That thought didn’t leave me all day. Not when we ate some fruit to gain back our energy. Not when we had sex two more times in the kitchen. And not now, as I lay beside him in my bed while we grabbed a late afternoon nap.
Jericho didn’t seem fazed by our decision to give into our desires. In fact, each time we did, the actions felt more and more intimate. As though we’d been doing this for years, there was a comfort between us I couldn’t explain. Even now, while I rested on my side and brushed my nails over his back, it was hard to imagine him not being here with me.
“Mmm. Don’t stop,” he mumbled into the pillow.
Sleeping on his stomach, I’d been watching his muscles move slowly while he napped. Not an ounce of fat graced his sculpted body, and the only marks on his skin were the two lines behind his shoulder blades where his wings were somehow attached. I’d kept drifting over to them, circling my finger around the scars and wondering what the hell I was doing. Or really, wondering why the hell this felt so right.
“Stop second guessing yourself,” Jericho said.
“What?”
He turned his head and opened his eyes to see me. “It’s too late to go back.”
“I’m not—”
“You are,” he stopped me. “Quit fretting.”
“I don’t fret,” I grumbled. “Besides, you aren’t telepathic like your brother, so how do you even know what I’m thinking about?”
Rolling to his side, Jericho tucked his arm underneath his head and grabbed my hand in his. “Because you tap your finger and hold your breath when you’re thinking.”
“I do not—”
He kissed my palm. “You do. It’s cute. And sexy. But it’s not worth it. What’s done is done. We can’t change that and we can’t go back in time.”
I turned to face him. “Aren’t you worried we fucked up? Not only will Mammon most likely try to kill me, but you’ll have your brothers to deal with. And maybe some of the archangels too.”
With a shrug, Jericho pulled me against his body…and another erection. “I don’t care. We aren’t going to stop the reveal, so we might as well enjoy our time together before the world ends.”
I giggled. “Did anyone ever tell you that you’re dramatic?”
“Nope.”
“Well, you are.” Kissing his lips quickly, I rolled to my back and stared at the ceiling. “What about your feathers?” I whispered.
“The gray?” When I nodded, he continued. “It’s a consequence I’m willing to deal with.”
“You’re willing to fall to an earth angel just to be with me?”
“Sure.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve been lonely for a very long time. I’ve worked for my father, doing his bidding without a care for my own happiness. And where did that get me? The world, as we know it, is still going to end, so all of my work was for nothing.”
I listened to his breathing slow again before asking my next question. “How many souls have you saved?”
“How many souls have you collected?” he asked sharply.
“Is that offensive? To ask you something like that?” In my world, it was something a lot of demons bragged about. I never thought it might be inappropriate elsewhere.
Jericho climbed on top of me and kissed my nose again—something that only he’d ever done. “No, not really. But I don’t want to be reminded about how different we are. I just want to enjoy now, okay?”
“Sure,” I whispered. Not understanding what kind of emotion I was feeling right now, I did my best to channel that elsewhere. “Do you really think they’ll reveal themselves?”
Jericho sucked on my nipple. “Don’t want to talk about that either.”
I writhed beneath him as he moved to my other breast. How many times could a person have sex in one day? I’d thought I’d reached my limit a few times in my past…but this, this was a brand new day with a brand new man that I couldn’t keep my hands off of.
My stomach growled.
“Mmm…hungry for more?” Jericho breathed into my ear while rubbing his erection between my already moist folds. A moment later, he slipped inside once more.
Arching my back, I let him fill me up. But this time, unlike the last three times, Jericho moved slowly and methodically. As though he wanted to savor every sensation, he kept the pace under control, gliding in and out of me with purpose and restraint. It felt like torture to me, and by the time the heat began to build inside of me, I didn’t want him to be in charge anymore.
Using my demon strength, I grabbed his shoulders and flipped him over on his back before he had a chance to stop me. With a chuckle, he said, “I didn’t know you had that in you.”
“Oh, I do,” I breathed, climbing back on top of him. Straddling his lap, I let the tip of his slick cock rest against my sex. “There’s a lot about me that you don’t know.”
“Yeah?” he asked, hands digging into my hips. “Like what.”
I slid down over him slowly and pulled away just as slow. “Like I’m a few centuries old.”
“A cougar. I like it,” he teased.
Pushing him inside me again, I added, “I’ve worked as a stripper before.”
“Sexy.” He tried to keep me on him, but I lifted away again. “What else?”
“I like dogs.”
“Me too.”
“And I hate birds.”
Even as I rode his cock like it was the first time, Jericho managed to laugh. “Birds? Why?”
“It’s the feathers,” I said, much to his amusement. “They’re weird.”
“Weird?”
“It should be hair. Birds should have hair or just skin. Not covered in those symmetrical things.”
Picking up the sped, Jericho rocked up against me. “You hate symmetry?” he asked with a smile in his voice.
“Maybe.”
“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” he breathed. I pumped faster, and he closed his eyes in pleasure. “Yeah, like that,” he growled.
With my hands pressing against his chest, I rode him hard. Each time my clit hit his lower stomach, I let out a little pant. My sex was swollen from our morning together, but it still couldn’t get enough Jericho action. Hit after hit sent me into a spiral of pleasure, and just as I felt Jericho’s cock tighten inside of me and watched him tremble with release, I let my body give into the desire. Sliding back and forth until we were both finished, I smiled down at him. “Tell me something about you,” I whispered, still trying to catch my breath.
“I love to cook.”
“Really?” I asked, genuinely surprised.
“Yes,” he chuckled. “Shocked?”
“A little.”
“Why?”
Because you’re too perfect, I thought to myself. Instead, I said, “Because I’m starving.”
Jericho lifted me off him and set me on the other side of the bed. He jumped to his feet and pulled on his boxers and jeans. With his messy hair hanging in his face, and those ridiculous abs staring back at me, I almost had to pinch myself to see if this was real. He tossed me my thongs and his black tee shirt. “Give me ten minutes.”
His smile was contagious. “Okay. I should shower anyway.”
He laughed and leaned across the bed on one knee so he could kiss me. “You should. You stink.”
I tried to slap him on the arm, but he was too quick. “Thanks,” I mumbled as he continued to laugh. A few moments later, I heard him banging around in the kitchen looking for supplies. But by the time I’d showered and slipped into his shirt, the whole house smelled delicious.
As I rounded the corner, and ran into a wall of aroma, I sucked in a deep breath. Bacon, eggs, potatoes, mimosas…he’d made us a breakfast fit for royalty. When he caught me staring at the display, he smiled. “Breakfast for dinner. My favorite.”
“Me, too.” Surprised that we had this in common, I took the piece of bacon he was holding out for me. “Crisp,” I marveled.
“It’s the only way to cook it.”
I agreed. And as I watched him load our plates while I ate my perfectly cooked bacon and sipped on my drink, I realized I’d never done this before.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, suddenly stopping and instead studying my face.
“Nothing, it’s just…I never shared a meal in this house with a man before.”
His mouth turned up in a grin. “So, I’m the first, huh?” Wiggling his brows, he handed me a plate.
“You’re the first of a lot of things.”
“Awesome,” he said with a smile. “Now, eat before it gets cold.”
He sat next to me on the little stools I’d placed on the other side of the island. Shoving another piece of bacon into my mouth, I looked down and realized I was running low on my mimosa. “Is there more?” I asked, lifting the glass. He nodded and started to get up, but I held out my hand to stop him. “I’ll get it.”
I gave him a quick kiss and he slapped my ass as I walked by. Giggling all the way to the fridge, I had a moment of pure joy. This was nice. Jericho was nice. Not only was he fucking awesome in bed, but he really could cook, and he really did seem to enjoy my company outside of the bedroom. I glanced over my shoulder and gave him a wicked grin.
“Hurry back over here,” he teased. “I’m lonely.” He stuck out his bottom lip and pouted and my heart pounded with…well, with a feeling I couldn’t quite explain.
I opened the fridge and started to reach inside for the pitcher, when a sharp pain raced through my stomach. The burning sensation exploded from inside and wrapped around my ribs and legs and eventually my arms, to the point I dropped my glass and heard it shatter on the ground.
“Arabella!” Jericho shouted, already darting around the counter and racing toward me. “What’s wrong?”
“I…I don’t know.” My chest clenched tight and I could barely breathe. Every inch of my body burned with an invisible flame.
“Arabella!” Jericho’s voice began to fade, even though I could still see him clearly.
The pain in my stomach intensified and I fell to the floor. I watched Jericho reach out for me, but some kind of forced pulled me across the room away from him. His wings appeared and he flew over the island, yet he still wasn’t able to catch up to me. With a sharp hit to my back, I was yanked through the brick wall until the cool, evening air hit me like a blast of truth.
Someone had found me.
Jericho shouted something as the invisible force wrenched me through the sky. The pain in my stomach had subsided, but now I couldn’t feel anything at all. Even as I was pulled toward the ground, and even as Jericho did his best to catch up to me, I knew this was all over. There would be no playing house with the angel. No more cooked meals. No more sex. No more Jericho.
His green eyes widened when I hit the ground and sunk into the pavement. He never gave up. Not even when the ground above closed back up a second before Jericho was able to fly into the hole. Darkness surrounded my paralyzed body, and as I was forced deep underground, I knew my tears were there even though I couldn’t feel them.
Nothing would be the same ever again.