Page 15 of Descent of Angels

The woman was asleep in moments. She must have been completely exhausted. Even in the dim light of the barn, I could see the dark circles under her eyes and the even darker bruises on her neck. Ade and Eleth had filled Jophiel and me in on their suspicions. I didn’t remember meeting her father, but I hadn’t exactly been in the best condition when they’d carried me up here. Maybe that was a good thing.

I’d been furious at my comrades. They should have listened to me. With what was coming for us, they should have left me and fled. We’d been running for weeks, and I was absolutely livid they’d risked their freedom and their lives when I had been so close to death—not to mention dragging Dylan into it as well. They’d made her a target, all to save me, and I was so unbelievably grateful that they had. The pain had been all consuming, sweeping through me like a cold fire that burned my body from the inside, trapping me in semi-consciousness where I could hear and feel everything that went on around me, but had been unable to respond or react. Instead, I had listened to her voice, which was soft, low, and gentle as she stubbornly refused to let me die. I had resolved to fight with every inch of my being to return to life just so I could look upon her face. Now I couldn’t take my eyes off it.

Creamy clear skin, warm chocolate brown eyes and hair to match, and dark eyelashes that lay thick on her cheeks, which were flushed with the warmth of being between myself and Ade. His arms were wrapped protectively around her, holding her close to him. I shook my head slightly. I had never seen him like this. We’d all had crushes, even yearning for people we’d met across the millennia, but we all knew not to touch. Dylan seemed like some kind of magnet though. She drew us all in and filled us with the strongest desire to hold, protect, and defend. That wasn’t the only desire she filled me with however.

Her head lay on my chest, and her fingers curled into the scattering of red hair across my body. The touch of her hand burned my skin in a way that set my whole body aflame for her. She lay on her side with Ade curled up behind her, but her leg had wrapped around mine, and her body was pressed against my side. My cock was hard as hell under my sweatpants, and I had never had the urge as strong as I did now to reach down and relieve my desire. I reminded myself it was a sin over and over again. Self-abuse, that was what we’d been taught, but it was painfully uncomfortable, and I admitted to myself that if I was prepared to sin by falling into lust, I’d rather do it with the woman beside me impaled on my cock as I made her scream my name. I was so close to her, all I had to do was lower my head and I could taste those soft pink lips... I dragged my head to the side, trying to put the thought out of my mind before I did something rash, and found Jophiel watching me.

“What?” I asked grumpily.

Jophiel grinned. “I was actually really jealous to begin with, but now I’m thinking you might not be totally comfortable with your current position.” His eyes dropped to my crotch, and his grin widened. “Naughty bastard.”

“Totally worth it,” I muttered.

He rolled his eyes. “I figured. You don’t want to swap then?”

I raised my eyebrows. “I thought you were on guard to make sure I didn’t die?”

Jophiel shrugged. “Well, yeah, but if you did die and I got to spend all night with her wrapped around me, then it’s totally worth it, like you said.”

I let out a short laugh, cutting it short as I felt Dylan stir. She snuggled closer to me, and I felt her breath on my neck. I closed my eyes then grinned as I heard a quiet, “Fuck,” from Ade.

I opened my eyes to find him awake, brushing away a lock of hair that had fallen over Dylan’s face.

“Something wrong?” I questioned quietly.

“No, it’s just... she... keeps moving and um...” He shifted uncomfortably, and I realized what he was getting at.

“And she’s rubbing up against your raging hard-on?” I surmised with a grin. Jophiel snorted, and Ade glared at me over the top of her head.

“Must you be so crude? But yes,” he admitted, closing his eyes.

“Maybe now’s the ideal time to discuss the elephant in the room,” Jophiel suggested.

Ade opened his eyes. “What do you mean?”

Jophiel rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, Ade. If we make the decision, you have to admit there are certain... attractions on the other side.”

“No,” Ade replied. “I wouldn’t allow it even if we—”

“You wouldn’tallowit?” I argued. “We’d be free of any kind of military structure if we were to fall. It wouldn’t matter what you decided to allow.”

Ade narrowed his eyes. “Until—if we make the decision to fall, I am still your commander, so I’d appreciate your respect. I meant we shouldn’t base our decision on an attraction to a human woman we met less than forty-eight hours ago. We need to be logical about this.”

Jophiel reached over and shook Eleth awake. Due to thousands of years of training, he was awake in an instant.

“What is it? Attack?”

“No,” Jophiel assured him, passing him a cup of coffee. “We’re talking about... trying to decide... Ade thinks we can’t take Dylan into account because we need to be logical.”

Eleth took a sip of coffee and regarded our positions in the straw, running his eyes over Dylan’s body. “Fuck logical.”

My mouth fell open, and then I laughed. Eleth shrugged.

“Fuck logical,” he repeated. “This isn’t a logical decision, Ade, it can’t be. We deserted the host because what we were being ordered to do didn’t sit right with us. It didn’t feel right. We’re going on gut instinct here, Ade, not logic. Logic would have us bowing and scraping to Gabriel and burning down buildings with humans trapped inside with no remorse as long as we took out a few hellions along the way. Feelings have led us here, and to be honest, I feel much more comfortable following them than orders right now.”

“He’s not wrong,” Jophiel agreed. “And if we’re talking about feelings, then surely Dylan should be part of that. I mean, can anyone here honestly say they don’t have feelings for her beyond our normal job of caring for and protecting humans?”

“I think my feelings for her are fairly evident,” I remarked dryly, gesturing toward the tent in my sweatpants. It wasn’t quite as pronounced now thankfully, but it was still visible.

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