by Tara West
I tried to stifle my smile. I’d like nothing more than to take a bath with Melanie, but I didn’t think we’d reached that point in our relationship, and I wondered if we ever would. I cleared my throat, needing to change the subject. “I appreciate all you’ve done here.”
Crow and I had served on the ghosting squad together for thirteen years, and I couldn’t have asked for a better friend.
He slapped his knee, laughing. “This ain’t in my job description.”
“What about all the other levels?” I asked.
The lines around his dark eyes crinkled. “What about them? I ain’t hell’s exterminator.”
“But won’t the spiders keep crawling to the top?”
“Nah.” He shrugged. “We sealed off the tunnel that leads to sub-level one. Ain’t no more spiders and no demons getting up in here.”
“Nice. Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me.” He nodded toward Mar, who was quietly crying into Boner’s shoulder. “It was Mar’s idea. She knows Katherine ain’t never gettin’ no pass to purgatory.”
“Yeah, probably not after what she’d done.”
My gaze instinctively traveled to Melanie again as her haunting words echoed in my mind. “I’m a murderer, Santiago. I killed my baby boy.” And again I tried to convince myself it had to have been an accident. I refused to believe Melanie had intentionally committed murder.
She hadn’t taken a break yet to heal herself, having moved on to another priestess with the healing water.
I thanked Crow once more before pushing myself out of the chair, ignoring my sore muscles. Fortunately, I was feeling a lot better. That healing water must have been working its magic.
I walked past angels and ghosters, thanking them for a job well done. The pyramid looked better than new. I had no idea how much of it they’d cleaned, but I was eager to help them finish.
Melanie averted her gaze when she saw me approaching, biting on her lower lip while she dipped a rag in water. I grabbed the cloth from her. “You’re covered in burns. You need to take care of yourself.”
Dark circles hung below her eyes, her skin was covered in angry red welts, and her hair had fallen out in clumps. It was obvious she’d been literally dragged through hell.
She shrugged, running a hand down her arm, before wincing and jerking away. “I’m okay.” She sounded as weary as she looked. She nodded down at my leg. “Your leg has grown back.”
“So it has,” I answered, “but you’re still covered in burns.”
“Oh, these?” She frowned down at her arms. “They hardly hurt.”
I knew she was lying, but rather than call her on it, I decided to take charge. It was time Melanie put her needs before others for once. I held out the rag. “Sit. Let me heal you.”
She stared down at her feet while twisting the end of her sash belt into a knot. “My sisters need me.”
I cupped her chin, forcing her to meet my gaze. “They have each other and my friends.” I nodded toward Mar and Basil who were heading toward us with basins of healing water. I gently applied pressure to her shoulder, easing her onto the bench.
She looked up at me with watery eyes. “Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?” I dipped the cloth in water, then smoothed it down her arm, amazed when the burns and blisters melted away.
“Helping me when I don’t deserve it.”
Her words punched me in the gut. I squeezed water onto the floor as I worked to unclench my jaw. “Was your son’s death an accident?”
Her eyes shone with sorrow. “My drug addiction was no accident. I was on drugs when I set the house on fire.”
I knelt down beside her, gently clutching her shoulders. “You didn’t mean to start the fire, right?”
“No.” She wiped tears from her blistered cheeks.
I traced the trail of her tears with the cloth, blotting away her cuts and burns. “Melanie, you’ve paid enough of a price for your sins. Look at all you’ve been through.” I ran the rag down her other arm. “Thank you for your help down there, by the way. We wouldn’t have made it out without you.”
She grabbed my hand, her eyes sharpening. “You would have done the same.”
“You’re right,” I said before pulling up her skirt and washing her legs. “I’d walk through fire to save you.”
I stilled when she gasped, and then I took a chance and looked up at her. Though I’d cleaned her face with healing water, her cheeks were redder than before.
“I speak the truth, you know?” I said before wiping down her knees. Her legs were smooth and long, and I imagined how they’d feel wrapped around my waist.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get everything. I couldn’t reach all of your burns.” Heat inflamed my skin after I thought about Crow’s bath suggestion, and I had to force myself to shut out the fantasy of Melanie’s soft body beneath mine.
“That’s okay.” She shrugged, slanting a smile. “I’ll probably go take a bath.”
My heart slammed against my chest like a cannon striking a steel drum. What was that smile for? Did I dare hope she’d invite me to take a dip with her?
Just then the elevator door hissed open. I jumped up to see Cam handing over Katherine to Boner. Mar screeched like a banshee, dropping her bowl of healing water and rushing toward them. Aedan saluted me from inside the elevator. He held Ash in his arms.
I slumped back onto the bench, heaving a sigh of relief. Dear Lord, thank you. My friends had all been saved. I could finally relax.
Boner laid Katherine across the table. She didn’t seem to have any burns, but her clothes were charred and torn. The other priestesses buzzed like bees as they swarmed the table and stripped off Katherine’s clothes.
I stepped away, knowing I needed to give them privacy. Melanie would probably want to help her sisters, so I decided to head for the healing baths. I could use the relaxation, and maybe a tall glass of Nephilim wine.
“Santiago, wait!” I spun around, my heart swelling like a balloon when Melanie raced toward me.
“Our friends are safe,” she said, latching onto my hand with a wide smile.
I squeezed her hand, loving the feel of her soft skin in mine. “I feel like a weight has been lifted.” I expelled a deep breath for the first time in what felt like ages.
She bit her lower lip, her pale cheeks flushing as she nodded toward the arched doorway. “What say we go somewhere private and celebrate?”
My heart came to a skidding halt, shock robbing my brain of reason. “A-Are you sure?”
She leaned into me, placing one hand on my chest and another on my cheek. Then she stood up on her toes and feathered a soft kiss across my lips. “Very sure.” She breathed against my cheek before her hand trailed down to my abdomen. “Very, very sure.”
It took all of my willpower not to throw her over my shoulder and race for the nearest bedroom. My groin tightened with anticipation as we clasped hands and headed for the elevator. I couldn’t believe I was finally going to make Melanie mine. And all I had to do was escape the flaming fires of hell to win her over.
* * *
Ash MacLeod
I woke up with a start, shooting up in bed like a rocket.
I frantically ran my hands down my unhairy arms, holding my two very human hands out in front of my face. I was in a bed with soft white sheets and I was wearing a plush cotton robe. Where was I and where was my fiancé?
“Aedan?!” I screamed.
Aedan came racing out of the bathroom a towel wrapped low around his hips, his beautiful chest glistening with moisture as he toweled his hair. He sat beside me, clasping my hands in his. “I’m here, sweetheart.”
I sat up against the headboard and looked around the room, large and airy with cream carpets and a big bay window at the end. “Where are we?” Though I suspected I knew the answer, my brain had a hard time processing it.
“You don’t recognize this place?” He waved to the cozy reading nook in the corner of the room right next to
the mini bar. “We’re in the penthouse.”
I gulped. Was this for real or was I still stuck in hell, and Satan was fucking with me? “God let us in heaven?”
“Yes.” He brought my hands to his lips, kissing the tips of my fingers. “We got our credits back. After we saved our friends and recovered the scythe. Remember?”
Then a rush of memories hit me like a tidal wave. Satan’s snake eyes, Monkey Fuhrer, seductive sirens, slutty cats, demon chow, red ring of fire, fleas, pillow humping, blistered feet, parched throat, burning skin, blood wine, and the agony of my veins erupting like volcanos, my insides literally boiling while I defied the Devil.
Uh, yeah. Unfortunately, I did remember.
I rubbed my eyes, pleased to find they were goop free. Then I remembered this was heaven. My breath also smelled fresh as a summer’s day, too. “How long have I been sleeping?”
“It’s hard to tell, maybe a day.”
I leaned up and stretched my arms to the ceiling, laying back against the padded headboard. “I feel so rested. Nothing hurts.” I couldn’t help but smile as I held out my arm. “Look. I’m not hairy and my blisters are gone.”
Aedan ran his hand down my arm, causing gooseflesh to rise. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed his touch. “Cam used his wishing star to heal you.”
That was right. Wow. We sure owed Cam a huge debt of gratitude, one that I doubted we’d ever be able to repay. I vaguely remembered him falling from the sky and wielding a golf club. That was weird. “He saved us with a golf club, didn’t he?”
Aedan laughed. “Yeah, but your bravery was impressive, too.”
A shiver wracked my body as I remembered what had happened after I drank the blood wine. The Devil was in my mind, trying to force me to obey. The act of defying him caused such unbelievable agony, but what choice did I have? If he would have forced me to obliterate Aedan, my eternity would have been an endless chasm of misery. “That shit hurt.”
“Your veins were boiling, and yet you refused to obliterate me,” Aedan said with a note of awe in his voice as his smiling blue eyes sparkled. “Thank you, sweetheart. You’re my angel.” He leaned into me, placing a tender kiss on my lips.
I sighed when he pulled back, wanting so much more than a chaste kiss, but I didn’t feel like an angel, and I certainly didn’t think I deserved his thanks since I doubted my sacrifice made up for my sins.
I laid a hand across my heart. “It would have hurt a lot worse if I’d lost you.” I hung my head, shame overwhelming me when I thought of my tryst with Thelix. “I’m sorry I was unfaithful.”
He brushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “You weren’t unfaithful.”
My gaze shot to him. “But the siren...” I said on a rush of air.
“We were tricked, Ash. I don’t hold you accountable, and I pray you don’t blame me, either.”
Relief flooded through me, infusing my soul with a happy glow that I hadn’t felt since before our trip to sub-level thirteen. “I know it wasn’t your fault.” My throat constricted, threatening to close off entirely as memories from our captivity threatened to cut the last threads of my sanity. “Being parted from you was the worst torture imaginable.”
He flashed a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You don’t have to ever worry about losing me again. We’re going to live out the rest of our afterlives in peace right here.”
I threw off my covers, coming to my knees, desperately searching his gaze. Could he have been serious? Aedan had been a thirteener for over a hundred years. Why would he wish to give all that up now? “But I thought you wanted to go back to level thirteen and be a grim?”
Aedan ran a hand down his face, his somber expression making a lump stick in my throat. “I won’t risk losing you again.”
No! I wouldn’t let him give up his eternity for me. I clutched his hands in mine as tears threatened to obscure my vision. “And I won’t let you lose yourself. If I force you to live up here forever, that’s exactly what will happen.”
He looked directly into my eyes, but I could see his intensity waver like a flickering candle flame. “You’re not forcing me to do anything.”
“No, I’m not.” Anger infused my skull as I jabbed his chest. “Your fear is forcing you, and that’s even worse. Aedan, we’ve been to hell and back three times already, and what hasn’t obliterated us should have made us stronger. There’s nothing we can’t face together and overcome, except maybe one thing, living an existence without purpose.” I grabbed his hands, my throat constricting with emotion. “Is that truly what you want?”
“I want you to be safe.”
Again, his steady gaze flickered, and I knew his fear was warring with his desire.
I fought to keep the desperation out of my voice. “And I want you to be happy. Aedan, I remember my only afterlife goal was to get back into heaven, but that was before I was a ghoster, before my afterlife had a purpose.” I beseechingly searched his gaze. “Tell me that you don’t miss being a grim.”
“I do miss it.” His voice cracked like splintered wood.
I leaned into him, running a hand down his bare chest and flashing my best coy smile. “We can always come up here for a little R and R, maybe for our honeymoon.”
Aedan flashed a slanted smile, placing his hand over mine. “Which reminds me, we need to reschedule our wedding.”
“I know,” I said as I traced a finger down that delicious trail of hair that ran from his naval to his groin. “I’ve got to plan everything all over again.”
“There’s no rush, my love.” He traced my jawline with the pad of his thumb. “We can rest up here for a while first.”
“What a wonderful idea.” I bit my lip, batting my lashes. “How about we start our honeymoon early?”
His eyes darkened with need, and his breath hitched when I began to untuck the edge of his towel. “That sounds like a fantastic idea.” He grabbed my hand, holding it in place as I tried to stroke the tip of his erection. “Are you sure you’re up to it?” he asked with a groan.
I could tell he was as eager to make love as I was, but gentleman that he was, he fought his desire, placing my comfort above everything. I loved this man so very much.
I untied my robe, giving him an eyeful of my two blessedly unhairy breasts. “I’m always up to loving you,” I said on a rasp.
He captured my lips in a kiss and gently pushed me back onto the mattress while throwing his towel to the floor. His hands were on my breasts, roving, squeezing, pinching. I cried into his mouth when his tongue sparred with mine, stroking and teasing me into a frenzy. He released my lips with a pop, and he trailed molten hot kisses down my neck and chest, stopping to suckle one nipple and then the other. I buried my hands in his thick hair, bucking against him when he trailed more kisses down my naval and to the juncture between my thighs. He wasted no time getting to the core of my desire, suckling my swollen nub. He lapped up my juices with languid strokes before spearing inside me with his blessedly long tongue.
Oh, sweet hell on fire!
“Aedan, please,” I begged. “I can’t wait.”
And truly I couldn’t. I’d been starved of his affection for too long. I needed this man wrapping me in a cocoon of love while tunneling into me.
Aedan crawled up the length of my body, a predatory look in his eyes, his mouth glistening with the juices of his labor. He stopped to once more suckle my nipples while lovingly massaging each breast. Jolts of pleasure zinged through my body, threatening to make me explode.
I opened my legs wide, wrapping them around his waist as he leaned into me, teasing my sweet spot by rubbing his slick shaft across my swollen folds. I dug my fingers into his tight, round ass and lifted my hips, grinding against his engorged head.
“Please love me, Aedan,” I begged.
He nibbled my neck, breathing heavily into my ear. “I do love you. Forever.”
And then he buried his shaft deep inside me, pounding my swollen desire with deep, hard thrusts.
He captured my lips in a kiss, his tongue spearing my mouth, matching his rhythm.
My orgasm swelled like a hot-air balloon full of air, bigger, and bigger until it burst with the brilliance of thousands of falling stars, sending pulses of energy coursing through my body as multiple climaxes overlapped one another.
He moaned into my mouth, his shaft battering that tender spot until it swelled and burst again and again.
“I can’t hold back, sweetheart.” He grunted and then stilled as his head throbbed and spurted.
After several pounding heartbeats, he rolled onto his side, taking me with him. I held onto Aedan like a lifeline as we kissed and caressed each other.
He cupped my face in his hands, tenderly nipping my bottom lip before nuzzling my neck. “I missed you so much, my love.”
My throat tightened with emotion, and I fought the urge to cry as I realized how close I’d come to losing him. “I missed you, Aedan. I never want to be parted again.”
He pulled back, stroking my jawline as his molten eyes softened. “You won’t get tired of me after an eternity?”
“Not ever.” I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, resting my head against the heart I loved more than life. “I swear.”
I bit my lip, smiling as he surged inside of me. I lifted my head, nibbling his chin right before he flipped me over and captured my mouth in a heat-searing kiss. Then we slowly began thrusting into one another, taking our time as we reached for that pinnacle once more.
* * *
Even though Cam had promised us sub-level one was safe, Aedan and I still hadn’t gotten up the courage to hold our wedding down below. Luckily, God had granted Cara a pardon and allowed Callum to bring her up to level thirteen for our special day, a wedding at the Delta House.
For her bravery down below Melanie was granted a pardon as well. Santiago, Aedan, and I were given extra credits for helping thwart the Devil’s nefarious plans. Aedan recovered more credits after returning the lost scythe to the Grim Union. Between the four of us, we had enough credits to move up to level thirteen. Sarge and I got our old jobs back at Delta House, Aedan worked with us as a full-time grim, and Melanie was a ghoster in training.
