Ardeur

by Gavan, Danielle

  “Gods, Goldie.” Brody groaned against my shoulder and pushed in all the way until my backside was firmly pressed against the ridged muscles of his lower abdomen. “You're even hotter inside than before.” He kissed my shoulder and began the slow thrusting rhythm that I loved. “It's like being wrapped up in liquid fire.”

  There was a funny pun in there somewhere but when his teeth took the place of his lips and bit down, my train of thought derailed and I screamed as I came for him a second time that afternoon.

  I lost count of how many times he made me scream but when I fell asleep wrapped in his arms later that night I was more sated and happy than ever. The love I'd never thought to find was wrapped around me like a warm blanket, our children were growing in my belly and the future laid waiting for us on a farm in Ireland.

  Twenty Nine

  Cassiela stood next to Zacharael, Verchiel and Tyndle while they waited for their orders in the great hall outside the Court of Angels. She understood why the Powers were there; Zach and Verchiel were two of the most powerful soldiers amongst their ranks. When it came to reeling in an Angel of Death, especially a crazy one, who better to send after him than the Powers?

  She glanced at the ten-foot-tall, solid gold doors for any sign of them opening and then turned to look at the other female angel in the room. Tyndle stood silent as always, her citrine eyes focused on the entrance they all waited to pass through. The Angel of Silence lived up to her name in every way. She never spoke and you never, ever heard her coming until she appeared at your side. The dark-haired angel had scared Cassie more times than she cared to count over the millennia that they had worked together.

  “What are we waiting for, Zacharael?”

  Verchiel sneered and answered instead. “Probably Michael. For one as exalted as he is, that boy has some serious OCD issues.” His violet eyes glittered like amethysts when they turned to look at her. “He's got a stick up his ass when it comes to making sure all his I's are dotted and t's crossed.”

  The blush that crept over her skin warmed the bone-deep chill that was a constant in Cassie's life. “You shouldn't speak of the Protector in such a way, Verchiel.”

  “Or what? He'll lob an energy blast at me and sentence me to a century among the humans?” The Angel of Power rolled his eyes and grinned at her. “Please, Solitude. He can't afford to lose me and he knows it. Unlike this poor bastard,” Verchiel nudged their prisoner with the tip of his boot and earned an angry snarl from the broken angel. “I'm not replaceable.”

  Cassie was saved from having to respond by the creak of hinges. The doors they'd been watching groaned as they were pushed open by a host of cherubim to reveal the seven Archangels seated at the far end. They each grasped a corner of the stretcher their prisoner lay upon and carried it into the brightness that was their Hall of Justice.

  Azrael blinked at the blinding light that set off sunbursts of pain inside his head. The damn werewolf had cracked his skull when he'd pounded it into the floor. Though the pain in his shattered leg and dislocated shoulder had lessened, it roared back to life with each jostling step toward his fate.

  The one voice that Rae had hoped not to hear, called out from somewhere ahead of their procession; the Protector would not go easy on him. “Bring the offender forward so that he may be healed and sentenced.”

  Michael. Fuck. Rae had never liked the arrogant bastard and the feeling had been more than mutual. It was no wonder the golden boy was here; he'd made it a point to be present whenever Azrael was called on the carpet and, now that he'd committed a laundry list of crimes against one of their own, the bastard was here to make sure the full letter of their laws was enforced.

  Another round of pain shot through him when the four who'd been carrying his stretcher in put Rae down without any sense of delicacy. “You assholes had best be careful. My Ardy is an Angel of Anger and Wrath. Keep treating me badly and she'll kick your asses.”

  Eyebrows raised in question on every face in the room.

  “Death has lost his mind my lords.” Zacharael stepped forward and knelt next to Rae's head at the base of the platform where the seven most powerful angels ruled.

  Verchiel snickered next to Cassiela. “More like joined the cast of Loony Tunes. Wiley Coyote got nothing on this crazy nut.”

  “Please try to remember where you are, Verchiel.” Raphael descended to the floor and knelt by Azrael's stretcher. He touched a hand to Rae's dislocated shoulder and the wounded angel flinched with the renewed pain it caused. “Rest easy, Azrael. Your pain will lessen in a moment.”

  Rae closed his eyes against the green glow that came with Raphael's healing touch. “Where's Ardeur? Where did you take her? Are my children alright?”

  Glowing emerald eyes turned toward the platform where the remaining Archangels sat. Each one inclined their head in agreement to an unspoken thought they had shared. “They are not your children, Death. You are not capable of parentage. This is the nature of your kind; you know my words are truth.”

  It was pointless to lose his cool in the room filled with some of the most powerful of their kind. Rae knew they would silence him with barely a second thought and it would only serve to worsen the sentence to which he would be condemned.

  “Wise of you to keep your tongue, Azrael.” Raphael patted his healed shoulder and helped Rae rise to his knees. His guilt was a foregone conclusion; and as such, he was denied the right to stand and face the room as a peer.

  Being guilty didn't prevent him from facing off against Michael with the most insolent and disrespectful look that he could muster. “So, Michael, what's the verdict? A millennia in your service, Protector, or maybe eternity as a human? Both would be equally torturous.”

  Michael sighed and fixed his sapphire eyes on the storm cloud blue ones several feet below him. “No, you would enjoy that too much and we are not here to provide you with entertainment. You will be stripped of all power except that which allows you to usher souls, and only those of infants and children will you be allowed to escort.”

  “That doesn't sound too bad.” Rae shrugged. The smile that began to curve his lips was cut short by Michael's next words.

  “Tartarus will be shut off to you and your rank as ruler of that place shall be conferred to another more worthy of the role. Your wings will be clipped so that their pain is a daily reminder of that which you inflicted upon another.” Michael stepped down from the platform and walked a slow circle around the group that surrounded Azrael. “You will spend your time between souls in a cell no more comfortable than that which you offered your victim. Silence and Solitude will be your guards. Also, the portion of soul which you gave to the Angel Ardeur has been removed so that you may never find her again.”

  Azrael looked up in horror at Michael, as if the Archangel had just cursed him to the worst kind of fate. “No. Not my Ardy. You can't take her from me.”

  Zadkiel, the most merciful of the Archangels, stood and approached. “You will have plenty of time to reflect on what you have done. See that you learn the error of your ways, Azrael. We will not be so merciful again.”

  Cassiela and Tyndle exchanged shocked looks at the news of their assignment to watch over the disgraced angel. It wasn't difficult for Cassie to read her friends thoughts and echo them to their superiors.

  “My lords, we are not warriors. Would there not be others more suitable to such a task as you have set for Silence and me?”

  Michael stood at her side and touched a gentle hand to the dark red curls that hung down her back. He looked into her pale green eyes and offered her a smile filled with benevolence. “You have been chosen for a reason, dear Solitude. In time, you will learn what that is and you will thank us for what we do here today. As for Tyndle, do not Silence and Solitude go hand in hand?”

  A gentle nudge from her friend forced a sigh from Cassie. “We do. I speak for her since she will not do so for herself.”

  “Then it is settled.” Michael cupped both women's faces and smiled. “You wi
ll guard Azrael day and night for a period of six millennia and no less.”

  Cassie looked down at the Angel of Death and saw the insanity that lurked behind the handsome face. “Six millennia?” The Angel of Solitude felt her knees go week and a pair of strong arms wrapped around her before the world blacked out around her.

  Thirty

  Brody stood at the other end of a long white silk runner that stretched from the bottom of the main staircase of our home in Ireland to the middle of the great room. He had on a black tuxedo jacket over a kilt made from the Callaghan tartan and the biggest smile I'd ever seen on his handsome face.

  Either side of the aisle was filled with chairs that contained a few of our mutual friends scattered amongst the O'Hare and Callaghan family members.

  It had taken us four months to get to where we were today and I was thrilled beyond words to finally be walking down the aisle toward the man that I loved more than anything.

  His sister Isobeal and I had spent weeks searching for the perfect dress that would fit over my ever-expanding belly but wouldn't scream maternity dress. We'd realized how lucky our find had been when she zipped me in an hour ago and found that the dress was a very snug fit.

  I smiled at the familiar faces in the crowd but none of them got the brilliant smile that I gifted my soon to be husband with when he took my hand and we turned toward the altar.

  “You look beautiful, Goldie.”

  “Thank you, baby.” My hand squeezed his before I turned to hand off my bouquet of a dozen yellow roses to Isobeal. “You look amazing.”

  He put his free hand on the exaggerated swell of my belly and smiled as one of the twins kicked at the warm spot he created. “Feeling alright?”

  “Yep. I'll feel even better once we're officially married and I'm Mrs. Callaghan.”

  The official we'd chosen to perform the ceremony stepped forward and began with a few words of welcome before running through the routine will you's, I do's and exchanging of rings. Brody surprised me with a beautiful diamond eternity band to go with his mother's engagement ring. We had opted to forgo making the usual vows to, instead, make a short pledge to each other that skipped all the obedience and death do us part hooey that invaded most weddings.

  Brody brought our joined hands to his lips and kissed my fingers. He was blinking furiously and I melted when I realized that he was fighting back tears.

  “When I was a kid there was this feisty girl in my class that got into as much trouble, if not more, than I did on a daily basis. I knew back then that she was special and vowed to be her protector, even then. We lost each other for a long time and when I found her again,” He rubbed the back of his neck and I smiled as the first tear snuck out and ran down his cheek. “I promised myself I'd never let her down and that I'd fight with everything that I have to keep her safe. Today I stand here with that girl on our wedding day and I'm making that same promise. Ardeur, I promise to never let you down and that I will fight with everything I have to keep you and our children safe. You will never want for anything and if you do, I'll go to the ends of the earth to get it for you.”

  He bent to kiss me and I laid my hand on his cheek to thumb away the rogue tears while our guests clapped behind us. A twinge ran through my belly that forced a gasp of surprise from my lips. I rubbed at the sore spot and shook it off as one of the twins having kicked too hard, they'd been doing that on and off since I had rolled out of bed that morning.

  “It took nineteen years for the boy with the roguish dimples to realize I knew he was just as special to me. He was my protector back then while we hid in the hedges and he continued to be my safe haven through all of the rough times in my life thereafter.” I smiled at Brody and squeezed his hand when another pain seared through my belly. “I don't think I would have made it through all of the hell had I not been able to hold on to my memories of – oh, God.” Another pain ripped through me and doubled me over as a gush of fluid soaked my dress and the carpet under my feet. “I'm in labor.”

  The official blurted out the, “I pronounce you man and wife.” while Brody lifted me into his arms and walked back to the main staircase with all of our guests trailing behind. With the nearest hospital three hours away, the women of the family had prepared our bedroom with everything we would need in the event that my labor started at home.

  Several of the women from the neighboring farms gathered as many of the guests as they could in the dining room to start feeding those who were hungry while they waited for news from upstairs.

  Our bed was quickly stripped down and a thick, cotton, birthing pad that had been in the O'Hare family for generations was put down over the mattress while Isobeal helped get me undressed.

  “Brody Callaghan.” I gritted my teeth through another contraction and held my hand out for him. “Get your ass over here and help me with this pain.”

  He chuckled from behind me, kissed the bare skin of my shoulder and picked me up to stride over to the bed. “I'm right here, Goldie. Just squeeze my hand and we'll get through this together. The girls are ready for you and we're all waiting for those beautiful babies to come on out.”

  The birthing pad was softer than I had imagined it would be and the soothing scent of lavender drifted up from it when Brody settled the two of us on the bed. He pulled me back against his chest and began rubbing my belly between the agonizing contractions that curled me forward.

  Things moved rather quickly from there. Isobeal checked my progress soon after we got settled on the bed and declared that I could start pushing whenever I felt the need to bear down.

  It took several failed attempts before I figured out how to push the proper way and once I did, our daughter slid free of my womb twenty minutes later. Lusty newborn cries filled the air while Brody's aunts cleaned and swaddled our firstborn.

  Isobeal patted my leg and smiled. “Good job. Did you guys pick a name for her?”

  “Cadhla Isobeal.” Brody and I uttered the name together and laughed at the surprised look on her face. “You didn't think I'd have a daughter and not name her after my favorite sister did you?”

  One of the aunts came over with Cadhla and offered her to me but I held her off as another vicious contraction slashed through me. “Her brother wants out first. Oh, God, that hurts.”

  “Push, Goldie. You did beautifully with Cadhla, now push Brandon out.” Brody held my hand and helped me curl around the bulk of my belly while I grunted and strained. The air was thick with the smells of birthing and cries of pain.

  Brandon Oliver Callaghan came screaming into the world three minutes after his sister made her debut.

  Half an hour later, everything had been put back the way it had been and I sat in bed with my family. Brody and I each held a baby and nothing could have wiped the smiles from our faces.

  Isobeal stood at the end of the bed watching us. “You should try feeding them in a few minutes. The sooner you get them used to the breast, the easier it will be for the three of you to get the hang of nursing.”

  I looked up at her and smiled. “Thanks, Belle. You've been an amazing help through all of this.”

  She smiled back and waved as she left the room. “You're welcome.”

  “I can't believe how small they are. Look at their itty bitty fingers.” Brody was completely engrossed with inspecting each tiny finger and toe on our children. The adoration on his face was a thing of beauty.

  “They are eight pounds each. You push that out and see if you call them small afterwards.” I smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for them. I couldn't have asked for a better wedding present.”

  Brody smiled. His big hand stroked the reddish fuzz that covered our son's head. “You should try feeding them and then get some rest. I'm sure everyone will be up here bright and early to see the newest Callaghan's tomorrow.”

  He was right. I knew it and accepted his help with getting everyone settled and positioned properly. We had a house full of friends and relatives that had come for our wedding and
been given the added bonus of a birthing on the same day. The possibility of escaping the steady stream of visitors that were sure to come was infinitesimal.

  The twins took to nursing like they were old pros at it and the peaceful expressions on their faces made me smile. I watched them for a minute until a flash of warmth spread from the base of my skull to the bottom of my spine; it was the angelic form of a doorbell for my mentor and fellow Angel of Wrath, Kezef.

  She appeared at the foot of my bed in all of her blazing glory. Kezzie had hair like a living flame and her eyes were the bright yellowy orange of the sun. The red leather gear that was a trademark of the Angels of Wrath made her all the more magnificent.

  “Hey, Kezzie. Come meet Brandon and Cadhla.”

  Kezef blinked at my half-naked appearance, but came around the bed anyway. “Hello, little ones.” She gave each baby a formal bow and returned to her post at the foot of the bed. “I'll give you a moment to finish feeding them and then I have a mission to deliver.”

  “A mission?” Brody's energy lashed out from beside me and covered my skin in hot prickles of anger. “She just gave birth half an hour ago, Kezzie. Can't you give her a day or two?”

  “Not this time.” Her arms folded beneath the small rounds of her breasts and her shoulders squared in defiance of my mate's obvious anger. “This situation requires Ardeur and no other. It is somewhat a matter of expertise, and she is the only expert on this subject.”

  Brody rose and paced between the bed and the bank of windows that took up the entire wall on the right side of our bedroom. “I don't care. You can wait a few days.”

  The twins had begun to fuss when Brody's angry energy had lashed out and they refused to nurse anymore. “It's okay.” I passed him Cadhla and adjusted my nightgown before putting Brandon to my shoulder and soothing him as best I could. “This is what they've been training me for all these months. I'll go, on one condition.”