distinctly darker - black almost - and had beautiful golden lines meandering across it. On closer inspection, I realized that the dark coloring matched Cyrea's and Layla's markings on my body and that the golden lines on my aura matched Aurora's intertwining markings.

I was astounded, dumbstruck, but at the same time proud and overjoyed that my ladies's markings - their souls intertwining with mine - were now visible for all immortals to see. After all, their souls had transformed me into the man, or demon, I was today.

Their love completed me.

Experimentally, I raised my etheric tail to try and touch it. My fingers passed straight through my tail like I knew they would - after all, the etheric extremities of my ladies had never gotten in the way of anything either. I was, however, fascinated that I was able to feel the tiniest of pressure-like sensation the moment my fingers 'touched' my tail, or it moved through Cyrea's body.

"Wow..." I gasped softly. I stared at my aura, feeling overwhelmed yet stunned at the same time. While Alexis had been persistently surprised at my lack of aura, I just figured I didn't have one because I was human born and humans didn't have aura's.

I held my etheric wing up against the moonlight, marveling at the way the intricate golden veins shimmered in breathtaking detail.

This was it.

The final proof I wasn't human anymore...

An unexpected feeling of inner peace washed over me. All this time I had so desperately clung to my humanity, fearing that giving in to my demon would obliterate me, but it didn't - I felt better than ever, I felt...

"You have an aura now... You're... you're..." Cyrea choked, emotions squeezing and warping her voice.

"...Complete," I finished her sentence.

Cyrea's eyes were glued to my etheric extremities and she walked to my back in awe.

"Finally..." my demon grumbled, severely less impressed than Cyrea and I were. "It took you long enough too..."

"Wait, you knew about this?" I asked him in return as I marveled at my etheric wings, flexing them experimentally. I was both surprised and not at all that it felt exactly the same as if I had my real wings out.

"Of course..." my demon shrugged. "We are one now... Our enemies will think twice before attacking us now our aura is blessed with the mark of an angel..."

I mentally rolled my eyes at him - ever the romantic.

Cyrea had come round to my front and slowly raised her hand to try and touch my etheric wing.

"Beautiful..." she whispered reverently with an emotional tremor in her voice.

I dragged my gaze away from my newly unlocked anatomy and couldn't help but smile when I saw the most gorgeous look of wonder on the most gorgeous face I had ever seen. I brought my hand up to her face, tenderly stroking the softness of her cheek and cupping her smile.

"You most certainly are..." I replied softly.

Cyrea's eyes sought out mine and I felt her smile bulge in the palm of my hand. She lowered her outstretched hand to bring my face closer to hers.

"I love you," she whispered softly, before capturing my lips in the softest kiss ever.

I breathed her in deeply and answered her kiss with all the love I could.

"I love you too," I replied.

Standing here on the roof of our home, hearing the softly bustling city nightlife around us, seeing the moon shine down on the most beautiful creature in existence, suddenly filled me with a far too real realization that I might have never gotten to experience this again...

I gazed at Cyrea and realized that if things had gone differently in the desert, I could have died tonight... If things would have gone differently, I could never have been able to hold her, touch her, scent her... Protect her...

Her cheek bulged softly in my hand and I was suddenly overly conscious of the softness of her skin, the way her plump lips could stretch her face into the most gorgeous of smiles. For a long moment, we just stared into each other's eyes, thankful and relieved that we could.

Cyrea wrapped her hand along my neck and pulled me in for a soft and loving kiss. I poured all the love into that kiss that I could muster, all the soul wrenching fear of almost losing her, all the promise that I will stay by her side for the rest of eternity. Cyrea mewled softly, and I felt a tear dribble down her cheek and across my fingers.

It was clear that this kiss indicated the end of tonight's harrowing events, the end of that soul wrenching fear of never holding each other again. A loving kiss - celebratory even, for not only did I survive a vicious battle, I also finally managed to find inner balance.

My demon rolled his eyes at the sheer abundance of romance. The routine with which he did it made me suspect he had done this many times before, but that I only felt it now because I finally let him in my soul. He did not particularly care for the emotionally charged moment that came with almost having died because - well - we didn't die, so there was no need to unnecessarily fuss over it.

He in turn was far more fascinated by the way Cyrea's breasts deliciously bulged against my chest in our tight embrace and the way her etheric tail crept up my leg in search of my cock. I could feel my free hand snake along Cyrea's back towards her delectable ass and tightly pull her against me, pushing her hard and suckable nipples against my chest. This time round I was the one mentally rolling my eyes, for my demon had a very one track mind - one I happened to agree with in this case, however.

Cyrea's low moan of approval was lost in our kiss, a kiss that grew more heated with each lick from our tongues, each nibble from our teeth. Now that we finally were alone, wrapped in a naked and loving embrace, our romantic love quickly shifted into physical hunger.

I wanted nothing more than for her soothing scent to envelop me, for her arms desperately pulling me closer to her, for her nails to dig deeply into my skin in passionate desire and her pussy to quiver around my cock in sensual ecstasy. I loved her with all my heart, desired her with all my soul.

Cyrea's love that I felt through our bond, her desperate mewls and heated moans, her labored breath and the way she urgently rubbed her delectable body against mine told me she felt the same - wanted the same.

However, the way her soft skin stuck to the caked blood and dirt on mine made me flinch - I did not want to besmirch her beautiful skin with the harrowing remnants of what had happened tonight.

It felt like the hardest thing I had ever done, but I broke our wonderful kiss and scooped up my protesting mate in my arms. With large strides I ran down the fire escape and dashed through my office to the bathroom. I pushed open the bathroom door with my shoulder and found its tiled floor soaking wet. Amidst the uninteresting smell of perfumed soap, the scent of Layla's and Aurora's arousal clung heavily to the air and I eagerly inhaled it.

Cyrea's etheric tail was wrapped tightly around my cock and she had been happily nibbling and licking a clean bit of skin on my throat when she pulled her mouth away from my skin and inhaled deeply, savoring the remnants of lust that surrounded us.

I set Cyrea down and turned on the shower, taking a deep breath and savoring the scent of all my ladies in this confined room. Cyrea took another deep breath and sounded a delightful moan. My eyes snapped to her gorgeous face, utterly hypnotized by the way she licked her lips oh so sensually as she tasted the lingering lust in the air.

"Delicious..." she moaned seductively.

"Absolutely..." I groaned hoarsely, letting my eyes eagerly trail over my wonderful soulmate.

I pulled her into the shower and pinned her against the shower wall, shielding her from the cold water with my body, crushing her lips in a desperate kiss.

"You're so irresistible, my love..." I moaned and growled in her mind, letting my hands roam along her soft skin. "Your touch, your taste... I can never get enough..."

Cyrea sounded such a needy moan that it drowned out the sound of the running water.

"Me too... Oh, me too, Dante... Please, I need you..." she whimpered desperately and rubbed her drenched pussy all over my cock.

The delicious aroma of her arousal flooded the bathroom, making me break the kiss with a hungry growl. However, the water had not yet rinsed my skin, had not washed away my sins - I was still too filthy to answer her suggestive plea.

There were other options.

With a hungry growl I lifted Cyrea up against the shower wall and draped her shapely legs over my shoulders. Her soaked pussy hovered in front of my face - drenched, delicious, and hungrily contracting in tune to Cyrea's erotic moans. I couldn't resist her even if I wanted to, and immediately dragged my tongue along her outer lips, ravenously lapping up her arousal.

"Yessss...." she hissed in pleasure, both verbally and mentally as her hands shot to my head, suggestively massaging my scalp as my tongue danced all over her delicious wetness. Her taste was amazing and so very, very addictive. The feel of her soaked pussy trembling against my tongue was heavenly - so soft, so tasty. Each heavy lick caused uncoordinated twitches to ripple through her pelvis, caused the most sexy moans of pleasure to burst from my mate's throat. The moment I penetrated her with my tongue, she bucked fiercely against my face, digging her nails deep into my scalp.

Her movements quickly became jagged and desperate, her labored breath had rapidly been reduced to erotic whimpers and urgent moans. The moment I moved my mouth over her clit, she wailed in lust.

"Yes! Yes! Make me cum!" she yelled in erotic bliss, desperately humping my face with her pussy, urgently shoving my face against her. I grinned against her clit and wrapped my lips around it, rhythmically sucking it and lathering my tongue over the little nub.

Cyrea wailed again and almost instantly convulsed in a powerful orgasm. I kept licking and licking her clit, relentlessly submitting her to intense pleasure as her orgasm kept crashing through her body. She moaned, growled and whimpered with each incessant lick, her nails digging so hard into my head I was sure she'd draw blood.