I’m back at work, but I’m itching to get home.

Five days off—a record for me—but most of the office is still on vacation, and I wish I’d stayed home, too. Cassiel isn’t there all the time—he has demons to slay after all—but that’s a good thing. I don’t think my body could take any more. The boy is insatiable. The delicious soreness between my legs is finally fading, now that I’ve spent an entire day sitting in my office chair, working the accounts, and not fucking on every surface in my house. We haven’t yet tried the Master Bedroom… but I think we will tonight. I’m ready to christen that final room with my new love.

Love. It seems impossible that, in less than a week, my life could turn around so completely. But one shouldn’t underestimate the determination—or stamina—of an angeling. Or the power of his kiss.

I check the clock on my computer—almost five. I’m ready to pack it up.

Just as I slide open the drawer with my purse, Rick pokes his head into my cubicle. “You got a minute?” He’s half hiding around the corner, using the cubicle wall as some kind of shield.

“Sure.” I close the drawer. I knew he was in the office, but we’ve artfully avoided each other all day. However, he is still a junior VP, so if he’s got work for me, I should probably do it.

“Hey, I wanted to, um, apologize.” He’s grimacing and still staying half behind the wall.

I know Cassiel drove the demon out of his soul, but if I’d had to guess—before I had my own personal angeling to educate me on such things—I wouldn’t have thought Rick had one.

So… I cross my arms and wait.

“Right.” He coughs and comes a little further out from his protective shielding. “I’m sorry I was a complete jackass in the break room.”

My eyebrows lift. I’m actually surprised he’s going to admit it. Or even that he remembers it—I’m not entirely clear on how the demon possession thing works. Cassiel and I have had better things to do than to talk about Rick.

“Okay, jackass probably isn’t a strong enough term,” Rick says, apparently taking my silence for negotiation. “I tried to force myself on you, and I… I can’t explain it. I just know it was wrong, and I’m sorry, and I hope you’ll, you know, be able to forgive me?” He looks like he’s ready to bolt.

I unlock my arms and sigh. “Thanks for saying that.” And while we’re on this subject… “And while you’re turning over a new leaf, you should probably stop banging Sarah the Intern.”

His mouth drops open, but he shuts it fast. “I didn’t realize you…” He nods, jerkily. “Of course. That’s totally inappropriate.”

“Yeah. It is.” He’s got this panicked look on his face now like he thinks I’m going to turn him into HR. And maybe I should. But Cassiel’s given him a second chance, and I want him to use it. “Look, just find someone outside work. Treat her like a human. It’s really not that hard.”

He hangs his head. “Yeah. It shouldn’t be.” Then he looks up. “Thanks. For not, you know… turning me in. I promise I’ll do better.”

Surprisingly, I believe him.

He turns to leave then stops. “Oh, one more thing. You know how I’ve been putting holds on the vendor payments?”

“Yeah?” One of his many asshole tricks.

“Let’s not do that anymore, okay?”

Now my smile is actually genuine. “You got it, boss.”

He ducks his head and scurries away.

I shake my head. Over the top of the cubicle walls, I see him heading for the elevator, high-tailing it out of here. Then Cassiel appears out of thin air, standing in my doorway—and nearly giving me a heart attack.

I breathe out a sigh. “What did I tell you about that?”

“Don’t decloak when you’re not looking?”

“Right!”

“But you were looking.” He looks sad, like he was trying hard.

I roll my eyes. “You really shouldn’t be decloaking in the office anyway. Someone could see you.”

“Everyone’s gone.” There’s a sparkle in his eyes. He lifts his chin toward the front door. “He waited until everyone left to make his apology.”

“I’m just amazed he made it at all.”

Cassiel frowns, looking confused. “I told you he would.”

I shake my head and smile. The love of my life loves humanity just a little too much—it’s hard for him to see that some people are bad to the core. Then again, maybe he sees them more clearly than I do. After all, he can see into their souls.

Which is what he seems to be doing right now—staring into my soul. “What?” I ask.

He holds out his hand in invitation. “Come join me in the break room?”

“The break room?” I echo. But I stand and grab my purse and phone.

We walk that way. He slips his arm around my waist, his wings tucked to avoid knocking the company’s awards off the wall. I throw a quick look around the office, just double checking there’s no one to see me cruise down the row of cubicles with a hot angeling.

“What’s this about?” I ask as we approach the break room door.

He starts to answer, but my phone rings and cuts him off. It’s my mom. I hold up a finger for him to hang onto that thought and swipe to answer the phone.

“Hey, mom.”

Cassiel ushers me into the break room anyway.

“Becca, honey! You’re there!” My mom’s super surprised I’ve answered. Obviously. Because I usually avoid her like crazy, and this isn’t the required Christmas Day Check-in. The one she insists I do to make sure I’m still alive. Only I’m not just alive—I’m living.

And strangely, I’m suddenly inspired by Rick. “I know I haven’t been doing the greatest job in picking up the phone when you call. I’m sorry. But I’m changing that.” Cassiel’s closing the break room door behind us. “From now on, whenever you call, I promise to pick up.” Cassiel’s eyebrow lifts. “Um, unless I’m in the shower or something.” I flick away his skeptical look with my fingers. He grins. “Then I’ll call you right back afterward,” I say to my mom. That sparkly look is back in Cassiel’s eyes, and I know what that means. He confirms it by coming up behind me and running his hands up to my breasts.

I give him a dirty look. I’m on the phone with my mom, for heaven’s sake.

He smirks and lets me go.

Meanwhile, my mom is prattling on about how I don’t have to call her back right away, but she really does just want to say Hi every once in a while and just know that I’m okay.

“I know, Mom,” I say, dropping my voice, so she’ll know I’m serious. “I’ll do better. I promise. Everything okay with you and Dad?”

“Oh, sure,” she gushes. “We’re just fine.” I can tell she’s still just happy I picked up the phone. “How is work going, honey? They’re not working you too much, are they?”

“No, it’s great. In fact, I’m leaving right now. There’s no one here anyway.”

Cassiel’s moving behind me again. This time he doesn’t mess around with any of the over-the-clothes stuff—he just goes straight for pulling my blouse out of my skirt.

“Well, be careful on the way home.” My mom’s voice in my ear while Cassiel’s fingers are caressing my chest is making me kind of nuts. I shoo him away again. “I hear Seattle’s had all kinds of strange things happening,” my mom is saying. “Lots of crime these days. Your father’s worried.”

“Tell Dad not to worry,” I say, scowling at Cassiel. “Tell him I have a boyfriend, and he makes sure I always get home safe.”

“Honey, I can’t lie to your father like that,” she complains. “He’ll see right through me.”

I laugh, but why would she believe me? “I’m not kidding, Mom. There’s this guy…”

Cassiel’s eyebrows are up, all interest now in what I’m saying and keeping his hands to himself. Finally.

“What guy?” my mom asks, almost suspicious. Like she thinks I’m making this up.

“I met him at work,” I say with a broad smile for Cassiel.

He just shakes his head, but a grin is spreading across his face.

“Really?” Now my mom sounds excited.

“He doesn’t work for Harper Jones, but he’s in the building.” It’s a small lie. Okay, it’s a huge lie, but I obviously can’t tell her the truth. I smirk at Cassiel. “He’s gorgeous and super protective and has the sweetest heart. You’d love him.”

The smile is dropping off his face, replaced by a more serious look.

“Well, now,” my mom says, about as breathless as the first time I met Cassiel. Appropriate. “We need to meet this sweet-hearted man.”

“Yeah,” I say before I really think that through. But then, as the idea turns over in my mind… “I think that’s a great idea. But I gotta go now. He’s waiting for me.”

“Okay, then.” But my mom’s super pleased. I can tell. I haven’t heard her this happy in… well, years. “Go have fun on your date, honey. And call me back later. Tell me how it went.”

I keep the chuckle inside. No way that’s going to happen. “Love you, Mom. Bye.” I swipe the phone off.

Cassiel cocks his head to the side. “What’s a great idea?”

I slip the phone into my purse and set that on the break room counter. Then I hurry over to this impossibly beautiful man leaned against the break room door, just waiting for me to shower him with my attention. Which I thoroughly plan to do.

I kiss him quickly and say, “You meeting my parents.”

His eyes light up. His hands are already on my waist, but he lifts me away from the door, spins me and then presses me up against it. He kisses me back, but it’s long and deep and definitely the warm-up act for more. “I would love to meet your parents,” he says huskily when he pulls back.

“I don’t think that’s why you invited me to the break room,” I tease.

He sobers. “No, actually—I wanted to fuck you.”

I laugh—another thing that hasn’t happened in so long but seems like an every-other-minute thing now. “You know, we could just wait until we get home.”

He bites his lip then leans in for another of those warm-up-all-my-parts kisses. When he stops, he whispers, “I wanted to make sure you could put Rick out of your mind when you came for your morning coffee. I figured we would make new memories in this room. Good memories.”

I touch his cheek with my fingers. This man. “You’re impossibly good to me.”

“I was hoping you might say that.”

I frown and tilt my head. “Why?”

“Because before I turn you around and take you up against this door…” His expression had dropped into complete seriousness. “I have a question for you.”

I lift one eyebrow. “The last time you had a question for me, you wanted me to take your virginity.”

“Yes.” He’s too serious.

My heart hammers. “Cassiel, what is it?”

He cups my cheeks in his hands and kisses me softly. A wild, panicky part of me thinks it’s the kind of kiss you give when you’re saying goodbye to someone. Forever.

When he pulls back, it’s getting hard for me to breathe.

“Rebecca Anne Stollen, I want to make love to you. Here. Now. Today. Tomorrow.” He takes a deep breath. “All the days. I thought maybe, once I was sure that I could make love and not fall into shadow that I would just… return to the war, having proved myself. But that’s not what I want. Not anymore. I may have to fight. They may need me to fight. And I’ll do what I have to in order to keep you and the rest of humanity safe. But I can’t keep loving you, night after night… not unless I know that you’ll let me stay.”

“Let you stay?” Tears are threatening the backs of my eyes. “Just try and leave me, hot angel boy. I’ll have to go get bitten by a vampire or something just to lure you back.”

The serious expression on his face transforms into that heavenly smile. “You would take on a demon just to get another Life Kiss from me?”

“Um… hell yes?” I smirk, but my heart can’t decide if it wants to beat its way out of my chest or leap for joy. “Do you really want to stay with me?” I want to add forever, but I feel like I can’t ask that. He’s an angeling. I have no idea what the rules are.

He touches my face, gently, the softest of caresses. “I’m half immortal. I’ll outlive you. But as long as you’re still on this earth, I don’t think I could stand to have another man touch you. I would fall from the sin of envy. Or wrath. Or probably both at once.”

“Well, we can’t have that.” Was he really saying it?

His eyes search mine, peering deep like he does when he claims to be looking at my soul. “And there’s the small matter that I’m madly in love with you.”

My breath catches. For all our love-making, we’ve never uttered the words. “I love you, too,” I say in a rush. Then I cover my mouth with both hands and fight back tears—even though I already know it’s true, I never expected to say those words again.

And here’s a man who loves me, will outlive me, and will never leave me.

My angel.

I can see the words affecting him, too—transforming the serious, searching look into one that’s filled with love… and lust. “Well, there’s only one thing left to do, then,” he says, voice dropping low and deep and so damn sexy.

“What’s that—” But he’s already turning me to face the door of the break room. He plants my hands up high.

“Hold tight,” he says, his voice half growl.

And I don’t have to ask. His hands are already up my skirt, pulling down my panties, and I have a feeling this is one of those times he will really let loose. Before I can wonder much, he’s sliding that heavenly cock into me, hard and fast. I gasp and hold onto the door, just as he instructed. It’s frantic and passion-filled, and soon I’m ramping up for another of the endless orgasms this man—this angeling—has given me. It’s as if he wants to cement our newly-declared love with the wildest lovemaking possible.

I give myself over to it, subsumed in my love for him and him for me.

As we cry out, reaching our peaks together, I know without a doubt that I’m finally living again—in every possible way.

Brought back to life by the kiss of an angel.