Page 49 of An Unexpected Ascension
“Speaking of, it’s been a spell before a woman has graced these barren halls.”
“Only because you wish it that way. My Ada will come home to me soon enough.”
I nod, the spicy liquor blooming against my tongue.
“We will get her back, my friend, and the Heavens will see what treachery they’ve befallen.”
“And for you, Lynx? What might happen after the war? Would you take a lover despite your lack of an accepting heart?”
A set of green eyes taunt me, taking too much room inside my head.
“Maybe not for the heart, but for the company. A good whore to keep me satisfied.”
“Do not bite my head off for this, but perhaps your heart might mend once this is all put to rest. A whore is nothing more than a moment of seed spent. You, my dear Lynx, need a woman to love.”
“You are too soft for this place, Lucifer. I need nothing of the sort and seek it less.”
He did not bring it up again.
Chapter 16
The Angel
The nerve!
My lips burn with the scorching fire Hermes left behind, as if branded by his demonic tongue. Even after I plunged off the cliff into the pool below, I still felt the urge to claw at my mouth, desperate to wipe away every trace of the evil he left behind.
Heaven did very little to subdue the ache between my thighs or quell the rampant swirling inside my belly. I try desperately to forget it all. The way his fingers teased the flesh above the hem of my shorts. The way his lips molded to mine, sparking a painful sting of electricity through me. Gods save me, and the way his face perked with that stunning and infuriatingly beautiful smirk.
I shake those impure thoughts from my head as I pull myself onto the grassy shores. Coming to my feet, I nervously unveil my penance, muttering a prayer that what we did was not seen – that the cave is truly purgatory.
With a whooshing breath, I find my penance seemingly untouched.
There are other caveats to my freedom, but at the very least I can start affording the simple things. I look forward to that the most.
Already dry, I shimmy my way through the bushes and down the trail of the forest toward the market. My mind is in desperate need of distraction.
I spentthe remainder of the day with Sally, offering to fold clothes and organize them for her stand. Folks come by dropping off clothes they no longer cared to have or perhaps clothes they made for the children in exchange for something else.
Her booth was surprisingly busy, and between piling shirts by size and folding pants to form a perfect crease, I assisted with some of the bargains.
Sally explained at one point that when folks die, they do so with whatever they’re wearing at the time. In some cases, clothes are torn to shreds and in others, people arrive as bare as the day they were born, so she created this booth with hopes of helping those that could use it. In Heaven, you don’t find very many people in need of anything, but there are exceptions.
“Well, Briar, I think that’s it for the day. I’m going to close shop and visit a few friends.” She tucks her short grey bob behind her ears before folding the last shirt.
“So, you do leave your stand.” I chuckled, rounding the table to face her.
“What? Did you think I lived here?”
I answer with a shrug.
Those light blue eyes of hers roll to the Gods.
“Dear child. Get out of here! Maybe I’ll see you another day.”
“Have fun tonight.”
She waves goodbye and leaves me to head back to my very bland, very boring house. A part of me believes that when I was alive, I would have loved to walk into my very own apartment and settledown on the couch alone with a glass of wine and a dramatic documentary.
