Chapter 21
RALEIGH
Hours later, I was still reeling from Eli’s visit. I still had a shit ton of questions. The most important one being: What about the wedding? He hadn’t said outright that it was off. We were only three days out from the big event and canceling at the last minute would be a nightmare.
I was sitting on the couch staring at an unopened bottle of tequila on the coffee table when the door opened. Angel stepped in, juggling a box. When he set it down on the floor, I saw our suit bags poking out of it. He had come to deliver my suit in-person. Shit, either Eli hadn’t talked to Angel yet… or the wedding was still on.
“Hi,” I said, my voice barely more than a whisper.
Angel gave me a sweet smile and approached slowly. He gestured to the bottle on the table. “Are we drinking?”
“I was going to.” I eyed it again, then sighed and dropped my head into my hands. “But I’m not feeling it.”
My stomach was already churning. Adding copious amounts of tequila to my current state would end badly—even if I did have an angel to heal me.
“There’s something I’ve got to tell you,” I muttered, throat tight. I still hadn’t completely come to terms with it myself, but this was my last chance to tell him. If everything went to hell, I wanted to be able to say I tried.
A hand found my shoulder, and I looked up into Angel’s piercing blue eyes. “Me first?”
Thank fuck. I nodded, and he sat down. “Eli called off the wedding.”
“He did?” Though I had to admit hope flared in my chest. “Wh-why?”
Angel laughed and shook his head. “So, so many reasons. I’m not in love with him.”
Had Eli had the same conversation with Angel that he had with me? “Why did you agree to marry him then?”
“Because I wasn’t sure the person I loved most in this world loved me back.”
Unfortunately for Angel, I didn’t talk about emotions well. Even though I knew what he meant, I needed him to say it. “What are you talking about?” Terrified that the answer wouldn’t be what I wanted to hear, I rose to my feet. I needed to get rid of that damn bottle or I’d end up chugging it. I grabbed it and headed into the kitchen to stow it.
Footsteps sounded behind me, but I didn’t turn, too afraid that he would sign something I didn’t want to see.
“You.”
I turned in shock. I hadn’t been looking at him. Which meant… He’d said the word?
The reality of the situation slammed into me like a freight train, and the bottle slipped from my grip to smash on the tiled floor. With the scent of tequila wafting around us, I faced him. “What?”
Tears streaked his face, and his hands trembled, but he took a deep breath, falling back on sign. “I thought my powers were combating sin, but they were protecting you. I’m in love with you , Raleigh.”
I choked out a disbelieving sob. After so long, I’d resigned myself to never hearing his voice again. Heat prickled behind my own eyes. “I’m sorry?”
He rolled his eyes, hooking an arm around my waist and tugging me closer. My arms closed around him, and he shook in my grip.
“I love you.” Unsurprisingly, his voice was hoarse.
Angel’s arms around my waist were the only thing keeping me standing, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out how his small frame could support my larger one—until I noticed a golden light illuminating the kitchen. Angel’s hair shimmered and his tattoos woke up, blinking from beneath his shirt collar.
I took a shaky breath. “I-I don’t… You spoke. Angel, I?—”
Angel’s nose brushed mine, his gentle way of shushing me. I was desperate to lean in, to make that small move that would bring our mouths together.
“Nuh-uh,” I said, forcing myself to step back from him. I cupped his jaw in my hands before the sting of rejection could form in his eyes, and I continued, “You said your piece, now I get to say mine. Got it?”
He nodded.
“I love you too.”
That heart-stopping smile graced his face, and his cheeks turned pink, warm beneath my palms. Before I could get into my emotional confession of love, he lunged forward, bringing our mouths together. I grunted into the kiss, melting into him. His head tipped back, his body molding so perfectly to mine that I wondered how I ever thought anyone else could fill the space. I sighed in contentment, and Angel took the opportunity to plunge his tongue into my mouth. The kiss turned desperate and messy, our tongue rings gnashing against each other's teeth and clinking in the quiet room.
When we broke for air, we both caught a strong whiff of tequila fumes.
He grimaced, signing, “Maybe we should get that cleaned up first.”
I grumbled, looking back at the spill, and reluctantly agreed. “I’ll take care of it.”
He hesitated, looking up at me with a question in his eyes.
I smirked, remembering his submissive behavior from the last time we were together. “Go to my bedroom and get undressed. Don’t touch yourself. I want you to lie on the bed and wait for me. Can you do that for me, darling?”
My precious Angel didn’t speak, but he bobbed his head emphatically and went on his way.
As I cleaned, I tried not to get too in my head about Angel switching back to sign language. It had been a long time since he’d spoken so much as a word. This was a monumental moment for many reasons, and I knew he was overthinking it. Was talking exhausting, I wondered, when you hadn’t exercised the muscle in over a decade?
By the time I finished cleaning, I smelled like tequila. I stripped out of my clothes as I walked down the hallway, tossing them into the void. Shirt, pants, then I shoved my boxer briefs down and kicked the fabric away; I didn’t want a single piece of fabric separating me from the man in my bed. I’d spent too long refusing to see what was right in front of me, and I’d be damned if I continued to do it.
Angel was precisely where I’d told him to be. He lay on his stomach, head on my pillow, facing the door. Another pillow was strategically placed under his hips, lifting his ass into the air. His eyes were shut, but when he heard me, they opened to look at me—and my heart melted. How in the hell had I not known I was in love with this man? A dreamy sigh pushed past my lips, and I collapsed against the door frame. Angel smiled and damn if my knees didn’t buckle.
For now, I forced my legs to work, advancing into the room. Angel writhed atop the mound of pillows, and with every step I took he wriggled a little more.
“That’s it, darling,” I praised. His hips kicked forward, his cries muffled by the cotton. “Now that I’m here, you can have whatever you want.”
On the last word, I crawled onto the bed, straddling his hamstrings. Our size difference allowed me to stretch over him and blanket him with my entire body. His hips moved, and he brushed against my bare cock. The friction was almost too much. My left hand trailed over his arm until I reached his hand, prying it from beneath his head. Our fingers laced together, and he squeezed.
I leaned in, whispering in his ear. “Can you say it again for me?”
“I love you,” he said, voice cracking—whether from exhaustion or emotion, I wasn’t sure. Then, in ASL, “I always have.”
“ Fuck , Angel,” I groaned. “How? How did I not know?”
His only answer was another precious sound, and I begrudgingly let go of his hand so I could work my way south. I painstakingly stamped slow and sensual kisses down the soft skin of his back. As I mouthed over the outline of his wing tattoos, his skin quivered beneath my lips.
I paused. “What was that, darling?”
“Wings,” he signed.
My fingers crawled up his back, and the trembling intensified. “Is it uncomfortable?”
He nodded against the pillow.
“Then let them out.”
Unsure of what to expect, I slid back until I knelt on Angel’s calves. Then I watched, astonished, as his skin twisted and contorted right in front of me. A wash of golden light poured from his tattoos, casting the room in an ethereal glow.
Angel’s wings started small, protruding from his back, tips first. I was in awe as they expanded to their full size, barely able to fit in the room. Unable to resist, I ghosted my hand over the nearest one, my fingers sinking into the feathers. The wing shook again, and Angel shuddered beneath me.
“Does it feel good when I touch them?” I asked.
Angel nodded, then tousled his own hair. I didn’t need him to speak to know what he was saying: “ Feels like playing with your hair .”
His wings relaxed, falling against the bed and trailing onto the floor. I swore I heard a soft purring noise, but I had more pressing matters to attend to. Angel had returned to humping the pillow, and my cock throbbed in response to the contented moans coming from his mouth. Damn it, if he was going to get off in front of me, he wasn’t going to do it alone.
“Hips up,” I instructed, and he obeyed immediately.
I guided him until he drew his knees to his chest to support himself. I took one of his ass cheeks in each hand and squeezed, drawing out a hard moan.
“You’re absolutely perfect, darling.”
Angel bucked back into my touch, and I took that as permission to keep going. I dipped down, tongue darting out to lick his eager hole. I knocked his legs farther apart and knelt between them, pulling more indecent sounds from his mouth. Angel rocked backward, and I gratefully accepted the invitation. My tongue coaxed the ring of muscle to relax until I could easily slip inside. I worked him open with my tongue, making sure he felt my piercing against his sensitive skin.
Once I felt that he was ready, I pulled back.
“Raleigh!”
I snarled, nearly losing it on the spot. I didn’t know hearing him shout my name would have me on the verge of orgasm, but damn, I’d rather die than go the rest of my life without hearing it again. I blew on his heated skin, and he squirmed beneath me.
I rimmed the muscle with my finger. “Again.”
He mewled, softer this time. “Raleigh…”
“God, I’ll never tire of that.” I spat on my finger, massaging it into his skin before I pushed through. He cried out, rocking back onto my finger. “How can I do this without hurting your wings?”
I crooked my finger, and Angel dropped his hand, panting. He looked over his shoulder, peering at me around his massive wing. His mouth curled into a cocky grin, and he signed, “I can show you how I ride.”
I raised a brow at him, and adding a second finger. Angel gasped, and my cock throbbed again. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths, bringing myself away from the edge as Angel clenched around my fingers. I would not blow before I got inside him.
“Where did you learn to ride, my sweet angel?” I teased his prostate again, and the move had him trembling in my arms.
“Does it matter?”
“Hell no.” I withdrew my fingers from Angel, laughing when he protested. “The faster you move, the faster I can be inside you.”
And boy, did he move. He whipped around so fast that one of his wings knocked over my nightstand, including the lamp. The room was plunged into dim light, only the warm glow that Angel gave off illuminating the space.
“Sorry,” he signed.
“Don’t be,” I told him, moving closer for a kiss.
Our lips briefly met, and I twisted us around on the bed, careful not to send his wings crashing into anything else. Angel moved with me as I laid back. He threw his leg over my waist and leaned down, plunging his tongue into my mouth. I sucked, gasping as his bare cock met mine. Precome leaked between us, slicking up our stomachs. Angel whimpered, increasing his movements. I grabbed his hips, letting him rut against me as much as he wanted to.
Until his pace grew uneven. Despite his supernatural strength, he still let me overpower him.
“I promise, darling,” I told him, licking a path up the side of his neck. I relished the loud groan that ripped up from his chest. I could mark him to my heart’s desire now, and with one strong suck, I did.
I pulled off him with a pop. “It’s all going to be worth it.”