She accepted his hand and stood on wobbly legs. “You know how I don’t like being carried?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve changed my mind.” She threw her arms around his neck, fully expecting him to lift her.
Instead, he took her by the forearms and pulled them down to his chest. “Delphine. I—”
“Zane Gideon.” A voice smooth and musical emanated from the slit.
The group sucked a collective gasp. Never in the history of Hell Runners had a rift to Heaven opened in Hell. Neither had any of them been called by name.
“Yes,” he answered with a sore heart and stepped toward the light, preparing to leave his earthly life behind.
“Because of your wisdom and bravery.” The voice continued and the light pulsed with each syllable. “Because of your willingness to sacrifice, all of you have been saved by divine interference.”
Recognition. Because he demanded it? Didn’t matter. He dropped to his knees. “Thank you,” he said with utmost humility. “We truly appreciate—”
The voice interrupted. “In return, you will continue your quests to rescue the repentant. Your offer of barter has been filled by another.”
Another? Who? Though concerned, his heart soared. No damnation. No deportation to Heaven. He could stay. He. Could. Stay.
“We will,” he said, and all of his companions chimed in.
“Never fail to use the gift’s you’ve been given. Learn to use the keys. Guard the ring with your lives.”
“We will,” Delphine said, surprising him with the conviction in her voice.
He nodded. Never would he let the ring out of his sight.
“Now go. Take Niall with you. He promises to be very useful.”
“With us? Now?” Boone piped up as if the light of Heaven were nothing more than another Hell Runner. “How the hell can we can do that? He’s a ghost.” He blurted out what Zane wanted to ask respectfully.
He prayed they wouldn’t get the door slammed on them for his brother’s candor.
“He’s proven equally capable of sacrifice and has been granted special dispensation.”
Familiar, yet not, in his new human form, the former shade emerged from behind the slit. Somehow, a man freed from Hell should have looked happier. Instead, both his mouth and eyes drooped like he carried an unwanted weight on his shoulders.
“Congratulations, old man.” Boone jogged over to Niall and embraced him, slapping him on the back three times before release. “Damn, you’re real. Like really real.”
For some reason, Boone resorted to the cheerleading voice of the orientation instructor he put on for the rookies. A life in the Irish Republican Army and close to a hundred years in Hell didn’t qualify Niall as a rookie of anything.
“Indeed. I am—real.” A few words was all Niall appeared capable of saying.
“Come on. I don’t need another invitation to leave.” Ignoring obvious signs of worry, his brother slung an arm around Niall’s neck and ushered him toward the group. “Let’s go, gang. There’s a great bar in walking distance of the Gate. We’ll all get half pissed, and Niall can tell us all about how his deal went down.”
“Boone, back off a minute, will ya?” Jesse said, squeezing the waist of his wife.
“You back off. He’s been waiting forever to be free. You think he wants to sit around and wait for the council to debrief us?”
Surprisingly, Niall looped his arm around Boone’s back until his hand rested on his shoulder. He grinned for them all. Weak, but there.
A niggling suspicion piqued Zane’s curiosity. The smile felt fake, and he wondered what Niall sacrificed to get out of Hell.
Time would reveal all that much, he knew.
With the light receding, they all beat feet toward the Paris Gate.
Ever the big brother, he waited for everyone else to file out first. Maybe for another reason as well.
What the hell happened to Swift? Part of him expected his old buddy to show up at the last minute. He wanted to ask the light, but not in front of the others.
He didn’t get a chance.
The slit narrowed and shrank to the size of a distant star.
Delphine slipped her fingers between his. “Amazing.”
“You’re telling me. I seriously thought we were demon feed.”
“I meant you. Bet they don’t teach what you did in training.” She tugged him toward the door.
“They will now. I’ll get to teach it.”
Without asking, he swooped her up in his arms and dashed toward the Gate. One leg between worlds, he swore he heard a taunt whispered at his ear.
“Step up your game, Gideon. You’re gonna need it.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Midmorning sunlight and a potent perfume of wildflowers poured through the open French doors on a late summer breeze so perfect Delphine considered it continued reward for a job well done.
She rolled over, and the sheets rustled around her legs. More softly than last night when she’d kicked them relentlessly to the floor before climbing on top of Zane. He’d teased her sex, driving her mad until she decided he deserved a taste of his own medicine. A taste she feverishly administered for hours to both their complete satisfaction.
She draped an arm over his middle and snuggled in close. Sinful sex. Heavenly cuddles. With all her heart, she hoped the moment would never end.
“You’re awake. Don’t pretend you’re going back to sleep,” Zane admonished while caressing her arm with one strong hand.
Delphine pushed up onto her elbow and supported her head with her open palm.
He grinned, his sky-blue eyes shining brightly as he searched her face.
“I’ll never pretend anything ever again, Cowboy.”
“Because I won’t let you?”
“Because I don’t want to.” She fingered the flat blonde hairs on his chest. “And for the record, you don’t let me do anything.”
“You mean not including last night.”
“Big words from a man I seduced into begging.”
“I begged because I wanted to.” He stroked the tender skin along her jaw with his rough fingers. “Always will. With you.” He squeezed her arm. “Which brings me to a subject I think we need to discuss.”
She tensed. The last thing she wanted were discussions or serious talk of any kind.
“We have one month off, or rather, I have one month off. You, on the other hand,” he lifted her by the left wrist and kissed the center of her palm, “have choices to make. I’d like to hear them before we set out for the cabin.”
Much as she’d hoped for some pre-breakfast sex, she relented. He was right. As agreed, they’d put off any discussion of the future after suffering through the retelling for the council debriefing.
That was six days, one long flight, and two dozen hours making love ago. Time to move forward.
“I’ll make this easier on you. Tell me your ideal situation. Even if it’s not plausible.”
“Ideally.” She sighed, but it took almost no thought. “To stay here.”
“Because it’s far from any Gate? Because you might lose your gift with George’s help? Because—”
“Because I want to be here. With you.” Her heart started to hammer at her pent-up admission. Though she’d professed her love for him in the darkness of Hell and repeatedly since then, suddenly she felt exposed and vulnerable. “But you’re not staying here. I know that. So I thought I might…” The words were hard to say. She’d not been invited by him to do anything. To be anything to him at all.
“Might what?”
Instead of answering, she turned away and got out of bed. “It’s stupid. I haven’t really thought things through.” She had, but couldn’t say it under his watchful gaze. Her nightshirt hung off the back of his desk chair, and she beelined across the room.
“Think out loud. Let me help you.”
Help her do what? Leave with dignity?
“Not right now.” The hardwood floor beneat
h her bare feet felt warm where a rectangle of sun baked it. She’d miss that. Disappointment and sadness weighed on her. With her back to him, she slipped the shirt over her head and prayed her tears wouldn’t form.
The bedsprings creaked, and his feet hit the floor.
“Then when?”
She already sensed the distance expanding between them. Tears began to well despite all her efforts.
“Later. Later today.” She walked between the French doors and onto the deck off his bedroom. In the next instant, she heard the bathroom door close.
She pinched the bridge of her nose hard and killed the urge to cry.
This side of the main home faced the guest house, where Maria and Rush insisted her mother set up post-hospital housekeeping. Only a few days settled in, Rush had already taken to calling her Gabby, which no one ever had before, and Maria arranged for her to take a job at the Army Surplus store in town.
Her mother glowed like Delphine had never seen in all her life. Healing from her twenty-year long ordeal seemed to come naturally—even quickly transplanted far from big city life.
Long neglected, Mom had a future living in the most beautiful place on earth, comforted in the warm embrace of a family prone to love. And she expressed her appreciation openly without the undue influence of a demoness.
Happy as hell for her mother, a pang of jealousy still wrangled a way into Delphine’s heart.
The floor creaked behind her, and the weight of Zane’s body pressed against hers until she leaned against the Aspen log railing. He gripped the chiseled log on each side of her. His broad shoulders sheltered her from the breeze and kept her pinned in place.
“Maybe I didn’t do this right. In fact, I know I didn’t do this right.” He spoke softly against her ear. “I should have told you what I wanted first. Then if you wanted the same thing, it would be easier on us both. Can’t promise I won’t be hurt if you turn me away, but I can promise I won’t hurt you.”
Turn him away?
She wriggled, eager to face him, to gaze up into those big baby-blues that demanded close study.
Zane stared down at her, his expression unreadable except for the mildest hint of dimples.
“Okay, Cowboy.” She mustered up casual bravado. “What do you want? Ideally.” The nerves in her body braced to fire either utter heartbreak or complete joy.
“You already know this is the best place on earth. At least for me. But I still have work to do, and I won’t turn my back on those in need.”
She nodded. If he’d said anything else, she’d have been shocked and disappointed.
“So, I’m headed back to Philadelphia when the month sabbatical is through. If by chance you decided to use your gift after all you’ve been put through and become an oracle, I’d like for you to do it in Philadelphia. If you don’t want to use it at all, I still want you to join me in Philadelphia.”
“Join you?” She trembled with relief. No, joy. With one finger she stroked a lazy circle over his chest. “Even if I’m not a Hell Runner?”
He grabbed her hand and kissed her fingers. “I only want you to be happy. I’m hoping happy means with me. You’re a city girl.” He let go of her hand and drew her into a tight embrace. “All you need is a new city to explore. I think you’ll like Philly and—”
“Don’t know if I’ll have much time to explore.”
“Really? Do tell.”
“Nothing’s official. I wanted to talk with you first, but since Prudence’s dad is the Philadelphia chancellor, I told her I want to help.” Her gaze latched onto his. “I’m semi-officially going to give this oracle business a try.”
Zane planted a sound kiss on her lips. He couldn’t hold the kiss long because his mouth morphed into a broad smile. She wound up puckered against teeth.
“You’re sure?” he asked, grazing her lips with his mouthwash fresh breath.
“Stop asking me that. Or pretending you aren’t thrilled I’ve chosen your way.”
He rested his forehead against hers. “I won’t lie. The fact you’ve chosen to join us for however long that turns out to be is more blessing I could have hoped for.”
“Liar. You did hope.”
“Okay. I did. So you’re coming to Philadelphia and not Paris? Not trying to badmouth the new Paris chancellor, but I’ve only met Richard Pellerin once. Not enough to form a solid opinion, and I want to keep an eye on you.” He nuzzled her neck, and she reached up to stroke his face.
Why had she dreaded this moment? Why did she think he’d still turn her away?
Delphine had more work to do than just learning to control her gift. She needed to master trusting her own instincts.
“So, you want to look after me?” she asked. “Like I need looking after?”
“No. An eye on you doesn’t mean looking after. You’re a strong woman. Capable. Independent.”
“I am, but it sounds like you’re back peddling.”
“Whoa. No. Mama raised me better than that, and Papa raised me to listen to Mama.”
“Then what does it mean?”
“I want you. In my life. However much you’re willing to give.”
“Better.” She allowed herself a smug grin and pushed back against his chest to talk instead of giving in to the urge to kiss.
His smile matched hers.
“Now, where would I live in Philadelphia?”
“You’d be assigned an apartment in the complex, but I kind of hoped you’d live with me.”
She pursed her lips and nodded, trying with all her heart to hold back those nerves jumping so joyfully under her skin. “Hypothetically, what if I change my mind? What if I don’t like being an oracle? What if I don’t like Philadelphia?”
“Well, you already said you’d like to stay here.” He lowered his face to hers. “Mom and Dad consider you part of the family. You could bunk with Gabby in the guest house, and I’d visit as often as possible. Call you every day. Probably every hour because I’d miss you so damn bad.” His big arms tightened around her body, and her nipples pebbled through her thin shirt against his bare chest.. “What I’m saying in every way possible is—I love you. I love you. I want a relationship with you. Exclusive and under whatever conditions you set. You’re worth the effort. We’re worth the effort.”
Fresh, happy tears tipped over the rims of her eyes, but she didn’t care. Standing on tiptoes, she kissed him hard on the mouth.
He pulled back and raised his eyebrows. “So?”
“I love you too.”
“Nice to hear you say it to my face.”
Taken aback, she pushed against his chest with her hands. “You heard me? In Hell?”
“Of course. I was an owl. And you don’t know how much I wished we weren’t in Hell at that moment.”
Delphine lowered her voice to a seductive register. “We’re not in Hell now.”
“No. We. Are. Not.” He brushed her nose with his and angled his face for a kiss.
“Take it inside, young’uns.” Rush, leading three horses to the guest house, looked up at them and pointed. “George is on his way over. Better yet. Leave early for the cabin.”
“A great idea.” Zane grinned, showing off his dimples, and swung her through the French doors.
“So is living together.”
He whooped, picked her up around the waist, and then spun them in circles.
She pressed her forehead to his, keeping her gaze locked on those baby blues. Giddy. Dizzy. Immeasurably happy.
“Hard to believe a month ago, I was a different a person.” She kissed his hairline and spoke against his warm skin. “Thanks to you, I’m—”
“You’re not a different person,” he interrupted and flopped them down onto the bed. “You’re the same person with a different perspective. Modest as I am, I’ll still take some credit for educating you.” He kissed along the scooped neck of her shirt, and delicious need curled eagerly in all the right places.
“Modest?” she mocked while tracing a finger around the
rim of his ear.
“And humble.”
She molded her hands around his head and lifted.
As a man familiar with his lover’s hotspots, he teased a nipple through her shirt. Resting his chin on her breastbone, he gazed at her like no one else ever had.
Love. Real deal. No doubt. Undeniable love.
Lust too. No refuting that, but Cowboy lived authentic. He wouldn’t bandy about the word love for no reason. More importantly, wouldn’t show it if he didn’t feel it from deep inside.
She knew that because she felt the same way.
Zane stroked down with his free hand, caressing the curves of her body tantalizingly slow before stopping at her knee.
A sigh, filled with exasperation and lust slipped over her lips.
“What, Cutoffs?” he asked with feigned innocence while his fingers teased her inner thigh on a deliberately feathery trek over her skin that stopped short of her bikini line. “You looked like you were going to say something.”
Desire, more intense because he loved her, melted nearly all her thoughts.
“You’re going to be impossible to live with.” She stroked her fingers through his thick hair. “But I’ll do the world a favor and take you on.”
“Favor away, Cutoffs. Favor. A. Way.”
THE END
About the Author
Thanks to about a thousand gothic romances and creepy TV shows, Jacqueline Jayne prepared as a girl for writing paranormal romance.
Raised in a small Maryland farm town, she dreamed of seeing the worlds she read about, but never dreamed she’d see. Fate intervened. She met and married the love-of-her-life, a big-city boy with itchy feet, who whisked her away on many adventures across the U.S. and the U.K. They’ve since settled down in the PA suburbs where she writes and prepares tax returns.
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