Immortal Rider_ Lords of Deliverance Series_ - Larissa Ione [100]
Limos, in a short, flirty orange and purple sundress, leaned back against Arik, getting all cozy, and damn, it felt good. Felt right. “I asked Gethel about that. She said it’s part of angel mating ceremonies. An ‘angel no more’ will bind us with his or her blood. Can I have a margarita?”
Ares gave an exasperated sigh. “I’m out of margarita mix. And I’m assuming an ‘angel no more’ is a fallen angel?” He flung his arm around Cara, who snuggled against his chest. “Where are you going to find one of those? No True Fallen would risk pissing off Satan by marrying his fiancé off to someone else, and Pestilence killed all the Unfallen a couple of months ago.”
Limos palmed Arik’s denim-clad thigh, and naturally, Thanatos zeroed in on that, his pale eyes flaring gold. She was going to get him drowned again. “Arik’s got that one covered.”
All eyes shifted to Arik. “The contract says angel no more,” he began. “What if it doesn’t mean a fallen angel? What if it’s exactly what it says?”
“What, like someone who used to be an angel?” Than’s voice was thick with skepticism. “I’ve never heard of anyone being demoted without falling.”
Ha. Smug bastard. Arik had one up on Mr. Five Thousand-Year-Old Horseman. “I have. One of my in-laws, Idess. You might have met her at the hospital. She was Memitim, some sort of guardian angel, and she gave up her wings to be with Sin’s twin brother, Lore.”
“Interesting,” Ares murmured. “This could work. It certainly can’t hurt.”
Arik didn’t bring up just how badly it could hurt. If the marriage ceremony didn’t break Limos’s contract and Arik tried to remove her chastity belt, it could hurt a whole lot. But if it did work… he nearly groaned out loud at the visual in his head. He’d never really thought he’d get married, not when his job didn’t allow for much dating, and not when his only marriage model—his parents’—had turned him off the idea.
But he’d also come around a little after seeing how happy his sister was with Shade. And Kynan didn’t seem to be suffering in his marriage, either.
This marriage to Limos might not be happening the way he’d have chosen it, but she’d become as much an important part of his life as Runa, and marrying her was about more than saving her from a fate worse than death and saving him from demons who wanted to torture him. This was about giving himself over to someone without reservation, something he’d never been able to do.
He’d always had to hold things back from women—his past, his job, even his temper. The result was short rlt ontelationships in which he didn’t allow himself to grow attached. But Limos knew everything about him, she could definitely hold her own against him, and he’d absolutely grown attached.
“What about Pestilence?” Than asked. “Other demons might lay off you if Satan no longer needs you to speak Limos’s name, but our brother owns your soul. He’ll want you dead more than ever, if for no reason other than to see Limos suffer.”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.” Arik met Than’s cool gaze with a steady one of his own. Arik wasn’t backing down from this. “I’ve committed to your sister and given my word. I’ll deal with Pestilence when the time comes.”
Than stared for a long moment, and then, finally, he nodded, and Arik felt like he’d passed some sort of test. “So where are we having this shindig?”
“Greece is nice this time of year,” Cara said, stroking her hand over the squirming ball of black fur next to her.
Limos kicked up her bare legs across Arik’s knees. “It is. But Than’s place is bigger, and I want a huge wedding.”
The little goat demon slipped under Thanatos’s ankle-length coat and tried to climb his leg. Smiling, he scooped up it up and tickled it under the chin. “I would have taken you for a shotgun kind of girl.”
“Funny, Than,” Limos muttered. “You’re always pointing out what a girl I am, and yeah, I want it all. A dress, a cake, and a ceremony. But we kind of