Angel's Blade (12 page)

Nathaniel snorted. Castle Archangel
was
not
quiet. Not anymore. More angel delegations had come to visit and
declare their loyalty to Gabriel. The halls were slowly filling up with as
pockets of their people came from all over the world to see their new Alpha.
Unfortunately, many of them learned that the new resurgence of their species
wasn’t all good. They suspected demons had slowly been infiltrating the weakest
members of the clans, taking over their bodies and using them to further their
own evil aims. Maion wasn’t the only one who’d been corrupted. One clan had
spoken of a missing daughter. Another had talked of a seemingly happy member
who’d committed suicide. They believed that many of these problems stemmed from
the same demonic cause. Nathaniel sighed as he thought about his best friend.
“At least Raguel has gotten better. It won’t be so bad traveling with him
anymore,” he told his father.

“That’s true. I’m pleased with how
much he’s changed.” He tilted his head. “And I think you’ll be happy here with
your mate, even in the midst of our new difficulties. You belong here.”

“I don’t know, Dad. I can’t help
thinking that there was something I should’ve done earlier to help Maion,”
Nathaniel said.

“There was nothing you could do. I
suspected that something was wrong, but even as his leader I couldn’t tell he’d
been demon-bound.” Orifiel rubbed his face. “If he’d been outright possessed, I’d
have been able to tell, but that was a subtler transformation.”

“I’ve never heard of being
demon-bound.”

Nathaniel’s father looked at him
for a long moment before replying. “To be demon-bound is to be seduced
willingly.” He sighed. “Maion had to have accepted the demon’s presence into
his soul. He wasn’t forcibly possessed. He welcomed the evil.”

Nathaniel sat down, feeling sick. “So
he wanted it.”

Orifiel shrugged. “Maybe not
consciously, but somewhere deep inside him, yes. He wanted the power.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any
better,” Nathaniel said, his grief sharper now.

“I know. And I’m truly sorry that
this happened to your friend, Nathaniel. If I could’ve stopped it, I would
have.”

Nathaniel shrugged and looked away.
His father was a good angel. He knew he would’ve done everything he could if he’d
known about Maion. Across the room, early morning sunlight decorated the old
wood with warmth. It was a stark contrast to the cold night of the fight. Was
it only a week ago that he’d taken Maion’s life? It felt longer.

“Don’t dwell on it. You did what
you had to do,” his father said, walking over to the window. He opened the curtains
wider. “We must rejoice in the light when it is here and remember the dark
times with wisdom.” He turned to his Nathaniel. “You should spend time with
Zeke. Enjoy the beginning of your life together.”

Nathaniel knew his father was
right. “I know.” He forced the memory of Maion’s death out of his mind, at
least for now. “And I will. He’s showing me his favorite spot to fly today.”

“Good.” His father pulled him into
a rough hug. “It’s long past time for you to learn how to fly.”

****

A few hours later, Nathaniel
grinned as he opened his arms wide and soared along the ridgeline, Zeke by his
side. He’d spent his childhood yearning for the skies and his adulthood
reconciling himself to the knowledge that he would never feel the wind like that.
To be here, now, flying with his mate was a gift he would never take for
granted.

“See? It’s all instinct,” Zeke
said, swooping past him on a thermal. It was an unusually warm and sunny day in
late winter. Most of the snow had melted. Beneath them, the brown ground looked
less like a desolate landscape than it did rich earth, ripe with potential.

Unable to verbalize the joy riding
his spine, Nathaniel instead tackled Zeke in midair. They spiraled down until
they managed to synchronize their wings, lofting them skyward. Sunlight flared
around them as they turned, blue skies and light so dizzying Nathaniel wanted
the moment to last forever. Zeke’s body moved strong and hot, in perfect sync
with him. Nathaniel wrapped his arms around his mate, reveling in the way his
cock pressed against his hip.

“Oh God,” Zeke murmured, kissing
along Nathaniel’s jaw.

Nathaniel slid his hands up to Zeke’s
face, rubbing his thumbs along the dark stubble on his cheeks. He brought their
lips together, mouths dueling for control.

“Zeke,” he gasped, hands going for
his mate’s jeans.

“Are you crazy?” Zeke asked, even
as he helped Nathaniel unbutton his pants. “This is insane.” He moaned when his
erection sprang out.

Nathaniel wrapped his hands around
it, wings beating harder. The air was thin up here, but he wasn’t cold. Not
even close. He shoved at his own pants, not caring when they fell to the
ground. His cock bumped against Zeke’s, already wet at the tip.

“If only you could fuck me up here,”
he muttered teasingly, wrapping his fist around them both.

Zeke arched his back, shoving his
hips against him. His dick swelled, rubbing against Nathaniel’s, like hot silk.
“Impossible,” he ground out through clenched teeth.

“Maybe,” Nathaniel said, bringing
his legs up. Zeke’s cock slipped from his grasp, grazing his balls. He was so
damn close. He wriggled around until his back was against Zeke’s front.

“Jesus, Nathaniel, what are you
doing?” Zeke instinctively grabbed his hips, his wings keeping them both aloft.
Nathaniel had to fold his down tightly. Zeke leaned over and put his forehead
between Nathaniel’s shoulder blades. “I can’t hold us both up here for long.”

“We don’t need long,” Nathaniel
said, moving so that Zeke’s cock slotted up against his ass. “Fuck me, come on.”
He laughed when Zeke finally realized that he’d prepared for this. He’s lubed
up on the ground, right before he met Zeke for this outing. Zeke’s prick grazed
his hole, then slid in, nice and easy. Below them, the mountains glowed in the
late afternoon light. Nathaniel didn’t know if he was imagining things, but
everything seemed touched with gold. The air, the cirrus clouds in the
distance, and the long, rolling mountains of their home. Zeke’s hands around
him were warm and strong. When he began to move, Nathaniel cried out. His wings
opened on either side as Zeke pressed himself closer. There was just enough
room for him to help them fly.

“Nathaniel, don’t stop,” Zeke said
into his skin.

Nathaniel had no intention of
stopping. He flew with his mate, the energy racing through them, between them,
and then suddenly, he was climaxing in the middle of the afternoon, in the
middle of the sky. His cock pulsed without anyone touching it, setting off Zeke’s
orgasm. His mate groaned, hands tightening as heat filled Nathaniel’s body.

“That was insane,” Zeke laughed
several minutes later, gently disengaging from Nathaniel.

Nathaniel grinned, looking down at
himself. He was a mess and he didn’t care. “Think we can sneak back into the
castle without anyone noticing?”

Zeke shook his head. “Not a chance.”

“Oh well.” Nathaniel didn’t feel
particularly remorseful. In fact, he felt pretty much the opposite. He wanted
everyone to know that Zeke was his mate. He smiled. “I love you.”

Zeke actually flushed. Nathaniel
grinned wider.

“I love you too,” Zeke said
gruffly. “Can we go home and take a nap now?” Behind him, the sun lit his
slate-grey wings from behind, gilding the edges with gold. He looked gorgeous.

Nathaniel reached out a shaky hand
and stroked down the outside of Zeke’s wings, loving that he had the right to
do this. Utterly grateful that he could fly with his lover, after a lifetime of
believing he was somehow less than angelic. Less than human, even. He knew that
Zeke would love him even if he could never fly again. “Yeah. Let’s go home.

The End

www.erinmleaf.com

Other
Books by Erin M. Leaf:

www.evernightpublishing.com/erin-m-leaf

If
you enjoyed this book, you may also like:

The Dragon’s Lover
by Marie Medina

Claiming Their
Human by Eva Evans

Blind Beauty by
Elyzabeth
M.
VaLey

Evernight
Publishing

www.evernightpublishing.com