by AJ Rose
For the first time in Nate’s acquaintance with the angel, she appeared irritated. “Any more questions?” She stood.
Mitch lifted his chin in defiance. “We’ll let you know.”
“Fair enough,” she said and was gone, her signature feather floating to the floor.
Nate turned to Mitch, words on his lips that died when his husband grinned. “Why are you smiling? I thought you were pissed.”
“I wanted her to think I’m pissed. She’s done enough fucking with us, it’s satisfying to fuck with her back.”
“You devil.” God, I love him.
“What do you think?” Mitch asked, all his ire gone.
“Are you kidding? Three hundred more years with you? Sign me up.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Nate all but laughed, knowing if he did so, his broken ribs would protest. It was a small consideration, but the idea that he wouldn’t have to suffer the long recovery that came with broken ribs was icing on the cake. “Should we try to contact her now, or….” He trailed off.
“Nah, let’s let her squirm. We’ll talk to my parents when they get here, and yours, too. We can’t tell yours anything, but it’ll be nice to see them. Hell, maybe you could tell them they don’t have to worry about you getting hurt anymore. There’s no one safer than a reaper.”
Nate considered that. “It would be nice to be able to reassure them, even if I can’t say why.”
“So we’re good?” Mitch asked, eyes alight.
“Yeah,” Nate said with a slow smile.
“Well, then, come over here and take advantage of this clarity of thought Katherine gave me. I’m cold and miss my husband.” Mitch patted the bed beside him.
Nate winced. “She didn’t take away my pain, just yours. I didn’t get my brains scrambled the way you did.”
Mitch’s features transformed from devilish to compassionate as he climbed out of bed and pulled all the wires attached to him in the direction of Nate’s bed.
“Want some human contact?” he asked softly, easing down to lie beside Nate, resting his head on his shoulder with care.
“Always,” Nate murmured, kissing Mitch’s hair and smelling sweat and that anesthetic hospital scent.
They couldn’t stay like that for long, fearing the nurses might come in and discover Mitch’s miracle a little earlier than they’d be prepared to explain, but for a few minutes, it was heaven.
Katherine showed up twenty-four hours later, just after Charles and Sylvia talked Kristen and Samuel into getting cafeteria food. Mitch and Nate shared a knowing glance.
“Well, gents. What have you decided?”
Nate took a deep, painful breath. “Let the reaping begin.”
Deacon the Reaper
About the Author
It began with a Halloween themed short story assignment from a second grade teacher, and from then on, AJ Rose fell head over heels in love with writing. Time has seen the beginning and end of many things, college and graduation, a finance career, and a marriage, and through it all, writing has been her first love. Now, AJ is also head over heels for her wife, fellow author Kate Aaron, who gets it, the twitchy fingers when word counts are low too many consecutive days, the thousand-yard stare when an idea turns AJ's vision inward, and the jitters when the new stories go out to meet the world. Nothing could stop the tall tales about imaginary people that refused to be ignored. With a life full of this much passion, it's no wonder AJ chose romance. The voices in her head are mostly of the male persuasion, so m/m romance was about the only option. But don't be surprised if the occasional ghost still pops up.
AJ’s work can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and All Romance eBooks. For information on future titles, visit or email AJ at
@_AJRose
aj.rose.5473
ajrosewrites.wordpress.com
[email protected]
