Page 113 of Even Angels fall
She loves when I talk dirty to her and if I start now, more of the stuff that is on my desk is going to end up on the ground. I know that for sure.
“Anyway,” she starts again, “you need to send your guys to visit castles inla Loire.The ones that are inside cities. That narrows it down a bit more. I went to see Luc right before coming here. He’s working on a list already.”
That’s what I like about Angélique. She doesn’t just ask what she can do to help; she takes charge even if she’s still trying to find exactly where she fits in all my life.
“You could have ordered them to go, you know…” I tell her as I toy with the bottom of her shirt.
I have no idea when my hands started traveling up her body, though, but the harsh intake of air I can hear stops me.
“Do you truly mean that?” she asks in a low voice. It still sounds strong, but I can hear the hesitation in her words, anyway.
My wife is a badass, but she’s not used to being the one in command.
I might be a possessive asshole, but the beast inside of me agrees with the man. She was supposed to be nothing when that marriage started, but all I want now is for her to be my equal.
“I married you. Everything that is mine is yours. My men, my house, my body and even my heart.”
Maybe I’m not just starting to fall in love with my wife.
I’m an idiot.
I know I’m in love with my wife, and if those last words don’t give me away, I don’t know what would.
77
Angélique
I’m taken aback by Elhyor’s words. I don’t know if he realizes what they mean to me, but it’s like he reached into my heart and found exactly what I would never ask and still gave it to me.
But it’s more than that.
Did he just offer his heart to me at the same time as his army and his body?
I must have heard him wrong. It didn’t sound like the grumpy dragon I’ve grown to know so far.
I’m pretty sure I imagined that last part. And if so… does that mean I’d like for it to be real?
“Pierre, can you get men ready? Angélique has a mission for them.”
Elhyor’s voice drew Angélique away from her thoughts.
“How many and where to go?” Pierre asks through the holo that is resting on the desk.
I expect Elhyor to answer Pierre—acting like the second in the absence of Brice—directly, but I’m met with pointed silence andwhen I look at Elhyor’s face, I can see that he is waiting for something.
He’s waiting for me.
He’s waiting because he wants me to be the one to say what the mission is, and it’s one thing to say that I could have commanded the men, but it’s another altogether to show me it’s true.
“Pierre? It’s Angélique. Luc should already have a list of castles to visit. Send teams of two in their shifted forms there. It’s a recon mission only. No one tries anything. They go in, they search everything and then they either report or come back, but they don’t try anything funny.”
“Okay,” Pierre says through the holo. “Any idea how long we let them search?”
“A couple days just to be sure that we don’t miss any movement,” I start. “If there are dungeons, there are going to be guards, too. So, it’s going to be easy to spot. If there are guards, that might be a good thing if the team stays a bit longer so they can find out where the dungeons are.”
“Got it,” Pierre answers, and then the line goes dead.
“It feels good, right?” Elhyor asks with a glint in his eyes that I don’t recognize. It doesn’t deter from the fact I know exactly what he means, but instead of answering I open my legs, grab his shirt with both hands and pull him to me.
