The End of Fear

She threaded her fingers through the gorgeous, soft fall of black and blond hair framing a face too beautiful for words. She felt his chest heave as he knew what she was now feeling, what filled her now. He threw back his head, searching for...

Rio still could only see the fallen angel wrapped in her arms but she knew he was seeing something else. Searching, asking, pleading. The tension ran through his huge, muscular body and his hold on her tightened.

CHAPTER 25

An explosion. Of light, warmth. Sound that ripped, tore, shattered every cell in her being, but silent, without substance. A flood of love, that of a father for a beloved child, a giving, a passing over. A promise. Acknowledgment.

When Rio's sight returned, she saw triumph, joy beyond belief, a gratitude beyond words flooding Lassiter's face and in the same instant his release rocketed through him into her, shattering her completely. Her own orgasm picked up the shattering and scattered her through the universe and Rio heard Lassiter's roar even as she shrieked his name till her throat bled.

The Brothers paced, drinks in hand. Several had tried to shoot pool hoping for a distraction till something happened. They eventually gave up when it became glaringly apparent nobody could focus enough to hit a ball with a sledge hammer, never mind a cue stick. The shellans sat close together on one couch, murmuring softly to each other, occasionally clasping hands in the hope the touch would soothe.

Nobody was soothed.

Jane had gone to the clinic not long after Lassiter had vanished. It was no surprise to anyone when she reported back that neither the angel or Rio were down there. And so began the waiting.

Last Meal came and went uneaten.

The sun rose. The shutters sank. The warriors and their mates drifted, fighting the tension cranking everyone tighter than steel cable in a winch.

More pool was attempted and abandoned.

More liquor was consumed. Nobody got drunk no matter how much hooch was sucked back.

Everyone hit the clinic at one time or another, despite knowing that the two would come upstairs whenever they showed up. And after each report of a no-show - still - more drinks were poured, swallowed. And the steel cable winched tighter.

The sun sank. The shutters rose.

First Meal came and went uneaten.

And then a flash of light.

They came from every corner of the house.

"Library," Vishous said, heading across the mosaic tile foyer.

Rio was waiting, facing the door as the household's occupants rushed in. Lassiter stood behind her, his hands on her waist but clearly leaving her in charge.

"Thank the Scribe Virgin," Wrath growled, his arm tightening around Beth. "And about fucking time, too. Are you alright, Rio?"

A light golden haze flared around her and she nodded. She smiled slightly at the eyebrows popping up around the room.

"No, I'm not an angel," she answered the question hovering unspoken. "But I am more than I was."

You were always that, John signed.

"Yeah, I guess." Rio's smile faded and her eyes shadowed briefly. "Jace is gone."

Jane stiffened among a chorus of gasps and Rio raised her hand.

"He's been...sent home. And I've been told that even though I'm not the fulfillment of a prophecy like Butch, here," she waved at the cop standing close to V, "I still have my own destiny to fulfill. And apparently that's here. With the Brotherhood."

She turned to Wrath. " Rumour has it that you aren't going to have to worry about me anymore. Strength, healing abilities, even life span. I'm good to go."

Wrath flashed his fangs in a fierce grin and nodded in satisfaction.

There was a sharp whoop of approval and triumph, especially from the three younger vampires in front of her. Her boys. In the next instant, she was swept into strong arms and scooped off the floor. Qhuinn ignored Lassiter's growl as he swung her around before passing her to Blay and then John. Warrior eyes swung over to the angel as he strode across to the group but Rio held out her palm, stopping him.

"These are my boys, Lassiter," she laughed. ""This will happen. A lot."

"Not bloody likely," he growled, pulling her away from John and up into his arms. "I'm your only 'anything' and 'your boys' will be smart to remember that."

His silver eyes flared like spotlights as he swept his gaze over the gathered Brotherhood and their shellans, all fighting their laughter over his territorial glare.

"And everybody might as well know now that my destiny is tied to Rio's. So if she's supposed to be here, you all better get used to seeing me around. Because where Rio is, so am I."

Rio grinned as the laughter changed to sounds of protests and harsh grumbling, swelling like a wave.

"Don't worry, boys," she smirked. "He won't be fighting with us. He's still got his own stuff to handle."

"I thought we were getting the chance to lay a beating on him once things with Tohr settled down," Vishous muttered, his brows dragged down in a huge frown. "How is that supposed to happen now, exactly?"

"Sorry, guys," Rio crooned softly. "He's mine and nobody but me gets to lay anything on him."

The groans and sounds of mock gagging filled the room.

"Goddamn it, Rio," Rhage yelled, covering his eyes. "I so did not need that fucking visual, thank you very much."

"Suck it up, big boy," her laugh cracked like a whip through the room and just as suddenly vanished with a gasp.

"Don't," Lassiter said sharply, tightening his hold on her. Wrath raised his head, catching the angel's gaze. "She can't go on rotation yet. I'm not done healing her."

The king nodded. "Do what you have to. Take care of her. Bring her back when it's done."

The aura surrounding Lassiter brightened like the rising sun till neither him or Rio were visible in the blaze. Then just as slowly the light dimmed, fading, till there was only an afterglow that left everyone blinking hard.

Once again, Rio was drifting, feeling nothing but sensuous heat. She opened her eyes and again saw nothing but the white.

"Lassiter!" she cried in panic.

"Shhh," his voice came to her, soft, possessive. "I'm here, mi corazón en la sangre."

"I can't see you," she sighed.

Strong arms encircled her and she gasped lightly.

"Can you feel me?" he breathed against her ear.

Rio gasped again as his warm hands slid down her suddenly bare body. Then she felt his naked heat press against her back. He molded himself to her; his massive chest against her back, his erect, throbbing cock tight against her ass, his hard thighs against her legs.

He caught one hardened nipple, tugging and rolling it between his fingers while his other hand shot between her parted thighs. Rio cried out, her legs boneless and shuddering as his fingers parted the slick folds of her sex and sank deep. His lips slid over the soft skin of her neck, his hot breath stripping her of any strength left. He worked her mercilessly till the tension winding tighter inside balanced her on a knife edge. Then he pushed her off.

He thrust his fingers deep, his thumb pressing against the hard nub at the top of her sex. The hand on her breast squeezed her nipple hard and at the same time, he sank his teeth into the fast pulse jumping just below her ear.

Rio screamed and exploded in his arms. Lassiter held her tightly, working her through her orgasm and as the spasms rippling through her started loosening, her turned her in his arms.

Rio drowned in the beauty of his face, his body, and she felt too small to hold all the love she had for him. Lassiter reached out and caught her around the waist. He lifted her easily and in one swift move, settled her over his erection.

As her hot sheath squeezed him like a vise, his cock kicked inside her and threw her over the edge again. He thrust into her hard. Her spasms pulled and dragged at his pounding shaft and as his release tightened in the base of his spine and rolled up his cock, he roared her name.

Rio drifted, breathing in Lassiter's gorgeous scent as he wrapped himself around her. They spun slowly, held aloft by the angel's power, and she heard his silver chime voice echo softly through her mind.

"I will be with you always, Rio," he told her, his love for her overwhelming. "I will love you and protect you forever."

"Have you gotten your answer then?" she asked softly, drinking in his beauty, his face cupped in her hands.

His eyes flashed as he nodded. "Yes. I have nothing else to ask for. I have my service to my Creator and I have you. You are mine, now and always. I love you beyond all words. You are mi corazón en la sangre."

"You've been with me as long as I can remember," she told him. "I couldn't have survived without you, even more than Jace. You are my life. I love you, Lassiter."

She wrapped her arms around him, whispering his name as he held her against him. As his love enveloped her in a deep sensuous heat, Rio felt eternity open up inside her. Images filled her.

She saw the Brotherhood and every shellan who loved those fierce, loyal warriors. She saw Wrath, the blind king, on his throne. Leading his people with strength and power and an unfailing belief that they will survive and flourish. She saw Jace, whole and healthy, smiling at her. And she saw her and Lassiter.

She lifted her head and looking at the angel in her arms, she saw her vision. Pure love in the form of this creature in her embrace. Love such as she'd never felt before flowed around her -- from her to the angel, from the angel to her. And she knew this was her true destiny. The final destination in a lifetime of searching. She had finally found home.

Lassiter.