Hope in Love

by J. Hali Steele

  “URIEL,” he bellowed. He stripped through the earth angel’s shields with such ease it was as if they didn’t even exist.

  As he swept through the halls of Uriel’s domain, he searched for any feeling of Yael. When Ram found her, calm settled upon him. He heard Yael’s voice in his mind. I am safe. He used a spell to lock me in. He struggled hard to bring himself under control as he entered the room.

  “He has Patricia.”

  “Thank God. I will kill him.” He enveloped her and held tight. He swept the underworld with his mind and there was no sign of Uri or Patricia.

  On Earth, he felt Gabriel and Raphael at work, and the world rapidly recovered from his assault. Ram rose through the bowels of Hell and upward to his domain on Earth.

  “What happened, Yael?”

  “He came to look for Osce, he took Patricia and I followed.”

  “Why?” Ram couldn’t believe this. He shook with fury. “Why would you follow him?” He struggled to modulate his voice.

  “I followed my friend, Ram, and he still has her. You must send Osce to him.”

  “I can’t do that. Osce has to make that decision.”

  “Who will help Patricia?”

  “I’ll go for her. It’s me he wants.” Ram’s head spun at the sound of Osce’s voice. “What the fuck is going on with you two?” he asked.

  “You’re a good friend and I’m sorry you were caught in the middle of this, but I will not be locked up again in that dark hole below.”

  “Tell me about Morta so I can help you.” Ram understood. But Yael would not be a pawn in their game. When he found Uri, he’d punish him. He didn’t know how Osce had stood being locked away so long and he vowed to do whatever he could to help. But he needed to know what had transpired between him and the Fate.

  “It’s not my story to tell. I will return Patricia to your home.”

  Osce vanished and Luke appeared in his wake.

  “What the fuck is up with you crazy bastards? Somebody better get Uri the hell out of my house and now.” The earth belched and rumbled beneath Ram’s feet. The devil was pissed off.

  “Shit, it will be pretty damn hard to explain a volcano in Florida to Michael or the Father.”

  “Ram, Gabe and Raph have been busy cleaning up your goddamned mess. I’d say Michael already knows.” Luke’s face held a lopsided grin.

  “You think? Let’s go before he calls me to task. Yael, I’ve strengthened the shields. You will be safe. I swear it. Do not follow us, please. We will find Patricia.” Last thing he needed was Yael in the midst of Osce and Uri’s battle. Ram and Luke vanished.

  “If Osce hasn’t already killed his ass, he’s mine. He entered my domain and took a guest from my home. And what came over Yael to follow the crazy bastard?” Ram rattled on as they traveled through the putrid halls of Hell. He didn’t understand how Luke stood being down here. Yet, whenever he surfaced, he always carried the sweetest smell of clean earth.

  “I think she followed her friend. They’re different. Friendship means something to them.” Luke grew quiet. He added in a somber voice, “We above forgot what it means. Have you looked at all of us lately? It’s your fault that we’re a hopeless bunch of cretins.”

  “How did this get to be my fault?”

  “Because you’re a hopeless asshole. Do you realize what you did up there? Man, it’d take me months to harvest the souls from a catastrophe the size you almost caused over a skirt. And she was only locked up.”

  “Shit, if he had harmed her, I don’t know what I’d have done.” Ram’s jaw clenched.

  “Yeah, well, you proved that.”

  “Luke, don’t push it.”

  They entered a large cavern that was the most wondrous sight Ram had ever seen and he thought he’d seen everything. But this place literally took his breath away. Ram’s eyes traveled around the space in disbelief. The walls were covered in crystals of every color. They lined the floor, the ceiling. Two thrones sat at one end. One was ebony, probably onyx, the other was clear crystal.

  “They’re both diamonds, and not fabricated either.” Luke’s eyes glittered.

  “What is this place?” Ram’s voice quaked in awe.

  “It’s a shrine. I’m not supposed to know about it. You don’t know about it either.” The devil fidgeted beside him.

  “A shrine to what, or should I say who?” Ram fixed Luke with a stare.

  “Morta.”

  “Uri did this?” Ram had trouble taking it all in.

  “Yep.” Luke’s short replies let Ram know he waited for him to say more.

  “Does Michael know about this? And don’t read my mind. I hate that.”

  “Hell no, and I’m not talking.”

  Ram scoured the room. In one corner there was a monstrous bed in pure gold. He realized what stood out. There was nothing here with warmth. Not a thing. No candles. No pillows or covers on the bed. No real lights. Cold.

  “Has he lost his mind?”

  “That’s a good question. We’ve all been around so long and the powers we have are unbelievable. Are any of us sane?” Luke pierced him with blue eyes.

  “This isn’t normal.” Ram turned to face the devil and saw his look. “Well, okay, you know what I mean.”

  “No, Ram, I don’t. What the fuck is normal anymore? We’re at each other night and day. If you find Uri right now, you’ll tear him limb from limb to elicit pain. You can’t kill him. For what? Yael is safe. And Uri won’t hurt Patricia. We know that. He’s trying to make a point with Osce. Him, he’ll hurt.”

  “What are you saying, Luke?” Ramiel became suspicious.

  “I don’t know. But one thing I do know—hope. It all comes down to that. Over the years we’ve all lost a little bit. Which means you have lost a lot, my friend.”

  “You know what? Philosophy doesn’t sit well on someone who enjoys burning souls for eternity.”

  “Who said I enjoyed it?”

  Ram did something he hadn’t done in a long time. He took a good look at Lucifer. Michael and he had banished him from Heaven a long, long time ago. This angel lived with more death than anyone. Yet he always smiled. He wasn’t smiling now. His shoulders slumped. What bothered him most were the eyes. He didn’t like what was reflected there.

  Ram saw himself in the eyes of the devil.

  “Shit.”

  “Now you understand. Fix this, Ramiel. Fix it so we can all get back to where we belong. Even I need hope, man.”

  “What are you really saying? Did Michael send you?”

  “Michael, our Father, they’re not going to let you have her. Was it not enough of an honor to be selected as the procreator of the savior of a whole species of beings?” Luke stared hard at him. “You’re an archangel, does that alone not bring hope back into your heart? How far will you go?” Lucifer’s eyes were crystal clear. Ram saw the end of life as he knew it.

  His wings began to beat slowly. Ram rose to the top of the cavern and spun so fast, he became invisible. The crystals shattered, the gold crushed to powder. It all formed a liquid pool that came to Lucifer’s knees. Ramiel disappeared.

  “Okay. That went well,” Luke said.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Yael couldn’t sit. The night sounds that she’d loved now made her jumpy. She paced back and forth across the room. Why hadn’t Ram returned? She felt the earth’s tremors and wondered if he was safe. She chided herself for being so nervous. He could take care of himself. Her thoughts raced out of control.

  Patty. She’d tried desperately to reach her mind and couldn’t. God, please help them. Her prayer had become a litany. What if something bad happened? Tired of walking the same path, she went down to the sitting room. As she paced there, Yael saw the book she’d been reading on the end table. She looked at the picture on the cover. Atlas Shrugged. It only served to make her think of Ram.

  Hope. The universe couldn’t survive without it. Everything, everyone’s existence depended on Ramiel. The angel of hope. How could sh
e help him? What could she do?

  “You can let him go.”

  Yael turned to see Morta. The cutter of life. She must keep her away from Ramiel. If Michael had sent her—

  “He doesn’t love me. It’s not me who holds him. I believe his concern is for our child.” Her voice shook with pain.

  “You’re not a stupid woman, Yael.”

  What did Morta mean? Yael was beside herself with anger. The Fates had caused enough trouble in her life. “No, I’m not. Neither are you, Morta. He’s not mine to give up.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Yael was sure. Ramiel didn’t love her. One day she would wear off as a novelty to him. He’d always be in her life because of their child. Could she stand to see him and not be able to have him? What did she need to do to make him go away? She’d be able to see to her daughter’s upbringing alone.

  If he left her, Michael or no one could harm him for something she’d allowed. The meshing. Morta was right. Yael could stop this. But it would break her heart. It would destroy her soul to do what was necessary. All that she could do. To make this all right, Yael would have to leave him. Ramiel would soon forget her.

  “He’d find his child no matter where I go.” The Fates could help her hide. They had that power.

  “We will take care of that.” She watched Morta’s eyes mist over.

  “You need not be sad for me.” Yael had resigned herself to her fate.

  “I’m sad for all of life. Michael did not send me.” Morta turned from her. Yael saw her eyes light on the book. The Fate went to it and removed the blue and gold marker. She ran it through her fingers and smiled.

  “I must leave you now. Patricia will be fine. Uri would never hurt her.” She was gone as quick as she’d appeared.

  The threads lay on the book.

  Yael didn’t know what had happened, why she left. What would she do now? Without the help of Morta and her sisters, she couldn’t hide from Ramiel. Her eyes brimmed with tears. “God, don’t harm him for my weakness,” she whispered to the empty room.

  She picked up the twined strings. They were warm to her touch. Yael placed them back inside of the book.

  * * * * *

  Ram saw Nona’s smile as he whirled into the room. The maelstrom that followed him didn’t disturb a single thread.

  “Tell me.” His voice vibrated the walls of the room she weaved in. He would have the information he came for.

  “There is no need to ask the question, you have your answer.”

  “No more riddles.” Cobalt blue eyes blazed with anger.

  “There is no riddle to love. It just is.”

  “Enough!” he bellowed. His voice finally caused her to look up at him. Ram was through with her games.

  “Ramiel, you have had the power in your possession to end this affair since your first visit. Unravel the threads that bind lives together and you can be free. You will not even remember her name.” Nona’s eyes didn’t waver from his.

  “Why did Michael choose me?”

  “You are the hope of the universe. If you have none—we have none. It is your choice to continue on your path of hopelessness. None other can help you.” She returned to her spinning. “You will get no more answers from me.”

  “I will not let her go.” His words thundered through the room.

  He went for Yael.

  * * * * *

  As Ram soared to his domain below, he searched his brain for where he’d put the ties that bound his life to Yael. Now he knew why the gold threads were so beautiful to him. The color of Yael’s eyes. Amber lights that shone with golden flecks. The bind matched her eyes. He must find the tie.

  He entered his home and felt her presence in the sitting room. Ram didn’t pull his wings in. Entering her mind, he felt her turmoil. She will not leave me again.

  “There is no need to think of leaving. I will not allow it. Do you understand?” His wings stirred the air with menace.

  “Ram, the meshing, Michael won’t let you—” He watched Yael’s arms fold across her body. It was as though she thought to ward him off.

  “I don’t care what Michael or anyone else wants. I want you.” His eyes darkened and pierced her.

  “That is not enough. It’s not enough to just want someone, Ram.” Her voice shook and tears shimmered in her amber eyes.

  “You will not leave me.” Ram’s blue eyes lit the room.

  He took every thought she had into his own mind. Screw his promise of giving her privacy. He’d not done well with it anyway. She must understand.

  “Stop, please.”

  “Come to me.” His wings lifted high, his maleness couldn’t be hidden. He didn’t even try.

  “Please,” she whispered in defeat.

  She wanted him. Her need of him, the love she felt for him, seeped into his body. His porcelain skin glowed blue with his desire. Ramiel would hide nothing from her.

  “I will never let you go. You belong to me.”

  He watched as her feet carried her toward him. She fought it, but it would be a losing battle. Yael reached him and he enfolded her in his wings. He soared up through the dome and his own glass-colored likeness.

  “You are mine,” he said to her as he lifted into the night sky. He would love her in the heavens tonight. When they reached his domain there, he set shields no one could break. Not even Michael.

  He would take her under the magnolia tree. His feet set down and he lowered her until she touched the earth. Ram held Yael until she got her balance.

  “I won’t leave you any privacy. What I want from you, the joy of being in you, I need you to feel it all. Share my thoughts.” He opened up and flooded her mind. Ram heard her intake of breath and felt her body shudder.

  “Touch me, Yael. Touch me. Please.”

  Her warm hands moved to his face. She held him and looked deep in his eyes. He left nothing to her imagination. His lust burned there for the world to see. It matched what he saw in her eyes.

  “Ram?”

  “Take what you want. I’ll give you the world.” He searched her face. “Don’t be sad, I’ll never hurt you, Yael.”

  She brought her lips to his gently. Then her kiss deepened. Her tongue invaded his mouth and she loved the taste of him. She explored his mouth with boldness that served to make his cock fill with urgency.

  He broke their kiss and pressed his lips to her throat. Her heartbeat pulsed there. Ram traced down the long column of her neck. His teeth nibbled at her shoulder. He’d always loved her bare shoulders.

  She sank down on the carpet of grass beneath the tree. He followed her, sinking to his knees. Taking possession of her lips, he swept his tongue through her mouth and tasted her. Warm, soft lips pressed tight against his. Ram pulled away and took her lower lip between his teeth. He bit and sucked until she moaned.

  This is what he wanted. Yael pliant and in his arms. His hands caressed and stroked her back. She still trembled but it wasn’t fear Ram felt. His hands brushed the sides of her voluptuous breasts.

  “Mmmm,” she murmured.

  “Tell me what you want.” He read her desires in her mind but he needed to hear them. “Say it.”

  “My nipples ache to feel your mouth cover them.”

  “Sweet Yael.” He laid her down and bent over her. “I want to suckle there forever.” Ram’s tongue darted out and encircled a hard bud. He grasped it between his teeth and gave her delightful pain. She shoved more at him. His fingers pinched and pulled on the other peak until she squirmed beneath him.

  “My…I want—

  “Say it. Let me hear it, Yael. Please.”

  “I want you to lick me and kiss me down there.”

  “Where, baby?”

  “My…pussy. Ram, please don’t make me beg.”

  “Never.”

  He licked down her stomach and felt her shiver with ecstasy.

  “I want to taste your pussy.” God knows he couldn’t wait.

  He stretched his wings up and positioned h
imself between her legs and absorbed her musky aroma. A lifetime wouldn’t be enough to take all that he wanted from her. His tongue began a slow exploration of the wet folds in front of him. She was soaked with pleasure and he intended to bring her more.

  Her heat warmed his tongue as he stabbed at her. He found her clit and sucked it until she screamed and bucked under him. Ram stroked and nipped there, feeling what it did to her. She gasped her breaths through open lips. She pushed her hips to meet his mouth. Sweetness dribbled from her body.

  Ram grasped her thighs and pulled her closer. He couldn’t get enough. Yael was ready to come. He wanted it.

  “Come. Give it to me.” She hadn’t touched his mind and he wanted her to. “Yael, enter my mind. Don’t be afraid, baby. Feel what I feel.”

  Her mind brushed his lightly.

  “More.”

  She came into his mind all the way. He could tell because she released a stream of juices. She’d read what he wanted.

  “Yes.” His tongue drove into her without mercy. Ram took what he needed. He licked her dry. His body moved up and lay beside her.

  “Come here.” He pulled her on top of himself. “Feel that.” His cock throbbed against their bellies. “Take it.”

  She did. Yael sat up and slid her swollen folds along his length and drove him crazy. He could still feel her in his thoughts and he was deep in hers. She would make him beg.

  “I will, I’ll beg for it. Please take me inside you.”

  “Oh Ram.” She moved so that he went right in. “Can I touch your wings?”

  “Oh yes, Lord yes.” Her hands swept his arms as she rode him. He shoved into her each time she came down on him. She caressed and stroked the inside of his wings and Ram thought he would die from the pleasure. The moan that left her lips went on and on as he pounded into her. She whimpered with desire as his cock burrowed deep in her sheath. And Ram growled in joy.

  He folded his wings and engulfed her in them. She screamed out, ready to release another flood of liquid. Ram wouldn’t let her go. Yael pushed up and down and his hands pulled her ass tighter to him. He unfolded his wings so she could sit up. He rammed up into her over and over. He felt her eruption as it started. Cream flowed out of her and down his balls.