Like all dreams, they had to wake up and return back to life. Andrew was the first to leave, though he wanted nothing more than to stay in bed all day and continue to explore every single curve of Harleen’s body. However, he needed a break, and he knew that she did to, whether or not either of them wanted to take it.
When Harleen felt Andrew leave and then heard the shower go off, she felt herself slowly respond to the fact that she was coming back to consciousness, that no, what she had experienced with Andrew wasn’t exactly a dream, but it was time to wake up. She groaned at the thought but forced herself into a sitting position nonetheless. Her tired eyes found the shirt Andrew had been wearing the previous night, and she felt a warm smile touch her lips as she stood up in order to slip it on. She also managed to find her panties as well, and soon, she was more awake than she wanted to be.
At that moment, Andrew came out, slacks hanging from his waist and nothing else, his dark hair ever darker due to the fact that it was soaked with water, drips falling onto the tops of his shoulders. His crooked smile touched his face upon seeing Harleen with her hair in disarray, in nothing but his shirt.
“You’re beautiful,” he told her, walking towards her, curling one of the many errant strands of hair behind her hair.
She smiled. “So you say,” she murmured. She sighed through her nose before glancing up at him. “You have to leave soon, don’t you?”
“I’m late,” he said. “But I will see you soon.” He took a step back, prepared to head back to his closet to search for a shirt. Something stopped him, however, and it had to do with the fact that Harleen was looked at him so. He turned and quickly placed a kiss on her cheek before going to his closet.
By the time Andrew had left, Harleen was slipping on a pair of jeans. Amber walked in, shutting the door behind her with a mischievous smile on her face. Amber was experienced enough to know what had transpired the night before, but even if she wasn’t, all of the clues were there; the messier-than-normal hair, the permanent flush on Harleen’s face, the fact that she wore his shirt from last night.
Upon seeing Amber, Harleen blushed and glanced away, but even she couldn’t keep the telling smile off of her face.
“I’m not going to say anything,” Amber said, walking over to Harleen. “Oh my gosh, your hair is going to kill me when we try to brush through it. Anyways, who better than to lose yourself to him? Your boyfriend wouldn’t be as good as Andrew, huh?”
Everything Amber said was in a rush, so it took Harleen a moment to sort out everything out. Her face paled with what Amber was saying, and she swallowed slowly.
“Amber, you don’t think I’m cheating on my boyfriend, do you?” Harleen asked with obvious worry laced in her tone. “I mean, I never broke up with him. What if he’s waiting for me?”
“Honey, you have to remember that you’re married to Andrew,” Amber said in a quiet voice, her face softening. “And you have to remember that love can be quite confusing. Now come on. That hair won’t brush itself.”
Love? a voice inside of Harleen asked. Who said anything about love?
Twenty-Three
“Looks like someone’s a little more than cheerful,” Sean said, hiding a smirk with more talent than Amber seemed to have. His pale blue eyes took sight of Andrew hurrying to his awaiting carriage, about to take them to Court as usual. However, there was something different about Andrew today, and Sean was willing to bet his life – though, that might not work since he was already dead – that Andrew’s small but noticeable change had to do with his wife. “Did someone have fun at the nightclub last night?”
Andrew grinned, though his eyes retained something mysterious – a secret he would never tell anyone save for the lucky lady that already knew it. “Something like that,” Andrew agreed in his rich Australian brogue, tilting his head once in order to give a sharp nod as he walked into the carriage and sat down.
The look on Sean’s face didn’t change as the carriage took the two of them to Court, until Andrew couldn’t take it anymore and had to say something about it. “What?” he asked, trying to hide his amusement, but failing miserably. “What is it that you’re not saying? Your face looks pinched, Sean. Like you’re struggling with something. Would you care to get whatever it is off of your chest lest you suffocate on it, or even worse, choke on it?” He perked his brow, waiting, and Sean nodded.
“Now,” Sean said, his voice strained due to the fact that he tried to control the chuckles that threatened to escape from the barricades he had put up. “I saw you and your Queen dancing on the floor, and then you both were gone. When I talked to Amber about this, she had no idea where the two of you went, so” -
“So you want to know where we went?” Andrew asked, his dark hazel eyes calculating. “I think you know exactly where we were and what we were doing last night, Sean. But if you would like me to say it, then fine; Harleen and I stayed up all night talking about dancing.”
“Touché,” Sean said, his smile small now, but his eyes filled only with happiness. He had always been quite the romantic, and to know that Satan himself had fallen for the woman he had married was quite the fairytale, however quirky it might be. He would have to consult with Amber to see what Harleen had said about everything. “Well, if you’ll allow me to say, Your Highness, I am very happy for you.”
Andrew wanted nothing more than to question why – nothing big had happened between them as far as Sean knew – but even Andrew knew better than to lie to his assistant. There were times Andrew could swear Sean knew Andrew better than he knew himself, but he appreciated the fact nonetheless. A big smile broke out onto his face; apparently, when someone was genuinely happy, they couldn’t help it nor could they fake it if they tried.
“Thank you, Sean,” Andrew said, his eyes shining. “I am happy as well. Surprisingly enough.”
“She’s good for you,” Sean said, his eyes flickering out the window before returning to the man sitting across from him. “I mean, besides the fact that the two of you have remarkable chemistry, she challenges you but it’s obvious to see that she cares about you as well. And I’m happy to say that I think you care about her in return.”
Andrew couldn’t deny it even if he had wanted to, even if he had tried. “I do,” he agreed. His thoughts turned darker, seeing Nigel on her in the meadow only a few days ago. He didn’t know what he would do if Nigel had succeeded in doing what he had intended to do to Harleen. He thanked God that he had arrived in time – ironic, or not, it was important to him that somehow, he was able to protect her when she needed it the most. Now all he had to do was learn how to be there for her when she needed him, and not run off to be alone, to solve it.
“We made love last night,” he told Sean, trusting his assistant with the knowledge. But he also needed to share it, just to talk about it.
“And?” Sean asked, raising his brow, mimicking what Andrew had done to him just moments ago.
“And it was the most amazing experience I have ever experienced,” Andrew said. Suddenly, he shook his head and started to laugh at himself in disbelief. “I know that sounded cheesy. Trust me, I don’t quite understand it myself, but everything just fit together, and the feeling…” His eyes looked as though they were a million miles away from here, and Sean figured that they were. And all the better for it. “The feeling was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. I’ve had all sorts of women on a constant basis; sex doesn’t surprise me anymore. But there was just something about her, something that made her different from all the rest.” He locked eyes with Sean, his voice serious. “Even if she suddenly disappeared, I would remember every inch of her body, what she likes and what she doesn’t. Hell, I’d even remember her name.”
Without warning, Sean reached out and placed his hand flat on Andrew’s chest. Andrew pushed his brow together, still unsure as to why Sean was touching him. After a moment, Sean dropped his hand back into his lap and leaned back in his seat. “Surprising,” he murmured to himself, but the look o
n his face said he didn’t seem surprised in the slightest.
“And what is so surprising?” Andrew asked.
“The fact that your heart is beating,” Sean said, and had to once again contain his amusement when Andrew dropped his eyes to his chest.
He placed his heart over his chest and waited a moment before he finally felt it – that slight pitter patter against his pectoral muscles. To be honest, it had never bothered Andrew that he had never actually had a heart. When people died, they didn’t retain such feelings, but it was then that he remembered that Harleen had never died upon coming to Hell, so surely she would have a heartbeat.
“Why do I have this?” Andrew asked, looking up at Sean with a confused look on his chiseled features.
“I don’t know,” Sean said, shrugging his shoulders. “But if I had to guess, I would have to say that Harleen makes you feel alive, and your body responds to that.” Sean’s lips curled up as he regarded his master with an unreadable stare. “Either that, or your heart is trying to tell you that you love her. Or, you know what, maybe it’s both? Why not?”
“Love?” Andrew asked, his tone flat, realizing that Sean’s statement was somewhat anticlimactic. “Love? You think that something like love exists down here?”
“Honey, love exists everywhere,” Sean told him, and Andrew was sure that if they were standing, Sean would have his hands on his hips, looking as though he lectured a child who had done something wrong. “Not even you can prevent love from being here. Hell, not even you are immune to it. That’s my diagnosis. I think you’re in love with her.”
“The idea is preposterous,” Andrew said, his voice doubtful but his eyes questioning. Not questioning Sean, of course, but questioning himself. Was he really in love? Was he in denial? Or was Sean just reaching for something? “I have never been in love before. Ever. And now suddenly I’m married and I’m in love?”
“Weirder things have happened,” Sean pointed out. “And if you’ve never been in love before, how can you say that you’re not now? How do you know?”
“I’ve always heard that when you know you just know,” Andrew mumbled, but Sean didn’t seem to be paying any attention to him.
“Although, you might be in the stage where you’re in love but you don’t know you’re in love,” Sean said, his index finger curled around his chin, as though he was some kind of psychologist and Andrew was his patient.
“Stages?” Andrew asked in complete disbelief. “There are stages?”
“Duh,” Sean said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “However, your stages seem to be a bit backward. You see, first comes love, then comes marriage, but I guess that’s switched, isn’t it? Well, then comes babies in a baby carriage. You do want kids, don’t you?”
“Of course,” Andrew said, nodding his head.
“You and Harleen are going to have the most beautiful kids on the planet,” Sean said, sighing wistfully at the prospect. “And yes, I am including earth too. How many do you want? Oh wait, we’ve had this conversation before, haven’t we? You wanted, like a million, right? Well, I’m sure Harleen won’t mind too much. Obviously she enjoyed your company last night, as I’m sure you’ve enjoyed hers… So babies are just going to be the icing on the cake, huh?”
The carriage slid into a stop, indicating that they had arrived at the Courthouse, and Andrew threw Sean a look. “No more talking about this,” he said, “or I will make you have sex with a woman.”
Twenty-Four
After Court was released, Andrew had the sudden desire to take Harleen somewhere. He wasn’t exactly sure why he had this overwhelming enthusiasm for her, and wouldn’t even consider the possibility of love – at least not yet. But instead of trying to overanalyze it, he went with his gut instinct. As a result, he called Harleen at the castle in order to tell her to wear something warm. Of course Harleen tried to get out of him just where it was he was taking her, but Andrew was good at remaining tight-lipped about some things, and this just happened to be one of those things. He wanted to surprise her.
By the time they arrived back at the castle, she was waiting for him. She wore jeans, knee-high boots that didn’t have any sort of heel, a black long sleeved shirt underneath a casual, coral-colored jacket. Andrew had to refrain from rolling his eyes, reminding himself that this girl was from Southern California. She probably didn’t have a winter coat. As a result, he dashed up to his bedroom, instructing Harleen to head into the carriage, that he would be down in a minute, and changed himself. On his way out, he made sure to grab a coat for his wife.
While Andrew was gone, Harleen grilled Sean about where they were going, but Sean wouldn’t give anything away, frustrating her even more.
“I thought you told me once that you like surprises,” Andrew pointed out, handing her the winter coat before taking a seat next to her.
Once she slid the coat on, Andrew wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her towards him. The act was so natural that Andrew didn’t even realize the intimacy that developed between him and his wife that had nothing to do with sex. However, others on the outside found it easily discernable and whenever they saw something uncharacteristic for the royals, made sure to hide their amusement so they wouldn’t give anything away.
“Yeah,” Harleen said, nodding her head. “But only when I know about them.”
Andrew rolled his eyes, and though he suppressed a smile, the corners of his lips quirked up.
“Obviously we’re going somewhere cold,” Harleen said, trying to verbally use her reason in order to figure out just where this place was. “But this is Hell. Is there even a place that’s cold here?”
“Ah, how you underestimate my home,” Andrew said in a teasing voice, tilting his head so he could look at Harleen with his dark hazel eyes. “You need to remember, Harley, that earth is a mirror of Hell. So things you would find on earth, you would find in Hell. Except avocados. I hate avocados.”
Harleen chuckled upon seeing Andrew’s nose scrunched up and wrinkled. She never thought he could be adorable, but there seemed to be a first time for everything, including Satan himself being labeled as cute.
The carriage continued onwards, and it was about a half an hour before the horse slid into a trot and then stopped completely. Andrew shared a smile with Sean, and descended from the carriage. He turned and offered his hand to Harleen, realizing at that moment that he should have gotten gloves back at the castle, and helped her outside.
Snow. There was snow everywhere. And a soft but bitter breeze. Tall trees surrounded an open, snow-covered field, blotting out the sky. It reminded Harleen of the camping grounds from back home. Beautiful. Peaceful. Fragile.
Upon exiting the carriage, Harleen yelped and clutched onto Andrew. “It’s cold!” she exclaimed, slipping her hands in her pockets, hoping to get warm.
“Yes,” Andrew said, amused at his wife’s ministrations. “These are the Hell Everglades. It’s the only place in Hell where it actually snows. I thought you might enjoy it since you’ve never seen or experienced snow before.”
Upon hearing that logic, Harleen felt her body start to relax. Andrew did have a point. She had never seen snow before, and she had always wanted to. That didn’t mean she was any less cold, but she slipped her hands back into her own pockets and broke apart from Andrew’s warmth. Her eyes were quick, wanting to remember all of this, even though she could always come back. She began to walk around, leaving Andrew with Sean.
Andrew watched her explore with a hint of pride etched out into his crooked smile. He had always been proud of where he was from, even if it was from a place most humans feared, some didn’t believe in, and no one wanted to visit. But those people who did make it here were surprised to find that it wasn’t that much different from earth. Of course, this raised the question as to whether earth was like Hell or Hell was like earth. Andrew had forever to philosophize; right now, he wanted to simply be with Harleen. Like this. Without any worry or danger or threats.
“Sir,” Sean said as he touched the top of his ear, indicating he had just hung up his headset. “I just got word that a few Hunters have been spotted here maybe a couple of days ago.”
Andrew felt his entire body freeze at Sean’s words, and it surely wasn’t because of the cold weather. He glanced over at his assistant, the smile vanishing from his chiseled face as he tried to decipher whether Sean told the truth or not. Sean didn’t have to say anything; instead, he merely nodded once, indicating that the reports were confirmed by at least two other people. Andrew felt himself swallow and glanced back at Harleen.
“Harleen!” he called. When she looked over at him, he beckoned her over. “I need you to listen to me very clearly,” he said, once she was in front of him, her eyes on him imploringly. “You are never to come here without me, all right?”
“Why?” she asked him, furrowing his brow.
“Just do it, okay?” he said, his voice full of bite he hadn’t meant to use.
She gave him a dark look before returning to her exploration, not wanting to be anywhere near Andrew when he was in one of his moods. Harleen had no idea why he was upset, but she wasn’t about to spend another moment with him until he calmed down.
“I’m not sure that was the best idea, Highness,” Sean murmured, glancing at the snow underneath his feet.
Andrew threw a sharp glance over at his assistant, his arms crossed over his chest. “Oh?” he asked, a subtle hint of warning in his tone. His thoughts were too muddled to allow himself to be cold, so there was no worry about keeping warm. In fact, his gaze was primarily fixated on the woman who seemed to be enjoying herself in the snow. “And why do you say that? She shouldn’t be worried about something as trivial as Hunters, especially not after all she’s been through.”
“I strongly, strongly disagree,” Sean said in a tight voice, pushing his brow up only to emphasize his point. “Your Majesty, the Hunters have hated you since the creation of Hell. The only person they hate more so than you is God Himself. And Highness, I’m going to be blunt, but to be honest, I see Harleen as your weakness. She needs to be aware that by coming here without you, without some sort of supervision or protection, she could die. Really die. You have to know that she’s not dead, sir. And the Hunters can kill her. And to be honest, I highly doubt that if such a thing were to happen, she’ll get sent here.”
Falling for the Devil: Book 1 of the Gods & Monsters Trilogy Page 12