Page 42 of Azrael

For one heart-stopping moment, I stood frozen, every muscle rigid with shock and want.Then something broke loose inside me, some floodgate I’d been holding closed since she first walked into my life.My hands found her waist, gripping hard enough to leave marks as I backed her against the wall.

I deepened the kiss, taking control, telling myself this would be enough -- just this one taste before I pulled away and did the right thing.Her lips parted on a gasp, and I took ruthless advantage, my tongue sweeping into her mouth as if I could devour her from the inside out.

She made a small, broken sound against my lips, her hands clutching at my shoulders, pulling me closer.The heat that had been simmering in my blood erupted into an inferno.Her body molded against mine, soft where I was hard, yielding where I was unyielding.

It would be so easy to lift her, to carry her to my bedroom and lose myself in her for hours.To forget about Tel Aviv and Mazida and the Devil’s Boneyard and everything else for just one night.

That thought was enough to make me pull back, breathing hard.Her lips were swollen from my kiss, her eyes half-lidded and dazed.Beautiful enough to make a man forget his own name, let alone his duty.

“We can’t do this,” I said, my voice rough.

Her fingers tangled in my hair, preventing me from moving farther away.“We just did.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking for.”

“I’m not asking for anything.I’m telling you what I want.”She held my gaze, no trace of doubt in her eyes.“I want you, Azrael.I’m ready for a real relationship -- not just someone to rescue my mother, not just a protector, but a partner.”

I closed my eyes, fighting for control.“You don’t know who I am.What I’ve done.”

“I know exactly who you are.You’re the man who’s going to save my mother.The man who’s killed to protect women like her -- like me.”Her voice was steady, sure.“The man I’ve been falling for since the day I walked into this house.Maybe even before that.”

“I’m the man who’s about to walk through fire to get your mom back, a man who is going to fight like hell to get back to you.”The words tasted bitter on my tongue, as did my omission.The fact I mightnotmake it back.“I can’t give you what you deserve, Zara.”

“I don’t want what I deserve.I want what I choose.”She pulled me closer, her body flush against mine again.“And I choose you.For however long we have.And if you don’t come back, then that means all we have is tonight and tomorrow.I want to make it count.”

Those words hit me like a bullet to the chest, piercing through the armor I’d built around myself over decades.Two days.That’s all we might have.Two days before I entered a country I’d never been to before.Two days before I added more names to the long list of men I’d killed, before I either brought Mazida Quadir home to her daughter or died trying.

Two days seemed so short measured against the time I wanted with her.

“If we do this,” I said, my hands sliding from her waist to her hips, “there’s no going back.No pretending it didn’t happen.”

“I don’t want to go back.”She pressed a kiss to my jaw, then my throat.“I want to move forward.With you.”

My resolve crumbled like ash.I captured her lips again, kissing her with all the pent-up need I’d been denying for days.My hands roamed her body, memorizing the curve of her hips, the dip of her waist, the swell of her breasts pressed against my chest.

She responded with equal fervor, her fingers digging into my shoulders as if she could anchor herself to me.One of my hands slid beneath her tank top, finding the warm, smooth skin of her lower back.She arched into the touch, a soft moan escaping her lips.

“Azrael,” she whispered against my mouth, my name a prayer and a demand all at once.

I broke the kiss, my forehead resting against hers as we both fought for breath.“This changes everything,” I warned her.

“Good.”Her smile was small but sure.“It was about time something did.”

I huffed out a laugh despite myself.“You’re going to be trouble, aren’t you?”

“Probably.”She traced the line of my jaw with her fingertip.“Is that going to be a problem?”

I caught her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm, watching her eyes darken.“No.But it might get in the way of my focus for this mission.”

“Then let me make a deal with you.”She wrapped her arms around my neck.“For the next two days, I won’t ask to come along.I won’t argue about staying behind.I’ll let you plan and prepare however you need to.”Her gaze held mine, unwavering.“But in return, tonight is ours.No holding back, no second-guessing, no regrets.”

The offer was tempting -- more than tempting.But I needed her to understand what she was getting into.“And what happens after?After I bring your mother home?After you have what you came for?”

Her expression softened.“I came looking for the Angel of Death to find my mother.I wasn’t expecting to find something for myself too.”She pressed a gentle kiss to my lips.“But now that I have, I’m not letting go easily.”

Those words settled something inside me, some restless part that had never found peace.Two days until the mission.A lifetime of darkness behind me.And somehow, in this dimly lit hallway with Zara in my arms, the future didn’t look quite so bleak.

I lifted her, her legs wrapping instinctively around my waist as I carried her toward my bedroom.Tomorrow would bring planning, preparation, the heaviness of the mission ahead.But tonight -- tonight belonged to us.

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