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Liam’s entire body was shaking with the effort it took him to hold back. Cora could feel the wild need inside him, straining to be unleashed, calling to something equally powerful in her. She tilted her hips instinctively, wanting more. Needingmore. She was ready to beg for it, if she had to. When he finally began to move, she dropped her head back with a soft gasp. The deep, velvet glide of him inside her was so much better than she’d ever imagined. It was more than just the aching fullness and the hypnotic rhythm; it was the intense closeness of sharing such a profound moment withhim.The man who’d invaded her dreams and stolen her heart. Cora had never felt this way about anyone else in her life, and she knew with perfect diamond clarity that she never would. In the past, she’d always held a piece of herself back, but not now. With Liam, she could truly let go. She could lose herself in his embrace, knowing he’d take care of her.
And hedid. Again and again.
They must have succeeded in stopping time because Cora had no recollection of how long they lay on that roof under the moon. They were too lost in each other to notice or care. It wasn’t until Liam kissed her awake and they came together a final time that she realized dawn was fast approaching. There was a frantic undercurrent in their lovemaking now, as if they had to steal as much joy as they could before it disappeared with the light of day. When her desire finally peaked and she came apart in his arms, Liam held her like he’d never let her go, whispering her name like a prayer—like she was his salvation—until he joined her, and they fell together.
19
LIAM LAY BESIDE the woman who was dearer to him than his own soul, reveling in the feel of her nestled against him for hours. His gaze traced the delicate lines of her face just visible in the light streaming through her bedroom curtains. They’d climbed down from the roof in the early hours of the morning, linking hands as they entered the house to float down the hall toward her room. Together, they’d tumbled into her bed in a tangle of limbs and soft sighs, giddy and exhausted and drunk on each other. Within minutes, Cora had slipped into a deep sleep, but Liam couldn’t. He’d spent lifetimes dreaming of having her in his arms like this, and he didn’t want to waste a single second on sleep when he knew it couldn’t last.
“How will I go on without you?” he whispered, brushing a curl from her face as she slumbered. He traced the line of her cheekbone with his thumb, skating lightly down her jaw to her full lower lip. Cora’s mouth twitched, and she smiled in her sleep, snuggling closer and sliding her leg over one of his.
The sound of her contented sigh was sweeter than a lullaby, and as final as a funeral dirge. Time snapped back into place like a lightning strike, and he wanted to weep. For hours, he’d kept his worries at bay, refusing to think about what came next, so he could stay in the moment with her, but now it was too much. Despair rose up from some dark ocean inside him like a leviathan from the deep, threatening to drag him under. As perfect as it had been, Liam couldn’t deny that their time together was almost over. He had to accept all of this for what it really was—just a long goodbye. With careful movements, he untangled himself from Cora’s embrace and slid from the bed to pad blindly down the hallway.
It was too much for any man to endure. The sheer joy of loving her, and the crushing defeat of knowing he was going to lose her. Liam found himself stumbling into the backyard to the maple tree, propping himself against the trunk with one arm as he bent over, gasping for breath. This must be an inkling of what hell felt like—the knowledge that you’d once touched heaven, but never would again. He turned to lean against the trunk, sliding down until he sat in the dirt.
When the first white feather drifted down to land at his feet, followed by another and another until the downy wisps fell like snow, kissing his eyelashes and the tip of his nose, Liam began to laugh. It was a rusty, bitter laugh that scraped across his rib cage and burned from the irony.
“Your timing is impeccable,” Liam said with a hitched breath, staring up at the two celestial beings perched in the tree above him. “Have you come to gloat, then?”
The angels glowed with otherworldly light as they hovered in the leafy branches. Samael, the blond angel, floated down to stand before Liam. His round face was softened with compassion, which Liam found more alarming than his usual stoic demeanor. Agon, the tall, dark-haired angel, joined them on the grass. His kind smile lacked the usual cheer, and there was a hint of sorrow on his countenance that Liam had never seen before.
For long moments, no one spoke. Liam had never felt more like a sinner as he sat under their heavy regard. He finally broke the silence. “I’ve been calling you.”
“We were not allowed to interfere,” Agon said sadly.
“We’d already shown you the future and given you everything we could,” Samael added. “The rest had to be up to you. This was a journey you needed to finish on your own.”
“Yet you’re here now.” Liam’s gaze darted between them, alarm unfurling like a poisonous bloom inside him. “Why is that?”
Samael looked slightly uncomfortable. It was the most human emotion Liam had ever seen from the angel. “We’ve been sent to fetch you back.”
“No!” Liam shot to his feet, adrenaline pumping and dread roiling in his gut. “It’s not the end of the month yet. I still have time.”
“Youhadtime,” Samael corrected. “Three months to succeed in the task you were given. In light of the fact that you failed so spectacularly at getting Cora and Finn together, last night’sactivitiesadding to a colossal part of that failure, it’s become abundantly clear there’s nothing more you can do with your time here.”
“You can’t take me yet,” Liam cried, backpedaling from the angels. “Please. I’m begging you.” He tried to run, but his body was stuck in a holding pattern. His legs were moving but he stayed in place, like a helpless hamster on a spinning wheel. “I know I’ve failed,” he said frantically. “I’m sorry for that, but I couldn’t stop loving her. I know it was wrong, but she loves me back.” He finally stopped trying to run and pleaded with them. Was there no mercy in their cold, immortal hearts?“She loves me back.”
“We know, Liam O’Connor,” Samael said quietly. “That is not in question.”
Liam felt like the world had tilted sideways and he was sliding down the surface toward oblivion. Mind slipping into despair, he scrambled for a way out. What could he say to convince them to allow him the few days he had left? “Look, I know I never deserved her, and I still don’t. But I’m not ready to say goodbye yet. I can’t just leave her like this. It would break her heart, and I’m not ready.” His throat ached and tears pricked the corners of his eyes as he repeated, “I’m not ready.”
“No one is ever truly ready,” Agon said with compassion.
“But I want to do better,” Liam said desperately. “I can still do better. Even now.”
“It’s irrelevant,” Samael said. “Your presence here serves no purpose beyond the task you were given.”
“But I can still do some good here,” Liam insisted. “Even knowing my own soul is lost, I still have a few days left to help in some way. Think of the butterfly effect!”
Samael and Agon tilted their heads in unison. If they were human, Liam would say they looked mildly interested.
“The idea that one small action can be the catalyst that changes something in the future,” Liam said quickly, running with it. “I’ve failed in what I was supposed to do, yes, but I can still do some good, even if it’s on a much smaller scale. Cora and the rest of the police force have been trying to solve these murder cases. My own soul is already lost, I know that, but I can help try to bring the guilty to justice and help protect the innocent people from evil. And I recognize there’s this selfish piece inside of me, a piece of me that just wants more time to spend with the woman I love. It’s true. I’m not denying that because I can’t, but I also want so badly to make a difference. I don’t want to leave this world not having made at leastsomethingbetter. Please.” Liam lifted his hands beseechingly at them. “I’ve done a lot of things wrong and caused a lot of heartache. Please give me these last few days so I can try to do at least one thing right. Even if I don’t see the results of my actions before I go, I can leave knowing I tried.”
Samael and Agon shared a long look, and it was clear they were having a silent conversation.
Liam stood there quivering on the knife edge between hope and utter despair, praying silently that the angels’ answer would tip him in the right direction. Everything he’d just told them was true. He’d never felt more strongly or more committed to a cause than he did now. Maybe it was the fact that he had so little time to make a difference, or the fact that he’d been learning from Cora for the past few months. He’d watched how she worked so hard to protect and help others, how her very life was a manifestation of her love, and he remembered what she’d said so passionately to him. Love was the only thing you could take with you when you went. The love you gave and the love you were given.
“Very well, rogue,” Samael said, tilting his head in somber acquiescence. “You may stay for the remainder of the month.”
