Angel in Chains (The Fallen #3)(99)

Humans.

Most Other thought humans were weak. Prey. Little more than food . . . or toys to play with when boredom struck.

They were wrong. Humans were the strongest beings to walk this earth.

After all, they were the ones who could break angels, and one human woman—just one—had brought a Fallen to his knees.

He tucked the bullets into his pockets. He would keep them close, because Azrael and Sam weren’t the only Fallen with darkness in them. So many more . . .

Angels were falling more often these days. Giving in to temptation.

Was a war really coming? He didn’t know, but, just in case, he’d be ready.

And he’d make sure hell kept waiting.





Dawn came. The faint light slipped through the blinds and spilled onto Jade’s bed. She stretched slowly but then her body stiffened as she realized— I’m in my bed.

She really was back in her own bed. She didn’t have to be scared anymore. Didn’t have to keep running. Keep glancing over her shoulder.

It was over.

Jade looked down at her shoulder. Only a thin, red line remained to show where she’d been shot. The bullet had burned like fire—maybe it had been—but her shoulder didn’t even ache now.

Her head turned to the right. Az lay beside her. He was fully clothed while she was naked. She was under the covers. He was on top.

She frowned at that. Hardly acceptable behavior.

Jade pushed up to better see him. His lashes cast deep shadows beneath his eyes. She could actually see his eyes moving behind his closed lids. Moving quickly.

What was her Fallen dreaming about?

A smile lifted her mouth as she leaned toward him. She’d kiss him and find out— “No!” The snarl burst from him and froze her. “Jade, no!” His hands fisted in the bedcovers and deep lines suddenly bracketed his mouth. “Don’t leave me . . .” A lost whisper.

Oh, no. This wouldn’t do. Jade put her hands on either side of his face. “Az, wake up.”

He tried to pull away from her.

“Az, it’s okay.” She raised her voice even as she leaned closer to him. “I’m right here.” Her lips feathered over his. “Everything’s okay.”

He gasped beneath her mouth, and in the next instant, his hands were curling tight around her. His tongue pushed inside her mouth, and he kissed her with a wild desperation that made her heart race in her chest.

Her legs straddled his hips, and there was no missing the growing arousal pressing against her.

When her head lifted from his, her breath was ragged and her sex was wet. “Bad . . . ah . . . bad dream?” Jade managed to ask in a voice gone husky with need.

His eyes glittered at her. “The worst thing I can imagine.”

Her right hand slid down his chest and pressed over his heart. “Want me to help you forget it?”

“I won’t ever forget it.”

She frowned at him. “Az?”

His gaze searched hers. “Did you mean it?”

Her knees tightened around him. “Um . . . I’m not sure that I’m following you.”

“You said you loved me. Back at Sunrise. I heard you.”

Right. That. She straightened her shoulders. Hard to look dignified when you were sitting astride an angel. “You said you loved me, too.” Maybe it had been the adrenaline talking. They’d been in a life-or-death situation. Maybe . . .

Please love me. Her lips pressed together so that she wouldn’t let the words escape.

“I did.” His voice was deep, rumbling.

“And did you mean it?” Wait. Why was she trying to push this back on him? Pull up those big girl panties. “No, just . . .” She exhaled. “Yes. I meant what I said. I love you, Az.” She’d told two men that she loved them in her life.

One had burned and was probably in hell.

As for the other—she wanted Az to stay with her. Forever.

“Can you have a life with me?” She didn’t know how this worked. Hadn’t ever even thought this far ahead. She’d tumbled fast and hard for him, and now he was all that she could see when she imagined her future.

But an angel . . . and her?

“I can’t have a life without you.” His quiet words seemed to sink right into her heart. “You are what makes me whole in this world.” His fingers curled around her hips. “When I’m with you, I want to be more than a monster that others fear.”

“You aren’t a monster.” She’d kick the ass of anyone who said so. “You’re strong. Brave.”

But sadness had slipped over his face. “One day,” he said quietly, “I’ll prove I’m good enough for you.”

No, he didn’t understand. “You don’t have to prove a thing to me.” She loved him just as he was.

The sadness didn’t leave his eyes. She didn’t want him to look that way. It was time for him to be happy. The guy deserved some happiness.

“Do you love me, Az?” Jade asked him.

“I didn’t know what love was until I found you.”

Oh. Okay. That was—great. Jade blinked quickly because her eyes had just gotten all misty on her.

“It ripped into me,” he said as he stared deeply into her misty eyes. “Tore me apart on the inside.”