Present day, Seattle

Sariel

What was it Galen always said? Right, fucking hell. I see it the moment Selah’s terrified gaze meets mine. This was not how I wanted her to see me. Cutting down my brother, filled with rage, guilt, anguish, but above all, filled with the light that only comes from using my grace. Yeah, fucking hell just about covers it. Tamiel was right, though, and the proof was in his essence leaving his vampire host body. I don’t have enough grace to smite him, even with Michael’s sword. That won’t be the case much longer.

“Selah,” I rasp as I rush after her.

She’s faster than I’d have thought, but her small strides are no match for my long legs. As she glances back at me, her ankle rolls, and, like a scene from a bad movie, her body pitches to the side, falling straight into the street and the path of oncoming traffic.

“Fuck!” I cry, using my power to catch her up in my arms before the taxi speeding toward makes contact with her.

She clutches me, face filled with confusion, and so lovely, my heart races at the contact. She’s washed off all the paint which had been covering her beauty. Now she looks like my Selah. Cradling her close to my chest, I carry her to the safety of the sidewalk.

“Are you all right?” I ask, running my hands over her cheeks, her shoulders, her arms.

“I…you…you were glowing.”

“I was?” I’m an asshole for making her think she’d been seeing things. Her knees buckle as I place her feet on the ground, causing me to lift her one-handed. I shouldn’t be able to do that. I used my grace, and now my strength is returning beyond that of a human man.

Her tumble of dark hair brushes my forearm, and for some reason, that small amount of contact has my cock lengthening. It’s not the memory of the way her breasts bounced as she moved on stage, or the sight of her perfect ass as she’d bent over. It’s the intimate slide of her waves on my bare skin that sends every spare drop of blood I have rushing to my crotch.

“I’m okay. You can put me down.” As soon as her feet are steady under her, I risk a glance around us. The street is relatively quiet, with only a few pedestrians on the sidewalk. A heavy sigh escapes her as I slide my hand around her waist, making me clutch her a little tighter, not ready to let go just yet. I know what’s coming, and it will most likely end with her running—again.

“Sam?” The one word is thick with confusion, and I tense.

“Sariel, baby. It’s Sariel.”

I can feel the panic coming off her in waves, another aftereffect of using my angelic power. If I keep this up, I’ll be reading minds and become less human every day. I can’t do that. Not if I expect to live out my days with the woman I love.

“We’re going to need to talk about what just happened.”

Nodding, I hail a taxi. I don’t let go of her hand as I pull open the door and she slides in.

After rattling off my address, I glance at her. “Unless you’d rather do this somewhere else?”

She shakes her head. “As long as you explain, I don’t care where we go.”

The car parks in front of the house I now call home, and I escort Selah inside. She stands with quiet strength in the dark living room before I switch on the light and allow myself to take in the sight of her. She’s angry. Her jaw is set in that way she always had when we’d disagree over one thing or the other.

“Selah,” I start, but she holds up a hand and glares at me.

“What the hell was that in the alley?”

“I don’t—”

“Don’t you dare give me some bullshit story about you not knowing what I’m talking about. You fucking glowed. You turned that man to ashes.”

“He wasn’t a man. He was a vampire, actually, a Watcher. A fallen angel.”

A harsh laugh falls from her. “Right. And I suppose you’re on some mission from God to rid the world of evil?”

She’s half-right.

“Sort of.” I stare her down, daring her to laugh.

Annoyance colors her features, but as she processes my statement, her eyes widen and she takes a step back. “Oh, I knew you were too good to be true. You’re fucking nuts.”

Anger burns in my chest. If only she knew the lengths I’d gone to find her. “I’m not crazy. Selah, sit down and let me explain.”

“I’m sorry, but no. You and me? We’re done. I’ve had enough crazy in my life for ten people. I’m not adding you to the mix just because you’re gorgeous.”

I can’t fight my smirk. “You think I’m gorgeous?”

“Shut up.”

“Selah, I promise you, I’m not out of my mind. I can explain everything, but you have to have a little faith.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she locks eyes with me. My throat runs dry at the determination in her stance. “You’ve got one shot. Make it good.”

“Will you sit?” I motion toward the couch, hoping to ease her away from the door.

“Will you stay where you are?”

Rolling my gaze heavenward, I sigh. Give me strength. This woman is testing me. “Fine.”

She strides past me, her hair swinging behind her, trailing her delicious scent in her wake. As she perches herself on the edge of the couch, I try to plan my words carefully. This isn’t like our first time through this. When I’d already had her, heart and soul, and I knew she wouldn’t leave me. Now? She was poised and ready to bolt.

“Okay. I’m sitting.” Her tone is laced with frustration.

Running my fingers over my jaw, I take a moment before launching into my story.

“I’m an angel.”

She moves to stand the moment the word leaves my lips.

“Wait, wait. You promised you’d listen.”

Sighing, she relaxes a fraction. “You promised you weren’t crazy.”

“My name is Sariel. I was an archangel. I’ve been on this earth thousands of years, since before the Great Flood.”

“Uh-huh.” She draws it out, as though trying not to laugh.

“What you saw? That was one of my fallen brothers. He was after you.”

Her brow furrows. “Me? What do I have to do with angels?”

Here’s the tricky part. The moment I tell her our story, she’s going to make her choice. I just hope that choice is me. “You…you are mine. I am yours. It’s been this way for millennia. We are destined to love one another, and it has taken me lifetimes to find you.”

“How do you know?”

She doesn’t move, just stares at me with those gray eyes I’d know anywhere. I have to be with her, near her, touching her. Crossing the room, I drop to my knees in front of her and take her warm hands before pressing them against my chest. I know she feels the hammering of my heart because she drops her focus to the place she’s touching.

“I fell from Heaven to love you.”

Lips turning down, she frowns before glancing back at my face. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

I don’t know how to get her to believe me without using my grace. It’s a surefire way to show her exactly what I am, but it will take me farther from her in the end. Pulling back from her, I tear my shirt over my head and stand, turning away and giving her full view of my back.

“Do you see this? The wings?”

The light touch of her fingers over my skin sends shockwaves of need through me. My cock goes rock hard so quickly, it hurts. Fuck.

“Your tattoo.”

“It’s not a tattoo, Selah. Those are my wings. Or they will be if I earn them back.”

She’s so close, I can feel her breath whisper over my spine. “They’re beautiful, but that’s a tattoo.”

Closing my eyes against the onslaught of lust rising in me, I concentrate and force just a hint of my power through the intricate lines in my flesh.

She gasps, and I know from the sting in my back, the wings are glowing and shifting as though trying to break free.

“Holy mother of—”

“Exactly.” I turn toward her, hands in my pockets as I work to control my need. She’s pushed every one of my buttons, and now the desire to take her has reached its tipping point. If I don’t give in, I’ll pay for it with pain later, with weakness, with even stronger desire. But if I do? Gabriel told me not to claim her. Not yet. Was there a reason?

Sliding my fingers along the soft skin of her throat until I cup the back of her head, I drop my lips to hers. We’re only a breath away, but I need her permission. I need to feel her mouth on mine and know she wants this. Just a taste.

She lets out a soft moan and her hands are on me, pulling me closer as she takes control and kisses me. Her nails dig into my back, sending bursts of pain down my sides, but I don’t care. I’ll have her right now, under me on the couch, my aching length driving deep inside her welcoming body. I’ll fill her, make her scream, make her beg for more, and then do it all over again.

Unbuckling my belt, I never take my lips off hers, reveling in their warmth and softness. Her hands slide down my bare back and around to trail along the hard ridges of my abdomen. Tingles of desire build into the itch of anticipation when those same hands play at the waist of my boxers.

“Are you really an angel?” Her husky voice only increases the tension between us as she speaks those words against my lips.

“Yes, my Selah. And I really am meant for you.”

And then her hand is on my cock, stroking slowly, making me groan and take her full bottom lip gently between my teeth. I have to have this woman under me, damn the consequences.

The quiet room, so thick with our passion, is suddenly filled with the sound of a fucking harp, the music jolting us apart.

“What the hell is that?” I ask.

She steps out of my grasp and digs in her jacket pocket, producing a phone. A look of worry and something else flashes across her beautiful features as she surveys the screen. She swipes a few times, taps, and closes her eyes before sighing.

“What?” I bite out.

“I’m sorry. I need to go.”

Without another word, she rushes out of my house, her hair flying wildly behind her. “Wait. Let me at least drive you.”

“It’s fine. I called a car. It’ll be here soon.”

“Selah, we need to talk about what happened.”

Turning blazing gray irises on me, she snaps, “No. I can’t do this with you. It’s too much. You’re too much.”

“It isn’t. It is exactly right.”

“No. This was a mistake. Another one in a long line of them.”

The damn car pulls up as her words still hang in the air, and she’s gone. Leaving me with unsatisfied lust, a raging erection, and an aching heart.

* * *

Selah

Adam is sitting outside my house when I arrive home. He’s propped up against the heavy wood door, looking pathetic as he fights sleep. His head jerks every few seconds with the effort to stay awake.

“What are you doing here?” I hiss. It’s late. My neighbor already called me to complain about the vagrant loitering at my door. But, truthfully, I’m thankful she did. That phone call stopped me from doing something I definitely shouldn’t have been doing. My cheeks heat at the memory of Sariel’s thick cock in my hand, the sharp gasp of pleasure that fell from him when I stroked him, and the taste of his lips on mine.

As if he sensed my dirty thoughts, Adam stands and crosses his arms over his chest, scowling. “I’ve called, texted, I don’t know what else to do, Sea.” He tugs at his hair, and his powerful gaze meets mine, and there’s something different about him. “I miss you. I’m sorry.”

My heart gives a little tug for the man. He can’t possibly know I was seconds away from letting Sariel have me, but I feel incredible waves of guilt as I listen to the sincerity in his voice. It wasn’t bad between us. Not at all, really.

“Sea, I just want to know you’re mine. It drives me crazy knowing you were thinking about another guy. When you said his name…I thought…I lost you.”

“I didn’t even know what I was saying. It just came out. I never cheated on you, Adam. I thought you knew me better than that.”

I can’t say I don’t know anyone named Sariel. I just had his tongue down my throat and my hand on his dick a mere fifteen minutes ago. Adam’s fingers trail across my cheek, sending a soft pulse of desire through me, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the way I reacted to Sariel.

“Let me in, Sea. Please? We love each other. We can work this out.”

Do we? The longer I’m away from him, the more I doubt us. It wouldn’t have been so easy for me to let him walk out of my life if I really loved him.

“We can’t just go back to how things used to be.”

His jaw tightens. “Why?”

“You didn’t trust me. And…it shouldn’t have taken so little to tear us apart. If you really loved me, you would have fought for me. And I would have fought harder to get you to stay.”

The light rings of gold around his irises flare, changing his gaze from pale green to nearly metallic. “Give me another chance. Let me fight for you now.”

To say there’s nothing between us would be a lie. But I can’t go back to an engagement. Not when the idea of Sariel burns bright in my heart.

“I don’t know.”

“We can take it slow. Ease back into things.” He rests his forehead on mine and presses soft kisses to my lips. “Just let me inside. Let me show you how much you mean to me.”

Suddenly at ease, I unlock the door without really understanding what I’m doing or why. When he touches me again, his palm pressing against my lower back, I forget why I don’t want him and follow him inside. Maybe he’s right. Maybe easing back into our relationship is better than destroying it.

As his fingers twine with mine, a pang of loss runs through me and Sariel’s silver gaze flashes through my mind.

“Don’t think of him, Sea. I’m the man for you,” Adam says, his eyes burning into mine. “You don’t want anyone else.”

My heart lurches. Am I that transparent?

He leans in and whispers in my ear. “You’re mine. I won’t let him have you.”

Part of me screams that he’s wrong, that I don’t want this, but I can’t break through the haze of suggestion. He’s telling me exactly what I need to hear, and I have to listen.

I am his.

I should want to be his.

I don’t want Sariel.