I feel trapped in my own mind, caught in a cycle of never-ending torture. I may be physically safe, but my head is always too tangled up to let myself just… breathe.
“Where do you go, Nevaeh?” Angel’s soft voice pulls me out of my spiral, and I flinch when I see him sitting right in front of me.
I didn’t go anywhere. He was holding my hair the whole time, so how could I?
“You’re physically here, but I’ve seen that dazed look enough times to know when you’re slipping away. You sit there, watching everything with that dreadful look in your eyes like you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
Angel moves closer, grasping my cold hands between his warm ones. “I hate when you get so lost in your head that it steals our time together. I hate how your mind tries toconvince you that this won’t last or that you don’t deserve it because you do, sweetheart. You deserve the best this world has to offer.”
Angel kisses my forehead, and I close my eyes as tears start rolling down my cheeks.
“Let me be your tether to our world. I’ll stay by your side for as long as I live and be the best version of myself so you can always count on me. Just please… promise to hold on to me. When the darkness comes searching, hold on tous.”
I can’t hold back anymore. I take him by surprise and crash our lips together. His arms wrap around my waist, guiding me to straddle him.
Every time one of us pulls back for a breath, the other follows until we are kissing again. I never thought holding someone could become my addiction, but Angel has always been an exception to my imagination.
When we finally break apart, our foreheads pressed together, both of us panting like we ran a marathon. Angel lifts me effortlessly and falls back on the bed with me still on top of him.
“I’m sorry you got a mate that’s so much work. I promise I’ll be better.”
“To me, you’re already perfect.”
???
Warm sunlight filters through the curtains, soft snores acting as my alarm. I try to wriggle out from the heavy man lying on top of me, practically squishing me to death, but it’s useless.
Angel’s head is nuzzled into my chest, his arms locked tightly around my waist. At some point during the night, my fingers wandered into his curls, gripping like I was afraid he might slip away.
I softly run a finger along my mate’s cheek, engraving this serene moment in memory.
Angel stirs, drawing me closer and burying his face in myneck, pressing sloppy kisses there. I feel the curve of his smile when I shiver.
Damn him and his warm, distracting kisses.
“Morning, beautiful.”
The moment I hear Angel’s husky, sleep-laced voice, my soul leaves my body and floats straight to Azure.
“Morning, Angel.”
When I scratch his scalp, he all but purrs, kissing my throat before softly nipping it. I gasp at the sudden shift, and Angel chuckles before rolling off me.
“Freshen up, sweetheart. We have a lot of people dying to meet the missing Horsemen.” With a quick kiss on my nose, Angel pulls me off the bed.
The dreaded day of introductions is finally here. Today, I’ll meet people who are important to my mate. I’m not really worried about that part, but his parents? I’m not sure if I’ll be able to hold back from killing them on sight.
I haven’t seen any scars on my mate yet, but that doesn’t mean their hands didn’t hurt him. I could cut off their hands. Or maybe starting with their fingers would be better. Even better, I could use an axe and—
Stop it, you, psycho. You’re not an unhinged prisoner anymore. You’re a princess, Nevaeh. Act like it.
After a thorough scrub, I step out of the bathroom in the soft silk wrap Angel asked me to wear while he went to get my dress from Grace and help August get ready.
I’m sitting on the bed when my mate walks in with a dress bag and carefully lays it beside me. But I couldn’t care less about the dress. Angel looks like a Greek god in disguise as the Horseman of Conquer. I’m trying, but my jaw won’t lift from the floor.
Since the Horsemen lived among humans, they typically preferred Western clothing to blend in more easily with the human world. But Seiji suggested we all dress traditionally today, considering it’s my first appearance as the Princess of Death.
I’m mentally patting myself on the back for agreeing because my mate looks so good, I can’t stop staring at him.
