There.
Her pulse was steady and strong.
“Nate,” she murmured, her eyes fluttering open. She gave him a soft smile, but just as he found the air in his lungs to breathe once again, her eyes rolled backward and she went out again.
“Abby.” No. His heart broke at the sight of her. He’d rather take a dozen daggers to the heart, a thousand dislocated shoulders, than see her hurt.
“She has a concussion,” Michael said, awkwardly moving to stop beside him.
“We must go,” Ethan whispered loudly.
Ethan was right. Nate hoisted Abby into his arms and rose. His back gave a painful creak. He bit back a grunt and concentrated on freeing his wings. They grew with an agonizing pop that splintered his vision into a kaleidoscope of colors. The bruised appendages would need time to really heal, but that would have to wait until later.
“Can you fly with her?” Michael asked.
It would hurt like hell, but… “Do I have a choice?”
Focusing on Abby, on getting her out of this mess, he propelled himself into motion. His brothers followed suit and Ethan folded Samantha into his arms. Then, like the most raggedy group of soldiers Nate had ever seen, they all zoomed out of the tower, and into the madness.
The view of the sky directly outside the angel tower was pure pandemonium. Nate counted eight, no ten, angels zooming through the air. One of them was a Tribunal member.
Ezekiel, that bastard.
The other two Tribunal members, if they had been here, had already fled, no doubt leaving the rest of the group to do their dirty work.
Surrounding the white-wings were Ben, Mara, Jason, and Aaron, each of whom held one of the flame torches they’d been developing. Ben was closest to Nate, guarding the tower’s exit. He and the other three Fallen had somehow managed to corral the other angels into a loose circle. Though a few of the white-wings also held flame torches, they couldn’t wield them without endangering their own side.
“Stay,” Jason ordered, a hint of amusement in his voice.
When one of the white-wings with a torch growled and tried to fly out of the circle, Jason pointed the torch at him and a flaming fireball shot out of it. The white-wing yelped and flew backward, out of reach of the deadly flames.
“Impressive,” Michael murmured. A hoarse laugh tore from his throat as he slowly came to a stop beside Ben.
“Oh, to hell with this,” Ezekiel spat.
Fast as lightning, Ezekiel sped forward and snatched the torch from the white-wing. He aimed it at Mara and shot it. The fireball pierced two of his men before hitting Mara right in the stomach. Like the other two victims, flames immediately engulfed her body.
“No,” Ben screamed. He dropped his torch and carelessly raced toward Mara.
“Gods, no,” Nate said.
Beside him, Michael let out a guttural yell that chilled Nate to the bone. He could only imagine watching as his own sister was incinerated.
Michael snatched Ben’s torch before it could touch the ground, and flew toward Ezekiel.
“Michael, no!” Seth cried out. Given the extent of Michael’s injuries, Seth clearly sensed what Nate had predicted. Michael wouldn’t survive a confrontation with Ezekiel, and they needed him now more than ever.
“Retreat,” Seth called out to Nate and Ethan as he flew after Michael. “I’ll get Michael. We have to get everyone out. Now.”
Trusting Seth to recover their leader, Nate clutched Abby tighter to him and flew away.
A myriad of emotions washed over him. Fury over what had befallen Mara. Relief that he’d been freed. Unimaginable joy that his mate was in his arms, as well as worry over her injuries.
God, what a mess he was.
But she is here. Abby his here with you.
For now, that would have to be enough.
Chapter Fourteen
Awareness returned slowly, bringing with it slivers of half-formed memories. A scenic trolley ride, some scary, badass angels, being handed the royal smack-down, and…and Nate!
Gasping, she fought her way back to full consciousness. But when she opened her eyes, instead of the battle scene she’d expected to see, there was darkness. Dark walls, a closed-in room, and a tiny bed that she reclined on. A thin white sheet covered her lower body.
“What…?”
She propped herself up on her elbows, just as the figure seated at the foot of her bed straightened. His nude torso twisted so that he locked gazes with her, and his eyes went wide with relief.
“Nate,” she whispered.
Thank God.
So she hadn’t imagined seeing his face.
“Abby.” He scooted off the bed and dropped to his knees right beside her, clasping her hands in his. She drank in the sight of him, let his spicy scent wash over her.
Thank God.
He was real, and he was here.
His face, which from Abby’s recollection had been burnt and bruised almost beyond recognition, was now almost fully healed. His black-and-blue torso still carried the evidence of his confinement, but at some point he’d bathed and applied some sort of salve to his body. He looked damn good, all things considered.
Nate’s worried gaze lingered on her face. “How do you feel?”
“Actually…not too bad.” Considering she’d sustained what must have been a pretty good knock to the head. Much to her surprise, it barely even hurt right now.
“Ruby’s been giving you medication for the ache,” he said.
“Wait, how long have I been out?”
Nate shrugged. “The better part of a day.”
“A day?”
“We’re back at the underground subway base.”
She tried to sit up, vaguely noting that someone—him, hopefully—had taken her jeans off before placing her in the bed, leaving her clad in nothing but her underwear.
But Nate pushed her down, his eyes blazing with concern. “Rest.”
“No, wait. What happened?”
His gaze shadowed, and her stomach dropped.
“You managed to rescue us,” he said, “although I wish you hadn’t agreed to such a foolish plan.”
Yeah, she’d bet.
“Did you all manage to get free?” she whispered, half fearing the worst.
“Yes.”
“Oh, thank God.”
“But Mara and Ben were killed in the resultant battle.”
Shock and grief coalesced into a firm ball knotting the pit of her stomach.
“No,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around her waist.
“Michael is inconsolable,” Nate continued, casting his gaze to the ground.
“Nate, I’m so sorry.”
He looked up at her, his eyes bright and shiny. “The president has also been killed. The vice-president has banded together with other world leaders and they have formally declared war.”
“Oh, shit.”
She’d missed out on a lot while she was asleep, apparently.
“So what happens now?”
“Now.” His lips twisted into a cross between a grin and a grimace. “Now we battle.”
His words spread a chill along her spine. She tossed the covers off. “Then we have work to do.”
“It can wait.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but when he snatched her hands in his own, his bright, burning gaze stopped her.
“There’s something I want to talk to you about, Abby.”
His serious tone brought a shiver of apprehension to her body. “What is it?”
“Something I should have told you well before now. Before I ever left for D.C.”
Suddenly she knew. Knew what he was going to say. And oh wow, how she needed to hear it…
“What, Nate?”
“I love you.”
She sucked in a breath. Even though she’d anticipated the words, they filled her with an unimaginable sense of joy. Of rightness. Because he’d finally admitted to himself what she’d sensed all along.
They
belonged together.
“I love you so much, Abby,” he continued in one big rush. “And I was foolish to think I could ever deny it.”
“Oh, Nate…”
His hands trembled slightly. “I don’t know what I would do if anything ever happened to you.”
And that had been the problem all along. He’d already lost one mate. He’d been terrified of losing another, so terrified he’d thought he could deny what had seemed so painfully obvious to her.
“Oh, Nate…I don’t know what this world has in store for us, but I can promise you one thing.”
He gazed up at her with all the love in his heart shining through in his eyes. This was the look she’d dreamt of for a dozen years. The man she’d never been able to forget. No matter what happened tomorrow, today, right now, her every dream had come true.
“I will love you forever,” she said. “And if you let me, I’ll make you the happiest man on Earth.”
“Abby.” He broke into a slow grin that made her body melt with desire. “You already have.”
She reached down just as he rose, and their lips met somewhere in between. Soft and slow and sweet, the kiss seemed to go on forever. When he urged her onto her back, she eagerly pulled him down atop her. As if in a dream, he swiftly divested them both of their clothing, until there was nothing but the bare slide of skin on skin. Flesh to deliciously heated flesh.
This time, when he slipped inside her, it was with agonizing slowness. He pumped his hips, slow and steady, as if he had all the time in the world. In, out, each silky thrust filling her body with ecstasy. Finally, when she could take no more, she moaned, “Harder.”
“Mm…patience,” he murmured.
Screw patience.
She dug her nails into his back, urging him faster. Harder. Until he plunged into her with deep, heavy strokes. Filling her more and more, until finally the dam of her self-control shattered.
“Yes,” she screamed, clutching his body to hers. “Yes.”
“Oh, baby,” he whispered, his entire body convulsing.
She wrapped her legs around him, riding out a climax so fierce her vision splintered. Urging him to follow her into the abyss.
Finally, with a hoarse shout, he went over the edge, pulsing his release into her.
“Whoa…that was…nice,” she panted once she could finally breathe once more.
Nate gave a hoarse laugh and turned onto his side, hugging her body into his. “That, my love, is the understatement of the century.”
Grinning, she brushed a lock of hair off his sweat-dampened forehead.
“I love you,” she murmured.
“And I love you…mate.”
His words seared her body, sending ribbons of pure joy through her very essence. She’d waited a dozen years to hear him say those words to her. And now that he had, she knew.
It had been worth every minute of the wait.
THE END
Please be on the lookout for the conclusion to this series,
Angel’s Redemption
Book 6 of the Fallen Warriors Series
coming in the Fall of 2014
Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story! For news on upcoming stories, click here to sign up for Rosalie Lario’s Newsletter.
You’ve just read the fifth book in the Fallen Warriors Series. The other books in the series are FOR LOVE OF AN ANGEL, ANGEL’S DESIRE, FOR WANT OF AN ANGEL, AND ANGEL’S KISS. I hope you enjoy them all!
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Books in Rosalie Lario’s Fallen Warriors Series
For Love of an Angel
Angel’s Desire
For Want of an Angel
Angel’s Kiss
Want more books by Rosalie Lario? Don’t miss her award-winning Demons of Infernum Series!
Blood of the Demon
Mark of the Sylph
Touch of the Angel
Heart of the Incubus
Call of the Siren
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rosalie Lario is the award-winning, paranormal romance author of the Demons of Infernum and the Fallen Warriors series. Rosalie double majored in Anthropology and Classics as an undergraduate student, and briefly considered becoming an archaeologist before realizing they don’t actually live the life of Indiana Jones. So what was a classical geek armed with a lot of useless knowledge to do? Become a lawyer, of course!
After attending law school in Florida, she practiced real estate law for several years before finally admitting to herself that negotiating contracts wasn’t nearly as fun as dreaming up stories. She never imagined all the mythology she’d learned throughout her undergraduate education might actually come in handy, but it makes perfect fodder for the paranormal romance stories she now dreams up.
When not writing, you can find her on a boat somewhere along South Florida’s waterways, chasing down a rainbow or pretending to be a pirate. You can learn more about Rosalie Lario at her website, www.rosalielario.com. Sign up for her Newsletter and connect with her on Twitter or Facebook.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Heart of an Angel Page 10
