Hope For More (Trinity Book 3)

by Devin Fontaine

  “Uh…” He closed his eyes and shook his head, as if ridding it of confusion. “There’s a ward in place. We must needs go outside or to the departure and arrival room to dematerialize.”

  She nodded and this time, Thomas maintained his wits and led them out of the room, down a hall. Dominic and a male Hope didn’t recognize were talking, heads close together. Their conversation came to an abrupt halt as she and Thomas approached.

  “Later,” was all Thomas said, breezing by with no further explanation. He left his coworkers with baffled expressions. Thomas continued leading on until he pushed open a door marked ‘exit.’ The second they stepped outside, Thomas took Hope in his arms and after a quick pleasant and tingling sensation, they stood in the kitchen of Thomas’s modest apartment.

  The state of his home made Hope’s heart hurt. It was obvious he gave up on keeping it clean. Food and clothes were strewn everywhere, dirty dishes piled high in the sink. She had witnessed Thomas, his total lack of joy and utter lifelessness, on the screen in the Hereafter, but in person it proved much more painful. Her poor love was so deep in mourning, he neglected his own needs.

  “Let’s sit,” she said. Hope ignored the mess without comment. Thomas led her to the couch and unceremoniously shoved a pile of clothes to the floor before motioning for her to take a seat. He dropped next to her and swung an arm around her shoulders to pull her close. Hope smiled and met Thomas’s happy, but concerned, gaze. She skimmed a fingertip along his bearded jaw. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise.” That seemed to placate him and the tight grasp on her shoulders loosened, though he didn’t remove his arm.

  “How are you here? I mean, I know you’re now an immortal, I just don’t know why this happened.” Hope reached higher up and smoothed a thumb over the wrinkle between his dark brows.

  She explained how she woke up in the Hereafter and the conversations with Thea. When Hope finished, Thomas sat silent a while before he asked a question. “So what job were you offered?”

  Hope put a hand on his knee and squeezed. “I’m a Guardian Angel.” His eyes bulged and she quickly assuaged his fears. “Not the protective kind, the bodyguards.” His expression relaxed. “I’ll be checking in with those on a list of humans. Each human leaves the list when they no longer require help and as such, are replaced by new ones.”

  Thomas frowned, trying to make sense of it. “So, is it kind of like part time?”

  “Exactly. I’ll make my own schedule, except emergencies, obviously. As long as I keep up with my assignments, I can do it however I see fit.”

  “This is surreal,” he murmured.

  “How so?” Hope shifted out of Thomas’s hold and tucked a leg beneath her. She turned to face him. “You’re immortal, a saint. You know humans are sent back as angels, saints, and other beings all the time. Why not me?”

  “That’s just it,” he said. “I’ve never personally known anyone who came back. It’s not common.”

  She nodded. “It’s been confusing. Especially after I woke up back on the Earthly plane. I had no idea where I was, only that I was on the floor in a building with no windows. They kept me there for three days before blindfolding me and dropping me off in the city.” Her mouth twisted into a grimace. “They didn’t even ask where I wanted to go, they just dumped me on a random street.”

  “The location of the portal to the Hereafter is a closely guarded secret. Only Messenger Angels know where it is. Supposedly, they’re the ones who control who comes and goes. Except the Archangels. They can visit the Hereafter whenever they want, without the portal.”

  “Well, messengers or whatever, they suck at hospitality,” Hope said with a pout. “They stuck me in a room with a bed and a bathroom, no books, no entertainment at all. It was so boring. I was told I needed to ‘adjust’ to my new form before leaving.”

  “And how are you adjusting?” Her eyes widened at the seductive inflection in Thomas’s voice. His arm rested on the back of the couch and his fingers played with strands of her hair.

  Desire rippled through her and Hope shivered. The brilliant pink orb in her chest, which she learned was her life-force, the energy that kept her alive as an immortal, shifted and pulsed with each of Thomas’s small touches. She was still getting used to the sensation of the core of energy, and in the three days since she arrived, never once had it changed or wavered. Until now.

  “I’m…” Something sizzled inside and a tiny zap of electricity shot from the diamond bright core. “It’s strange,” she admitted. Was this going to be a regular occurrence? Was this life-force going to pulse and hum constantly? Make itty-bitty lightning storms that made her feel funny inside?

  A larger bolt leapt from the swirling center, only this one made its way down Hope’s arm to the hand she rested on Thomas’s knee. There was a crackle between them, similar to a static shock only way stronger. Thomas jerked back as Hope gasped. She swore she saw a flash of green connect with the flash of pink the moment the energy left her fingertips.

  “What—?”

  Thomas was cut off when his entire body trembled and his head arched back, the tendons in his neck straining. Hope scrambled to kneel on the couch and leaned over to look in his eyes. Before she could see anything, the bright pink light in her core exploded outward with the force of a small nuclear blast. Streaks of pink hissed and snapped, coiling and growing, gathering in strength. Suddenly, the power pushed out from her chest in a dozen sparkling tendrils. She gasped when she saw a similar process happening to Thomas, only his energy was a deep, forest green.

  The two strands met with a loud thunderclap. They twisted and wound around each other until they were indistinguishable from one another. Energy shot back into Hope, this time bringing with it fibers of Thomas’s green. Hope cried out as her body reabsorbed pink and green back into her sphere, her life-force, now shining so bright it should have burned as hot as the sun. As the green thoroughly embedded in her core, the shock of the exchange faded and turned into something else altogether.

  Desire.

  Hunger.

  The need to become one with Thomas.

  Once Hope regained some semblance of control, she noticed pulsing energy threaded between her and Thomas. She checked to see if he was okay and her already heated blood ignited into an inferno. The look on his face, his stare aimed directly at her, was so hot, so lust-filled, and so passionate, Hope should have burned to ash from his gaze alone.

  She wanted to ask how he felt, but before she could Thomas struck like a viper. He grabbed her and in the blink of an eye, flipped them and had her pinned beneath him on the couch.

  “I need you,” he growled. Thomas’s glittering eyes scanned her face as if needing to commit every feature to memory. Once satisfied, he kissed her. And not an ordinary kiss. No. This kiss was messy and filthy and so erotic. Hope craved more. Thomas shoved his tongue into her mouth and at the same time thrust his hips down. His hard length ground between her legs to hit that perfect spot. Her back bowed off the cushions and she cried into his mouth. He moaned and deepened the kiss, angling his head for better access. The vibrations from the noises he made sent chills across Hope’s skin.

  It was glorious and trapped beneath Thomas’s weight, all she could do was hold on for the ride. Hope wrapped her arms and legs around his broad, muscular body and kissed him back with all she was worth.

  Since coming back, Hope found everything was intensified times a thousand. She didn’t know if the passion between them had amplified because she was immortal or because of whatever the heck happened between their energies. But no way was she going to complain. They tore at each other’s clothes, both desperate to feel the heat of skin on skin. Thomas stood and yanked off his pants, socks, and shoes. Once he was gloriously naked, Hope sprawled out so he could get a good look as she lay equally bare on the couch. Like a man starved, his gaze flicked up and down her body, a wicked glint shining in them. He grabbed her by the waist and she yelped when he hauled her into his arms. Instinctively, sh
e wound her legs around his waist and locked her ankles and slung her arms around his neck. Thomas walked toward the bedroom, the two of them exchanging hot kisses the entire time.

  “Fates, I can’t wait any longer.” Hope’s back hit the nearest wall and Thomas shifted her down. Lowering her backside as he thrust his hips up caused her end up impaled by his cock. Thick and long, gravity pulled her down until he penetrated deep inside her.

  “Oh my God.” The feeling of Thomas filling and stretching her was so perfect she wanted to weep. Her head thunked back and, spying the stretch of sensitive skin, Thomas dove forward, nipping and licking her exposed throat.

  “You feel so good,” he moaned, laving and nipping at the spot below her ear. He sucked on her earlobe and gently bit down. Hope cried out and her hips jerked. Thomas groaned and began to move. There was nothing gentle about the way he made love to her. It was fast and hard and sent her soaring. His hips slammed into her over and over, every thrust jabbing her perfectly. The pleasure built rapidly and before she knew it, Hope crested the peak and happily threw herself over the edge into bliss.

  Thomas roared as he came and even with her head back and her eyes closed, she saw the green and pink of their life-forces as both flared, the brand new tether between them relaying the other’s pleasure back and forth across the bond, doubling the ecstasy as she reveled in her own orgasm and that of Thomas’s.

  When they came down they were slick with sweat and gasping for breath. Thomas rested his face in the crook of her neck. His hot breath hit her damp skin and Hope shivered. He leaned back to look at her and brushed his nose across hers. “Cold?”

  “Just overwhelmed, I think.” Thomas nodded and shifted to pull out. There was no time to mourn the loss because Thomas carried Hope to the bedroom and placed her on the soft mattress. He climbed in and curled his body around hers. His breath tickled the nape of her neck and he slung a heavy leg over her hips. She couldn’t have been happier.

  “About what just happened,” Thomas said. Hell, she couldn’t have this conversation without looking at him. Besides, they’d been apart long enough and Hope missed his handsome face. She wiggled and turned in his arms and this time she threw a leg over his trim waist, keeping them close. His smile took her breath away.

  “What did happen?” she asked. Hope couldn’t keep her eyes off Thomas. Couldn’t believe she was back here in his bed, in his arms, together after the permanence of death. Which, it turns out, wasn’t always as permanent as she believed.

  Thomas ran his hands up and down her spine. “I don’t know much about it, but I think…” His gaze locked on hers and again and Hope was knocked breathless. This time by the sheer amount of love in Thomas’s eyes. “I think we’re soulmates.”

  “Soulmates?”

  “I think that’s was the electric storm was. The bond forming. Our life-forces, or our souls, if you prefer, joining together to form one.”

  “One soul?”

  “Separate, but joined, for all eternity.” Thomas pecked her lips, radiating joy. “It means we’re perfect for each other and shall forever be together.”

  Hope grinned. “I think I can live with that.”

  His smile was equally wide and absolutely stunning. “Me too. I love you, Hope.”

  “I love you, too.”

  They drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms, so grateful for the second chance that they refused to be apart.

  Soulmates. Now they would never be apart.

  Hope’s last thought before succumbing to exhaustion was how utterly, perfectly, content she was.

  CHAPTER 20

  “W hoa, check out More.” Tony elbowed Joan and shot Thomas a mischievous grin. “He looks as happy as Wrath surrounded by bloody corpses on the battlefield.”

  Joan glared at her partner, but Thomas couldn’t be upset by the detective’s teasing. In truth, nothing short of the utter destruction of the Earthly plane could wipe the smile off his face, and even then… he wasn’t sure he his near to bursting state of joy wouldn’t persist right on through as devastation and ruin rained down around him.

  He would still have Hope at his side, and that was more than enough for him.

  “It’s quite the beautiful morning, detectives.” Thomas said brightly as he entered the tiny and depressing institutional blue room at the Immortal Crimes division of police headquarters. He set down his heavy messenger bag and took a long sip from his cinnamon latte, a decadent indulgence he rarely allowed himself.

  Humble saint and all that.

  “Ha, what a difference a couple of days make.” Tony waggled his brows and chuckled, crooked grin still in place.

  “Tony…” Joan shot her partner a scowl, then turned to give Thomas a lovely smile of her own. “I’m so glad to see you happy.” She reached across the table and covered one of Thomas’s hands with hers and her expression grew serious. “I was afraid we were losing you to darkness. Now…” Her eyes twinkled and the corner of her mouth pulled up. “Now you are radiant. Your soulmate is good for you.”

  Tony scoffed. “She’s better than good for him. She’s made him tolerable to be around.” The detective winked, then added, “Mostly.” Joan gasped and Thomas frowned. Tony, the bastard, he smirked. “What? You’ve become almost as annoying as you were when you were so depressed you wouldn’t speak to a single one of us. Now you’re too fucking happy all the time.”

  Quick as a whip, Joan snatched her hand from Thomas and whacked Tony upside the noggin.

  “Ow!” the detective cried out as he rubbed the back of his head.

  Thomas laughed whilst Joan scolded Tony for cursing… again. When would she learn her partner would never, ever curb his filthy mouth? Thomas didn’t think Tony could do it even if he wanted to, which it was more than likely he didn’t, if for no other reason than to annoy Joan. Like brother and sister those two were.

  “Children, mayhap we could stop bickering and focus on why we’re here?”

  “Yes,” Joan said at the same time Tony huffed and grumbled, “Fine, Joan ruins all my fun anyway.”

  Thomas smiled one final time before setting down his coffee and accepting the hefty stack of papers Joan slid across the table. As he skimmed through the files, Thomas’s playful and happy mood grew more and more somber with each subsequent page flipped. His forehead creased and a bushel of nerves snaked and twisted in his stomach whilst he read. By the time Thomas finished digesting the plethora of nightmares, both he and the waiting detectives wore dark, troubling scowls.

  In theory, Thomas knew what he was walking into this morning. But after having been, for lack of a better term, unavailable since Hope’s death, then again in the seventy-two amazing hours since she came back, seeing all of the evidence, piece by horrific piece, collected in a single file, complete with gruesome photos and detailed descriptions, made his heart lurch.

  “This is…” He shook his head, unable to come up with the words to describe how he felt.

  “Awful,” Joan said.

  “Horrific,” Tony added.

  “Aye. Both.” Thomas scraped his palms down the short stubble he favored. Hope’s return rekindled his ability to partake in daily personal hygiene, so gone was the scruffy, uneven beard and haggard appearance Thomas wore in the weeks prior. That morning was the first time he’d worn a clean, non-crumpled, non-stained suit since the dreadful day in the courthouse parking lot.

  A wave of deep concern and love surged into Thomas’s soul and he flinched at the still new sensation. Hope was worried. He forgot his every emotion was broadcast over the bond. The thought of Hope receiving some of the gut-gnawing fear Thomas felt whilst reading through the file, made him sick. He would have to learn how to block the bond at appropriate times. Faith did it with Lust whilst casting banishment spells. Mayhap she could teach Thomas to do the same.

  Joan cocked her head. “You okay?”

  Despite the grim reality of the reports in front of him, Thomas smiled and felt his cheeks flush with heat. “Aye. I
just… I’m not used to the soul bond as of yet.”

  The detectives shared a meaningful look and gazed at him knowingly. Tony smirked. “Your mate sending you some sexy thoughts, Mr. Prosecutor?”

  “Tony!” Joan said, exasperated.

  Thomas shook his head sadly. “No. Hope is just worried because my mood, well, you know.” He gestured toward the file. Before either detective could respond, Thomas’s phone vibrated with an incoming text. “Apologies.” He pulled it from his jacket pocket and read the screen.

  HOPE: everything ok?

  THOMAS: No really. Just a pretty bad case. If you can, try to avoid the bond for a little while. I love you.

  HOPE: Love you too. Don’t forget…

  THOMAS: I won’t. Gotta go.

  HOPE: xoxo

  FEELING MARGINALLY BETTER, he tucked the phone back in its rightful place and glanced up only to find Tony and Joan giving him what looked like approving grins.

  “What?”

  “You,” Joan said with a shrug. “I like this new you. All starry eyed and in love. I’m really happy for you and Hope, Thomas.” She winked and once more, his face burst into flames.

  Thomas cleared his throat. “Umm, about that.” He squirmed and loosened his tie.

  Fates, did it suddenly get hot in here?

  “Thomas?” He met Tony’s apprehensive gaze and managed a weak smile. “Tell us, my friend. Whatever it is, you know we’re on your side.” Joan nodded vehemently along with Tony’s proclamation.

  “It’s just that… Fates. It’s about Hope.”

  “What about her?” Joan asked, the saint’s voice letting him know that in truth, she would do whatever necessary. Not that Thomas believed there was a viable solution. Not one that would be allowed, anyway.

  He took a deep breath, and blurted it out. “She wants to see Garrett. And she wants me to ask Michael to arrange it.”

  The matching stunned expressions on Joan and Tony’s faces conveyed what he already knew. As with every other immortal to ask the exact same question over the centuries, the answer was going to be, and would always be, a resounding no.