Angels target, p.27
Angel's Target, page 27
part #1 of Elemental Angels Series
But what she wasn’t used to was the same glow coming from her sister’s clasped hand and torso as well.
“Rose, what’s happening?” Panic and fear erupted out of Tammy as she screamed.
“It’s okay! It won’t hurt you, Tammy. It just feels like—”
Tung gripped Tammy and Rose by their shoulders and quickly pulled them away from Titan. The three of them fell back, landing amid a set of dining chairs. Tung took the brunt of the fall, angling himself so his back hit the chair legs first. Tammy and Rose toppled against his torso, with their legs and bottoms taking the hard hits from the stone floor.
Groaning, Tammy sat up and crawled away from Tung on her hands and knees. Rose stumbled to a shaky upright position and turned to face the electric blue heat behind her.
Tungsten was lying on the floor, limbs scattered through various chair legs, and he was panting heavy breaths. His fists and teeth were clenched as if he were holding back something inevitable.
Blue flames licked up and over Tung’s body until the entirety of his powerful frame pulsed with the roaring heat of his angel fire. His full angel fire. And judging by the shock and strain on his face, he hadn’t been the one to summon it.
Rose cut her gaze to Tammy, who was scrambling to her feet and running over to a tapestry on the wall.
“He’s on fire, Rose! Help me get this down. We need to put the flames out!” Tammy’s fingers curled into the maroon and gold fabric as she yanked with all the uncoordinated panicked effort of a person trying to move an elephant that didn’t want to be moved.
“I am fine, Tammy. By the mages, I am more than fine.”
Rose and Tammy whipped around to Tung, who stood a good distance away from the dining table. His arms were held out before him, palms and fingers spread wide. His eyes were alight with wonder as he basked in the power of his fire.
He smiled. Not a demure grin, but a big shit-eating smile-for-the-camera toothy smile that was nearly as blinding as the flames engulfing him. And that smile was directed squarely at Tammy, who still clung to the tapestry so tightly she looked as if she was about to climb it.
But before Rose could formulate a single thought about what her eyes were processing, a soft crackling pulled her in a different direction.
She turned her attention toward the noise coming from near the dining table and gasped.
All along Titan’s form, stemming from the very spot on his ring finger where Rose had touched him, were electric blue fissures. Thin winding cracks snaked up his forearm, across his torso, over his hips, and down his legs. And they were moving at an insistent pace. Every time the tendril of one fissure intersected with another, the lines would cluster into a fragmented pool of titanium mosaic.
And then a tinny clang echoed throughout the not-so-great hall.
Rose crept closer, barely breathing around the lump in her throat as she kneeled to pick up what had made the sound.
A small fractured piece of titanium.
More of the metal’s brothers joined the party on the floor as, piece by piece, hunks of titanium fell away from the entombed angel before her until the tanned skin of Titan’s upper cheek, gleaming with a sheen of perspiration, glowed back at her.
She rushed over to him as larger expanses of his frozen, tense body gave way from cold unmoving metal to vibrant healthy flesh.
But it wasn’t until the bright silver of Titan’s eyes faded to rich chocolate brown that she dropped the metal from her hand and flung herself at him. Warm, flushed skin met the kiss of her lips as she dragged them over the column of his neck, which was now completely free of metal. Not romantic kisses, per se, but rather constant wellness nibbles. Proof of life kisses. As long as every spot she felt touched her back in some warm manner, she’d check that area off the list and move on to the next. Rose was frantic in her clinginess and wasn’t taking any chances.
Solid arms circled her waist and back. The bottom forearm settled right into the dip of her hips, while the other curved around her torso just under her breasts. It was Titan’s preferred way to hold her when they flew together. It was safe and secure for both of them.
But now, his arms around her in this way meant more to her than any proverbial safety harness.
“I never thought I’d feel this again, petal. Feel you against me, your heart beating against mine.” The froggy rasp of Titan’s voice vibrated against the unsettled crook of Rose’s shoulder as she took on his tired, sagging weight. The tremor skated over her skin like a tectonic shift and she all but sobbed at the sensation of it knowing she had him back.
“You can’t run off on me like that again. Ever,” Rose said as firmly as her crippled voice would allow. “That’s not how this works.”
“I know. By the mages, I know,” Titan said, resigned to any beating she would give him. “I was an utter fucking fool. I didn’t want to risk you, didn’t want to risk my brothers for my fuck-up—”
“No, that’s not how this works because when the man I love makes a promise to me, I know he’ll always keep it, come hell or high water.” Rose pulled back to take in his stern, desperate features, his searching eyes, and nearly trembling lips. “But hell ain’t got nothing on my stubborn will and determination. I love you, you silly foolish angel. And I can never thank you enough for saving my sister. All I can do is love you. And when I say I’m going to do something, I sure as shit follow through.”
Titan held her face in his hands and, for a moment, just stood there staring at her. Staring at every feature and, no doubt, every worry line, pinched brow, and dark undereye circle. She never liked scrutiny, but with him, it was more than that. It was like he was scanning the deepest parts of her she never showed to anyone and was lovingly acknowledging them. Giving them their space to exist and silently vowing to protect and cherish them as well. His care was truly unrelenting, whether it be for her or anyone else.
And damn, did she love that. It had just taken a literal act of divine intervention for her to see it.
Titan dropped his forehead to Rose’s and laughed against her lips. Then he ate up her sassy mouth with a searing kiss. Firm, clinging hands pressed into her lower back and pulled her to him more tightly until there was nothing individual or separate between them.
They were bonded far beyond any words or gestures. They were soul bonds. And that was pretty frickin’ special.
Rose let her lips linger a moment longer against his before settling back. Titan groaned his protest, but the sentiment died in his throat once he eyed Tung, who looked a little worse for wear despite his gaping smile. Several feet away from him stood Tammy, who, though pale and tense, carried herself with health and happiness—and a torn scrap of the den’s tapestry.
Her family. Together.
Titan softened his hold and slowly slid his palms up to cradle Rose’s face. Brown eyes of immense depth twinkled with a knowing look as his full lips lifted in an exuberant smile.
“Rose, I’ve loved you since the moment I first held you against me and flew with you in my arms, figuring out where I could take you to keep you close to me. I’ve loved every laugh, every soft snore—and yes, you do snore, but it’s adorable and I fucking love it so hush—and the bright light of your loyal, trusting soul. A soul that speaks to mine in the same language that no other will ever understand. I was such a fool, Rose,” he said, closing his eyes and brushing his lips across hers.
“Yes, you were,” she said, half teasing.
“But I’m not anymore.” Firm lips pressed against hers in a peck.
“Mmm . . . No, I don’t suppose you are.”
“Well, that’s a relief, petal. I don’t imagine you suffer fools lightly.” He rubbed his beard along the ridge of her jaw in a tender caress, one that had her curling into the hard shell of his strong chest again.
“Nope. Never have. Never will.”
They held each other in silence for a few more moments. Too much had been said and misunderstood, and none of it mattered anymore.
At some point, the den woke up. Titan and Rose had separated reluctantly and were greeted with slaps on backs and a slew of side hugs. Steel had even brought out bowls of ice cream while the other angels introduced themselves properly to a much less frightened and far more animated Tammy. They all should have been exhausted, should have been dragging their sorry keisters around on fumes.
But they weren’t. Because no good celebration should commence without utter jubilation of all parties involved, and they had that in spades.
Rose tugged on the fabric at Titan’s shoulder, urging him to lean his ear close to her. “Ice cream is all well and good, but there’s something else I want more, strangely enough.”
“Oh? And what’s that?”
Rose grinned. “Pasta with marinara sauce. With the good stuff.”
Titan chuckled as he held her to his side and escorted her into the kitchen. “I seem to remember a promise I made regarding San Marzano tomatoes and sea salt.”
“Pink Himalayan salt, to be specific. And you did promise, yes,” Rose teased.
Once they reached the kitchen, Titan spun Rose out of view and cradled her against the wall, not pressing or caging her but holding her close to him, one hand on her hip and the other clasping her hand to his chest. The embrace was all love and passion without words, like two dancers locked in a sensual tango.
“If there’s one thing I excel at, petal, it’s keeping my promises.”
Rose didn’t doubt him in the least.
Epilogue
The moment Rose’s computer clock switched from 11:59 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., her handbag strap was around her shoulder and her butt was out of her desk chair.
“Bye, Carla. Headin’ to lunch!”
“Take your time. Jimmy and Greg are out on service calls all afternoon, so if any emergencies come in, they’ll have to wait until after-hours or tomorrow anyway.”
Rose mouthed a quick thank-you to her boss and barreled out the front door. Before the bell chime above the door even had an opportunity to finish ringing, she was bounding down the three front steps and leaping into Titan’s waiting arms. Warm hands settled around her as she clung around his neck, toying with the thick cabled wool collar of his emerald-green sweater.
He held her close and nuzzled his warm beard against her for a moment before kissing her. “Favorite part of my day, petal.”
She smiled against his mouth as he slowly slid her down the front of him until her feet touched the ground. “Mine, too.” She stood back and hitched her handbag higher on her shoulder. “So, what are we eating today?”
“Moroccan.”
Rose clapped her hands together as they started walking down the street, not hurrying their gait in the slightest. “Oh, I love Moroccan! Those Moroccan cigars are addictive. The lamb tagine, too. And the honeyed mint tea, where the waiter tries to put on a show by pouring it really high from above his head and still gets it in the cup.”
Titan scoffed. “Not sure pouring tea needs a production . . .”
“Oh, hush. It’s fun. Besides, their mint tea doesn’t hold a candle to yours. I promise. Eek!” Rose yelped at the mild sting of Titan’s pinch against her hip.
“I don’t take promises lightly.” He looked down at her and smirked.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Rose smiled against Titan as he tucked her to his side. Together, they walked into town for their daily lunch date, a routine they had begun two weeks ago, once she and Tammy returned to their shared apartment. At the time, there had been a litany of questions about the next steps. Where did they go from there? Were the charmers still after them? What would happen with Rose’s and Tammy’s jobs?
Obviously, Rose’s absence had been far less severe than Tammy’s. And to Rose’s great relief, she could explain her handful of missed days away by claiming she originally lost a battle with food poisoning, followed by “Oh, hey. My sister’s back!”
But Tammy’s life had been much harder to piece together, and it was something she and her sister were still working on. Probably would be for years. After all, one doesn’t get to disappear for six months without answering a slew of hard questions, many of which Tammy couldn’t answer because of secrecy or memory loss.
So, for the time being, Tammy was lying low.
“Tung’s flying by today for patrol,” Titan said.
Rose sighed. “Just make sure Tammy doesn’t see him.”
“He knows, petal. But I’ve got to tell you, it’s killing him.”
She winced. “She just needs more time. It’s only been two weeks.”
“Took you less time than that to accept me.” He winked and smiled down at her playfully before contrition took over and sadness flitted through his eyes. “But I get it. Your sister’s been through an unspeakable hell. And no one more than me wishes he could take that away from her, reverse the past. Doesn’t mean I won’t go to bat for my brother, though. I’ve never seen him so miserable. His fire’s been unsteady, restless. And that’s just what we’ve noticed in the field. What he won’t show us worries the guys a hell of a lot more.”
A nearby pedestrian crosswalk signal beeped out a tune that matched Rose’s stride. The monotonous repetition was a metaphor for the frustrated failed attempts she’d had when talking to Tammy. Explaining how her sister most likely harbored a spark of the eternal flame within her. How, when Tung touched her skin that day in the den, the spark had called to his innate angel fire and given him the gift—well, more like a tempting taste—of the full force of his fire, which he had not felt since he and his brothers had lived in the Empyrean.
Not to mention the suspicion of the soul bond flapping around between those two.
When Tammy started connecting the pieces together, her formerly pleasant demeanor had spoiled like month-old milk.
“No!” Tammy had shouted. “Absolutely not. No way am I being bound to something against my will. Not again. Not ever!”
Rose bristled at the memory and the harsh coldness her sister spouted about Tung. It was unexpected and beyond unnerving. It was not her sister. Not the kind and loving woman she had shared her life with since birth.
“She’s freaked, Titan. It was like Tung had turned into a charmer in her mind or something, even though she knew him and knew his goodness. Hell, she’d gotten along with him just fine in the beginning. More than fine, actually. Then something just flipped in her brain. I suspect some of her memories have started to return, but she still won’t share them with me. The nightmares have kicked up, though. She hasn’t had a full night’s sleep since I brought her back home to our apartment. I’m worried. So the last thing I want to do is push Tung on her. Insist that she spend more time with him when something has triggered within her brain recently to form a negative association.”
Titan shook his head and scoffed. “Absurd.”
“I know that, and you know that, but Tammy doesn’t. She just needs more time, I hope.”
Titan hugged her more tightly to his side and sighed. “If there’s one thing we’re used to, it’s the passage of time. It won’t change the need for patrol, though. Now that we know for sure you both carry the flame within you, we’ll need to think about moving you both to a more secure location.”
“I can’t leave my sister,” Rose whispered heavily.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, petal. Wouldn’t dream of it.”
They let the unspoken and uncertain settle thickly in the crisp air around them. For now, in the absence of anything productive or better to do, Rose swallowed the lump in her throat and pushed the worries aside.
When they arrived a few minutes later, Titan held the door to the restaurant open for her. Warm smells of toasted cumin and freshly ground cardamom soothed her frazzled nerves and reminded her of her own here and now.
The waiter led them to a table and handed them their menus. Rose settled back against the plush burgundy couch that was placed in front of a large gold circular tray that served as the table. She glanced at the menu while the waiter filled their water glasses. As soon as they were alone, she and Titan turned over their menus and smiled.
“Sultan’s Table?” they asked each other at the same time before promptly bowing their heads together and chuckling. Seriously, who was this woman? And what the hell had she done with the dour, cynical Rose who refused to acknowledge the sun was shining even when she was standing right under it?
Damn, it felt good, this feeling. Being in love with Titan.
As Titan ordered the Sultan’s Table, which was a two-person tasting course that ran the gamut from toasted pita with baba ganoush and hummus to beef kofta and baklava, Rose warmed at the sight of her angel.
She grew even warmer when the waiter left and Titan snatched up her hands in his.
“Now, I know you’ve got your mind focused on the fresh pita marching over here soon, but I’d like to borrow a sliver of that attention for a moment,” Titan teased.
“Talk fast, pretty boy. Warm pita doesn’t wait.”
Titan held up his open hands to her and bowed his head, out of respect and reverence for the restaurant’s amazing pita, she suspected, and began rolling up his sweater sleeves.
No, not sleeves. A single sleeve. On his right arm.
Humor and temptation danced in his eyes as a sly smile curled his mouth. It was beyond dangerous for him to flash skin around her, especially when the dim lighting of the restaurant was such that every slope of tendon and contoured muscle gave her body endless flutters in endless places.
And he fucking knew it.
The devil. I mean, devilish angel.
“Am I in for a show or something? Because, if so, you’ll hear no complaints from me. A repeat of last night, perhaps?”
The light glinted in Titan’s tempting gaze. What could she say? It had been a fun two weeks. Turns out, soul bonds have a thing about not keeping their hands to themselves. Titan said that it was in the rule book, apparently. And Titan, ever the upstanding leader, was all about showing her the benefits of following the rules. She didn’t hate it.
