But I’d much rather have a nap.
Right here will do just fine.
“Let’s justsss… naptime…” I attempt to sit down, but the second my knees bend, Abaddon’s arm snakes back around me. He holds me upright, against him and all that stupid armor.
“Too much metal.” I open my eyes, displeased, and roll my head back to look up at him. “Between us.”
“You cannot nap here.”
“Mr. Grumpy says no. No naps.” I pout, then snap my fingers as an impulsive idea pops into my head. “Hey, Ahh-buh-don. You should smile. Again.”
He raises a single eyebrow. Is that a first for him? I kinda like it, so I reach up to touch it. It’s quite scruffy.
“So many faces, from you, today.” I giggle, then flick his nose. “I win!”
ABADDON
I’ve made a grave mistake.
I miscalculated, and now Kae will never trust me again.
Even with her differing human physiology, one Vitas should be merely enjoyable. Surely, I thought, her metabolism is not so different from angels, and it’s never affectedmemore than a single bottle of wine. Is this why recreational users in Elohim concentrate it so much? I really should be investigating the end users of our exports more thoroughly?—
“You’re soo...” Her gaze drifts across my face without focus. “So… beauty-full.”
Admittedly, locusts use it to ease their difficult procreation process, too. That might explain the maddening smell of arousal she radiates, pushing me precariously close to losing what’s left of my sanity. It would only take her the slightest invitation to break me. I wouldn’t be able to stop myself.
I need to get her back to the castle, quickly, before she does something stupid.
I don’t possess the skills to drain the active compound from her body, and I don’t know the antagonist drug. Why would I? It’s not possible to overdose on Vitas. The best thing I can think of doing is letting her sleep it off. And though I’d normally try to respect her wishes, shecannotwalk. She can barely even stand. I have no choice but to carry her. So, with barely enough room for my wings to prepare for flight, I scoop her up into my arms.
She shudders at my touch, letting out a slight sound of pleasure that I’m sure will haunt my dreams and nightmares until the end of my days.
This woman, with her beautiful eyes fluttering closed as she hangs in my arms, doesn’t even realize how dangerously close she is to making me abandon my last shred of morals and ethics—if it’s not too late already.
It takes every ounce of control I have not to react to her small moan. I stand frozen, fighting the urge to solicit more from her. For a moment, all I can think about is what it would be like to claim her. To ravage her. Right here, right now, in the middle of the street. Consequences be damned.
Is this what pure lust feels like?
No, I refuse to believe that. When an emotion runs so deeply that its roots begin to suffocate everything else, it can’t possibly be something so simple.
I must be patient.
Summoning all of my willpower, I take a step towards the middle of the road, where I have enough room to take off. With one powerful stroke of my wings, we shoot off the ground. Nearly unconscious, Kae doesn’t even seem to register the sudden ascent. I, on the other hand, bask in the glory of it. I have never felt more like everything is exactly as it should be.
How could something that feels so right be so wrong?
No, it cannot be.
Perhaps I’ve been mistaken this whole time. The Creator sent her to me, undeniably so. And who am I to assume I can understand His intentions? To think I understand His will? I am only a Principality in the Third Sphere. He is everything and nothing. Past, present, and future. Unknowable and all-knowing… I am negligible in comparison to His Glory.
Kae could be a test, yes, but a test can come in the form of any number of challenges.
Moreover, she could be a gift—a reward for my long suffering. The Creator does love everything in balance, after all. And what better to balance the darkness of the Abyss, with its immortal King of Armageddon’s despair, than a fragile, mortal girl of light and innocence?
She’s still young, but that matters little in the perspective of eternity.Her mortality is only temporary. No, I could not allow such a precious thing to die a mortal death! There are ways for her kind to achieve pseudo-immortality, and I am not above them. Nor am I bound by any Earth or Elohim rules forbidding the pursuit of it. It may even come naturally for her, eventually, once she gains control of her power. If it is anywhere near as vast as I suspect, she’ll soon be on par with my kind.
Nothing could take her away from me, then.
