Page 35 of A Spark in the Ash

I scoff as I look up at him. "Justdiamonds. Only a Gray could say it like that."

Jaxon smirks at that. He brushes his finger under my chin, pressing one more quick kiss to my lips. "Come on, you can go shopping or something while I'm doing this."

I fold my arms over my chest, still pouting. "No thanks, I'll stay here."

"Have it your way," Jaxon says. He just smiles as he walks away, heading to the doors that let him into the casino. Azrael follows after him.

I climb off the bike and pace impatiently back and forth in the parking garage.

"I don't know how you can do it," Sybil says. She rolls her window down and stares out at me. "We've had a century and a half of training, but I've never had to touch one after they’ve manifested. I've definitely never wanted to kiss one of them. I don't know how the two of you don't rip each other’s skin off every time you look at each other."

I smile, because I definitely do want to tear his skin off, but not in the way that she thinks. "Trust me, it isn't easy."

"I guess we know who gets the gold star award when it comes to self-control," she adds. "I'm pretty impressed with him. I heard it took him a long time to be able to shift back into human form. But he’s still new, and he's able to put his hands all over you. So, well done." She claps her hands in quiet applause.

I just smile and shake my head and resume my pacing.

This is taking way longer than I would've expected. I can't imagine why this would take more than twenty minutes. Fifteen of those minutes would be spent walking to and from whatever store Jaxon has in mind. All we need is a prop, so anything should do.

But finally, nearly anhourlater, I see the door open once again and Jaxon and Azrael step through.

He doesn't hold a bag, but I do see something bulging slightly in his right pocket.

"Let's go," he says with a knowing smile as he grabs his helmet once again.

"What? You didn't find anything that will work?" I ask. I'm still slightly annoyed, my tone is maybe a little bit too sharp.

"Oh, I found something," he says as he leans in close. He hooks his hand behind my neck and draws my face close to his. "Just…not right here, not with them."

I arch an eyebrow at him. I don't know where he thinks he's going to get this magical time to slide this fake ring onto my finger. But still, the sentiment, the way he is executing this, sends a flutter of butterflies through my stomach.

I should say something. I always have something to say. But I find myself a little bit speechless. So I simply grab my helmet and climb back onto the bike. Jaxon climbs on as well and starts it back up.

He revs the engine, and we make our way back out onto the street. He turns left and aims for the casino I was expecting. Just three minutes later, he is turning into another parking garage. He stalls in the opening, turning back to the car that is following us. Azrael rolls down the window and pokes his head out.

"Park on the second floor," Jaxon says. "My family monitors the third floor, where we all park. We’ll be going up to the fifteenth floor. Hang back. My family is huge. You might not even realize that someone who's watching you is one of my brothers or sisters."

Azrael nods his understanding and rolls the windows back up.

Jaxon rolls forward and makes his way up to the third floor of the parking garage. Excitement and anxiety spikes in my blood when he parks next to his own motorcycle.

I've been here before. A few times. Under several different circumstances. When I first tried to track the ultralight down, and both AJ and Jaxon stepped out, I had no idea which one of them was the one I was looking for. And then again, later that night, when I followed him back here and followed him all the way up to the fifteenth floor. And once again, when I returned here with Jaxon and pretended to be his girlfriend.

Now I am here to pretend to be his wife.

He kills the engine, and we both climb off. I pull my helmet off and set it on the seat. Jaxon does the same.

“Come with me," he says. He reaches forward and takes my hand. I'm an emotional wreck right now. I'm nervous, filled with anticipation from all different angles. But I don't question him. I follow after him.

We walk through the doors and down the hall to the elevators. He presses the button, and we only have to wait five seconds before it opens. We walk in, and he pushes the button for the second floor. Just fifteen seconds later, the doors open again and we step out onto one of the main floors.

This is one of the casinos I haven't spent much time in. Once upon a time, I spent a year going through every one of these casinos on the Strip, learning all the ins and outs of them. I knew which casinos to avoid, which ones had sketchy activities going on inside of them. This was one of them. Now, I know some of the reasons why.

But it's still exceptionally nice. There are lots of nice shops. Plenty of nice restaurants. It doesn't smell as bad as some of the other casinos.

Jaxon leads me down the middle hallway. The ceiling stretches high above us, a fancy arch filled with details. But halfway down, Jaxon hooks to the left. And pushes the door open.

I had definitely never come to this part of this casino.

---