Page 27 of Semi-Fallen

But even though he was dumb (and/or arrogant), she couldn’t forget what it felt like when his lips took hers. His taste, his scent, the electricity that seemed to arc between them, the way she could feel his heart pounding in time with hers…it was all seared into her memory.

Then there was the fact that he’d chosen to defy Heaven to defend her even before he knew they were fated mates. Which told her that somewhere behind his angelic stiff upper lip was a passionate, kind, empathetic man who wasn’t afraid to fight for what he thought was right.

Well, she’d never shied away from a fight, either.

I want Lucien, she signed, the truth of her words reverberating in her very soul.

Haven gave her a sad little smile. “That’s beautiful. And also sad, because he’s dumb, but he’s not wrong. Everything in both your lives would be easier if you walked away.”

Truer words were never spoken, my friend.

Then Haven sucked the Oreo debris off one of her fingertips and glanced back at Lane. “So, I guess at this point, there’s really only one thing to do, right?”

Talk to your mom? Lane guessed.

Haven rolled her eyes. “Or you could just seduce him. It’s not like resisting his soul mate will be easy, right? Make it extra hard.”

Lane’s eyes widened at the thought of making Lucien extra hard. Haven blushed and mumbled, “You know what I meant, Slutty McGutterMind.”

She did. And it wasn’t a bad idea. Except…she’d never seduced a man in her life. Sure, she’d had sex, but that was far removed from the current situation with Lucien.

Lane sighed. Guess I’m seducing an angel.

Haven snickered. “That sounds like an episode of Highway to Heaven that got locked away in the vault forever.”

Leave it to Haven to bring it all back to an obscure pop culture reference. But Lane wasn’t new to this game, so she gave her friend a palms-up, what-the-hell gesture and signed, Really, dude? Touched by an Angel was right there.

Haven looked appalled. “Fuck me, you’re right! I totally missed that one. I need to brush up on my pop culture.” She grabbed her phone. “This is an emergency. I’m calling my mom.”

Lane envied Haven that. If only her emergencies these days centered around appropriate pop culture references instead of trying to talk her soul mate into accepting her—and, you know, not bringing the wrath of Heaven down on her head.

CHAPTER 15

If anyone had asked Lucien two hours ago where he thought he’d be now, he never would’ve guessed…this.

Leaving Lane behind was one of the hardest things he’d ever done in his long, long existence. And for someone who’d fought holy wars and been tortured in a hell dimension for decades, that was really saying something.

Everything would be so much easier if she was unwilling to accept the concept of fated mates. Or if she was unwilling to accept him. But Lane seemed open to both, and knowing she could be his with a single word was really destroying his peace of mind.

“Can we get this done so I can go home to my wife, or do you plan to stand out here all damn night?”

Lucien glanced over at the incredibly disgruntled vampire beside him and realized he had indeed stopped moving while he waxed poetic about the man’s daughter.

If he blushed, he probably would’ve blushed at the awkwardness of the moment. But he didn’t blush, so Lucien merely shrugged and gestured to the sad little hovel in front of him. “After you.”

Hunter grumbled under his breath in Lakota. The phrase didn’t translate perfectly into English, but he’d basically just called Lucien explosive buffalo diarrhea. Excellent.

Lucien saw no need to let Hunter know he spoke every language. Somehow, he didn’t think the vampire would’ve kept the words to himself had he known Lucien could understand them, anyway.

Not that Lucien blamed him. He had considered smiting the man’s daughter. And that was before he ever thought of engaging in much, much more pleasurable activities with her.

But that was entirely beside the point. Hunter’s feelings about Lucien didn’t matter. They were both here, in the outskirts of New Orleans at a dilapidated voodoo shop that sat at the edge of a cemetery, to see a witch who could help them find what was essentially Heaven’s records room for this dimension.

And, yes, it sounded insane to Lucien, too.

“Explain it to me like I’m five,” Harper Hall had said when he tried telling her what he needed.

He’d gone into great detail, answering all her questions. No, he couldn’t just pop up to Heaven and ask for what he needed. He could only go back to Heaven when called, and he hadn’t been called because his mission wasn’t complete.

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