37. Ethan
Ethan
Ishould’ve been shocked when Rami spread his wings and flew us through the skies above London. Perhaps next time I’d feel adrenaline as I took in how high we were, the speed at which we moved.
Right now, I didn’t have the energy. Or maybe it was just that it paled in comparison to everything that had just happened.
The explosion.
Angels.
Demons.
Kidnapping.
Vampires.
Death.
Mum.
Mum.
“I saw my mum,” I blurted out as Rami gently touched down outside the giant mansion I now realised was home to the Seraphim.
“What?”
“When I…died.” There was a sentence I never thought I’d say. I always knew I’d die, but coming back to life? Can’t say I’d expected that. “I saw her. Mum. She was in a beautiful garden.”
His lips parted in surprise. “Really?”
“Yes. She was exactly as I remember her, Rami.”
“Did you speak?”
I nodded, tears filling my eyes at the memory. The gift I’d been given. “She told me I haven’t been alone at all. That she’s been there with me during all my treatment. All of it. Even though I couldn’t see or feel her, she was there, Rami.”
“I’m so glad.” He kissed my forehead. “You have no idea, Ethan. Was she happy?”
“She seemed so. She was doing needlepoint—a pair of white wings.”
Rami chuckled. “Sounds like she knew before you did.”
“Turns out she’s been checking in on me. She promised she doesn’t watch anything saucy.”
“Fuck, I’d hope not. Are you sure there’s nothing else she needs? I can make it happen if there is. There are some perks to you being mated to an angel, after all.”
I straightened in his arms. “Wait, can you take me to see her again?”
He shook his head sadly. “No. I’m sorry, Ethan. There’s no way for you to enter Heaven.”
“Oh.” I slumped in disappointment. “Never mind.”
He touched my chin until I looked at him. “But I might be able to get letters to her and vice versa. Would you like that?”
My heart leapt. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.” He smiled. “It’ll be breaking all sorts of rules, but I’m more of a ‘do first ask for forgiveness later’ kind of angel.”
I bit my lip, torn. “I don’t want you to get into trouble.”
“Please,” he snorted. “One thing you need to learn about us Seraphim is that we sometimes get into trouble simply by existing. Let me speak to Benji. If anyone can work out how to make it happen, it’ll be him.”
“Thank you,” I said hoarsely, throwing my arms around his neck. “I don’t deserve you, I really don’t.”
“You do,” he said, his feet moving. “You deserve everything, Ethan.”
“Life’s already been pretty generous with me lately, I’m starting to worry that there’s something awful looming around the corner,” I confessed as Rami carried me indoors and towards the staircase. “First the cancer disappearing, then meeting you.”
He cleared his throat. “Technically, those events happened the other way around.”
I gave him a pointed look. “Yeah, I suspected as much. I’m guessing you can explain everything?”
“I can,” he said, kissing my head again. I shivered, loving it when he did that. “Can we get cleaned up first?”
“Please.” The dried blood was making my skin so uncomfortable. “Will you join me in the shower?”
He somehow opened the door we’d stopped in front of without even jostling me. “I’ll never say no to that, baby.”
My lips met his and a word echoed in my mind.
Finally.
Desire licked at me, so strong it made me breathless, but that wasn’t what had me pulling back to stare at Rami in confusion. No, it was the relief and tenderness that surrounded it. “Rami…is that…?”
“Can you feel me?” He touched my chest, right over where the emotions were thrumming. Emotions I was certain weren’t mine. “I can feel you, Eth. It’s the bond. Everything you feel, I feel. Every drop of sadness. Pain. Hope. Lust. I’ll experience it all alongside you.”
My throat bobbed. “I’m really never going to be alone again?”
“No, Ethan. Never.”
For someone else, this bond might’ve represented a cage.
But to me?
It meant freedom.
Freedom to live life how I chose, knowing I’d never be alone. To allow myself to love without fear.
To be loved.
“How did you know?” he asked, his eyes searching mine. “How did you know what to say to cement the bond?”
I remembered the expression on Quill’s face as we’d left. The desperate shaking of his head. Whatever he’d done, the others didn’t know about it.
What was more, he didn’t want them to know.
“I can’t tell you,” I said finally, not wanting to lie to Rami, but not willing to betray Quill either. “What’s important is that I found out in time.”
“I can accept that,” Rami said. “You’re right, all that matters is that you knew.”
My lips met his again as I felt for the bond in my chest. I found it easily. It was like a bridge between our souls, with Rami at one end, me at the other. Together, even if life forced us apart.
I’d never be alone again.
Because of Rami.
I tried to focus my love on that bridge. Tried to send it to Rami along with everything else he made me feel. Excited. Hopeful.
And so fucking horny I might go crazy with it.
He growled against my lips and set me on my feet. A low moan left me as he ripped first my clothes away, then his own. How he did it without removing his mouth from mine, I had no idea. Didn’t care either, not when I suddenly had acres of skin and muscle just waiting for me to explore.
My hands were everywhere, all at once. Skimming along the lines of his torso.
Toying with his pebbled nipples. Following his happy trail down his abs.
Encircling his erection briefly before cupping his balls.
Sweeping around to the firm, high cheeks of his arse.
Palming them. Squeezing them before heading north.
Brushing along his spine until a new texture greeted my fingers.
Feathers.
Rami shivered, a bolt of lust flashing through the bond as I gently skated my fingers along them. “Want me to make them go away?”
“Fuck no,” I said roughly. “Unless you mind me touching them?”
His eyes were hooded as my fingers continued stroking along the inside of his wing. “I think you know the answer to that.”
I did. I could feel it with every pulse of want in the bond. I kept my eyes on his as I drove him crazy with my touch.
Rami’s cock was hard and leaking against my stomach, twitching whenever I found a particularly sensitive spot.
His hands were still on my hips, but I could feel him fighting for control.
I bit back a smirk, secretly delighted by how much he wanted to take over and how his need for me was driving him to the brink of insanity.
Ready to move things along, I pushed against him, grinding his cock against my stomach. “If I kept this up, would you come like this?”
“Yes,” he bit out, hands twitching on my hips again. “But that’s not happening today.”
I raised a brow, circling what I now knew was an erogenous zone for Rami. “No?”
“No.” He leaned past me and flicked the shower on.
When steam was filling the room, he wrapped his hand loosely around my throat.
God, I loved how small and delicate he made me feel when he grabbed me like this.
Breakable, yet somehow completely safe. “I’m not coming until I’m buried deep inside you, Ethan.
I want you writhing on me, unable to hold back.
You’ll come first; you won’t be able to help it.
I’ll make sure of it. Then, when I come… you’ll come again.”
I shivered, my knees weak from his words. “From the bond?”
“It’s supposedly a benefit.” He flashed me a quick grin as he towed me into the shower. “Think we should test it many times though. For science.”
“Well, if it’s for science…”
Rami muffled my laughter with his mouth as we ducked under the hot spray. The space had been designed with his wings in mind, multiple showerheads beating down on us, cleansing us of what we’d just been through.
Like he’d just remembered why we’d needed this shower in the first place, Rami’s kisses gentled before he pulled away. He didn’t say a word as he squirted shower gel onto a scrunch and slowly cleaned me from top to toe.
When he was done, I silently took the scrunch and did the same for him. He had to duck to make it work, but he did so without question. I paid special attention to his wings, checking that every drop of ash and blood was removed. “Your feathers…they healed themselves?”
He nodded. “They regenerate like the rest of me.”
“Was that why you blocked the blast from me? Because you knew the damage wouldn’t last?”
“No, Ethan. I did that because I love you. Even if I was human, I would’ve reacted in the exact same way. I’d sacrifice myself to save you from pain. Every. Single. Time.”
“You are utterly perfect.” I reached up to cup his face. “I can’t wait to spend my days trying to make you happy.”
“We’ll make each other happy,” he said, his fingers lightly trailing down my spine. “Why don’t we start right now?”
I grinned at him. “A shower isn’t a bed. Mind you, I might reconsider that rule if we’ve truly got eternity together.”
“We have.” He hesitated for a beat. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“Yes.” I didn’t need to think about it. “I know it’s fast, but it feels right. Being with you feels right. But it was always meant to, wasn’t it? We were fated to be together.”
“I don’t want that to be the only reason you’re with me, Eth.” He sighed, stroking my arms. “Selfishly, I want you to choose me.”
“Hey.” I nudged his chin until he lifted it. The quiet sadness in his eyes had my heart aching. “I did choose you, Rami. I chose you the day I got into your car and told you to take me away. I haven’t stopped choosing you since then. All the bond has done is cement that.”
The relief was clear in his eyes. “Good. For what it’s worth, I would’ve chosen you even if you weren’t fated to be mine.”
I felt the truth of it in the bond. “I love you, Rami.”
“I love you too,” he said, kissing me lightly. “Forever.”