The moment was so beautiful, so perfect, I could have wept. Instead, I placed my cold hands on his body.
And felt warmth.
Gasping, I jerked back. “Why aren’t you cold?”
“A gift,” Cassius whispered across my lips as he moved languidly against me. “So that when you are tempted to fall to the darkness—you see light instead.” Our mouths tangled then broke free. “You’ll see me.”
Instead of closing my eyes, I watched, I watched him, I locked onto his light and held on for dear life as he embraced me, rocked into me, loved me with his words, with a language I didn’t understand as he pressed gentle kisses to my face.
And as my body released, the darkness dissipated as if it had never been there in the first place.
I had no strength to ask.
But Cassius must have known it was there because his next words were. “Where there is darkness there will always be light.”
Body still trembling I whispered, “What are you?”
“The same.” He hesitated for a brief second then added. “Fallen, evil, a curse, abomination. I’m all of those things.”
“But—”
He silenced me with a kiss. “I’m just more angel than human now.”
“So seventy-thirty?”
He shook his head.
“Eighty-twenty?”
Another shake.
I opened my mouth again.
“Stop!” He laughed, the sound did funny things to me, making me want to kiss him and never stop. “More like ninety-nine to one.”
“Oh.” I felt my eyes go big.
“Still fallen.”
“By one percent.”
“Numbers.” He shrugged and raised one eyebrow. “What are they anyways?”
“Important?” I teased, licking his lower lip while a small growl erupted between his teeth. “I take that as a no.”
“I’m the same…” He smiled gently and captured my gaze. “I still hunger for you.”
“And the bird outside my window?”
With a burst of sunny laughter, Cassius threw me back onto the mattress and braced himself over me. “I won’t eat your blue jay.”
“Now,” I said.
“I love you.” He sobered. “Completely.”
“Stay with me forever?”
We linked hands, palm to palm, as our fingers clenched together.