Shattering Halos (27 page)

Cassiel had stopped paying attention to me. My giggle morphed into a gasp. I crinkled my lids shut, trying to recall the exhaustion. The exhaustion!

Oh, sweet Lord, if Gabriel saw this.

The hands of an absolute pro teased under the sweater. Ripples of shameful goose bumps rose under his fingertips as they trailed up my stomach. I hoped he didn’t notice my reaction. I stayed immobile with eyes closed to hide my rebellion from any onlookers.

“Hmm, you like this, don’t you?”

This is so messed up!

The cocktail of desire and panic scared me to death. My mouth went dry as I scoured for coherent comebacks. A palm caressed its way up to my bra, leaving me hyperventilating. Did he just brush a nipple and make it
pebble
?

When Cassiel’s lips arched over mine, readying themselves for the kill, I wanted to scream with anger…and with the need to throw myself at him. Suddenly, my clothing, and his clothing, seemed superfluous.

I did the single thing I could come up with under the circumstances. Not in my wildest dreams had I thought it would be this hard to do.

After a moment that stretched too long, I hid against his throat and slung my arms around his neck. Eliminating the space between us, I burrowed deep against his skin. I angled my mouth up to his ear. Then, under the shroud of our embrace, I stammered it out.

“Stop now or I will tell Gabriel.”

The pressure from him eased. Those tantalizing fingertips abandoned my breast and discreetly backed down to my abdomen. A rush of air entered my lungs.

“Do you not understand that you’re begging for it? I’m just responding to you.” He breathed the words into my ear.

“Cassiel, you idiot! What if any of this slips from me to Gabriel? I’m an open book to him when I’m unguarded! All he needs is a hand covering my heart. He’ll know this was you even if I
wanted
to protect your stupid ass. If I happen to think about your freaking seduction at the wrong, freaking time, you’ll be freaking dead! Hurry up and get on with the infiltration news already. I hate you.”

“For being irresistible to you?”

“Screw you.”

He delivered the update about Mount Galdhopiggen and the seven purest souls while half-heartedly hiding his grin. The titillating love bites he gave the insides of my palms did nothing to quell my anger.

My furious expression forced me to remain snuggled against his neck, inhaling and exhaling his warmth as he talked. What an anticlimax when all I craved was to bash his brains in. Besides sex, that was.

Apparently, the sheer terror of the Grigorian plans, the seven humans in peril, and our race against time were just the beginning. Sure, I distrusted Cassiel in most areas. But when he worried about secrets some Lilith from Hell wasn’t revealing, I had no reason to doubt him.

I needed Gabriel. I missed him like crazy. What if Douma had set his claws in him again?

Please. Come home.

****

That night, the entire Samuelle family headed to the ice rink at my father’s insistence. The place brimmed with families. Dad clowned around, purposely out of rhythm with the disco music that thumped from speakers accosting the rink from all sides.

At Luna’s age, I would have been horrified. Now his antics only drew an eye-roll from me. Luckily, Luna’s BFF Vicky came along as well. Engrossed in sending flirty side-glances to some boys from school, they paid no attention to the parental units.

The ring stirred and shifted around my finger. I jolted to a halt, jerked my glove off, and held my hand up in front of me. It nestled tight against my skin like a living organism. Suddenly warm on its own accord, the ring seemed to…sigh? Luna slapped my butt as she passed me on the ice, and I jumped.

The stone sparkled sky blue, reflecting the spotlights above. It pulsed with the steady beat of a calm heart, causing my own to speed up. I scanned the surroundings but didn’t see him.

“Hey, Gaia! Everything all right?” Mom hollered as she swooshed by with a firm grasp on Dad’s mitt.

“Yep, phone call,” I lied.

Did this device take in every Celestial close by? Maybe it detected my stand-in protector Yofiel who’d never even showed herself. God, I hoped not.

But there he was. He drifted toward me on skates, hurling my heart into a somersault. Through the haze of my happiness, I still recognized how out of place he looked.

Oh, you’ve got to unplug the lightshow, baby.

From his expression, my thoughts didn’t reach him. His absolute grace on those skates screamed unnatural, and the way his beauty shone was beyond what he should expose.

Any moment now, people would start kneeling around us, expecting miracles to happen. I had to talk to him about it. At present though, I was busy joining the crowds in slack-jawed ogling.

The masses and I wore winter jackets, scarves, and hats, impersonating clumsy snowmen out here. In comparison, Gabriel’s amber locks moved freely in the gusts of air as he skated toward me. So did his thin, long-sleeved white shirt and wide, matching pants.

I wondered if the choice of white against the bright ice had been a terrible attempt at camouflage. Plastered to his body from the movement, his clothes provided a more intriguing overview of his physique than the skimpiest pair of briefs. His gaze fixated on me, and I moved back on to the arena, counter-current.

Sometimes a song playing at crucial times of my life stuck with me. Gliding toward Gabriel, I noticed the speakers blasting “Just a Dream” by Delerium, the complete opposite of an eighties’ disco tune. Its slow, ethereal vibe made me consider how the music always seemed to mold to his liking.

As he closed the distance between us, I quit worrying. I stopped caring about what others might think. More important than anything was that he had returned in one piece yet another time.

I watched his arms open wide, getting ready for me. Our bodies clashed, and he picked me off the ground. He tightened me around him, spinning me in a giddy twirl. Laughing against his throat, I let my eyelids slide shut.

The final residues of fear for him disintegrated at the feel of his warmth. Gabriel stopped and put me down at the center of the rink, away from the bodies circling the outskirts in a steady flow.

With quiet urgency, one hand clenched my unbuttoned collar shut. He pulled me so close that no one could spot his other hand slip through an opening in the coat. I inhaled sharply when Gabriel’s palm covered my heart.

His forehead bent to rest against mine, strands of golden hair veiling us. Too close for me to focus, his stare penetrated me, and his breath fogged my skin.

For a nanosecond, he pulled away, eyes widening as he concluded the reading of my mind. He frowned, confused at some murky remnant I hadn’t managed to hide.

“Did Cassiel behave?”

“Oh yes, uh-huh.”

Eventually…

Gabriel lowered his mouth to mine, his hands forming an oval shield around my face. It brushed my lips, making my heart expand.

The whisper carried to me, lighter than air.

“Galdhopiggen…don’t worry. We’ll deal with this. I’m meeting with Michael at sunrise.”

The rulers of
three
Heavens support us. Now only the archangel remains? Seriously?

The onslaught of my relief reached Gabriel. Even as he nodded, his smile turned cautious. A hand snuck back under my coat to make sure he didn’t miss any of my thoughts.

I know we’re not safe yet. I’m just happy, Gabriel.

Out loud, I cracked, “So I own you until the morning?” I earned myself a smirk and a noncommittal tap on the nose. For now, I enjoyed his presence—his solidity. What more could I ask for? I’d seize the moment and live it. The night couldn’t get any better.

We had company, I could feel it. I half-turned to find Mom, Dad, Luna, and Vicky in the middle of the ice with us. It was awkward and wonderful at once. Gabriel tucked me to his side, not letting go.

My father bristled under the polite façade. Like the caricature of a sitcom dad, he seized Gabriel’s hand in a knuckle-whitening bear clasp. He held it while doing his darnedest to execute my beloved by lethal glare.

“Edwin Gaston Samuelle, Gaia’s father. Pleased to meet you.”

With eyes narrowed slightly, Dad only seemed to mean the first part. And did I just hear him whip out his detested middle name for emphasis
?
My fearless Gabriel regarded him levelly and returned the firm handshake.

“The pleasure is mine, Mr. Samuelle. I’m Gabriel degli Angeli, Gaia’s boyfriend.”

My dad’s eyebrows shot up. “Quite the name?”

“Thank you, sir.”

The girls tittered. When Gabriel shook Luna’s hand, she quipped, “Gaia’s right; you’re nothing like your brother.”

Strange how my heart did a small, exultant leap as Mom stepped forward. Gabriel took her faery hand in his and bowed a little.

“Mrs. Samuelle, it’s a pleasure. Your daughter has told me so much about you.”

She smiled and countered, “Oh, I’ve heard about you too. I was wondering when I’d get to see you. Do come over for dinner tonight, Gabriel.”

I breathed a sigh of relief when his car waited outside. My parents wouldn’t have appreciated him swooping me up and flying off.

On the passenger seat sat a banana cream pie, a telltale sign of somebody foreseeing a dinner invitation.

During dinner, Gabriel plowed through two giant portions of spaghetti and meatballs. Next, he surprised Mom by putting away not one, but two slices of pie.

Even my father adored him. Apparently, from the minute Gabriel introduced himself with that “good, steady handshake” as Dad called it, he’d been sold.

Gabriel said the perfect things with dead-on timing. He was charming and witty. My mother joined Luna in an embarrassing giggle fest as the night moved on. Every now and then, she would send me approving looks stalked by supposedly furtive nods. Did I mention embarrassing? Gabriel won people over with no effort. It must be a perk of angelhood.

By the time he said goodbye, the grandfather clock in the living room had struck twelve, and I was crawling with impatience. I followed him to the door and out on the veranda.

“Where are you going? Are you
leaving
me?”

“Sunshine, I don’t want to ruin the first impression by openly staying over.”

Engrossed in my own, petty longings, I blurted, “But can’t you erase their minds or something?”

Gabriel actually snorted at me.

“Shush. I’ll be in your room as soon as I’ve removed the car from the driveway.”

Oh, thank God Almighty!

The hasty goodnight I bid my parents might have come off suspicious, but I needed time upstairs. I hopped in the shower and put on a cute, little nightie I’d bought before I moved to Shades Run.

Heart galloping and squeaky clean, I smelled of hyacinths and vanilla when I got back into my bedroom. Gabriel already lazed on top of the covers. Half way unbuttoned, his chest shimmered perfectly smooth underneath the fabric. The even, golden tone I glimpsed hadn’t been there a few days ago. I dove on him without a word and pulled his shirt off. He laughed softly at my urgency.

“Are you checking the wounds?”

Amazing. Not a single trace of the terrible bruising and burns remained. He kissed me slowly, and my hands slid over him, initially to make sure he was as whole as he looked. Then, I just caressed him for my own sake. His glimmering irises surveyed me calmly. It was incredible to touch him again. Had it been days or weeks?

“You smell delicious. Come here.”

Gabriel grasped my wrists and pulled me down. A little out of breath, I found myself underneath him. Gently, he pushed my extended arms into the mattress above me before lavishing my face and throat with kisses.

My chest heaved when he released his hold to trail down my cleavage. I responded by digging into his hair. A small pant puffed from me as I did.

Hmm, what am I forgetting? Never mind. Oh, your touch…

Gabriel’s palm found the back side of my thigh and slinked higher by the second. I realized how out of character this was for us. Usually, I’d insist and he’d have qualms until I won him over.

He lifted my hips, his touch snaking under the thong from behind to where my crevice began. Gabriel pressed hard against me, and I gasped for air. I clung to him for dear life, my legs choking his waist in a death lock.

All I wanted was for him to lose those pants, ask that single question so I knew he could control us. This time, I’d reply out loud in utter agreement. We’d melt together. Yes, I’d be pleasure incarnate.

Please…it’s consuming me!

My fists tangled in his hair. Because he never spoke, I let go to cup his face. I wanted to whisper the words into his mouth myself. Why did he torture me like this?

I went still under him as I realized the terrible truth. The ecstasy-inducing grasp on my behind loosened, and the tip of his nose ghosted the hollow below my ear as he let me come to terms with reality. I was still trying to control my breathing when he murmured, “Is there something you need me to ask you?”

Even his whisper teemed with barely contained mirth.

“No.” The single word came out throttled.

“How come, my sun?”

Oh, you’re pushing me too far.

I shoved him away and turned my back to him. “You remembered the whole time, didn’t you?”

An arm around my waist drew me against him. I couldn’t muster the willpower to keep him from leaning his mouth into the nape of my neck.

“Sun, I figured we’d take turns being responsible.”

“So…how do you feel about giving me fair warning the next time it’s my turn?”

His stomach quivered in a quiet laughter against my spine. “I was getting concerned that you might remember too late. Can you imagine?”

“Gabriel, please—I’m mortified!”

“Why Gaia? You’re perfect. It’s just that you would have scared the entire neighborhood into an early grave.”

For an angel, he sure didn’t give me much of a break. I turned and buried my face at his chest, moaning in misery. Still chuckling, he wrapped his arms around me.

“Can we go to Shimmer’s Edge?” I mumbled.