Death's Widow

by Lori Aisling

  The gorgeous angel who represented the Beauty of God sat silently for a moment before stubbornly shaking her head as if to rid herself of the words Callon spoke. “That’s not how it works, Cal. It simply is not correct. God would never allow us to become irrelevant, and humans would still need us to guide them. The Beginning of all created this challenge of good and evil to see which would prevail. The Light will emerge victorious in this battle. I appreciate you sharing your viewpoint, but I cannot allow it to tarnish my faith. As the Counterbalance, you should understand how your notion sounds; it could undermine the Light, and we cannot allow that to happen.”

  Callon cast a sad smile in the direction of the blonde beauty and nodded. “I understand how you would feel that way, Joe. As it has always been, shall it always be. Remember that- it’s important.”

  Looking at me, Jophiel sighed. “I still can’t believe it. A mortal woman you just met. Yet you bonded with her. She already has a better grasp of her abilities than I anticipated. I suggest you keep that up, they will come for her, you know.”

  “They? Who are they?” I asked.

  “Everyone, dear. Until you have full control of your gift and can defend yourself, you have a target on your back. The power you hold is enough to tip the scales. We all want it, and most will go to unsavory means to possess it.”

  “Let them try. Spread the word, Joe. Amara is mine, and what was done to the cherub will pale in comparison to the next Timeless who dares to attempt to harm her,” Callon snarled.

  “Speaking of poor Serjule. You will have to answer for that, Cal. You know much the Lord covets his cherubim. The punishment you dolled out so callously needs to be reconsidered.”

  “My punishment was fitting for the crime. If anything, I was lenient. There will be no reconsideration.”

  “Don’t let the darkness of your rage consume you. I refuse to believe you didn’t know she would be threatened. Will you continue down this path of destruction? To what end?”

  “To the end of time. The realms will be ash under my bootheels before I allow her to suffer.”

  Jophiel gasped, covering her mouth with perfectly manicured fingers. “Oh my God, Callon. You didn’t just bond with her. You love her.”

  At that moment, I think I stopped breathing. I moved to lean against the breakfast bar, listening to their back-and-forth, wondering where it would end. Shocked, I swung my head to see Callon eyeing me calmly. His silver orbs never leaving mine, he answered the angel. “Yes, I love her. Without a doubt, and with unequivitable conviction.”

  Hearing him use the same words I mentioned when describing to him the expectations of my mate on the night we bonded broke me. I felt a tear slip down my face, my throat tightened, and my heart threatened to beat its way out of my chest. “Jophiel, I need you to leave now,” I asked softly, my eyes never leaving his.

  “Whoa, you didn’t know. Well, as you humans say, the kitty cat is out of th-”

  “Joe,” Callon interrupted, “we’ll talk later. Please leave.” His hand flicked towards the door and I saw it open as he began to stalk towards me.

  Mumbling something or the other- I wasn’t listening, honestly- the lovely angel glided past me and I heard the door close firmly as she exited.

  Love Me Like You Do

  I met him halfway across the kitchen and I jumped at him. He caught me, his hands cupping my ass as he pulled me to him. I wrapped my legs tightly around his waist, my arms encircling his neck. His fingers tangled in my hair and grasping firmly, he used it to tilt my head to the side, his mouth violenting claiming mine. Our tongues mingled, both of us demanding- and taking, what we each laid stake to.

  Still holding me tightly against him with one hand, the other gripping my hair as he kissed me, he walked to the table. Setting me on the surface, his hand slid up my side, tracing the contours of my waist and contour of my breast before coming to hold my chin between his thumb and forefinger.

  He broke the kiss and tilted my chin up to meet his blazing eyes. They burned with a molten intensity I never knew before. Repeating his confession, I heard the lust and conviction in his tone. “I love you, Amara. From the moment we met, I wanted you to be mine. Getting to know you, your zealous pursuit of life, and how easily you fit into mine made me desire you that much more. Then you released all control, committing yourself to our bond, and I thought my heart would burst watching you surrender under me. But I knew it was more than our connection, our vow, when I was faced with losing you. Seeing you trying to fight off the cherub, feeling your panic and fear pulsing through our bond- it was as if my own life was on the line. I realized there was no future for me without you by my side. It was then I knew how much I loved you.”

  By that time, my tears flowed freely, there was no stopping them as they wet my cheeks. I never felt so much for another person in my life. Hearing him lay bare his feelings with no pride or ego- just raw emotion and honesty, this was what every person longed for- and rarely experienced. I don’t know what I did to deserve this man, this love, but I would live the rest of my life proving to him daily I was worth it.

  I knew I loved him when I made the commitment to our bond, and I knew he loved me, too. But knowing someone loves you and hearing them confess it is different, somehow. It means so much and I didn’t realize until that moment how I longed to hear those words from him. “I love you too, Callon. I didn’t know it was possible to feel this much for another.”

  I wanted to continue, but his lips stopped any further words from being spoken when they pressed firmly against mine. The ability to construct a simple sentence was no longer in my arsenal as he assaulted my senses with his mouth, his hands, his desire.

  “It is possible, and you will feel more, my love. More of everything- starting now.” He laid me down onto the table and pulled my arms over my head. “Hold the edge, and don’t let go.”

  My sweatshirt was pushed up, but not off, obstructing my vision. I felt him pull away from me, then the sleeves of my sweatshirt tightened around my wrists. I was unable to move my arms now, and I couldn’t see. My breathing quickened; I had never been in this situation before. The anticipation was intoxicating. I felt his finger trail down from my neck, between my breasts, and to the button of my pants. Unfastening them, I heard the zipper slowly release. He slid my jeans and panties down and off, leaving me in nothing but my bra, laid out on the dining room table.

  I couldn’t hear anything, and he wasn’t touching me. Was he still there? It seemed as if minutes passed, but I couldn’t be sure. I was desperate to feel him, hear him- something. My senses were in overdrive “Callon,” I panted. “Where are you? I need you.”

  “You have me, Amara. I will never abandon you. You know that, don't you?” He spoke low, his voice husky, sending goosebumps down my arms.

  “Yes.”

  “Then trust me.”

  I felt his fingers unclasp the front-closure on my bra, and immediately his lips wrapped around a nipple. I moaned as his teeth grazed the tip while he rolled the other between his thumb and forefinger.

  My nerve endings ignited as his mouth and hands touched, licked, and caressed my breasts, across my stomach, and lower. There he paused, his hot breath fanning against my sex. I squirmed; wanting- no, needing more. Callon propped my heels on the edge of the table, then pushed my thighs wide apart fully exposing me. I heard something so slight coming from my right side but I couldn’t identify it. All I could focus on was the heat from his mouth, stoking the flames burning inside of me.

  Then cold. I shuddered, crying out as the ice slid between my folds and was instantly followed by the heat of his tongue. He began repeating the sequence and the opposing sensations ripped away the last of my composure, my hips jerking as I cried out.

  His lips encircled my clit, the tip of his tongue flicking rapidly against the little cluster of nerves and I heard the piece of ice skip across the hardwood floor. Two fingers slid into my heated core and I bucked against him, fucking his hand.

&nb
sp; The tingling low in my belly signified an approaching orgasm and he stoked the fire he built; controlling, dictating and owning my release. “I know you want to cum, Amara. I can see it in the way your legs shake. I hear it in your gasps as you beg for more. And I feel it as your beautiful pussy tightens on my fingers and you pull at our bond- needing release.”

  His expert knowledge of what made my body react was enough. But his words, and the way he spoke them, were the catalyst needed to push me over the top. Waves of exquisite pleasure washed over me as I moaned his name.

  Never one to let up, Callon immediately flipped me over, the sweatshirt twisting my arms. I was now ass up on the table, arms immobile, head turned sideways; the material from the hoodie between my cheek and the hardwood surface.

  His fingers ran down my spine and he traced the infinity mark, the simple touch sending little bolts of fiery sensation straight to my core. “Fuck, you’re so beautiful. And you’re mine,” he growled as he pushed his hard length through my folds and buried his cock to the base.

  I arched my back, moaning between breaths as I reveled in the sensation of him filling me completely and he growled his approval. Pulling out to the tip, then plunging back in, he established a steady rhythm, reaching around to rub circles around my clit gently with his thumb.

  “Feel me, Amara. Feel me not just with your body, but with your mind.” His fingers began to trace the lines of our binding mark on my back and my breath caught in my throat as I struggled with the dueling sensations. “Now I want you to feel what I feel. Focus on our bond. Revel in the pleasure I receive from being inside you. The way I fit inside you as if you were made only for me. Concentrate, love. Experience me.”

  At first, I couldn’t. My lack of sight and restriction of movement only heightened my body’s response to him and I was gladly drowning in it. His touch on my brand was like splashing kerosene onto a raging inferno. But then I felt it. A chasm of emotion tickling along the edge of the bond, beckoning to me. I embraced it; wanting it, craving it. Suddenly it happened- I could feel him. Not in the sense of him touching me, but what he was feeling. My inner muscles squeezed along his solid length as he thrust, slow and deep. The ball of fulfillment growing in his stomach as he neared his release. But what broke me was greater than the physical bliss. It was the warmth of awe, acceptance, and respect. This was the love he felt for me.

  The potency of the combination of such incredible rapture filled me and I screamed his name as I came, the orgasm as fierce and concentrated as the emotions it carried. I felt him pulse inside me, his roar challenging mine, his fingers digging into my waist to hold me steady as my muscles lost their ability to hold me up any longer.

  Collapsing to the tabletop, his weight pressing down on me, I dragged in a staggered breath. I felt my arms release from the restraint and with a shaking hand, I pulled the sweatshirt over my head where it dropped to the floor.

  Callon rolled off of me and onto his back, gasping for breath, “that was incredible.”

  I was stunned, still unable to move; I think my bones had been liquified. “Did you know we could do that? Feel each other like that?”

  “No. I never even considered it, but when you were in the hotel room fighting the cherub, I could feel you. As if your panic and fear were my own. I remembered that and figured I would much rather experience you in this state than in distress.”

  “For the record, you have full license to experiment in that fashion at any time.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Callon?”

  He laughed before replying, “yes, dear, I know: you’re hungry.”

  Living the Best Afterlife

  With our bond linked, we became stronger. Not from a power standpoint necessarily- although it helped with my training- but in our relationship. The trust and mutual devotion was unmatched to anything I could have ever imagined.

  I had finally gotten a handle on the time ‘situation’. Here in our realm, time passed slowly. What would be months here was years in the mortal worlds and kingdoms of Light and Dark. It made sense, actually. Should Death’s passage of time be the same, Callon would never rest- he would be transferring souls constantly. As was the design, this allowed him not only time to conduct his duties, but we were able to enjoy eternity together.

  Using the calculation of the other realms, we enjoyed over two years together now. Not a day passed that I wasn’t eternally grateful for the loving, passionate, and devoted man who took me into his heart and granted me eternity at his side.

  I worked tirelessly at mastering the gifts he mirrored to me, impressing not only Callon but even members of the factions. I was determined to make him proud and I truly relished every accomplishment. I learned the stunning mountain scene outside of our bedroom window could be changed with little effort on my part. In reality, his realm was exactly as it appeared to me the first time we left. Barren, dark, and surreal but not frightening; it was simply void of the kind of existence as I knew in my mortal life.

  I discovered the shadows that seemed to dance just out of view were known as ‘wisps’. They were memories left from souls which transitioned. Callon explained this happens when the soul and the conscious mind were at odds at the time of death. War, violent death, executions; these were the primary sources of wisps. Although they appeared as an apparition, they were not sentient beings. More like blips from a movie reel- memories that were especially powerful during the person’s life.

  I found myself watching the wisps one morning, standing outside the door with my cup of coffee, lost in the flickers of the past. Although the passing was traumatic for the soul, the wisps were not all negative memories. Many of them were cherished thoughts; weddings, the birth of a child, a first kiss. It was humbling to see into the intimate treasures of these past lives. I discovered a unique sense of peace walking our territory, only the wisps for company.

  Callon was gone, but I became comfortable here. I was more than capable of defending myself now, should the need arise. I ventured outside of Death’s realm on my own often, but only to the mortal world I knew, and only to go to work, choosing to travel with him to the others.

  I decided a while ago to open my own publishing company in the mortal realm. I missed the books, the new and unique stories, and the light in an author’s eyes when they held their novel in their hands for the first time. Thanks to a generous loan from the esteemed Callon Thead, I was able to secure a nice building just a block down the street from the company I once worked for in my previous life. Callon held the purchase of the building over my head, dangling it like a meaty bone to a hungry canine.

  “Your sway, Amara. You need to perfect it and not rely on mine. Once you can walk into the building where you once worked and not garnish a single glance of recognition, we’ll proceed with your business plan. It should not matter you knew those people for some time- any thought of them remembering you should never cross their minds. Once you are established under your new alias, you will be known only as the proprietor of the company. I will see to any historical mentions of you.”

  I worked so hard to master the gift. It was easiest at resorts where the flow of staff was ever-changing. The day I carried on a detailed conversation with the sweet, young housekeeper only to have her introduce herself to me just a few hours later had me jumping up and down cheering like a high-school cheerleader at the Homecoming game. Callon gave me a satisfied and proud look before sweeping me off my feet and rewarding me in a much more carnal manner.

  From there, I moved on to his head of security, Kyle. The stern-faced, humorless man was former military and worked for Callon for years. He was the guy who made sure the tabloids never received word of Mr. Thead’s comings and goings, and he was also what I affectionately called ‘The Cleaner’. On more than one occasion, Kyle removed all signs of destruction when Death had been forced to ‘make a point’ with one of the members of the warring factions. The cherub in Cairo had not been the only incident. A young boy on the beaches of Bora B
ora once housed a particularly nasty strain of demon which attempted to cuff my ankle with hell’s chains, only to find himself scattered along the pristine sand like some kind of macabre flower girl procession. Kyle indeed earned his generous pay that day. Callon assured me his loyal employee had no idea his boss was anything more than a rich businessman, but I found it hard to believe the poor man never questioned some of the sticky situations he found himself addressing.

  I was introduced to him numerous times, but he never remembered me, thanks to Callon’s sway. My final test prior to opening my business was to meet Kyle, converse with him as his employers girlfriend, then make him forget I existed at the end of our trip. My overzealous boyfriend found every opportunity possible to have his thick-necked bulldog addressing a ‘need’ which warranted me being in the room, and by the end of our trip, Kyle and I became quite familiar.

  Seated on the veranda watching the waves crash against the shore on the last day of our stay at the lovely beach resort in Greece, Calon made the call to his head of security, requesting his presence. Disconnecting the call, he smiled at me. “It’s your final test, love. You can do this- I have faith in you.”

  Responding to the knock on the door, I heard the two men conversing as they made their way to the glass french doors. I concentrated, repeating my personal mantra for solidifying my sway. I could do this.

  I took a sip of my coffee as the two men entered the balcony. Seeming surprised, Kyle looked at me, his eyebrows raised. “I apologize, Mr. Thead. I didn’t realize you had company. Ma’am, I’m Kyle Boronski, an employee of Callon’s.” He extended a beefy paw for a shake and my hand disappeared in his grasp.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you, Kyle. I’m Amara Rush.”