I run back to the lab and grab the mini-gwa. The readings for Cas are small, the readings for Zakiel about double. “Eureka!” I dance around, holding the antenna.
“You aren’t going to run through my safe house naked, are you?” Zakiel inquires politely.
“No, why would I?” I’m confused for a moment, then I remember. Eureka. Archimedes ran through the Greek streets naked after discovering the displacement of water in Roman baths was equal to the volume of the body part he submerged. “I think I’ll skip that part of the celebration.”
Cas looks back and forth between us, and I can tell he’s missed the reference. He lies back on the couch and closes his eyes. “Well, all right. But if you change your mind, feel free to wake me.”
Zakiel raises his eyebrows and looks at him.
I can feel my face turn red and head back into my makeshift lab with a horrified giggle. I guess Zakiel does have a sense of humor, after all.
Brion appears not too long after, his arms loaded with bags.
I help him unload them onto the desk.
“Thank you so much.”
With him this close, in such a small space, I’m surrounded by his scent. Frankincense and pine are two things I’ll forever connect with him. I know I need to focus on my research, but his bare, tattooed chest is calling out to me. I love the feel of his hard body against mine, strong muscles beneath my fingertips.
Heat sparks within me.
No time for that, I chide myself.
“What can I do?” His voice breaks through my wanton thoughts.
We both need to be kept busy. Otherwise, we’re going to get busy.
I put him to work immediately unpackaging parts and setting them out for assembly. As I stand beside him, brushing against him occasionally, it takes all my energy to focus on what I’m doing, and not on the sexy angel sharing the tiny space with me.
I begin assembling the parts that are ready. And that’s when I’m finally able to focus. My work has always been the thing that stabilizes me. For the first time since meeting Brion, I forget he’s there.
Times passes. I’m not sure how much, when I start to slow. I’m nearly finished… at least what I can do with what I have.
“I was thinking about something while collecting this stuff,” he says quietly.
I set down my screwdriver for a moment, checking to see that my pieces are flush. “What were you thinking?”
“I was wondering why I like you so much. I think maybe it’s because of this.”
His words barely register. My eyes are scanning everything before me. Does it look right?
“You like me…” I’m not sure what he’s talking about. “Because of my gravitation-reversing device?”
“Yes.”
I look away from my project to stare at the handsome angel beside me and the woman in me roars back to life. This is what I’ve been missing. Before there was only the scientist. But believe it or not, there’s more.
“Why does that make you like me?”
“When I was alive, part of my job was to know the ranges, calibers, and types of weapons to take the best shot. I knew just about everything there was to know about small arms.”
I try to follow his logic. “Right.”
He gestures to the table. “What you’re making here—it’s a pretty big weapon.”
“Yes, but I’m not trying to kill people. I’m trying to protect them.”
“So was I,” he says quietly.
There’s a vulnerability in his words that tugs at my heartstrings. Suddenly, nothing matters to me more than this man and healing whatever pain he’s carried for all these years.
I set down my screwdriver with a bang. He’s right.
He starts to unbox the next part. “Brion.”
“Umm-hmm?” He doesn’t look up.
I put my hands over his to still them.
His eyes meet mine, and very slowly, he sets the part on the desk.
“I know why you’re an angel,” I almost whisper the words.
At his shocked expression, I can tell he’s thought about it. And he still doesn’t know why he’s an angel himself.
“Why?” his voice is hushed.
I run my hands down his shoulders to his arms. “It isn’t your body, although it is beautiful.”
I kiss his forehead. “It isn’t your mind, although you are intelligent and strong.”
I place my hand on his chest. “It’s your heart.”
I take his arms and wrap them around me. “You are warm, caring. You accept people for who they are. And you see me…” My eyes mist over for a second. “You see me in a way l don’t think anyone has seen me before.”
His expression is bemused, and I don’t think he believes what I‘ve just told him.
I press more kisses to his forehead, his cheeks, and then his lips. Our mouths meet and his lips feather over mine, warm and soft.
His hands smooth up my back to cup my shoulder blades, his thumbs brushing over my spine. “Gillian,” he breathes between kisses. “I don’t want to lie to you. I’m nothing special. I’m just one of ten thousand angels in Michael’s army.”
I silence him with another long, slow kiss. “You’re not just anything, Brion. You are beautiful. You are good. And you are mine.”
Every word seems to vibrate through my entire being. I mean what I say, but it isn’t enough. I want him to believe it. I lick over his lips, until he shudders and his mouth opens, his tongue meeting mine.
I want to be closer to him. I want him to surround me, to be inside me.
This is how things are meant to be.
My fingers find the hem of his T-shirt and pull it upward. I break off the kiss to pull it off over his head. My fingers find the golden smoothness of his skin, stroking him, feeling the heat that radiates from the muscle beneath.
He pulls me down to straddle his waist, and then he kisses me openmouthed, devouring me. His tongue penetrates my mouth, exploring. His hands gently push my hair back over my shoulders and he runs his thumbs along the sides of my neck, making me shiver.
His mouth breaks away and follows the line of my jaw, one hand cradling the back of my head, the other sliding down to cup my bottom, pressing me against him.
When his lips find my neck, sending shivers down my body, I feel my nipples bead as heat rushes to my core. He brings his hand down over my chest and I moan as his thumb rakes over the peaks. He strokes, caresses, building the fire that demands more of him.
His other hand guides me against him in a rhythm that has both of us panting. His fingers reach under me, brushing against my core through my jeans. I throw my head back and cry out, and he holds me tightly as he brushes over the swollen, engorged bud at my center. His fingers torment me, circling, stroking, until I’m squirming, urging him to go faster.
He breaks away from the kiss and his hands travel to the hem of my shirt. “Are you sure?”
“Are you kidding? I’m sure.”
He slowly pulls my shirt upward over my head. Then my hands are back on him.
He shudders as I caress the scars on his back. I move my mouth to his neck and take a long, slow lick up to his earlobe. When I suckle it, he groans.
He stands up with my legs still straddling his waist and turns to set me carefully on the desk. His hands move to the zipper of his jeans, then he shakes his head. “Not here.”
“What?”
He bends down and picks up his shirt, then lifts me and wraps my legs around his waist again. “As much as the thought of making love to you in a lab appeals, I think for our first time, I have a better place.”
“Where?”
“Shh.” He silences me with a kiss.
He peeks out of the lab door and then carries me out, turning to the right and heading away from the main room. He opens the next door on the right and steps in, closing it behind us.
I see that it’s an enormous bedroom, probably a suite from the doors heading off in different directions. But then
he lays me down on the bed and I’m not concerned about the room anymore.
He lies on top of me. His hips make room for themselves between my thighs, and I jerk against him when he settles over me, his hardness brushing the bud of my pleasure. I can’t stop my legs from moving, brushing against the sides of his thighs, my feet running up and down the backs of his knees.
His mouth makes its way across my chest and he slips his fingers under one of the lacy straps of my bra, pulling it slowly over my shoulder and down my arm. As he uncovers my nipple, he blows lightly over it. “Beautiful.” I come up off the bed, raising my nipple to his mouth. He covers it, suckles, and I wrap my fingers in his hair. He licks from the base of my breast to my nipple several times, and when he takes it into his mouth again, rolling his tongue over it, I cry out.
He stands up and unzips his jeans, ripping them off as fast as he can. At the same time, I unbutton and unzip my jeans. When he’s finished, he leans over me, pulling my jeans and panties off with reverent fingers. He’s starting to glow again.
He crawls back onto the bed and I see his length pulsing above me, smooth and beautiful.
I feel a matching heat pulse between my legs, but when he starts to move downward, I try to stop him.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, concern in his voice. “Don’t you want me to…?” His words trail off.
I shake my head. “The others will hear me.”
And they will. It’s taken all my control not to scream his name already. What will I do if he…?
He throws a hand back toward the door, and I can feel the energy again. “They won’t hear you now. Scream all you like.”
Before I can answer, his tongue is inside me. I scream, rising off the bed. His licks are long and not quite slow, but not fast enough to do anything but drive me higher and higher, not allowing me to have release.
Cruel angel.
“Oh please, please, Brion.” I’m begging, and I can tell by his answering growls he’s reveling in it.
Then he’s over me again, his thighs slipping between my legs and his hardness brushing against me. He slides against me purposefully, nudging into the wetness seeping from my core, then coming out and sliding over my nub, then back into my wetness again. He does it over and over. It’s driving me crazy and I wrap my legs around his waist, begging him to slide fully into me.
When he does, electricity arcs between us and I gasp, arching and crying out. He’s stroking every part of me now, gliding in and out at the perfect angle, sliding deep so it feels like he’s touching the center of my being. My body shivers and shakes, his chest rubs against my nipples, and his mouth covers mine as I finally arc upward in release.
He releases only seconds later, groaning and shuddering above me.
I love you, my little scientist, he says in my mind.
I love you, too, my angel warrior, I reply.
Again, I’m amazed by this connection between us. What is it that brings us together so fully that we can hear each other’s thoughts? What is it that makes sex between us like something… something from my sweetest fantasy?
He rolls off me, pulling me with him so we end up snuggling in the center of the bed.
This feels right. Everything about this feels right. Why did Peter think I’d have so much trouble deciding between good and evil? If I can couple with Brion for the rest of my life, I will.
There’s no choice to be made. I already made it the first time I laid eyes on him.
He’s the one for me. There will never be another person who makes me feel this way. I close my eyes, realizing for the first time that Peter’s words had awakened the tiniest flame of a doubt within me. But now, the flame was quenched.
I feel more at peace than I ever have in my life.
“Do we have time for a nap?” I ask, running my hand along the muscles of his stomach.
“Who knows?” he replies, pulling me closer. “But let’s take one anyway.”
5
Gillian
I wake later to find that Brion is already awake, simply content to lie there and hold me. I’m not embarrassed by what we’ve done, but I realize there’s so much more I don’t know about him. “Did you have family? I mean, before you became an angel?”
He chuckles. “My little scientist, always full of questions.”
I blush. “Sorry. I’m not really sure what most people talk about, you know… after…”
“It’s fine.” He’s quiet for a moment, and the muscles beneath my hand tense. “So many of the men I knew had wives and children. But our jobs were dangerous. They were inevitably left behind when…”
“…when their husbands died,” I finish for him.
He swallows. “Yes.”
His words silence me, because beneath them I know what he’s not saying. He knew one day his job would kill him, and he didn’t want to leave behind a grieving wife and broken children.
“That’s why you didn’t remarry. Why you didn’t have children. You didn’t want someone mourning you when you died.”
His eyes open wide and he looks at me. “How do you know?”
“I just know,” I say softly.
“But it was more than that.” He can’t seem to finish, so I finish for him.
“You didn’t want to lose them either.”
He says nothing, but I can sense the hurt within him. And what else he wasn’t saying. What he fears more than anything now.
I sit up, staring down at him. “You don’t need to be afraid. I’ve already chosen a side. I love you.”
He closes his eyes.
I can tell he wants to believe me, but he is still afraid. “When I was in danger, it was you I called for.” And I love you. But for some reason, I don’t say the words out loud.
He opens his eyes, but gazes at the ceiling instead of me. “I knew there was something special about you, but I had no idea it would be something this big.” He gives me a gentle squeeze. “I’ve seen how seductive demons can be. I want you to know now that I love you. And if you choose the other side, I will still love you. I will understand.”
“There’s that beautiful heart again,” I whisper, cupping his face, willing him to look me in the eyes. “Brion, my heart lies with you. I could no more choose the other side than cut it out of my chest. I believe in truth, and honesty, and free will. And all of the things that make the human experience bright and beautiful. I don’t want to sacrifice that, no matter what they offer me.”
He finally meets my gaze. “I believe you.”
Suddenly I’m kissing him again. But it’s deeper this time. Brion lifts me over him, wrapping his arms around me and kissing me as if his life depends on it.
Maybe it does.
I want this moment to last forever. I wish time could stand still.
But I have machines to build and a world to save.
We rise not too long after, setting to work on the machine again. Our bond feels stronger and weaker all at once. It’s as if by speaking Brion’s fears aloud, I’ve reminded us both that even if I feel the choice has been made, it hasn’t been. Five more days.
Brion stays in the office with me, but his silence says more than his words ever can. He’s still afraid. No matter what I say, Peter’s warning for us rings through his mind as loudly as it rings through mine.
I send Brion off for another round of supplies, and the loss of his presence hurts and calms me at the same time. At last, I can fully focus on my work.
He returns at sunset and we work long into the night. Silence wraps us, even though our light touches continue to connect us.
We’ve almost finished the device when the alarms go off.
“We’ve got company!” I hear Zakiel shout.
Brion and I exchange a frightened glance.
“Where can we put the machine where it can be safe?”
He looks around. Then he lifts it up and carries it to a closet in the corner of the room, setting it on the top back shelf.
We open the door and
I can hear blades clashing together. The air rushes out of my lungs. They’ve found us!
Brion looks at me and pulls out his dagger. “I want you to stay here.”
Where else was I going to go?
The sounds of fighting draw closer, and I nod in the direction of the hallway. “I don’t think either of us has a choice.”
We peek around the corner to see Zakiel and Cas backing down the hallway, at a slow rate, fighting demons as they go. A demon turns to ash in front of Zakiel just as they reach us.
“Get in front of us,” Zakiel orders, holding back the horde.
Brion pushes me out into the hall, shielding me with his wings. “Where are we going?”
“I’m leading them to the back library. From there we can jump out and let them fall to their deaths.”
“Good plan,” Brion notes, blocking a blow meant for Cas.
We lead the demons through another long hall, but when we arrive in the library, another set of demons is already there.
Surrounded.
The three angels form an outward circle, protecting me in the center.
I examine the demons. These five aren’t like the others. They’re bigger. They’re also…gorgeous in a way that terrifies me even more than the frightening demons ever did. They look like angels! But instead of wings, they have horns. And instead of golden skin, theirs is silvery. What kind of demons are these?
Something pulls at me, and my eyes fly to the demon in the center. He looks right at me, and when our gazes meet, it sends a shiver down my spine.
There you are, he says in my mind. His voice is rough, demanding. Sexy. I don’t know if that last word was his or mine.
And suddenly I know. This is the demon they warned me about. Panic fills me. We have to get out of here!
“Brion, he’s here!” I shout over his shoulder, ducking as he ducks to miss the swipe of a blade.
“Who?”
“The one they warned me about. The demon who calls to me.”
Although I only see him in profile, his eyes go wide. For the first time, I realize he’s afraid.
“Where is he?” Brion asks, a growl in his voice.
“He’s the one in the middle of the five.” I point over his shoulder.
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