“A ghra, where did you put my bloody car keys?” I shove my hands into my pockets, hoping the damn keys will magically appear there, but come up empty again, of course. “I’ve only got fifteen minutes to get Sean and Ella to school.”

My wife strolls into the room, a wicked grin on her lovely lips. Lips I want feathering soft kisses over my skin, down my chest, and farther, until she finds me ready to take her.

“I don’t know where your keys are. I wish I could help.” There’s a teasing note to Reese’s voice and it makes me want her even more. I always want her, even ten years into our marriage, after two kids, after nearly losing each other to fallen angels and Lucifer himself. I’ll want her until I take my last breath.

“I suppose you don’t want to search round the house a bit, do you? I should’ve left with the kids five minutes ago. Now we’re going to be late.”

“Galen,” she whispers, her breath tickling my ear as she wraps her arms around me and pulls herself close. “Listen.”

I do, closing my mouth and taking a deep breath, I listen. Silence greets me. No fighting five and ten year old children, no thumping of shoes as the kids run down the hall. All I hear is blissful silence.

“Where are they?”

She lets out a soft laugh. “Moira took them to school. They’re having a sleep over at her house tonight.”

“Really?” Excitement tugs at my chest. I haven’t had Reese alone in—fucking hell—it seems like forever.

“Really. They won’t be back until Sunday morning.”

She slides her hand across her collarbone, up her neck, and to the hair she’s got piled high on her head. With deliberate slowness, she unclasps the contraption holding all that glorious hair comes tumbling down around her face and shoulders. “Fuck, a ghra, what you do to me.”

“I’m going to do a lot to you this weekend, husband.”

My cock is rock hard after hearing the need in her words. We’ve always been heat and passion, but this life we live together sometimes gets in the way. It’s a life I wouldn’t trade for anything, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit there are times I just want to scoop her into my arms and throw her on our bed without having to be sneaky about it.

Glancing around, I realize I can do exactly that without any little ears hearing or wide eyes seeing. I grab her around the waist and press my hips against hers, relishing the soft noise she makes when my length rubs across her pelvis.

“God, Galen. I love it when you take charge.”

Heat courses through me. I love hearing her say things like that to me. “On your knees, my love. I want to feel your gorgeous mouth on my cock.” My voice is harsh with arousal, but I can’t help it. She stirs too much in the way of emotion. I once said I thought I’d die of wanting her, and that still rings true.

Instead of getting to her knees, her fingers slide over my thighs, making me wish I weren’t wearing trousers, until she brushes my erection through the fabric. The sensation of her, ghosting over my aching length has me fisting my hands and letting out a low moan. Delicious torture. That’s what this is. And she bloody well knows it.

“A ghra,” I moan.

“Shh. Let me love you.”

The scratch of her nails against the skin at my waist makes me buck my hips, but she stills me, her nimble fingers working at my belt and unzipping my trousers in mere moments. Her lips brush my ear before she catches the lobe between her teeth and bites down hard enough to send sharp, delicious pain through me. “Jesus,” I mutter, desperate for more.

She teases me, making heat rush over me at the barest touch. God, how I love this woman. I take her face between my palms and crush her lips to mine, not caring that she didn’t do what I asked and take me in her mouth. As she melts into the kiss, I thread my fingers in her hair and run my other hand down her back until I’m cupping her luscious arse.

I break our kiss only so I can slide my lips down her neck. A feral need to mark her as mine rushes through me, an echo of our first time together. My teeth graze her skin and I bite, just a little. The answering moan that falls from her sends desire streaking through me. Fuck, I need her.

I lift her until she’s seated on the counter and spread her thighs using only my hips between her knees. Her robe falls open revealing bare flesh. “Oh, you’re very naughty, Mrs. Turner.”

“Am I?”

“Aye.”

She squirms and wraps her legs around my hips, but I don’t let her pull me closer. “I thought you liked it when I was bad.”

“Oh, I do.” I run a hand over my jaw and stare down her body. Her breasts are barely covered by the open robe, but her pussy is on full display.

I drop to my knees in front of her and kiss the tender skin at the bend of her knee while I run my palms over her smooth thighs. Looking up at her, I let out a soft groan at the sight of my wife with her head thrown back, eyes closed, ready for me to make her come. My lips blaze a trail toward the place I know she wants me most and at the same time, I brush her clit with my thumb. She bucks and moans and I answer her with flicks of my tongue over her femoral artery. Her fingers tangle in my hair, tugging my head toward her needy pussy.

“Please, Galen.”

I can’t deny her any longer. Closing my lips around her clit, I suck as I slide one finger deep inside her. She sighs and her hands grip my hair even harder. The heels of her bare feet dig into my shoulders with every flick of my tongue. Over and over I bring her close to her peak before pulling away and returning when I’m sure she’s not going to go over the edge.

“You’re evil,” she mutters when I get to my feet and smirk.

“You won’t be saying that in about five seconds.”

Her eyes darken with lust and I’m done. There’s no more control left in me. Shoving my trousers down my hips, I free my rock hard shaft and position myself at her entrance. In one solid thrust I’m buried to the hilt, enveloped in the perfection that is my Reese. We move together, her writhing on my cock while I slide deep and pull out slowly. This can’t be fast, not when we have the house to ourselves for the first time in years.

“God, I’ve missed this,” she whispers.

“I’ve not been anywhere but here.”

Her fingers trail over my jaw until they’re threaded in the hair at the back of my head and I still inside her at the serious look in her eyes. “I’ve missed us. This crazy, burning passion. I feel like it’s always been there, but we’ve had so much happen over the years. We lost it.”

“We never lost it. I want you—crave you—more desperately now than I did that first night. A ghra, you’re my heart and my soul.”

She rolls her hips, sending sparks along my body. “You’re mine.”

I thrust harder, faster, until we’re both breathing in gasps of pleasure, chasing our releases. She clenches around me and digs her nails into my back while she comes and I lose it. My knees buckle as my orgasm builds and explodes through my body.

Resting my forehead against hers, I press a soft kiss to the tip of her nose as we both come down from our high. “You are mine. Always.”

She nods and holds tight to me, and I’m in no hurry to break the spell between us. But my ears pop and the air shifts, sending a sense of dread over me. “Fucking hell,” I mutter.

I know she felt it too. The telltale sign that an angel has come calling. I adjust her robe and cup her cheek, kissing her softly, hopefully sending some sense of ease through her. But she knows as well as I, if there’s an angel here, something is wrong.

“Go put something on. I’ll deal with this,” I tell her.

Tucking myself into my pants, I right my clothes and take a deep breath to steady my racing heart. My footsteps seem louder on the wood floor, ominous almost. As if each step takes me closer to tragedy rather than the happily ever after I need. And then I’m in my living room, staring at the last creature I wanted to see. Gabriel is draped across my couch, paperback romance novel in his hands, eyes trained on the pages rather than me.

“Did you just come here for a comfy couch and some alone time with your smut?” I ask.

He drops the book to his chest and arches a brow. “Why do I always have to explain this to you and Devin? It’s not—“

I hold up a hand and stop him. “Why are you here, Gabriel?”

“We have a problem.”

“Bloody hell. What now?”

“Someone has taken control of Hell in Lucifer’s stead. They’re working to free him.”

“And how am I going to help with that? I’m a human man, not a vampire or one of the fallen.”

“We can’t find Sariel and we need his help.”

“But he’s a human now.”

Gabriel shakes his head. “He’ll always be an angel, even with a human body and human weakness. Our father requires him to help us in this.”

“I don’t know where he is.”

“But you have something we can use to find him.”

My skin crawls. They’ve used Sean once before and I can’t let them do it again. “You’re not taking Sean. He barely even remembers what happened the last time. I want to see to it he never knows about Sariel, about the angels, the fallen.”

Gabriel offers me a sad smile. “Oh, Galen. Sean is set to do many great things. He may be bound, but his grace is there and it will become his destiny. Even if you try to hide it from him, we will have to take him and make him understand his responsibility.”

“You can’t have him,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest as though that will stop the angel.

“I don’t need him. Just something from him that holds a trace of angelic grace.”

Reese stands on the stairs, dressed in jeans and a sweater, face pale and eyes haunted. “I have a lock of his hair from his first haircut. Will that work?”

The angel nods. “Thank you, Reese.” Then he turns to me. “At least one of you is reasonable.”

When my wife returns, her hands are shaking as she hands the small box to Gabriel. “When will he have to go with you?”

I watch the angel shrug and wish to God I could punch him. “It depends on when he’s needed. We’re doing all we can to keep the Nephilim out of this. But, if they free Lucifer, we’ll have to build our defenses. By all rights, the children of the angels shouldn’t be alive, but our father let them live in order to serve him should he require it.” With that, Gabriel vanishes, leaving us with the burden of knowledge.

Pulling Reese close to my chest, I let his words sink in. We don’t know how long we have, but I am determined to keep my boy away from all of this. I stroke her hair and murmur, “Sariel called the witches to him once, maybe I can do the same.”

“What?” Fear keeps her voice a whisper.

“Maybe they can offer a protection spell. Some kind of ward so he can’t be taken.”

She shakes her head. “No, Galen. Gabriel is right. This is his destiny. We can’t stop it from happening. But we can give him the happiest and most normal life possible until that day comes. If it ever does.”

“I love you,” I say before pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I just want to keep our family safe.”

“You have and you will. I promise it will be all right. Sean has the angels on his side. Once upon a time, we did too.”