Page 118 of Wrath

She clambered to her feet, keenly aware of how hot and sweaty she was. Her hands shook so badly that she handed the dagger over to the trainee. Now was not the time to entrust her with a weapon.

Ramiel’s expression was unfathomable as she approached him. He motioned her to follow him inside. “You’ve heard.”

It was not a question. “Yes.”

“He is here for you.” Ramiel stopped and faced her. The open longing in his green eyes made her heart constrict. He was hurting, and despite everything, she didn’t want that for him. “And you, my sweet Haziel, have a decision to make.”

She shook her head and her throat constricted as she said, “No, I don’t.”

Pain shadowed Ramiel’s eyes. “It shall be as you want.”

“Thank you.” Now she needed to hear the words from Wrath.

“Oh, and Haziel.” Ramiel smiled. “You could say that I did you an unintentional favor by insisting you return here with me.”

This she needed to hear. “And how is that?”

“Now you know, without doubt, how much you mean to him.”

* * *

Wrath felt as nervous as a stripling as he waited for Ramiel to fetch Haziel. He should have prepared a speech and not flown up here with no clear intention other than to get his female. He should have asked Vexia to give him some talking points, or better yet, Shade. Shade knew how to speak to someone you desired. He should have worn something other than fighting leathers.

And then she was there, standing in the open doorway. Light glanced off her dark hair, and all the white was a perfect setting for her warm skin. She approached him slowly, the cloth of her wide-legged pants floating around her legs. “Wrath”

“Hi.” In terms of a great beginning to the most important conversation of his life, it was a failure.

Her lips quirked. “Hi, yourself.”

She looked so beautiful it felt like his heart had stopped. How had he forgotten how vivid and alive her big, green eyes were? Forgotten how good she smelled. Forgotten how being close to her made something tight and hot unravel in his chest and make it feel like he could breathe again. “I came to ask you something.”

She stopped a foot in front of him and peered up at him. “So ask.”

Sensation torpedoed him. The challenge in her beautiful eyes, the soft almost smile lurking at the corners of her full mouth, the warm amber of her skin, everything about her that fanned the spark of life to a conflagration within him. And he said the first thing that came to mind, “Come live with me and be my love?”

“Christopher Marlowe?” She chuckled.

He couldn’t prevent his answering grin. “He was a close personal friend. Actually, I gave him those words.”

“Liar.” Eyes twinkling, she shook her head at him.

It seemed like forever since he’d gazed into those eyes. “Maybe.” He closed the small distance between them. “So, will you?”

“I’d like to.” The heat radiating off his big body called to her. “But I need some other words first.”

Dammit! Words were not his strength. “Like what?”

“Like why you want me to come with you.” She jammed her hands on her full hips.

“Because I love you.” Unable to resist touching her, he slid his arms around her waist. “Because I am a miserable bastard without you.”

She held her body stiff. “You seem to have arrived at this decision rather suddenly. When last we were together you were warning me that you couldn’t promise me anything.”

“And then I nearly lost you.” Those terrifying moments when he’d been unable to stop the pull of the horsemen. That horrible death knell of a moment when she’d told him she was leaving. “And then I did lose you.”

“What about Rosabella?” She allowed him to inch her forward.

“I loved Rosabella.” But the sting had not been within him for some time. Wrath couldn’t say when it had stopped, just that living with her rejection had become an uncomfortable habit. “But not in the way I love you.”

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