Page 52 of Wicked Angel
“They're here because they choose to be,” he reminded me. “Because they believe in you. In what we're fighting for.”
I turned to face him, taking in the strong lines of his face, the depth in his dark eyes. Despite everything—the trauma of my trial in the Reflecting Pool, his transformation in the forest, the looming danger of tomorrow's mission—I found myself drawing strength from his unwavering presence.
“And you?” I asked softly. “After what happened yesterday, are you sure you want to be part of this? No one would blame you if you wanted to sit this one out.”
His expression hardened. “I'm not leaving your side, Ariella. Not tomorrow, not ever. Whatever happens in Elysium, we face it together.”
The fierce conviction in his voice scattered my doubts, at least for the moment. “Together,” I echoed, the word feeling like a promise, a vow.
* * *
The apartment wasquiet when we returned, the silence heavy with anticipation for the morning to come. I moved around the kitchen, going through the motions of preparing a simple meal neither of us would probably eat, my mind racing with thoughts of tomorrow.
Levi watched me from the doorway, his gaze thoughtful. “You should try to get some sleep,” he suggested. “Dawn comes early.”
“I don't think I could sleep if I tried,” I admitted, abandoning the pretense of cooking. “Every time I close my eyes, I see…”
I didn't need to finish the sentence. He knew—the Reflecting Pool, the trap at the eastern gate, my family in Rhodes's hands. The nightmares waiting to claim me.
“Come here,” he said softly, holding out his hand.
I went to him without hesitation, letting him pull me against his chest, his arms encircling me with careful strength. We stood like that for a long moment, drawing comfort from each other's warmth, from the steady rhythm of our heartbeats.
“This might be our last night,” I whispered against his shirt, giving voice to the fear that had been haunting me since we'd made our plans. “If something goes wrong tomorrow…”
“Don't,” he murmured, his lips brushing against my hair. “Don't think about that.”
“I can't help it.” I pulled back just enough to look up at him, to see the emotion in his eyes that he so rarely allowed to show. “There's so much at stake, so many ways this could go wrong. And I can't stop thinking about how I might never get the chance to?—”
He cut me off with a kiss, his lips capturing mine with gentle insistence. I melted into him, my arms sliding up to wrap around his neck as the kiss deepened, became something hungrier, more desperate.
“Then let's make tonight count,” he breathed against my mouth. “Let's forget about tomorrow, about Rhodes, about everything but us. Just for a little while.”
His hands moved to my waist, drawing me closer, and I went willingly, craving the solid reality of him against me. Whatever tomorrow brought—victory or defeat, life or death—tonight we had this. Each other. This moment stolen from the chaos swirling around us.
Levi lifted me easily, my legs wrapping around his waist as he carried me through the apartment toward the bedroom. His lips never left mine, the kiss growing more heated, more urgent with each step.
He dropped me on the bed, his body still tangled with mine as I pulled off his shirt, barely breaking our frantic kisses.
As my shirt and bra came off, our bodies pressed together, I didn’t know where I began and he ended, I just knew I needed him.
His lips trailed down to the hollow of my breast and then my stomach as he scooted to the end of the bed, tugging my jeans and underwear off in one fell swoop so I lay naked, vulnerable beneath him.
He dipped his head down, his tongue flattening against my center as he kept his gaze locked on mine.
So many thoughts ran through my mind.
How I wanted to tell him how I felt.
We both knew we might not have much time, and this could be the last time to say it.
And yet when my body bent to his will, letting him taste me, all I could do was moan his name, my eyes sliding closed as I pressed my head to the pillow, relishing in the feel of his mouth on my sensitive nub.
With his hands pressed to my thighs, pinning me down, I should have felt constricted. My body going into fight mode.
But instead, I melted into his touch, feeling safe for the first time in a long time. This was where I belonged. With him. Together in his arms.
All the things I wanted to say, I knew I couldn’t say out loud, so I poured them into my body, letting myself feel all of him as my body shuddered and I whimpered, riding out my orgasm on his awaiting tongue.
