Waving my hand through the air in a circular motion, I tried to goad him on. “And Maslow gave you that chance. He made you an offer. What was it?”
“I don’t know.” His voice wavered. “I just signed it.’
I’d seen this. I’ddonethis. To others. Countless times. With a little smooth talking and a firm handshake, I’d negotiated trust. Trust of which I took full advantage. My worldly fortune was comprised of ill-gotten gains. Blood money that first fueled my pride then damn near demolished it. I didn’t even enjoy my wealth anymore. I didn’t enjoy much of anything.
“You didn’t even…” My head shook as I fought to contain my agitation. “You have no idea what you agreed to?”
“I wanted out!” he blurted, tears shining now.
“At what cost, Zephyr?” Heat flooded my voice. “He could have written anything into it! He could own you for eternity! He told you he’d get you out of Hell, and that was it? You took his word for it?”
The crack that began in Zephyr’s voice cut deeper, and he shrunk, nested in pillows and blankets and the sleek satin PJs that dwarfed his lithe body. His chin tucked down, and he scowled into the fold of his arms.
“You think I’m stupid,” he mumbled.
“Yes!”
He flinched.
I froze.
That final word echoed like a gunshot, and guilt was the recoil. I moved to the bed and sat beside him, exhaling slowly.
“No,” I corrected. “I think you made a stupiddecision. And I think it’s going to make my part in this harder.” I rested my hand on Zephyr’s bent knee. “But not impossible.”
The hurt on his face eased. “What part do you have?”
“The part where I said I would fix it.”
“You’re still going to?” he asked softly.
I sighed again. “I intend to try.”
The room fell quiet once more. Crawling onto the mattress, I settled beside Zephyr and pulled him into my embrace. He curled against me without hesitation, his body contouring to mine.
Minutes passed. Zephyr’s breathing slowed. I thought he might have fallen asleep.
Then he whispered against my chest, “Thank you.”
I tightened my arms around him.
Trust. I’d won his.
It might have been too easily given, another aspect of his innocence. But I was swiftly learning that was a trait I wanted to safeguard. This shitty, gritty town punished naivete and stripped away purity. If I could preserve those things in Zephyr, maybe he would share with me a touch of the wonder I’d thought lost.
I rose the next morning with the sun. Zephyr was tucked in beside me, his hair mussed and his pulse thumping softly against my chest. I was comfortable and content in a way I hadn’t been in years. Maybe decades. Maybe more.
I knew Zephyr took from me, feeding off my desire, but he gave back in equal measure. He answered my efforts with appreciation that bordered on obsession. I might have been obsessed too, with how his body nestled into mine. I’d never shared this bed with anyone. Not even for a night. And yet he was here.
My rest hadn’t been entirely blissful, though.
Dreams had taken me to unhappy places, calling up memories I’d tried to banish. Stefano Rossetti was among them. Unwelcome. Unwanted. I’d wallowed in enough self-pity about the feathered fiend who’d stranded me on Earth like a bride left at the altar.He wasted years of my life. Plagued my days. He didn’t get to disturb my nights as well. Not after so long.
But I knew why thoughts of him had returned.
I’d never sharedthisbed, but I had slept with another man before. An angel. But Stefano was different from the person next to me now, which was good. I was ready for different. I’d be damned before I invited more of the same. The disparity shoved in my face. The sting of rejection. The loneliness that I once wished would kill me.
This was a new, hopeful thing.
