Page 157 of The Star's Sword

“I know,” I said. “Like I was being stoned one moment and then we were here, the world saved.” I cocked my head. “Do you think it’s really saved though?”

“I think there is a lot more work to do,” Samael said. “But I think in a world where there is unchecked power, there isn’t even a chance to do that work. Now everyone will have to work together. Some things won’t change much, like the Drorren lands. Demon settlements won’t change much, except that demon parents will sleep a lot sounder, and hug their kids a lot tighter, once they know no ninth realm celestial can come around.” He smiled. “If I had heard such a thing when I was young, I’d have done cartwheels.”

I smiled, trying to imagine that.

He turned me in his arms, kissing my forehead, then my ear, then my cheek, then my neck, gently, softly moving over each part of me. My body came alive in his arms as I felt him just needing to check me over, embrace me where he could.

As his lips found my cleavage, I pulled back, already panting. “We just saved the world, and you want this already?”

He pulled me back in possessively. “Of course I do. More than ever. Because from now on there is no guilt. No one waiting while I’m with you. Nothing I’m taking you away from.” He hugged me tight again, lifting me off the ground and turning in a circle. “It’s the best feeling in the world, knowing you’re all mine now.”

“After everything you’ve given up, after how hard you’ve fought, you deserve everything,” I said.

“So do you.” He pushed hair back off my forehead. “You were willing to give me up to do the right thing. So I’m going to make sure you have the best life ever from here on out.”

I looked up at him. “Speaking of that, what do you want to do now? We’ll need to get jobs, right?”

Samael shook his head. “We can do what we want. There will still be rogues to take down, and celestials from eighth and seventh realms that weren’t in the sky realms during the fight. Slayers will still be needed.” He grinned.

“You know, I think I’m down to be a slayer,” I said. “After trying diplomacy, cutting off heads for a living seems incredibly simple.” I looked out the window. “And I’d like to travel, at least a little.”

“Me too,” he said. “That would be nice. Just go where we want to go and see what we want to see.”

I nodded.

“Will you ever want to go see your parents in the havens?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Absolutely not.” We hadn’t gone to see them while training because visiting the celestial realms was a liability.

But I had no desire to ever see them again. After all, if they had it their way, I would have died at the stoning, where they had stones in their hands, so I figured they could just consider me dead anyway.

“It’s just us then,” he said. “Us and our friends.”

I nodded.

“I can’t believe they all gave up limbs for me,” Sam said, letting me go to sit on the edge of the bed, guilt and wonder filling his expression.

“They did what they wanted,” I said. “Because those losses seemed small compared to losing you. Everyone, even those who didn’t give limbs, fought to get to you.”

“It’s just so odd,” Samael said. “To have so many good friends. Everyone used to hate me, other than Cayne and Simon.” His brow furrowed. “It’s odd to mean so much to others.”

I climbed onto his lap, straddling him so I could look right into his eyes. Gods, I loved his eyes. Any color, any shape, as long as they were his.

But the beautiful rose-red irises with a ring of gold at the center were particularly beautiful, because those were the ones I was looking into now.

The ones that showed he was alive.

“You mean everything to me, and so much to so many of us,” I said. I raised my hand, looking down at my ring with the ruby in the center. “We need to make another one of these with my blood for you.”

He nodded. “I planned on it, but didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”

He began to kiss down my neck again, and despite everything we’d gone through, I felt my body warm with anticipation, ready to bond with him. Tingles of pleasure touched wherever he kissed, and he gently began to move my clothing aside.

I pushed his aside as well, as we moved back onto the bed, touching, kissing, just grateful and eager because we were still here, alive, together, and that was the best thought ever.

Every part of his body my hand grazed, I felt joy well in me. I moved over his bicep and up to his chest, where I could feel the beating of his heart. I lowered my cheek to rest against it for a second, just wanting to savor that sound.

He let me for a moment, and then his hand wound dominantly in my hair and he raised my head up to kiss me, making me moan and melt as he rolled us over so that he was on top. Then he kissed me some more, bringing his hand down between my legs to gently stroke where I was already sensitive and aching.

---