Chapter Thirty Five: Last of The Light

Chapter thirty-five: Last of the Light

Mired in misery though she was, Benzosia had grown a spine of steel through her years in Hell. It had carried her through anguish and refused to bend to forced submission and now it pushed her into tamping down her pride to seek out an ally. Someone to vent to, someone to lean on, someone to help her bear the weight she couldn’t lie to herself about being able to manage anymore. Levistus. 

It seemed short-sighted of her in hindsight to have completely cut him off, the aforementioned pride, or more likely fear, left her with nothing but isolation. She’d convinced Asmodeus she’d completely bent to his will, but had it really been contrived? She had conformed to his every need, waiting and hoping for long term gain while he’d steered her plan right out from under her. Warped her daughter, stolen her chance at lifting the throne of the Hells out of the corruption it was embroiled in. She didn’t have a back up plan, not anything she could enact on her own, not without Lucifer’s presence and an ally or two at her side. Even Azadiel, damn him, would be useful – yet Levistus remained her only option that wasn’t wishful thinking.

He was here, he was real… and she owed him apologies and a lot of grovelling. 

She wasn’t sure he’d show up. Pacing the garden after cautiously evading watchful eyes to sneak off, she waited, stomach in knots, heart in her throat, hoping he’d give her a chance to right her wrongs. He’d know what to do, if he was even willing to help.

“Benzosia?” Levistus spoke quietly after closing the gate behind him, hesitantly shifting towards her without taking the step to close the distance.

“You came.” Embarrassingly, tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks faster than she could process that she was upset.

“Of course.” Hesitation gone, he wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her momentarily before leaning back and swiping his thumbs under her eyes, spreading her unceasing tears across her cheekbones. “You sent for me.”

“I…” she sucked in a sob, closed her eyes and calmed her breaths. “He’s won. Turned Glasya against me, against the very nature that should’ve been her birthright – if she claims the throne she’ll be equally destructive, nay, worse – she lacks the wiles to keep herself in check…”

“Shh,” he pulled her head to his chest and ran his hand down her hair, his own body trembling, his breaths as shaky as her own. “He hasn’t won yet. He doesn’t have you.”

“But I haven’t put up a fight, I just let him…” she looked up at him and her words dried up in her throat. Lord above, she’d forgotten how intensely magnificent he was. Even with his hair grown long as her own and facial hair that obscured the clean angle of his jaw… there was a gravitas, an edge of temper and rashness that drew her like a lodestone, and a steadiness in his hold that made her sure that he’d support her through every falter.

How had she convinced herself she needed to walk away from him?

“I missed you,” she whispered, pulling his lips down to hers, problems forgotten in the face of more pressing needs.

His lips met hers in a bruising kiss which she matched with equal ferocity. Years of pent up yearning breaking free, tongues tangling, mouths devouring one another, her hands gripped his hair to hold him secure, his arms clamped around her, holding her impossibly close and yet not close enough. Never enough, gluttony should be her namesake, her sin to own, defined for want of more. 

She grew dizzy with the force of her desire, and perhaps lack of air – yet the heat of his mouth and the friction of their clothed bodies rubbing together kept her grounded. Never before had she lived in the moment, felt so alive, as now. Lust itself vibrated through her bones, heating her blood and loosening her limbs, making her cling tighter, Levistus groaning at her adjusted grip, igniting her like flashfire.

His fingers frantically picked apart the lacing of her gown as she struggled to free her arms so she could touch him as well, all without breaking their ravenous kiss. She wanted more, and now. He wasn’t moving fast enough, and yet it was moving faster than her mind could keep up with. Yards of fabric fell to her feet, her freed hands working up the bottom of his shirt, pausing when she felt the heat of his skin, burning hotter than her insides, muscles flexing as she moved her hands up his bared stomach and settling on his chest. They broke apart long enough for him to tug the shirt over his head, then his hands dove back into her hair, pins scattering to the ground as he buried them in the masses of gold curls, cradling the back of her head with a gentleness the trembling of his hands belied. 

He paused to look down at her, the intensity of the emotion in his gaze setting off sparks of breath-taking warmth in her chest, her heart filling up that aching cavity. Love. She loved him a shocking, life-altering amount, it both humbled her and made her dizzy with self loathing. Walking away from him had been cowardice, plain and simple – and she didn’t think she could do it again, not knowing this completeness after being empty for so long.

“I’ve never stopped loving you, Benzosia.” the backs of his fingers traced up her jaw, anger flashing in his eyes. “And I doubt I’ll ever forgive you for leaving me.” he kissed down her neck, across her collarbones, cheek brushing over her bared breast before pausing. “But this is a good start.”

He lowered her to the ground, her gown and the mosses beneath cushioning her body and ran his hands down her chest, caressing her skin, squeezing briefly at her lips before curling under her thighs and pulling her legs apart forcefully… a soft squeak escaping her at the roughness. He settled between her legs and trailed his hands back up to her breasts, thumbs flicking across her nipples, gaze locked on her response.

She squirmed, trying to lock her legs around him, to pull him closer, he just leaned over her and started kissing, licking down her body, his tongue running circles around hardened nipples, sensitizing them to the cool air, dipping briefly into her belly button, his cheek caressing the apex of her mound causing a moan of frustration to be torn from her chest.

“I’ll erase every memory you have of him touching this body. Every caress,” his tongue swiped between her folds, sucking quickly at her throbbing clit, “every iota of pleasure he’s given you will be nothing in compared to what I can offer you.” 

He buried his face between her thighs, hands gripping the backs of them to hold her in place while he devoured her. Licking, sucking, tracing each fold until she was a throbbing, swollen mess, then went harder. He pushed his tongue inside of her, groaning as she instinctively tightened against the invasion, then licked back up to circle around her clit, replacing tongue with fingers. At the sound of her wetness, a shudder of desire wracked her body. He fucked her with his fingers, sucking on her clit, tongue rubbing until she was a needy, mewling mess, her climax hovering on the edge of consciousness. His mouth moved harder against her, the vibrations of his groans echoing through her body, her hands gripping his hair as she hovered over the edge, then he curled up his fingers, swiping against a spot inside of her that was a pleasure so intense it bordered pain, flicking his tongue against the very tip of her clit at the same time and she shattered. Her climax burst through her with a shockwave of intensity, her body seizing up as throb after delicious throb of pleasure washed through her, taking her senses with it.

It took her a moment for reality to find her, Levistus already prodding at her entrance, her legs hooked over his shoulders, pressed down against her chest.

“Mayhap I’ll fuck you so hard you won’t even remember your own name, let alone his.” Levistus mumbled against her hair as he plunged inside, the thickness of him stretching her, the heat of him reigniting the threatening inferno inside of her.

“Only you, Levistus. You’re all I think of. All I want.” she mumbled insensibly as he thrust lazily, slow and long, ramming in that extra bit with each downthrust.

“This is all I need.” he spoke softly, resting his forehead against hers as he briefly stayed buried to the hilt, so deep she could feel each pulse of him like a heartbeat. 

“I love you so much.” she whispered, looking directly into his eyes.

With a growl, he got up onto his knees and began fucking her in earnest, pounding into her so hard he back scraped against the ground, pinned so thoroughly she couldn’t do anything but take it. He bent over to take her mouth in a heated kiss that was the barest definition of one, greedily devouring each other, his hand sliding between them so he could push his thumb over her clit, rubbing rough circles over it as he continued ramming into her with all the ferocity of the scorned lover he was.

Another climax tore through her, his own gasps and grunts sounding distant as his thrusts stuttered, roaring as his own orgasm claimed him, finishing deep within her and collapsing against her, sweaty body to sweaty body.

She giggled at his struggle to right himself. “Well I don’t know how I’ve lived without this for decades.”

With a huff he rolled all the way off her, landing on his back and throwing his arm over his face. “It was by your choice, my lady.” his voice was hoarse, but that didn’t hide the waspishness in his tone.

It had been her choice, she’d given him no say. For the sake of their daughter, she’d pushed him away, to keep her safe… and it was all for nothing. Glasya had never been safe. She’d lied to herself, lied to him, kept his daughter from him – and she didn’t know where to begin to make it right.

Instead of broaching sensitive topics, she leaned back into the familiar. “Have you heard anything from Azadiel?”

Levistus heaved out a gusty sigh, pressing thumb and finger to his eyes, his other hand swiping down his chest, wiping away beads of sweat. 

“Do you think,” he spoke as he rolled up on to his elbow, once more looking down at her. “If I’d made contact with Azadiel – or, either of your brothers, that they wouldn’t have taken you from here already and hidden you off in whatever pocket realm they’ve been mouldering away in? Do you think I’m happy about you being in Asmodeus’s care? That I’d leave you with him intentionally? All the hells Benzosia. I’ve tirelessly searched to find a way out of this mess, for both you and the Hells themselves.” he brushed her damp hair off her forehead. “No I haven’t found them. I haven’t stopped looking.”

“I couldn’t leave anyway, not without Glasya.” she turned her face from him, worried he’d be able to read her guilt in her expression. 

Now is not the time to admit he’s her father…

“I wouldn’t ask you to run.” His thumb ran across her brow. “There are too many who are helpless and won't long survive Asmodeus’s rule, there may not be much of the celestial remaining in me but I can’t abandon the weak to suffer under tyranny.”

“You are both more noble and divine than our current king.” She shifted so she was facing him, her own fingers tracing the lines of his face, recommitting them to memory. “If Lucifer took up the crown I would gladly hide away with you. I fear Glasya already lost, though I'm not ready to admit defeat. She just needs away from Asmodeus and Basileus’s influence.”

He arched a brow with a look of pure skepticism. “Benzosia, love, I’ve heard stories–”

“No.” she cut him off. “Her heart is good, her soul is pure, I know it. She’s just been swayed too much by their wickedness.”

Levistus’s eyes darted away, his mouth parting then snapping shut as he thought better of whatever he was going to say. “I’ve nearly breached the dimension Lucifer is hiding himself in. Azadiel must be with him, of his own volition or not. If I can find a way to breach the barrier… it won’t be much longer. Just don’t leave me again, I’ll keep you safe, we’ll work together again.”

“We do make excellent partners.” she smiled up at him, his lips meeting hers once more, reigniting her need for him.