Repent in Love (13 page)

I didn’t lie. I never had time to tell you. I didn’t
understand what happened myself.
She heard his chuckle.
I don’t mesh
every day. It’s once in a lifetime, honey, and I won’t lose you.

What should I do?

Tell them I have the ties
.

“Uri has the ties.”

Marmaroth’s teeth grated loudly behind her.

Michael’s hand flashed up, indicating silence. “Where is
he?”

Tell them.

“In the Valley of Elah.”

“Son of a bitch.” Ramiel was either crazy or had a death
wish. His laughter filled the room. Blue lights bounced from every surface.

Michael’s eyes were steely glints as he twisted his head to
peer past Morta. “You find this humorous?”

Clearing his throat, Marmaroth asked, “How did you get the
ties?” Her shirt billowed through the open window like a black cloud and
floated down on Michael’s desk. It no longer glinted with silver threads. “You
left that in my desert domain,” Marmaroth growled. “No one can enter there
without my permission.”

“Guess you’re wrong, buddy.” Ramiel chuckled.

“The firebird,” Morta whispered.

“What?” The general’s brow furrowed.

“
Son of a bitch!”

“For crying out loud, Ram, can’t you say something else?”
Michael tipped his chair over when he stood and strode around the desk. “You’re
all beginning to piss me off.”

“Hey, that one is Luke’s problem. I told you to recruit him
to our side.”

“Ahh, the beastly vampyre. I thought he was being watched?”

“I kind of think he’s beyond being watched at this point.”
Ram’s smile disappeared as he stroked his chin. He moved to look out the
window. “Perhaps that would be a swell new job for the Fate handler. He sure
isn’t doing his current assignment well. The grass is still smoldering over at
Decima’s palace, by the way.” Lightning left a mark in front of the Fate’s
home.

“Damn you, Ram.” Marmaroth flew through the air and knocked
Morta sideways in an attempt to reach Ramiel. A hurricane force of air gusted
through the window and sent Marmaroth flying back on his ass into the chair
he’d vacated. The sky grew gray and thunder boomed overhead. Evidently God
wasn’t finished here.

“Enough,” Michael shouted.

Morta’s chest rose and fell with each breath of air she
sucked in. The room stank with testosterone
. Shit, can this get any worse?
The
snortin her head didn’t belong to Uriel.

Only if your boyfriend decides to show up.

Ramiel?
Now Uri was back in her head.

Yeah. You didn’t think you could hide from hope, did you?
We work hand in hand, man.

If they harm her or the boy, Ram, I’ll tear their world
apart.
Uri’s words sent a shiver down Morta’s spine.

Stay put. Morta will be safe with Yael.

A deep sigh reverberated around the walls. “None of this has
gone unnoticed. For now we have a reprieve. Marmaroth, go home and wait.”
Michael’s eyes darkened when he turned to Ram. “I think I know where you’re
going. And Morta, I believe you’re paying a visit to Yael?”

“Uhh, yes.” Not sure she could handle flashing anywhere
right now, Morta backed slowly toward the open door. Before she passed through,
Ramiel skittered by in a blaze of blue light followed by his derisive laughter.
Her body shuddered at the sound.

He knew what she’d guessed at.

Michael had been in their heads the whole time.

Yael greeted her at the gates of her and Ram’s domain with a
serene smile on her lips. “Men are like children. Let’s walk by the lake.”

“I’m not sure why I’m here.”

“Because you’ll be safe. Samael won’t come uninvited to
Ramiel’s domain.”

“What will happen to Uri?”

“That’s up to the Father, and he’ll make the right decision.
He always has.”

She glanced at Yael. “His scar is gone. Do you know what
that means?”

“No. I don’t think it will do any of us any good to guess at
it.”

Stopping to gaze across the water, Morta stated flatly. “I
love him, Yael. I don’t want to live without him.”

Yael patted her shoulder and they walked in silence for a
distance.

Mort had given lots of thought to life lately. She had never
questioned the Father’s plan for her life or the souls she carried to Him.
People around the world prayed for forgiveness and repented for their sins
every second of every day. They were filled with hope and protected from vile
creatures that could harm them. These creatures were a part of the world too.
Did they have His blessing also?

“Yes, he cares for every living organism and has a plan for
them all.”

“You read my mind so easily.”

With Uri’s power you can read mine if you try.

“I never thought of it. It seems like such an invasion of
privacy.”

Yael spoke aloud. “I won’t promise not to read yours if I
feel it necessary.”

“Fair enough.”

“You seem much closer to God than I am. Does he allow
do-overs?” Mort stopped and stared straight at Yael. “I want the child to go
home to his parents. I want him to have a chance at life.” Her head bowed.
“Maybe just this once.”

“Anything is possible.”

Hearing the laughter of children, Morta turned to see Jayel
running across the sand. The specter of the boy trundled along behind her. He
looked so happy. Another larger shadowy figure followed in their wake. “Who…”

“Don’t ask. I will only tell you it involves Gabriel and
Lucifer creating those damn vampyres who in turn created their own
monsters—bloodthirsty animals who can walk as men on Earth. They will answer
for that one.” A soft sigh escaped Yael’s lips. “He is the son of the prophet,
Ezekiel. I hope they find love as we have.”

Morta turned to face her and planted a soft kiss on Yael’s
cheek. “Thank you.”

Melding with the atmosphere, Morta headed for Uri’s domain.

Whatever happened, she was ready for it.

“You guys don’t give up do you?” Samael’s scythe thudded to
the ground as he plopped down on the grassy knoll beside Uri and Ram. “But it’s
good to see you together again. Sort of like the old days.”

Uri gazed across the lake at nothing in particular. “In the
old days we understood what we did and why. How did things change so much?”

“Because the world changes.” Sam lay back with his hands
laced behind his head and chewed on a blade of grass. “It’s all part of the
plan, you know.”

Ramiel burst into laughter and a flock of birds twittered
from a nearby copse of trees. Uri glanced sideways and laughter sputtered from
him too.

“What’s so fucking funny?” Sam asked.

“We were picturing Death in love.” Uri’s body shook with
mirth.

“Oh. Hell. No. You can get that little clip of video out of
your pea-sized brains right now.” Sam sat up hunching his shoulders with a
shudder. “Unlike you bastards, I don’t have a masochistic bone in my body.”

Uri stopped shaking. “It does hurt like hell sometimes.”

“Yeah, it does.” Ram chimed in.

The Grim Reaper flipped from the ground and his tool of
death slipped easily into his hand. “Well, gotta go gather souls and there’s a
football game on later.” His eyes glazed over. “Think I’ll grab that new
bigger, better Sanyo widescreen I’ve had my eye on.”

He turned to leave and the tip of his scythe hooked into
Uri’s left hip. “Ouch, you asshole, watch it with that thing.” Uri flew up,
rubbing the side of his butt. “You’re a clumsy fucker.”

Sam chuckled, “Thought you two were into pain. By the way, I
miss that ugly scar on your face. It gave you character.” His look turned
thoughtful and his eyes darkened. “Uri, I’ll see you at midnight.”

“What?” Glaring at Sam, he pulled at the seam of his slacks
which had grown slick from the blood seeping through.

“Midnight, brother. It ends then.” A shower of sparks wafted
to the ground where Sam had stood.

He swiveled around to look at Ram still seated in the grass.
“So, guess that’s it, huh?”

“I’ll be watching your back, man.”

“Thanks, Ram. I think I’ll head home. Morta’s waiting.”

Ram stood and faced him with hooded eyes. “Hold her tight.
And, Uri—”

“Yeah?”

“Tell her you love her—it hurts less that way.”

Uri blinked, and the angel of hope was gone. Sunlight
shimmered around his trembling body.

“Wish you’d stop the filling-me-with-hope crap.”

Screw you.

Uriel smiled and headed to the only place in the world he
wanted to be. Beside Morta.

“Hey.” He waited just inside the door for her to turn. Uri
wanted to see her beautiful eyes.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too.”

Long strides carried him across the room and nothing could
stem his joy when she jumped into his arms.

“Make love to me,” Morta purred.

“Forever, baby.”

His heart somersaulted when he gazed at the shadow of sorrow
in her eyes. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I need you to understand about Osce.”

“He doesn’t matter.”

“He’s been a wonderful friend and I don’t want to lose him.”

“Don’t ruin this moment.”

Her bare feet slapped lightly on the floor when she dropped
from his arms and returned to the seat he’d found her in. “It matters to me.”

Uri was tired and the chair creaked when his body settled
heavily into it. “Talk to me.”

“Where’s Marcan?”

“Only his father knows. I set him free.” Uri touched his
face. “I lost my giant-hunting radar, remember.” His hip throbbed a bit and he
absently rubbed it to soothe the pain.

“I’m glad you released him.”

“So am I. Babysitting Nephilim is a pain in the ass.” His
head hit the back of the seat and his hands latched on to the arms. His
knuckles were white from the grip he had on the chair. The idea that Osce had
ever touched her burned a hole through his heart. Uri closed his eyes, kicked
his shoes off and crossed his ankles. “This could be real easy.”

“What do you mean?”

“Open your mind and let me in so we can get this over with.”

“No, I could have done that a long time ago. I want you to
hear me, see me.”

“Fine.” Muscles jumped in his stomach and his jaw twitched.
Relax
.
His nostrils flared with each indrawn breath. “And I could have taken the
information a long time ago. I didn’t.” He opened his eyes and stared at her.
“Loving you for so long and being unable to have you hurt enough without adding
to it.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Morta, talk or forget it.” He didn’t want to hear
this, didn’t want to know.

“It was just one kiss and it was my fault, not his. I
intended to use him to try and forget you. You walked into the room and found
me in his arms but nothing else happened, Uri.” Lowering her head she examined
her fingernails. “There were others for me. But never Osce.” Morta’s
tear-filled eyes rose to meet his. “He’s been there for me to talk to, as a
shoulder to lean on.” Her chin lifted higher, “After you mentally fucked me in
Michael’s office, no one else ever touched me.”

“Mort…”

“Now do you want to see in my mind?” Her lips trembled.
“Look at what I’ve lived with all these years.”

She slammed into him with a kaleidoscope of pictures, all
with long icy blonde hair. Each one tall and slender—the spitting image of her.
Uri’s heart pounded so hard and loud that surely she heard it. Blood skidded to
a halt in his veins and the searing pain was unbearable. Years of pain.

Hers.

Tears washed down his face as words sputtered from his
mouth. “I’m so fucking sorry.” Struggling from the seat, he fell to his knees
in front of her. “You were so cruel and cold. You never let me in except to
play games with me. All I ever wanted was you. I tried to find you over and over,
but not one of them had your beautiful eyes or your heart. None of them touched
my soul the way you did.” Burying his head in her lap, he begged, “Please
forgive me, Morta. I love you. I’ve always loved only you.”

“And through it all—I never stopped loving you.” She ran her
fingers through his hair and held him pressed against her thighs.

She removed their clothes and whisked them to bed in his
room. Kneeling beside him, Mort rolled him onto his belly. Her soft hands
kneaded his back and pushed at his thighs. Her sure touch moved down his calves
and plied and stretched his toes. Every inch of his body was ministered to.

His head bowed from the pillow when he felt a cool liquid
drip down his spine. “Jesus, what are you doing?”

“Loving you.”

The oil heated up and tingled on his skin. Slender fingers
poked and prodded every sore muscle, lulling him into a trance. He couldn’t pry
his eyes open and his arms wouldn’t move. “You found my potion,” he sighed.

“Yes.” She continued to cover his body with soft, firm
touches.

“Nice,” he moaned against the pillow. When a hand moved
between his legs and massaged his balls, Uri grunted and wriggled. “Don’t stop,
baby.” His cock bulged between his body and the mattress.

Sliding one finger into the crease of his ass, Mort stopped
to play at his anus and it ignited a fire that only she would be able to
extinguish. When he felt the tip slip into the tight hole, he ground his hips
farther into the bed. Pre-cum slipped from his erection, wetting the sheet
beneath him.

Uri’s body jerked out of control when she pushed all the way
inside. His breath hitched in his throat when she pulled out and slid back in.
Over and over she invaded his dark passage, reaching for the gland that would
send him over the edge. Each time she touched it, his hips rose off the
mattress, giving her a better angle to satisfy him.

Grunts rolled from his lips and he jutted his ass back to
get more and more.

“Shit, Mort, you’re going to make me come.”

“Do it, come for me so I can taste you.”

“You want to taste it, baby, then take it.”

He mustered every ounce of strength he had left to pull away
from her and turn over. Raising his knees and parting his legs, he grasped his
cock and pulled on it to tease her.

Mort smiled and moved between his thighs. “Keep doing that.”
She began to roll and pinch the hard buds of her nipples. Hair draped over his
erection when she threw her head forward. It tangled around his hand as he
stroked his hardness up and down.

“Taste it, baby,” he pleaded.

She shook her hair out of the way and leaned over him. Her
tongue flicked out and nudged the crown of his cock. Leaning down even more,
she circled the tip and lapped at the tender ridge of skin surrounding the cap.

“Yes, yes,” he groaned forcing his hips up. “More, suck it.”
Air hissed from his mouth when her lips covered the head of his penis.

Mort swallowed it all. Uri watched her cheeks sink in when
she pulled up until she held only the head in her mouth. Plunging back down,
she took all of him again. Up and down, over and over, she took his cock. Each
time she drew up, his hips rose from the mattress, not wanting her mouth to let
him go.

Her sultry purple gaze over the flared top of his cock was
Uri’s undoing. “Stop.” He tensed his body, hoping to suspend the urge to come
in her mouth. The vixen smiled at him and latched back on to his knob and
sucked him so deep her lips touched his nuts.

“Damn it,” he bellowed as he pulled from her mouth, grasped
her waist and raised her, flipping her onto her back.

Uri wedged her knees apart, and with one hand he placed the
head of his shaft at the entrance to her channel. With one sharp push, he
entered her.

“Ooh, yes.”

With his hands placed on either side of her head, Uri began
to move inside her with long strokes. He pushed his cock in and out so fast, so
hard Morta grunted each time he slammed into her.

“You’re all I’ll ever need, baby,” he whispered. Uri claimed
her, made her his, with each shove inside her hot pussy. “Mine, all mine.”

“Take me, Uri.” She arched up and gave him more and more. “Take
everything I have.”

He couldn’t get enough as he ground into her pelvis. In and
out, he took what was his, and gave her everything.

Let me in, let me feel what you feel.

Morta opened her mind and joined him in a way only angels
could be together.

They meshed into one being—felt what each other felt.

Her body shuddered beneath him as her climax climbed from
deep inside. Sound gathered in her throat and escaped in one long, drawn-out
moan as he continued to stroke in and out of her canal. Joined with her
mentally, he reveled in the feeling of her orgasm sliding through her channel
and washing over his cock.

It wasn’t enough. Uri wanted, needed, more.

He rolled to his back, carrying Morta with him, and never
losing contact, she now sat astride his hips.

Uri cupped her breasts and played with her peaks, pinching
and working them with his fingers. He rubbed his palm across the nubs, making
them harder. Mewls and purrs slipped from her lips and she stretched her back
like a cat. Moving his hands to span her waist, he lifted her up and down, hard
and fast.

I’m coming, Mort. Oh, baby, it’s yours.

His hips jutted up in short bursts, filling her over and
over again with his cock. Uri’s feet dug into the mattress and he growled,
Take
it, take what belongs to you
.

Cum pumped from his dick and filled her pussy with warm
cream.

Morta collapsed on top of him, her face buried in his
shoulder.

Bite me, honey, taste my life. Share everything I am.

When her teeth broke the flesh, Uri trembled beneath her.
Her tongue swirled in small circles around the wound, taking his life’s blood.

Joined in a way that could never be severed.

Uri laid her beside him and folded her into his arms. He
liked feeling her tight ass pressed against his cock.

They drifted off together.

Snatched from sleep, he felt the pull and before he could
speak, he was dragged from his bed. His body doubled in pain as he was taken
into the black vortex of the Grim Reaper.

Midnight.

His soul screamed out to her. Still viscerally connected,
Uri felt her anguish before he heard her cry.

No!

* * * * *

Morta had tried everything to reach Uri but he’d shut her
out. She twirled senselessly in a black hole. Nothing. Samael’s essence was
distinctive. She smelled him everywhere. Her nostrils flared, trying to find
the direction he traveled but it was impossible to follow Death. She refused to
involve her sisters or Ram and Yael. If Sam had been sent by the Father,
Michael was the only one who could help her.

Landing just outside his office, she banged the door open
without knocking. Breath caught in her throat as she saw him slumped in a chair
behind his desk and Ram sitting in a seat beside Osce.

“Where is he?”

“Morta, sit.” Michael’s shoulders remained hunched.

“Not until someone tells me what’s happening.”

“Samael took him with Marmaroth to the Father.” Michael
stood and moved slowly to the window. She watched him roll his head and
shoulders. “There’s nothing we can do but wait.”

“He wouldn’t shut me out, Michael. I can’t reach him.”

The general fixed her with a glare. “You can’t feel him at
all?”

“No.”

“Then he’s…protecting you.”

“From what?” She spun around to Ramiel. “You can help me get
to him.”

“But I won’t.” He peered at the man beside him and she
caught the meaning in his subtle movement. Osce had a tie to Uriel no one else
did.

Her eyes narrowed on Osce, who had been Uri’s exulted and
still carried some of his power. She lanced into his mind with every ounce of
magic she had, crumpling his body to the floor. Twisting in pain, he bowed
upward and cringed. Ice formed and dropped from Mort’s hair, hitting the wood
beneath her feet like shards of glass. She stretched her hands skyward and the
tips of her fingers grew blue from the air she zapped from the room.