Page 47 of Guarded
“Faster than flying, that’s for sure.” He gave a small shudder. “Do angels get thrown off cliffs to teach them how to use their wings?”
I gaped at him in horror. “Fuck no. That’s barbaric. Who would do that to a child?”
There was no humour in the smile Jeremiah gave me. “Demons.”
He went to withdraw his hand, but I tightened my grip to stop him, and without giving it any thought, I laced my fingers through his. For the first time since the Parthenon, I felt at peace. “I’m sorry you went through that, Jeremiah.”
“Don’t be.” His voice was hoarser than earlier, eyes fixed on our interlocked fingers. “If you start apologising for everything I experienced, we’ll never have time to discuss anything else.”
God, how that made my chest ache. Made me want to steal Jeremiah away and keep him safe from everything that could ever hurt him.
Strangely, it was that thought that brought me back to reality. That behaviour was exactly what he didn’t want. Jeremiah prized his freedom over everything else.
I’d be doing him a dishonour by treating him that way.
“Where are we going?” I asked. I should have pulled my hand free. I knew that.
But I didn’t.
“Just up here.” Jeremiah inclined his head and we walked in that direction. “I may have asked for a little advice for today.”
“Oh?”
“Nox wasn’t much help,” he said as he stopped in front of a familiar shopfront, “but he asked the others and Ezekiel said you’d like this.”
I stared up at the art gallery. The butterflies were back, spilling outwards from my stomach until my whole body was tingling.
“I thought maybe we could go in and choose a few pieces for your suite at the compound,” he continued. “Butif you don’t think that’s a good idea, we can go somewhere else.”
There was so much hope shining in his eyes that it was almost blinding. “Do you like art?”
He chewed on his lip for a moment. I had to physically stop myself from pulling it out from between his teeth and soothing it with my mouth. “I’m not sure, to be honest. It’s not like Hell has much on display. Nothing you want to spend time looking at, anyway.”
I flinched at that. It was all too easy to imagine the horrors Lucifer would choose to adorn his walls with.
“I’d like to learn about it though,” he said earnestly. “If you don’t mind teaching me?”
“Sure,” I said slowly. “But why? You might not even like it.”
“Oh, I will.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because you do,” he said simply. “If you like it, I will too.”
Hope. Excitement. Lust. They swelled within me until I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t look at anything except the beautiful demon before me.“It’s that easy?”
His eyes softened. “It is if we let it be.”
Chapter 13
Noah
Three hours later, we left the gallery several hundred pounds lighter.
The whole time we’d browsed, I’d waited for Jeremiah to show some signs of boredom. For a yawn or him checking his phone.
But there was nothing.
