Heaven to Hell (A Naughty Box Production Book 1)

by Rue Volley

  “Give us a time frame then and we’ll make it happen,” her mother said, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. In the middle of her mother and her father, she felt like a real family for the first time since she discovered her true parentage. They were an unlikely couple, but she could feel the love radiating between them and into her. The words of the creator sprang to life in her memory. "I created you to be special." She embraced the happiness while releasing more of the anger and rejection that had dogged her for too long. She would move on…in light and love. The world had enough hate, and the darkness weighed her down. “Two weeks.”

  “Then, I suggest we get to work,” her mother urged. “Have you thought about who you’ll want in the party?”

  “The only person I’d want to stand up beside me is you, Mom. Everyone else can sit in the audience.” She had friends, but none who truly knew her, not until Yophiel. “That means you need to find a best man…Angel Man.”

  His brow furrowed.

  Heavenleigh almost sighed aloud as she longed to smooth away the lines on his forehead

  “I find myself at a loss. I do not believe any of my brothers or sisters would attend.” For a moment, sadness colored his blue eyes

  Again, she realized that he’d given up so much for her. She walked to his side and wrapped an arm around his waist. “How about we think on it for a bit?”

  He nodded

  “We don’t do anything in small increments in this family, do we? Come, brother, let us go get reacquainted while these two talk wedding business.” Lucien nodded toward the patio.

  Heavenleigh snickered at the domestic scene playing out in front of her as they walked off together

  “You know, I wasn’t sure if this day would ever happen,” her mother whispered. Her voice shook and her brown eyes glistened with unshed tears

  “Mom?” Heavenleigh whispered

  “You were always so closed off and untrusting. I couldn’t blame you. Not with the way you’d been treated growing up and the way I had to hide us away.” She shook her head. “I worried that I’d made the wrong choices and cheated you out of the life you were meant to have for a long, long time.” She laughed and swiped at the tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. “Then this happened, and I realized you’d been waiting all this time for Yophiel.”

  “Mom, I never blamed you for anything that happened to me. You gave up everything for me. I always knew that. I was upset that you kept me from my father, but in time, I came to understand why. You did the best you could with the situation. Don’t think I hold it against you.” She wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist. “I love you, Mom.”

  “I love you too, baby,” she whispered. In the moments that followed, wounds were healed and the distance between them fell away. Her mother cleared her throat. “Now, on to happier things. How do you see your wedding?”

  “Why not own it and go with red and black? I mean, we are going to be in Hell after all.” She shook her head. “Amazing how life can turn upside down in a few months.”

  “For the better, though,” her mother added

  “Yes, definitely for the better.” Heavenleigh smiled. “Now, what do you think about a black wedding gown?”

  Her mother chuckled. “For you? Perfect. Come on, let’s go look at some websites.”

  Heavenleigh couldn’t stop the goofy grin from spreading across her face. She wasn’t sure exactly what she’d expected the outcome of the announcement to be, but this wasn’t it. Maybe we’re not as dysfunctional as I thought.

  * * *

  “Well, that wasn’t the disaster I thought it would be,” Heavenleigh said, falling back onto their bed

  “No, I think they took it quite well.”

  She propped herself up on her elbows. “What did he say to you?”

  Yophiel walked over to the end of the bed and smiled down at her, taking in the tempting package she presented. Her black locks flowed down onto the bed and her tank top rode up, revealing a creamy patch of golden brown skin. His blood grew heated. “He said all the things a father who loves his child should say.”

  “Always so tactful,” she purred

  “Well, I am learning from the best.” He knelt before her and massaged her thigh, marveling at the way his life had turned out

  “Oh, I know that look, Angel Man.”

  “What look?” he asked, curious to know what she saw. Being a human was a carefully balanced dance of powerful emotions, colloquies, and phrases he didn’t always grasp the true meaning of. He did his best to navigate the unfamiliar territory. Being alive was a strange string of events strewn together haphazardly. Some days he missed the solace and peace Heaven offered. But the longing was nothing compared to the pain he would surely experience without this woman by his side

  “The one that says you have something downright sinful on your mind.”

  “Perhaps you were mistaken.” His fingers trailed their way up along her thighs

  “Hmm, I don’t think so.” She shook her head

  He brushed over the apex of her thighs. Her heat seared him through the denim and she moaned. Her scent filled his nostrils and a growl rumbled in his chest. “You are a delicacy I will never have enough of,” he whispered

  Her hips lifted from the bed while her breath came in pants.

  “I live to see you high from the pleasure I give you.” Increasing the pressure, Yophiel rubbed her through her jeans. “You’re everything I wanted and more. I will never tire of showing you how much I cherish you. No words could express the feelings you invoke in my soul.”

  With his words and skilled fingers, her body tensed and her hands gripped the sheets

  He moved up the bed while kissing her belly as he continued to manipulate her flesh through her clothing. He nuzzled her cleavage. “I want you to come apart for me.” He growled. He had a possessive streak he often fought to temper. A side-effect of feeling more deeply than most.

  “I love it when you take control,” Heavenleigh said breathlessly

  “Then be a good little girl and follow my directions.” He rubbed her faster. “Come, now.”

  Her eyes dilated and she cried out as she shattered beneath him. The beauty of her surrender warmed him from the inside out. A woman who didn’t know the meaning of stability and rarely trusted, handed over control to him. She humbled him at every turn and taught him more than she realized. He placed a hand on either side of her face and captured her lips. Their tongues dueled and he drank her down. She brought her hands up and speared his hair with her fingers. The rough massage on his scalp made him moan. His dick strained against the confines of his jeans.

  “I need you inside me, Angel Man. Right now, you are entirely too far away.”

  “Then we must remedy that.” He leaned back and they shed their clothes, baring their bodies to each other’s eager gazes. There was an intimacy in taking off the layers that shielded them from everyone else. They knelt in the center of the bed, exploring each other with fingers, lips, and teeth. The taste of her skin was like ambrosia, and their ragged breathing became a symphony. The silken feel of her skin was a silent seduction he happily fell prey too. “I never dreamed I’d be able to touch you like this,” he whispered, still unable to wrap his head around the fact that the beautiful creature before him had consented to marry him

  Heavenleigh trailed her fingertips down his body and gripped the base of him in her hand

  He whimpered

  “I never knew I could love.” She stroked him slowly. “You gave me my own miracle and I’ll spent the rest of my life showing you how appreciative I am.” She leaned in and nipped his bottom lip, soothed the area with her tongue, and stroked faster. “You are everything I never dared dream for.”

  Her words and the sensations she caused in his body sent swirls of pleasure winding through his system

  “I’m going to ride you now until you come screaming my name.” She ran the pad of her thumb over the tip of his erection. “Now you’re the one wh
o’s wet for me.” She brought her thumb to her lips and sucked it into her mouth. “You taste delicious.” She gripped his shoulders and he held his base steady. She straddled him and sank down. Her tight, wet pussy took his throbbing head. She paused and he gripped her hips, struggling to keep his from coming up so he could slam home

  It was a game they played, testing boundaries and restraint as they pushed one another to the edge. She sank down, taking his full length, and they began their dance. They were a carefully choreographed duo as their bodies came together. Their gazes locked and he gripped her hips, thrusting inside her fast and hard. She met him stroke for stroke. Her body tensed and her walls clenched around him. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she threw her head back, lost in the moment. His balls drew up and he released everything he had, coasting the waves of bliss. Breathing hard, he buried his face in the crook between her neck and her shoulder.

  “I swear that gets better every time. You get any better at this, it might kill me,” she said

  He chuckled. “I think you’ll survive. This is all a product of your teaching after all.”

  “Maybe in the start. You’re a fast learner.” She cupped his face. “You’ve got swagger all your own.” She snorted. “Angel Swagger.”

  “You say the oddest things.”

  She smirked. “And you love me for it.”

  “I love you period.” He rolled onto his side and tucked her beside him

  “Is there anything you want at this wedding?”

  “While I’m familiar with the practice, I do not feel inclined toward any particular thing. I am happy as long as it is the event you imagined.”

  She huffed and propped herself up on her elbow. “No. I want this to be for both of us.”

  He paused. “The only thing that matters to me is that at the end of the celebration, we belong to one another in the eyes of my Father. Everything else is just an added bonus.”

  “Oh, you are smooth, Angel Man. Do you have a favorite color?”

  “The caramel of your skin and the green of your eyes,” he said, curling a lock of her black hair around his fingers

  “I don’t think we can replicate those colors for the wedding.”

  “What would you like me to do?”

  “Put some thought into it. Find something that would be meaningful to you.”

  His mind returned to an ancient practice. “There is something. A unity sand ceremony.”

  She smiled. “Explain it to me.”

  “We both pour sand into a vessel, symbolizing as the grains of sand can never be separated and will forever remain intertwined. So will our souls.”

  “I would love that. Are you going to ask Uncle D to be your best man?”

  “I think that would be wise. We have been acquainted for some time and I have never found quarrel with him. He is just and fair.”

  “So, you’re saying you like him?”

  “Yes, I guess that would be the proper response.”

  She snickered. “We should ask him as soon as possible. The man’s schedule has to be atrocious, but I know he’s able to step away.”

  “For you he would,” Yophiel said, pondering at the powerful people who cared so deeply about the woman soon to be his wife

  “Well, we can’t ask him looking like this, but I don’t want to move.”

  “Tomorrow will be soon enough,” Yophiel replied as he ran his fingers over her satiny back, soaking up the moment

  Chapter Two

  The sensation of tingling alerted Death to a summons from his niece. Intrigued, he finished guiding a soul to the afterlife and returned to earth. This was her first time using his gift. He appeared beside her on the back deck. His eyes scanned the scene. Nothing appeared to be amiss.

  She sat on the patio table beside Yophiel.

  “Is everything okay?” Death asked.

  “Yes, it’s actually I who asked her to call you here,” Yophiel replied as he rose from his chair.

  Death arched an eyebrow. This could be interesting. His life had gotten a lot more colorful recently.

  “I wanted to ask if you would be the best man at our wedding.”

  His eyebrows flew up. “I must admit this is the last thing I expected.” He grinned while imagining Lucien’s face. “I’d be honored.”

  “Thank you.” Heavenleigh squealed and ran over to hug him.

  He cherished the warmth that flowed from her to him. Times like these had always been few and far between. He handled the darkness while his brother left the light. He was strong enough to take it, but even he wasn’t completely immune to loneliness, or boredom for that matter

  She moved away from him.

  “So, when and where is this blessed event?”

  “Yeah, about that…” Heavenleigh glanced away.

  “Oh, now I know this is going to be good,” he retorted.

  “It’s going to be held in—Hell.”

  Death threw back his head and laughed. “Of course it is. Where else would a fallen angel and the daughter of Lucien be bonded in matrimony? When?”

  Heavenleigh and Yophiel exchanged a look. “In two weeks. After everything that has happened, none of us want to wait.”

  “I can’t blame you there. If I found the bond you two have, I wouldn’t hesitate.” His thoughts turned to a soft-skinned, smoky-blue-eyed woman. “I’ll be there with bells on. Just tell me we aren’t doing a Men’s Warehouse special on the suits.” He frowned

  Heavenleigh laughed. “No, you are free to wear whatever you like. It will only be you and Layla standing up for us at the altar.”

  “Less is always more,” Death said, pleased he would get to experience such a huge moment with his old friend and his goddaughter. “You’ll keep me informed?”

  “Of course.”

  “Excellent. I have arrangements to make now, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll take my leave.” He gave a half bow and returned to the one place on earth he frequently visited. In the white-walled hospital, he remained invisible, watching the coming and goings of people. Life started and stopped here more than any other place. The smell of antiseptic, flowers, hope, and oncoming death filled his nose. The blend of smells were a perfume he’d become accustomed to. He battled with his thoughts as he stared at the familiar room. I should not continue to do this to either of us. The thought of ending her life was uncontainable. For the first time in his existence, he’d become too attached

  It wasn’t like him to bend the rules, but hadn’t emotions always been the best cause for a little rule bending? He stood alone, a silent citadel, keeping the peace while bearing the weight of souls. The ferryman, he traveled down the river Styx with only his reapers to share the heavy burden he carried. Then he saw Dove, a blazing white light in the never-ending darkness of oncoming death. True goodness was a rare and beautiful thing to behold. So, he’d drawn closer, pulled in like a magnet.

  Just like now

  He entered the hospital room. The overhead lights flickered and her monitors picked up. Can you sense me now, little one? As always, she lay like a princess of lore, perpetually sleeping on a bed. Her dark hair stood out against the crisp white sheets and her skin was a dusky hue that made him long to see her eyes open in reality. He walked over to the bed and held her hand, taking away the pain that gnawed at her. Darkness spread over her body, marking it like tiny ticks of a countdown until the end as the cancer continued to ravage her petite frame

  He pictured her gray-blue eyes, imagining them alive with light the way they were when he visited her in her dreams. A small distraction from the never-ending darkness and broken memories brought on by the coma as the tumors ate away her brain. Her smoky eyes were a gift from her blonde-haired, blue-eyed mother. He knew from her images of a brown-skinned man with laughing brown eyes, which explained her cream-with-a-dash-of-coffee-colored skin. Sympathy rose up in his chest. This was no way for a child of sunlight to exist. So, he took her with him whenever he could. They’d already had a bevy of adventu
res together under the guise of dreams

  I should grant her a boon. He slipped inside his her head. “Dove, would you like to escape this place, little one? I find myself in need of date for a wedding. Though, for you, it will be nothing more than a dream.” The thought saddened him. Over the long span of her coma, they’d gone on many journeys together. Trips to Rome, Australia, and even Vermont to taste their homemade syrup. She’d been a blossoming young woman he’d indulged

  Then things had begun to change. She was so full of life and he couldn’t let her mind waste away along with her body, so he’d created a false reality that mirrored the plane where her body existed. Then she’d done the impossible and charmed her way into his heart, an organ he wasn’t sure he possessed. After so many years of collecting souls, he’d become numb. Then the vivacious twenty-nine-year-old had opened his eyes to all the things he’d been missing. Somewhere around her thirtieth birthday, things had turned

  The look in her eyes had been different. He knew what it was to have a girl best friend. He and Night had been partners in crime for years. This was different, special, and maybe even a little dangerous. How could he let her go when he was so emotionally invested? Shoving the thoughts to the back of his mind, he slipped into her subconscious

  She rested underneath a willow tree that had become her favorite spot, reading an aged copy of Tom Sawyer.

  “A little light reading to keep yourself entertained?” he asked.

  She glanced up and grinned

  The bright white smile and the joy in her eyes made his heart swell with pride and emotions he wouldn’t admit to himself

  She set the book aside and rose to her feet. Her white gown flowed to the rich green grass below, billowing out around her. “D.” She rushed toward him.

  He opened his arms to engulf her. She smelled like cinnamon and the air just before it rained. He held her a few moments longer than necessary, soaking up her warmth and affection. Being here was akin to a mental break for him. To her, he was simply D, her best friend and confidant. She understood they existed in her mind. But she didn’t know how very real he was. He often wondered if she thought he was some sort of guide, or a figment of her imagination, but he never asked for fear of upsetting their delicate balance. He stepped away. “Do you remember the friend I told you about? The one you remind me off?”