“Sorry,” I said, angling toward the open side of the tower. “Just trying to be discreet.” I hovered in place at the edge of the half stone wall, and guided her over and into the belltower. As soon as she was standing beside the old, rusting bell, I clambered inside and snapped my wings shut.
She backed up to give me room, nearly tripping over the rusted-shut handle of the trapdoor. “Erlik’s beyond,” she said with a shaky breath, her hair windswept across her face. She was gorgeous like this. “I’ve never been up here. I don’t think anyone has.”
“Until now.” I shot her a flirtatious smile, pointing to some folded blankets in the corner. “I’ve found it’s quite a nice little nest.”
“You’re so like a bird,” she teased, unfolding one of the wool plaid blankets. “What are we doing up here?”
I stepped to her, helping her drape the blanket over her shoulders and tucked it under her chin. “Hopefully a hawk. And you humans seem so skinny without wings.” Though it made donning blankets and clothing easier, I supposed. No wing slits to button up.
She fluttered her eyelashes. “Did you abduct me to have your wicked way with me?”
I laughed, easing down on a makeshift bench I’d created. It was painful to sit on the floor. I caught her around the waist and tugged her into my lap. She nestled into me, sitting sideways so her legs draped over one side and her back leaned against the arm curled around her.
Now that she was here, I didn’t know how to begin.
Lilith tilted her head to watch my wings. “I’ll miss this sight.”
My heart skipped a beat and my hands tightened around her. “Really? What if—what if you didn’t need to miss it?”
“Hmm?” Her finger traced lazy spirals across my chest, making the ayim surge and my mind spin.
I tried to focus. “I mean, what if we continued this?”
Her hand stilled. “What do you mean?”
I wished she’d keep going. “I mean I like you very much, and I think you like me.”
“Maybe.” As if reading my mind, her fingers started up again, more hesitantly though.
I hid my smile in her hair. My cirra, never quite willing to admit any vulnerability. How I adored her. “Lily, what if you left with me?”
She blinked at me in surprise. “Are you inviting me to Aerie?”
“I mean, what if you came back to Mirkwold with me. I have a cottage. It’s nothing special, but it’s a home I built and the villagers are kind. They’d be happy to have you. Eve is nearby, if you want a friend, and?—”
Lilith cut me off. “To live with you? As what, a lover?”
I opened my mouth, thinking of it. “Yes, if that is what you want. Or we could marry and have our union blessed by a reverend of Erlik, if you like.”
She squirmed in my lap, and my cock took notice.
“Lilith,” I got out between gritted teeth. “If you keep moving we’re about to have a very different conversation.”
It took her a heartbeat to understand, to recognize the growing bulge beneath her, and then her eyes sparkled. “What, like this?” She rubbed her bottom against my lap.
“Lily!” I gripped her leg, stilling her. “I’m trying to have a serious conversation.” But I smiled, betraying myself. It made me happy to see her happy. She deserved happiness.
She sighed. “I thought you were hoping for a mate.”
“Most seraphim hope for a mate,” I agreed carefully. “But what matters even more is love.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Castiel,” she began. “It’s so fast. We’ve known one another for only?—”
My fingers touched her lips, stilling her protests. “Lilith. You are my mate.”
Her mouth dropped open, and for several heartbeats she stared at me. “Four gods, you’re serious.”
I’d hoped for…something. Perhaps not a grand declaration of love, though that would’ve been nice. Had I truly overestimated how much she cared for me? I’d seen her walls tumbling down for me, and I’d thought—I’d assumed—it meant she was falling in love with me.
