“Sinclair and Zoe will meet us at the Bureau. If anyone can find out more about the people after you, it will be them. I will call…a friend of theirs…and get you fresh clothing. I suspect if you show up in my sweater, there will be…questions.”
Questions. I have so many questions, I could ask them one after another for a year and still not get through them all.
What’s going to happen after they start looking into AURA? How can I trust no one at the Bureau is secretly working for AURA? Where has my whisper been for the past six hours? How much longer can I stay in this city before Hannah and Isaac find me?
Why haven’t they come after me already? What are they waiting for? Do they know about Gabriel? Or about the incubus demon and his Seraphim mate? God, I don’t even know what a Seraphim is. Only that it sounds really damn celestial.
If I keep spiraling like this, I’ll shut down. So I close my eyes and focus on the water as it hits my skin. Once my heart rate returns to somethingcloseto normal, I use Gabriel’s shampoo to wash my hair. The idea that I’ll smell like him for the rest of the day brings me a small measure of comfort.
Why couldn’t I have met him months ago?
Because he wasn’t in this realm. Because you never would have believed angels were real. Because meeting a literal demon would probably have sent you over the edge completely.
When I’m done, I wrap myself in a fluffy towel and peek out a crack in the bathroom door. “Gabriel?”
He stares at me, at my bare legs and wet hair, and one of the tendons in his neck strains. “I should…shower as well. Dion brought you several changes of clothes.”
“Oh. Okay.” He’s upset. Tense. Even…angry. I slip out of the bathroom, staying as far from him as I can until he shuts the door between us. Did something happen while I was showering? Or…is it…me?
“It better not be me,” I mutter, dumping the shopping bags out onto the bed. Brand new leather boots, a stylish pair of jeans, black yoga pants, a soft, teal sweater with flared sleeves, a purple sweatshirt, several tank tops, thick socks, and three matching sets of lace bras and panties. All in my size. Wow. I guess angels—or at least this angel—isn’t hurting for money.
Then again, last night I woke up in a ritzy penthouse where the parking fees alone are probably more than my salary. Iseveryonein the world of the Other rich?
Going to the Bureau scares the shit out of me. But Gabriel swore no one would hold me against my will or force me to doanything I didn’t want to do. Angels don’t lie. At least…I hope they don’t.
Gabriel
In the hotel’s narrow shower, I brace an arm against the wall and wrap my free hand around my cock. Seeing Willow in nothing but a towel stoked the near constant state of arousal I have been battling since our kiss. One taste, and I will never be the same again.
Giving my shaft one, firm stroke, I groan. In all my millennia of existence, no human has ever affected me like this. I have been with half a dozen women—and two men—but never felt more than a passing affection for any of them.
I close my eyes, picturing the way the towel clung to her curves. The part of her lips. The need in her beautiful eyes when she touched me. My hips start to move of their own accord. My hand is a poor substitute, but if I do not slake this need, I fear it will destroy me.
She needs me focused. If those bastards come for her, I cannot be distracted.
“Willow.” I let her name spill from my lips as I thrust harder. Faster. My balls tighten. Pressure builds. My breath saws in and out of my chest, ragged. I can almost taste her. The water running down my back should be soothing, but I imagine her short nails scraping my skin instead. She wanted me. And I hurt her.
With one final stroke, I let go. The scent of my release mixes with the steam and the hint of Willow remaining in the room.
This is as close as I can ever get to fucking her. To loving her. But in my heart, she is already forever mine.
The Bureauof the Occult and the Other hides in plain sight. I kept Willow tucked against my side for the twenty-minute ride across town. I could have carried us there instantly, but the strain of exhaustion still weighs on me. Two hours of sleep is not enough, and we do not know what threats we will face today.
“This is it?” Willow peers up at the building. “I thought it would be…more in line with their name.”
“Laughable?”
“Official. Like with warning signs. Or at least a security guard.” She presses closer to me. “Anyone could walk right in.”
“They’d have to be able to see the place first,” a rough voice says.
Willow yelps, then darts behind me as Kunchin ambles over from his SUV, a travel mug in one massive hand and a box of doughnuts in the other.
“Gabriel…”
I open my senses. Her fear washes over me. Fuck. She is not prepared for this. Any of it.
“Willow, this is Kunchin,” I say. “The yeti works here. He is…a friend.”
