Chapter Twenty
Gabe
The flight back home was a quiet one. Mel’s dark eyes practically popped out of her head when I told her we’d be flying back home. I cradled her in my arms, safe and secure, and watched her face of wonder as we launched into the air. She snuggled against the heat of my chest, the only saving grace against the cold at these heights.
She didn’t say a word all the way back to our Seattle condo.
But that’s to be expected. Tonight had taken its toll on her mentally and emotionally. It would take its toll on me too.
God, I hoped my archangel didn’t catch wind of this. If she did, I’d get my wings taken from me, no doubt about that. Mel was worth whatever consequences I’d reap. She was my only concern at this point. But protecting her would be easier if I had my wings, immortality in tow. Not to mention if I was demoted to fallen class, they’d give her to another guardian. Then I’d have that fucker to worry about.
Having my arch celestial as my ex didn’t exactly help my case here either. In fact, it made it worse. Azrealla was the only Valkyrie class celestial to ever get promoted to arch class. She wasn’t accustomed to getting upstaged by another woman, especially a human.
Of course, I would sell my soul for another venture between Mel’s thighs, regardless of any punishment Paradise could deal me. Lying with her was nothing like how it was with Azrealla. Sex with the celestial had been like consummating a rock.
Mel, on the other hand, was soft and delicate. She smelled of sin and honey. She was incredibly responsive. Every breath on her bare body sent bumps erupting across her flesh. Every caress made me moan and plead for more. She was so cute, as were the rapid blink of her eyes when I touched the places I knew she had fantasied about for years, and the instant stain of her cheeks followed by the heat of them bleeding into the air. I loved how she blushed for me. I wanted to hold her cheeks and feel the warmth of them on my skin forever.
The way she had looked upon my true form with desire and declared that she was mine…Fuck.The things I had done to her were unholy.
I would do it again.
Once home, I landed on the second-floor balcony of my condo and carried Mel through the double French doors into my bedroom. I shifted back to my human form and bundled her up in the fuzzy afghan from the foot of my bed, the same one she’d knitted me one Christmas years ago. I set her down on the bed among the pile of cushions, cranked up the thermostat and collapsed haphazardly onto the bed, my head resting on her calf. For a long while, we just sat in the dark of our home, enjoying the silence.
The familiar feel of the apartment was nice, comforting, like another warm blanket on top of the one she was already wrapped in. After several minutes her shivering subsided, and our gazes locked in the darkness.
“Gabriel? Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course. You deserve answers.”
“Am I going to Hell?” she whispered, tears in her voice.
I looked up at her, a frown tugging at my mouth. “What? Why would you think that?”
“I…” Her voice cracked, and her gaze dropped to the couch cushion she clutched in her lap. “I had sex with an angel. That can’t be good.”
I couldn’t believe it. She was upset because she thoughtshedid something wrong. “No, Mel. If anyone, its me who’s going to the Pit.”
She looked down at me, eyes twinkling, glistening with the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. She looked so beautiful. I hardly deserved her.
“The Pit?”
“It’s what we call the nine circles of Hell. And what humans call Heaven is Paradise.”
“And they send angels to this Pit? Her tear-streaked throat twitched as she gulped, her silhouette tipped in silver moonlight that spilled in through my bedroom window, the storm outside finally breaking.
“Of course,” I managed with a weak smile, “Lucifer was once a guardian, like me. He seduced his ward and was the first sent to the Pit. At the time, there was nothing there but demons, native angels to the Underworld. He quickly became their king, and now he governs all celestials who fall to his level.”
“Oh… Right.” She shook her head. “What you’d told me in the car earlier tonight, I thought you were crazy. Itstillsounds crazy. The cult you were talking about… You were sent here by God to protect me? Because my bloodline carries a piece of Heaven that fell with Lucifer?”
I gave a slow, thoughtful nod. “That’s right. Well, all but the being sent by God part. He doesn’t really have much of a hand with the guardians. It’s the arch class above us that we obey. And it’s the Chief Archangel who commands them. Only he communes with God.”
I could tell this was almost too much for her. “Are you okay?” I asked, stroking her leg.
Her head bobbed with the slightest of nods. “Yeah, I think so. It’s just a lot to unpack. Tonight I’ve learned that Paradise is not only real, but I’m somehow a piece of it… And that the guy I’ve been in love with since I was a teenager is actually an angel, and dating you is against the rules or something.”
I pulled myself up and wrapped my arms around her. “It is.”
She closed her eyes and rested her head against my bare chest. “Does that mean we can’t be together?”
