“You’d lose what?”
“Open the door, Melanie,” he said so quietly I almost didn’t hear.
Pushing to my feet, I gathered my breath and reached to unlatch the door, letting the stall swing open.
At the sight of Gabriel kneeling before me on the marble flooring of the restroom, all the blood drained from my head, leaving me cold and lightheaded.
He’d removed his shirt. No matter how many times I’d seen it, his muscular torso always caused my mouth to go dry and my knees to weaken. He was masculine perfection, with sun-kissed skin even though we lived in the Pacific Northwest and lean muscles so sculpted, my fingers ached to trace them. His skin was bathed in blue from the stained glass window, and with where he sat on the floor, the floral patterns at the edges of the scene bathed the white wings sprouting from his back in brilliant, rainbow colors.
Wings.He had wings!
They were so big they filled the entire restroom, with the tips pressing against either wall, pearl white feathers bending against the wallpaper for lack of space.
His arms were outstretched, his fists clenched with his inner forearms exposed. And that’s when I saw them. Half a dozen eyes embedded into his skin, three on each arm. They were sky-blue, soothing and kind, just like his other two. They bore right through me, making me feel as though I were completely naked before them like they could see everything that I was. Everything I would ever be.
This form was absolutely beautiful and utterly terrifying all at once. I felt completely exposed, knowing he could see every inch of me, inside and out. Yet he looked at me with a reverent love so raw, so pure, it sank deeper than the kiss we’d shared and penetrated my core with more intimacy than any other part of him.
“Do not be afraid,” he whispered. Even Gabe’s voice had changed. It was deeper, grittier, more primal.
I wanted to tell him I wasn’t afraid. But that would be a lie. I was afraid. Before me was the love of my life. And he was an angel, a creature I had never even known actually existed before today.
Not only was I looking at visual proof that I had a guardian angel, but I had fucked him.
I had fucked my guardian angel.
But as absurd as it all was, it made sense. Why Gabe had stepped out of nowhere to pull me from that river and why he’d been so protective ever since.
It made sense now why’d he’d been so hesitant to touch me before and why he’d been so ashamed once he had. From his eyes, all of them, he’d committed a great crime. One he could pay the ultimate price for.
Hot tears stung my eyes, blurring his beautiful form.
“Why me?” I asked, the two syllables quivering, almost unable to leave my throat. “I know not everyone has a guardian angel, so why did I get one. Why am I special?”
He took my head, squeezing it as he looked at me, still on his knees like a damned man pleading before his god.
“Because youarespecial, Mel. You know the story of Lucifer, who fell from Paradise?”
With my heart in my mouth, I gave a weak nod.
“When he fell, it’s said that he was thrown from the highest tower at which his father resides in The Silver City, and he crashed straight through it, shattering the barrier between Heaven and Earth and when he did so, fragments of Paradise rained down on the realm of man.”
“P–pieces of Paradise?”
“Yes. They were glowing fragments of Heaven so pure, so insatiable, that when the humans found the pieces, they ate them. And who could blame them when an energy so pure comes before you? The weak-willed couldn’t help but devour it. Those not strong enough to contain the light died. Others fell prey to dark entities looking to prey upon the light. And those that survived went on to have children. It’s those bloodlines that still carry a piece of Paradise with them.”
I gapped at him. “I have a piece of Heaven inside me?”
“Yes.”
“And that’s why you were sent to guard me?”
Gabe stiffened, pain contorting his heater-breaking features. “Yes.”
“You’ve lied to me all this time…”
“To protect you.”
I shook my head. The restroom spun. My heart slammed so hard inside my ribcage I could feel it in my head, my mouth, behind my eyes.
