As they walked around to the front of the building and entered, Adramelek realized he was enjoying himself. The crisis was grave, certainly, but the prospect for a little intrigue and chaos was too appealing for him to be entirely annoyed by the situation. He whistled as he walked up to the check-in desk to ask for the key to the penthouse suite.
Chapter Seventeen
GABRIEL SAT on the roof of Lyudmila’s apartment building with Michael at his side. They watched as the sun slowly set, bathing the streets of Yerevan in hues of orange and gold, the shadows lengthening as the light dimmed.
“You okay?” Gabriel asked finally. The companionable silence that had stretched between them as they watched the sun had been enjoyable, but now he had questions.
“I am all right, thank you, Gabriel.” Michael turned to face him and smiled a small smile. “Are you all right?”
“Aye, I’m good.” Gabriel took Michael’s hand in his own. “That was a lot to process though, wasn’t it? What all was said in that meeting.”
Michael sighed, his smile fading a little. “It was,” he agreed. “And yet, it seems that it was not enough. We have crumbs of information and little of it that can be acted upon.”
“What bothers me most,” Gabriel said, leaning back on his free arm, “is what happened to this shifter. Who is he really? What’s he up to?”
“I confess that I have grave fears about that young man,” Michael said. “I fear that he is embroiled in something terrible.”
“Do we know anything about his family?” Gabriel asked. “Anything at all?”
Michael shook his head. “The Ophanim reported to Tzadkiel that there was no information to be found. The young man’s name was false, and this new method so many people seem to now have of hiding themselves from our power makes it impossible for them to track him down.”
“That’s another thing I don’t like,” Gabriel said. “I mean, we don’t use our powers to regularly read people’s thoughts, that ain’t what they’re for. But in situations like this, we do need a way to figure out what’s going on and suddenly we can’t. I feel like I’ve lost an ability.”
Michael chuckled at that. “You are not alone in that regard, I assure you. Uriel is extremely vexed. I believe that is why he is so tense. And Tabbris, Raphael tells me, has been subdued and depressed since they left the forest in Georgia. He doesn’t know why, but he suspects that Tabbris is feeling lonely and this is somehow related to things starting to fall apart.”
“He is Free Will,” Gabriel mused. “Maybe as people around the place start feeling their more negative emotions, he sort of… gets an echo of them? And with so many humans, it’s amplified.”
“It could be,” Michael said. He moved closer to Gabriel and rested his head on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Haniel is also right, that we must, more than ever, take moments to connect with those we love.”
“Aye.” Gabriel let go of Michael’s hand and slipped his arm around his lover’s shoulders. Michael made a soft, happy noise, and Gabriel kissed the top of his head. “This is good. I like this.”
“As do I.” Michael gently pushed Gabriel back, so they were lying side by side on the flat roof. “I fear we may not be able to go to Belle Coeur for some time.”
“Me too.” Gabriel traced the line of Michael’s jaw with gentle fingers. “And I miss it. I miss the beauty and peace of it, and the privacy I have with you.”
“Yes.” Michael rested a hand on Gabriel’s side. “Still, here, no one can see us.”
Gabriel quirked an eyebrow, amused. “Are you suggesting we make out here, on top of the roof? That’s a bit wild for you, ain’t it?”
“Hush.” Michael smiled, though, and kissed Gabriel gently. “What would you say if I was suggesting this?”
“I would say, why are we still talking?” Gabriel wrapped his arms around Michael and pulled him closer; then he kissed him.
Michael made a happy noise into the kiss, louder than the first, and Gabriel groaned softly, rolling Michael onto his back and pressing him down. “You’re not uncomfortable here, are you? I could pull in some blankets or something, if you want?”
“Blankets sound like a good idea,” Michael purred into the kiss.
“Okay.” Gabriel broke the embrace only long enough to pull in a pile of blankets from a nearby vacant hotel room, and using his power, he spread them out on the roof and moved himself and Michael to lie on top of them.
“That is good,” Michael said. He ran his hands up and down Gabriel’s back. “I desire you, Gabriel. Very much. Are you certain that no one can see us here?”
“Aye, positive. You shielded this spot, so did I, so we’re good.” Gabriel slipped a hand beneath Michael’s shirt to caress warm skin. “I wanna ride you, Mishka.”
Michael hissed into the kiss, his grip on Gabriel tightening. “I would like that a great deal.”
Gabriel used his power to get them naked, making sure their clothes would be close at hand. He didn’t care so much, but he knew that Michael would fret if he wasn’t able to reach out a hand and touch his pants. Michael’s foibles were adorable, but Gabriel found Michael’s intense need for privacy and his dislike of public displays of affection difficult to work around. In this case, though, having sex on top of a roof was probably best done with as many precautions to avert prying eyes as possible.
Michael moaned softly, sliding his hands over Gabriel’s skin, his fingers caressing and mapping every line of him. Gabriel echoed the moan, each touch inflaming his desire, and he grasped Michael’s cock and stroked, slicking it with his power at the same time. Wriggling around, Gabriel straddled Michael’s lap and slowly lowered himself down.
He groaned at the penetration, feeling Michael thick and hard within him, feeling Michael’s hands on his stomach and hips, the soft brush of feathers as Michael’s wings caressed his skin. Gabriel began to rise and fall, fucking himself on Michael’s cock and biting his lip hard so that he didn’t make too much noise. After all, he fuzzily thought, the residents of city of Yerevan didn’t need to enjoy their dinner to the sound of two Archangels having sex.
Michael bent his knees and thrust hard each time Gabriel ground himself down, and soon they were moving together, fast and desperate, hungry for one another and for the need to connect. This was less about fucking than it was about feeling each other, and Gabriel feverishly caressed Michael’s stomach and chest, his fingers made clumsy by his love and his desire. He wanted Michael in every way he could have him, and knowing that he did have him, all of him, forever, was the best gift that Gabriel could ever have asked for. Knowing too that their union was blessed by God, their maker, filled him with joy, and as he felt Michael’s hand wrap around his cock and stroke him, Gabriel arched as pleasure overwhelmed him and he came.
“Gabriel,” Michael gasped, still stroking Gabriel’s cock through his orgasm. “Oh, Gabriel.”
Gabriel groaned. Hearing his name said with such want and need as Michael said it never failed to undo him just a little. He leaned down and kissed Michael artlessly, all tongue and teeth, as Michael fucked into him, hard and fast. And then Michael was crying out softly and coming, and Gabriel ended the kiss, grinding down hard again on Michael’s cock, taking into himself everything that Michael had to give.
Panting, they gazed at each other, and Gabriel smiled, reaching up to touch Michael’s cheek. “I love you, solnyshko.”
Michael smiled, a soft and tender expression that Gabriel knew was for him alone. “I love you also, da bao.”
“FINALLY,” RAZIEL said, relief coloring his voice. “Alone!”
Uriel grunted. “Yeah, took your sweet time.”
Raziel sighed. “Are we going to fight now? Because if so, I need a drink first.”
Uriel shot him a dark glare, and then he sighed as well. “No, no fighting. Sorry, Razzy. This bullshit we’re dealing with is making me cranky.”
Raziel nodded. “I know. I can’t do anything more about it, though. I’m sorry.”
> “It’s not your fault!” Uriel exploded, coming to his feet, his expression like a thundercloud. “You’re not the one in the shit, here. Fucking hell, Raziel, you’re going to wear yourself out again, and then you’ll be fucked for weeks while you recharge yourself, and the last time, that was a fucking nightmare! I hate seeing you so tired and so low on energy, it freaks me out and it shouldn’t even be happening in the first place!”
Raziel moved to him, taking Uriel’s hands in his own. His lover was shaking, Raziel saw, whether from rage, concern, or a combination of emotions, Raziel couldn’t tell. “Who else can do it, Uri?” he asked gently.
Uriel glowered at him. “I know. I know, all right? I do. You’re the only one, and Tzad and his people can only do so much, and okay, you’ve got the three surviving Grigori helping out, which is good, because they damn well should. But fuck, Raz, I’m really worried about you. That crap with Semjaza did no good for you, and I can’t remember a time before that when you were so worn out, not even when we were building Eden or you were closing up those damn portals and holes and gates and what-the-fuck-ever else at the end of the Seventy Years War.”
Raziel moved closer, releasing Uriel’s hands and sliding his own arms around Uriel’s neck. “Babe,” he said softly, “I love you.”
Uriel huffed even as he wrapped his arms around Raziel. “I know. I love you, too, for what it’s worth.”
“It’s worth a lot. Take me to bed.”
Uriel pulled back a little to gaze into Raziel’s face. “You sure? It’ll just make you tired.”
Raziel rolled his eyes. “What do I look like, a human? Well yes, okay, I do, but that’s not the point. I have more stamina than any human! I can cope with a round of hot sex with my lover and then go back to work, for fuck’s sake. I’m not made of paper!”
“I’d be worried if you were made of paper,” Uriel said, grinning. “Worrieder, I should say.”
“Still.” Raziel pouted. “Are you going to fuck me or not?”
“Since you asked me so nicely, I will.” Uriel hugged Raziel tight, and Raziel let out a soft “Oof!” as the air was squeezed out of his lungs.
“Breathing would be okay, too,” Raziel muttered in Uriel’s ear.
“Shut up, you don’t need oxygen.” But Uriel relaxed his hold a little. He moved his hands down to the waistband of Raziel’s jeans. “Get those off and sit down in the desk chair over there.”
Raziel quirked an eyebrow but released Uriel and did as he was told. Once he was seated, he glanced at his lover in amusement. “Going to take a photo or something?”
“No. Wait. I could, couldn’t I? Then I could have it to look at while we’re working in different places.”
“Do that later,” Raziel said. He crooked a finger at Uriel. “Come here.”
Uriel did so. He grinned down at Raziel, the grin turning to a smirk as Raziel’s hands went to the front of Uriel’s jeans. “You want me a lot, huh?”
“You know it.” Raziel didn’t bother to try and puncture Uriel’s ego. He wanted to feel him more than he wanted to verbally spar, and it seemed that Uriel felt the same way, for he batted Raziel’s hands away and took care of getting his jeans off.
“I don’t like this crisis,” Uriel said, as he dropped to his knees in front of Raziel, resting his hands on Raziel’s thighs.
“I know, babe.” Raziel reached out a hand and ran it through Uriel’s dark-blond hair.
“So long as you’re aware.” Uriel leaned forward and licked the head of Raziel’s cock. As Raziel hummed appreciatively, Uriel took Raziel’s cock into his mouth and began to suck.
Raziel’s fingers curled in Uriel’s hair as his lover’s talented tongue worked its magic. It was an effort not to grab Uriel’s head and hold him down, to fuck his mouth and come, but Raziel wanted to be inside his lover more than he wanted a blowjob. He gently tugged Uriel’s hair, and after one last suck, Uriel pulled back from Raziel’s cock and looked at him with a cheeky expression.
“Want something?”
“You know I do, brat. Sit on my dick,” Raziel said. He was laughing now, feeling the weight of the last few days lighten as Uriel touched him, kissed him, sucked him. And the banter between them helped a lot too, Raziel thought, as Uriel got to his feet and sat on Raziel’s lap, straddling his thighs. Uriel’s hands were on him, and they were moving and then, oh yes, finally, Raziel groaned as he felt himself slide into the tight heat of Uriel’s body.
“Fuck, yes,” Uriel breathed, curling his fingers in Raziel’s shoulder-length dark hair. “You feel good, baby.”
“So do you,” Raziel groaned. He reached up, sliding a hand around the back of Uriel’s neck, and pulled him down for an enthusiastic and hungry kiss.
It was not going to take long, Raziel thought, as Uriel flexed muscles around him, nipped his lip, and lightly tugged his hair. Uriel was on him, around him, the scent of him in Raziel’s nostrils, masculine and sweat, the taste of him on Raziel’s tongue. Raziel slid his hands down Uriel’s back, pushed up the tails of his shirt, and gripped his ass, kneading each buttock as Uriel rode him.
“Razzy,” Uriel panted as he broke the kiss. “Not going to last.”
“Me either,” Raziel said. He groaned as Uriel arched on top of him, clenching tight around him, and gave one more hard thrust. He came with a cry, belatedly remembering to muffle the sound of his voice and devoutly hoping no one would come rushing in to investigate the noise. But Uriel was gasping and moaning, and Raziel slipped one of his hands around to take Uriel’s cock and stroke. Several moments later, his hand covered with come, Uriel’s voice still echoing in his ears, Raziel didn’t care if all of the Brotherhood of Archangels burst in. He felt far too good.
“That was good,” Uriel said.
“Even better that no one came to investigate the shouting,” Raziel said. He let go of Uriel’s cock and lifted his hand to his mouth, licking the come from his fingers and palm. “Mm, Uriel come.”
“I want to say that’s really fucking gross, but my ego is refusing to let me, so instead I’ll just say okay then.” Uriel grinned and slowly climbed off Raziel’s lap. He ruffled Raziel’s hair affectionately and then bent down to retrieve his jeans. As he pulled them on, he looked toward the door.
“What are you thinking?” Raziel asked. He grabbed his own jeans and tugged them on.
“Just that having a moment here and there might not be investigated, but if we don’t get back out before too long, we might have a bunch of nosy carbon ape shifters joining us. And,” Uriel scowled, “I don’t share.”
Raziel fastened his jeans and moved to his lover, standing on his toes so he could kiss Uriel’s forehead. “You big softie,” he teased. “It’ll be fine. I’m sure of it.”
“How?” Uriel demanded.
“Because I am me, and I know everything,” Raziel said.
Uriel rolled his eyes. “Your ego’s bigger than mine, and that’s fucking saying something.”
“It never used to be.” Raziel straightened Uriel’s shirt. “It’s all these millions of years with you. You’ve rubbed off on me.”
Uriel leered and waggled his eyebrows. Raziel burst out laughing. “I do more than rub, baby,” Uriel said.
Raziel kissed him again. “I know, and I love it. I love you.”
“Love you back,” Uriel said. He looped one arm around Raziel’s shoulders. “All right, let’s go face the crisis outside again.”
Raziel grumbled. “Yes, all right. At least we don’t have to rush anywhere right now.”
“There’s that,” Uriel agreed, starting toward the door. “And, depending how things go when Agrat meets up with Lilith tomorrow, we might have a ton of information to work with that’ll be useful.”
“That would be fantastic,” Raziel said. “I’ll pray for that, in fact.”
Uriel grinned. “Okay. So, shall we?”
“Yes, all right.” Raziel ran his hands through his hair, tidying it as best he could without a mirror. “Let us r
ejoin the upset and worried and see if Raph has anything he needs us to do.”
Uriel nodded and opened the door, and together, they went out into the corridor and started toward the stairs, to seek out Raphael.
Chapter 18
“I DO not like this at all,” Ishtahar said. She was flanked by her sons, and Remiel stood beside Hiwa. All three of them wore grave expressions, and even though they dwarfed Ishtahar with their bulk, she still somehow seemed to be the one in control of the situation. Agrat was a little cowed by her friend.
“Neither do I, but Ish, Lilith is my sister. I can’t ignore her,” Agrat said.
“Why not?” Ishtahar tapped one foot impatiently. “You have ignored her since she went to Lucifer and Adam married Eve. Why do you decide now that it is important to acknowledge her?”
“Because she knows things about the Grail,” Agrat said. “Please, Ish, I have to go.”
Ishtahar’s expression became grim. “Then we will go with you. Do not argue, Agrat. I am decided. We will accompany you, and we will make Lilith feel relaxed by pretending to be enjoying a family picnic. Not that I feel any compulsion to make Lilith feel anything, but you do, and you are my dear friend, and I am worried.”
“I can’t talk you out of this, can I?” Agrat asked.
“Nope.” Hiwa stepped forward. “I’m sorry, Aggie, but when Mama told us what was going on, Ahijah and me were freaked out. Do you know what Lilith does to Nephilim? Why do you want her on this planet, in this reality at all?”
“The Holy Grail transcends all other concerns,” Agrat said. “I know Lilith treats Nephilim very badly, Hiwa. I understand why you and Ahijah are upset. And I understand why Ish is angry and why Remi feels this is ill-advised. But Michael and Gabriel want this meeting to go ahead, and I’m afraid they outrank the rest of you.”
“Which is why I am going as well.” Shateiel’s mental voice was stern. “If Lilith raises one finger, I will send her back to Hell without hesitation. I will do so with Lord Remiel’s assistance and then young Ahijah will salt the earth where she stood so that she may not return.”
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