Page 48 of Property of Azrael

“Is he okay?”

“Who knows? Asher is always in a bad mood,” Van comments as he shoves a piece of steak into his mouth.

“And for Hallie.” O laughs, passing over her plate. “Extra crispy steak and ketchup. May the gods above forgive her.”

Assholes, the lot of them. But seeing Hallie smile, even with the shit they’re slinging at her, validates my decision to bring her along.

Ash stomps through the kitchen and charges out through the French doors, heading toward the beach.

I set down my food and tell the group, “I’ll be back.” I kiss Hallie on the top of her head before going in search of my brother. “Stay in the house. And you three keep your damn hands and stories to yourselves,” I order before stepping outside.

The French doors are barely closed when I see Fox slide into my seat next to Hallie, a cocky smile on his face.

“So,” he drawls out. “About those strippers…”

HALLIE

“Hallie,”Azrael whispers against my ear. “Wake up, baby.”

Groaning at the intrusion of one of the best night’s sleep in a long time, I crack open an eye and peer over at him.

“Come on, baby, time to get up. You don’t want to miss this.”

I groan again. “I’m really tired. Five more minutes?”

“I know you are, but there’ll be plenty of time to rest later. Trust me, it’ll be worth the early morning wake-up call.” He tugs the covers from around my body. The chill morning air wafts in from the open windows of our room. Under protest, I shove my legs over the side of the bed, my body feeling like a lead weight. Exhaustion from the whirlwind of the last few days, paired with my hangover from the day before, is still zapping my energy.

“What time is it?” I whine as Az pulls me to my feet.

“Almost six.”

How is he even awake this early? We’d stayed up talking well after midnight. It wasn’t until I had started to fall asleep on the couch next to Az that he’d carried me into our room and tucked me into bed. After that, the darkness of exhaustion pulled me under. A hard, dreamless sleep, all the while tucked safely in his arms.

“Put this on.” He hands me the hoodie he’d bought for me back at the event. “It’ll help keep you warm.” Helping me slip it over my head, he grabs my hand and pulls me toward the French doors in our room.

Opening them, he leads me out to the sound of waves crashing along the beach in front of us. There, just on the horizon, a line of light breaks against the dark, starry night. We walk along the sand and stop about twenty feet from the shore. He takes a seat on the ground and leads me to sit in front of him, between his legs, and wraps his arms around my waist, bringing my back to rest against his chest.

The whoosh and whirl of the waves starts to lull me back to sleep.

“Stay awake. Not much longer now.”

I struggle, but a few moments later, a new hue on the horizon breaks through. It’s coral orange, then pastel pink, and then violet purple. The rising sun bestows on us a splendid wonder, that the roaring ocean only accentuates.

“Wow,” I gasp.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It is. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

We watch in a comfortable silence as the sunrise presents her colors across the sky. The serene peace of the night has slipped away and brought about a new day, the abandoned beach all ours, while the rest of the world is still asleep or just waking up.

“It’s my favorite part of visiting Tampico. Visitors don’t flock here like they do to Cancun. It’s mostly families and a few rental houses.” Quiet and beautiful with a great view. No wonder he likes it here. “A beautiful sunrise, with a gorgeous woman in my arms,” he murmurs against my ear. “I doubt I’ll find anything else to trump this. It’s perfect.”

My heart flutters in my chest. “It is,” I agree. “I never knew the ocean could be so beautiful. It’s my first time seeing it. Actually, it’s my first time in a different country.”

“Really?” Az whispers against my neck.

“I got my passport a few years ago, but I’ve never used it. I had all these grand plans after college to see the world, to step outside of my comfort zone, but I never did.”

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